An XS stock light freighter armed with port-side cannons
The XS stock light freighter was a relatively standard sized model of starship. The vessels had a saucer-shaped body, yellow plating, and a blunt cockpit with a narrow viewport that jutted forward from the ship's center. The aft of the freighters featured a heavily armored hull with a pair of sublight engines, and the craft were armed with two dorsal and two port-side laser cannons, although the lateral weapons were not present on some models. XS freighters had a capacity of at least two passengers.
An XS stock light freighter parked in Mos Eisley
The XS freighter was designed by Corellian Engineering Corporation (CEC) well over a century before the Galactic Civil War. When CEC designers began working on the YT-1000 freighter, they took inspiration from ancient holograms of an XS freighter. As a slight nod to the XS freighter, the YT-1000 freighter was designed with a centered, albeit more spacious, cockpit.
During the Clone Wars, an XS stock light freighter was used by resistance fighter Lux Bonteri in the campaigns of the Onderon rebels. In the year 0 BBY, during the Imperial Era, the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure worked with smugglers who operated an XS freighter in Mos Eisley spaceport on the planet Tatooine.
By 18 ABY, the vessels had been around for generations, and despite being outdated, were commonplace. The Spice Runners of Kijimi owned one, the Ragged Claw. They recruited the young pilot Poe Dameron to fly it, and following the Incident on Quintil, it was damaged while hyperspace skipping. The Spice Runners were soon able to repair it, although they eventually abandoned it as it had become recognizeable and continued use of the freighter risked exposing their operations.
XS stock light freighters first appeared within the new Star Wars canon in Star Wars: Galactic Defense, a tower defense mobile game released in 2014 and shut down in 2016. In Star Wars Legends, XS freighters first appeared in the 2011 novel The Old Republic: Deceived, which was written by Paul S. Kemp for the Star Wars: The Old Republic multimedia series.
Although XS freighters were not identified within Galactic Defense, they were later named in the 2018 reference book YT-1300 Millennium Falcon Owners' Workshop Manual. In Galactic Defense, XS freighters appeared during the limited-time event "War of Ideals," which added the characters Kalani and Lux Bonteri as playable Champions. Bonteri's Champion skill was calling in two Onderon rebels, which were deployed by one of the freighters.
The Meson Martinet incorrectly depicted as an XS freighter in Star Wars: Smuggler's Guide
The 2018 reference book Star Wars: Smuggler's Guide erroneously depicts the starship Meson Martinet as being an XS freighter. However, the ship was previously specified as a modified CSS-1 Corellian Star Shuttle in the book Star Wars Encyclopedia of Starfighters and Other Vehicles.
- Star Wars: Visions — "The Village Bride"
- YT-1300 Millennium Falcon Owners' Workshop Manual
- Star Wars: Smuggler's Guide