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| Spitfire
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N-1 series
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N-1 Starfighter
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Luxury Starfighter
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90,000 credits
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ID 45713
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11 meters
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3,750 G
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1,000 LY
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1,100 km/h
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J-type Nubian 221 (2)
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Class 1.0
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Monarc C-4
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Equipped
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- Flare Countermeasures
- Fine-tuned Microthrusters
- Anti-Pursuit Laser Turret
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- Fine-tuned Microthrusters
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65 kg
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1 week
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- Patrol
- Interceptor
- Escort
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Ka Tarvitz
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- R3-M1 "Ratchet" (Astromech Droid)
- R3-M2 "Clanker" (Astromech Droid)
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Active
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- 33 BBY
- 35 ABY (Reconstruction)
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The Spitfire is an N-1 Naboo starfighter, owned and used by Ka Tarvitz as his personal transport. The fighter was rescued from being stripped for spare parts and rebuilt during the conflict between Clan Odan-Urr, Clan Arcona, and the Dark Brotherhood. Since that time, Tarvitz has continually modified and upgraded the ship, focusing primarily upon bolstering its existing strengths and enhancing its role as an interceptor.
Description
Very little has outwardly changed in terms of the Spitfire's basic shape and structure despite its history. While having clearly seen heavy use, having undergone reconstructions, and extensive modifications, the ship's overall profile has remained the same. Sticking to the hammerhead shape with a stingtail, this allows it to retain the same essential strengths that the N-1 originally benefitted from, along with preserving the aesthetically pleasing qualities of the craft and its advantages in atmospheric combat. Only slight extensions to its microthrusters hint to its engine alterations, while an aft-facing automated turret has been fitted on the underside, just behind the astromech's access hatch. Equally, the primary cockpit retains the same position and proportions as its factory build, despite some minor interior modifications.
Perhaps the most distinct change to the ship is the quality of its exterior plating. Rather than preserving the same primed finish as before, Tarvitz opted to keep every scratch, dent, scoring, and cosmetic damage that he could find an excuse to preserve. Much of the original chromium plating has been stripped away entirely, along with the original yellow-gold colours that the ship flew under. Furthermore, many areas that have been repaired were left in a state where the markings were distinct, giving the impression of scarring across the metal.
The Spitfire's battle-worn appearance was an intentional choice on Tarvitz's part due to the psychological impact it would offer. Although the ship's durability is unaffected by this cosmetic scarring, it served to only further emphasise the fighter's nature as a museum piece. This gives the impression that Spitfire is an easy target and on its last legs, disguising its high-performance capabilities. Those who do not underestimate it typically take another view, believing that the pilot has flown through hell itself and fought the worst that the galaxy can throw at it, but is still fighting strong. This factor serves to make opponents frequently underestimate or overestimate the ship's capabilities, giving Tarvitz a noted advantage in the early stages of dogfights.
Various upgrades have come and gone, depending upon mission requirements and what can be made to work for a short period of time. Following the loss of The Fang and the need for the Yastobaal to have a capable protective escort, the N-1's weapons were upgraded with a set of heavy laser cannons taken from a derelict TX-130 Saber-class fighter tank.
History
The Spitfire's history and all but the most basic details of its origins have been lost to time. All that is known is that it was constructed on Naboo like most ships of its class, and even was utilised during the conflict with the Trade Federation, only to be later sold off after the number of fighters was downgraded over time. What happened over the following sixty years has yet to be traced, but the ship was eventually found abandoned among a field of asteroids and retrieved by Clan Odan-Urr. Held on their flagship, the Solari, it had been picked up for spare parts and general salvage to maintain their complement of fighters, and was awaiting deconstruction. After learning that his current ship, a YT-2000 light freighter named the Fire Hawk had suffered too much damage to be salvaged, Tarvitz selected the fighter as its replacement.
Spending some time bringing it back to working order with the help of Jasper Arlow, Tarvitz was able to quickly put it to use against the Clan's enemies. Its first engagements saw it deployed against the Iron Fleet after the Lotus Resistance fought their way clear of a trap, and later on at Nancora where they engaged the Collective on their home ground. Thanks to a combination of Tarvitz's skills and a simple reliable design, the ship was able to continually beat much more modern vessels.
