Intimidator (Executor-class)

Description

The Intimidator stretched 19,000 meters in length as an _Executor-class Star Dreadnought, although, like its sister ships, it was sometimes referred to as a Super-class Star Destroyer. The Intimidator had modifications that went beyond its original specifications; one upgrade was an additional shield generator placed along the ship's centerline. While the Yevetha controlled the vessel, the Imperial prisoners of Camp Pa'aal Squadron secretly installed slave circuitry. This allowed one person to remotely command an entire fleet's worth of enslaved ships into the Intimidator and the other ships of the Black Fleet. This installation was performed bit by bit during their captivity, with the final components assembled and delivered in 17 ABY to prepare for an Imperial uprising.

The Yevetha also implemented changes to the Intimidator. Darama Nil Spaar ordered three of the warship's detention blocks to be converted into breederies for his offspring, each with forty-eight alcoves that served as birth-casks. To house prisoners, three of the Star Destroyer's cargo bays were transformed into expansive holding cells, equipped with minimal facilities to support a thousand individuals. These breederies and holding cells were completed by 16 ABY.

History

Stationed at the Black-15 shipyard

The Intimidator was one of three Super Star Destroyers assigned to the Black Fleet of Black Sword Command, a unit within the Imperial Military responsible for defending the Core Worlds. In 4 ABY, eight months after the Rebel Alliance's victory and the death of Emperor Palpatine at the Battle of Endor, the Intimidator was stationed at the Black-15 shipyard above the Yevethan homeworld of N'zoth in the Koornacht Cluster. It had been moved from the Core Worlds, where it was undergoing repairs, to make room for the construction of another Executor-class vessel. Of the nine ships being repaired at the Black-15 dock, only the Intimidator was spaceworthy.

When Imperial garrison commander Jian Paret was ordered to pull out all military personnel from the system and destroy anything left behind, Paret used the Intimidator as his command ship during the evacuation, moving to it within an hour of receiving his orders. With only a skeleton crew of one-third its capacity and the need to transfer all the garrison's assets and personnel before destroying the repair yard, Paret couldn't leave as quickly as he wished. To prevent hostile actions from the predominantly Yevetha workforce, Paret disguised the Imperial evacuation as a departure drill.

However, Yevetha underground leader Nil Spaar was aware of the impending Imperial withdrawal and chose this moment to seize the Black-15 shipyard and all vessels present, as part of a five-year plan to revolt against the Imperials. With the Victory-class Star Destroyer Harridan reassigned from patrol to active service at Notak, Spaar recognized that the Imperials were essentially defenseless. In Sections 17 and 21 of the Intimidator, over a dozen external hatches were rigged to report as secured and sealed during an emergency lockdown. Spaar also took precautions in case the ship tried to escape: a package of explosives, only disarmed by a constant signal, would destroy the ship if the shields were activated, cutting the signal and detonating the bombs. With these measures in place, two Yevetha commando teams, one led by Spaar and the other by his second-in-command, Dar Bille, boarded the Intimidator through the rigged hatches. Silently and swiftly, the teams converged on the bridge without firing a shot. They breached the command deck, killing seven Imperial crew members before securing the rest.

As these events unfolded, Governor Crollick's shuttle and a convoy of Imperial transports ascended from N'zoth toward the Intimidator as the warship left its berth at the shipyard. As the transports decelerated to dock, Spaar ordered all of the warship's autotargeting batteries to open fire, killing 20,000 Imperials, including soldiers, technicians, bureaucrats, and families. Spaar ended the bloodshed by executing Paret with his dew claw, a retractable blade from a Yevetha's wrist. Spaar declared that the remaining crew were now prisoners of the Duskhan League, the Yevethan government. The other eight Star Destroyers at the shipyard were also captured. The captive Imperials, approximately 300,000 crew members from the entire fleet, were transferred to Pa'aal, N'zoth's primary moon, to serve the Yevetha in operating and constructing their warships.

