Wild Karrde

An Action VI class bulk freighter fresh off the CEC's assembly lines would be a ponderous and ungainly space transport that lacked armaments of any kind and could hold immense amounts of raw materials in its vast holds.

However, the Wild Karrde was no ordinary freighter. Karrde had made many important modifications to his ship that allowed it to hold its own against the Imperial patrols that often came to check his stash. Three heavy retractable turbolasers were added, giving the ship a firepower that no pirate could ever expect. The entirety of the hull was doubly reinforced with giant durasteel plates that matched the color of the original, unmodified hull so as not to tip off pursuers. Deflector shields and a large power source were also secreted deep in the bowels of the ship.

Talon Karrde had a hand in almost all galactic affairs, and thus had a far-flung web of spies and informants spread across hundreds of worlds. In order to keep tabs on them and process all the incoming data, Karrde converted most of the passenger and crew quarters on his vessel into a cavernous communications nexus. A monstrous hyperradio rectenna gave Karrde instantaneous links to his spies, while stolen HoloNet transceivers intercepted and cataloged many thousands of transmissions from across the galaxy. This sensor package incorporated a cloaking device that was powerful enough to conceal the Wild Karrde from passive scans. The machinery also transmitted false transponders to any ship inquiring about the nature of the cargo aboard the Wild Karrde.

A section of the cargo hold was outfitted with a life support system that was frequently utilized to conceal smuggled living beings. In this block was also a kennel for Karrde's pet vornskrs. At least one small repulsorlift vehicle was kept in yet another section of the bay at all times. A dedicated medical bay could care for crew members or passengers who had been hurt. Another space stored Karrde's small fleet of droids, which ranged from astromechs to GNK power droids. Finally, a small force tube positioned in the aft could generate a small pathway of oxygen in otherwise airless deep space. This exotic device was meant to rescue pilots trapped in the void.

As is typical of smuggling vessels, the Wild Karrde operated under many false names and registries. One of these was Hab Camber, registered in Valrar to Abel Quiller, an alias of Karrde's subordinate Dankin. This alias was used during the Raid on Bilbringi, when Karrde's Smugglers' Alliance was infiltrating the Imperial shipyards.

In 4 ABY, the ship was seen near Outpost 327, while Ace Azzameen was stealing the shuttle Tydirium.

In 9 ABY, when Thrawn came to Myrkr to harvest ysalamiri, Karrde guessed that they were important and kept some in the Wild Karrde. Later that year, Karrde flew it to a meeting with some other smugglers, on Trogan.

During the Almanian Uprising in 17 ABY, Karrde flew it during the Battle of Almania and succeeded in destroying a Victory-class Star Destroyer.

In 19 ABY, Karrde took the ship across the galaxy in support of the New Republic, looking for connections between recent riots concerning the destruction of Camass and a group of agitators known as Vengeance. Later, he took the Wild Karrde into the Kathol Outback to look for Jorj Car'das and a possible copy of the Caamas Document. The ship was transported to Bastion by the Aing-Tii Monks, then smuggled Gilad Pellaeon to the Star Destroyer Relentless at Yaga Minor.

Karrde still used it during the time of the Yuuzhan Vong War. In 26 ABY, Karrde led other similar ships of his organization in an attempt to break a Yuuzhan Vong blockade around Yavin IV.

Like all of Karrde's other ships, the name is a pun. It sounds like "wild card."

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• "Ships of the Smuggler's Alliance" — Star Wars Gamer 4
• The New Jedi Order Sourcebook
• The Official Star Wars Fact File50
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• The Essential Guide to Warfare