Knight Hammer

The Knight Hammer, an Executor-class Star Dreadnought, possessed advanced features for a Super Star Destroyer of its type. Its heavy black stealth armor rendered it nearly invisible to enemy sensors and visual detection, except at extremely close ranges. Spanning 19 kilometers, it rivaled the power of twenty Imperial-class Star Destroyers, boasting immense firepower and few weaknesses. The combination of its size and dark color gave the Knight Hammer significant psychological impact, allowing its commander to demoralize adversaries. It served as a symbol of Imperial strength, standing as the most formidable ship within its fleet. Despite its advantages, the Knight Hammer's immense scale came with drawbacks, including high costs and unwieldiness. It contained at least 293 decks, with transport tubes facilitating movement throughout the ship. Simplified schematics were provided to help new recruits navigate the massive vessel.

The Knight Hammer could accommodate a crew of up to one hundred thousand, a relatively small number considering its size. This was achieved through a network of highly automated and redundant command systems. It possessed the capacity to carry enough troops to occupy a conquered world. Thousands of TIE/LN starfighters and TIE/sa bombers filled its launching bays, with specific bays located aft, adjacent to the massive engine systems, specifically designated for bomber squadrons. Hundreds of escape pods were available for emergency evacuations.

The Knight Hammer featured an opulent ready room, comparable in size to the command deck of a Victory-class Star Destroyer, providing a private space for the commander to strategize. It included sleeping quarters, food processing stations, and access to escape pods for command-level personnel. A viewing window offered a vista of the stars.

Following the Galactic Empire's defeat in the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, it fractured into numerous independent kingdoms ruled by warlords. In 5 ABY, Admiral Sander Delvardus was ousted from his territories around Eriadu by Sien Sovv of the New Republic, forcing him into the Deep Core. There, he assumed the title of "Superior General," established his own personal domain, and initiated the construction of a Super Star Destroyer, named the Night Hammer. Rumor had it that Delvardus named the ship Night Hammer in remembrance of his lost love, Seledra-Zin, whom he had incapacitated with a dynamic hammer in a moment of rage, leaving her in a coma. Delvardus diverted credits from the remaining Imperial resources, dedicating nearly all of them to the ship's development. In 12 ABY, Admiral Natasi Daala orchestrated the deaths of Delvardus and twelve other powerful Deep Core warlords to prevent further fragmentation of the Empire. Upon discovering Delvardus's extensive siphoning of Imperial credits, Daala traveled to his fortress world to consult with his second in command, Colonel Ivan Cronus. Cronus escorted her to the edge of the planet's system, where the Night Hammer awaited, and Daala immediately claimed the vessel as her flagship upon seeing it.

Daala initially employed the Night Hammer to reunite the scattered Imperial factions, traversing from system to system to secure allegiances, forge alliances, and motivate Imperial subjects. She assembled a fleet of 112 Victory-class and 45 Imperial-class Star Destroyers around her new flagship. The Night Hammer and its fleet remained docked at a nexus station in the Deep Core as Daala planned her next move. She convened with Vice Admiral Gilad Pellaeon in the Night Hammer's ready room to select their primary target. Deeming Coruscant too heavily defended for an initial assault, Daala opted to eliminate the New Jedi Order at their Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4. Cronus, with the Victories, would distract the New Republic elsewhere, while Pellaeon would spearhead the attack on Yavin with the Imperials, followed by Daala in the Night Hammer to secure the system.

When two Jedi Knights, Kyp Durron and Dorsk 81, infiltrated Daala's fleet muster and overheard her plans, she was compelled to accelerate her timeline. Cronus was dispatched to cause chaos on Khomm and other locations, while Pellaeon was sent directly to Yavin 4 with his seventeen Imperial-class Star Destroyers. Aboard the Night Hammer, Daala gathered sufficient forces to permanently occupy the praxeum. Before launching, Daala issued a final order to rename the ship Knight Hammer, symbolizing her intended destruction of the New Republic through the annihilation of the Jedi.

Having received warning from the Jedi about the impending assault, Admiral Ackbar of the New Republic mobilized his fleet, including his flagship, the MC90 cruiser Galactic Voyager, and set course for Yavin 4. Meanwhile, Pellaeon had encountered a significant setback; the Jedi had combined their powers to forcefully push his entire fleet out of the Yavin system. Upon arriving in-system, the Knight Hammer found no Imperial forces present around Yavin 4. Daala initiated a scan of the system to locate Pellaeon's fleet, but without success. Hesitant to commit her snubfighters to a battle where the enemy possessed unforeseen resources, Daala ordered the Knight Hammer's TIE fighter and bomber squadrons to remain on standby. Instead, the Knight Hammer initiated communications jamming, moved into orbit around Yavin 4, and unleashed its firepower on the moon with all its turbolaser batteries, targeting Jedi structures and igniting the surrounding forests.

