#Voss Parck

[empress-violetlight]

Imperial Handbook: Empire of the Hand - Capital Ships of the Navy of the Hand

Another Worldbuilding exercise for my Empire of the Hand AU. See my Ranks document here:

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While it might have began as a small task force under Thrawn’s command and whatever largely Clone Wars era scraps the Empire proper would send their way, as time went on and the Empire of the Hand began to build up the infrastructure needed to build its own ships, the variety of vessels available to it increased.  Here some of the Capital ships used by the Navy of the Hand, including some unique classes.

Renaissance-class Super Star Destroyer  (about 12 km long)

Built:  Kuat Drive Yard’s Spiral Shipyards, Nirauan system.  Officially finished construction in 21 ABY, but Admiral Parck would occasionally make use of its incomplete state before then. 

The Renaissance class is a shorter, wider, heavier-set, ship than the more familiar Executor-class SSDs from the old Galactic Empire, taking several design features from the prototype Eclipse class, including integrated interdiction technology, a complement of over 400 TIE Defender fighters, and a superlaser capable of cracking a planetary crust (or a Yuuzhan Vong world ship). Like other Empire of the Hand designs, the Renaissance-class’ bridge is not located in an exposed tower, but rather deep inside the ship, with cameras and a powerful sensor suite compensating for the lack of viewports.  Borrowing from Mon Calamari designs, the Renaissance-class also utilizes overlapping shield technology.  As well as standard Imperial weaponry like turbolasers, tractor beams and ion cannons, the Renaissance -class also utilizes Chiss Ascendency weaponry such as Plasma ball launchers and breacher missiles.

The main difference from the earlier class (and, the "selling point" that convinced then-Grand Moff Xelarra to sign off on its creation) is the ability of the Renaissance-class to carry up to five Imperial or Spiral- class Star Destroyers on the hull itself, with the smaller (but still capital sized) ships docking on five triangular recesses on the main hull, 3 on top of the superstructure, two below.  The Renaissance-class can thus act as a mobile repair station as well as the command ship.  Its main hanger bay can internally carry ships up to 300 m in length (i.e. the size of an Arquitens-class light cruiser or an Explorer-class research/scout vessel).

The Renaissance also has integrated Interdictor technology, and is equipped with several cloaking devices (necessary because of the ship’s size).  These two systems cannot normally be used at the same time, though Grand Admiral Thrawn remembers a few tricks learned earlier in his career to get around this limitation.  As cloaking devices are double-blind – they protect a ship from detection, but said ship also cannot see outside of it when activated through conventional means, the cloak is most effectively used with the cooperation of an Imperial Knight, who can use the Force to sense outside the cloak.  However, with proper timing and practice the cloaks can be used without the assistance of Force-users. 

As the Empire of the Hand did not sign the Pellaeon–Gavrisom Treaty, they are not prohibited from using cloaking devices. 

Known vessels in the class:

SSD Renaissance        

CO:  Fleet Admiral Voss Parck (19-28 ABY), Grand Admiral Thrawn (28 ABY +)

XO:  Commodore Eli Vanto (28 ABY+)

Starfighter commander:  Colonel Jagged Fel (28 ABY +)

Flagship of the Navy of the Hand.  Displays the same Paccosh signil as the ISD Chimaera on its hull.

Commissioned by Fleet Admiral Parck, in anticipation of Grand Admiral Thrawn’s rumoured return in 19 ABY.  Thrawn (actually his clone, known as ‘Raw’nuru’ until he was ready to retake the mantle of Grand Admiral) did not take command until the beginning of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, after the Evacuation of Lysatra.

Imperial-Class Star Destroyers

These iconic ships were inherited from the Galactic Empire.  Only a few were assigned to Thrawn’s task force in the Unknown Regions/The Chaos, and he chose the leave the ones he did have behind in the Empire of the Hand during his campaign of 8-9 ABY.  The Empire of the Hand has been retrofitting the ISDs when they can with more automation, in order to reduce its crew component from over 37 000 personnel down to 10 000.  As the less crew-intensive Spiral-Class Star Destroyers became more prominent in the Navy of the Hand, the remaining, aging Imperial-Class Star Destroyers were mainly regulated to defensive roles around prominent star systems and installations.  

Differences with standard Imperial Class ISDs:

As opposed to the “mobile base” role that the Old Galactic Empire used the Imperial-class for, Empire of the Hand ISDs are more starfighter-focused, with the majority of their standard ground forces (an entire legion of Stormtroopers, 20 AT-AT walkers and associated vehicles at the Empire’s height) regulated to the Clone Wars era Acclimator and new Nightstalker-class assault cruisers instead, unless the mission profile specifically calls for their inclusion.  With more room that would have been otherwise been taken up by ground vehicles, Hand ISDs have more than doubled the number of TIE –series fighters carried. 

To accommodate the additional TIES, the bridge tower has been reassigned to be a communications tower, focusing on air traffic control.  The actual bridge of the ship has been moved to a far more secure location in the interior of the ship, with cameras and sensors making up for the lack of traditional viewports.  

Known Vessels in this Class:

ISD Admonitor

CO:  Captain Dagon Niriz, then-Captain Voss Parck

The Star Destroyer first assigned to Thrawn’s “mapping expedition” in the Unknown Regions/The Chaos which would grow into the Empire of the Hand.  It later serves as the Hand Fleet's flagship until the Renaissance’s construction is completed in 21 ABY. 