Serving the Yevetha

By 16 ABY, twelve years after the failed Imperial evacuation of N'zoth, the Yevetha had learned to operate the captured ships from their former oppressors, who were now prisoners. However, unbeknownst to the Yevetha, the Imperials had begun installing slave circuitry in all the former Imperial warships, working in secret over the years to prepare for a counter-revolt. The Intimidator was renamed Pride of Yevetha and became the flagship of Darama Nil Spaar, viceroy of the Duskhan League. Dar Bille served as the primate of the warship. Spaar's personal staff, including his primary and secondary mates, his first attaché Eri Palle, and Vor Duull, the proctor of information science from the thrustship Aramadia, were also transferred to the Pride of Yevetha. From the Super Star Destroyer's bridge, Bille, acting on Spaar's orders, initiated the Great Purge, an ethnic cleansing of the Koornacht Cluster. The Pride of Yevetha participated in the extermination of a Kubaz colony at Morning's Bell and the capture of a former Imperial factory farm at Pirol-5, while the rest of the Black Fleet purged the Cluster of foreign "vermin."

Although New Republic Chief of State Leia Organa Solo was horrified by the Duskhan League's actions, the New Republic couldn't defend the conquered worlds of the Koornacht Cluster, as they weren't members of the galactic government. Some members of the New Republic Senate opposed Republic involvement, but Organa Solo issued an ultimatum to Spaar: the Duskhan League had to withdraw from the seized worlds, or the New Republic would declare war. Spaar refused to back down, knowing the New Republic was unaware of the League's full military strength and the existence of the Intimidator, which he could use to his advantage. The New Republic made the first move with a disastrous blockade of Doornik-319, prompting Senate members to turn against their Chief of State.

While this internal conflict continued, several New Republic reconnaissance flights entered the Koornacht Cluster to assess the Duskhan League's military strength. Lieutenant Rone Taggar of the New Republic Fifth Battle Group's 21st Recon Group was dispatched in his Recon-X starfighter Jennie Lee to the N'zoth system to gather data on the Yevethan forces. During the five-minute flight, the Jennie Lee's R2-R unit identified Aramadia-class thrustships, Victory-class and Imperial-class Star Destroyers, and a lone Executor-class Star Dreadnought, the Pride of Yevetha. Taggar's data, along with data from other recon flights, was sent to the New Republic Defense Force headquarters, where it was reviewed by Organa Solo, Admiral Ackbar, and others. Ayddar Nylykerka, a Tammarian officer from the Asset Tracking office, confirmed the presence of the Intimidator, identifying it by its Imperial name. Nylykerka deduced the ship's identity from the additional shield generator tower on the warship's centerline, a feature of all late-production Executor-class ships. Everyone present realized that the New Republic Navy had nothing that could match a Super Star Destroyer.

In preparation for war with the Yevetha, the Chief of State sent her husband, Commodore Han Solo, to command the New Republic Fifth Fleet. En route, he was captured by the Yevetha and imprisoned on N'zoth. He was later moved to one of the Pride of Yevetha's unused cargo areas, where he and other captives were intended to be used as living shields in case of a New Republic attack. Unbeknownst to the Yevetha, members of the Fallanassi, a Force-based religion adept at creating illusions, had rescued most of the prisoners before their transfer. A few Fallanassi remained to project the illusion that all captives were still present.

Spaar used the Pride of Yevetha's bridge as the backdrop for a holorecording intended to convince the Republic that a "Grand Imperial Union" under a Moff "Tragg Brathis" had formed an agreement with the Duskhan League. Ackbar confirmed that both the Grand Imperial Union and Moff Brathis were fabrications, but the presence of numerous Imperial Star Destroyers in the recording still concerned the Republic's leadership.

