Negotiator

The Negotiator was a Venator-class Star Destroyer, a type of cruiser and Star Destroyer affiliated with the Galactic Republic. The starship had a main dorsal hangar and a ventral docking bay. The dorsal hangar consisted of a central strip, which was large enough to accommodate the prototype IPV-2C Stealth Corvette and a Nu-class attack/transport shuttle at the same time, with a smaller bay at its foremost tip for Syliure-31 hyperspace docking rings. The strip was straddled by two rows of hangar facilities which could store All Terrain Tactical Enforcers, Aggressive ReConnaissance-170 starfighters, BTL-B Y-wing starfighter/bombers, clone Z-95 Headhunters, and Low Altitude Assault Transport/infantrys, as well as various containers and fuel barrels. The Star Destroyer was armed with eight—four to the port side of the stern bridge towers and four to the starboard side—DBY-827 heavy turbolaser turrets, and two medium dual turbolaser cannons near the fore, with one located on the port hull trench and the other on the starboard trench.

The vessel possessed two elevated bridges, situated on the dorsal superstructure. One of the bridges contained two sunken crew pits at the front, which were manned by clone navigation officers, and a command suite behind the pits. The suite housed a holotable, which could holographically present a map of the galaxy, a diagram of a battle in progress, recorded messages, and live communications with other individuals, two translucent blue display screens, and other work stations for the crew. A pair of blast doors behind the holotable connected the suite and the corridor leading away from the bridge. The left alcove of the port bridge had another work station, in addition to a viewscreen that allowed communication between ships via radio. Externally, one hyperwave comm scanner was located atop each bridge.

At the stern, the Negotiator had eight ion engines, with four on the port side of the rear fin and four on the starboard side, acting as sublight propulsion. The ship was equipped with a hyperdrive, databanks, a self-destruct mechanism, and at least one escape pod bay on the starboard side with at least four Republic escape pods. The emblem of the Open Circle Fleet was emblazoned on either side of the Venator's dorsal hull near amidships. At the Battle of Christophsis, the Negotiators bridges were colored red, denoting the vessel's status as a flagship; five red stripes were featured on the dorsal section of each aft wing, indicating that the ship was in the Fifth Fleet. During the Malevolence Campaign and the ship's last battle, its bridges were not red, and three red stripes were on the dorsal part of each wing.

In 22 BBY, during the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, the planet Christophsis was invaded by the Separatist Droid Army due to the planet's resources and position along the Corellian Run. Following the Separatist invasion, a blockade of thirty warships was established in the planet's orbit under Harch Admiral Trench to prevent Republic interference. Sometime later, the Republic dispatched a fleet under the command of Jedi General Anakin Skywalker to break through the blockade and deliver relief supplies to Senator Bail Organa, who was trapped on the surface as a result of the blockade. After a Separatist barrage struck one of Skywalker's Pelta-class frigates, the Negotiator under Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi exited hyperspace behind Skywalker's fleet, making a sudden arrival in the system, which was reported by a clone navigation officer on the bridge of the Resolute, Skywalker's Venator. The Negotiator was carrying the prototype IPV-2C Stealth Corvette, which Kenobi wanted to employ to penetrate the blockade.

Aboard one of the Negotiators bridges, Kenobi and Cody were inspecting the holotable's hologram of the unfolding battle. When Cody pointed out that Skywalker had already attacked, Kenobi expressed that Skywalker regularly disobeyed his orders. Having contacted the Resolutes bridge, Kenobi requested that Skywalker should withdraw his starships and conveyed that he had brought a new tool that could help the Republic; the Resolutes Admiral Wullf Yularen agreed to regroup their forces. Skywalker's remaining three Venators and two Peltas then retreated behind Christophsis's moon Leesis to Kenobi's position. During the lull in the fighting, Skywalker took a Nu-class shuttle from the Resolute to the dorsal hangar of the Negotiator. Kenobi demonstrated the prototype stealth ship, which was being stored in the center of the flight deck, and its cloaking capability to Skywalker, who mused that the IPV-2C, undetected, could destroy the Separatist ships from behind. Instead, Kenobi commanded Skywalker to use the stealth ship to deliver supplies to Organa on the surface.

Some time after the stealth ship had left the Negotiator, Trench decided to deploy ten Hyena-class bombers from his flagship Invincible to attack Organa's position and thus draw the Republic fleet out of hiding. After the bombing, the senator sent a holographic message to Kenobi on the Negotiator, requesting assistance. The Jedi Master then contacted Skywalker to compel him to proceed to the planet surface, while he would lead the Negotiator and the other ships against the blockade. Both Skywalker and Yularen protested; the Jedi Knight created his own plan to attack Trench's ship, cutting off the transmission to the Negotiator amid Kenobi's objection. Following the IPV-2C's first attack, Skywalker and Kenobi conferred to discuss Trench's capabilities, with the former again disregarding the original plan. The second strike was successful, causing the destruction of Trench's flagship; aboard the Negotiator, Kenobi begrudgingly congratulated Skywalker and reported that their fleet would resume the attack on the blockade. The Negotiator engaged the Separatist fleet while the stealth ship ferried the supplies to the surface, and the campaign itself for control of Christophsis eventually resulted in a Republic victory.