ISD Vengeance  renamed the Resolute once in Hand space

CO:  then-Captain Thrawn (6 BBY), Commodore Karyn Faro (1 BBY +)

This is (officially) the first ISD Thrawn was assigned to as captain, which he used to subjugate the Kaleesh colony world of Oben.  Surprisingly, Thrawn earned the fierce, reptilian aliens’ respect for not just defeating, but crushing them in battle.  After the Battle of Endor, Thrawn personally extends an invitation to the Kaleesh to join the Empire of the Hand.  The say they will consider his offer, but don’t actually join until after Thrawn’s death.  

Commodore Karyn Faro served as Thrawn’s executive officer on the Resolute for many years, before being promoted to commanding officer of the Resolute itself, then climbing ever higher in the Hand Navy. 

The Resolute, along with the Admonitor, were also largely responsible for the creation of “Thrawn’s Cut” -- the hyperspace beacon route through The Chaos stretching from the Nirauan system to the border with the Chiss Ascendency. 

Beacons are modified Imperial probe droids, deployed in small groups that transmit real time astrometrics along a frequency that to anyone other than Empire of the Hand communications networks, appears as regular galactic background radiation.  By deploying the beacons in regular intervals, they form a trail of “breadcrumbs” that subsequent Hand ships can follow, allowing navigation through the Chaos without relying on Force users, though the initial deployment can be quite slow, relying on jump-by-jump navigation to plant the next “crumb” in the trail.  It took nearly a decade to carve Thrawn’s Cut, and the time involved convinced the Grand Admiral of the need for a dedicated exploration and beacon planting corps. 

ISDs the Empire of the Hand wants:

ISD Chimaera, currently serving as the flagship of the Imperial Loyalists (aka the Imperial Remnant)

CO:  Grand Admiral Gilad Pellaeon Possibly the most famous ISD in the Galaxy, the Chimaera served as Grand Admiral Thrawn’s flagship during his campaign to retake the galaxy in 9 ABY, with Gilad Pellaeon serving as his XO.  Both Fleet Admiral Parck and Empress Xelarra herself have made numerous offers to the Imperial Loyalists to acquire the historic ship, including offering the trade several state-of-the-art Spiral-class Star Destroyers for her.  Grand Admiral Pellaeon declines to give up his flagship every time.

Spiral-class Star Destroyers

Named for the magnificent ringed gas giant Spiral, the fifth planet in the Nirauan system, around which the Empire of the Hand’s main shipyards are built, these slim, daggerlike ships are smaller than Imperial-class Star Destroyers  (1.2 km long compared to an ISD's 1.6 km) and take a lot less crew (only about 5000).  As is standard on newer Hand ships, the Bridge tower is eliminated, with the bridge itself nestled deep within the structure of the ship.  They are powerful for their size.  Like a “mini-Renaissance”, (though they are, in fact, the basis for the larger ship) SpSDs are equipped with both Imperial and Chiss Ascendency weapons, featuring banks of turbo and spectrum lasers, deployed in retractable turrets, tractor beams, ion cannons and/or plasma spheres and breacher missiles. Some, though not all (usually 1-2 per battle group) have interdiction technology equipped.   Like the Hand’s ISDs, SpSDs also focus on starfighter deployment over ground forces, even though their TIEs usually consist of hyperspace-capable TIE Defenders.

Spiral class ships are predominantly assigned to Fleet Admiral Karyn Faro's Seeker Fleet, whose primary mission is to patrol the Galactic Rim hunting for any signs of the Far Outsiders.  As an added bit of psychological warfare against the technophobic Far Outsiders, Seeker Fleet ships are usually named after fictional machine lifeforms from a children’s novel and ani-holo series once popular in the Core. 

They also perform limited exploration duties (at least until the dedicated Explorer program is implemented) and plant hyperspace beacons.  They are slowly replacing the aging ISDs to become the premier battleship in the Navy of the Hand. 

Spiral-class ships use the designation “HMS” - “her Majesty’s Ship”, in honour of her Imperial Majesty, Lexx’elarra’nuruodo (Xelarra), Empress of the Hand. 

Known vessels in the class:

HMS Starscream

CO:  Fleet Admiral Karyn Faro (2 ABY +)

Flagship of Seeker Fleet, for a short time Flagship of the Navy of the Hand, during Admiral Faro’s tenure as Supreme Commander. 

One of the first four Spiral-class ships built, and founding member of Seeker Fleet. 

(featured in "Seat of Command" as the site of Thrawn and Xelarra having some "quality time" - NSFW)

HMS Thundercracker

CO:  Captain Rae Sloane ( 5 ABY)

Thrawn’s flagship while assisting the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet against Ssi’ruuk incursions (“Reunion”).  Captain Sloan was personally mentored by the Grand Admiral, and is considered Admiral Faro’s protégée.   

One of the first four Spiral-class ships built, and founding member of Seeker Fleet. 

HMS Skywarp

Torguta CO

Equipped with Interdiction technology, its smooth lines are broken up by its spherical, gravity well generators.

One of the first four Spiral-class ships built, and founding member of Seeker Fleet

HMS Shockwave

CO:  Captain Kyra Pyrondi

Captained by a long-time crewmate of both Grand Admiral Thrawn’s and Admiral Faro’s, this ship serves as a testbed for new weapons developments, with Captain Pyrondi herself often participating in the design teams. 

One of the first four Spiral-class ships built, and founding member of Seeker Fleet

HMS Grievous

Kaleesh CO Named for the legendary, deified  leader of the Kaleesh and General of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, specializes in long-range “hunting”, and preemptive strikes.

