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General Vessel Information
Built by the profitable Sienar Technologies division of Republic Sienar Systems, a precursor to Sienar Fleet Systems, the Marauder-class was intended for use as a patrol and escort ship by the Galactic Republic. When the Republic declined to purchase them, mainly due to the Republic's inefficient bureaucracy and not any problems with the ship itself, Sienar managed to sell some to other small governments and organizations such as the Kathol Republic. Orders were slow, and the Marauder was considered one of Sienar's rare failures, so RSS finally sold production rights to the Corporate Sector Authority to be produced and used in the Corporate Sector.
They eventually came into use by private individuals and a few outlaw groups. The Rebel Alliance also employed a few of the ships, which were mostly acquired from the Corporate Sector through piracy and refitted into missile cruisers. Some Rebel Marauder-class ships continued to serve in the New Republic Fleet.
Sometimes called a "pocket cruiser," the Marauder's sublight speed was faster than a Victory I-class Star Destroyer. Although not powerful enough for engagements against warships such as those used by the Imperial Navy, they were excellent as patrol and interdiction vessels. Their very accurate tractor beams allowed them to capture ships with little collateral damage.
History
As with most Marauder Corvettes the Lykra and its fighter compliment originally served the Corporate Sector Authority. It was responsible for quashing three pirating operations mounted by the same group, destroying or capturing two ships and nine starfighters in the process. This record made it an attractive target for revenge. While on solo patrol it was ambushed by the remainder of the pirate fleet, captured, and whisked into hyperspace just as CSA reinforcements arrived. Quickly becoming their new flagship, its added firepower contributed greatly to the band’s growing success, and infamy. In time they were hunted down and forced to evacuate their base of operations.
Next time they would have no such luck avoiding retribution. Their relocation brought them immediately into conflict with Clan Satal Keto. In sore need of supplies for their rebuilding effort, and unaware that the simple colonists reported by their scouts were in fact the servants of Dark Jedi, they attempted to raid a farming outpost. Though successful in this first engagement, by revealing themselves they had signed their own death warrants. Within two weeks they were hunted down, and slaughtered to a man. The only capital ship to prove salvageable in the wake of the Dark Side’s wrath, the ship was fittingly renamed Malice, then Widowmaker, and then Malice again. It served as part of the planetary defenses of Shintera until the Yuuzhan Vong incursion.
While the populace at large had either not heard the rumours of the threat, or had heard them downplayed, those defending Shintera had almost a week to stew in their own juices. Seeds of paranoia took hold amid the Plagueian ships as communications broke down; first with the scattered, frantic snippets from Aerun and Nintura going silent, then with the main fleet becoming increasingly disrupted by the Shroud. When the Vong arrived and began sweeping the spacelanes clean of any and all resistance, along with the boarding of the Scylla, Malice realized just how dire the situation was. Fighting valiantly, the ship barely managed to break its way out of the tightening noose, leaving Shintera to its inescapable fate.
Due to damage incurred and the need to free up a few crewmen for the newly arrived Destroyers, the ship was thoroughly scavenged before being set adrift and scuttled at the edge of the system.
[Awarded to CSK in the 5th GJW]