Executrix

Beyond its various tactical rooms, each furnished with sizable battle analysis holotables, the vessel stood alone amongst Imperial fleet capital ships in possessing a dedicated containment field room.

The Executrix boasted a command tower heavily armed with laser turrets and equipped with numerous antennae. It also carried TIE fighters and various transports, including transport three-six-six.

By 18 BBY, the Executrix, a Star Destroyer in service to the Imperial Navy, was under the command of Wilhuff Tarkin. In that year, Tarkin journeyed to Agaris, a world located deep within Wild Space, intending to have shipments of the planet's quadanium materials dispatched to Sentinel Base. While Tarkin was present at the planet's Imperial mining compound, the Executrix maintained its position in orbit above Agaris. Sometime after Tarkin's arrival, the rebel children Lina and Milo Graf also made their way to Agaris to liberate their parents, the cartographers Rhyssa and Auric Graf, who had been taken prisoner by the Empire. At the time of the Grafs' arrival, sixteen Imperial patrols had disappeared in the previous eight days, a phenomenon unknowingly caused by the planet's sentient species, the Agarians.

As the children were docked on Agaris' moon aboard their stolen Imperial scout ship, the Star Herald, the Executrix emerged from the planet's shadow. Even though the Star Herald's systems were offline, preventing detection by the Star Destroyer, the two Grafs instructed their monster droid, CR-8R, to reroute Imperial transmissions. The group then overheard a man on Imperial transport three-six-six requesting permission to depart from the Executrix. Another man subsequently confirmed the request and prepared to disengage the docking clamps. Transport three-six-six then left the Star Destroyer's ventral hangar, escorted by two TIE fighters, and descended towards the compound on Agaris.

Simultaneously with the transport's departure, C-patrol, another pair of TIE fighters, contacted the Executrix as they approached the ship. One of the patrol's pilots reported to an officer on the Star Destroyer that they had not encountered any vessels during their patrol sweep. The pilot then remarked that the fate of the missing men was the responsibility of the compound, not theirs. However, the officer swiftly commanded him to cease such talk, threatening reassignment to planetary scout duty. Apologetically, the pilot then requested that Tarkin be informed that, despite their sensors showing no anomalies, they would conduct another sweep for safety. Satisfied, the officer asserted that if the pilot completed a double shift, his inappropriate remark might be overlooked.

With the Executrix continuing its orbit of Agaris, the planet's moon, and consequently the Star Herald, moved beyond the Empire's detection range, allowing the scout ship to disengage. Lina then briefly activated its engines, providing sufficient thrust to descend to the planet's surface. However, the group then overheard the C-patrol pilot contacting the Executrix again, reporting that during their second pass, the TIE fighters had detected something on their scanners. The pilot transmitted the report to the Star Destroyer, but the officer dismissed it as a meteorite, speculating that, despite its metallic composition, it was either a meteorite with an iron core or debris from the Executrix's previous waste disposal. Consequently, the officer instructed C-patrol to continue their sweep. Despite this, the pilot reported that the TIEs would investigate, wary of potential repercussions from Tarkin should they overlook something significant.

Having overheard the entire exchange, and fearing discovery by the Imperials, Lina activated the Star Herald's systems and headed for the planet, with the TIE fighters in pursuit. However, the ship crash-landed in the forests of Agaris, prompting the two TIE pilots to pursue the rebels on foot. After evading the Imperials in the forest, the children successfully rallied a group of Agarians to attack the Imperial compound. As the Imperials succumbed to the Agarian gas attacks, Tarkin boarded the Carrion Spike to evacuate the world. Shortly thereafter, several Imperial transports carrying the surviving Imperial troopers from the facility returned to the Executrix in orbit.