Meanwhile, the Wookiee Chewbacca and his family, including his son, Lumpawarrump, and cousins Jowdrrl, Shoran, and Dryanta, launched a rescue mission to retrieve Solo from the Pride of Yevetha in the N'zoth system, using New Republic Fleet Intelligence information, such as a Super Star Destroyer technical readout, provided by the Yao information broker Formayj. Piloting the light freighter Millennium Falcon, Chewbacca used firecracker mines to blind the Super Star Destroyer's sensors, allowing a quick in-system hyperspace jump that placed him 1,100 meters off the Pride of Yevetha's starboard bow, beyond the gun batteries' tracking range. The Wookiees used a hull-cutting ring to board the warship, and Chewbacca, Shoran, and Lumpawarrump moved through the converted detention blocks, severely damaging the breederies. The strike team eventually reached the cargo hold where Solo was held. After freeing Solo, the group escaped in the Millennium Falcon, leaving many Yevetha crew and soldiers dead.

Following the attack, Spaar focused on replenishing the breederies, but this was interrupted when three Republic stasis probes, foreshadowing an impending Republic attack, arrived in the N'zoth system. Spaar rushed to the bridge and ordered the Pride of Yevetha to break orbit to intercept and destroy the probes, despite Proctor of Defense Tho Voota's concerns about leaving N'zoth undefended. As the Pride of Yevetha moved forward, the New Republic fleet emerged from hyperspace, just beyond the Yevethan fleet's batteries. Republic General Etahn A'baht used the opportunity to deliver a final ultimatum to the Yevetha Viceroy.

The Empire's Return

From the flagship's fire control center, Major Sil Sorannan, the Imperial resistance leader, listened patiently, marveling at the New Republic's evolution from the Rebel Alliance's hit-and-run tactics. As the Pride of Yevetha neared firing range of the nearest Republic vessel, Spaar issued his challenge, and Sorannan began his revolt. Using the slave circuitry installed during their captivity, Sorannan seized control of the Black Fleet, halting all the Star Destroyers. While the Yevethan ships continued their attack, Sorannan, identifying himself as acting captain of the Intimidator, contacted A'baht and announced that his Camp Pa'aal Squadron was leaving the battle. The delayed withdrawal of Black Sword Command was completed when the Star Destroyers jumped to hyperspace, bound for the Imperial throne world of Byss in the Deep Core.

With the core of their fleet gone, the Yevetha were outnumbered five to one. Spaar had been aboard the Intimidator when it departed, leaving the Yevetha leaderless. Despite these setbacks, the Duskhan League engaged the New Republic fleet with their remaining D-type fighters and forty-four Aramadia-class thrustships. After inflicting heavy casualties, the Yevethan force was destroyed, ending the Black Fleet Crisis. Spaar was captured by the Imperials aboard the Intimidator; Sorannan, seeking revenge for years of servitude, placed Spaar in an escape pod and launched it into hyperspace, where he died, his remains never recovered. The Black Fleet arrived in the Beshqek system, but Byss was now an asteroid field, created after the Galaxy Gun superweapon destroyed the throne world approximately six years earlier. After a month, the fleet dispersed, with some elements defecting to the New Republic and others joining surviving Imperial factions. The Intimidator vanished, only to be found four years later near the Unknown Regions, abandoned and irreparably damaged.

Commanders and crew

Before the Yevethan revolt, the Intimidator was operated by a crew that was only one-third of its required personnel capacity. Roughly thirteen years later, while serving the Duskhan League, the Pride of Yevetha's crew included over 15,000 Yevetha and 513 veterans from Black Sword Command.

Jian Paret

Jian Paret commanded the Imperial garrison on N'zoth in 4 ABY and oversaw Black Sword Command's withdrawal from the N'zoth system. He used the Intimidator as his command ship during the retreat, as it was the only spaceworthy vessel at the Black-15 shipyard. Paret was captured during the Yevetha takeover and watched helplessly as the Yevetha turned the warship's guns on the evacuation shuttles. Immediately afterward, Nil Spaar executed him with a slash of his dew claw.

