The A-vek Iiluunu represented a type of capital ship employed by the Yuuzhan Vong. Its primary function was the deployment of substantial numbers of coralskippers, alien fightercraft. It was also known by terms such as carrier analog, fighter-carrier, or skip carrier.
The A-vek Iiluunu possessed a hull that was shaped like a flattened oval. Typically, its outer edge was surrounded by numerous slender, branch-like structures that served as docking arms for its coralskippers. However, some of these vessels seemed to transport their fighters directly on the main hull itself.
A key distinction between these ships and other Yuuzhan Vong warships was their capacity to carry a very large quantity of fighters. A standard carrier analog was designed to accommodate over two hundred coralskippers. One particular ship had fifteen distinct docking arms, each capable of holding at least one squadron.
This impressive fighter capacity came at the cost of close-quarters combat ability. The fighter carrier's armament, consisting of twenty plasma cannons, was equivalent to that of a much smaller corvette analog. Like most Yuuzhan Vong vessels, its dovin basals could be used to ensnare attacking starfighters or deflect enemy weapons. However, if these defenses were bypassed, its relatively vulnerable central hull could be destroyed by only a handful of well-aimed proton torpedos. After launching its starfighter complement into battle, the A-vek Iiluunu would generally withdraw to the edge of the combat zone, positioning itself behind more heavily armored warships to provide support, recover its coralskippers, and retrieve any fighters whose carriers had been destroyed.
As with all Yuuzhan Vong capital ships, the size of individual carrier analogs varied. A fully sized A-vek Iiluunu measured 800 meters in length. Some ships were crewed almost entirely by fighter pilots, with only a minimal command staff. They also had cargo space that could be used to transport several hundred prisoners. How this relates to the theoretical complement of 320 crew, 480 passengers, and 280 metric tons of cargo is not entirely clear.
During the Yuuzhan Vong War, carrier analogs were first used against the New Republic during the Battle of Fondor. Armed with new coralskippers obtained in Hutt Space and protected by a strong screen of picket ships, a group of a dozen carriers advanced ahead of the main Yuuzhan Vong fleet. They launched their fighters to conduct ramming attacks against the spacedocks of the Fondor Shipyards, the adjacent battle stations, and the defending Capital ships of the First Fleet.
Subsequently, a carrier played a significant role in the Battle of Duro, engaging the Mon Calamari cruiser Poesy with multiple waves of fighters, while four cruiser analogs and a dozen gunships attacked other targets. A single carrier was present at the Battle of Talfaglio, serving as one of the two main warships in the Yuuzhan Vong fleet alongside the warship Lowca, four cruiser analogs and fifteen smaller frigate analogs. Even though the Lowca functioned as the fleet's yammosk carrier, and the other vessels were better suited for close combat, the carrier was considered the most dangerous warship in the force. At the Battle of Selvaris in 30 ABY, the Yuuzhan Vong fleet included two carrier analogs, with one of them acting as the command ship in the absence of a yammosk carrier, and only three smaller gunships providing protection.
The A-vek Iiluunu designation is absent from the New Jedi Order novels, but it was introduced in the associated New Jedi Order Sourcebook.
Conflicting information exists regarding the total number of fighters a carrier analog can deploy. The New Jedi Order Sourcebook claims a force of "up to four" wings, each containing 36 coralskippers, suggesting a maximum of 144. This creates an interesting symmetry with the complement of a New Republic Endurance-class fleet carrier. However, in the novel Star by Star, Luke Skywalker believes that a vessel of this class carries "at least two hundred" fighters, a higher number that was later repeated in The New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels.
While the novels Jedi Eclipse and Star by Star, as well as the New Jedi Order Sourcebook, all depict the fighters being carried on projecting launch arms around the outer circumference of a disk-shaped hull, the two carrier analogs featured in The Unifying Force are described as carrying "clusters of coralskippers affixed like shellfish to their bone-white hulls," with at least some deploying "from the undersides." This phrasing implies that these vessels carry their fighters directly on the hull. These two carriers are said to carry two broods of starfighters each, though the specific number of coralskippers indicated by this designation is not specified.