#mon calamari cruiser

[tcards]

Star Wars - Return of the Jedi: The 40th Anniversary Covers by Chris Sprouse

[alphamecha-mkii]

[swtechspecs]

Mon Calamari MC80B Star Cruiser "Mon Remonda"

Source: The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels (Del Rey, 1996)

[grayrazor]

It's crazy how Rogue One had more original foreground ships than The Force Awakens

[star-wars-forever]

MC75 Star Cruiser

[siryl]

An orthographic projection of a Mon Calamari star cruiser by Nigel Kerr, utilizing assets by Bertrand Dejardin.

[classicanalyzer]

LEGO Star Wars Rebuild The Galaxy Thoughts

"Nothing makes sense, and everything's mixed up, and that's okay. Things fall apart, but maybe they can come back together better than before." Sig Greebling

Rebuild The Galaxy is my favorite out of all the D+ LEGO SW specials. I really love the connections to LEGO and SW, including the previous LEGO SW shows, especially Freemaker Adventures. Michael Kramer did an amazing job with the soundtrack, Sig's and Yesi's themes were well-composed.

Part I

"For someone who spends all his time telling stories about heroes, you have no idea how to be one. Maybe that's why you like history so much. It's over and done, but your life isn't. There's so much ahead of you if you'd just try, but you're afraid." Dev Greebling

Sig Greebling is such a cool name. I really love how he's a literal in-universe SW fan, yet someone who actually wants to be normal despite his Force sensitivity. I find it funny he's a literal Nerf herder. I do emphasize of how he wanted to avoid all the expectations if people know he's Force-sensitive.

I love the reference to Wookiees originally being a part of RotJ before being replaced with Ewoks.

Fennesa is a cool-looking world. Yesi Scala is another cool name (I get reminded of Scala Ad Caleum from KH haha). It's too bad Sig's indecisiveness and inability to step out of his comfort zone translates to his social life, even his crush. The background painting showing the sunset is so beautiful.

I really like how the Ackbar Troopers are the Clones in this universe. They must have chosen Ackbar as the main host due to his skills since he was a skilled warrior and leader, but definitely also for the memes out of universe. I also love how Phase I was used because the Kaminionans designed the Phase I suit based on aquatic species like themselves and would fit the Mon Calamari Clones.

The fighting animation and choreography for Yesi's fight against the Ackbar Troopers are so well animated. I laughed seeing that one Ackbar Trooper shooting with two blasters. I can see why Sig likes Yesi. Also ooff, Yesi lost her father in this timeline to the Empire. You can feel the bleak state of this galaxy under this Empire. At least, Yesi's desire to fly among the stars and not live in a backwater world is still there. I like how Sig also mentioned how Rancors are actually misunderstood intelligent creatures.

Double ooff, Sig's brother is now Darth Devastator "Dev". At least we finally get our first on-screen appearance of Jedi Bob!

Part II

"Being a hero is easier when you don't know the cost...Sig, the Force doesn't work that way. The dark side is loud and obvious like a big, mean Gamorrean kicking you in the head over and over. But the light side, the light side of the Force is just a whisper in the back of your mind." Bobolian Afol "Jedi Bob"

Darth Rey as Dev's apprentice feels so wrong about the intentional nature of aspects of this new universe. Jedi Bob!...or rather Bobolian Afol lmao (I also love how the markings seem a bit faded which signals his age). I love this cynical Jedi who sucks at fighting but is amazing at the Force...which is what a true Jedi should specialize in.

FREEMAKER LORE! THE FORCE BUILDERS ARE BACK! I love seeing them once again and hearing Bob recap them feels cathartic.

Ewok Bounty Hunters is one thing but bounty hunter C-3PO channeling his Triple 0 and HK-47 vibes in a Naboo Royal Cruiser with gold plating feels so right yet so wrong in the best ways possible. Yesi really has a lot of baggage with her wanting to prove herself and redeem herself for accidentally getting a rebel base captured.

Mos Eisley Marina made me die on the inside lmao. Tatooine isn't boring anymore lmao. I do love how this is a nod to how the BoBF and Legends mention Tatooine being once covered with oceans before becoming a desert world.

Like father like son indeed, however, even Anakin wouldn't go that far to cheat. I do love how Luke and Anakin use the same Podracer. Poor Max Rebo.

I love how Maul in this galaxy is much more relaxed and happy. At least, in this galaxy, Maul gets to live his life without the tragedies in his main galaxy life.

