User:Grand Moff Tranner/Sandbox

Welcome to my sandbox. Here I'll be working on articles in an effort to get them to FA or GA status. Feel free to leave any comments on the relevant talk page. See my resume for articles that have reached either FA or GA status.

Projects done: Kendal Ozzel, Osvald Teshik, Titus Klev, Argyus, Chiraneau, Ozzik Sturn, Unidentified Imperial captain (asteroid victim), Mar Tuuk, Unidentified Imperial II-class Star Destroyer (asteroid collision), Jerjerrod, Sigma-class long-range shuttle, Banjeer, Rulf Yage, Green Wing

=Lorth Needa=

Lorth Needa was a fleet officer in the Republic Navy during the Clone Wars and the Imperial Navy during the Galactic Civil War. He served as lieutenant commander of the Republic Carrack-class cruiser Integrity in Home Fleet Strike Group Five of the Coruscant Home Fleet during the Battle of Coruscant, in which he was prepared to destroy General Grievous's flagship, the Invisible Hand, should the general be unable to prove that Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was being held captive aboard the warship. During the Imperial era, Needa was promoted to captain of the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Avenger by Fleet Admiral Kendal Ozzel and assigned to Darth Vader's Death Squadron, often being tasked with following up on certain leads regarding the location of the Rebel Alliance's hidden headquarters. Needa served as one of Ozzel's advisors, earning him the distrust of both Vader and Emperor Palpatine.

In the aftermath of the Battle of Hoth, where General Maximilian Veers's assault on Echo Base forced the Rebels into fleeing, Needa and the Avenger were charged with capturing Han Solo's YT-1300 light freighter, the Millennium Falcon, and her crew. The Falcon outran the pursuing Star Destroyers and hid within the Hoth asteroid field, but the Avenger plunged into the field, intent on completing its assignment. While searching, the warship sustained damage, but when the Falcon emerged, the Avenger was right behind the freighter. Before Needa could detain the craft, Solo charged the Avenger and landed on a blind spot on the destroyer's conning tower. Having failed his mission, Needa went to the Star Dreadnought Executor to personally apologize to Vader. The Dark Lord of the Sith accepted his apology after making sure that the captain would never fail again. Two Imperial Navy troopers then dragged Needa's lifeless body away.

Republic Navy service
Needa was a veteran command officer, having served in Strike Group Five of the Coruscant Home Fleet during the Clone Wars. During the Battle of Coruscant, Lieutenant Commander Needa served as commanding officer of the Carrack-class cruiser Integrity. He trapped the Invisible Hand as it was trying to escape, and demanded the surrender of General Grievous. During this encounter he did not believe the general's statements that Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was aboard the Providence-class carrier/destroyer, and told him via hologram that he had ten minutes to prove his claim. Needa informed the cyborg general that if he could not, the ships of Strike Group Five would open fire on the Invisible Hand. Grievous did not surrender, but the Supreme Chancellor was rescued by the Jedi Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, who forced Grievous to flee to Utapau.

A few days later, Palpatine declared himself Emperor and reformed the Republic into the first Galactic Empire declaring the Jedi Order an enemy of the state. As part of the subsequent Imperialization, the Republic Navy was reorganized into the Imperial Navy. Two weeks into Palpatine's New Order, the Emperor and his Sith apprentice Darth Vader spoke before a gathering of naval officers and announced that they were all required to serve the Navy in the unstable times, and any who dissented were purged from the military.

Captain of the Avenger
"Get a shuttle ready. I shall assume full responsibility for losing them, and apologize to Lord Vader."

- Needa, after failing to capture the Millennium Falcon



Needa would continue to serve in the navy, eventually rising to the rank of captain. Fleet Admiral Kendal Ozzel, commander of the Star Dreadnought Executor and Death Squadron, placed Needa in command of the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Avenger, a position previously held by Captain Ferdas. Needa gained a reputation for efficiency in quelling uprisings in the Outer Rim Territories, and Admiral Ozzel assigned Avenger to the "point" position in Death Squadron. Needa became one of Ozzel's closest advisors. Ozzel would often send Needa and the Avenger off on missions independent from the rest of the Death Squadron to check on certain leads regarding the Rebels' hidden fortress. Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine distrusted Needa along with Ozzel and his advisors, and Vader would execute any of them for the simplest of mistakes.

