The Emperor's Will was a Star Galleon-class frigate produced by Kuat Drive Yards, and it measured 300 meters in length. It possessed a Class 2 primary hyperdrive, with a Class 15 as backup in case the other failed. The frigate had sensors, deflector shields, and a navigation computer equipped. The armament of the Emperor's Will consisted of ten turbolaser cannons, with five on each side of the frigate, as well as a concussion missile launcher at the front of the ship. It had 50 concussion missiles on board, as well as enough blaster gas for 1,000 shots from the laser cannons. The frigate also possessed braking thrusters and six engines.
The ship had a cargo capacity of 100,000 metric tons, and possessed enough consumables to last the ship's crew of 130 men and twenty gunners for three months. The Emperor's Will had room for a 300 passengers, which were usually soldiers, and could run on a skeleton crew of fifty crew and ten gunners if necessary. The frigate was as heavily armored as a cruiser, and some of the interior of the ship could be reconfigured by the crew at the bridge of the ship to frustrate pirates and other boarders; the inside of the Emperor's Will also had anti-intruder defenses, some of which were blaster slits and gas dispensers. The cargo bay of the frigate was ejectable, and would automatically jump to a position selected randomly from over hundreds of coordinates if the pod was released. The cargo bay pod emitted a hypertransceiver signal, so it could be tracked by those the proper authorities. After a jump, the pod would stay at the new location for a random amount of time, before jumping into hyperspace again.
The Emperor's Will was used by the Imperial Taxation Bureau of the Galactic Empire sometime around the year 0 ABY, at the time of the Galactic Civil War between the Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic. That year, the frigate departed from the Arkanis sector on a trip to the planet Esseles in the Ringali Shell region, accompanied by the Imperial Navy's EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate Zaff Jendinpurg and carrying a cargo hold worth around 400 million credits, which was composed of precious metals, minerals, spices, and valuable artwork, all from taxes taken from primitive worlds in the Outer Rim Territories of the galaxy. Specifically, the cargo hold contained a range of gems that included Bothan Glitterstones, chrysopazs, crystalline vertices, diamonds, emeralds, Gallinorean rainbow gems, a Jasse heart, kuggerags, a nova crystal, Quella gems, sapphires, and Sasho gems; among the treasure was also a single Corusca gem which had unique tracking properties. Additionally, a Jorallan opal necklace and a pair of matched sets of Lalmy'ashian pearl necklaces and earrings were also carried by the Emperor's Will. As for spices, the cargo contained quantities of Andris, Carsunum, and ryll kor. The frigate's cargo weighed far less than the Emperor's Wills maximum cargo capacity, and, at that time, the ship was also carrying a company of Imperial stormtroopers.
The Emperor's Will launches its cargo hold.
On its non-stop journey through hyperspace, where it was out of communication the whole time, the Emperor's Will was dragged back into realspace suddenly near the Ringali Nebula, alongside its escort. The reason for the event turned out to be a couple of asteroids that had been dragged into the frigate's path by the EF76 Far Orbit, a privateervessel for the Alliance; the Far Orbit had learned of the Emperor's Wills route after some of its crew had obtained a datacard containing that information from an Alliance contact on the world of Brentaal IV.
The Far Orbit, under the helm of Captain Dhas Fenoep Vedij, attacked the Emperor's Wills escort, which had been damaged by the abrupt drop out of hyperspace. As both Imperial ships had been completely surprised by the sudden change of events, the Star Galleon-class frigate's escort was destroyed despite attempting to get its full complement of TIE Series starfighters launched so that they could attack the Far Orbit. The Emperor's Will then engaged the Far Orbit, firing its concussion missile launcher, before trying to retreat from the battle and jump into hyperspace once again. The attempt, however, left the Emperor's Wills unarmed aft open to attack, which the Far Orbit capitalized on. The damage dealt by the privateering vessel prevented the Imperial frigate from jumping, leaving it to re-engage the enemy, and the captain of the Emperor's Will tried to attack the Far Orbit on its side, where it was more vulnerable. In the end, the captain of the Imperial ship, realizing that he had lost the battle, made one final attempt to save his cargo by sending the ship's cargo pod away in order to deprive the privateers of it.
Explosive charges split the hull apart across the long axis, releasing the cargo pod, which tried to escape, to no avail. The Far Orbit captured the pod, and stole the treasures contained within. As a result of the capture of the Emperor's Wills cargo, the Imperial captain Vocis Kenit—who was in charge of tracking the Far Orbit—was executed by Emperor Palpatine himself for failing to stop the frigate. In fact, the Corusca gem hidden away in the cargo hold the privateers had captured possessed unique tracking values that Kenit wished to use to catch the Far Orbit with, but the secret of the gem died with him.
The Emperor's Will was under the command of a captain at the time of its encounter with the Far Orbit. The Imperial frigate was crewed by a 150 people, including twenty gunners. At skeleton crew, the ship could run with fifty crew and ten gunners.
The Emperor's Will was first mentioned in 1998's The Far Orbit Project, by Timothy S. O'Brien. It was mentioned in some of the adventure scenarios contained within the book, and also appeared in The Grand Prize, the last of those scenarios. The Far Orbit Project was a supplement to West End Games's Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game and had the same theme of the previous publication Pirates & Privateers, as it followed the privateering vessel Far Orbit. The frigate served in the final adventure scenario that was given to the Far Orbit as the goal of the latter vessel. The capture of the Emperor's Will is the suggested spot where the Far Orbit finishes its campaign in the Ringali Shell.
In the battle with the privateering vessel, the Emperor's Will can be disabled by the privateers, as they do not want the treasure to be destroyed, in numerous ways. Precision fire against the engines, ion cannon fire against the main hull if the Far Orbit has acquired those, or even attaching itself to the Imperial frigate with its tractor beams to prevent it from escaping would work, though the ultimate path is up to the players. The players can also choose to board the Emperor's Will, though the stormtroopers will resist; The Far Orbit Project mentions that if the gamemaster wishes to kill Vedij off, the boarding of the Emperor's Will would be an ideal place, as long as the death is heroic. The adventure scenario contradicts itself on how many passengers the Emperor's Will could hold, as it said the amounts of both 150 and 300. However, this article assumes the correct number is 300, as it is the number backed up more.
The gamemaster can calculate the total value of the treasure in order to adjust it to personal and player preference, as well as the size of the roleplaying campaign. They can also add additional rare items to the cargo hold of the Emperor's Will if they want to prolong the Far Orbits campaign against the Empire.
- The Far Orbit Project