Predominant

The Predominant is a Nebula-Class Star Destroyer in the Ascendant Fleet of House Plagueis. Originally built as the Civility at the fleet yards orbiting Kuat during the Vong War, it was assigned to protect the Core Worlds and as a result avoided seeing major combat. It would eventually be assigned as the flagship of the Galactic Alliance Fourth Fleet's Task Force Apex.

Task Force Apex was later assigned to Ord Padron during the Swarm War to guard against possible aggression by the Geonosians. The Civility was ambushed along with the rest of the understaffed ships of the task force by the Ascendancy and the forces of Plagueis. While most of the task force was sabotaged to prevent pursuit, the Civility and several support ships were overrun by Plagueian forces, the ship's crew holding out impressively before finally surrendering. Those among the surviving crew who were suited were enslaved as Subjugates while others were killed. Renammed Predominant, it now serves as a powerful part of the Ascendant Fleet.

Characteristics

The Nebula-class marks a significant advancement in design for Star Destroyers. Despite only being about sixty-five percent of the size of an Imperial-class, it was designed to handle an Imperial-II. The vessel is a match for another Star Destroyer, two heavy cruisers, or an entire line of smaller ships as a stock model.

Like other members of the New Class program, the Nebula-class was built around a framework similar to other vessels. Standard vessels of this class held forty turbolaser batteries, forty dual turbolaser cannons, twenty ion cannon batteries, and eight tractor beam projectors. This, combined with the ship's already robust design and a hyperdrive that could match its Imperial counterpart, make the ship into a lethal weapon and a formidable factor in any space engagement. Crewed by Subjugates, who have come to forget their old lives and worship their Masters as dark gods, the vessel is now a violent tool for the Ascension of Plagueis.

The ship's underside is far different from a typical Nebula-class vessel, bearing the round orbs of four gravity well generators. These are utilized to keep ships at the field of battle, much like an interdictor vessel, and are used to keep raiding targets from reaching hyperspace until they are meant to, or altogether. They are also used to set up ambushes, with cargo ships and trade frigates prematurely pulled from hyperspace and attacked unawares.

History

Completed in late 27 ABY, the Nebula-class Star Destroyer Civility was originally to be assigned to the New Republic Fourth Battle Group. Prior to commissioning, the New Republic was reorganized into the Galactic Alliance, and the Fourth Battlegroup became the Galactic Alliace Fourth Fleet. The Civility would serve throughout the war guarding strategic targets in the Core Worlds as parts of reserve fleets much like her various sister ships. This was mostly due to political pressure, and ultimately the Vong War would end before the ship could see any action.

Following the cessation of hostilities, the Civility was assigned to lead the Fourth Fleet's Task Force Apex. The task force was sent to patrol the systems in the Outer and Mid Rim, reestablishing hyperspace routes that had been lost during the conflict. Task Force Apex rarely saw more than minor confrontations with pirates, brigands, and scavengers during the following five years of service, mostly due to the deterrence of a full task force of twenty ships. However, as tensions rose due to the Dark Nest Crisis in 35 ABY, Task Force Apex found itself being assigned missions that had a higher threat of combat, and began training for proper confrontations. When open conflict broke out the Task Force was assigned to Ord Padron, ostensibly to guard against any Geonosian force coming to the aid of their fellow insectoid Kiliks. The true reason for the assignment was that Task Force Apex was being held in reserve along with other Galactic Alliance units to support a possible ground invasion during the Battle of Tenupe in 36 ABY. The battle would end without the need for a Galactic Alliance ground invasion, and so Task Force Apex stood down from alert status. The crew was granted shore leave given they had been held on ready alert for several weeks while the ship underwent repairs and minor refits at the hands of the dock workers.

The forces of the recently decimated House Plagueis would then infiltrate the naval base at Ord Padron, acting on information provided by Alaris Jinn. The forces of the Ascendant House spread through the ships of Task Force Apex like a plague. The ships fell victim to the surprise attack by the Dark Jedi and troops inserted into the base while the Ascendancy entered the area and attacked. The Civility, unprepared and undermanned when Plagueis struck, was the main target of the Plagueis forces. They struck without any warning, a lone Jedi Knight named Kysar Thenn only sensed their coming seconds before the Dark Siders struck. By then, it was too late, and Thenn could do nothing but try futilely to reach the fleet.

Attacking with lethal coordination, the Sith of Plagueis and their Ravagers boarded the ship and slaughtered its unprepared crew while their Subjugates quickly secured the vessel's systems and crew. Other vessels were already falling under the control of the Plagueians while most of the other ships present had been sabotaged in order to keep them out of the fighting. With nothing standing between them but Thenn’s Padawan, a Nautolan by the name of Beelo Grom, the Dark Jedi of the House struck without mercy and took what was now theirs. Within hours of the first shots of the assault, half of Task Force Apex had been commandeered and the rest left stranded.

Upon their return to the Plagueis base at the Anchorage, the Civility was purged of all Galactic Alliance control codes and fully integrated into the Ascendant Fleet as the Predominant. Once crewed, the Predominant would almost immediately see combat service as part of the Dark Crusade, supporting the invasions of Nfolgai and Khar Delba. As the ground operations on Khar Delba stalled, forces from the Predominant would be called in to capture a One Sith stronghold on the moon of Khar Shian.

Role

While the Ascendancy remains the flagship of Plagueis and the main symbol of Ascendant might, the Predominant plays the role of an enforcer for the fleet; its heavy armament and efficient design well suited to take on larger ships and installations. Following its capture, gravity well generators were added to the vessel at the shipyards orbiting Antei. This modification allows the Predominant to serve as the primary interdiction platform for House Plagueis during combined fleet operations. When not engaged in operations with the main body of the Ascendant Fleet, the Predominant most often serves under the command of the House Aedile, the Dread Lord's Wrath.

In addition, the Predominant embarks a small ground force. The troops are mostly trained in boarding actions, serving to defend the vessel from any possible incursion. These troops can also be deployed for planetary operations or raids, but most often the ground troops from the Ravager are used in this role.

Command Staff

• Commanding Officer: TBA
• Executive Officer: TBA

Complement

Attached Craft

Currently attached to the Predominant are 5 squadrons of fighters:

• Scythe Squadron (XJ X-wings) - Superiority
• Cutlass Squadron (AC4 X-wings) - Superiority
• Dirk Squadron (A-wings) - Recon/Inteception
• Septum Squadron (B-wing Bombers) - Heavy Assault

The Predominant also carries a squadron of various transport craft for passenger transportation and troop deployment:

• 2 Lambda-class shuttles
• 2 Nu-class shuttles
• 7 Armored Interface Craft-4 dropships

Ground Forces

During normal operations, the only troops carried on board the Predominant are a unit of battle droids. These droids allow for the ship to carry double the standard complement of troops since they can be stored unlike troops. The battle droids carried by the Predominant are also linked via a command signal directly into the central computer, giving them highly optimized performance while they are on board.

• 10 B2 super battle droid companies - 1,650 units

The following additional troops are assigned to the Predominant during ground assault operations:

• 1 Infantry battalion - 661 men
• 2 Scout companies - 330 men
• 2 Heavy Infantry companies - 330 men
• 1 Medic platoon - 41 men
• 1 Engineering platoon - 41 men
• 1 SD-10 battle droid platoon - 10 units

This gives a total of 1,403 men and 10 SD-10 battle droids in addition to the 1,650 B2 droids carried aboard as standard.