While owning it, Tarvitz continually upgraded and reconfigured the vessel, typically to further emphasize qualities that allow the Spitfire to keep pace with more modern ships. This habit became all the more important, following the group's loss of the Fang. Without a more heavily fortified position to fall back on and moving onto a fragile and slow-moving freighter, leaving the Spitfire as the ship's first and often last line of defense when opposing hostile vessels. The fighter's cannons were upgraded specifically in this time, making up for the less destructive potential of its torpedo load.
The fighter's unconventional load-out proved to be of benefit during the opening salvos of the Brotherhood's war with the Children of Mortis. Tarvitz was able to use the droid payload to great effect even with the immunity of their fighters to blaster weapons, while the Spitfighter's high turning speed and its pilot's own Force powers saw him cripple a small squadron of enemy fighters during an ambush.
Modifications
Cockpit
While much of the Spitfire's cockpit is largely unmodified from its original build, certain elements have been expanded upon to allow for Tarvitz to more easily pilot the ship. This was to both accommodate the pilot's sheer size along with his armour plating and equipment.
Storage
Thanks to its use in long-range patrols and one-man missions, Tarvitz saw the fighter modified with a number of smuggling compartments in various points across its hull. This allows for it to store more items and equipment than the fighter's design would normally permit, or for items to be secured and covertly removed from a planet. This has allowed Tarvitz to recover Jedi relics for safe storage from various sites, usually either private collectors with criminal elements or ruins where the artifacts are at risk of destruction.
Weapons
The primary payload of torpedoes on the Spitfire has been altered to accept a wider range of missiles, allowing for them to be switched out with new designs as and when it is required. One favoured weapon Tarvitz has come to utilise are buzz droid missiles, thanks largely to their unusual nature. Although they lack the raw destructive power of other weapons and some question the morality of their design, these weapons have nevertheless proven to be highly effective against larger ships or bunkers. Vessels armoured against conventional missiles can be slowly dismantled the droids, who will often target primary systems such as weapons and propulsion in their attacks. In a number of cases, they have even served to breach a target and sabotage it from within. The use of these droids requires patience and skill, but Tarvitz has used them to both drive an enemy into surrender and beat the odds more times than can be counted.
The fighter's medium laser cannons were later upgraded, giving it a much greater killing power when engaged in dogfights against enemy ships. Stripping out the originals and swapping those from a Clone Wars era battle tank, the heavier guns are capable of stripping the shields from most common fighters in a single volley, and inflicting serious damage on advanced ships after only a few seconds of sustained fire.
Countermeasures
The two primary countermeasures that the ship benefits from, besides its shields, is the addition of flare countermeasures and an aft-mounted anti-pursuit laser turret. The former of these serves the simple role of disrupting incoming fire, launching flares to draw away solid ammunition, and disrupt automatic guidance systems. Fire-and-forget designs or even ships with noted target locks can be disrupted through the deployment of flares, drawing away what would likely destroy or severely damage the fighter. When used in combination with the Spitfire's high performance in terms of speed and maneuverability, and Tarvitz's own precognitive skills, it makes downing the ship through the deployment of missile weapons next to impossible. Even should it somehow overcome all of these, the addition of an anti-pursuit laser turret serves as one final means to intercept and destroy incoming warheads. Fitted into the ship's aft, a short distance from the astromech loading hatch, the turret is programmed to fire upon any hostile targets which come within a short range of the ship. Although intended to dissuade pursuing fighters from engaging the ship from behind, and removing one inherent blind-spot present in most vessels, it nevertheless is accurate and has enough firepower to destroy most launched explosives.
Propulsion
One of the first alterations made to the Spitfire after gaining ownership was fine-tuning its microthrusters, allowing for it to perform far tighter turning circles and heightened maneuverability. Already noted for its substantial edge over other fighters, this makes the N-1 a deadly enemy in turn-fights and extended engagements. Staying entirely out of the gunsights of other fighters has more than made up for its smaller offensive yield, as has its ability to loop around and tail an enemy during battles. While it cannot quite match the TIE Interceptor's famous claim of flying circles about an X-Wing in flight, it nevertheless is a highly agile and capable design.