#crazy.sources

Gauntlet Starfighter - Death Watch Fighter

The design known as the Kom'rk-class fighter (Mando'a for 'gauntlet') was a versatile ship classified as both a fighter and as a transport ship. It was used by the Mandaloiran Death Watch during much of the Clone Wars, and, near the end of the conflict, by Darth Maul's Shadow Collective.

MANDALORIAN KOM'RK FIGHTER TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS CLASS - Fighter/armed transport DIMENSIONS - Length: 52.3m; Height: 13.23m; Width: 52.4m; HYPERDRIVE - Equipped ARMAMENT - 4 x laser cannons (2 front, 2 aft) CREW - 4 PASSENGERS - 24]

Main text: The Kom'rk-class was designed and built in secret by engineers and technicians loyal to the Mandalorian Death Watch, a warrior cult that craved a return to Mandalore's warlike past and desired to abolish the pacifism of the New Mandalorians. The group used the factories on Mandalore's moon of Concordia - which were regulated and supervised by Governor Pre Vizsla. Vizsla had secretly begun to rally his forces on Concordia, and members of Death Watch made several terrorist attacks in the Mandalorian capital city. The Leader of the New Mandalorians, Duchess Satine Kryze, trusted Governor Vizsla as a loyal ally in the crusade against the Death Watch. Little did she know that Vizsla was, in fact, the leader of her most dangerous Adversary.

MANDALORIAN CONFIGURATION The Kom'rk was proudly finished with white, blue and grey paint, faithful to Mandalorian tradition. It also followed the peculiar configuration of Mandalorian craft. The central, sleek hull was flanked by two wing-like structures. These were positioned vertically while the ship landed, but when flying they could rotate to a horizontal position with the wings flanking the hull. This offered the fighter very impressive manoeuvrability for a ship of its size. The wings, which also functioned as the aft landing gear, housed essential engineering components. The ship was propelled by more than one type of drive as a turbojet was inserted in the rear section of the hull to ensure quick gertaways and rapid start-ups. Landed, a Kom'rk-class ship stoof a little more than 13 metres high. Its large cockpit accommodated a crew of four, with additional room for small cargo. However, the main hold could transport up to 24 passengers - mostly Death Watch troops who could disembark with their jetpacks to provide air support during combat situations. The ship itself had two forward laser cannons and two aft-facing cannons that could protect the boarding tube.

DEATH WATCH While the rogue Death Watch faction was preparing its coup on Mandalore, it kept a base on Concordia guarded by two Gauntlet fighters. Next to the Aka'jor-class shuttles, these were the largest ships in its possessions. Death Watch Leader Pre Vizsla's own fighter was simply christened Gauntlet. After he was unmasked as the leader of the Death Watch, Vizsla still had high hopes that his alliance with Count Dooku and the Confederacy of Independent Systems would pay off. Instead, Dooku cancelled the invasion when the republic decided to let Mandalore keep its neutrality, and the count rewarded Vizsla with a nasty lightsaber scar across his left cheekbone. Next stop for Vizsla was the snowy planet Carlac, before a new base was established on Zanbar, where more Death Watch zealots fathered. With the help of Darth Maul and Savage Opress, Vizsla planned another invasion of Mandalore. Although this took place and proved to be a victory for Death Watch, it also led to Vizsla's personal downfall, as he was killed in a ritual combat when Maul questioned his leadership of the warrior group.

MISSION TO DATHOMIR - DARTH MAUL'S ESCAPE After Pre Vizsla's death, the remaining Death Watch forces continued to use the Kom'rk ships. Death Watch commandos Gar Saxon and Rook Kast took one to liberate Darth Maul from the Separatist Spire prison on Stygeon Prime. When Word of Maul's escape reached the Confederacy of Independent Systems and the Republic, plans were set in motion. Darth Sidious wanted to recapture Maul to lure out his old nemesis, Mother Talzin, while the Jedi hoped to avoid Separatist control of Mandalore. Maul himself used a Kom'rk fighter during his struggles against both the CIS and the Republic. While battling Republic forces on the Mandalorian supply post near Ord Mantell, Maul and Dooku escaped in the same vessel, which was later used by Saxon and Kast to escape with Maul after Darth Sidious succeeded in killing Mother Talzin on Dathomir.

Red Text: Darth Maul and Count Dooku used one of Death Watch's fighters to journey to Dathomir, where the Sith battled Mother Talzin to the death.

Blue Texts: CONCORDIA - While Mandalore itself was adesolate world, made so by years of conflict, the moon of concordia retained much of its natural beauty. At the end of the civil war, with the ascension of the New Mandalorians, surviving members of the warrior caste were exiled to the moon. They wer thought to have died out, killing each other off through bitter in-fighting. In fact, the survivors banded together under the leadership of Pre Vizsla to become Death Watch, hiding out in the abandoned mines of Concordia.

DEATH WATCH LEADER Pre Vizsla, a member of the prominent Mandalorian Clan Vizsla, succeeded in gaining Duchess Satine's trust when he functioned as Concordia's governor. In secret Vizsla was gathering allies on Concordia for his beloved Death Watch. Vizsla's personal weaponry consisted of two WESTAR-35 blaster pistols and an ancient darksaber, a weapon stolen from the Jedi Temple by Vizsla's ancestors centuries before.

Pre Vizsla wore Mandalorian armour and was typically heavily armed. His personal ship was a Kom'rk-class vessel, which he called Gauntlet - the ship's name rendered in Basic.

Red Text: The Gauntlet was finished in traditional Mandalorian colours of white, blue and grey. Like other Mandalorian craft, the central, sleek hull was flanked by two 'wings' that could rotate to a vertical or horizontal position for maximum manoeuvrability.

Death Watch kept a number of Kom'rk-class fighters at its secret base. After their discovery, it used them in an attack that its leader Pre Vizsla promised would allow the renegade army to take control of Mandalore.

BEHIND THE SCENES - ANIMATED SHIP Gauntlet was one of several new designs created for the Mandalorians in The Clone Wars animated series, although Clan Vizsla was already long-established in Legends Material - such as the comic series Jango Fett: Open Seasons (2002). Gauntlet debuted in The Mandalore Plot in Season Two of The Clone Wars, and the ships made several other appearances whenever Death Watch featured. This class of the ship was first mentioned in The Clone Wars Official Episode Guide Series 1 & 2 (2010), and it is not to be confused with the similar, but much smaller Aka'jor-class shuttle. A new Mandalorian starfighter, looking like a descendant of Gauntlet, appeared in the second season of the animated series Rebels in 2015.