Tribunal

Being a Venator-class Star Destroyer belonging to the Galactic Republic, the Tribunal was propelled by eight ion drive thrusters, along with a powerful hyperdrive that gave the starship the ability to enter hyperspace and jump between the Core Worlds and the Outer Rim. The Star Destroyer also had retrorockets that were used when the ship entered the atmosphere of planets, as well as escape pods.

The Tribunal also had two hyperwave comm scanners at the top of its two command bridges that could receive transmissions from far away. The ship's computers could access Republic files with different levels of security, which could be opened using astromech droid ports. The Tribunal was equipped with a range of weapons, including eight DBY-827 heavy turbolaser turrets on each side and two medium dual turbolaser cannons on each side. The hull of the Venator was marked with the symbol of the Open Circle Fleet, as well as three red stripes, a common feature on Republic Venators, on the port and starboard wings.

The Tribunal carried a variety of vehicles in its main hangar bay, including starfighters and shuttles. These included Low Altitude Assault Transport/infantry gunships, BTL-B Y-wing starfighter/bombers, and a single Rho-class transport shuttle. The Tribunal's complement also featured several Alpha-3 Nimbus-class V-wing starfighters, Clone Z-95 Headhunters, space gunships, and at least one Nu-class attack/transport shuttle.

In addition to its vehicles, the Tribunal carried several types of astromech droid models, including R4 astromech droids and R5 series astromech droids of the R-series, and at least one C1-series astromech droid. The Star Destroyer also carried many clone troopers during its service to the Republic, including the troopers of the 501st Legion's 332nd Division, as well as clone shock troopers from the Republic's Coruscant Guard, who were stationed on the warship while it was being used as a prisoner transport for Maul, the former Sith Lord.

As a Venator-class warship, the Tribunal had two command bridges towards its rear. Like other Venators, the Tribunal's command bridge had a wide view of the surrounding space through a series of viewports. It also had two pits for the crew who controlled the ship's lateral systems, like the retrorockets. Behind the bridge was a briefing room with a holotable in the center, between two blast doors.

The Tribunal also had a detention level for prisoners or important targets, with multiple cells. These cells were protected by a small ray shield controlled by a panel next to the cell's entrance. The floors and ceilings had bright orange lights. The Venator's long hallways were divided by blast doors controlled by panels on the walls and droid ports. There was also an astromech droid storage room with racks for the droids and a computer console that astromechs could use.

The Tribunal also had a medical bay with several examination rooms. Each room had an FX-7 medical assistant droid that could be controlled by an astromech droid, as well as a surgical pod at the back of the room and medical screens that showed images of whoever was being scanned by the medical assistant droid. The walls and door of the medical bay were marked with the red sigil of the Republic Medic Corps.

The Tribunal's starships and cargo were stored in its large main hangar. The hangar, accessible through large doors on the top and a ventral access point, had several smaller bays, including bay 12, as well as a maintenance bay underneath the main hangar where damaged starfighters were stored. The maintenance bay could be reached by platforms that could be controlled from consoles in the smaller bays, which could also be operated by astromechs. The controls for the main hangar doors and the blast doors to the smaller bays were in a control room at the back of the hangar, which also had technical readouts of the entire ship, including the hyperdrive.

The Tribunal's large hyperdrive room could be accessed through blast doors. Inside, walkways on at least two levels connected to its multiple entrances wrapped around the hyperdrive generators and met at a central control console. Destroying the consoles would activate red lights in the room.

In 19 BBY, the Tribunal, a part of the Republic Navy, was present above Mandalore following the Siege of Mandalore, where Galactic Republic forces had aided the Mandalore resistance and captured the Sith Lord Maul. After the siege, Ahsoka Tano, the former Jedi Padawan, and Clone Commander Rex boarded the Tribunal on a Rho-class shuttle to transport Maul to the Jedi High Council on Coruscant. Maul was secured in a Mandalorian vault in the detention level by the Coruscant Guard, while Tano and Rex went to the command bridge.

Shortly after the Tribunal left the Mandalore system and entered hyperspace, Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith and publicly Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, initiated his long-planned plot to destroy the Jedi Order by issuing Order 66. This secret directive forced all clone troopers of the Grand Army of the Republic to turn against and execute their Jedi Generals through inhibitor chips secretly implanted in their brains by the Kaminoans. On one of the Star Destroyer's bridges, Tano, who was alone because Rex had been called away for a briefing, sensed Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side of the Force, which Palpatine had manipulated him into, but only knew that something terrible had happened to him.

Tano rushed into the briefing room to tell Rex about her Force vision just after he had received Sidious' transmission to carry out Order 66, and soon found herself in a fight for her life. Rex managed to resist Order 66 long enough for Tano to realize something was wrong and for him to tell her to "find Fives" before she had to defend herself against fire from him and other clones, including Lieutenant Jesse, an ARC trooper. After Tano escaped the bridge through the ceiling, Rex, under the control of Order 66, ordered his men to search the ship for Tano and ordered two Coruscant Guard shock troopers to execute their prisoner in the detention level.

