Starhawk-class battleship

History

Prototype creation

Construction

Following the destruction of the Second Death Star and the deaths of both Sheev Palpatine and Darth Vader during the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, the Galactic Empire experienced fragmentation and a loss of momentum, which enabled the Rebel Alliance to reform as the New Republic. The nascent New Republic initiated a program to develop a new series of battleships for the New Republic Defense Force, intended to challenge the Imperial Navy.

By the middle of 4 ABY, the construction of an initial prototype for the class, known as the Starhawk, was underway at the clandestine Nadiri Dockyards. Rebel officers such as General Hera Syndulla oversaw this project. However, during the construction phase, the Empire discovered the project's existence. Under the command of Admiral Rae Sloane, Imperial forces, led by the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Overseer and Titan Squadron, began searching for the vessel to destroy it.

Simultaneously with the search for Nadiri and the Starhawk, the New Republic’s Vanguard Squadron was assisting with the final construction stages. The Starhawk was made utilizing durasteel hulls taken from Imperial-class Star Destroyers. Vanguard helped in capturing one of these, the Victorum, and returning it to Nadiri.

First test

Upon completion, the Starhawk left Nadiri Dockyards and headed to the Zavian Abyss to engage the Overseer, which was nearing the project's location. The New Republic used three GR-75 transports as a lure, drawing the Star Destroyer into range so the Starhawk could use its powerful forward tractor beam weapon. The Overseer sustained significant damage from impacts with asteroids within the Abyss, forcing it to retreat.

Destruction

Following the engagement, the Starhawk returned to Nadiri. However, the Overseer returned to attack the vessel, now aware of the dockyard's coordinates. The Overseer and Titan Squadron attacked Nadiri, deploying bombers equipped with special Baradium missiles, and inflicted heavy casualties on the defenders. They also crippled the Starhawk, which retreated from the battle accompanied by the MC75 Star Cruiser Temperance.

The Starhawk, suffering from a damaged hyperdrive and compromised engines, slowly attempted to escape the Empire. However, Titan Squadron ambushed and decimated the reinforcements in the Ringali Nebula debris field, forcing them into the Ringali Nebula. While Vanguard Squadron managed to call in reinforcements to help them in the Battle of Galitan, Rae Sloane sent her own forces to keep them occupied, leaving Starhawk undefended, except for the Temperance.

Captain Terisa Kerrill of the Overseer dispatched Imperial TIE pilot “Titan Three” to destroy the vessel by detonating an unexploded Baradium missile lodged in the armor near the tractor beam core. Anvil Squadron, under the command of Captain Lindon Javes, tried to stop Titan Three, but the Imperial pilot defeated them all. Javes’ T-65B X-wing crashed into the Starhawk. Javes survived, and his ship, though damaged, was still flyable. Titan Three then maneuvered their TIE inside the Starhawk and fired on the reactor core, causing the vessel to suffer catastrophic damage.

Kerrill's forces were victorious and left the battle. Titan Three was promoted to Flight Baron for their actions. However some of the Imperial fleet stayed to continue the fight. Hera Syndulla, in command during the battle, accepted the Starhawk’s fate, but realized it could still serve one final purpose.

Syndulla devised a strategy to evacuate the battleship's crew and engineers, and then send the Starhawk on a collision course with the exposed core of the nearby moon, Galitan. This required CR90 corvettes to tow the Starhawk using a tractor beam that was still working. Vanguard Squadron fought off waves of TIEs to protect the corvettes. Once the Starhawk reached the right speed, it crashed into the moon's core, and the unstable tractor beam mechanism exploded. The moon's core energy amplified this, resulting in a massive explosion of molten rock and a subsequent shockwave that destroyed any nearby Imperial ships. Just before the explosion, Javes escaped from inside the hull of the Starhawk.

Further service

Despite the loss of the prototype, production of the Starhawk-class continued elsewhere, as the crew and engineers were safely transported to Chandrila to continue their work and construct more Mark I Starhawk-class battleships. Prior to the Battle of Jakku in 5 ABY, the Starhawks Amity, Concord, and Unity, were completed and participated in the war's final battle. However, both Amity and Concord were destroyed in the fighting. Amity was destroyed after being rammed by the Star Destroyer Punishment, and Concord was destroyed by the Executor-class Star Dreadnought Ravager, though it managed to use its tractor beam to drag the latter down to the surface of Jakku in a final act.

Additional Starhawk-class vessels were produced during the New Republic Era, including the Mark II. At least one Mark II was built and flew over the New Republic capital of Hosnian Prime alongside numerous T-65 X-wings.

Legacy

Years afterward, as the Resistance U-55 orbital loadlifters were being destroyed by the Supremacy after they evacuated from the Raddus, General Leia Organa wished for a miracle where Inferno Squad would return from their mission to locate allies in the Outer Rim Territories, bringing with them a task force of _Starhawk_s.