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| Brilliant Guardian | |
|---|---|
| Production information | |
| Manufacturer |
Kuat Drive Yards |
| Product line |
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| Model | |
| Class | |
| Technical specifications | |
| Length |
1,600 meters |
| Engine unit(s) |
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| Hyperdrive rating |
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| Armament |
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| Complement |
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| Crew |
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| Minimum crew |
3,300 |
| Passengers |
7,600 troops |
| Cargo capacity |
32,000 metric tons |
| Usage | |
| Role(s) | |
| Era(s) | |
| Commissioned |
17 BBY (as Imperial I-class) |
| Affiliation | |
| Commander(s) |
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The Brilliant Guardian, originally known as the Black Fist was an Imperial Star Destroyer. It was originally constructed by the Galactic Empire and served in the Imperial Navy, gaining notoriety in the rim worlds before being reassigned as part of Azure Hammer Command, and fulfilling specialist black-ops duties for the Empire. Following an incident where a Relativistic shield failure caused the vessel to travel over forty years into the future, it would end up under the banner of the Yavin 4 Defence Force and it's successor, the Jedi Peacekeeping Taskforce, becoming the flagship of Battlegroup Guardian and one of the most significant ships of it's class in the Galaxy.
History[]
Imperial Service[]
Commissioned at Kuat Drive Yards in 17 BBY, the Black Fist begun life as one of the run of the mill Imperial-I Star Destroyers, the backbone of the Galactic Empire's Navy. The Fist initially assigned to subjugating worlds in the mid and outer rim. Her commanding officer was the newly promoted Captain Antel Barriss, a ruthless young commander who had caught the eye of Grand Moff Tarkin. The ship served a fairly non-distinct career for the first years of it's life, engaging in routine subjugations and fleet maneuvers. However, that all changed in 11 BBY, when, in response to a planet wide rebellious uprising on Moslax Six in the mid rim, the Black Fist was sent to bring an end to the rebellion before it spread to other worlds in the sector.
Discovering that several representatives, including three Imperial Senate members, had already gathered on the planet to discuss furthering the rebellion, and that the planet had already stocked a vast supply of military hardware to equip itself with, Barriss ordered a full attack on the surface. When the attack proved ineffective - the Star Destroyer's military compliment being insufficient to overcome the defence on planet - Barriss tried a new tact. Withdrawing all his ground forces and Starfighter support, Barriss issued the order for a Base Delta Zero attack, completely annihilating the crust of the planet and wiping out every living being over the course of just nineteen hours. The sheer brutality of the tactic made it clear the sort of commander Barriss was to Imperial Command, and instilled great fear of him throughout the Empire.
Azure Command[]
Over the course of the next two years, the Black Fist continued on it's missions in the mid and outer rim, earning much more prestige to it's name as time went by. After successfully eliminating a large pirate organisation in the Deep Core worlds, and chasing down the remaining forces from the Moslax Six rebellion, Imperial Command begun looking at Barriss, and his ship, for advancement within the Imperial Navy. In 9 BBY, still under Barriss' command, the ship was transferred to Azure Hammer Command, with a new remit; the defence of the crucial core worlds, including the Galactic capital Coruscant. The ship would, again, fall into a period of un-noteworthy but acceptable service, as Barriss found himself stifled by the restraints of being a part of the defensive forces of the core. Although being entrusted to command a ship as part of the Coruscant defence was seen as an honour and a reward to many, to Barriss, it was a restriction and a curse.
The Black Fist shortly after her launch.
In 5 BBY, Barriss' fortunes would change, when an Emperor's Hand, Dav Man'Sell, made use of the Black Fist and her resources to help complete a difficult mission. Reporting back to the Emperor himself how impressed he was with Barriss' abilities, Dav recommended using the Black Fist for further such missions by both the Emperor's Hands and the Empire's Jedi Hunters, the Inquisitorius. The Emperor agreed, and soon the Fist was being used for such missions across the Galaxy, despite it's posting within the Galactic Core. In this role, it helped bring about the end of several enemies of the Empire, often assisting Dav Man'Sell specifically. As the Rebel Alliance formed, the Fist was involved in efforts to try and destroy the Alliance in it's early days, destroying a number of small rebel cells around the Galaxy, often on mission orders given directly by Grand Moff Tarkin, Lord Darth Vader, and even the Emperor himself. In 1 BBY, Dav Man'Sell used the ship as a base of operations for a mission that eventually led to the death of his former Jedi Master.