Victory-Class Star Destroyers, Venator-Class Star Destroyers

Clone Wars-era capital ships, regulated to less-important sectors of the Galactic Empire during the Imperial era as the larger Imperial-class better fulfilled the Tarkin doctrine of “rule by fear”, even if the larger ships were far less efficient in other respects.  Thrawn managed to get a number of these older ships assigned to his “mapping expedition” in the Unknown Regions/The Chaos, mostly because they were undervalued by that point by mainstream commanders in the Galactic Empire.   

Like the Imperial-class, these older ships are slowly being phased out in favour of the Spiral-class, but are still in use – mostly used against known threats in the Chaos (like the Vagaari pirates, and some client species of the Grysts – themselves clients of the Far Outsiders).  While these aging ships may be less effective in Lesser Space, even Clone Wars-era shields and weaponry is superior to most technology that cultures of the Chaos can muster, including the Chiss Ascendency.  Thrawn has a talent for using limited resources in the most effective way possible, and these older star destroyers are no exception.

Arguably, these ships make up the backbone of the Navy of the Hand, and keep the Empire of the Hand safe from the known threats of the Chaos.  Whether they will be effective against the Far Outsiders remains to be seen.   

Known vessels in these classes:

VSD Strikefast

CO:  Captain Voss Parck (19 BBY), Commodore Rae Sloane (10 ABY +)

The Victory-class Star Destroyer which was commanded by Voss Parck when he made first contact with Thrawn in 19 BBY.  While Parck himself was reassigned to the ISD Admonitor, Thrawn did manage to get the Strikefast herself assigned to his “mapping expedition”.   

The Strikefast, under Commodore Rae Sloan, later became the flagship of the Explorer program.  Though the Explorers themselves would later use primarily their own class of ship, modified Arquitens-class light cruisers, the Strikefast remains in service, stationed at Watchtower Station – the space station built at the Ascendency-end of Thrawn’s Cut, and the Explorer program’s base of operations, still serving as now-Admiral Sloane’s flagship (and is to Watchtower what the USS Defiant is to DS9). 

Dreadnaught-class Heavy Cruisers

Pre-Clone Wars capital ships are rare, due to the Old Republic’s anti-military policies.  Nevertheless, Grand Admiral Thrawn managed to discover the location of the legendary Katana fleet during his campaign of 9 ABY.  Though the majority of the 178 ships he acquired were used in his campaign, with surviving vessels becoming Imperial Loyalist property, He did manage to send 30 of the vessels home to the Empire of the Hand. 

Though older, like with the Venator and Victory-Class Star Destroyers, the Dreadnaugts still outgun anything native to the Chaos, as demonstrated by the Chiss Ascendency’s efforts to acquire the six Dreadnaughts of the Outbound Flight expedition.  Surviving Dreadnaughts usually server as auxiliary craft in the Hand Navy, backing up Star Destroyers.  Five vessels, unfortunately, were in such a state of disrepair that they had to be decommissioned and scrapped.  (“Nightfall of the Final Day”).

Like with other Clone Wars and earlier era ships, the Hand is occasionally able to procure additional vessels from Lesser Space scrapyards in the Outer Rim, though as our own shipbuilding capabilities have improved, this has become far less necessary. 

Known Vessels in the Class:

HMS Rapier

Official transport of her Imperial Majesty, Empress Xelarra.  The Empress declines to use a Star Destroyer for her needs, preferring that the newer, stronger vessels serve in “more important” Naval missions.  Instead, she uses one of the Katana Fleet dreadnaughts, saying she has an “appreciation” for such ships.  As the Imperial transport, the Rapier has civilian amenities more typical to diplomatic vessels (including relatively large shipboard library) and is more comfortable than most navel vessels, even for its enlisted crewmembers.  However, make no mistake – it is still a warship, and is perfectly capable of defending itself.

The Rapier features an upgraded Class 1 hyperdrive, stronger shields (even with the typical strong armour of a Dreadnaught) and its nose cargo bay is more accurately deemed a hanger, housing a full wing of TIE Defenders, as well as having dedicated landing spots for both Empress Xelarra’s and Princess Andorra’s personal Lambda-class shuttles.  The cargo bay can also hold the Empress’ personal combat vehicle, the AT-AT Toraton (her Majesty is a qualified reservist AT-AT driver) though it is more usually stationed on the Renaissance, or on Nirauan itself.      While the Empress is on Nirauan, the Rapier serves as part of the capital’s planetary defense fleet, though it can be ready for Her Majesty’s departure within one standard hour.   

Acclamator and Nightstalker-Class Assault Ships

The Clone Wars-era Acclamator, and its “descendant”, the Nightstalker-class, serve primarily as ground troop transports, assault vehicles and landing craft for the Army of the Hand, Stormtroopers and member world elite troops.  As such, these ships will be described in more detail in the chapter on the Army of the Hand.    

Interdictors

Immobilizer-class cruisers 

These rare ships have the ability to project an artificial gravity field, mimicking the mass shadow of a large object (i.e. a planet) in hyperspace, and subsequently pulling other ships out of hyperspace.  They were not built in great numbers, despite being perhaps the best Rebel-hunting tool at the Empire's disposal.  Thrawn saw their potential when pretty much no other Imperial commander did, and managed to get a large percentage of the Empire's Interdictors assigned to him in the Empire of the Hand. 

While Interdictors are usually used to pull enemy ships out of hyperspace for easier capture/destruction, the “Thrawn Pincer” is a space battle tactic developed by Thrawn, where Interdictors are used to pull his own ships out of hyperspace in a specific formation, with a lot more control than would be possible with usual hyperspace jumps.  He uses the technique in his Campaign of 9 ABY to great affect.   

