During the Galactic Civil War, a starship named Panaka served the loyalist forces of the Galactic Empire. This vessel was part of the Imperial blockade that guarded the Imperial capital planet of Coruscant in 5 ABY. The ship's name honored the Imperial Moff Quarsh Panaka, who had died in 3 BBY. When the renegade Imperial Colonel Soran Keize showed up at the blockade, the Panaka's officer in charge gave him the order to dock with her starship. However, the colonel disobeyed her command and broke through the blockade, using radiation to disrupt scanner and communications systems.
Moff Quarsh Panaka, who served the Galactic Empire until his passing in 3 BBY, was the namesake of the starship Panaka. Panaka was well-known for his involvement in ending a Trade Federation blockade of his home planet, Naboo, in 32 BBY. This occurred during the twilight of the Galactic Republic, when he was a captain in the Royal Naboo Security Forces. Following the death of Emperor Palpatine in 4 ABY, the Panaka served in the navy of the Empire's loyalist forces during the Galactic Civil War. In 5 ABY, the ship participated in the Empire's blockade of the Imperial capital world Coruscant, which had been in effect for a year after Palpatine's death.
Colonel Soran Keize arrived at the Coruscant blockade one day in a TIE fighter modified with a hyperspace docking ring. However, the Panaka had already learned that the colonel was potentially compromised. The Imperial woman in charge of the ship contacted Keize, instructing him to dock and explain his presence at Coruscant. The colonel, however, ridiculed the Panaka's name, pointing out that Moff Panaka was known for breaking a blockade, not maintaining one.
Keize insisted he was needed at the Imperial Palace immediately, under orders from Grand Moff Randd. The Panaka's commander revealed her knowledge of the colonel's possible compromise and requested he not force her to attack. Ignoring her demands, Keize transmitted coordinates for Coruscant's Verity District, requesting its evacuation, before passing the blockade. He released radiation particles, gathered from Chadawa, to interfere with the blockade's scanners and communications. Later, a New Republic pilot also bypassed the blockade to pursue Keize.
The Panaka was initially referenced in the 2021 novel Victory's Price, the concluding book in the Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron trilogy by Alexander Freed.