Tano arrived at Maul's cell just after the shock troopers did, saving him from execution and releasing him from the Mandalorian vault because she needed him to distract the clones. When Rex learned that Maul had escaped, he ordered the Star Destroyer's escape pods destroyed and the hangar put under maximum security. Tano then enlisted the help of astromech droids R7-A7, CH-33P, and RG-G1 to research the late ARC trooper Fives and find out what Rex had been trying to tell her. When R7 pulled up the files, Tano discovered Fives' discovery of the "inhibitor" chips the Kaminoans had implanted in the clones, and his suspicions, reported by Rex in a confidential grievance report, that they might have a hidden purpose.

With Maul causing the chaos Tano wanted by using the Force to kill the clones trying to stop him on his way to the hangar, Tano and the droids ambushed and captured Rex, taking him to a medical bay to surgically remove the inhibitor chip from his brain, restoring his free will and bringing him back to his senses. Since Rex had gone missing and the other clones weren't sure if he was helping Tano or not, Jesse took command of the clone forces. As Tano, Rex, and the droids headed to the hangar, Maul went to the hyperdrive room and ripped out the engine cores, disabling the hyperdrive. The Tribunal then fell out of hyperspace and began to crash into a nearby moon.

When Tano, Rex, and the droids reached the hangar control room, they learned what had happened to the ship. R7 found a Nu-class shuttle in bay 12, but when he opened the bay doors, Jesse and a large number of clone troopers revealed themselves, emerging from the other bays. Tano devised a plan to distract the clones by having Rex pretend to have captured her while the droids worked to activate the lifts to the repair bay, sending most of Jesse's troops to the lower level and making it easier to fight their way out without killing any of the clones. However, Maul used the opportunity to steal the shuttle and escape, forcing Tano to let him go to defend Rex against more clones who had arrived to reinforce Jesse.

Tano then dropped herself and Rex into the repair bay by cutting a hole in the floor after R7-A7 was shot down by blaster fire. The other two droids raised the lifts to clear out Jesse and most of the other clones before they were found and destroyed. After fighting the few clones in the repair bay, Tano and Rex found a working BTL-B Y-wing starfighter/bomber to escape in. However, after throwing Rex over to the starfighter, Tano had to defend herself against another wave of clones who had gained control of the lifts. Around that time, the Tribunal entered the moon's atmosphere, and its condition worsened. A bridge officer ordered the retrorockets fired to try to stabilize their descent, but lateral control was lost just as the bridge exploded, killing all the officers. With the Star Destroyer now completely out of control, Tano and Rex escaped in the Y-wing at the last second, although the fighter was knocked free of the Star Destroyer just as Tano leapt for it, necessitating a run over falling debris before she was able to pull herself into the gunner's seat, watching as the disintegrating Tribunal descended beneath the clouds.

All remaining personnel on board died in the crash, which carved a gouge into the moon's surface. Tano and Rex landed at the crash site and salvaged what they could from the wreckage, including the remains of R7-A7, who was later repaired. They also buried the bodies of all the clones they could find, including Jesse. Tano, despairing over what had happened, left her lightsabers at the crash site to fake her death.

After parting ways with Tano, Rex, who began working against the new Galactic Empire, tracked down Clone Force 99, a unit of rogue clones who had been immune to their inhibitor chips. When he learned that they had not had their chips removed, Rex was inspired by how he had had his chip taken out aboard the Tribunal to perform the surgeries in a Venator's medical bay, and had the squad meet him on the junkyard planet Bracca to use a wrecked Venator for that purpose.

Some years later, during the early [Imperial Era](/article/imperial_era], the crash site was discovered by the Empire, largely buried in snow. The wreck was explored by stormtroopers, snowtroopers, and Viper probe droids, and was also visited by Darth Vader, who recovered his former apprentice's abandoned lightsaber and took it with him.

When the Tribunal departed Mandalore, it was under the command of Rex, although he was not a naval officer. Therefore, all duties of piloting and navigating the ship were carried out by the clone naval officers stationed on board. Ahsoka Tano, despite no longer holding any official rank in the Republic Military except as an advisor to the 332nd Division, was still treated as holding her former rank of Jedi Commander by the clones and was considered unofficially in command of the ship before the execution of Order 66.

After Rex had his inhibitor chip removed and was no longer compelled to carry out Sidious' orders, Jesse took command of the mind-controlled clones. This was initially because they didn't know what had happened to Rex, and later because Rex was, according to the statutes of Order 66, committing treason by refusing to carry out the order. Astromech droids R7-A7, CH-33P, and RG-G1 were also stationed on the vessel, and they assisted Tano and later Rex when they had to flee from the clones who were trying to carry out Order 66.

The Tribunal first appeared in "Shattered," the second-to-last episode of the seventh season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which was broadcast on May 1, 2020. The ship's name was first revealed in the reference book Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Character Encyclopedia - Join the Battle!

Concept art featuring the Venator was shown in the StarWars.com episode guides for "Shattered" and the finale "Victory and Death," which was broadcast on May 4. The art for "Shattered" included interiors of the Star Destroyer, while the concept art produced for "Victory and Death" featured artwork of the damaged vessel crashing onto the moon, drawn by Molly Denmark.