Immobilizers are about 600 m long, looks like a small Star Destroyer with 4 gravity projector domes sticking out from the lines of the hull)

Known Immobilizer cruisers:

Maelstrom

An old Immobilizer scheduled to be scrapped by the New Republic (as they didn't know how to use it properly).  Raw'nuru (Thrawn's clone) joins a band of pirates in capturing the ship, then seizes command himself.  He uses the Maelstrom as his primary vessel while patrolling the Empire of the Hand's borders, taking on privateer missions, recruiting allies, and protecting his Empire from the shadows as he regains the confidence he needs to retake his old mantle.

Between 20 and 28 ABY, the Maelstrom is involved in several notable events, such as destroying a New Republic vessel that attacked them unprovoked without even firing a shot, which subsequently leads to Raw'nuru finally getting to warn Admiral Ackbar about the Far Outsiders, and the start of their "long distance" friendship (fic idea - "Pen Pals").

The Maelstrom is destroyed in the Evacuation of Lysatra, at the onset of the Far Outsiders War, holding off an invading Vong force long enough for the Hand Fleet to arrive.  Most of the crew, however, survives, and rejoin their Captain (now once again Grand Admiral) on the Renaissance.

The Maelstrom is also where Imp Squadron is assigned.  These near-washout fighter pilots are given one last chance by Wing General Soontir Fel to prove themselves, so are given just standard TIES and assigned to "the Empress' favourite privateer" to shape up.  Under Raw'nuru's command, they become an elite fighter squadron, basically the Hand's version of the NR's Wraith Squadron.  They also join their commander aboard the Renaissance.

Other Interdictors (undetermined class):

Scylla and Charybdis

Assigned to the Renaissance's battle group, these two Interdictors are commanded by Devola and Popula, two redish-orange twin Twi'leks who were trained by Raw'nuru on the Maelstrom.  They had originally been slaves belonging to the first pirate captain, who were freed by Raw'nuru when he overthrew and spaced that captain.  He saw their potential, and personally mentored them into Imperial officers.  Both are good friends (sometimes with benefits) of the Explorer Captain Shran.

Some Spiral-class Star Destroyers are also equipped with Interdiction technology, including Seeker Fleet’s HMS Skywarp.  The Renaissance itself is also Interdiction-capable. 

Arquitens-class Light Cruisers 

Considered the Imperial answer to the Rebellion’s/New Republic’s CR90 Corvette (aka the Rebel Blockade Runner, often nicknamed the “Rebel Ass-Hauler” by Hand navel personnel), the 300-metre long Arquitens has been in service since the Clone Wars, and was of the few ships from that era to remain in service in the Galactic Empire for the entirety of its existence.  The Empire of the Hand likewise inherited a large number of these ships.  While most serve essentially unchanged from their roles in the Galactic Empire as support and scout/recon craft, notable Arquitens have become something more. 

Explorer-class research and scout vessels:

Between 10 BBY and 6 ABY, while Thrawn was building up the Empire of the Hand, it became apparent, especially during the decade-long establishment of the "Thrawn's Cut" hyperspace route, that relying on Star Destroyers and other navy vessels to plant hyperspace beacons and for the diplomatic relations with non-hostile civilisations of the Chaos was unsustainable, and frankly a waste of the Navy's time when they need to be preparing for the upcoming Far Outsider invasion.

With the assistance of Xelarra's research into past exploration initiatives in Lesser Space (both historical and fictional), Thrawn began developing the foundation of a new, offshoot from the Hand Navy, to focus on (relatively) peaceful exploration exclusively.

That said, the Explorer ships, while small, needed to be tough and fast, to survive encounters with less-friendly forces, and to eventually transfer to scout duties in the Far Outsider War.

The ubiquitous Imperial Arquitens-class light cruiser (like Thrawn's first Imperial assignment, the Thunder Wasp) would make an ideal basis.

Explorer-class ships differ from their foundation in having even their limited weapons further reduced, in order to make room for science labs, a larger hanger to hold more than two shuttles at a time, and the most advanced sensor suite in the known Galaxy.  The crew compliment is also reduced, to about 200, from an Arquitens' 700.

Explorer ships are not entirely helpless -- their weapons may be limited, but they pack a punch, and can handle nuisances like smugglers/pirates perfectly well.  Standard procedure has the ships in constant communication with the nearest active Navy vessel (as detected over the Hand's hyperspace beacon network), which is obligated to come to the Explorer's aid if called.

Explorer-class vessels are highly modular, and can be easily customized for different mission profiles.

Thrawn unfortunately did not live to see the Explorer program officially start, but after his death, the program was finally pushed through by Empress Xelarra, with support from Admiral Faro. 

While officially under Admiral Faro’s jurisdiction, she delegated command of the Explorer program to Admiral Rae Sloane.  The program is officially based on Watchtower Station, a space station built at the Ascendency end of Thrawn’s Cut, right outside the border with the Chiss Ascendency.  From this point, Explorer vessels begin their deep space expeditions.

