The Ion Lady was one of the most popular and successful models
of sublight racer. Until the Empire nationalized Kingsyard
products and converted their production to TIE fighters
(particularly the experimental high speed models), Kingsyard had
produced fourteen percent of the sublight racers, and their ships
won a disproportionate thirty seven percent of competitions,
including three straight galactic championships. Sublight racing
has dropped precipitously in popularity since the start of the
rebellion, as the best pilots have been drafted by one side or the
other.
The Ion Lady has a sleek profile, designed for great speeds.
The original issue of the Ion Lady had no hyperdrive, and those for
top level competition were never equipped with them (Ion Lady
Special Issue: All stats same, but no hyperdrive, Space of 12,
Atmosphere of 455; 1350 and Maneuverability of 4D+1) However,
those pilots that were trying to make a living off of racing needed
to get to local races, and the Ion Lady was equipped with an
inexpensive hyperdrive, and given a mounting for an R2 Droid. The
Droid and hyperdrive are always detached before a race, as their
presence would disqualify the ship, and they add extra inertia,
which detracts from performance.
Sublight races are usual run from the edge of a system to a
finish line on the surface of one of the inner planets. The Ion
Lady is less effective in the atmosphere than some of the competing
models, (not having any installed specialized atmospheric
technology) and racers flying it try to maximize the lead it can
get in space, before reentry.
"Dirty" racers have been known to equip their ships with mini
ion cannons, as the unarmored racing ships are easily disabled.
However, internal space of the Ion Lady is so fully used that it is
almost impossible to equip it with any but the lightest of weapons.
The most successful military use of an Ion Lady has been to
disassemble it, use it's very high quality internal parts in other
ships, and to refit the chassis with smaller sublight engines, a
larger hyperdrive, weapons and shields, and use it as a high speed
courier or light fighter.