Lira Wessex

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Lira Wessex was a famous human female starship designer who was a part of the Galactic Empire. A daughter of the well-known starship designer Walex Blissex, she and her group designed the Venator-class Star Destroyer which was used by the Galactic Republic. Her group additionally developed the Imperial-class Star Destroyer and Executor-class Star Destroyer used by the Empire, and she designed the Imperial Raider I-class corvette in 6 BBY.

Biography

Wessex designed the Venator-class Star Destroyer (pictured)

Wessex designed the Venator-class Star Destroyer (pictured)

Lira Wessex was a human[1] female[2] well-known ship designer.[3] She was the daughter of the famous starship engineer Walex Blissex. Working at Kuat Drive Yards (KDY),[2] Wessex and her group designed the Venator-class Star Destroyer,[4] which saw action during the Clone Wars from 22 BBY to 19 BBY.[5] Her wedge-shaped design used on the Venator was one the first of many wedge-shaped capital ships that where constructed by KDY.[2] In 19 BBY, KDY built off the Venator-class to create the Imperator-class Star Destroyer, which saw limited service during the Clone Wars.[6]

In 19 BBY, following Republic's transformation into the Galactic Empire, KDY reworked the Imperator-class into the Imperial-class Star Destroyer,[5] with Wessex,[4] who became part of the Empire,[1] and her group providing the design of the vessel.[4] In 6 BBY, she designed KDY's Raider I-class corvette for fighting other attack craft and anti-starfighter operations. Planned by Imperial strategists as an inefficient frontline warship, the Raider-class nevertheless was critical in countering the starfighters of both pirates and the Rebel Alliance.[3] Wessex and her group additionally designed the Executor-class Super Star Destroyer for the Empire.[4] Manufactured by Kuat Drive Yards, the Executor-class entered service shortly after the Battle of Yavin.[7] The Executor-class Dreadnought was designed in such a way as to attempt to outdo and improve on the Venator-class and Imperial-class, and as such, was deliberately designed to strike fear using the "terror styling" design philosophy, as well as being designed to minimize weaknesses and maximize impact.[4] Wessex and Blissex shared their names with the "Wessex-head" and "Blissex-head" bit-drivers, respectively.[8]

Personality and traits

Wessex had brown hair and light skin.[1]

Equipment

While looking over hologram schematics for of an Executor-class Star Destroyer, she had brown clothing and used a datapad.[1]

Behind the scenes

In the current Star Wars canon, Lira Wessex was first mentioned in the twentieth issue of De Agostini's Star Wars: Build the Millennium Falcon magazine, published around May 20, 2015.[9] Wessex was then first pictured on a card part of the Super Star Destroyer Expansion Pack to Star Wars: Armada,[1] released on August 2, 2019.[10]

Lira Wessex originated in the Star Wars Legends continuity, where she was first mentioned in the[11] November 1987[12] Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game supplement The Star Wars Sourcebook, written by Bill Slavicsek and Curtis Smith.[11] In the Legends continuity, Wessex first appeared in the The Roleplaying Game adventure Starfall, written by Rob Jenkins and Michael Stern[13] and published in June 1989.[14]

Appearances

Non-canon appearances

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Star Wars: Armada — Super Star Destroyer Expansion Pack Card: Lira Wessex
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Star Wars: Build the Millennium Falcon 35 Starship Fact File: Venator-class Star Destroyer
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Friends Like These
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Star Wars: Build the Millennium Falcon 27 Starship Fact File: Super Star Destroyer — Executor
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Star Wars: Timelines
  6. ↑ Star Wars: Build the Millennium Falcon 20 Starship Fact File: Imperial Star Destroyer
  7. ↑ Starships and Speeders
  8. ↑ Star Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary
  9. ↑ The second issue of the De Agostini weekly magazine Star Wars: Build the Millennium Falcon was set to be published on January 14, 2015, according to Premium-Era-real De Agostini Publishing: Build the Millennium Falcon Magazine & Model by Chris Wyman on TheForce.net (January 8, 2015) (backup link archived on November 6, 2016). Therefore, Star Wars: Build the Millennium Falcon 20 was published around May 20, 2015.
  10. ↑ FantasyFlightGamesLogo Available Now – August 2 on Fantasy Flight Games' official website (backup link)
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 The Star Wars Sourcebook
  12. ↑ Star Wars Year By Year: A Visual History, New Edition
  13. ↑ Starfall
  14. ↑ Cargo Bay Sourcebooks in the StarWars.com Cargo Bay (original site is defunct)
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