The Subjugator-class heavy cruiser was a type of heavy cruiser, battleship, dreadnought, and Star Dreadnought designed by Ruggle Schmong for use by the Confederacy of Independent Systems' naval forces from a discarded SoroSuub Corporation starship design. Potentially the largest warship that served at the time of the Clone Wars, the Subjugator was heavily armed with hundreds of laser cannons of different types, ion cannons, flak guns, proton torpedoes, heavy tractor beams, and a pair of mega-ion cannons capable of disabling the power of an entire fleet of capital ships in a single blast. The heavy cruiser also carried over two-hundred droid starfighters, and several boarding ships, landing craft, assault vehicles, and shuttles.
The Malevolence, a member of the Subjugator-class, was one of two examples of the class model that served as the flagship of the Kaleesh Separatist General Grievous, while also serving as the lead ship for the class and the initial testbed for the mega-ion cannon early in the war. Following a series of attacks on the Galactic Republic's navy in over a dozen star systems that left no survivors, the Malevolence and the specifications for the Subjugator-class were discovered by the Republic after a battle in the Abregado system. Sometime later, the warship attempted to destroy the Republic's secret medical station in the Outer Rim Territories, but was hindered as a small strike force crippled the entire ship by striking its ion cannon, disabling the weapon and forcing the Malevolence to retreat. As the warship attempted to make its retreat to Separatist space, the Malevolence was destroyed by the Republic after Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker sabotaged the ship's navigation computer, which sent it crashing into the nearby Dead Moon of Antar in the Prindaar system.
Despite the destruction of the Malevolence, the Separatist Alliance had maintained a small number of Subjugator-class heavy cruisers, with no more than five left in active duty. However, due to the loss of the lead ship, the remaining vessels of the class were held in reserve by the Separatist fleet and saw rare deployments except in dire emergencies.
The command bridge of a Subjugator-class heavy cruiser.
The Subjugator-class heavy cruiser was a model of heavy cruiser designed by Ruggle Schmong, a starship designer who made use of a discarded SoroSuub Corporation design as the basis for the Subjugator, which was built by Quarren engineers of Free Dac Volunteers Engineering Corps and Pammant Docks on the planet Pammant and used by the naval forces of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Consisting of two variants and one of the largest, if not the largest, warships that served during the Clone Wars, Subjugators measured out to 4,845 meters in length and were longer than four Venator-class Star Destroyers parked end to end.
875,000,000 credits in cost, the Subjugator's design bore similarities to both the Providence-class Dreadnought and Recusant-class light destroyer, which were also manufactured by Free Dac and Pammant for the Confederacy. As a result of its size, the Subjugator-class was designated as a class of Star Dreadnought. Built around a pair of massive mega-ion cannons, the Subjugator-class heavy cruiser maintained a bulky, split-level prow suggestive of a mouthful of ragged teeth, as a well as a narrow stern that tapered to the ship's propulsion array. An armored dorsal blister amid-ships contained the cruiser's command bridge, as well as a secondary bridge located an aft-ward spar directly above the engine units.
The mega-ion cannon was the primary weapon of a Subjugator-class heavy cruiser.
The Subjugator-class heavy cruiser maintained a large array of different armament along its hull. Its primary armament consisted of two superheavy mega-ion cannons located on the port and starboard hull, which were capable of neutralizing the power systems of entire star fleets, rendering them defenseless. For secondary armament, the Subjugator bristled with 500 dual turbolasers, twenty forward turret-mounted heavy turbolaser batteries, and twenty forward turret-mounted twin medium turbolaser batteries.
Furthermore, they were armed with 200 dorsal, port and starboard turret-mounted twin light turbolaser batteries, 400 turret-mounted point-defense twin light laser cannons, ten forward-mounted proton torpedo launchers, each holding five torpedoes, and two forward-mounted heavy tractor beam projectors. Subjugators were additionally armed with several other ion cannons, flak guns, and an assortment of other weapons. As for defense, the vessels were equipped with a primary deflector shield generator.
Operated by a crew of 23,350, which consisted of officers, droids, and other enlisted crew, the Subjugator-class could carry up to 144 Vulture-class droid starfighters and forty-eight Hyena-class Droid Bombers. They also carried Droch-class boarding ships, as well as numerous landing craft, ground combat vehicles, shuttles, ship's boats, and utility vehicles, and ferried a passenger capacity of 60,000 battle droids. A Subjugator was also capable of holding up to two years worth of consumables and maintained a cargo capacity of 85,000 metric tons. Within the vessel, was an extensive rail jet system that was used for the transportation of troops, crewmembers and supplies throughout the heavy cruiser.
Subjugators also boasted a maximum atmospheric speed of 1,050 kilometers per hour from sixteen engine units. They were also equipped with a Class 2 hyperdrive generator and a Class 12 backup generator, as well as a navigation computer and long-range sensors.