As the hunt for the Rebels' headquarters continued, Needa was responsible for sending out Viper probe droids to the Tokmia and Allyuen systems to aid in the search. Ultimately, a probe droid launched from the Star Destroyer Stalker  discovered the existence of a theater shield generator on the ice world of Hoth; though Admiral Ozzel was skeptic of the find, Darth Vader insisted that the generator marked the location of the Alliance's command base.

Before the Battle of Hoth could even commence, Ozzel died at Vader's hand for his mistake in bringing Death Squadron out of hyperspace to close to Hoth, allowing the Rebels to raise their shield and evacuate Echo Base. While the battle raged on between Blizzard Force and the Rebels on the planet below, the fleet of Star Destroyers were charged with preventing the GR-75 medium transports and other Rebel craft from escaping. Seventeen of the thirty GR-75 transports were destroyed by the Imperial fleet, but destroyers such as Captain Xamuel Lennox's Tyrant were disabled by the Rebels' planetary ion cannon. As the Imperials claimed victory, an infamous YT-1300 light freighter called the Millennium Falcon, piloted by smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca, escaped from Echo Base's main hangar with Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan aboard. Needa and the Avenger were charged with the pursuit and capture of the Falcon and its crew.

The Avenger did just that, and the Falcon, with an inoperable hyperdrive, was unable to flee the system. However, Han Solo's light freighter outmaneuvered the Star Destroyer and caused it to nearly collide with another pursuing destroyer. After chasing the Falcon into the Hoth asteroid field, the Avenger lost track of the freighter when it sought shelter in a cave on one of the asteroids. Nonetheless, the destroyed ventured into the asteroid field at Vader's command. The Avenger suffered damage while it searched for the elusive Falcon, and the gunners stationed onboard were forced on destroying incoming asteroids rather than be on the lookout for the YT-1300 freighter. Needa informed Darth Vader that the Millennium Falcon had not appeared on their sensors for hours. While present during a holographic conference aboard the Executor, he asked the Dark Lord of the Sith to consider the damage the Imperial fleet had sustained, but Vader was set on capturing the freighter.

Death
"Apology accepted, Captain Needa."

- Darth Vader, after killing Needa

The Millennium Falcon eventually reappeared after discovering that the "cave" it had hidden in was in fact the mouth of a giant space slug. While the Avenger pursued the Falcon out of the asteroid field and into the neighboring Anoat system, the YT-1300 moved into what Needa had assumed to be attack position. As the freighter charged and narrowly missed the Star Destroyer's bridge, Needa ordered for his crew to track the ship. The Avenger's logistics officer, Commander Nemet, reported that the Falcon had vanished from their sensors&mdash;unknown to the Imperials, Solo had cut the ship's power and landed on a blind spot on the conning tower of the Avenger. Seconds later, communications officer M'kae reported that Vader demanded an update on the pursuit.

Needa ordered his ship to rendezvous with the Executor so he could personally apologize for losing Vader's prey, believing that it was the honorable thing to do. He ordered a TIE/sh shuttle to be prepared for his departure, and he took the shuttle to the Executor. On its bridge, Needa apologized to the Sith Lord, but Vader telekinetically throttled him to death as he had done to Kendal Ozzel earlier. Vader then formally&mdash;some would say cynically&mdash;accepted the man's apology. Needa's body was then dragged from the bridge by two Imperial Navy troopers.

Legacy
"Hey, it was your cousin who was martyred by Darth Vader after he let Han Solo escape Hoth. After all, your cousin had Rebel sympathies that he only confided in you, which is why he let Solo escape. Your having been punished with this duty proves the Empire suspected him, but could prove nothing."

- Pedetsen to Virar Needa

As a consequence of his failure, members of the Needa family were purged from the Imperial military on Darth Vader's orders. His first cousin once removed, Virar, had been attending the Imperial Academy during the Battle of Hoth, and as he was not ambitious, he had been allowed to live. Many family members, from Virar's grandparents to cousins, however, were all killed. Virar became the commander of one of Coruscant's orbital mirrors, OSETS 2711. His subordinates, including Cadet Pedetsen, believed that Lorth had failed in capturing the Millennium Falcon because he had sympathies to the Rebel Alliance. Pedetsen stated that Virar had been placed on OSETS 2711 because the Empire could not prove Lorth's alleged Rebel loyalties. Virar was even willing to believe this.