I love the implication that Nubs is well-known in the main galaxy that Sig knows about him. I'm incredibly confident that Darth Hammerhead is Rusty. Even in another universe, nobody remembers his name lmao.

That brief Duel of the Fates theme playing when Darth Jar Jar appeared was so hype and chilling. His line goes unironically hard.

Part III

"I know you can't restore a galaxy once it's gone because I tried to restore my own, and I failed. In the galaxy I'm from, things were simpler. I was a Padawan on Alistan Nor, learning the secrets of Force Building. I'd heard rumors about the Cornerstone. The more I read, the more obsessed I became. Was it possible to remake an entire galaxy? I needed to know the truth. My Masters forbid me from searching for the Cornerstone, but I wasn't exactly good at following orders. There were so many rules. I just wanted to do things my own way. I thought I could control the Cornerstone. I never thought -- When I left that temple, everything was different. My galaxy was gone, Sig. And yours had just been born." Bobolian Afol "Jedi Bob"

We truly reached the pinnacle of miniaturized Death Star tech with the Dark Falcon lmao.

Darth Jar Jar definitely isn't dead and I love what little time we had with him.

I love the lights looking like the Binary Sun and the music playing as Luke looks towards them.

I love how Palpatine in this universe is a cynic who gave up on fighting. I like that fascinating take on this alternate Palpatine. The new Jedi Council (I like the faded and scratched markings similar to Jedi Bob signals their age and tiredness of a seemingly hopeless war) is insane with Jedi Vader (I love that this is a SW Infinities comic reference, it felt cathartic to see it realized in visual media), Dooku, Cad Bane, Jannah, Lobot, IG-88(?), and even Jabba. I really love that Jannah has more to do here including her actress returning to voice her.

Greedo being the Han of this universe was so funny. He even has the Rodian ears for his Slave I Firespray ship lmao.

I love how Yesi recreates the energy in TFA when she does smth incredibly insane with Greedo's ship. Sig saying I do feels like his and Yesi's "I know" moment. And a Star Trous mention. I also feel like Yesi's point of how you fix the mistake got to Jedi Bob and got to him into revealing the truth. I love how Grevious is one of the rebels in this universe.

Alistan Nor!!! THAT'S THE FORCE BUILDER WORLD AND IT WAS MENTIONED IN FREEMAKER ADVENTURES.

Damn, this Han really became just like his mentor in the old universe. A true scoundrel.

God that twist of the old universe never coming back is gut-wrenching...especially since Jedi Bob is the only survivor of his old universe. The story of Jedi Bob is beyond tragic. One simple curiosity into the cornerstone left him the only survivor. Spending all that time alone in the Temple to make sure it doesn't happen again...only for it to happen again. I also really love how the simple galaxy is represented by 4:3 aspect ratio and all LEGO figures are the classic yellow designs.

WHEN SERVO WAS DESTROYED, I FELT MY HEART BREAKING APART. God that was heartbreaking to see, just like many heroes before him in his stories, to save his friends Sig gave himself up.

Part IV

"The tales of my galaxy. The tales of people like Dev. My Dev. I don't wanna forget them. They matter." Sig Greebling

God the intro with the sad music and Servo shutting down just hurts me in ways I cannot comprehend. The collapsing logo really showcases we're in the endgame.

I love how Yoda is voiced by his Young Jedi Adventure VA in this show. It is heartbreaking to see Ian Han hate Yoda given the very first major LEGO SW special (The Padawan Menace was one of my first non-SW movie experiences in my childhood).

Even if Dev is mentally messed up, I really like how he came around to having a brother and want to be brothers. I like how Sig realizes this is all a fantasy of a galaxy he can never restore. He fights to save this galaxy now.

I'm happy Tico got to a substantial role in this show alongside Rey. Reusing the Nobody line toward Darth Rey was pretty cruel.

The space battle was shot very well and I love the designs of the Calamari Destroyers.

Dev's breakdown was pretty disturbing to see and how he took the rage and lack of happiness in his life to put his idea of "order" and to take control of his life. Especially how he sees himself as beyond redemption and the point of no return.

The quote I used for the introduction quote is beautifully anti-nihilist.

The fight is so well choreographed and so peak, especially when the brief moment the windows were destroyed and the energy shield was activated. The fact the Nerf herder stick came back to be a major turning point in the fight against Dev is great. It was heartbreaking and I got a bit misty-eyed to see Dev ultimately decide to remain evil.