The Subjugator-class heavy cruiser was designed to be used as a flagship by the Separatist Alliance. In battle, the Subjugator's deadly two-step attack began with deactivating the power systems of a targeted vessel with its primary mega-ion cannons. Then, the cruiser would finish off the defenseless spacecraft with blasts from its large array of turbolasers and laser cannons. After its target were destroyed, it would then dispatch hunters to search and destroy any and all remaining survivors in escape pods.
Early on in the Clone Wars in 22 BBY, after a series of attacks by the Subjugator-class heavy cruiser Malevolence which left no survivors, the Galactic Republic began a galaxy-wide search for the new Separatist weapon in hopes of destroying it. During the hunt for the heavy cruiser, which was commanded by Separatist leader Count Dooku and Kaleesh General Grievous, the Malevolence crossed paths with a task force of three Venator-class Star Destroyers sent by Jedi Master Plo Koon to destroy the vessel before it could make another attack. However, the Malevolence intercepted the three Star Destroyers as they moved through the Phu system, where the heavy cruiser destroyed each.
The Malevolence tears the Republic fleet apart at Abregado.
After the Battle of the Phu system, the Subjugator found itself crossing paths with Koon's fleet, who had tracked the vessel to the Abregado system. As the dreadnought reduced its speed, the Malevolence sat idle in front of the system star of Anza, while the Republic fleet attempted to relay its position to the fleet of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan Ahsoka Tano in the nearby Bith system. However, the Malevolence proceeded to cut off the enemy's transmission as it fired its mega-ion cannon and neutralized the Republic fleet, forcing them to flee aboard escape pods as the Separatist warship destroyed each Star Destroyer.
As the Republic survivors remained in their pods, Dooku ordered a Droch-class boarding ship with a group of B1-series rocket battle droids to hunt down and kill the survivors. However, while neutralizing their targets, the battle droids crossed paths with Koon's pod, who managed to destroy all five droids and the boarding ship, alerting both Grievous and Dooku. After the hunters were destroyed, Skywalker and Tano arrived in the system and managed to locate the Kel Dor's pod, who brought it aboard the G9 Rigger-class light freighter Twilight. Aboard the Twilight, Skywalker detected the dreadnought approaching the freighter from behind, forcing the three to power the ship down to avoid detection by the Malevolences scanners.
However, the Malevolence detected the presence of a medical droid aboard the Twilight, and fired its ion cannon at the freighter. Outrunning the ring-shaped ion field from the Subjugator, the freighter was able to escape the system, therefore allowing the Republic to learn of the Malevolences specifics.
The Malevolence ambushes a Republic convoy in the Ryndellia system.
Shortly after its discovery, the Malevolence ambushed a Republic medical convoy of three Pelta-class frigates and a lone Venator under Jedi command in the Ryndellia system. Attacking the transports, the warship fired its ion cannon on the Star Destroyer and two of the frigates, before it disabled and neutralized the fleeing frigate and its escape pods. Observing the general's progress, Dooku gave the Kaleesh the Malevolences next target: a secret Republic medical station located near the Kaliida Nebula in the Outer Rim, which had been treating over 60,000 wounded clone troopers.
Later, on approach to the medical center, the Malevolence, unable to pass through the nebula due to its size, was forced to take a longer route around the nebula to reach the station. Learning of the convoy's previous destruction, Skywalker deduced that Grievous would be targeting the Kaliida Shoals Medical Center. Intent on stopping the dreadnought, the Jedi, alongside his Padawan and Koon, took Shadow Squadron, an elite starfighter squadron, to intercept the warship in hopes of destroying it and Grievous along with it.
As the Republic starfighters exited from the nebula, Skywalker's forces detected the Malevolence exiting hyperspace from behind them. Shortly thereafter, the Subjugator subsequently began its attack on the frigates fleeing the battlezone, disabling all three of them with its ion cannon. However, while the dreadnought bombarded the frigates with its turbolasers, the warship was approached by the Republic fighters, which were held off by the Subjugator's complement of Vulture droids. Amid the dogfighting, the Malevolence turned toward the fighters and fired the ion cannon at Grievous's behest, despite known that his own forces would be caught in the blast, although Skywalker and his squadron were able to evade the blast, but lost several fighters in the process.
The Malevolence's ion cannon overloads upon attempting to fire.
However, despite his losses, Skywalker and Shadow Squadron continued their assault on the dreadnought's command bridge. While attempting to maneuver through the onslaught of turbolaser fire, several of Skywalker's fighters were shot down as the Subjugator began charging up its ion cannon, which had been turned on the medical station. Watching their numbers fall, the Republic squadron changed their attack plan, at the suggestion of Tano and Koon, and instead fired their torpedoes on the ion cannon, which overloaded upon its attempt to fire, heavily crippling the warship as both the primary weapon systems and the hyperdrive were disabled.
Not long after, a fleet of Republic Star Destroyers under the command of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and Admiral Wullf Yularen arrived in the system and began firing upon the crippled Subjugator. Limping away and unable to jump to hyperspace, Grievous ordered the Malevolence to make a full retreat for Separatist-aligned space.