Later in that same year, the Negotiator was active when the Subjugator-class heavy cruiser Malevolence, a mysterious warship commanded by Supreme Commander Grievous, destroyed the fleet under Plo Koon at the Battle of Abregado, which itself was a part of a multi–month Separatist campaign to attack Republic forces. Not knowing the fate of Koon's forces, Master Mace Windu announced that all battle groups would be reassigned to guard supply convoys. Whilst Skywalker and his padawan Ahsoka Tano secretly travelled to the Abregado system in the hopes of rescuing Koon, the Negotiator was positioned in a defensive formation among a number of other Republic vessels, contributing to the protection of the vital Republic convoys. Kenobi and Cody were present in the left alcove on the ship's port bridge, where the Jedi General communicated with Yularen via viewscreen and radio to check Skywalker's progress in regard to escort. After the admiral reported that the Jedi Knight had wished for a "redeployment," Kenobi confided with Cody concerning Skywalker's movements. The unsanctioned mission was ultimately successful in rescuing the four survivors, including Koon, and discovering the nature of Grievous's weapon.

While the Republic planned to attack the Malevolence by dispatching a Senate-commissioned strike force comprised of the Y-wing bombers of Shadow Squadron, the Negotiator accompanied the Resolute, aboard which the bombers were housed, in a fleet of several Venators. Upon hearing Yularen's update that the Malevolence had destroyed a medical convoy near Ryndellia, Skywalker predicted that Grievous would next attack the Kaliida Shoals Medical Center. To intercept the Malevolence at the space station, Skywalker decided to lead Shadow Squadron through a shortcut in the Kaliida Nebula, while the Kenobi planned to take the Negotiator on a longer route to the same destination. When 30,000 clones remained on the station, the Negotiator had already begun its journey through hyperspace; Kenobi contacted Yularen to discuss their warships' readiness. The Republic fighters arrived in the Ryndellia system first, followed by Grievous's ship, which they began to attack. Because the bombers had damaged the Malevolences port ion cannon while it was charged, both ion weapons were crippled, saving the station.

As the stricken Separatist vessel fled, Obi-Wan Kenobi's taskforce of three Venators, including the Negotiator, reverted to realspace, flagged by the Resolute. Kenobi commended Skywalker and ordered his ship to advance at full speed. In pursuit, the three Venators engaged the Malevolence with their DBY-827 batteries. Kenobi eventually transferred himself from the Negotiator to the Resolutes bridge, where the Jedi directed the fleet, although the Venators could not destroy the Subjugator. A pause in the fighting occurred when Senator Padmé Amidala, sent unknowingly to the battle to be captured as Grievous's hostage, was taken aboard the Malevolence. Skywalker and Kenobi in turn boarded Grievous's ship and rescued Amidala, with Skywalker sabotaging its navigation computer to crash the vessel into the Dead Moon of Antar of the Prindaar system. Once the Jedi had escaped with Amidala, the Negotiator and the other Venators resumed firing on the Malevolence, but the Subjugator promptly hurtled into the moon and was destroyed.

In 20 BBY, the Negotiator received a distress signal from a group of Jedi Initiates after their ship, the Crucible, had been raided and disabled by the Ohnaka Gang. Communicating via hologram, Kenobi instructed Cody to depart and recover the younglings. The Jedi General's plans were thrown into disarray when a Separatist fleet led by Grievous exited from hyperspace and attacked the Republic ships. After being chased by vulture droids, a BTL-B Y-wing starfighter/bomber piloted by Engle was shot down and crashed in the Negotiators dorsal hangar in a fiery explosion. Grievous and his battle droids soon boarded the ship, entering from the dorsal hangar and engaging in battle with the clone troopers inside. General Kenobi dueled the cyborg general but elected to retreat away from the hangar, with the Republic personnel continuing to fight elsewhere in their Venator.

Not wanting to allow the Separatists to capture the Negotiator, Kenobi ordered the activation of the vessel's self-destruct mechanism and left a holographic message for Grievous, informing him that the ship was primed to explode. When Grievous, wishing to plunder the Venator's databanks for information, saw the message on the bridge's holotable, he fled to the hangar and escaped aboard his shuttle. Kenobi and his troops evacuated in escape pods, of which at least four were jettisoned. As Kenobi and Cody watched through their pod's viewport, a series of explosions erupted across the Negotiators hull before a larger fireball tore the vessel apart.

The Negotiator was placed under the command of Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was accompanied by Clone Marshal Commander Cody. The ship was also manned by clone troopers, such as clone navigation officers and clone trooper flight crew personnel. Special ops clone troopers like Blackout and Spark for the IPV-2C Stealth Corvette, troopers of the 212th Attack Battalion, and clone trooper pilots were at times present on board the Venator as passengers. Various droids served aboard the vessel, including PLNK-series power droids, R4 astromech droids and R5 series astromech droids.

The Negotiator first appeared, albeit unnamed, in "Rising Malevolence," the second episode of the first season of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series, which was aired on October 3, 2008. The vessel was subsequently identified as the Negotiator in the episode guide for "Rising Malevolence" on StarWars.com.