My heart repaired itself as Servo was reconstructed. The old galaxy is gone but the stories will live on. And leave it for Servo to interrupt Sig and Yesi's tender moment haha.

The ending shot with the new crew really felt like the passing of the torch between the Freemaker Adventures to Rebuild the Galaxy. I hope we get to see the Freemaker cast, especially the Freemaker family on Alistan Nor.

Also, The Landolorian and Evil Grogu has been so hyped as the sequel hook alongside Darth Rey and Tico being in charge of the Empire.

This is such a great show and I can't wait to see more LEGO SW stories set in this universe.

I love the score by Kramer who is also responsible for Ninjago’s score (alongside Jay Vincent):

[howtofightwrite]

Hi! I need some advice on how to write battle plans. Like in war and such. I’m also having to come up with terrain for this chapter I’m writing. This is a Star Wars story with two Jedi if that matters. Do you think you can help me?

I'm a bit under the weather right now, so this response is going to be fairly brief. We'll be back to our normal schedule as soon as possible.

The Star Wars part matters a lot. Most science fiction settings have specific considerations that heavily affect how combat encounters play out, and what needs to be considered for planning.

In particular, combat in Star Wars can be roughly broken down into three parts. Space, ground, and characters. The ground and characters being separate groups is somewhat artificial, but it does reflect how the films (and most Star Wars media, for that matter) is written.

Space combat has a lot of considerations and, generally, has a rock, paper, scissors relationship going on. Star Wars tends to split starships into three groups: Capital ships, starfighters, and bombers. This is less consistently illustrated on screen, and tends to be something that exists more in the support material. Basically, capital ships (usually) have heavy flak defenses against incoming fighters. Fighters have a significant maneuverability advantage over bombers, and bombers are (usually) equipped with long range ordinance to deal crippling damage to enemy capital ships. (Beyond that, there are a lot of ships that perform better in their role, or partially step outside of their role.) The resulting structure is that capital ships operate as the heavy firepower supported by starfighters who have the specific job of screening off any incoming bombers. (In the original Trilogy, the TIE Fighters, TIE Interceptors, and TIE Advanced are the Empire's fighters, with the TIE Bombers as their only bomber variety. The Rebels use X-Wings, A-Wings as their starfighters, with the Y-Wings and B-Wings serving as their bombers. If you ever wondered why the sent in Y-Wings on the first trench run, here's your answer.)

Star Destroyers (Imperial-Class, and the Executor SSD), Mon Calamari Star Cruisers (these are noted for not having a standard design pattern, so a lot of the weird globby capital ships in Return of the Jedi are all MonCal Star Cruisers), Corellian Corvettes, and Nebulon-B Frigates cover most of the capital ships you see in the original films.

If you want to expand beyond that, then the original Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn is a pretty good place to start. Thrawn is a very well written strategist, especiallyin his original outing, and Zahn introduced a lot of strategically interesting mechanics to Star Wars that hadn't been set up in the original films. This included the concept of interdictors which could create an artificial gravity well to force ships out of Hyperspace.

Moving on to ground combat, Star Wars is a setting that's usually pretty good about paying attention to combined arms. Most starfighters and bombers (including all of the ones I mentioned above), are able to provide close air support, and capital ships can provide targeted orbital bombardment (in the case of some larger capital ships, they can obliterate entire cities, and fleets effectively wipe out entire planetary civilizations. Usually the reason not to do this is because the faction in question is unwilling to do so, or the planet has some direct strategic value.) This is on top of a lot of atmospheric only speeders and walkers that exist. Also technology like energy shields which can (in some cases) provide full protection against orbital bombardment, and a heavily fortified planet may have surface-to-space  ion cannons and/or turbolaser batteries, which could make life very interesting for an invading fleet attempting to clear the planet.

A lot of the time, ground combat in Star Wars will either focus on the vehicle combat directly or mix between vehicles and infantry combat. Actually drafting up battle plans in situations like this is going to depend primarily on strategic considerations for where they're fighting. If repulsorlifts don't work on the planet, then T-47 speeders aren't an option, and everyone's restricted to walkers and treadded vehicles. If it's an exceptionally dense urban environment that needs to be taken (mostly) intact, then you're probably looking at normal infantry for a long drawn out campaign, where they're unlikely to use anything heavier than a concussion rifle. If the goal is to simply turn a facility into a crater, you can do that with a few proton bombs fired from a flight of Y-Wings.

