Allegiance-class battlecruiser

Allegiance-class battlecruiser The Allegiance-class battlecruiser was a warship in the Imperial Navy.

Description
Sometimes referred to as "Imperial-class" and a "Super Star Destroyer" by New Republic forces, the class was also known as a "Heavy Star Destroyer" and was one of several models of the "Star Cruiser" subclass of battlecruiser design.

The Allegiance-class was similar in appearance to the Imperial-class Star Destroyer. However, these battlecruisers lacked a ventral hangar bay. The terraces surrounding the bridge tower were far smoother than those on the smaller Imperial-class, with better armor coverage and less exposure of the inter-plate surfaces.

The Allegiance-class battlecruiser had a large ventral reactor bulge, being fitted with a more massive reactor than contemporary Star Destroyer designs. It was therefore afforded the designation of "battlecruiser" by the Anaxes War College System. The T-shaped command tower was put in full view of enemy vessels, and was similar in design to the modular KDY command towers.

History
Captain Firmus Piett and Admiral Kendal Ozzel once observed several Allegiances that were part of a fleet that rendevouzed with Death Squadron. Several ships of this class were serviced at the Naval Station Validusia at one point. At another point, a ship in this class, alongside an Assertor-class Star Dreadnought, was refueled by an Altor-class replenishment ship during a fleet exercise.

Allegiance-class ships were highly visible during the time of Emperor Palpatine's return, where they were pressed into numerous duties, including escorting command ships and providing protection and support for Palpatine's forces at Byss. They were used throughout this entire system to patrol and monitor traffic to and from the secluded throne-world, and they worked in conjunction with Gauntlet Scanner Stations, destroying any ships the stations identified as hostile.

During the Battle of Mon Calamari in 10 ABY, the Allegiance served as a command ship and transmitted images to Byss until it was destroyed by a New Republic task force. Several ships of this class later escorted Palpatine's flagship, the Eclipse, as it traveled to the Cyax system. Several Allegiance-class battlecruisers later participated in the Battle of the Emperor's Citadel.

Behind the scenes
The Allegiance-class battlecruiser first appeared in the Dark Empire comic series, illustrated by Cam Kennedy. A number of unique vessels appeared in this series and Dark Empire II, but the appearance of the Allegiance-class was relatively consistent. At one point, the audio book version of Dark Empire calls these vessels both "Imperial-class destroyers" and "Super Star Destroyers," though the appearance in the corresponding comic panel matches the Allegiance-class.

The most recent canonical incarnation of this design originated as a fan-made vessel by Ansel Hsiao, basing his design on the Super Star Destroyer Allegiance from Dark Empire 3: The Battle for Calamari.

When approached by Lucas Licensing to provide artwork for The Essential Guide to Warfare, Hsiao submitted his own designs in addition to new models, along with their names. The names were recorded in LFL's Holocron continuity database, according to the artist.

The use of "heavy" in the class-name on his gallery, was Hsiao's own invention. According to him, it is not part of the canonical name which was submitted to the Lucas Licensing continuity database. On his Tumblr account detailing trivia in The Essential Guide to Warfare, Jason Fry notes the name as officially being Allegiance-class battlecruiser. In addition, Fry also attributes the name "heavy Star Destroyer" as a nickname in terms of canon and confirms that the class's specifications are officially recorded.

Besides Hsiao's artwork in the book, the design can be seen in another painting, by Tommy Lee Edwards. The image uses a picture from Hsiao's personal gallery as a background, originally titled "Strategic Reserve," where three members of the ship class appear, although two are cut off by the top edge of Edwards' painting. The third ship is to the right and in close proximity to Firmus Piett and Kendal Ozzel, facing away.

Appearances

 * Dark Empire 3: The Battle for Calamari
 * Dark Empire 4: Confrontation on the Smugglers' Moon
 * Dark Empire 6: The Fate of a Galaxy
 * Dark Empire audio drama
 * Dark Empire II 3: World of the Ancient Sith
 * Dark Empire II 4: Battle on Byss