Spooky Chuckle

The Spooky Chuckle was a Modified Hybrid BTL-A4 Y-Wing Courier Variant "LongProbe" Starfighter that was initally a standard BTL-A4 Y-Wing that was utilised by the Rebel Alliance since the Battle of Yavin. Having been present at the Battle of Yavin, the ship was one of the few not used in the attack on the Death Star due to technical problems. Following major modifications, it was eventually handed to Rebel Agents Kileo Dimoh and Raedan Kitani for use in their missions for the Alliance.
== History ==
Koensayr Manufacturing designed the Y-wing for use by the Galactic Republic in the Clone Wars, and although the BTL-B model saw combat, this model was too late. When the Galactic Empire declined to buy the design, Koensayr began selling to various parties. Thus this fighter ended up with Rebel groups early on in the Galactic Civil War.
Spooky Chuckle was assigned to Gold Squadron at the time of the Battle of Yavin, however at the time the ship was struggling with engine difficulties and was deemed unable to fly at the start of the mission. It's expected pilot, Lieutenant Lepira instead flew in the Y-Wing assigned as Gold Four, where he was later killed in the mission against the Death Star. In the aftermath, Keyan Farlander used the repaired Y-Wing in the retreat from Yavin, where the ship eventually found it's way into Green Squadron. Following a series of missions against the Empire, the Y-Wing was then stationed at Echo Base on Hoth.
There the ship would see combat in the retreat from Hoth, flown by Novak Dominda in the escort of Rebel Transports fleeing the system. Having regrouped at Sullust the ship was then assigned to Alliance Intelligence, where it went under modifications made by Ulik Toleen and was re-envisioned as the model it is today. It has since been assigned to the Intel Agents Kileo Dimoh and Raedan Kitani.
== Characteristics ==
Known as a "wishbone" to Rebel Alliance and CorSec pilots, the Y-wing starfighter was initially deployed as a fighter-bomber, designed to fight its way to its objective, deliver its payload of high explosives, and fight its way out again. Its weaponry included two laser cannons, two ion cannons, and two proton torpedo launchers. An astromech droid, such as an R2 unit, could be plugged into a socket behind the cockpit to act as a co-pilot and manage the ship's various systems.
The Y-wing was a resilient, well-shielded craft, but was slow and ungainly compared to other Alliance fighters. Its deficiencies were partly compensated for by the heavy proton torpedo load it could carry, and its ability to paralyse craft with ion cannon fire without destroying them, unique until the B-wing starfighter was introduced after the Battle of Yavin. In addition to the Rebel Alliance, many planetary defence forces, mercenaries, and pirates fielded the craft.
It was a rugged design, but it had some design flaws requiring constant maintenance, which led to many aggravated maintenance crews getting fed up with constantly having to remove the superficial hull plating and disposing of it altogether. Due to this, many Y-wings had no hull plating (except on the cockpit), exposing the internals of the main hull.
Despite its shortcomings in speed and manoeuvrability compared to space superiority fighters such as the X-wing (or especially compared to interceptors like the A-wing), the Y-wing was an extremely durable craft, with heavier armor and shielding. The Y-wing also had a larger warhead magazine. The Y-wing was not a sluggish fighter overall, as its speed and agility exceeded that of its intended replacement, the B-wing. 
===Modification===
Following the Battle of Hoth, the ship was modified to be utilised as a hybrid BTL-A4 "LongProbe". Utilising the former specifications of the BTL-S3 variant it once was at the time of the Battle of Hoth, the ship was redesigned to be used as a long range scout ship. Reducing the fire power of the vessel, the ship was no longer equipped with Proton Bombs or the twin Ion Cannons that so many Y-Wings are known for. Instead it was equipped with a back-up hyperdrive, modified scanners, an extended fuel supply and possessed a special canopy split down the middle for rapid embarking or disembarking of a passenger during brief landings. This canopy also allowed the passenger to bail out at high altitude and para-glide to their destination.. This allowed the ship to retain both it's co-pilot space, have a larger storage space as well as increasing it's ability to scan systems. 
Category:Starships