Rand Ecliptic/Legends

"Signed aboard the Rand Ecliptic last week."

- Biggs Darklighter

The Rand Ecliptic was an Imperial frigate during the time of the Galactic Civil War.

History
It was an Imperial II-class 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. Ironically, unbeknownst to any of them at the time, the captain himself was a Rebel agent.

Meanwhile, Darklighter and his group escaped the 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. At some point after the mutiny, Imperial forces attempted to stop the Rand Ecliptic from escaping to the Rebellion, but Darklighter dumped half of the ship's cargo of rubindum into the path of pursuing TIE Fighters. Under the command of Klivian, with Darklighter as his first mate, Rand Ecliptic was taken to a Rebel base on Yavin 4. It participated in a raid on Incom's X-wing assembly facility.

Behind the scenes


The Rand Ecliptic was mentioned by Biggs Darklighter in a cut-scene from 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.

The mutiny and events leading up to the mutiny in Star Wars: Empire: Darklighter differ greatly from the Hobbie's retelling of them in Galaxy Guide 3: The Empire Strikes Back. It is not known which source is more accurate.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Empire 8: Darklighter, Part 1
 * Star Wars: Empire 9: Darklighter, Part 2
 * Star Wars: Empire 12: Darklighter, Part 3
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope novel
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope junior novel
 * Star Wars 1
 * Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron: In the Empire's Service
 * Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron 25: The Making of Baron Fel
 * Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron: Mandatory Retirement
 * X-Wing: Wraith Squadron
 * Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron 25: The Making of Baron Fel
 * Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron: Mandatory Retirement
 * X-Wing: Wraith Squadron