Dark Predator

Vessel Info

The Loronar Strike-Class Cruiser was supposed to be a revolution in warship design towards the end of the Galactic Civil War. In many ways it was, and to this day it continues to be an interesting ship class that can be an immense threat if the right resources are handy. The ship class has been designed from the ground up to be a multi-purpose ship, depending on the modules that are loaded on the ship. This modular construction gives the ship enormous strategic flexibility, assuming that the resources for performing this change are available. With the recent short supply of shipyards that are accessible to the Brotherhood as a whole, this is rather difficult to accomplish.

History

The Dark Predator did not have much of a history with Clan Scholae Palatinae. The ship was completed at the Brotherhood shipyards as an award from the Brotherhoods' Dark Council after the Seventh Great Jedi War. This, however, changed soon enough.

The Yuuzhan Vong Disaster

The Predator was not present during the initial attack wave from the Yuuzhan Vong Incursion (Eighth Great Jedi War), but it was present during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of Caina in the Clans' home in the Cocytus System. As the primary capital ship defending the Cocytus System, the Predator immediately engaged the incoming Yuuzhan Vong fleet. The veteran-rated crew managed to hold their own against the enemy fleet, and provided additional firepower when the Valkyrie went on her headstrong charge against them. The Predator was confirmed to have killed a frigate-analog and numerous smaller craft.

Operation: Reclamation

The Predator was on patrol with some of the other ships of the Clan fleet when then-Consul Braecen Kaeth took off with the Excidium and a few other Clan ships. Staying, as ordered, on patrol, the crew was surprised to see the Excidium jump back soon thereafter, obviously much worse for the wear. Even more sickening, the other ships that had jumped out with it had not returned.

Then a communication from Commander Sommetra informed them that they had taken serious casualties, and to prepare for an incoming enemy force. The words had barely been said when enemy ships entered the system. The Valkyrie, due to it's position in the system, was the first to engage the enemy cruiser-analog, but was soon destroyed.

Enraged, the crew of the Predator engaged the cruiser and a nearby frigate-analog at flank speed, firing all weapons as fast as they could cycle. The cruiser was ready, and a serious battle ensued. The Predator managed to kill the frigate-analog, but was too late to help the Palpatine's Hammer, which was just destroyed by that same frigate. Against the cruiser it was doing fairly well, but the Yuuzhan Vong cruiser was more accurate. Far too fast it was obvious that the Predator was dying, even as it fought the cruiser to a stand-still.

Commander Sommetra, as ranking commanding officer of the fleet, ordered the crew of the Predator to abandon ship, along with the remaining crew of the Excidium. All escape pods managed to land safely on Antenora, the closest inhabited planet in the system. Thus, a large portion of the Predator's crew managed to survive the battle.

Deployment

The Clan fleet was very glad to have the Dark Predator as part of the fleet, as it was in its' "standard" cruiser configuration. Unlike the Valkyrie, it had a full compliment of weaponry aboard, not compromising firepower for anything else. Thus, it had been designated as a "ship of the line."

The Clan fleet deployed the Dark Predator in conjunction with other Clan warships to perform as the nucleus of a new task force. The training regimen aboard the ship indicated a flexibility towards both offensive and defensive actions, which lead the ship to be used interchangeably with the Excidium in some combat roles. As the second-most powerful ship in the Clan fleet at the time, it has a decent crew, with a "Veteran" rating attached to them, thanks to constant drilling sessions.

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