Padmé gets caught in the Malevolence's tractor beam.
As the Star Destroyers pursued the heavily damaged Malevolence, with its primary shields, stabilizers and hyperdrive disabled, Grievous contacted Dooku, who was concerned that their prized warship would be lost, and revealed that he had arranged with Darth Sidious for an important Republic senator to be sent to the battlezone, whom they could use as a hostage. Shortly after, an H-type Nubian yacht entered the system, with Senator Padmé Amidala and her protocol droid C-3PO—who were under the impression that a representative from the InterGalactic Banking Clan wished to negotiate with them—onboard, and Grievous ordered his droids to pull her ship inside the warship, so he could take her up to the bridge, which forced the Republic fleet to cease fire. And as the Kaleesh and his B1-series battle droids entered the yacht, they discovered that the engines had been overloaded, and were set to self-destruct.
After the yacht exploded, Grievous ordered the crew to sound the alarm, as stowaways were loose aboard the ship. The two then made their way to one of the vessel's communications panels in a corridor, where Amidala attempted to make contact with the Republic, but were interrupted by the Separatist general and a squad of battle droids. Meanwhile, Kenobi, Skywalker and the astromech droid R2-D2 used the modified G9 Rigger-class light freighter, the Twilight, to dock at one of the Malevolences emergency airlocks. After making their way aboard the vessel, the Jedi were patched through to the senator, who all agreed to meet with one another in a large area in the center of the ship.
Grievous and Kenobi duel inside the Malevolence.
Arriving at opposite ends of a large chasm, which housed the ship's extensive rail jet systems, Amidala and the protocol droid were spotted by several battle droids, whose blaster fire alerted the Jedi to their location. After saving Amidala, the senator informed the two that repairs to the hyperdrive were nearly complete, to which Kenobi stated that he would ensure that it remained offline, while Skywalker instructed R2-D2 to find Threepio, who had previously gotten separated from the group. Unknown to the Jedi, however, Grievous, who had been monitoring all internal communications, overheard their conversation and went to intercept Kenobi at the ship's engineering station, where the Kaleesh was reinforced by several droidekas, B1 and B2-series super battle droids. Kenobi used the Force to push the droidekas into the other droids and Grievous, which allowed him to escape. Pursued by the general, the two engaged one another in a lightsaber duel in the rail jet system, though the Jedi was able to escape once more.
At the same time, Amidala and Skywalker made their way up to the command bridge, but were engaged by several super battle droids that had pursued them. And after sabotaging the ship's navigation computer, the two left the bridge just as another droid crew arrived, and on their way down, the pair encountered R2-D2 and C-3PO outside the elevator, where they made their way to the Twilight, and hastily detached from the Malevolence.
The Malevolence crashes into the Dead Moon of Antar.
Clear of the warship, the Republic fleet resumed their fire on the ship, and Grievous, attempting to prevent the Jedi from escaping, pursued the Twilight in his personal Belbullab-22 heavy starfighter Soulless One. Contacted by his crew amidst pursuit, they informed him that repairs to the hyperdrive were complete, and the general ordered them to retreat to the Confederacy's secret base in Sector Four, where they would meet. However, unknown to the droids, the Malevolences navigation computer had been sabotaged and redirected the ship towards the nearby Dead Moon of Antar, and was destroyed, with Grievous fleeing the system, ending a transmission with Dooku before making his retreat.
Despite the loss of the Malevolence, the lead ship of the Subjugator-class and initial testbed for the mega-ion cannon, the Confederacy maintained a small number of the line, but kept the remaining vessels in reserve until they were called upon.
Early concept art for the Malevolence.
The Subjugator-class heavy cruiser made its first appearance in canon with the appearance of the Malevolence in "Ambush," the first episode of the first season of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series, which aired on October 3, 2008, albeit in the episode's opening flashbacks. It later made its full appearance in the first season's second episode "Rising Malevolence," which aired the same day as "Ambush." The cruiser was later identified in canon seven years after its debut in the 2015 reference book Ultimate Star Wars.
The class first appeared in the Star Wars Legends continuity in the 2008 Star Wars: The Clone Wars introductory film's novelization written by Karen Traviss and published by Del Rey on July 26 of that same year. It was first identified in the Legends continuity via The Clone Wars Campaign Guide, a supplementary sourcebook for Wizards of the Coast's Star Wars Roleplaying Game Saga Edition published in 2009.
According to Director Dave Filoni, the Malevolence and its story were inspired by the real-life battleship Bismarck, a mysterious and massive German ship that was relentlessly hunted by the British Royal Navy during World War II. Its design was created by Russell G. Chong, and was based off an unused piece of concept art from the 2005 film Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. Chong took inspiration from the shell-like designs of the Mon Calamari cruiser and the GR-75 medium transport, while it also integrated city-like trenches similar to those on the Death Star.