Constructed at the CNK yards in 2682, the Chilkoot began life as a stock Brachio-class heavy freighter. However, her new owner, Walker d'Ardenne, had far grander plans for his new ship. He struck a deal with the director of CNK, the details of which are currently unknown. What is known is that at the end of the refit work, Walker walked away with a ship that can keep up with most military frigates, and maybe corvettes if they're lucky, as well as a CNK prodigy as his shipboard engineer.
The Chilkoot's refit added on:
The Chilkoot is designed as the hero ship for any stories featuring d'Ardenne and the West Isles Company. It should be portrayed as a scrappy, surprisingly fast ship, especially for a freighter. She's not the Falcon, however, and would never operate as such. She's a home and a mothership for the crew, so perhaps the Bebop is a more accurate comparison.
d'Ardenne's standard orders are for space combat to be a last resort. Outrunning the enemy is his preferred method. Narratively, avoiding combat should be attempted first, before revealing the Chilkoot's very sharp teeth.