Mutiny on the Far Orbit

"Attention, all hands. This is Captain Vedij speaking. As many of you will no doubt be pleaded to learn, we have just put Captain Kenit off the ship."

- Mutineer leader Captain Dhas Vedij speaks to the crew of the Far Orbit In 0 ABY, a mutiny occurred on the Imperial EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate Far Orbit while the vessel was in the Outer Rim Territories of the galaxy. After months of planning, mutineers led by Commander Dhas Fenoep Vedij, the second in command on the frigate, seized the Far Orbit from Captain Vocis Kenit and his Imperial troopers after the mutineers overwhelmed the Imperial loyalists. Under Vedij, the Far Orbit then became a privateering frigate for the Alliance to Restore the Republic shortly after the Imperial loyalists were kicked off the ship via escape pods and the Far Orbit shuttle's.

Prelude
In the year 0 ABY, the Imperial Navy's EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate Far Orbit was under the helm of Captain Vocis Kenit, with his second in command being Commander Dhas Fenoep Vedij, who was a career officer with naval family lineage. However, Kenit was not particularly liked by the crew of the Far Orbit, as he was a bully and martinet in personality, and maintained discipline with the ship's security, which consisted of a platoon of stormtroopers and a platoon of Imperial Navy troopers. Vedij, who disliked Kenit, after his brother, Elon Vedij, was transferred to the Far Orbit, making them suspect that the two of them would be disposed of together by the Imperials soon. This was because the parents of the brothers had been killed two days prior to Elon Vedij transfer to the EF76 in an accident that Dhas Vedij believed was designed to silence his father, who was a vocal opponent of the Empire.

At that time, the Far Orbit was tracking a group of pirates known as the Silent Blades in the Outer Rim Territories for several weeks, and finally managed to corner them in an asteroid belt. In an attempt to break the standoff that followed, Kenit had the Far Orbit TIE series starfighter complement attack the pirates in the asteroid belt, which ended with an Imperial victory, but the loss of all the Imperial pilots and their fighters, including Elon Vedij. After the death of his brother, Dhas Vedij gained the trust and support of the crew for the mutiny, and convinced most of the Imperial Navy troopers to either help with the mutiny, or stay in their quarters during the event. Following news of the planet Alderaan's destruction by the Galactic Empire reaching the vessel, an Alderaanian shiphand was beaten by Kenit's men for suspected treason. Vedij circulated a rumor that the hand was being beaten for his homeworld, and used the outrage and the men's support of the Commander to start the mutiny.

The mutiny
As the mutiny commenced, the Imperial stormtroopers were trapped by security bulkheads after being distracted by a false report of a riot. The lone COMPNOR Observation officer was overcome, and after Vedij announced the mutiny, around two-thirds of the entire crew joined him in the effort. Those that did not join him did not resist, and were put with the captured stormtroopers. The mutiny then ended with the Far Orbit controlled by Vedij and his forces.

Aftermath
"We will hunt you down. Your families will be executed. And you, Commander, will be subjected to the slowest torture that can be devised.""Perhaps, but you will not live to see it."

- The former Captain of the Far Orbit, Vocis Kenit, parts ways with Dhas Vedij

After the ship was secure, Vedij and some of his men personally escorted Kenit and seven of the Captain's loyalists to the escape pods of Far Orbit at blaster point. Following the threats Kenit directed at Vedij, Kenit and the seven others were put off the ship in escape pods. Likewise, the rest of Kenit's loyalists and the stormtroopers kicked off the ship in escape pods or in some of the EF76's shuttles. Vedij then informed the crew via the ships' comm unit that Kenit had been put off the ship, and the Far Orbit would be traveling to the Core Worlds, as most mutineers went to the Outer Rim. Kenit, in the escape pod, was later picked up by Imperial forces and punished for failing at commanding the Far Orbit.

Half of the remaining crew of the vessel decided to jump ship rather than stay on the Far Orbit, leaving the Far Orbit crewed with just enough people to keep it running, and under the command of Vedij, who took the title of Captain. After the mutiny, the Far Orbit had six months of supplies, and only two remaining shuttles, though all the escape pods were jettisoned to put off the Imperials. The vessel then went on to become a privateering frigate for the Alliance to Restore the Republic, the Rebels fighting the Empire, and seized it's first freighter, A-175.

Behind the scenes
The mutiny was first mentioned in 1998's The Far Orbit Project, by Timothy S. O'Brien. The book was a supplement to West End Games's Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, and had the same theme of the previous publication Pirates & Privateers, as it followed the privateering vessel Far Orbit. The event starts off the story of the playable campaign.