Nil Spaar

Nil Spaar, who would later become the viceroy of the Duskhan League, initially gained prominence as a Yevetha resistance figure. He spearheaded the rebellion that successfully seized the Intimidator. By 16 ABY, he had risen to the position of viceroy and was revered as the darama, or "chosen one." That same year, he designated the renamed Pride of Yevetha as his command ship, transferring the majority of the crew from his previous flagship, the thrustship Aramadia, to the Super Star Destroyer. This included his aide Eri Palle, Proctor of Information Science Vor Duull, his breeding partners, and his personal guard. The Viceroy ordered the conversion of three detention blocks on his flagship into breederies to house his offspring. Spaar, known for his brutality and xenophobic views, oversaw the "cleansing" of the Koornacht Cluster and skillfully exploited conflicts within the New Republic Senate for his own advantage. His schemes were abruptly disrupted when Imperials from Camp Pa'aal Squadron launched a revolt, seizing control of both the Intimidator and the Black Fleet, and taking Spaar prisoner. Sil Sorannan placed Spaar in an escape pod and ejected him into hyperspace, from which he was never found.

Dar Bille

Dar Bille held the position of Nil Spaar's second-in-command during the Yevetha uprising. He commanded the second of two commando units during the capture of the Intimidator amidst the failed Imperial retreat from N'zoth. Twelve years afterward, he served as the primate, or commander, of the Pride of Yevetha while it was in service with the Duskhan League. Bille supervised the Pride of Yevetha's involvement in the Great Purge, and he was still in command when Camp Pa'aal Squadron commandeered the warship during the Battle of N'zoth.

Sil Sorannan

Sil Sorannan held the rank of major within Black Sword Command, having previously been involved with a research team that was experimenting with dropping bombs from hyperspace into realspace. During the Yevetha uprising, Sorannan was among the 300,000 Imperials who were captured and compelled to assist the Yevetha in operating their newly-acquired warships, including the Intimidator. As time went on, Sorannan rose to become the leader of Camp Pa'aal Squadron, the Imperial resistance movement. He oversaw the development and distribution of the slave circuit technology that, when the moment was right, would grant him complete control over the Black Fleet. While stationed aboard the Pride of Yevetha—which he frequently had to remind himself was properly known as the Intimidator—he worked in the fire control center of the Super Star Destroyer, managing the data server for target registry. Before the Battle of N'zoth could properly begin, Sorannan initiated his rebellion and assumed command as acting captain of the Intimidator. He activated the slave circuitry, ordering the Imperial warships to jump into hyperspace and head towards the Imperial throne world of Byss. During the journey, he applied his expertise in dropping bombs into hyperspace when he abandoned Nil Spaar in an escape pod, leaving him stranded.

Behind the scenes

The Intimidator made its debut appearance in the novel Before the Storm, the first installment of The Black Fleet Crisis trilogy, authored by Michael P. Kube-McDowell and published in 1996. The warship continued to feature in the subsequent two books of the trilogy and was referenced in later sourcebooks, which detailed its fate following the Battle of N'zoth. The Intimidator received its initial visual representation in The Official Star Wars Fact File 22, which was released in May of 2002, six years after Before the Storm was published.

Although the Intimidator is consistently referred to as a "Super-class Star Destroyer" throughout the trilogy, the second book in the series, Shield of Lies, was the first to explicitly state the designation "Executor-class Star Destroyer" for the Intimidator and its sister ships. However, more recent sources, such as the StarWars.com Databank's entry for Super Star Destroyer and an article on the Wizards of the Coast Web site, have updated the name to "Executor-class Star Dreadnought," and have also increased the length of the class from 8,000 meters (as stated in the books of the trilogy) to 19,000 meters. This article reflects these revisions.

While Before the Storm and Tyrant's Test clearly state that the majority of the Intimidator's Imperial crew was captured during the Yevetha revolt, both the Star Wars Encyclopedia and A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, Third Edition, Revised and Expanded claim that the entire crew was killed during the takeover. This article considers the canonicity of both Before the Storm and Tyrant's Test to be accurate.