Explorers primarily rely on their planted hyperspace beacons, and on their powerful sensor suites to plot jump-by-jump navigation.  If in a hurry to go somewhere uncharted, Explorers will (begrudgingly) hire the help of a Force-sensitive navigator (the Pathfinders Guild has a franchise based on Watchtower Station), or ask for the assistance of an Imperial Knight.  They will not, under any but the most dire circumstances to the Empire of the Hand as a whole, use Chiss sky-walkers, as the Empire of the Hand considers child labour abhorrent, illegal, and basically slavery.  Like all Hand Imperial forces, they will offer political sanctuary to any sky-walker who asks for it, and their immediate family (parents/caretakers, siblings), and will ensure their transport to Nirauan or another long-time (and well-protected) Hand member world.  Explorer-class vessels use the designation “RRS” for “Royal Research Ship”  

Known Explorer ships:

RRS Stargazer

CO:  Captain Rosk’alem’izeq - Kalemi

Commanded by the Chiss Captain Kalemi, a former member of the Rogue Phalanx, who specialises in astronomy and served alongside then-Govoner Xelarra and Phalanx Commander Stent on the Honoghr mission. ("Nightfall of the Final Day") 

Xelarra and Thrawn's son, Shran, is assigned to the Stargazer as a cadet, and is mentored by Kalemi.  It is the Stargazer that first encounters Mara Jade when she goes looking for the Explorers after hearing rumours about them from spacers/smugglers, and she meets Shran, growing more interested in her connection with the Empire of the Hand (upcoming fic “Daughter of the Empire”).

The Stargazer comes under attack from a trigger-happy New Republic vessel in 22 ABY, mistaking it for an Imperial Remnant Arquitens, in complete violation of the  Pellaeon–Gavrisom Treaty.  Mara distracts the NR ship long enough for a Star Destroyer to come to its rescue, then works with Shran to devise an excuse that the NR ship wandered into an old Clone Wars minefield, despite Mara’s attempt to warn them. 

Cadet Shran serves aboard the Stargazer for the first decade of his career as an Explorer, eventually rising to the rank of First Officer, until he gets his own command.

(named after the USS Stargazer, Captain Jean-Luc Picard's first command).

RRS Intrepid

CO:  Captain Mitth’shra’nuruodo – Shran

Notable officers:              XO and Communications:  Commander Dee (human augment - Tattooine)

Helms officer: Lieutenant Cherith Fel (human - Nirauan)

Navigation:  Hex (Tripod)

Chief Engineer:  Commander Gorbash (Draconian)

CMO:  Doctor Jackie Hatch  (human – Lysatra)

Engineering:  Lieutenant Neela Drakesdaughter (Twi’lek)

Quartermaster:  Ensign Sali Vanto (human – Lysatra)

Commanded by Captain Shran a year or two after start of the Vong War.  Involved in many adventures, including tricking a Vong ship into getting sucked into a black hole, and the raid on Ossus.   Visits the Renaissance often enough that the crews of the two ships know each other pretty well.

(“hero” ship captained by Thrawn’s son. Named after the Intrepid-class ships in Star Trek, the most prominent example being the USS Voyager)

RRS Nonsuch

CO:  Captain Davi Cecelia.  (Quarren) 

XO:  <Unnamed Gungan who speaks with a distinguished Core World accent>

This ship specialises in exploration of ocean worlds.  The majority of her crew are from species that can breathe underwater unaided, and the ship itself is specialised to be able to land (and float) on water.

Captain Cecelia is begrunding friends with Captain Shran, and the two ships collaborate more often than they wish, with the Nonsuch backing up the Intrepid during the Ossus raid. 

(named after the Nonsuch, an 18th century merchant ship which explored Hudson’s and James’ Bays, and helped to start the Canadian fur trade.  A replica – which can be boarded and explored by guests – is on display at the Manitoba museum in Winnipeg.)

[contentment-of-cats]

Fic dump.

Things Said Over Whiskey (968 words) by cathouse_mary Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types Rating: Not Rated Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Wullf Yularen, Gilad Pellaeon Additional Tags: Drinking, Gossip Summary: Two old navy men in a bar ten years after RTS.

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Care (73764 words) by cathouse_mary Chapters: 25/? Fandom: Star Wars: Thrawn Series - Timothy Zahn (2017), Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy Trilogy - Timothy Zahn, Star Wars Legends: Thrawn Trilogy - Timothy Zahn, Star Wars: Rebels Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Relationships to be added, Pellaeon/Marinith, Pyrondi & Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo, Thrawn/Pyrondi Characters: Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo, Pyrondi (Star Wars), Hammerly (Star Wars), Gilad Pellaeon, Albus Marinith, Voss Parck, Dagon Niriz, Lomar (Star Wars), Agral (Star Wars), Original Imperial Characters (Star Wars), Original Female Imperial Character(s) Additional Tags: Being Lost, post-Lothal, Whump, injuries, Emotional Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Blankets, No Beta We Die Like Clones Summary: The 7th fleet is decimated, lost, and trying to survive being abandoned in deep space. Thrawn is recovering from his injuries, his officer corps dead or injured.

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Love's Sucker Punch (1526 words) by cathouse_mary Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Wars: Thrawn Series - Timothy Zahn (2017), Star Wars Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Ilyana Pyrondi/Artur Tagge Characters: Original Imperial Characters (Star Wars) Additional Tags: These Idiots Summary: Artur Tagge meets the most infernal pest.

This is a fanfic of a fanfic of a fanfic - the fanfic of my fanfic is below and I am cocreator because we FAFO this thing.

