Distant Horizons
| |
| Distant Horizons | |
|---|---|
| Production information | |
| Manufacturer |
Corellian Engineering Corporation |
| Product line |
YT Series |
| Model |
YT-1300 |
| Class |
Light freighter |
| Modified by |
|
| Usage | |
| Role(s) |
Transport |
| Era(s) |
Rebellion Era |
| Latest sighting |
4 ABY |
| Present for battles/events |
|
| Affiliation |
Rebel Alliance |
| Owner(s) |
Coreth Landwalker |
| Aliases |
Hot Rodder |
The Distant Horizons was the primary starship utilized by Coreth Landwalker until its destruction in 4 ABY.
History
Acquisition
The history of the YT-1300 known as Distant Horizons prior to its sale to Coreth Landwalker is largely unknown. It is known that it was one of the later ships to come off the production line for the YT-1300 series, but its exact commissioning date-or even the year-remains an unknown.
In early 1 ABY, the ship was acquired by Coreth Landwalker through intermediaries after a successful stint flying with CorSec. Landwalker promptly began to use this as his primary means of travel between worlds; he had previously been limited to places he could get to via public transport or hiring a chartered ship. Distant Horizons gave him the ability to range out of the primary space lanes, and truly hunt and explore in ways he previously could not.
However, due to his time as a Rebel, the ship was used more and more to assist in Rebel activities, usually involving transporting Rebels from one location to another. The ship was rarely used as a combat vessel, despite the modifications made to the weapons and shields. Landwalker made good use of the ship for a relatively short period; however, during an ambush in Dantooine space, Landwalker was forced to abandon ship when it appeared that the pirates known as the Cloaks were about to destroy it. Unbeknownst to him, however, the ship was not destroyed, and was in fact captured for the use of the pirates.
Mid-Rebellion
In 2 ABY, Landwalker would come across the ship again during a commando mission on Talus; the mission turned into a debacle as the team was ambushed by the ship-in the control of the Cloaks. A mission to raid the headquarters near the Pirate's Shadow asteroid field came upon the ship docked at an asteroid base. When the Cloaks were routed, Landwalker recovered the ship-in time to prevent a flying bomb capable of leveling the city of Horizon on Corellia. After purging the ship of the software installed by the Cloaks, Distant Horizons was once more in the possession of Landwalker.
He would use this ship regularly during his time with the Rebel military until he cut ties with them in late 2 ABY; sometime after that, Landwalker disabled a tracking device that had been used to allow Rebel hunters to find him.
Hammer
In 4 ABY, Landwalker found himself using his ship to evacuate the village of Aurilia on Dathomir, as an Imperial blockade began to settle into place. The evacuation had not been smooth; TIE fighter pursuit mad the escape difficult, but not impossible. Upon delivering the evacuees to Horizon, Landwalker was confronted by Kairn Badnerin, who convinced Landwalker to accompany him to his master's stronghold. Landwalker used his ship to travel there-with Badnerin looking on carefully. This laid the seeds for the end of Badnerin's plans along with those of his master; Landwalker had, in the year prior, installed a beckon call in Distant Horizons, and loaded it with a large cargo of thermal detonators. Use of the beckon call took the ship into space one more time, before crashing it into the stronghold, destroying both the stronghold and Distant Horizons.
Layout and Modifications
The ship layout conformed to stock specifications, with little in the way of creature comforts besides a place to sleep. Fortunately, the very nature of the YT-1300 design allowed easy modification so that at need, it could accomodate passengers instead of cargo if needed. There were a number of hunting keepsakes on board, but nowhere close to the amount contained in Landwalker's hunting lodge.
Ship modifications included a pair of null-bolt turrets on the dorsal and ventral sides, in order to discourage attackers, and heavy armoring. The shielding was military grade as well. The hyperdrive was improved from spec, but the sublight engines were standard issue. The ship had a few false transponders available, most of which were installed after Landwalker became persona non-grata with the Rebel Alliance (but at least one installed when he'd burned his bridges with the Empire).
There are unconfirmed reports that one of the airlocks on Distant Horizons was faulty and known to open at inconvenient moments. This hasn't been conclusively proven, however.
Aliases
Distant Horizons had available falsified records that identified it as Hot Rodder; Landwalker suspected it was the humor of Tidal Oneka-the Ithorian who had supplied them-at work. Landwalker used this alias when he wished to avoid official detection-something that happened more and more as he became more involved with Rebellion activity.
Significant Crew
Coreth Landwalker was the primary user of Distant Horizons. The crew aboard the ship early in its career were a pair of droids; an R3 astromech droid Coreth labeled as "Wackem", and an Arakyd-style probot droid that he labeled "Shootem". Both had been modified to defend the ship; Wackem was the interior guard, while Shootem operated outside the ship while grounded. Both droids are presumed to have been destroyed by the Cloaks in 1 ABY; Landwalker suspected that they had been reprogrammed to pilot flying bombs at Corellia, but this could never be proven.
As far as organic crew, members of the Hyperspace Outlaws occasionally crewed the ship as he flew, notably Pizmo Cooperini (who noticed issues with the airlocks early on-which never got fixed), Mallani, and Tidal Oneka before he acquired the Tidal Wave. Kairn Badnerin was an unwelcome crew member in the last days of the ship's lifespan.