It really depends on what you need done.

After that, the films have very strong focus on duels between major characters. Characters (especially Jedi) tend to quickly carve through, or easily evade, any ground units sent after them. If you're a named character in Star Wars, the real danger is another named character, not some random troopers (even if they should pose more of a threat.)

It might be worth digging up a copy of Empire at War. It's an older Star Wars RTS, but a very well made one, which embraces some of the setting's strategic depth, and has enough interesting concepts to get you thinking.

-Starke

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[magnetarbeam]

Star Wars Technical Worldbuilding Notes 4

The Malevolence's ion web thing is a mystery in terms of what it was actually supposed to do. That ship didn't accomplish anything any other warship its size couldn't. If anything, it's a waste of energy because of how much of the web just travels past a target that's hit.

All I've really been able to come up with for how that weapon might be uniquely useful is against planetary shields. It'd have to be attached to a much bigger ship, but theoretically if you put enough power into that, you could take down the shielding across an entire hemisphere in a single shot. Still a very energy-intensive novelty weapon at best - the standard doctrine of a concentrated barrage to form a local breach and landing ground forces through the breach exists for a reason - but I can see it coming in handy against a layout of ground defenses that planned on an attacking fleet being able to breach the shield at only a few specific points.

Headcanonically, conventionally armed Subjugator-class variants did end up as the main CIS line cruiser for the rest of that war, because it's also just a better design for a warship. I admittedly have yet to do proper volume calcs for either of them, but no matter how many reactors and cannons and military-grade power conduits you can fit in a Lucrehulk, the firing arcs are still abysmal in comparison.

Fortifications on planets can inherently be much higher-powered than ships, because there's much more space for reactors and neutrino radiator banks and shield generators. The limit on the fuel capacity of ships is the mass of hypermatter, which is also of no concern to a planet.

Ecumenopolis worlds would be the hardest to take, and would probably require specialized tactics, because the amount of territory you have to cover is a matter of volume and not just surface area.

Shields should be present on all planets with access to galactic standard technology. Not necessarily shields that can stand up to a turbolaser bombardment, but they need to at least stop asteroids.

The relative prominence of Mon Calamari compared to Kuat in New Republic and then Galactic Alliance warship construction is something I wonder about sometimes.

Kuat, of course, has their giant fucking system ring and stuff, and is historically the dominant starship manufacturer. But I wonder if the political prominence of Mon Calamari due to their contributions from the Rebellion onward might lead to them getting more new contracts.

Come to think of it, I like the thought of whatever corporate entity probably handles the Mon Cal yards having subsidiary facilities specifically on other ocean planets.

Or maybe the Mon Cal yards are just completely nationalized. I can kinda see the Galactic Alliance, at least, wanting at least one major shipyard to be under their direct control, to limit potential interference from corrupt corporate executives. I don't think I've ever heard anything explicitly contradicting that.

Anything you might hear about pre-Endor Mon Cal designs, which are converted civilian stuff, being superior to their purpose-built Imperial warship counterparts is pure bullshit, for, I'd think, obvious reasons.

Realistically, I do think the New Republic would have started to show original purpose-built warship designs earlier than we see, and as I've talked about before, that's the niche that I headcanonically have brought in the Starhawk for (minus the super-tractor-beam thing, because I think it's dumb as shit). I've also thought of moving the introduction of the MC90 design generation a couple years earlier, like maybe 8 ABY, for similar reasons.

I think the Starhawk Mark II only exists in disney canon because of the stats in Armada, but I can maybe extrapolate it in here as a successor that the NR came up for the sake of quickly coming up with something to pay KDY for after they took the planet, to keep the company happy.

U-Wings also exist in my headcanon because I just like them, and a random piece of worldbuilding I've devised about it is that they're technically organized as NR/GA Marine Corps assets.

The way I understand it, the general basis for the NR and GA naval structure - four to nine numbered fleets at any given time, and most major engagements involve at least one of those being committed in full - comes from stuff set up in Black Fleet Crisis, where the new Fifth Fleet is the centerpiece of the plot and stuff. Some of the reference books elaborated on that in earlier periods, laying out some of the movements and positions of the First through Fourth in the first two years or so after Endor - but it's not as widespread as a point of reference in most of the New Republic-era books. I'd be pretty curious to learn what fleet Han's anti-Zsinj task force was drawn from, for example.

[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.)

[arc-77]

// As elaborated on in my previous post, Fordo does not command any truly large ships or a fleet suited for space combat, and that is unlikely to change. His expertise is on the ground, not on the bridge. But this is Star Wars and giant starships are cool as hell and I'm obsessed, so here's a few capital ships he'd be inclined to command if things were different.

Slightly smaller than the standard Imperial Star Destroyer, the Procursator-class Star Destroyer was a 1200 meter long design comparable in size to the Venator-Class. Its main battery consisted of three triple-barreled heavy turbolaser turrets mounted midship, providing it exceptional field of fire, but its total hangar space was very modest. Fordo favored the Procursator over the ISD as it was faster and more maneuverable, and thus made for an adept frontline skirmisher to the ISD's brawler.

The Fulgor-class Pursuit Frigate stands not far behind for very similar reasons. This 600 meter long heavy frigate's main battery was a pair of twin-barreled heavy turbolasers, as well as a pair of ball-mounted ion cannons on its flanks. As the name suggests, its primary role was to chase down lighter frigates, corvettes, and blockade runners utilizing the exceptional speed granted by its outsized engines. Fordo would be very fond of these, especially in the early years of the war before Mon Calamari Cruisers were prevalent.

The Gladiator-class Star Frigate was another 600 meter long design, intended as an escort carrier to accompany the Victory-Class. It was quickly repurposed back into a long-range patrol vessel, essentially serving as an extra-light Star Destroyer for system pacification duties. Its main armament was six twin-barreled light turbolaser turrets, a torpedo/concussion missile battery, and it had ample hangar space. Fordo would utilize these more in line with their original role, serving as frontline combat carriers escorting larger ships that lacked hangar space.

The Lancer-class Light Frigate, measuring at only 250 meters long, was a capital ship designed for an incredibly rare role in the Imperial Navy: dedicated starfighter screening. It utilized a plethora of quad point defense laser cannons to dice apart incoming starfighters through volume of fire. Though it could be retrofitted with a few light turbolasers, it was best suited for escorting larger ships rather than engaging them. Given the Rebel Alliance's effective usage of starfighters, Fordo wants his fleet to have as many point-defense weapons as he can get his hands on.

The Secutor-class Star Destroyer was a late Clone Wars era battlecarrier, first entering service shortly after the war. Measuring 2200 meters in length, it featured the same iconic twin-bridge conning tower as on the Venator-class, utilizing one for ship operations and the other for starfighter operations. For years, the Secutor-class would hold the title of the Empire's largest dedicated starfighter carrier. I'm not gonna list all the turbolasers and such, but there were a lot of them, many of which being the same DBY-827 heavy turbolaser turrets as on the Venator-class. A Secutor would serve as the command ship at the very core of Fordo's fleet as the anchor around which all the other ships pivot in an engagement. This is the largest ship he could feasibly receive command of, in my opinion.

Although the Bellator-class Star Dreadnought was perhaps the smallest of the Empire's Super Star Destroyers, the 7200 meter long behemoth of a ship was still one of the largest in the entire galaxy. Considered a "fast dreadnought", the sleek Bellator exchanged the sheer bulk and firepower of its bigger sisters for greater speed and maneuverability, and it still outgunned everything the Empire would ever face. If Fordo ever commanded a Super Star Destroyer, it would be one of these. There simply doesn't need to be any ships larger than this. Please stop building them. Palpatine please it's a waste of resources, the regular ISD is already too big.

[forcechoosen]

@starsentsign​    will you stay with me? (protective prompts) --- from starsentsign :: leia to galen

        Rebels. Galen touched down at the on Calamari cruiser, one of the last to get off Yavin IV, his ship full of survivors who escaped. The Death Star was destroyed and already was that swelling recruits but the Empire was coming hard. and they still had to deal with the grief of Alderaan and without Bail Organa the tri-pact of Bel Ibis and Mon Mothma was tense to say the least.

          Yet he was stopped and considered her beautiful face, looking into those brown eyes and he was stopped/ Still silent and looking for her in the force the man faltered, she always made him falter, “ Yes.” He stepped closer and clutched her arm.

[alphamecha-mkii]

Armada - Quarterly Kits 2017 Promos - TIE Bomber Squadron by Anthony Devine

[spacefinch]

Warning: here be Star Wars fanfic:

I wrote this for a school assignment a few years ago….

Star Wars: Sato's Story

By Finch

[Atollon. Phoenix Squadron’s base of operations.]

