Arquitens-class command cruiser

Kuat Drive Yards produced the Arquitens-class command cruiser for the Imperial Navy. Its initial deployment involved reworking the Arquitens-class light cruiser previously utilized by the Republic Navy. This adaptable light cruiser design fulfilled diverse functions, including safeguarding isolated Imperial installations, conducting autonomous patrol operations in the Outer Rim Territories, providing reinforcement to larger battle groups, acting as a fortified transport, and serving as a communications vessel.

With a length of 230 meters, the command cruiser incorporated several subtle design enhancements despite its superficial resemblance to a mere reskin of its forerunner. In actuality, beyond the fundamental hull configuration – kite-shaped with dual forward spars – and the class designation, few characteristics were shared. Structural modifications encompassed an enclosed horizontal housing for the three potent primary engines, alongside alterations to the bridge tower's form. The Republic version's lateral turbolaser emplacements were substituted with eight escape pods, and lateral access points near the bow facilitated the deployment of Imperial Jumptroopers. Detention blocks were also integrated into the vessels.

The Arquitens-class was outfitted with four turbolaser batteries, eight quad laser batteries arranged on four turrets–two dorsal and two ventral, four forward-facing concussion missile launchers on the port and starboard sides, and a tractor beam projector. However, an Arquitens-class could also be equipped with three dorsal quad laser battery turrets, two ventral turrets, six twin laser cannon turrets– with two positioned near the engines on the dorsal and ventral hull, and the other four situated above the port and starboard docking tubes on the dorsal and ventral sides. Furthermore, it featured a dorsal missile launcher, and its four concussion missile launchers.

Under the Class 546 program, an Arquitens could be modified to achieve greater velocity, transforming it into a Class 546 Cruiser. The Arquitens-class benefited from deflector shields and possessed a class 2 hyperdrive complemented by a class 12 backup system. Its small craft deployment and retrieval systems, situated between the two spars, could accommodate either a Sentinel-class landing craft, two TIE/ln space superiority starfighters, TIE/sa bombers, TIE/d "Defender" Multi-Role Starfighters, or three TIE/IN interceptors.

Sometime before 4 BBY, the Imperial Navy recalled all Arquitens-class light cruisers still in service to Kuat Drive Yards for a service life extension overhaul. The resulting Arquitens-class command cruiser showcased substantially enhanced speed, maneuverability, combat effectiveness, power generation, and other systems, aligning with the navy's strategic requirements. Although this series of upgrades would eventually be retired due to obsolescence, they were superseded by production-line command cruiser variants that served effectively throughout the Imperial Era.

Approximately four years prior to the Battle of Yavin, following Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin's directive to destroy the planet Lothal's Imperial Communications Center, local Imperial forces deployed an Arquitens-class command cruiser, designated the Tellstar, to capture and transmit data from surface courier droids brought on board. A team of Lothal-based insurgents known as the Spectres successfully infiltrated it to ascertain the whereabouts of Kanan Jarrus, a Jedi who survived the destruction of the Jedi Order at the conclusion of the Clone Wars.

Several command cruisers also responded to an attack by Phoenix Cell targeting an Imperial convoy. Subsequently, during the blockade of Ibaar, at least three of these cruisers collaborated with a pair of Gozanti-class cruisers under the command of Imperial Security Bureau Agent Alexsandr Kallus to impede Phoenix Squadron's efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to the starving Ibaarans. The Imperial blockade effectively repelled the initial attempt by Phoenix Squadron, but it was breached during the second attempt when the rebel fleet was reinforced by the prototype B-wing fighter, which possessed a beam cannon powerful enough to penetrate the shielding and armor of one of the blockade's three Arquitens-classes. The destruction of the command cruiser enabled the rebel cell to execute their mission and deliver the relief supplies before jumping into hyperspace once more.

Above the planet Garel, a command cruiser was on patrol in the system until they learned of a theft of a shuttle from Garel City Spaceport and was deployed to investigate. Upon arriving in orbit above Garel, the Imperials discovered the aforementioned transport docked with the Shadow Caster. Opening a channel with the ships, the Imperials demanded their surrender and preparation for boarding. Unbeknownst to the Imperials, the shuttle had been commandeered by Lothal rebel operative Sabine Wren, an explosives specialist, who was collaborating with her former associate, the bounty hunter Ketsu Onyo. Wren devised a plan to escape by overloading the shuttle's hyperdrive while escaping aboard the Shadow Caster. Wren alerted the Arquitens-class that their ships were damaged and their hyperdrive was in danger of self-destructing; buying the rebels time to plan for an escape on the Shadow Caster. Wren then planted explosive charges on the shuttles' control panel and re-activated the shuttles' droid pilot, telling him that his ship was going to come under attack by the command cruiser, and suggesting for it to enact emergency protocols to escape destruction. Wren evacuated aboard the Shadow Caster with Onyo, Chopper, and EG-86 while the GX1 shuttle was caught in a tractor beam and dragged towards the command cruiser before exploding. The resulting explosion damaged the command cruiser's tractor beam projector, allowing the Shadow Caster to break free and escape into hyperspace.

