Courageous (Inexpugnable-class)

The Courageous was an Inexpugnable-class tactical command ship manufactured by Rendili Hyperworks. Per its design, the Courageous functioned as a platform from which the actions and movements of an entire fleet could be coordinated. The ship was distinguished by its "wishing-well" bridge configuration, which merged visual and electronic data by suspending holographic images over a transparent deck. The display could be disorienting to the crew, and vertigo was a common complaint. The bridge, circular in shape, had an open center surrounded by a number of computer stations. The Courageous featured a massive Vanjervalis Systems computer fitted to its frame, which, using the native software codes of a Republic Hammerhead-class cruiser, could instantly transmit commands to as many as sixty-four Hammerheads simultaneously. As a result, the Courageous moved slowly, defended by the cruisers under its control. The ship had its own comm center, along with a sensor system capable of rapidly detecting the number and classification of enemy ships in its vicinity and the radioactive signature of fired missiles. Measuring 3,100 meters wide, the Courageous had a sizable cargo hold that was connected to the ship's brig by way of ventilation tunnels.

The Courageous itself was well-armed—the vessel featured five double turbolaser batteries and five light turbolaser batteries, along with a pair of point-defense light laser cannon batteries and a pair of tractor beam batteries, all of which combined required sixty-six gunners to operate. The Courageouss fighter decks also held a sizable complement of 144 Aurek-class tactical strikefighters, twenty-four S-250 Chela-class starfighters, twenty-four Conductor-class short-haul landing craft, six Ministry-class orbital shuttles, and other various support craft. The Courageous could hold as many as 50,000 tons of cargo and two years' worth of consumables. The ship had a Class 2 hyperdrive and a Class 10 unit as a backup, and was equipped with a navicomputer, escape pods, and engines. Although not available for sale, the Courageouss estimated value was 70 million credits.

The Courageous was built at the Rendili/Vanjervalis Drive Yards on the planet Corellia, one of just six Inexpugnable-class prototypes produced by the outbreak of the Mandalorian Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Mandalorian warrior clans. Designed to sell more Hammerhead cruisers, the Courageous was outfitted with a Vanjervalis computer system that allowed it to control up to sixty-four of the ships simultaneously. The Courageous was pressed into service when the Mandalorians invaded the Republic, and command was given to Republic Navy Captain Saul Karath, who had made his name hunting pirates on the Outer Rim.

In 3964 BBY, the Mandalorians began threatening vital resource worlds near the planet Taris and eventually moved on Vanquo, a planet on the Republic's Jebble-Vanquo-Tarnith line. Karath and the Courageous saw action in the Battle of Vanquo, the ship commanding the surrounding fleet from the center of the Republic line. In the midst of the space battle, Karath and Lieutenant Dallan Morvis noticed a ship leaving Vanquo's atmosphere. The vessel was identified as The Last Resort, known to be carrying "Jedi killer" and wanted Republic fugitive Zayne Carrick, and it quickly jumped into hyperspace toward Mandalorian territory. Karath took this to mean that Carrick was a Mandalorian spy, and he vowed to bring Carrick to justice. The Courageous held out for as long as it could above Vanquo, but eventually Karath was forced to fall back and retreat.

Karath's defense of Vanquo earned him a promotion to rear admiral, and he soon turned his attention to the next front of the war. In 3963 BBY, the Mandalorians set their sights on the planet Serroco in the Expansion Region, a full member of the Republic, and the now-Admiral Karath formed what he called "Battle Group Serroco" in order to protect the world. Karath's battle group was centered around the Courageous and was bolstered by dozens of Hammerhead cruisers and other Republic ships, along with a fleet of fringer tradespeople who offered goods and services to the Republic soldiers. The Courageous and its group set off to Serroco from its staging point on Ralltiir ahead of the Mandalorians, with Karath thinking that the Republic Navy was finally ready for its enemies. The Courageous took point above Serroco, surrounded by Hammerhead cruisers, while the rest of the battle group formed camps among the planet's Stereb cities.