Sand. Dust. That was all that my nephew Mart and I could see outside the ship’s viewport.. The entire base was on lockdown thanks to this blasted sandstorm.

"How much longer until the storm lets up?" Mart grumbled. "I hate being stuck inside."

"I am not sure. But in the meantime, I have a story I would like to tell you," I said.

"A story, huh? Is it about the ‘glory days’ you and the older pilots talk about?”

"Not exactly," I replied. "Do you remember me telling you that I used to be in the Republic Navy before you were born?"

He nodded.

"For years, I thought I knew who I was: Commander Jun Sato, one of the best Republic military tacticians to hail from the Outer Rim," I began. "But nothing could prepare me for the day my career— and my life— changed forever…"

✦

It happened during the last days of the Clone Wars, more than sixteen years ago. The Separatists were invading Mykapo, our home planet. But there was no way I was going to let that happen.

At the time, I commanded the 719th Battalion alongside Jedi General Quon-Li and Admiral Styan Haringer, an old friend of mine. We had plenty of resources: hundreds of clone troopers, a fleet of Venator-class cruisers, and state-of-the-art starfighters and bombers. To say I was confident in our ability to win would be an understatement.

Before the battle could begin, though, we had to devise a plan of attack...

"Since time is of the essence, I will make this short," Haringer said as we all stood around the holotable in the Firebrand's (the command cruiser's) war room. He began all his mission briefings this way, even the excruciatingly long ones that bored me to death when I was a cadet. Thankfully, this one was on the short side.

The plan we discussed was as follows: Our Venators and light cruisers would move to outflank the Separatist ships and open fire, cutting off escape. At the same time, a squadron of bombers would attack the Separatist command ship, with a fighter squadron serving as escort. The battle in space would keep the enemies distracted long enough for our gunships to deliver our ground troops to the planet’s surface and take care of the battle droids there. Not much different from the other battles we had fought. Except this time, I would be flying alongside my pilots, rather than giving orders from the relative safety of the cruiser's bridge.

"You don't have to do this, Commander. I am certain the general can lead our squadrons on his own," said Haringer, with a familiar look of concern in his eyes. It reminded me of the old days, when I was still learning to command. He’s still looking out for me, I thought. I can take care of myself, though.

"It's not that,” I replied. “Mykapo might just be another planet to you, but it is my home, and I will do everything I can to defend it.”

“And I will do everything I can to defend the Republic,” he responded.

✦

A few minutes later, our two fighter groups— Dragon Squadron (composed of six-winged ARC-170s) and Nighthawk Squadron (composed of Y-wings)— were ready for battle.

"This is Dragon Leader," Quon-Li said. "All wings, report in." He spoke with a deep, gravelly voice that was a characteristic of his species, the Mon Calamari. His fishlike features made it seem as though he was most comfortable underwater— which was true— but he was also a gifted pilot.

I listened through my flight headset as the Dragon pilots called in. After that, it was my turn. "This is Nighthawk Leader, standing by," I said, from the cockpit of my YT-2400, the Sato’s Hammer.

✦

“Hey, that’s the freighter we’re in now!” Mart exclaimed, interrupting my story. “That is so cool! Was R3 there, too?”

Hearing his name mentioned, Mart’s old astromech droid turned his conical head to look at us.

“Yes, he was,” I said. “Now, let us continue the story.”

✦

"Nighthawk Two, standing by!" That was Lieutenant Galt. By far one of the most enthusiastic clones in the 719th. And another good friend of mine, as well. No matter what mission we were on, he always kept everyone’s spirits up— often by starting a friendly competition to see who could shoot down the most droid starfighters.

One by one, the rest of my pilots called in.

I had commanded and fought beside these men for three years. Following Quon-Li's example, I had taken time to get to know them, not just as soldiers, but as friends. Which meant I trusted them with my life.

"All right, men, you know what to do," I said. "Attack speed!"

✦

Even with Dragon Squadron covering for us, the other bomber pilots and I had our hands full. Vulture droids came at us from every direction— like a swarm of angry hornets, only much larger and angrier.

Fortunately, we all made it through the first wave of enemy fighters in one piece. I wasn't planning on letting my guard down, though.

That soon proved to be a wise decision. Compared to the rest of the Separatists' defenses, that first wave was just the practice round.

We succeeded in destroying the Separatist’s flagship, but not everyone survived the attack run. Many good men were lost— including several from my own squadron. In spite of the losses, though the battle was a victory for both the Republic and the people of Mykapo.

