Preybird - class starfighter The SoroSuub " Preybird " - class starfighter was a model of heavy starfighter . Characteristics . It was a capable starfighter for both offensive and defensive purposes , with a heavy laser cannon on each wing , and fore and aft concussion missile launchers . It was perhaps best known for the fact that it never entered full production . The " Preybird " was also one of the first craft to utilize an automatic gun harmonization system . This helped compensate for the wide stance of the laser cannons and allowed pilots to more accurately fire upon targets . The Preybird was in most respects a competent snubfighter , with a heavily - armored hull and respectable speed , but significantly less maneuverable than a TIE / LN starfighter or a standard T - 65 X - wing starfighter . However , its large size and intimidating , raptor – like appearance could make the Preybird appear more powerful than it really was : a tactic often employed by the smuggler Mazzic was to surprise a ship with his Preybirds , and invite the captain to surrender . Faced with aggressive , unfamiliar fighters , they often did just that . History . The Preybird was designed a few years before the Battle of Endor , intended primarily for sale as an escort fighter on the open market , rather than for use in Sullust ' s own defense forces . However , disputes over the weapons systems led to substantial cost overruns , and ultimately to the project ' s discontinuation : only a few production ships made it off the assembly lines . Most of these found their way into the hands of a pirate organization in the Outer Rim known as the Hurrim . Their fighter squadrons were composed exclusively of these rare ships , indicating they probably had some connections to SoroSuub . " Raptor " and " Skyclaw " . For the next twenty years , the Preybird remained one of the rarest starfighters in the galaxy , with the best - known examples of the few in operation being a pair which had fallen into the hands of the smuggler Mazzic . Mazzic had managed to inspect the prototype during production , and was immediately taken by the aggressive elegance of the design , so when the production run was canceled , he managed to acquire two of the production ships well below their production cost — perhaps through the agency of his Mistryl bodyguard Shada D ' ukal . Mazzic steadily upgraded these two fighters over the years , naming them " Raptor " and " Skyclaw " , and decorated their hulls with distinctive raptor designs — red for one ship , blue for the other . They served as supporting muscle for him in high - risk situations , notably at Hijarna in 9 ABY , when they destroyed the fleeing Niles Ferrier and his ship . Other fringe groups possessing small quantities of Preybirds included the Tarnished Blades , a pirate force operating in the Ringali Shell . Imperial deployment . Late in the Galactic Civil War , the Preybird found a bizarre , belated fame as a front - line fighter , when Imperial Remnant began using them to supplement its attrited TIE fighter forces . In itself , there was nothing truly untoward or unprecedented in the Navy sourcing its starfighters outside Imperial Space : Sienar Fleet Systems , the Empire ' s primary starfighter supplier , had been officially a neutral third - party for many years . The move was seen as an indication of the weakening Imperial position , a sign that the regime could not devote sufficient resources to starfighter construction , and the sense of decline was compounded by the uncertainty over where the Preybirds were coming from . SoroSuub had been among the first major industrial conglomerates to declare for the New Republic fifteen years earlier . In fact , the Preybirds had been sourced as part of a corrupt scam through Moff Vilim Disra and the banker Lord Graemon , constructed illegally on secret production - lines under the control of the Cavrilhu Pirates . The entire scandal was exposed in 19 ABY , and while Preybirds would not have disappeared overnight , it is unclear how long the design remained in service with the Remnant . Few , if any , were seen in action during the Yuuzhan Vong War . Behind the scenes . Several differing depictions of the Preybird have appeared in canon , of which the best - known is probably the picture on the back cover of the novel " Specter of the Past " . This is an adaptation of an illustration showing Mazzic ' s " Raptor " and " Skyclaw " in " The Last Command Sourcebook " , complete with their distinctive bird - of - prey motifs ; a variation of the same design has also appeared in the computer game " " . " Star Wars Gamer " has a very different image , as shown on the left here . This is not the only case where a " Gamer " illustration creates a minor continuity contradiction : the illustrations of " No Luck Required " and the " Nssis " - class clawcraft differ somewhat from the appearance of those ships as previously established in text sources . Lastly , mention must be made of the two ships which appear as Mazzic ' s escorts at Hijarna in the comic - book adaptation of " The Last Command " : although not identified explicitly as Preybirds , comparison with the novel would imply that they were " Raptor " and " Skyclaw " ; but not only do they differ in appearance from the other versions of the Preybird — they also differ markedly from each other . It appears that the difference in appearances from Star Wars Gamer image and " The Last Command Sourcebook " was retconned in " The Unknown Regions " . It states that the " Drexl " - class starfighter was an early prototype that was later developed into the Preybird .