Carrion Spike

The Carrion Spike was an IPV-2C Stealth Corvette that Sienar Design Systems originally designed. Sienar Fleet Systems, Cygnus Spaceworks, and Theed Engineering collaborated with Moff Wilhuff Tarkin to construct it specifically for him. The spine, where the main fuselage joined the aft flare, was the ship's vulnerability. Only concentrated laser fire while the deflector shields were down could weaken the structure. Its design was rooted in that of the Republic stealth ship from the Clone Wars.

Typically, the Carrion Spike was operated by a crew of eighteen, but it could also be managed by just a captain and a communications officer. In dire circumstances, a crew of six was sufficient.

The Carrion Spike featured a command cabin designed to accommodate up to six individuals. Tarkin designed it to be more spacious compared to similar vessels. Acceleration command chairs, along with positions for a pilot, copilot, and comm officer, were included in the cabin's design. The ship's controls, encompassing the sensor suite display, navigation computer display, rectenna controls, alluvial damper controls, reverse trigger acceleration compensator controls, and air lock overrides, were all located within the command cabin. An afterdeck was connected to the command cabin, and two hatches provided entry to the austere main cabin, which was furnished with a circular conference table and six chairs. The main cabin featured a starboard turbolift that offered access to the engine room on level one. Nonetheless, stairwells could be used to reach the engine room if the turbolift was out of service.

Within the ship's engine room was a fuel bay that contained the ship's paralight tracker, a HoloNet transceiver that interpreted commands from the ship's navigation computer, essentially serving as a homing beacon. A narrow cofferdam connected the engine room to cargo hold one, which was one of the ship's larger cargo holds. The Carrion Spike also had at least one other cargo hold, barracks and personal lockers for the crew, an aft maintenance bay, and a vehicle pool for T-Forty-Four landspeeders that included a repair bay, a medical bay, a galley, and several toilets and showers.

The Carrion Spike was equipped with a Class One hyperdrive that made use of alluvial dampers. This Class One hyperdrive made the ship the fastest in the Imperial Navy, and its cutting-edge navicomputer enabled the corvette to travel from the Outer Rim to Coruscant without needing to drop out of realspace to obtain routing information from relay stations or hyperspace beacons. In contrast, less advanced ships had to exit hyperspace to verify navigation data when moving between systems.

Moreover, the Carrion Spike had advanced state of the art ion turbine sublight arrays. The ship's sublight engines and maneuvering jets gave it superior maneuverability compared to other ships of its size, allowing the Carrion Spike to outperform Imperial warships and starfighters. Furthermore, it could use repulsorlifts for landing.

The Carrion Spike's arsenal included turbolasers, ion cannons, laser cannons, pintle guns, and proton torpedoes, which used computer-assisted targeting. The laser cannon could be controlled by battle computers in 34 ABY. The Carrion Spike could fire while cloaked, creating the illusion of green energy packets originating from deep space. By 14 BBY, the devices were constructed using rare stygium crystals sourced from Aeten II, a volcanic planet in Wild Space. The ship's cloaking systems essentially rendered it invisible to standard scanners, capable of concealing its reflection and heat signatures. Although the Sith Lord Darth Vader managed to track the ship at one point, it was only because he could sense his meditation chamber aboard.

Considered one of the most sophisticated starships in the Imperial Navy, the Carrion Spike boasted a wide array of cutting-edge systems. These included an armored hull and a system of advanced deflector shields, encompassing both ray shields and particle shields. It also featured a state-of-the-art countermeasures suite, internal, external, and emergency lighting, proximity alarms, internal security systems, a sensor suite, a hypercomm unit, a rectenna array, jamming equipment, blast-tinted windows, reverse triggering acceleration compensators, a hypercomm unit, and Imperial HoloNet and encrypter. A power plant supplied energy to the ship's weapons, sublight engines, and hyperdrive. The Carrion Spike had landing gear and a landing ramp for ground operations. On one occasion, Oddy Muva, a Resistance technician, managed to lock the crew out of the ship's control systems and used it to destroy Terex's "Uglies." Furthermore, the ship was equipped with multiple escape pods with airlock controls. The Carrion Spike's bridge had seating for three crew members.

Terex, an agent of the First Order, added a lavish suite to the Carrion Spike. This suite housed several alien slaves, each with a specific role. A hologram unit was also part of the suite, which Terex used to communicate with Captain Phasma. Additionally, Terex had a dedicated chamber for his collection of Imperial helmets and blasters, in addition to his Ranc Gang armor, which was a modified set of stormtrooper armor. Terex could also use Authorization Code TK-603 to shut down the ship's communications, engines, and weapons. The only way to regain control of these systems was to replace the central computer systems, a major undertaking that could only be performed in a deep dock. The ship also had an internal communications system that allowed the bridge crew to contact Terex's personal chamber.