~

Pyro's Pyrotechnic Love Life (27258 words) by cathouse_mary, Aeon_2407 Chapters: 6/? Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Thrawn Series - Timothy Zahn (2017), Star Wars: Rebels Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Hammerly/Pyrondi (Star Wars), Ilyana Pyrondi/Artur Tagge, Karyn Faro/Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo, Agral/Yve (Star Wars), Ezra Bridger/Sabine Wren, Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla, Alrich Wren/Ursa Wren Characters: Original Characters, Artur Tagge, Pyrondi (Star Wars), Hammerly (Star Wars), Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo, Karyn Faro, Gilad Pellaeon, Agral (Star Wars), Lomar (Star Wars), Yve (Star Wars), Woldar (Star Wars), Cassio Tagge, Domina Tagge, Lapin Tagge, Original Imperial Characters (Star Wars), Original Stormtrooper Character(s) (Star Wars), Chimaera Crew Members (Star Wars), Sabine Wren, Ezra Bridger, Kanan Jarrus, Hera Syndulla, C1-10P | Chopper, Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios, Ursa Wren, Alrich Wren, Tristan Wren, Anakin Skywalker | Darth Vader, Wilhuff Tarkin, Conan Antonio Motti, Wullf Yularen, Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious, The Force (Star Wars) Additional Tags: Established Relationship, Chimaera means family, Sorta angsty at the beginning, but a lot more fluffy and funny later, I promise, No Beta We Die Like Clones, Everyone Is Gay, The Mandalorian Darksaber (Star Wars), Canto Bight | Capital City of Cantonica (Star Wars), Planet Krownest (Star Wars), Clan Wren (Star Wars), Unresolved Romantic Tension, Romantic Angst, Everyone Needs Therapy, Especially Artur, Established Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo/Karyn Faro, Established Hammerly/Pyrondi, Force Visions (Star Wars), The World Between Worlds (Star Wars), Alternate Timelines, Blood and Injury, Violence, Child Abandonment, House of Tagge Summary: What is it about the obscenely rich yet kind and funny officers that has Pyro gravitating to them her entire love life? Luckily, there were only two so far that fit the criteria. And her ex is transferring to the Chimaera. Not too bad. Right?

[doctorwenqing]

i was not expecting reading these books to add fuel to the “ezra and thrawn need to team up” fire but LOOK AT THIS

[i-want-to-marry-cedf-officer]

I have neither excuse, nor regrets

I do believe they are sharing the same face

[empress-violetlight]

Thanks for the tag, @hobbit0fhobbiton :)

I'm sharing the last couple paragraphs I've written so far in "Penelope", Chapter 5, otherwise it might not make any sense

==

If Voss Parck was still in command, then there was still hope.  The Empire of the Hand was clearly still intact, at the very least. 

But who could possibly have been worth recruiting so much that Parck had been willing to risk exposing their Empire to the rest of the Galaxy?  Also, who could have made such a mess in their refusal?  It had to have been someone very important.  He tried to remember any names of former Imperials worth the effort -- whom he had not already recruited to the Hand – but nothing other than jumbled images without names came to his frustrated mind.

Some time later, he heard the voice of the base commander over the background noise of the staff hard at work cleaning and repairing the hanger, he turned his helmeted head, seeing the Crahsystor speaking with another familiar face whose name he could not currently place – the greatest Imperial TIE pilot, though now with a patch covering one of his eyes.

“The Empress is coming here?” he heard the commander ask.

Empress?! 

What in the Chaos?! 

==

Tagging @admiral-arelami @twilekchiss

Last Line

Only I’m going to post the last ~10 lines because this section is fun, and I feel bad for not having posted or finished anything in quite a while.

Tarkin narrowed his eyes as Grizzer popped into his field of view, panting happily, blithely unaware of the mundane concerns of mortal men.

“Oh, and Sergeant— you would not be remiss to confine the entire 501st to their barracks while you undertake the search…”

“You suspect their involvement with the missing inventory, sir?” Hound asked.

“As much as I suspect the infamous ‘Liberty Risk’ Legion of general malfeasance, yes,” Tarkin said. “Though the 212th is regrettably not without its own…disruptive elements, shall we say.”

‘Disruptive elements.’ If Hound flat-out admitted what he’d done this morning to Tarkin’s face, the man would probably drop dead on the spot. 

In fact, it might even be worth a shot.

“I see, sir,” Hound said, the spirit of better judgment winning him over. “My security team will begin the lockdown immediately.” 

Tagging if either of you want to play the last line written tag game!

@amukmuk @hrtiu 

[arvadthecursed]

Stent: why does Admiral Parck call you babygirl?

Soontir Fel: how about we stop talking for a little while.

[misskitsune08]

Art & Blues

I resurrected Art & Blues. Enjoy pure Legends Parck, Stent, Pellaeon, Niriz, Thrawn and other Imperial characters. 

[empress-violetlight]

The Empire of the Hand is NOT a rebellion of any sort! It's a "shadow Empire", an offshoot of the Galactic Empire set up in the Unknown Regions and Wild Space, with Palpatine's full knowledge and support, (since, unlike Disney, the Legends writers knew full well you couldn't rule a Galaxy-spanning Empire by being an 80s cartoon villain. Palpatine was power hungry and cruel, yes, but he wasn't stupid).

Its purpose was to act as a bulwark against the upcoming Yuuzhan Vong invasion, protecting both the Empire proper and the Chiss Ascendency (whether or not the Ascendency wanted the protection). Both Thrawn and Palpatine knew of the Vong since before the Clone Wars.

Numerous Imperials like Voss Parck (the star destroyer captain who first discovered Thrawn in exile) and Baron Soontir Fel (the greatest TIE pilot ever, arguably the greatest non-Force sensitive pilot in the Galaxy), and the Chiss of the Rogue (Household) Phalanx, who exiled themselves from the Ascendency to join Thrawn, and several local alien races all joined the Empire of the Hand.

The real (i.e. Legends) reason why Thrawn wasn't involved during the events of the OT was because he was busy with the Empire of the Hand, and preparing the Galaxy for the most devastating war in its entire history. The Yuuzhan Vong - organic-tech using religious extremists extra-galactic aliens -- made Alderaan look like a Tuesday. They killed quadrillions of people, wiped out hundreds, if not thousands of planets, including Coruscant itself.

