Vorknkx

This vessel, the Vorknkx, functioned as the original prototype for the Imperial scientific project sharing its name. The project's objective was the creation of a cloaking device suitable for smaller spacecraft. Ultimately, it became the instrument by which the Imperial traitor, Grand Admiral Demetrius Zaarin, met his end at the hands of his nemesis and Imperial successor, Grand Admiral Thrawn. Despite months of skirmishes and the gradual attrition of Zaarin's forces by Thrawn's larger, loyalist fleet, Zaarin proved adept at shielding his flagship, the Imperial-class Star Destroyer named Glory, and thus himself, from danger. Thrawn seized the opportunity presented by his assignment to safeguard the Vorknkx project from Zaarin, using it as a means to alter this pattern and decisively quell Zaarin's rebellion against the Emperor.

Thrawn understood that Zaarin's primary weakness was his ambition to acquire new military technologies. Furthermore, he had obtained a confidential report from the project's lead scientists, indicating that the experimental cloaking device on board the Vorknkx could trigger a catastrophic power surge if used in conjunction with the ship's hyperdrive. Both of these vulnerabilities became central to Thrawn's strategy to trap his adversary.

Zaarin's forces had previously attacked the station hosting the Vorknkx Project, but were driven back by Thrawn's fighter patrols, commanded by Maarek Stele. Later, when the project relocated to a hollowed-out asteroid, Thrawn intentionally allowed Zaarin to discover the Vorknkx's new location. Inevitably, Zaarin committed his remaining transports to capture the project, only to have them easily destroyed by Stele. A double agent, planted by Zaarin, attempted to escape in a shuttle amidst the chaos, but Stele also shot him down. With his transports eliminated and unaware of his spy's failure, Zaarin himself joined the battle aboard Glory. Using a remote device that the spy had placed on the Vorknkx, Zaarin managed to guide the corvette into his own hangar bay. He then swiftly departed, believing he had achieved victory.

However, Thrawn had already learned of the spy's compromise of the Vorknkx and had ordered the placement of a homing beacon on board. When the Glory jumped into hyperspace, Thrawn's entire fleet followed. Overconfident and believing he had already outmaneuvered Thrawn, Zaarin was taken by surprise by the sudden appearance of numerous Imperial vessels. Thrawn's forces quickly cornered the 'Glory', overwhelming and dooming it. As his flagship crumbled around him, Zaarin escaped in the Vorknkx, assuming that, having immediately cloaked, Thrawn's forces would be too preoccupied with the Glory's destruction to notice his departure. While gloating about once again evading Thrawn, Zaarin engaged the Vorknkx's hyperdrive. The resulting explosion completely obliterated the ship, killing Zaarin instantly. Thrawn, a grin on his face, watched from the bridge of his Star Destroyer, having finally secured victory.

Emperor Palpatine subsequently ordered the project shelved, as its sole purpose had been to ensure Zaarin's ultimate defeat, a goal that had now been accomplished. Whether the technology developed during the Vorknkx project survived in some other form after the Vorknkx's destruction remains unknown.