During the Imperial Era, the Carrion Spike was inspired by the Republic stealth ship from the Clone Wars and served as the personal transport for Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin. He named the ship after the Carrion Spike location on his home planet, Eriadu. Following an investigation on Geonosis, Darth Vader met with Moff Tarkin aboard the Carrion Spike above the planet. He shared his findings with Tarkin and questioned his new project, leading Tarkin to infer that Vader wanted to be the only technological marvel in the galaxy.

In 14 BBY, Tarkin journeyed to Coruscant on the Carrion Spike after being summoned for a meeting with Emperor Palpatine. While in hyperspace, Tarkin held a spontaneous inspection of the Imperial officers and enlisted personnel on board. After discovering that Ensign Baz had been secretly using spice in the vehicle pool, Tarkin had him relieved of his duties and confined to the crew berth for the remainder of the trip. He also instructed Commander Cassel to conduct a surprise inspection of all barracks and personal lockers.

While Tarkin was meeting with the Emperor and Darth Vader at the Imperial Palace, the Carrion Spike was docked at an Imperial Palace landing field. After the Emperor tasked Moff Tarkin and Lord Vader with investigateing a communications cache on Murkhana, Tarkin sent most of the crew back to Sentinel Base, his assigned post, retaining only the ship's captain and communications officer. Darth Vader brought a contingent of stormtroopers and one of his meditation spheres onto the ship.

On Murkhana, the Carrion Spike landed at a former Corporate Alliance landing field. While Tarkin and Vader were inspecting the communications cache, the stormtroopers under Sergeant Crest and the remaining crew guarded the ship. Berch Teller and his rebel cell, former Republic Intelligence agent turned insurgent leader, used their communications equipment to draw the stormtroopers away from the ship. The insurgents then boarded the Carrion Spike, killed the crew, and escaped into hyperspace. The Sugi crime lord Faazah assisted the insurgents by providing them with specialized fuel cells.

While in hyperspace, Teller and his fellow insurgents decided to transform the Carrion Spike into a symbol of resistance against the Empire. Teller's crew included Salikk, a Gotal pilot; Cala, a Koorivar operations officer; Dr. Artoz, a Mon Calamari engineer; Anora Fair, a journalist; and Hask Taff, a Zygerrian film director. The shipjackers consisted of survivors and witnesses of the Antar Atrocity, a mass murder orchestrated by Tarkin after the Clone Wars. They received secret support from Vice Admiral Dodd Rancit, Tarkin's rival, who provided them with weapons, communications equipment, and intelligence on Imperial targets. Rancit aimed to exploit the rebel insurgency to gain favor with the Emperor and advance to the position of Moff.

Tarkin and Vader pursued the Carrion Spike aboard Faazah's stolen ship, the Parsec Predator. With the Empire in pursuit, Teller took the Spike to Galidraan III, where the Empire maintained a space station. Using the ship's stealth capabilities, the insurgents caught the Imperial forces off guard, inflicting significant damage to the station's V-wing and ARC-170 starfighters. The Spike also disabled the Parsec Predator, but not before it damaged the ship's spine. Before fleeing into hyperspace, the insurgents destroyed the station's hyperspace buoy and jettisoned Lord Vader's meditation chamber.

The insurgents then attacked TaggeCo's mining facilities on Lucazec. Anora and Hask created holovids of the attack, which were streamed on the HoloNet. With the Carrion Spike running low on fuel, Teller's dissidents traveled to Phindar in the Mandalore sector, one of the few locations that could meet the corvette's unique fuel needs. Rancit had warned the insurgents that the Empire was waiting for them at Gromas in the Perkell sector. Despite Teller impersonating an Imperial officer, the Phindar administrator alerted Moff Tarkin and Lord Vader to the ship's presence. Following a brief dogfight, the insurgents destroyed the orbital tanker by detonating a hidden explosive device before escaping into hyperspace.

The Carrion Spike sustained considerable damage to its hull and exterior lights as a result of the Phindar dogfight. A portion of the ship's rectenna array was also torn away by a tractor beam. Most of the electronic appliances in the galley and medical bay were ruined. Certain sections of the ship were inaccessible due to air lock damage and radiation leaks. Although the ship's weapons, stealth systems, sensor suite, hyperdrive, and navicomputer remained functional, the shield generators were only operating at 50 percent capacity. After examining the ship's engine room, Artoz discovered that the Imperials had been tracking the Carrion Spike using the ship's paralight tracker.

