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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 Valkyrie is an addition to the Clan’s Order of Battle that dates back to the days after the split of the Emperor's Hammer Strike Fleet and the Brotherhood. During those days, a warrior species lived in the cluster that the Brotherhood had claimed as its' own, and they were forcibly removed from it by the Brotherhood. Since this species had quite a large fleet, not to mention quite a few pirates living in the area, the Dark Council decided to remove this threat once and for all. It gave the green light to all of the Clans to capture as many ships as it could from these rouge pirates. The Valkyrie was part of a fair-sized pirate fleet at the time, and after the identification of it by our Clans’ recon elements, a hasty capture operation was mounted. It was surrounded by and captured along with a Gallofree Medium Transport by the Excidium and Victory, along with the help of the Clans’ gunboats. It was then taken to the Brotherhoods’ shipyards, themselves recently captured by the members of the Dark Council, and because of the effectiveness and loyalty of the Clan to the Council the Clan was awarded their choice of parts to upgrade the newly captured ships. After some debate with the senior members of the Clan, the suggested updates were then placed. Due to the modular nature of the ship, the Clan was easily able to add in a pair of gravity well projectors, as well as complete overhaul of the shields and systems. It was one of the first ships to emerge completely repaired from the shipyards, and was quickly placed into service.
Concerning the history of the Valkyrie before its’ capture, nothing much was discovered, as the capture operation as well as the acts of the pirates crewing her wiped out most of the ship’s log before the Clan was able to capture her. Still, some has been recovered. The origins of the ship are rather hard to find, as no one can as yet seem to find a serial number that has not been erased, but odds are that it was a system patrol ship that was captured by a group of pirates. Due to markings found in various parts of the ship, it seems to have changed hands no less than three times, and remarkably enough it seems to be in general good shape for such a checkered history.
It's most interesting part of history occurred during the last stages of the Fifth Great Jedi War. The Clan was in deep trouble, as a sudden Taldryan-Arcona invasion fleet arrived above Antenora. While trying to relieve the blockade until the rest of the Clan fleet could jump in, the Valkyrie, under the temporary command of then Quaestor Phoenix Olkyssagh Palpatine, forced the Lancer-class Bloodfang to withdraw from the battle. It managed to defend itself admirably against the first wave of attacks from the other ships, but then was mauled by the Modified Dreadnaught-class Dark Seraphim. Losing its’ engine power, it crashed into Antenora. Although most of the armor and weapons, as well as the engines had to be replaced, the structural skeleton of the ship mostly remained intact, allowing the Clan to revive and repair the ship back up to fighting trim at hideous cost. The ship now stands ready to defend the Clan alongside with the rest of the fleet.
Deployment
The current Captain of the Valkyrie is Captain Devhe Rubro, a member of House Dorimad Sol that showed an aptitude towards the command of a capital ship. After extensive training by Commander Ail’en Sommetra and then Quaestor Timbal, she has been placed in command of the ship, but is still under the orders of Commander Sommetra or any senior member of the Clan or House Summits. This is mainly due to the Green rating that the ships' crew has. Since the ship rarely participates directly in combat, this is not likely to change soon, despite the efforts of Captain Rubro. After initial shipboard training, new recruits usually serve first on the Valkyrie.
Rarely operating alone, the Valkyrie is usually found operating with the Clan flagship, the Excidium. Occasional, as the mission requires, it is also used in interdiction missions, but always with the support of another Clan warship. Learning from the mistakes of the Fifth Jedi War, standard Clan battle doctrine calls for the ship to be placed out of harms' way, ensuring that the ship remains out of harms' way. In Clan fleet operations, it is always closely escorted by another warship. If the escort is somehow neutralized, the ships' standing orders is to jump out of the system if it can, only fighting as a last resort.