Craft: Razalon FC-20 Speeder Bike
Type: Speeder bike
Scale: Speeder
Length: 1.5 meters
Skill: Repulsorlift operation: speeder bike
Crew: 1
Cargo Capacity: 2 kilograms
Cover: 1/4
Altitude Range: Ground level-0.8 meters
Cost: 4,000 (new), 1,000 (used)
Maneuverability: 2D+2
Move: 60; 180 kmh
Body Strength: 2D
Game Note: Passive sound dampers dramatically reduce noise, adding +2D to the difficulty to detect the speeder bike by sound.
Background: The FC-20 speeder bike was a small, one-being speeder bike produced by Razalon prior to the Battle of Naboo. Darth Maul owned a custom FC-20, dubbed the Sith speeder, though actually named Bloodfin.
The Razalon FC-20 speeder bike consisted of a semi-circular body powered by a repulsorlift and piloted with a simple steering handle. The strange, curved body gave the FC-20 a low center of gravity, affording its rider a dramatically improved cornering ability. The FC-20 was most useful for those who did not wish to be seen, since the compact design presented a small target profile. The FC-20 was not armed, though for assassins like Darth Maul, who wielded a deadly double-bladed lightsaber, this hardly mattered.
As with many other swoopbikes, the FC-20 was a small repulsorlift vehicle with a powerful rear thrust engine. Its engine systems were designed to provide the rider with fast acceleration and allowed it to reach maximum open-ground speed within seconds. Its design gave it an extremely low center of gravity, improved its cornering ability greatly and presented enemies with a very small target.
The FC-20 speeder also lacked shields or sensors, though an auto-brake feature brought the bike to a safe halt if the rider released the steering handles. Though popular, the FC-20 model was considered to be slower than other speeder bikes of the time, with a maximum speed of 180 kilometers per hour. The speeder bike also had a limited range before a recharge was required. It had a small repulsorlift engine with heavy baffling which made it a very quiet vehicle. That and its low riding height made it a popular vehicle for use in scouting.