To mislead the Empire, Teller transmitted hyperspace coordinates indicating that the Carrion Spike was heading to the Obroa-skai system. Teller also enlisted Knotts, a Lantillies information broker and fellow insurgent, to dispatch the YT-1000 light freighter Reticent as a decoy. Later, the insurgents used the Carrion Spike to attack the Imperial facility in the Nouane system. However, Vice-Admiral Rancit had dispatched reinforcements to strengthen Imperial facilities throughout the galaxy. The Spike was repelled by lasers and narrowly escaped into hyperspace, sustaining significant damage to its systems.

Realizing that Rancit had betrayed them, Teller's insurgents abandoned the Carrion Spike and transferred to Teller's modified Providence-class Dreadnought. They then set the Carrion Spike on autopilot to Carida under the guise of attacking the Imperial Academy there. Rancit attempted to destroy the Carrion Spike with the Secutor-class Star Destroyer Conquest's laser cannons to conceal his collusion with the insurgents. However, Lord Vader exposed Rancit's treason and prevented him from destroying the Carrion Spike. After Vader executed Rancit, Tarkin reclaimed his damaged corvette. Tarkin then defeated Teller's insurgents as they were ambushing an Imperial convoy near the Gulf of Tatooine. Following the capture of the insurgents, with the exception of Teller, Tarkin confronted them about the damage inflicted on his corvette.

After a successful hunt on Chandar's Folly, Tarkin requested the Carrion Spike to collect him and Vader from the Stormlands. The Carrion Spike quickly arrived and descended towards them, enduring continuous lightning strikes. Tarkin informed Vader that he would take him to a repair bay on the corvette for repairs, and as the Carrion Spike landed, Vader choked Tarkin to demonstrate that he had not completely triumphed.

By 3 BBY, the ship was once again being used regularly by Tarkin as a transport. He used it to make a surprise visit to Alderaan, telling the Organas that it had experienced unexpected engine problems.

At one point, Tarkin returned the Carrion Spike to Eriadu, where he waited while three protégées he had mentored underwent a test to determine which one was the most deserving. Ellian Zahra won the contest by successfully hunting an Eriadu veermok and eliminating her competition, having realized that eliminating the other two competitors was the hidden part of Tarkin's test.

Tarkin later learned about Burnium Ro, a warlord based on Ikkrukk who adopted rhetoric and imagery inspired by the historical Nihil marauders. Due to the Nihil's reputation as agents of chaos, Tarkin considered them a threat to Imperial order. However, as he had responsibilities aboard the Death Star, he dispatched Lieutenant Commander Zahra to destroy Ro's stronghold, providing her with the Carrion Spike for the mission.

Following Tarkin's death during the Battle of Yavin, the Carrion Spike eventually ended up at the Rothana Imperial Shipyards. Sometime after the Battle of Jakku, Terex, a former stormtrooper and survivor of the battle, discovered the Carrion Spike. Terex, along with another former stormtrooper named Corlac, had joined a criminal organization known as the Ranc Gang. Terex was determined to restore the Old Empire and identified the Carrion Spike as Tarkin's former flagship. He began repairing the ship's engines, life support, cloaking device, surveillance systems, and weapons. He used the ship's surveillance systems to overhear a conversation between Corlac, Bett, and Wenda. After learning that Corlac and the others were planning to kill him, Terex used the Carrion Spike's laser cannons to destroy the command deck where they were meeting, killing them.

Terex then assumed control of the gang, becoming a notorious crime lord in that region of space. After his subordinates ambushed a cargo vessel, they recovered a set of stormtrooper armor from the First Order. Later, in 32 ABY, Terex became an agent of the First Order Security Bureau. Terex equipped the Carrion Spike with a luxurious personal suite, staffed by several alien slaves who catered to his every desire. These slaves included Sowa Chuan, an Abednedo and the wife of Muva, who had been kidnapped by Terex to use as leverage against those he considered useful.

Terex was in his personal suite on the Carrion Spike when Phasma contacted him via hologram and tasked him with capturing Poe Dameron, who had stolen information that Erudo Ro-Kiintor, a treacherous Senator from the New Republic, had been attempting to pass to the First Order. Later, Terex offered to transport the crime lords Papa Toren, Kan Be, and Isin away from Megalox prison on the Carrion Spike if they assisted him in killing Dameron and his Black Squadron during an assault on Grakkus the [Hutt]'s fortress.

After Dameron and Black Squadron escaped offworld with Grakkus, Terex contacted the crew of the Carrion Spike to arrange a pick-up. Abandoning his former crime associates to the high gravity of Megalox Beta, Terex used the ship to ram through the Megalox space station, disabling the gravity shield around Megalox prison. As the prison guards departed in shuttles to evacuate the prisoners, Terex ordered the Carrion Spike to open fire on them. However, Black Squadron turned around and inflicted heavy damage on the Carrion Spike. Consequently, Terex reluctantly agreed to the crew's request to cloak and retreat into hyperspace. Later, Terex defied Phasma's orders to return to First Order Space and instead chose to continue his vendetta against Dameron and the Resistance.