That's what Thrawn's priority was -- stopping, or at least mitigating what was to come. Let Vader play with the rebels. They were nothing in the grand scheme of things, and it was their "victory" that ultimately screwed the Galaxy over. Thrawn's death at the hands of Rukh *fucked* the Galaxy!

The New Republic did NOT unite with the remnants of the Empire until late into the Vong war, and the only reason they even had peace with the Remnant -- after 15 drawn-out years of fighting -- not 1 ending at Jakku -- was because Pellaeon extended the olive branch. The Galactic Civil War didn't end with a cinematic space battle, but with styluses on a datapad.

Their mismanagement and arrogance about the Vong cost untold lives. They didn't even begin to take the threat seriously until they were literally landing troops on Coruscant.

References: Novels: Choices of One, The Hand of Thrawn duology (Specter of the Past, Visions of the Future) Survivor's Quest and Outbound Flight.

Short stories: Mist Encounter, Crisis of Faith

All by Timothy Zahn

The 19 book New Jedi Order series.

Sorry, but considering the Empire of the Hand is my fanfiction specialty, calling it a "rebellion" is outright insulting! It is the exact opposite of what it is in Legends!

Do your homework! At least take 5 minutes to check Wookieepedia before spewing such untruths!

I'm not the only one who thinks we need a Star Wars What If Show, right? And specifically these What If..?

What If... Anakin Skywalker didn't fall to the Dark Side?

What If... Padme Amidala was force sensitive?

What If.... Obi-Wan Kenobi became a Sith after Qui-Gon's death?

What If... Darth Vader lived at the end of Return Of The Jedi?

What If... Darth Maul left the Dark Side after Palpatine's betrayal?

What If... Padme Amidala lived in Revenge Of The Sith and raised Luke and/or Leia?

What If... Sheev Palpatine wasn't Darth Sidious?

What If... Ahsoka Tano didn't leave the Jedi Order?

What If... the roles were reversed? (every bad character is good and viceversa)

What If... Luke Skywalker fell to the Dark Side?

What If... Darth Vader didn't fight Ahsoka in Twilight of the Apprentice?

What If... Ahsoka Tano and Darth Maul became allies in Clone Wars?

What If... Alexsandr Kallus redeemed sooner?

What If... Kanan Jarrus saved Grand Inquisitor in Fire Across the Galaxy and he reluctantly became part of the Ghost Crew -just to stay alive- until he truly became a rebel?

What If... Thrawn became a rebel instead of an imperial?

What If... the Empire fell, but Anakin Skywalker didn't, and he had to raise Luke?

What If... Thrawn and Ezra had to put their differences aside to survive after Family Reunion – and Farewell?

What If... Ezra Bridger became a Sith?

What If... the Order 66 didn't happen?

What If... the Empire and the Rebellion had to work together to stop a threat, far more dangerous than the Empire ever was?

[foxwithpretzel]

A small sketch of baby Stent (Kres'ten'tarthi) for the lovely fic “Найденыш” (”The Foundling”) by @eleonoraalva

It’s a bittersweet story of how Stent ended up in the Empire of the Hand, while he was still a small kid. 

In the picture he’s holding an ugly monster toy some human from Thrawn’s Empire gifted him. As I read the text more than half a year ago, I can’t remember who exactly it was who had given him this particular gift. Maybe Voss Parck?

[eleonoraalva]

Just some shitty memes, don’t pay attention

[sherlock-rdj]

When you ship Voss Park/Thrawn

[crusaderscribbles]

Fractured Empire Chapter 2: Cass

Theme

Location: Bimmissari 

They had been listening in on the chatter from the local Warlord’s forces for the past hour or so, having dropped out of hyperspace less than one ten-billionth of a parsec away. Cass and the literal hundreds of fighters that had all dropped out of hyperspace from the workhorse X and Y wings to the newly acquired forces of the Cutlass-9 patrol fighters from Sorosuub awaited the rest of the fleet, having arrived ahead of time so that they could ensure there were no surprises.

They were told that the warlord they were to depose here had a small fleet of Tartan-class patrol cruisers and  IPV-1 System Patrol Craft.

Unfortunately, as Green Seven, Moe, had so colorfully put it; “Someone in Intel made a big kriffin mistake.”

“Keep it quiet, Green group” came the order from ahead. they were to wait still, but this made things more difficult...

Imperial Escort Carriers and TIE Hunters swarmed the planet, practically blotting it out. 

The rest of the fleet they were waiting for consisted of three MC30c frigates, and twelve Pelta class frigates, the latter of which was meant to bring troops to combat the Imperial forces on the ground and supplies for the people of the planet below. It was far too late to send word to the rest of the fleet that they were woefully unprepared, so the squadron leaders began to weigh their options. 

After several minutes, the word went out...swarm the Imperial vessels, stay out of range of the Carriers’ cannons, and buy enough time for the rest of the fleet to arrive and land the troops and supplies.

“Corman here, no problems, sir.” a squadron leader stated, getting a reply of “good, keep sweeping. The last thing we need is an ambu-” but he never got the chance to finish as a swarm of activated proton torpedoes hit their target, literally ripping one of the eighteen carriers in half, numerous explosions catching three wings of Hunters, the others giving it a large berth to avoid the same fate. 

As the Carriers turned to face this unknown enemy, the cloud of fighters tore into the other Hunters, though they got as well as they gave. streaks of blue, red, green, and white floating through space. “Moe, with me!” Cass called out as the order had gone for Green group to split into two smaller groups and focus on disabling the engines of the escort carriers. 

