Low Altitude Assault Transport

"Look at all those clone troopers." "Yeah. LAATs of 'em."

- B1 battle droids, programmed to make stupid jokes about clone troopers

The Low Altitude Assault Transport, or LAAT, usually just called the Republic gunship, was a flying armored minivan that carpooled clone troopers to their battle zones during the Clone Wars.

The LAATs arrived promptly at 7:30 a.m., and clone troopers were instructed to be out of their hotel rooms and finished with their continental breakfasts in time to catch them, or they'd miss the battle. Clones chose their gunship by "drawing LAATs." *groan* What? Oh, bite me, it's funny. There were no toilets incorporated into the design, so all passengers had to use the bathroom before departure. To help pass the time on their LAAT rides, the clone pilots were instructed to make amusing small talk about the planet they were about to invade and some of the interesting tourist attractions they might be destroying there.

After battle, the LAATs arrived and took them back home or to the hospital or morgue. Clones were admonished to wipe their feet before boarding, because all that dirt and grime and blood takes hours to scrub out, especially if it gets into the upholstery.

Kaminoan scientists once mutated a LAAT into a Living, Breathing, Talking, Flying, Hovering, Strafing, Bombing Republic Gunship, but that's another story.