Rand Ecliptic/Legends

Rand Ecliptic was a large Imperial warship during the time of the Galactic Civil War.

History
It was a Class II Frigate and was first commanded by Captain Heliesk, serving the Galactic Empire. Twilight Squadron was stationed aboard the ship.

Upon the graduation of pilots Biggs Darklighter, Derek Klivian, as well as their classmates from the Imperial Academy, they were assigned to the Rand Ecliptic as part of its complement of TIE/ln starfighter squadrons. Both Darklighter and Klivian were involved with different Rebel cells on the ship, and there were also two other cells, none of which knew of the existence of the others.

While Darklighter and his cell were having a secret meeting in order to discuss how they should pull off a defection they were interrupted by Klivian&mdash;this subsequently caused a scuffle between Klivian and Darklighter which caused Darklighter and his cell to defect from the Empire sooner than he had originally planned. Unaware of Darklighter, Klivian, who also had to push his plans ahead, began his own insurrection with his Rebel cell with the help of yet another Rebel cell aboard Rand Ecliptic. Klivian was able to lead the mutiny to success, taking over Rand Ecliptic.

Meanwhile, Darklighter and his group escaped Rand Ecliptic during the chaos on TIE Fighters&mdash;which were absent of hyperdrives. While hiding out in deep space for hours with few supplies and little air, they eventually decided to return to Rand Ecliptic to raid the ships fuel and food supplies. Darklighter was surprised to find that Klivian had commandeered the vessel. Under the command of Klivian, with Darklighter as his first mate, Rand Ecliptic was taken to a Rebel base on Yavin IV. It participated in the Battle of Fresia.

Behind the scenes
Rand Ecliptic was mentioned by Biggs Darklighter in a cut-scene from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, and has appeared several times in various RPG and reading material, each time as a different kind of ship, leading to severe inconsistencies in its history. The last incarnation, described in this article, is an effort to link the ship back to the prequel trilogy of films, by making it an off-shoot of the Acclamator-class.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Empire: Darklighter
 * Mutiny on the Rand Ecliptic
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope novelization
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * X-wing Rogue Squadron 25: The Making of Baron Fel
 * X-wing Rogue Squadron: Mandatory Retirement