- "In the yorik-et, two minds become one."
- ―Yuuzhan Vong pilot's creed
The yorik-et, referred to as a coralskipper or skip by New Republic forces, was the Yuuzhan Vong version of a starfighter during their invasion of the galaxy.
Characteristics[edit | edit source]
- "As beautiful a starfighter design as my scientists have seen. Fast, and can snap-turn with an A-wing, and with more firepower than almost anything that size we can put up."
- ―Lando Calrissian on a downed coralskipper
The yorik-et was a bioship made from yorik coral, since the Yuuzhan Vong despised mechanical technology as an abomination. It was grown instead of manufactured so no two coralskippers looked alike. Despite this, every coralskipper shared some basic features, such as a dark canopy, and a triangular body. The coralskipper's pilot could communicate with the craft via a special mask called a cognition hood at the cockpit.
A coralskipper.
The coralskipper's weapon was a Yaret-Kor, a small appendage at the front of the vehicle which released a searing magma rock that could seriously damage enemy craft. The coralskipper also possessed two plasma projectors at the front of the ship, sometimes referred to as 'rock spitters'. The coralskipper refueled and rearmed by eating rocks, small asteroids, and stellar debris. However, like any living organism, coralskippers aged and died.
Also, hidden beneath the front of a yorik-et was a small creature that resembled a heart called the dovin basal. Because it was living, it pulsed and shuddered constantly, similar to a Human heart. The dovin basal was the most important part of the bioship because it functioned like a miniature black hole, creating a powerful supergravity field when activated. This field could be used to overload the shields of an enemy starfighter and could also act as the coralskipper's own shield by drawing laser fire and missiles into the yawning maw of the miniature singularity.
A Yuuzhan Vong pilot.
Like all classes of Yuuzhan Vong spacecraft, the coralskipper utilized the dovin basal as a means of propulsion, which became a weakness to exploit when destroying the coralskipper. When propelling the craft, the dovin basal was not capable of defending the craft as efficiently as it could when remaining stationary.
Coralskippers were strictly space vehicles, and performed poorly in planetary atmospheres. Coralskippers were not capable of traveling for long-range travel in space and had to rely on a larger vessel to transport them across long distances.
History[edit | edit source]
- "The pilot was connected to her ship. It's like she was riding it more than flying it, like the Sand People on Tatooine and their bantha mounts."
- ―Lando Calrissian describing the alien craft
The first recorded cases of of the Yorik-et craft was during the initial stages of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion in 25 ABY, which was spearheaded by the Praetorite Vong who had brought thousands of such fighters onboard their worldships to the ice planet of Helska IV. The Dozen-and-Two Avengers first encountered the craft and were left with only a single survivor of the attack when the vessels' dovin basals were used to strip the shields from the enemy craft. They were later used in an attack on the planet Dubrillion, though they were repulsed by the planetary defenders. A single downed Yuuzhan Vong craft was later examined by Lando Calrissian; the evaluation gave an insight into the extragalactic invaders and their technology. During the Battle of Helska IV, the coralskippers were coordinated by a Yammosk, which destroyed numerous New Republic starships before the ice planet of Helska IV was destroyed in a New Republic attack.
These vessels fought throughout the Yuuzhan Vong War. In the last year of the war, a new type of fighter was developed to support Supreme Overlord Shimrra's Slayers.
Appearances[edit | edit source]
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Mentioned only)
A Coralskipper
- Outbound Flight (Mentioned only)
- The New Jedi Order: Vector Prime (First appearance)
- The New Jedi Order: Dark Tide I: Onslaught
- The New Jedi Order: Dark Tide II: Ruin
- The New Jedi Order: Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial
- The New Jedi Order: Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse
"Last Call at Leatherback's" on Wizards.com (original article link, backup link)- The New Jedi Order: Balance Point
- The New Jedi Order: Edge of Victory I: Conquest
- The New Jedi Order: Edge of Victory II: Rebirth
- Emissary of the Void
The console of a Yorik-et, one that A'Sharad Hett used in escaping Yuuzhan Vong capture.
- The New Jedi Order: Star by Star
- The New Jedi Order: Dark Journey
- The New Jedi Order: Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream
- The New Jedi Order: Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand
- The New Jedi Order: Traitor (Mentioned only)
- The New Jedi Order: Destiny's Way
- Ylesia
- The New Jedi Order: Force Heretic I: Remnant
- The New Jedi Order: Force Heretic III: Reunion
- The New Jedi Order: The Final Prophecy
- The New Jedi Order: The Unifying Force
- Legacy of the Force: Betrayal (Mentioned only)
- Fate of the Jedi: Outcast (Mentioned only)
- Fate of the Jedi: Conviction (Appears in hologram)
- Legacy 12: Ghosts, Part 2 (Appears in flashback(s))
- Legacy 16: Claws of the Dragon, Part 3 (Mentioned only)
- Legacy 18: Claws of the Dragon, Part 5 (Appears in flashback(s))
Sources[edit | edit source]
- The Essential Guide to Alien Species
- The New Jedi Order Sourcebook (First identified as Yorik-et)
- The Official Star Wars Fact File 59 (Coralskipper)
- The New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels
- "Mission to Myrkr" on Wizards.com (original article link, backup link)
- Starships of the Galaxy, Saga Edition
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
Notes and references[edit | edit source]