The Millennium Falcon, carrying Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and Jedi Knight Callista Ming, arrived in the Yavin system amidst the bombardment, prompting the Knight Hammer to redirect some of its weapons. As the Falcon evaded its fire, the Knight Hammer dispatched TIE fighters to intercept the smaller vessel. However, the Falcon managed to evade them and landed on the moon below, where Skywalker assisted in repelling the Imperial ground forces. Ming, in the meantime, commandeered a TIE bomber and returned to the Knight Hammer, feigning damage to gain access to the Super Star Destroyer's rear bomber bay, which still housed its full complement of bombers.

Concurrently, the Falcon, under the command of Han Solo, re-entered space to make a run at the Knight Hammer. The Super Star Destroyer ceased its bombardment of the moon and focused all its weapons on the Falcon, launching four squadrons from its forward hangar to engage the ship. At this juncture, Ackbar's fleet arrived, consisting of the Galactic Voyager and four CR90 corvettes. As the New Republic forces forced the TIE fighters to retreat back to the Super Star Destroyer and provided cover for the Falcon, the Knight Hammer opened fire on the Voyager. Ackbar intended to stall Daala until New Republic reinforcements arrived at Yavin, but before he could, Cronus and his fleet of Victory-class Star Destroyers entered the system to reinforce Daala. Catching the New Republic ships off guard, Cronus's fleet destroyed one of Ackbar's corvettes. The Knight Hammer began firing indiscriminately into the battle, inadvertently striking one of Cronus's ships. Another corvette was destroyed, and Cronus himself perished when a damaged corvette rammed his flagship. The Galactic Voyager disengaged from the moon and headed for the gas giant Yavin Prime, with the Knight Hammer in pursuit. As they closed in on Ackbar's vessel, Daala received a communication from Pellaeon, who had finally positioned his ships outside the system.

As the battle raged outside, Ming sealed off the bay she was in, preventing Knight Hammer personnel from entering, and began rigging each bomber to automatically fire its concussion missiles into the bulkhead separating the bay from the engines. She then fled the bay via transport tube, heading for the ship's bridge. As she approached, the timer expired, and the bombers unleashed their payload. A barrage of missile explosions ripped open the aft end of the Knight Hammer, crippling its engines. Power throughout the vessel failed, a shockwave reverberated toward the bow, and the ship went dead in space, drifting directly into the gas giant. The entire rear third of the ship sealed itself off as life support systems failed and toxins began leaking into habitable areas.

Among Daala's fleet, panic erupted as the Imperials witnessed the extensive damage inflicted on the Knight Hammer. Daala requested assistance from Cronus, but upon learning of his death, she was forced to reassess the situation. She realized the Knight Hammer was beyond repair within the available timeframe and was destined to fall into Yavin. Moreover, the remaining New Republic fleet arrived at that moment, vastly outnumbering her remaining forces. Consequently, Daala ordered an evacuation of the Knight Hammer. She remained behind as her bridge crew departed, allowing them to believe she would go down with the ship, then made her way to the command escape pods in her ready room. However, she was intercepted by Callista Ming, who intended to delay Daala long enough to ensure her demise aboard the ship. After unsuccessfully firing at her with a blaster and having her shots deflected by Ming's lightsaber, Daala incapacitated Ming with a stun blast, rendering the Jedi unconscious. As the Knight Hammer plunged into the atmosphere of Yavin, Daala evacuated the doomed vessel. Ming recovered and followed shortly after. The Knight Hammer, subjected to intense atmospheric friction and crushing pressure, exploded as it plummeted into the depths of the gas giant.

While the Night Hammer was initially intended for Sander Delvardus, Natasi Daala became its first and only commander. Despite her preference for a smaller command post, Daala believed that an officer of her stature deserved nothing less than a Super Star Destroyer. She utilized the vessel as a psychological weapon, anticipating its arrival in battle to significantly undermine the opposing side's morale. Her decision to rename the vessel symbolized the destruction she hoped it would inflict on the New Republic and the Jedi, and Daala considered it proof of her sense of humor. The Admiral placed great importance on her image and mystique, allowing her crew to believe she would perish with the ship when it was doomed.

With a maximum complement of one hundred thousand, the Knight Hammer's crew was relatively small for a ship of its size. In contrast to the usual Imperial policy against females in the military, the vessel under Daala's command included female officers within its bridge crew. Throughout her travels around the remnants of the Empire aboard the Super Star Destroyer, Daala was also accompanied by a detachment of Royal Guards.

The Knight Hammer was introduced in Kevin J. Anderson's 1995 novel Darksaber. Darksaber specifies that the ship is as large as the Executor, which at the time was defined as eight kilometers; the novel explicitly states that the ship is eight kilometers long. However, the Executor and all ships of its class have since been retconned to a length of nineteen kilometers.