Capsule The Slip Stream was a highly
modified Corellian star cruiser outfitted for smuggling and blockade
running by Stefon Sapur, a small time smuggler and pirate by trade.
Sapur acquired it through a game of chance with the original owner
- who in turn reportedly shot Sapur several times in the chest
at point blank range in a fit of anger.
Sapur wasted no time and traded his old Corellian Action III
bulk transport for a set of high-powered Setec xJ-9 ion drives
and a set of power couplings and generators from Sienar Design
Systems, thus boosting the stop speeds dramatically. Sapur also
upgraded the shield generator to what was then considered an illegal
military-grade in addition to replacing the stock Class 3.2 hyperdrive
motivator with a slightly faster Class 3.
Stock Corellian star cruisers carry no offensive weaponry as
the Republic tended to use them as diplomatic vessels and light
cargo transports. The addition of any weapons usually required
quite a bit of work, rerouting power and making space for the
emplacement. Knowing this, Sapur only mounted a pair of fire-linked
ion cannons on a small turret just above the bridge which was
controlled from a remote gunnery station just behind cockpit.
With the remaining funds left from selling his old Corellian
Action III, Sapur invested in a paint job for the Slip Stream.
The entire ship was painted in a non-reflective black with the
words "Sir Sapur's Slip Stream" in bright white on either side
of the interchangable salon pod (a design aspect which helped
make the Corelian star cruiser famous).
The salon pod that came with the Slip Stream was a standard cargo
pod, providing an additional ten metric tons of storage space
to the vessel. This is what Sapur wanted, as any decent smuggler
or pirate would need as much storage space as possible. In emergency
situations, the entire salon pod could eject from the cruiser
and act as an escape pod equipped with its own sensors and life-support.
Over the next few years Sapur would add additional systems to
the Slip Stream, improving its smuggling and blockcade running
abilities. The most notable addition was a backup battery which
was legally sold for to maintain life support systems after a
catastrophic power failure, but could also be used illegally to
power the life support while running silent - an act commonly
carried out by those hoping to sneak past starships which are
only scanning passively.
The Slip Stream served Sapur for nearly forty years until technological
advances, which outdated the vessel, combined with the political
unrest during the formation of the Empire forced him to retire
the vessel. There were several rumors stating that an antique
black Corellian star cruiser had been seen around in the Palvar
Sector during the later days of the Empire, however, the validity
of such rumors is questionable when one accounts for the vast
amount of time spanning the Slip Stream's last known siting with
the one in the Palvar Sector.
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