This ‘Star Wars’ Ship Loves to Kill Its Jedi Pilots – The Jedi Vector Breakdown
Beautiful and deadly, often to its own pilots. The Jedi Vector is an elegant relic of the High Republic, and we break it down.
Few ships in the galaxy are as elegant — or as deadly — as the Jedi Vector. Though it should be noted, that the deadliness, at times, swung back on the pilot. But even though at times they had a reputation for fragility, none can argue with the impact the Vector had on the Jedi Order.
How did this ship come to be? What made it the premier ship of the Jedi Order during the days of the High Republic? Let’s find out.
Jedi Vector Design
The story of the Jedi Vector begins with Valkeri Enterprises. Valkeri Enterprises were noted manufacturers of Jedi vehicles. And the Vector may well have been their crowning achievement. The engineers at Valkeri designed the Vector with the Force in mind. Their focus on Force-users gave the Vector a unique form factor — even for ships designed for Force-users.
All the usual tricks are there. Minimal armor. Minimal “auxiliary systems” like targeting computers and, shields. After all, if the Force will prevent you from getting hit in the first place, why waste the weight on shield?
And of course, the sleek elegant angles of the ship minimized air resistance and maximized speed. All the usual tricks were there. But the Vector went a step further.
The Jedi in the Jedi Vector
Vectors could transmit every tactile response directly to their pilot. This gave the Jedi a much more fluid responsiveness, but demanded focus. Intense focus. Additionally the Vector’s weapon systems, 2 laser cannons and a tractor beam, required a lightsaber as a “key” to activate them.
But the real secrets of Valkeri Enterprises’ design went much deeper than that. Using techniques lost to modern engineers, Valker engineers built in Force-powered controls. Meaning a Jedi Vector could be piloted remotely entirely via the Force. And in harrowing combat, a Jedi could take control of an allied Vector’s weapons.
The Great Hyperspace Disaster
Jedi Vectors proved that they were craft of the Jedi first and foremost. The full capabilities of a Jedi Vector allowed Jedi pilots to pull off maneuvers that would be impossible for other pilots. A signature move at the time, the Drift of Vectors, required many pilots to move in interweaving formations, like flocks of birds or leaves from the vine, falling so slowly, like fragile tiny shells drifting on the foam.
Vectors played an important role in the days of the High Republic. And though they had been a background part of the Order, the Vector came crashing onto the galactic stage during the Great Hyperspace Disaster.
During this event, a massive freighter tore apart in hyperspace. As it collapsed, debris from the incident shot out of hyperspace at extreme speeds, threatening the destruction of many worlds in the Hetzal system. A total of fifty-three Jedi Vectors were mobilized at high speed to try and stave off a cataclysm.
The rescue effort was monumental. Jedi Knights destroyed a hyperspace anomaly that would have torn apart a moon and sent it spiralling into its planet. Throughout the system, Jedi in Vectors used the force to slow debris. And even managed to save the entire star system by pushing aside a massive container of liquid Tibanna that would have collided with one of Hetzal’s stars, causing a chain reaction of inordinate destruction.
And here we see the first of the Vector’s deadliness to its own pilots. During a complicated Drift maneuver to try and stop the container (it’s best not to ask why they decided to use the Force instead of just igniting the Tibanna with lasers), five Vectors collided with each other and three pilots died in the collision.
Vectors & the Nihil
The Great Hyperspace Disaster brought the Jedi into conflict with a pirate organization known as the Nihil. Their main goal seemed to be causing havoc in the Ourter Rim. They drew out the Jedi Vectors, but the Nihil’s leader, Marchion Ro, proved deadly when it came to fighting Jedi.
Ro would often lead the Jedi into situations where they had to choose between engaging Nihil or saving innocents. When Ro saw the delicate and evasive maneuvering of a Drift of Vectors, he saw a liability. And in one famous incident, had a fleet of capital ships emerge from hyperspace in the middle of a Drift. This crushed many Vectors and scattered their pilots like leaves on the wind.
Nevertheless, the Jedi Vectors enjoyed a long service in the High Republic, though never quite as bright as during the days of Disaster.
May the Force be with you!