Following the events on Megalox in 34 ABY, Terex's First Order personnel finalized the repairs on their vessel. Nevertheless, Terex chose not to disclose to his crew when their return to First Order territory would occur. After contemplating his experiences during the Battle of Jakku, Terex was informed by his crew that Phasma wanted a report concerning the events at Megalox Beta. Terex destroyed the interface communication device and initiated Authorization Code TK-603, which effectively barred the First Order crew from accessing communications, engines, and weapon systems. Subsequently, he piloted the ship to Kaddak, a planet in the Outer Rim, which served as the headquarters for the Ranc Gang.

Upon arrival, Terex landed his ship at The Sliver located on Level 72, where his crew unsuccessfully tried to regain control of the communications, engine, and weapon systems. Their attempts were futile because the central computer systems required replacement, a procedure only possible in deepdock. After eliminating Wisper and seizing control of the Ranc Gang once more, Terex came back with his gangsters, who then took command of the ship. The First Order corporal protested, asserting that the Carrion Spike was the property of the First Order. However, Terex retorted that he intended to utilize the Ranc Gang to dismantle the Resistance. Terex then piloted his ship for a brief flight and commanded the inhabitants of Kaddak to capture Dameron.

However, Dameron, accompanied by C-3PO and the BX-series droid commando N1-ZX, successfully escaped aboard the T-70 X-wing starfighter known as Black One. Terex's crew managed to lock onto Poe's X-wing using the ship's advanced sensor technology. Muva secretly boarded the Carrion Spike with the intention of rescuing his wife. In outer space, Terex commanded a fleet of "Uglies," starfighters that were assembled from various spacecraft, from the bridge of the Carrion Spike. He informed his fellow Ranc comrades, including Zumgi and Brrang, that they were to engage Dameron's starfighter once it re-entered realspace. Terex's strategy was to tail Dameron back to the Resistance base and eradicate the Resistance. Terex had deceived Dameron into believing that N1-ZX possessed intelligence regarding the whereabouts of Supreme Leader Snoke.

Later on, Phasma established contact with Terex via hologram and instructed him to abandon his current mission, citing Snoke's prohibition of overt hostile actions by the First Order military against forces that were aligned with the New Republic. Terex disregarded her commands and terminated the transmission. He then requested that Chuan serve him a beverage. Concurrently, Muva ambushed Zumgi within the corridors of the Carrion Spike and demanded that the gangster escort him to his wife. Meanwhile, Dameron discerned Terex's scheme to ensnare him and exited hyperspace above an uncharted desert world. Terex realized that Dameron had outmaneuvered him and ordered his "Uglies" to eliminate the Resistance pilot. After sustaining damage, Poe's X-wing executed a crash landing on the desert planet.

While Terex led an expedition to pursue Dameron and the droids, he placed his lieutenant Brrang in command of the Carrion Spike and his squadron of "Uglies." Muva successfully reunited with Chuan. After liberating the other enslaved individuals, Muva sought to confront Terex, only to learn from Zumgi that the crime lord had descended to the planet's surface. Shortly thereafter, Black Squadron arrived in their starfighters and spotted the Carrion Spike along with its "Uglies." Gambling that they possessed the advantage, Brrang commanded the other Ranc Gang's "Uglies" to attack Black Squadron.

During the ensuing aerial battle, Muva and the freed slaves managed to escape in escape pods. Prior to their departure, Muva locked the crew out of the control systems and instructed the ship's battle computers to target any vessel lacking a Resistance transponder. Black Squadron provided protection for the escape pods but suffered the loss of one of their pilots, L'ulo L'ampar, due to enemy fire. Eventually, Terex's crew managed to regain control of the Carrion Spike, which then launched a direct assault on Black Squadron. However, a First Order Maxima-A class heavy cruiser emerged from hyperspace, accompanied by a complement of TIE/fo space superiority fighters, and obliterated the Carrion Spike, resulting in the deaths of all personnel on board. The First Order had dispatched forces to apprehend Terex for his defiance of the First Order and his unauthorized mission. Dameron surrendered Terex to Commander Malarus and mocked him regarding the destruction of his flagship.

The Carrion Spike made its initial appearance in the 2014 novel Tarkin written by James Luceno. Star Wars: Build the Millennium Falcon 96 asserted that the Carrion Spike was actually the original stealth vessel featured in "Cat and Mouse", and that it underwent remodeling before being given to Tarkin in 17 BBY. Nonetheless, the ship was depicted under Tarkin's ownership in Darth Vader Annual 2, which is set in 18 BBY, and the 2024 reference book titled Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy definitively established that these were two distinct ships.