Two Arquitens-class command cruisers were assigned to escort the prototype Imperial Interdictor under the command of Admiral Brom Titus during its trial runs in the Del Zennis system. During these trials, the Interdictor successfully captured the flagship of the Phoenix rebel cell: the Liberator, along with Ezra Bridger and the cell's commanding officer Jun Sato. This triumph proved short-lived, however, as the rebels managed to evade capture and sabotage the Interdictor's gravity wells before escaping back aboard the Liberator. In a final, desperate attempt, Admiral Titus activated the ship's gravity well to pull the rebels' flagship back; but due to Chopper's sabotage to the gravity well generators, the command cruisers were also dragged in towards the Interdictor, crashing into the ship and allowing the Liberator to jump to hyperspace before the Interdictor itself collapsed in on itself and imploded. Agent Kallus arrived shortly afterwards to find Titus in an escape pod, and chastised the admiral for not heeding his advice earlier regarding Ezra.

Following the revelation of the rebel forces being stationed on Garel, the entirety of the Imperial fleet stationed over Lothal departed, leaving behind a minimal garrison, including at least one command cruiser under the command of Lieutenant Yogar Lyste to oversee the planet in case of another insurgency. Lystes' Imperial cruiser later encountered Princess Leia Organa as she flew in with relief supplies for Lothal on her Sphyrna-class Hammerhead corvettes, which she intended to deliver to Phoenix Squadron; after checking her codes, the Princess was allowed to land on Lothal.

Subsequently, Agent Kallus received intelligence concerning the Spectres' activities on the planet Nixus and departed with Admiral Kassius Konstantine aboard Kallus' personal command cruiser to intercept the rebels, arriving in the system just moments before the Ghost jumped into hyperspace past them. Utilizing the concealed tracker embedded within Hondo Ohnaka's communicator, which he had gifted to Ezra, Agent Kallus pursued the Ghost through hyperspace until reaching Wild Space, where he re-encountered the Ghost heading towards an imploded star cluster. Kallus hailed the Ghost, offering the rebels an opportunity to surrender or risk being drawn in by the star cluster, only for the Ghost to proceed towards the cluster. Kallus ordered the launch of a pair of TIE fighters to try and slow the Ghost down long enough to get them in range of a tractor beam. Due to the Ghost being placed under the influence of Garazeb Orrelios's bo-rifle, however, the ship remained intact while the TIE fighters were both torn to pieces. Seeing the freighter's success in navigating the cluster prompted Kallus to begin a bombardment with the command cruisers' quad laser turrets, only to have the blasts get pulled into the gravity wells of the stars ahead of them. Kallus then ordered the command cruiser to pull back when he began to see dorsal sections of the hull get torn off and pulled into the stars.

In 2 BBY, an Arquitens-class command cruiser intercepted a rebel convoy near Teralov. The cruiser launched three TIE Interceptors which wiped out the convoy. Later, Grand Admiral Thrawn observed Cham Syndulla and the Spectres escape from a trap set by Captain Slavin from the bridge of a command cruiser. He allowed the Ghost to escape because he believed the rebels deserved their victory. Later, Admiral Konstatine commanded a single command cruiser, two Gozanti-class cruisers, and several TIE fighters and bombers during a skirmish over Mykapo. It was badly damaged when the Spectres and Iron Squadron dropped a magno-mine over the cruiser's forward compartment.

Captain Brunson later commanded a command cruiser which attempted to hunt down and destroy the Ghost on Geonosis, sending many jumptroopers to attack. However, the Spectres defeated the jumptroopers and used proton torpedoes to damage the ship and flee into hyperspace. Lieutenant Yogar Lyste later commanded an Arquitens-class command cruiser stationed above Lothal which captured the rebel operative Ezra Bridger. However, Ezra's capture was a ruse to rescue the rogue ISB Agent Kallus, who had become a rebel agent known as Fulcrum. One command cruiser attempted to capture the rogue senator and rebel leader Mon Mothma but was badly damaged by Gold Squadron. Several command cruisers participated in Thrawn's assault on the planet Atollon, in which they attempted to cut the rebels off.

Shortly following the rebel defeat on Atollon, the Rebel Alliance initiated a mission to Jalindi with the objective of seizing the outpost situated there, in order to monitor Imperial fleet movements in 1 BBY. This endeavor was thwarted by the Arquitens-class cruiser Marauder, under the command of Titus. After a skirmish, the Partisans arrived and destroyed the outpost, resulting in a massive explosion that also claimed the Marauder.

A prison-tug, a modified variant of the Arquitens-class command cruiser, pulled Accresker Jail, a wreckage-prison, into battle in order for it to deploy its convict army. After some deadly spores were discovered in the prison, it was decided that it would be shot into a rebel planet, and the cruiser was sent hurtling into the wreckage. Following the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, Arquitens-class cruisers were already an uncommon sight, largely due to an assault on the Fondor Shipyards in the same year that caused the shortage of available cruisers. One cruiser was present on the Imperial world Vardos during a skirmish there soon after the Imperial defeat on Endor, and another participated and was destroyed in a skirmish on Takodana in 5 ABY. One Class 546 model of this cruiser was under the command of Moff Gideon and his forces sometime after the Battle of Endor.

The Arquitens-class command cruiser was initially conceived for the animated series Star Wars Rebels. Its inaugural appearance occurred in "Rebel Resolve," the fourteenth episode of the show's first season, which originally aired on February 23, 2015. The command cruiser was adapted from the Arquitens-class light cruiser featured in the earlier Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series, incorporating subtle design updates, and drew inspiration from the transformation of Venator-class Star Destroyers into Imperial vessels as depicted at the conclusion of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. Various components of the Arquitens-class asset were repurposed to create the Quasar Fire-class cruiser-carrier and class four container transport.

Although initially described as identical to the Arquitens-class light cruiser, it was subsequently designated as the Arquitens-class command cruiser by Star Wars: Armada's Imperial Light Cruiser Expansion Pack, thereby distinguishing the two as distinct models.