The refitted Black Fist in formation with Azure Hammer Command, in orbit of Anaxes in 1 ABY.
Refit and Time Travel[]
In late 1 BBY, after once again gaining notoriety within the Imperial Fleet for it's actions, the Black Fist was put into drydock at Kuat Drive Yards for a major overhaul. Ostensibly, this was in order to upgrade the ship to become one of the new Imperial II-Class Star Destroyers, and it would be classified as such from then on out, however whilst there, the ship was given an additional upgrade: an experimental new cloaking device. Her hull was also painted matte black. Her upgrade complete, and Barriss promoted to Admiral, she would return to her official posting with Azure Hammer Command, continuing her extra-curricular duties supporting black-ops missions for the Empire in command of a new fleet element known only as the Black Fist fleet.
In 4 ABY, shortly before the Battle of Endor, the Black Fist would receive what would be it's last command from the Empire, transporting Inquisitor Zae Zenadin on her way to rendezvous with Dav Man'Sell, with the intention of supporting them in their mission to kill Jedi Knight Ksandra Mallan. The ship passed to close to a black hole as it entered Hyperspace, and the resulting gravitational distortions proved too much for the relativistic shielding, which failed. A journey that, to the crew of the Star Destroyer, lasted just a few hours, ended up taking 40 years. When it left Hyperspace in the Polis Massa system, the Star Destroyer and it's accompanying vessels would find itself confronted by a large force of advance starships. These ships provided the information that confirmed that the ship had in fact skipped over 40 years of time; that the Galactic Empire had been destroyed; and that Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader were dead.
Dav Man'Sell, once again a Jedi and now one of the leading Masters of the Jedi Praxeum of Yavin IV, was made aware of the survival of the Black Fist Fleet when Admiral Antel Barriss put an open transmission out on the Holonet looking for any remnant of the Empire he used to serve, seeking a cause to ally himself with. Carefully selecting a taskforce from Yavin IV's Defence Force that consisted of former Imperial hardware, Dav formed a plan with the rest of the elite starfighter squadron Dragon Squadron to capture the fleet. Ambushing the Fist in the Roche Asteroids, the Jedi forces succeeded; Dav duelled and killed Zae Zanadin, and Barriss died when his shuttle was destroyed by Jedi Knight Jago Pulastra. Their Admiral dead, their forces defeated, and the Galaxy much changed from the one they used to know, many of the crew of the ship defected willingly to the service of the Yavin IV Defence Force; those that didn't were taken prisoner, later being released on Nar Shaddaa to find their own way in the Galaxy. The ship would be taken by Dav to a temporary construction facility in orbit of Fiddanl in the Yavin System, where it would undergo months of refitting and upgrading.
The newly rechristened Brilliant Guardian in orbit of Tatooine with Jedi Peacekeeping Taskforce sister-ship, the Uptempo
The Brilliant Guardian[]
This second major refit upgraded the vessel further, bringing the ship up to the standards of the Anakin Solo variant of the Imperial II Star Destroyer, including warhead launchers, improved anti-fighter defence, stronger shields, and powerful long ranged turbolasers. The cloaking device was removed, replaced with a gravity well generator, and the hull re-painted back to it's original Star Destroyer White. An extra series of running lights was installed throughout the hull, which could be used as a signalling system in the event of comms jamming, and the bridge and internal design was refitted slightly with more modern conveniences. The upgrade completed, the ship was rechristened the Brilliant Guardian by Dav himself, becoming his personal command ship in his capacity as a Jedi General and Admiral within the Defence Force, and the flagship of the Defence Force's Guardian Battlegroup. Shortly after the completion of it's upgrade, it would be thrown straight into action, as Dav used it and the surviving support vessels from the Black Fist fleet to break through a Sith blockade of Yavin IV and allow the Jedi on the planet to successfully evacuate. From that point on, the Brilliant Guardian would serve with distinction within the Yavin IV Defence Force, and would become one of the primary ships of it's successor, the wide-reaching Jedi Peacekeeping Taskforce that the Jedi Master formed the following year.