As Tarkin prepared to initiate an orbital bombardment of Agaris, the Agarians decided to abandon the planet in spores, causing it to erupt into a debris field. This forced the Executrix to undertake evasive maneuvers, veering out of the planet's orbit. Tarkin resolved to allow the spores to disperse, confident that Agaris was now his. Subsequently, an Imperial informed the governor that an Imperial vessel had been detected departing the world, despite all their forces being accounted for. Tarkin, realizing it was the Grafs in the Star Herald, ordered a fighter squadron to intercept them. Four TIE fighters then launched from the Executrix to pursue the rebels, managing to inflict several laser blasts on the enemy ship before it escaped into hyperspace.

In 17 BBY, Tarkin commanded the Executrix during the Campaign at Salient. This conflict spanned several standard weeks, ultimately resulting in the defeat of Captains Has Obitt and Saw Gerrera, who spearheaded the rebelling factions on Salients I and II. Following the capture of Captain Obitt, Tarkin utilized the ship's medical facilities to restore the smuggler to health, intending to use him to spy on Orson Krennic.

In 14 BBY, the Executrix was dispatched to the Obroa-skai system after a jump from Lantillies. Accompanied by a task force comprising three Interdictor vessels, a Detainer CC-2200, a CC-7700 frigate, an untested Immobilizer 418 cruiser, and numerous other frigates, pickets, and gunboats, the Executrix awaited the arrival of the Carrion Spike, a corvette belonging to Moff Wilhuff Tarkin that had been hijacked by a rebel cell. During this operation, the fugitive corvette remained absent, prompting Tarkin to not only interrogate the crew of the Reticent with Darth Vader, but also to access a wealth of top-secret Republic and Imperial databases housed on Coruscant from one of the Executrix's tactical rooms, as the Executrix maintained its position in the Obroa-skai system. Through these databases, he uncovered the identities of several insurgents, including Berch Teller, and their connection to the Antar Atrocity.

With Tarkin still on board, the Executrix arrived at a star system near the Gulf of Tatooine, where Teller's insurgents once again launched an attack, this time to destroy a convoy transporting components for the hyperdrive of the Empire's top-secret project, the Death Star. On Tarkin's orders, the Executrix positioned itself between the warship's starfighters and the Nebulon-B frigate, as well as the Imperial cargo ships en route to Sentinel Base, effectively turning the tide of the battle by protecting the convoy and deploying its V-Wing starfighters to engage the insurgents' ships. As the Executrix's turbolasers disabled the warship, the Compliant and the Enforcer arrived from Pii only to find the battle already concluded. Following the capture of the rebels (excluding Teller), Tarkin departed the Executrix for Coruscant, where he remained for three weeks.

The Emperor himself, Palpatine, gifted the Executrix to Tarkin as compensation for the loss of the Carrion Spike. In addition to the thousands of troops and technicians who staffed and crewed the massive vessel, he also maintained a personal bodyguard of thirty-two stormtroopers who accompanied him everywhere. Aboard the Executrix, Tarkin journeyed from the Core to the Greater Seswenna sector, and Eriadu, during his tour of the major systems of the Outer Rim following his promotion to Grand Moff of the aforementioned oversector.

As the construction of the Death Star progressed, Tarkin routinely monitored the progress from the bridge of the Executrix. Orson Krennic, now holding the title of director, also engaged in frequent communications with both the Executrix and Eriadu during this period. Sometime between 5 BBY and 2 BBY, Rebel Alliance commander Mon Mothma's aide, Hendri Underholt, was tasked by Mothma with coordinating intelligence reports. Taking it a step further, Underholt, with assistance from a contact within Alliance Intelligence, compiled a report tracking the movements of Director Krennic and the frequency of his communications with the Executrix and Eriadu.

