During the last days of the Republic, the vessel belonged to the feared bounty hunter Jango Fett, who lived on Kamino with his “son” Boba, actually an unaltered clone of Jango. After Obi-Wan Kenobi tracked the Fetts from Kamino to Geonosis, Jango attacked the Jedi’s starfighter with a fusillade of laser blasts and seismic charges.

After Jango died on Geonosis, Boba inherited the ship and learned the art of bounty hunting from Aurra Sing. The young hunter teamed up with Aurra, Bossk and Castas to avenge his father’s death by killing Mace Windu.

The Jedi tracked Aurra’s crew to Florrum, where Aurra abandoned Boba, fleeing in Fett's ship before crashing the ship in the badlands. With Boba in Republic custody, the pirate boss Hondo Ohnaka repaired it and added it to his collection of ships.

After General Grievous attacked Florrum, Hondo and the Jedi youngling Katooni fired up the ship's engines and used the craft’s weapons to turn the tide against Grievous.

Boba Fett eventually reclaimed his father’s ship from Hondo. For those fleeing justice, the craft's distinctive silhouette became a sight as feared as Fett’s battered Mandalorian mask.

Fett tracked Han Solo to Cloud City, revealing his location to Darth Vader. After Vader ordered Solo encased in carbonite, Fett rocketed away from Cloud City with his prize aboard  and headed for Tatooine. There, a rich bounty awaited him from Jabba the Hutt.