The Eye of Palpatine was a dreadnaught-class vessel that the Galactic Empire constructed under the orders of Emperor Palpatine during the Imperial Era. Ohran Keldor designed it to be the Empire's initial operational superweapon, cleverly disguised as an asteroid for concealment.
This lethal warship represented one of the first functional superweapon projects of the Galactic Empire. It bore the designations of both dreadnought and battlemoon. To maintain the secrecy of its origins, the ship was crafted to resemble an asteroid, complete with simulated impact craters, a detail personally overseen by Palpatine. The official explanation cited the need to evade detection by enemy spacecraft and planets. However, some theorized that this disguise was intended to conceal the project's development due to potential public backlash, or perhaps it was repurposed from a sizable space rock to conserve resources.
In comparison to a Torpedo Sphere, the Eye was larger and possessed superior firepower. Its destructive capacity equaled, or perhaps surpassed, that of an entire fleet executing a Base Delta Zero-level orbital bombardment. In other words, it could melt a planet's surface crust with its own armaments. While its overall size exceeded that of numerous Super Star Destroyers, its length was comparable to Executor-class Star Dreadnoughts and Vengeance-class dreadnoughts.
The bridge was situated at the vessel's forward end. A Kuat Drive Yards-designed tower, positioned on the ship's dorsal side, functioned exclusively as a deflector-shield generator. Another deflector-shield generator was located near the rear, on the ventral side. The vessel featured at least one sensor array, identifiable as a large crater on the bow. It contained a minimum of eight hangar bays near the stern, with at least one situated on an area where the ship's metallic hull was exposed. Propulsion was provided by at least six sublight engines, one located dorsally and two ventrally near the stern. The hyperdrive was positioned in the equatorial region of the vessel's stern. Armament consisted of at least four ventral turbolaser battery sets, a ring of eight turbolaser batteries focused forward, and its primary weapon: a laser targeting beam emitter located at the center of the forward-focused turbolaser battery ring. The main bridge was directly above the targeting beam emitter, as well as the topmost turbolaser battery.
To ensure operational secrecy, the ship operated without a crew, with all systems managed by an artificial intelligence entity known as the Will. The vessel was equipped with multiple TIE squadrons, along with Beta-class ETR-3 escort transports and Skipray Blastboats. SoroSuub Corporation was a major supplier of the ship's onboard equipment.
Ohran Keldor, who also contributed to the Death Star project, conceived the dreadnaught's design. Palpatine initiated the Eye's construction in 18 BBY, utilizing diverted government funds. His intention was to use it to obliterate the Plawal Rift on Belsavis, which sheltered the Children of the Jedi under the protection of Ho'Din Jedi Master Plett. This rift was a geothermal vent filled with steam carved into the ice wastes of the planet and covered by a transparisteel dome. Aware that this action would provoke outrage within the Imperial Senate, Palpatine dispersed the vessel's troop complement across the Outer Rim Territories, awaiting retrieval. The ship's asteroid-like appearance, complete with simulated impact craters, served as camouflage. Officially, this was to deceive or confuse enemy scanners. However, historians later speculated that the true motive was to conceal the project from the Imperial Senate, particularly since Palpatine had already authorized the Death Star's construction when he ordered the dreadnought.
The ship's construction occurred at the shipyards of Rothana and Patriim, where it was activated and dispatched to Belsavis to destroy the Jedi. Its planned route involved lightly used hyperlanes, with troop pickups scheduled at Pzob, Dom-Bradden, Kirdo III, Tatooine, and Alzoc III. Despite the secrecy efforts, two Jedi Knights, Geith Eris and Callista Ming, discovered the plan and sabotaged the vessel in the Moonflower Nebula. Callista sacrificed herself, trapping her spirit within the ship's computer systems to halt its mission. As a result of Geith and Callista's sacrifice, Plett and the Children of the Jedi were able to flee Belsavis. The Emperor, enraged by the failure, imprisoned several individuals for the loss of the Eye.
The Eye remained inactive and lost until 12 ABY, when Roganda Ismaren, an Emperor's Hand, located it. She used her son, Irek Ismaren—who possessed a sub-electronic converter allowing him to control machines with his mind—to "summon" the dormant ship to Belsavis in her attempt to resurrect the Empire.
Upon reactivation, the Eye of Palpatine attempted to execute its original programming by collecting its Imperial stormtrooper contingent. However, due to the Empire's disintegration, the troops had vanished, except for Triv Pothman, one of 45 troopers remaining on the Gamorrean colony Pzob, who had survived the conflicts among the warring Gamorrean tribes.
Undaunted, the Eye targeted any sentient beings found at the designated locations. It began abducting groups of prisoners from various species on the listed worlds. The Eye soon held numerous species, including Talz, Affytechans, Jawas, Kitonaks, Tusken Raiders, Tripods, and Gamorreans. All were subjected to brainwashing, convincing them that they were Imperial stormtroopers.
Nichos Marr, a Jedi student, ultimately destroyed the Eye over Belsavis. Although no evidence was found in surviving Imperial records recovered by the New Republic, Qwi Xux believed that the Eye had a sister ship. The mission or final fate of that ship, if it existed, remained unknown as of 25 ABY.