#ssd Executor

[musewrangler]

Luke blinked at this.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “You want us to meet in person with a Sith Lord who has been trying to kill me?”

“Not kill you,” said Piett swiftly. Veers glanced at him. “Our orders were to capture you alive on pain of death. You were not to be damaged at all if we could help it.”

Well.

Interesting.

“Do you know why?” Luke asked, rubbing his fingers over the hilt of his lightsaber.

Veers gave him a very cynical look.

“You imagine that Lord Vader shares reasoning like that with us, Skywalker?” he asked.

Luke sighed. He had already experienced too many near misses with Lord Vader hunting him. Surely he wasn’t the only Force sensitive that Vader could be hunting?

Unless—

Unless Vader knew .

[backonmystarwarsbullshit]

no because the executor is like so funny to me. like. palpatine just lost the death star, the thing hes been planning for DECADES and then he just. gets vader a new amazing super star destroyer??? shouldnt the empire be like in massive debt???? how are you supposed to pay for a ship the size of manhattan after your lives work has just been destroyed???

[purple-iris]

Idea: Star Wars themed ASMR

POV- you're an ensign on the SSD Executor. It's mostly white noise, soft typing and some beeping, along with inaudible whispers and footsteps, along with Darth Vader's breathing

Maybe it's only me who conditioned myself to finding his breathing soothing, but hey, I mean it's regular and stuff, I'd relax with an ASMR like that

[musewrangler]

The Lady

Space Lighting Study 4 by Isaiah

[accidental-spice]

Thanks for the tag, @kanerallels !!

Tagging @authorofemotion @silverpaintedstars @kazoosandfannypacks @saxifrage-wreath @wanderingwolpertinger @dimsilver @theonewithallthefixations and anyone else who wants to play!!

[musewrangler]

Two months before the battle of Endor, Darth Vader disappears. Coincidentally, so does Luke Skywalker. The secret treasonous alliance between Death Squadron and the Rebellion is in the balance. Then Admiral Piett is arrested to be brought before Palpatine himself. The fallout is reasonably dramatic.

[musewrangler]

Haha you are the best. Thank you for thinking of me @mathmusic8 . And I did. Bet you can guess how I voted as well 😉😉

I’ve probably forgotten some very important ones but these are the ones you get to choose from.

[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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[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:

-----------

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.)

[oh-great-authoress]

Since I am an overachiever, I have three degrees, two of which are double majors.

Master’s Degree with a Double Major in Reylo and Creative Writing (Gingerrose)

Bachelor’s Degree in Skywalker Family/Disaster Lineage Dynamics and Antics

Bachelor’s Degree with a double major in Republic and Empire Era Leaders (Obi-Wan Kenobi, Asajj Ventress, Darth Dadakin Skywalker, Admiral Piett, and General Veers, chiefly among others), and Naval History, with a focus on the SSD Executor, and First Order-Era ships to a lesser extent (the First Order ships are very interesting, but they’ve got nothing on The Lady, the SSD Executor).

Note: I really disagree with Admiral Piett’s canon personality in the comics and novels, so I am among those researchers (*cough*fanfic readers/writers*cough*) looking (*cough*reading/writing*cough*) for evidence to add him to the list of competent badass leaders in the Empire.

tried explaining star wars fandom to my dad and settled on the simile that sw is too big and fucked up to know everything and you sort of have to choose a major like mando lore studies or jedi lineage trees and then we all come together but do not get along just like real academia. anyway what’s ur major

[slugsden]

Admiral Firmus Piett needed a scientist and shipbuilder with set of unique skills to help him with SSD Executor's AI. He also wanted to cover certain personal affair and Morgan Elsbeth was perfect for all of it.

[misseyres]

a truly underrated part of esb is the total lack of timeline clarity. evacuation orders were given on hoth but somehow it is just starting when the SSDs arrive — even though they had to travel thru hyperspace from god knows where. millennium falcon somehow stuck on the asteroid long enough for vader to personally summon multiple bounty hunters to the executor. luke is on dagobah for ???????????? george lucas rlly said figure it out bitch

[bolithesenate]

no thoughts head empty someone should do the kessel run with a star destroyer

[musewrangler]

His son’s presence in the Force bloomed warm and strong. Anakin reveled in that as Luke sprinted to his side.

“Piett?” Anakin asked curtly, not having breath for more detail.

“Safe with your old army buddies,” Luke replied. “We’re going to have some explaining to do.”

Anakin was darkly amused at the description of the clones as ‘army buddies’. He was fully aware that Fox would turn his blaster on Anakin at any given moment. Hells, it was possible that Cody would beat him to it.

“We should split up,” Anakin panted. “Come at him from two directions…”

“He already knows we’re both here,” Luke shot back. “I’m not leaving you.”

The loyalty which Anakin didn’t deserve was like strong wine in the Force.

“Besides,” the boy continued, “Didn’t you say that—-”

<Dark One,> announced the Lady in his mind. <I have arrived.>

[muunket]

Dusted off my 10+ years old Executor model i did for Homeworld 2 and rendered it to use as my facebook cover picture for the time being. Nothing fancy, but might as well post it here as well. Maybe a few of you guys will find it pleasant to look at.

[musewrangler]

I? Love this so much? And that’s my Lady up there being casual in the background!!

Yoshiyuki Takani