✦

As cleanup dogfights concluded, the rest of my squadron suddenly changed course. That's strange. I never ordered them to do that.

I spoke into my comm: "Nighthawk Squadron, this is your commander speaking. Get back here AT ONCE!"

I expected to hear at least one "Yes, sir!" or other acknowledgement over the radio. But there was no response. This doesn't make sense. The comms are working perfectly. And it's not like the clones to ignore a direct order.

Two seconds later, I saw where the Y-wings were headed. Toward the ARC-170s, all of which were chasing a small starfighter.

Not just any starfighter. Master Quon-Li’s ship. And unlike the Hammer, Jedi starfighters weren’t designed to sustain heavy damage.

I tried contacting the fighters again. “All units, break off your pursuit, now. This is your only warning.”

This time, I did get a reply. “Negative. We have orders to terminate the Jedi,” came Galt’s voice.

This can’t be. These men would never do such a thing.

“What? Why?” I could barely contain my shock.

“He’s a traitor. They’re all traitors.”

I had only known Quon-Li— and a small number of other Jedi— for a few years. I didn’t consider myself an expert on their ways. But I had seen them in action. I had seen their dedication and loyalty to clone troopers and civilians alike. They would never betray all those people.

The next several moments felt like an eternity. Before, my goal had been clear. Lead my squadron into battle, defeat the Separatist invaders, and liberate my home.

Now, though… Now I was faced with a choice. I could choose to go along with the clones. Remain loyal to them. But then, I would be letting them kill Master Quon-Li. Did I really want that?

Or I could save the general. But that would mean turning on my own men, and by extension, the Republic. By doing so, I would be dishonoring the commitment I had made when I joined the Navy.

This was not just any decision. Not like deciding what to eat for breakfast or what to do when I was off duty. This was a matter of life and death.

I weighed the options in my mind once again. Side with the clone troopers— who were loyal to the end— or side with the general, who always did what he believed to be right. Time is of the essence, Jun, I told myself.

I made my decision.

“R3, raise deflector shields to maximum level,” I said. The droid immediately did as he was told. At least he still listened to me.

I gripped the controls of the freighter and banked hard, heading straight for the Republic starfighters. Most of the fighters remained focused on the Jedi starfighter, but a few broke off from the group and began to chase me.

If they thought that would drive me away, their assumptions were soon proven incorrect. I stayed on course, tilting my ship to dodge the incoming laser fire. For three years, these pilots had regarded me as their friend, and now they treated me as the opposite. What happened to them? How could they do this?

I opened a comm channel to Quon-Li’s fighter. “This is Commander Sato. You need to get out of here, General,” I said, trying to hide the growing fear in my voice. As if I could hide something like that from a Jedi.

“I’m trying. But my fighter doesn’t have a hyperdrive. I won’t be able to get far,” Quon-Li answered.

Blast it! How could I have forgotten about that? I scolded myself. Out loud, I said, “My ship does have a hyperdrive. If I can get close enough, you can dock with it.”

“It’s risky, but it might work,” the general replied. “Just make it quick, Commander.”

A laser blast from one of the clone fighters scored a direct hit. Warning lights flashed across the Hammer’s control panel. The deflector shields had been compromised. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the hull was breached.

I didn’t want to fire on my own squadron, but I had no other choice if I wanted to stay alive long enough to help Quon-Li get to safety. I aimed both of the Hammer’s turret guns and fired. The repeated blasts vaporized two of the pursuing fighters and sent three others spiraling out of control. I blocked out the thought of the lives ended. The lives I had ended.

I pulled my ship up alongside the Jedi starfighter. “Stand by on the docking port, R3,” I ordered. “I will handle the rest.”

Quon-Li moved into position, turning his fighter on its side so it could attach to the docking port.

R3 beeped questioningly at me.

“Not yet,” I said. “We have to get closer.”

And the sooner, the better. I closed the gap between the two ships.

“Get the docking port open, now!”

But before R3 could get it open, two proton torpedoes hit Quon-Li’s starfighter. One second, it was flying next to mine. The next, harsh light filled my cockpit viewport as the fighter burst into flame.

“NO!” I shouted.

The fighter was gone. Master Quon-Li was gone. I’ve failed.

I felt anger boiling inside me. Anger at myself for not being able to save the general. And anger at the pilot who had shot him down. Part of me wanted to make the clones pay for what they had done. Make them regret the day they turned on their own leader.