With their assignment known, they rushed the backs of several of the carriers, ensuring they were close enough to avoid any anti-fighter fire. While Moe and Cass’ group were tasked with this, the rest of green group would defend the Y-wings with a wing of x-wings that were flying to the surface to perform bombing runs on the Imperial centers and try to draw off as many of the Hunters as possible for when the rest of the fleet arrived.

Explosions rocked Cass’ ship as she was forced to pull back up after three successful runs It was then that she heard Moe curse violently, causing her to check her radar. 

The rest of the fleet had arrived...

Right in the middle of the fire fight.

three of the Pelta-classes had exited hyperspace just in time to run into three of the carriers, the bright light nearly blinding her as she flipped down the visor of her helmet. “Dela command, this is Cassandra Chase of Green Group, make for the surface immediately, Intel screwed us on this!”

Unfortunately, her warning was too late, green beams flashing as the escort carriers remaining focused their fire on the first  MC30c frigate, which managed to take another one with it before it was turned into a fiery ball.

forty-five minutes.

it had taken half an hour for the remaining  MC30cs to get wiped out, the Pelta classes that remained having broken through to the planet’s atmosphere. However, with only six Imperial Escort carriers remaining an less than 1/4 of the TIE Hunters still flying, it still wasn’t enough for the Alliance. of the roughly 800 fighters that had ambushed the warlord’s ships, 300 remained.

Cass looked around desperately as she knew that they would likely die due to someone’s blunder. Until...

One...no, two...no!

A fleet of strange vessels dropped out of hyperspace led by a single Imperial class star destroyer. Moe audibly groaned as the remaining pilots cursed their luck, expecting that Intel had missed even more. Until the fleet began to split and open fire on the remaining escort carriers, launching strange fighters  which seemed to completely ignore the rebel ships and tear into the remaining TIE hunters.

“Rebel fleet, you are in direct violation of space claimed by The Empire of The Hand. You are ordered to either disperse or surrender. You have one minute to make your decision.” 

The all clear sounded for them, indicating it was time to leave. Cass and what remained of the squadron leaders ordered what was left of the ships to make the jump.

As the ships made the jump, the captain of the Admonitor looked out on the decimated remains of the battle. 

He still wondered about his orders to leave the rebel fleet alone, but Senior Captain Parck had learned long ago that questioning the Grand Admiral was usually an exercise in foolishness.

(credits below line))

(Cassandra chase belongs to @thecuriouslolita star wars belongs to Disney, cyberpunk asmr belongs to @epicasmr Moe Cajkowski belongs to @ct-hardcase))

[contentment-of-cats]

FINALLY SHE POSTS

Care: Chapter 24 (69341 words) by cathouse_mary Chapters: 24/? Fandom: Star Wars: Thrawn Series - Timothy Zahn (2017), Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy Trilogy - Timothy Zahn, Star Wars Legends: Thrawn Trilogy - Timothy Zahn, Star Wars: Rebels Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Relationships to be added, Pellaeon/Marinith, Pyrondi & Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo, Thrawn/Pyrondi Characters: Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo, Pyrondi (Star Wars), Hammerly (Star Wars), Gilad Pellaeon, characters to be added - Character, Albus Marinith, Voss Parck, Dagon Niriz, Lomar (Star Wars), Agral (Star Wars), Original Imperial Characters (Star Wars), Original Female Imperial Character(s) Additional Tags: Being Lost, post-Lothal, Whump, injuries, Emotional Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Blankets, No Beta We Die Like Clones Summary: The 7th fleet is decimated, lost, and trying to survive being abandoned in deep space. Thrawn is recovering from his injuries, his officer corps dead or injured.

[graycranium]

[baraste-legacy]

…Got her!!! 🙂

The Empire's New Hope by Feivelyn on DeviantArt

“GO MR. ZAHN I NEED MORE NOVELS! (Novel wise I'm somewhere in the middle of Vision of the Future now) An imperial parody version of the classic Star Wars poster artwork. Left to right: Admiral Voss Parck and Kres'ten'tarthi from the Empire of the Hand (Thrawn's trusty in-universe Fanclub ^^ ) Lt.Commander Eli Vanto Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo (+Ysalamir) Captain Gilad Pellaeon Characters by Timothy ZahnStar Wars © Disney T-shirt edit for those who requested: sta.sh/01ylon4zbz6y More Thrawn stuff: Watching The Fleet Epic Thrawn Thrawn The Grand Admiral

Published: Dec 30, 2018“

Please visit the artist’s pages at DeviantArt, ArtStation, Instagram, SketchFab, YouTube and Patreon.

I DON'T KNOW THE SOURCE FOR THIS AND NEITHER DOES GOOGLE LENS BUT I'M DEAD-

Ingonyama nengw' enamabala

If you know the artist or the source please let me know and I'll take this down if they've posted it here but agsgshsjjdgdj

[drartslog]

That sneak-peek though

PARCK IS CANON JEEZ YES Eli is a male. OK, one step closer to being young Pellaeon.

“Thrawn and the ruthless Emperor are at a pivotal meeting with Captain Parck, "the commander who has possibly put his career at risk with his bold initiative,” as well as Eli Vanto, “a young cadet who’s heard stories about these mysterious people and whose knowledge of Thrawn’s language has put him in a unique position,” says Zahn.“

??¿¿?? So. Car'das learned Cheunh and met the Chiss. He was from Corellia. Pellaeon was from Corellia too. Eli has heard of the Chiss and knows smth about their language. Coincidence? Don’t even dare doubt.

Zahn c'mon you bastard I can’t wait for April ANY LONGER

Oh, and the Empire of the Hand is even more canon than it already was.