Unbeknownst to Karath, Zayne Carrick was on the planet below, working at a fringer mess ship called the Little Bivoli. After the former Jedi Padawan had a Force vision of the Mandalorians destroying Serroco, Carrick decided that he needed to inform Karath of what he had seen, and he managed to convince Lieutenant Carth Onasi, one of Karath's protégés, to give him a ride up to the Courageous. Once Carrick stepped onto the Courageouss bridge, however, Karath, who already believed that he was a Mandalorian spy, immediately recognized Carrick and had him arrested. Karath refused to heed Carrick's warnings, and the Mandalorians soon arrived in-system and launched an opening barrage of nuclear missiles toward the Republic fleet. To Karath's surprise, the bombs angled around the ships, aimed at the planetside camps all along. Twenty-seven populated areas were hit by the Mandalorian attack, and while Onasi saved many lives by using the Courageouss comm system to send the native Stereb to shelter in underground catacombs, the Stereb cities were wiped from the planet.

With much of his Battle Group Serroco annihilated, Karath was left with no choice but to retreat and find a place to make a stand. The Courageous went on the run—Karath hoped to make it to the planet Myrkr or the Ryyk Nebula, where the Courageous and its group could join forces with the Tremendous battle group. The Mandalorians pursued the Courageous every step of the way. As Karath had pledged to defend the ships in his flotilla from Mandalorian attack, the Courageous saw plenty of action during its trip through the hyperlanes.

The Mandalorians eventually caught up to the Courageous in deep space, boarding the battleship with their shock troopers, the elite group thereby making its first appearance in the war. With his flagship damaged and listing, Karath deemed that the only course of action was to scuttle the Courageous. Karath ordered all nonessential personnel to the escape pods and prepared to make a stand against the boarders with his second-in-command, Commander Dallan Morvis; amidst the fighting, Karath narrowly escaped death at the hands of a shock trooper thanks to the timely arrival of Lieutenant Onasi. Trapped, Karath, Morvis, and Onasi made their way to the brig, sealing the door behind them, and checked with Zayne Carrick, who had been meditating in his prison cell. Carrick rose to reveal that he had been spending his time slowly unfastening the bolts in the walls behind him with the Force, thus opening a passage from his cell to the cargo bay where Onasi's cargo hauler, the Deadweight, sat unnoticed by the Mandalorians.

With Onasi flying the Deadweight, the small group of survivors were able to evade Mandalorian pursuit and narrowly escape the Courageouss destruction. Although news of the Courageouss fate filtered out and caused a panic on some Republic worlds, such as Telerath, Karath managed to make his way back to the Republic capital of Coruscant, where he immediately submitted his resignation to the Republic Navy's Admiral of the Fleet for the loss of the Courageous. Instead, Karath was placed in command of the battleship Swiftsure, newly refitted based on knowledge that Karath had gained while serving on the Courageous. The Mandalorians eventually melted down the Courageous for scrap, fashioning part of it into a battle-axe carried by their chief, Mandalore the Ultimate.

The Courageous was commanded by Saul Karath, who was still waiting for the Merit Board to meet on his promotion to rear admiral when he was given control of the ship. The son of a laborer from Corellia, Karath made his name aboard the ship Reciprocity, his first command, where he was noted for his efforts hunting pirates. Admiral Karath became renowned for his feats in the Mandalorian Wars, distinguishing himself in the heated defense of the planet Suurja, and then aboard the Courageous in the Vanquo and Serroco campaigns. Karath was presumed dead after the Courageouss destruction, and his safe return to Coruscant touched off joyful celebrations.

One of Karath's men from the Reciprocity, Commander Dallan Morvis, also served aboard the ship as Karath's right-hand man. Morvis came from an upper-class background—his father was the director of the Coruscant Financial Exchange and mother the senator from Chandrila—and he found a competitor for the admiral's favor in Lieutenant Carth Onasi, a hotshot pilot from Telos IV who shared Karath's hardscrabble beginnings. Both men rose in the ranks after the Courageouss destruction, with Morvis gaining command of his own Hammerhead-class cruiser and Onasi furthering his career in the Republic Navy under Karath. The ship's security chief was an individual named Viddarie, and the Courageous also held up to 4,300 skilled crew and 2,000 soldiers.

The Courageous first appeared in Knights of the Old Republic 8, a comic written by John Jackson Miller and released in 2006. The ship was designed by artist Dustin Weaver, who took Miller's request for a "typical warship bridge with holographic battle displays" and created the ship's distinctive "wishing-well" design. Miller named the ship after the Courageux, a French warship captured by the British in 1761.

• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Handbook
• Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia