The Conqueror-class atmospheric dreadnought, a massive, circular aerial attack platform employing repulsorlift technology, served as a key asset of the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars. These heavily armed platforms, bristling with numerous laser cannons and operated by a large contingent of battle droids, saw action when the Confederacy invaded the planet of Terra Sool, with several Conqueror-class dreadnaughts participating in the assault.
A minimum of thirty-six of these dreadnaughts were present within the atmosphere of Terra Sool, engaged in combat against the local militia and a Galactic Republic detachment dispatched to provide assistance to Terra Sool. Despite the Conqueror-class dreadnaughts' capability to swiftly eliminate numerous militia fighters from Terra Sool, they proved to be outmatched by the combined might of Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, who spearheaded the Republic's response. Leveraging their powers derived from the Force and their exceptional starfighter combat skills, Kenobi and Skywalker successfully boarded and destroyed multiple Conqueror-class dreadnaughts during the conflict, ultimately securing a victory for the Republic and liberating Terra Sool.
The atmospheric dreadnaught of the Conqueror-class represented a substantial investment, serving as a large aerial attack platform that utilized repulsorlift technology. It played a vital role in the droid army of the Confederacy of Independent Systems throughout the Clone Wars against the Galactic Republic. Functioning as near-impregnable battleships, these dreadnaughts exhibited a generally cylindrical form, distinguished by a flat upper surface that served dual purposes as a landing zone and a staging area for troop transport. Internally, the Conqueror dreadnaughts comprised a network of corridors and chambers, including a cockpit positioned along the vessel's perimeter, equipped with an extensive control panel for managing the entire aerial platform.
These Conqueror platforms boasted considerable firepower, incorporating numerous laser cannon emplacements, including five single-barrel cannons situated on the dreadnaughts' upper surface, complemented by a series of dual-barrel laser batteries arrayed around the dreadnaughts' elevated ringed perimeter. During their service within the Confederacy's army, the dreadnaughts typically accommodated a contingent of at least twenty-four B1-Series battle droids and B2 super battle droids, and were piloted by a crew of two OOM pilot battle droids; however, a single Human could also pilot the platform.
In the year 22 BBY, specifically five months after the Battle of Geonosis marked the commencement of the Clone Wars, the Confederacy initiated an invasion of the planet designated Terra Sool. The Confederacy deployed a fleet consisting of at least thirty-six Conqueror-class atmospheric dreadnaughts with the objective of suppressing any resistance and devastating the surface of Terra Sool. Upon entering Terra Sool's cloud-filled atmosphere, accompanied by a contingent of Confederate Vulture droid starfighters, the Conqueror dreadnaught fleet encountered opposition from starfighters belonging to Terra Sool's local militia and a Grand Army of the Republic detachment dispatched to reinforce the planet's defenses.
While the Conqueror platforms swiftly eliminated a multitude of militia starfighters, they ultimately faced defeat at the hands of Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan, Anakin Skywalker, who commanded the Republic task force aboard their Delta-7 starfighters. During the conflict, the Jedi initially encountered a lone Conqueror-class dreadnaught while battling Vulture starfighters above Terra Sool. Kenobi, deciding to seize the Confederate vessel, landed his starfighter on the dreadnaught's upper deck, repelling the battle droids of the B1 and B2 series stationed there. Successfully navigating the interior of the Conqueror platform, Kenobi managed to reach the cockpit and assume control of the dreadnaught.
Meanwhile, Skywalker's astromech droid, R2-D2, informed the Padawan, who was still engaged in combat with droid starfighters, of intercepted droid communications originating from a more distant location within the atmosphere. Following the Confederate communications to their source, Skywalker discovered the remainder of the Conqueror dreadnaught fleet engaged in battle with the Terra Sool militia above a small farming town. Skywalker joined the fray, but his fighter sustained damage during the engagement, forcing him to execute a crash landing on the upper surface of a dreadnaught. Stranded aboard the enemy vessel, Skywalker battled the battle droids present on the battleship, while Kenobi piloted his captured Conqueror dreadnaught toward the main Confederate fleet. Utilizing the weapons systems of his hijacked vessel, Kenobi destroyed another dreadnaught that was targeting the one Skywalker was aboard, as the Padawan eliminated the remaining battle droids from that aerial platform.
Kenobi initiated an engagement with the remaining Confederate dreadnaughts and contacted Skywalker, informing his apprentice that the Confederate fleet had launched two waves of missiles with the intention of razing Terra Sool's surface. Observing the approaching missiles, Skywalker employed his mastery of the Force and his proficiency with a lightsaber to neutralize the missiles, including grabbing another Conqueror dreadnaught using the Force and positioning the vessel in the path of a wave of missiles, resulting in the simultaneous destruction of both the Conqueror dreadnaught and the missiles. Skywalker and Kenobi persisted in their fight against the Confederacy, ultimately defeating the fleet of Conqueror-class dreadnaughts by the end of the Terra Sool day, thus liberating the planet from the invasion.
The Conqueror-class atmospheric dreadnaughts made their initial appearance as unnamed Separatist war machines in Skywalkers, a forty-page comic featured in Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures Volume 2, published by Dark Horse Comics and released on September 7, 2004. Subsequently, the Conqueror dreadnaught received an entry in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, released on December 9, 2008, which identified the vessel's class designation.