The Curse was one of six Corellian gunships captured by House Plagueis during the taking of the new Ascendant Fleet. It was destroyed, along with the rest of the Ascendant Fleet, in 34 ABY.
History
Built alongside the Hope for use as a system patrol craft, the Cleric was commissioned in shortly after the fall of the Empire. Alongside its sister ship, it took down pirate fighters and the odd radical separatist or insurgent craft and helped maintain stability in the galaxy. It was eventually captured by the forces of House Plagueis. Once back in service, it was renamed Curse, and became a key component of Plagueian raid efforts. The Curse was part of the forces of Battleteam Karness Muur. During fleet engagements, the Curse served as a screening vessel, alongside the Anguish, for the Battleteam's flagship Harrower.
Characteristics
Designed to serve more adequately as a vessel of war than its relative, the CR90, Corellian gunships had a greatly reduced amount of space for passengers, troops, or cargo. During their design phase, two words guided the shipwrights and engineers of CEC: Fast and deadly. As such, engines made up half of their available interior space, with the rest reserved for deflector shield generators and weapons systems. Because of this speed and lethality, they were ideal craft for raiders and pirate fleets, but also saw extensive use by the Rebel Alliance and were even used by local Imperial fleets.
The DP20 gunship bore a stock armament of eight double turbolaser cannons, four concussion missile tubes, and six quad laser cannons. This made the vessel useful for a number of reasons. Ideally, it was meant to destroy fighters, bombers, and other snub or shuttle craft en masse; where a capital ship's bulk made accurate strikes against such craft difficult, the gunship could pinpoint and destroy them with much greater accuracy. However, they were also capable of harrying and dealing damage to larger ships, while still being maneuverable and quick enough to evade powerful craft such as Star Destroyers.
DP20 ships held accommodations for forty-five crewmen and forty-six gunners; in Plagueian hands, both posts are occupied by Subjugates. In the close-knit environment of such a small ship, crew members become akin to families, something that increases the possibility of Subjugate crewmen finding identities and rebelling. To combat this, the crews of the gunships are routinely cycled out or, if necessary, purged.