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Aethersprite-class Delta-7 Light Interceptor

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this wedge-shaped fighter craft was developed and manufactured by Kuat Drive Yards, some 22 years before the Battle of Yavin. Measuring eight meters in length, the Aethersprite was created from the original designs of Adi Gallia by a design team led by Walex Blissex. The ship required an astromech droid to assist the pilot, but its limited size demanded that the astromech be stripped down in order to be hard-wired into the ship's systems. The original Aethersprite design lacked a hyperdrive, requiring it to be transported through hyperspace with the help of a booster craft or hyperdrive ring. Later models were equipped with a Class 3 hyperdrive unit. The Aethersprite measured eight meters in length, with a wingspan of just 3.92 meters. It was a single-passenger vehicle, which could accommodate sixty kilograms of cargo and was capable of speeds of 12,000 kilometers per hour in atmosphere. The Aethersprite was armed with a pair of dual laser cannons mounted just below and behind the nose of the ship. As the Clone Wars ground on, Anakin Skywalker stripped his own Delta-7 down and removed the main powerplant, modifying it to accept the engines from the TransGalMeg Syliure-31 hyperdrive ring. This new ship, with the huge hyperdrives mounted at the front of the ship, was painted in bold colors and bore a striking resemblance to the podrace Anakin once flew to win the Boonta Eve Classic. Despite its technologically-advanced design, the Aethersprite and the entire Delta line was dropped from KDY's repertoire when Emperor Palpatine chose them for the construction of Star Destroyers. All design and manufacturing information on the Delta fighters was sold to Sienar Fleet Systems about ten years after the Battle of Geonosis.