Rescue speeders, a type of speeder, were utilized by the Jedi Order during the time of the High Republic Era. Back in 232 BBY, Jedi Padawans namely Lula Talisola, Farzala Tarabal, Qort, and Bibs piloted these vehicles down to the surface of the planet Trymant IV. Their mission was to assist with the evacuation of residents from Bralanak City amidst an Emergence that was a consequence of the Great Hyperspace Disaster and had impacted the planet. In one instance, Talisola and Tarabal, while using a rescue speeder, successfully shot down a flaming piece of space debris that was headed towards civilians on a rooftop, thereby saving their lives.
Rescue speeders, a specific model of speeder employed by the Jedi Order, came equipped with both engines and blaster cannons. These vehicles required a crew of two to operate, with the cockpit designed to accommodate a pilot facing forward and a gunner facing the rear. The exterior of these rescue speeders featured silver-colored plating, complemented by darker grey accents.
During the High Republic Era, the Padawan Academic Cruiser known as the Star Hopper was equipped with multiple rescue speeders to support its outreach and exploration initiatives. In the year 232 BBY, Marchion Ro, the Eye of the Nihil, masterminded a devastating collision. This involved the Byne Guild freighter called Legacy Run and a space obstacle, resulting in the cataclysmic Great Hyperspace Disaster. This disaster led to Emergences, where fragments of hyperspace debris violently appeared and struck various celestial bodies across the galaxy. One such Emergence posed a grave threat to the Trymant system, which led the Starlight Beacon space station to redirect the Star Hopper towards the planet Trymant IV. The goal was to provide aid to the planet's inhabitants while a Republic rescue fleet was being organized.
As the Padawan Academic Cruiser drew closer to the system, the esteemed Jedi Master Yoda instructed the vessel's Padawans, specifically Lula Talisola, Farzala Tarabal, Qort, and Bibs, to take to their assigned rescue speeders. Upon landing on Trymant IV, the Padawans proceeded to navigate their speeders through the skies above Bralanak City. Their mission was twofold: to disintegrate smaller pieces of flaming debris and to facilitate the evacuation of the city's residents. Tarabal and Talisola skillfully maneuvered their rescue speeder towards the planet's surface, expertly evading numerous pieces of falling debris as Tarabal urged his fellow Padawans to maintain close formation. After the four Padawans successfully landed, Tarabal noticed a significant piece of debris rapidly approaching a group of civilians who were located on a nearby rooftop. Talisola affirmed that they still had the opportunity to neutralize the threat before it could cause any harm, and she directed Bibs and Qort to follow her and Tarabal with a hover platform in order to rescue the citizens.
Despite Tarabal's initial doubts about their ability to intervene in time, once they were inside their rescue speeder, he utilized the vessel's cannons to obliterate the fiery debris. Talisola commended him on his successful shot as they quickly departed from the area. However, she then pondered how they would manage the evacuation of the remaining residents of Bralanak City. Tarabal then spotted the Spider Cruiser named Squall Spider nearby. After observing that it would be sufficiently large for evacuation purposes, the pair landed their rescue speeder with the intention of requesting the Nihil marauders who were operating the cruiser if they could borrow it. Although a skirmish subsequently broke out, the residents of Trymant IV were ultimately rescued successfully. In 229 BBY, the Vurk Jedi Master Harli Cogra wrote a book entitled Chronicles of the Jedi. In this book, Cogra detailed the Jedi of the High Republic Era and mentioned the speeders that the Star Hopper carried aboard, specifically in its fifth chapter.
Rescue speeders were first seen in the first issue of the 2021 comic series titled Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures. This comic was released as part of Phase I of the Star Wars: The High Republic multimedia project. The issue's script was written by Daniel José Older, the illustrations were created by Harvey Tolibao, and it was published by IDW Publishing on February 3, 2021.
Certain panels that showcased the speeders were included in an uncolored preview of The High Republic Adventures 1. This preview was released in The High Republic Free Digital Sampler on December 12, 2020. The 2022 reference book, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: Volume I by Kristin Baver, featured several sketches and uncolored linework of rescue speeders from the series created by Tolibao. Among these was a piece that labeled them as "JEDI SPEEDER," along with other depictions of various iterations of the rescue speeder as it appeared on the first issue's cover.