Vengeance (Strike-class)

General Vessel Information

The Strike-class medium cruiser was a medium cruiser designed by the Loronar Corporation during the Galactic Civil War for the Imperial Navy as a general-purpose vessel capable of modular modifications to allow it to fit many mission profiles, yet cheap enough to be produced in large quantities. A departure from the Navy's trend towards increasingly large warships, the Strike-class cruiser was an admission to diminished ability to defend space superiority against the Rebel Alliance and other forces as the conflict wore on. Ironically, the one big disadvantage of the Strike-class cruiser was a side effect of its biggest advantage. Due to the modular design of the ship, a single, well-placed hit could shut down entire systems or weapon batteries if the densely arrayed power connectors between two sections of the ship were damaged. If the ship suffered too many critical hits by large-impact weapons (such as proton torpedoes or heavy turbolasers) it was also possible that it might simply break apart, losing large portions of its structure. By the time the ship was introduced into full naval service this was only considered to be a minor flaw, as the Empire had enough resources to replenish damaged or lost components that were considered "disposable" at that time. However, as the war raged on and large starships started to become a rare sight, the Imperial Remnant felt the need to make this otherwise reliable, versatile and thus tactically important class of cruisers more durable, which resulted in reinforcing the connections between the cruiser's basic integral structure and the attached modules in order to prevent easy decouplings. Nevertheless, these spots remained the most vulnerable parts of the Strike-class, and pilots and commanders alike on both sides of the Galactic Civil War adapted their tactics to deal with this knowledge.

History

The New Republic originally manufactured the ship that came to be known as Vengeance some seven years after the Battle of Endor. The cruiser saw its first major action in the ill-fated Battle of Duro shortly before the final death of Palpatine, where it was forced to retreat and concede victory to the Empire. A year later it responded to Colonel Cronus’ attack on the Chardaan shipyards, receiving moderate damage in a failed attempt to protect the major starfighter supplier. Its misfortunes continued, bringing near-destruction at both the Battles of Orinda and later a chance encounter with a lone Imperial cruiser. Superstition born of this string of failures relegated the vessel to a more subdued role after the end of the Galactic Civil War. It served for several years as a picket ship for an Outer Rim Outpost, again taking a pounding while pursuing a fleeing smuggler through the edge of a nearby asteroid field. As fate would have it, the smuggler was under the employ of Clan Satal Keto at the time, and offered information on the wounded cruiser for a reasonable price. Unable to enter hyperspace, and having limped back to the outpost, the ship was located with ease. The stage was set for a daring, and ultimately successful, raid by the Clan’s Jedi, timed for the near-completion of repairs to the ship. As the most powerful ship in the Ketoan fold, it was immediately designated the new flagship, and rechristened Malevolent. With the founding of Clan Plagueis it retained the role of flagship, and was renamed Vengeance.

It survived the Yuuzhan Vong attack on the combined Brotherhood fleets at Antei, suffering moderate structural damage, internal defacement from enemy boarders, and the loss of an engine and several weapon emplacements. After that catastrophic battle Vengeance returned to the Jusadih System and began collecting the tattered remnants of Clan Plagueis. A vain effort was put into repairing the flagship in the following weeks, in no small part spurred by the threat of the Vong returning for a second round. However, growing concerns over its faltering systems, the Clan’s overstretched resources, and the need to redirect crewmen to the newly released Star Destroyers ultimately led to it being decommissioned. The cruiser has been put in protective storage in a classified location, awaiting the day Plagueis is again strong enough to call it into service.

Outfitted with 5 heavy turbolaser batteries, 4 missile launchers, 4 quad laser cannons, 2 ion cannons, modified engines, and 3 tractor beam emplacements the Vengeance provided a balance of anti-ship and anti-starfighter defense. It’s true worth, however, lay in its augmented hangar facilities, which accommodated two squadrons of starfighters at a time when Plagueis could only carry four in total.

[CSK’s choice in the Capital Gains competition]

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