Heresiarch

History

The Heresiarch was commissioned under the name Emperor's Will and served much of its early life in service to the Emperor as one of the numerous star destroyers assigned to guard Imperial Center. Shortly before the capture of Coruscant by the forces of the New Republic the Emperor's Will disappeared, its crew presumably fleeing in the advent of the coming battle. For the next ten years the ship survived alone as one of the many rogue star destroyers wandering the galaxy. Sightings of the Emperor's Will during this period are rare though it is said that the ship showed itself briefly during the highpoint of Grand Admiral Thrawn's campaign and once again a few years later during the conquest of the reborn Emperor. Despite its apparent absence the Emperor's Will remained a fervently loyal ship and it is believed that much of its time was spent guarding systems belonging to the Imperial Remnant, possibly local to the Inner Rim but more likely the outer systems of Bastion.

The Emperor's Will met its end when it was despatched to assist the rogue forces of the Imperial Remnant in the Minos Cluster. The intention was for the modified star destroyer to help in the Imperial blockade designed to prevent the forces of the Dark Brotherhood from fleeing the sector. To the misfortune of the crew of the Emperor's Will their commander's plans had forgotten to take into account that they were to hold off Jedi pilots… In the battle that ensued the Imperial forces were powerless against the Brotherhood and the ship was captured. In a twist of fate the ship, which had once been the Emperor's Will, now returned fire on the Emperor's children in an effort to aid the escaping Dark Jedi.

For its service in aiding the breakaway of the Dark Brotherhood from the Empire the ship was renamed the Heresiarch and made the flagship of the Sith Order.

The Heresiarch is a modified Imperator-class star destroyer, technically referred to as a Dominator. The distinguishing features of the Heresiarch are its quad gravity well projectors uncommon to most heavy star destroyers. These modifications give the ship the tactical applications of both a warship and an interdictor, however they come with a price: the increased power drain caused by the gravity wells while in operation seriously limits the usual power output of the ship's generators. In order to provide enough power to keep the gravity wells up while maintaining a constant shield integrity and rate of fire additional generators are installed, therefore sacrificing cargo capacity and hangar space for increased power. While typically a ship of this designation would substitute half of its weaponry in order to make space for the gravity well generators the Heresiarch's upgraded reactors provide enough power for the full weapons compliment. However as a result the ship's hull had to be refitted and its squadron compliment is far less than that of an Imperial star destroyer, as is it unable to maintain its shields at full strength while the gravity wells are in operation. Limitations aside: the Heresiarch is still the pride of the Sith fleet, superior in every way to a regular star destroyer and a match for any ship with its full compliment of Dark Jedi aboard.

As with all large command ship's belonging to the Dark Brotherhood the Heresiarch is specially fitted with meditation chambers for both the Grand Master and his Deputy. Due to the high profile of the ship there are also chambers for the High Warrior and more than enough room for most of the Dark Council in times of need, should the Heresiarch need to serve temporarily as the Brotherhood flagship.

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