Upon receiving a transmission containing Underholt's report, Mothma, while impressed by her aide's initiative, cautioned her about the risks of conducting such unauthorized investigations. The pair's communications regarding this matter were later preserved in The Rebel Files, a secure, non-electronic repository of sensitive rebel information. In 1 BBY, Rebel Alliance member Hostis Ij sent an intelligence briefing to Mothma, presenting compiled evidence indicating an imminent major Imperial weapons test. Ij reported that, according to rebel agents, Director Krennic had been visiting planets heavily involved in Imperial weapons research in recent months, with the Alliance possessing verified communications between those planets and both Eriadu and the Executrix. This intelligence briefing was subsequently included in a dossier concerning the Empire's battle station.

Later that year, as the Death Star neared completion, the Executrix was one of several Star Destroyers positioned around the battle station during the installation of its superlaser. During this time, Director Krennic arrived on Tarkin's flagship at the Grand Moff's behest, much to the director's displeasure, as he believed he should have been personally overseeing the weapon's installation. As Tarkin observed the station from his ship's bridge, Krennic arrived, accompanied by his aide, Captain Dunstig Pterro, and two of his death trooper guard, a failed attempt to intimidate the governor. Joining Tarkin at the front of the bridge, the director was then reprimanded by the Grand Moff regarding a recent security breach on the moon Jedha, particularly in light of the Death Star's history of setbacks and delays.

Tarkin elaborated that, according to rumors circulating Jedha City, an Imperial cargo pilot from the Death Star project had deserted there. Krennic dismissed the pilot's potential threat, doubting he possessed any significant information, and reminded Tarkin that the governor himself had stated that secrecy was becoming an obstacle to the Death Star's progress. As Krennic attempted to explain that such rumors were inevitable, Tarkin interrupted, emphasizing that proof was the concern, not rumors, and that if the Senate learned of the Death Star, countless systems would defect to the Rebel Alliance. Krennic countered that the Senate would be irrelevant once the station was operational. Tarkin, noting that its completion was imminent, informed the director that the Emperor would not tolerate any further delays, and rebuked Krennic for allowing time to become an ally of the Rebellion.

Enraged by Tarkin's accusation, Krennic expressed his desire to turn the Death Star on the Executrix and then gauge the Emperor's assessment of his failure. Dismissing the idea with a condescending smirk, Tarkin then stood over Krennic and suggested that both problems could be resolved simultaneously with an immediate test of the Death Star's superlaser. The Grand Moff then cautioned the director that failure would require him to explain himself to a far less patient audience. Furious, Krennic vowed to not fail, promising to obliterate Jehda before storming off the bridge with his entourage. Tarkin, turning away with indifference, returned to the bridge's forward viewports to continue observing the Death Star.

Shortly thereafter, Tarkin departed the Executrix to join Krennic on the Death Star's overbridge, where the director fulfilled his earlier promise to Tarkin by using the station to annihilate Jedha City. Confident that the station was fully operational and that he was no longer at risk of being blamed for setbacks, Tarkin immediately seized control of the Death Star from Krennic. Subsequently, under Tarkin's command, the Death Star traveled to Yavin to destroy the rebel base located on one of the planet's moons. Tarkin's arrogance led to the Death Star traveling to Yavin unaccompanied, despite the availability of both the Executrix and the Devastator, Vader's flagship. Because the station had now proven itself, additional firepower was deemed unnecessary. However, Tarkin was killed shortly after, when the Death Star was destroyed by a rebel attack before it could obliterate their base.

The Executrix made its debut in the new Star Wars canon in Tarkin, a 2014 novel authored by James Luceno. The Star Destroyer originated within the Star Wars Legends continuity, first appearing in Luceno's 2005 novel, Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader.

In the new canon, the ship was first depicted on April 7, 2016, in the teaser trailer for the 2016 Star Wars Anthology film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The Executrix was not identified within the trailer itself, and the teaser's shot of the vessel was not included in the final film, although an image of the ship from the trailer's shot was utilized in Star Wars: Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide, which identified it as the Executrix.

In Star Wars: Rogue One: Rebel Dossier, the Executrix is incorrectly portrayed with a communications tower in place of the tractor beam targeting array visible in Rogue One.