No. The clones wouldn’t just betray the Jedi. They were bred to be loyal— both to the Jedi and officers like myself. Something is amiss.

R3 turned to look at me and whistled. His one camera-eye remained as always expressionless, but I could tell what he was probably thinking in that computer brain of his. And I appreciated his concern.

“I’m fine,” I said, partly answering R3, but mostly trying to convince myself.

A light on the Hammer’s communications panel began flashing, signaling an incoming transmission from the Firebrand.

“Put it through, R3,” I said,

Immediately, a blue-tinted hologram of Admiral Haringer materialized over the panel’s projector.

“Commander,” he addressed me.

“Admiral, what is going on?” I demanded. “Why have the clones turned on their own general?”

“Actually, it is Quon-Li who was the traitor,” Haringer replied. “And the same can be said for all the other Jedi.”

This was almost exactly what Lieutenant Galt had said just minutes earlier. And it still didn’t make sense.

“You’ve known the Jedi for much longer than I have,” I said. “You know they would never betray the Republic.”

Haringer didn’t answer, but narrowed his eyes.

“At least tell the pilots to cease firing at me,” I said. “I tried telling them myself, but they don’t seem to be listening.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

“Why not?” It was a completely reasonable request.

“By order of the Emperor himself, all traitors to the Galactic Empire must be punished. That includes you, Sato,” the admiral said.

The Emperor? This was worse than I had thought. Much worse. Ever since the war began, I had started to see that the Republic was beginning to fall from its former glory. I just hadn’t realized how far it had fallen.

“Now see here, Admiral,” I said in a tone I rarely used when talking to a superior officer. “I am not a traitor. If anyone deserves to be called a traitor, it is you.”

Up until this point, I had respected Haringer. I had admired his loyalty to the Navy. Loyalty at any cost. Now, though… Now I realized that loyalty at any cost came with a price. A price that meant sacrificing one’s integrity and morals— sometimes even one’s own friends. Haringer was willing to pay that price, but I was not.

“I have my orders,” Haringer replied. “And it is not my place to question them.”

“Then we are enemies now. So be it,” I said, and ended the transmission.

✦

The clone pilots were fast fliers. They followed my every move, trying to cut off my escape. But their attempt was in vain. They may have been skilled, but I was more so, having more flying experience than they.

Earlier this day, I had been flying alongside these men. Now I was flying away from them. Away from my battalion. Away from my homeworld. Away from everything I had known.

The question is, where do I go from here?

Then it dawned on me. I no longer had friends here, but I did have friends elsewhere in the galaxy.

“R3, set a course for the Alderaan system,” I said. “Quickly, if possible.”

Minutes later, the Hammer made the jump to hyperspace. There was no turning back.

✦

Epilogue: Atollon.

For a few moments, neither one of us spoke.

Then, Mart broke the silence. “I’m sorry about your friend, Uncle,” he said. “It must have been hard for you to lose him.”

“Yes, it was. But I’m over it now. Mostly,” I said, looking at the red-orange sky outside the cockpit window. The sky. The sandstorm’s finally died down, I realized. Which reminds me…

“Why don’t we go outside and watch the sunset?” I suggested. “I know where we can find a good view.”

“Good idea,” said Mart, following me to the Hammer’s boarding ramp. “Come on, R3. You need some fresh air, too,”

Sixteen years ago, I thought I had lost everything. My career, my home, one of my closest friends. But in the time since, I had met new friends— a new family— during my path as a member of the Rebellion. A path that I never would have taken if I had chosen differently during that battle.

[isaackuo]

Mon Calamari cruiser, please?

If you're like me, you associate TIE Interceptors with Return of the Jedi. If you're like me, you also associate Mon Calimari cruisers with Return of the Jedi. If you're like me, you associate the phrase "It's a trap!" with Return of the Jedi.

I am guessing that Axe's light cruiser will be sabotaged ... hyperdrive and shields out. So I think things will go very badly, with the mandos desperately trying to evacuate who they can from the cruiser while it takes on more and more damage.

I WANT TO SEE A MON CALIMARI CRUISER COME TO THE RESCUE.

There's some Mon Cal bigshot who is grateful for Axe returning the prince to them. I really want them to come and help save as many of Axe's folks as they can.

[star-wars-forever]

TIE Bombers attack a pair of Mon Calamari cruisers

by Anthony Devine