HC-556 Light Cruisers functioned as light cruisers during the era of the Galactic Civil War.
The design of the HC-556 Light Cruiser incorporated a compact, vertical hull structure, complemented by two sets of wings extending laterally from both the upper and lower portions of the vessel. Armament for these cruisers included a pair of forward-firing laser cannons positioned beneath the lower wings, along with a third laser cannon, oriented rearward, situated directly above the lower wings. The ship's bridge and engine components were located in the upper section, just underneath the upper wing pair.
Within the Kashyyyk system, mercenaries employed these vessels as escort ships for their HC-A1A Medium Cruiser. It was common practice for two HC-556 Light Cruisers to provide escort for a single HC-A1A Medium Cruiser as it navigated the perilous star system.
The HC-556 Light Cruisers appeared as spacecraft in Star Wars Galaxies: Rage of the Wookiees, which was the second expansion pack for the MMORPG Star Wars Galaxies by Sony Online Entertainment before the game's servers were shut down on December 15, 2011. Referred to as "Mercenary Cruisers," they were present in the Kashyyyk system, where multiple HC-A1A Medium Cruisers, each accompanied by two Light Cruisers, followed a predetermined flight path within the system.