Personality and traits
Lorth Needa was an efficient commander, and could be ruthless at times, a trait he exhibited during the Battle of Coruscant, when he threatened the destruction of the Invisible Hand should Grievous choose not to surrender. He had been overconfident in his pursuit of the Millennium Falcon from Hoth, and this factored into his execution by Vader. Needa was an able leader, but both Vader and the Emperor were suspicious of him. The captain showed a degree of concern for both his crew and Vader's fleet when he suggested to the Dark Lord that they pull out of the asteroid field during the search for the Millennium Falcon, but Needa's failure in capturing Solo's freighter cemented, in Vader's mind, that the Avenger's captain was inept.

Behind the scenes
Lorth Needa first appeared in the novelization of 1980's The Empire Strikes Back. Known only as "Captain Needa" in the film, he was portrayed by actor Michael Culver. In the radio adaptation of the film, Needa was voiced by Nicholas Kepros. Needa was not given a first name until 1996's X-wing: Wedge's Gamble, when his first cousin once removed, Virar, revealed his first name to be Lorth.

In The Empire Strikes Back, after Vader executed Needa and as the Imperial Navy troopers carry his body away, Culver visibly locked his legs in such a way as to help those portraying the Navy troopers to stand him up easier. In Star Wars 40: The Empire Strikes Back: Battleground Hoth, Al Williamson and Carlos Garzon used reference photography of Needa's death for Admiral Ozzel's execution.

There is some uncertainty over the identity of the Star Destroyer that launches the probe droid that lands on Hoth. Both Galaxy Guide 3: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary designate the ship as the Avenger, presumably based on dialogue between Needa and a subordinate that was ultimately cut from the radio adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back. However, the Star Wars Customizable Card Game, the Star Wars Encyclopedia, and Star Wars: Behind the Magic all identify the warship as the Stalker.

In Star Wars Infinities: The Empire Strikes Back 1, when the Falcon and crew are escaping Hoth during the Imperial assault, Solo charges the bridge of a Star Destroyer, lands on its conning tower immediately afterward, and drifts away along with the garbage that the destroyer releases before jumping to hyperspace. Because the sequence of events is practically identical to Solo's maneuver against the Avenger in the film, it is likely that the Infinities's destroyer's unidentified captain was intended to be Captain Needa.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith novel
 * Star Wars: Rebellion
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back novel
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back radio adaptation
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back PhotoComic
 * Star Wars 42: The Empire Strikes Back: To Be a Jedi
 * Payback: The Tale of Dengar
 * X-wing: Wedge's Gamble
 * X-wing: Wedge's Gamble

Non-canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga

Notes and references
=Intimidator=

The Intimidator was an Imperial Executor-class Star Dreadnought used by the Imperial Navy's Black Sword Command. Originally undergoing work at a shipyard in the Core Worlds, it was transferred to the Black-15 shipyard above the planet N'zoth in the Koornacht Cluster to free up space for similar-sized warships. Eight months following the Alliance victory at Battle of Endor, while attempting to withdraw all military personnel and equipment in the Cluster per edict, the Intimidator was seized by the native Yevetha workers led by the Yevetha leader Nil Spaar as part of their mutiny against the oppressive Imperials.

Renamed the Pride of Yevetha, she would go on to serve as Viceroy Spaar's flagship during the Black Fleet Crisis, which pitted his Duskhan League against the New Republic under Chief of State Leia Organa Solo. The Pride was one of numerous Duskhan League vessels that participated in the Great Purge, an ethnic cleansing of the Koornacht Cluster enacted by the xenophobic Yevetha.

Characteristics
The Intimidator was a 19,000-meter-long Executor-class Star Dreadnought that boasted an additional shield generator mounted on the ship's midline and slave circuitry, a feature that enabled one person to assume remote command of an entire fleet's worth of slaved ships.

Docked at the Black-15 shipyard
The Intimidator was one of three Super-class warships assigned to Black Fleet of the Black Sword Command, a command unit within the Imperial Military assigned to the defense of the Core Worlds. Eight months following the death of Emperor Palpatine at the Battle of Endor, the Intimidator was stationed at the Black-15 shipyard above the Yevetha homeworld of N'zoth in the Koornacht Cluster, where it had been transferred from the Core Worlds to free up the necessary amount of space for construction of another Super-class vessel. Out of the nine ships undergoing repairs at the dock, only the Intimidator was spaceworthy.

When Imperial garrison commander Jian Paret received an order to withdraw all military personnel and destroy whatever had to be left behind, Paret used the Intimidator as his command ship during the evacuation, having moved to it within an hour after receiving his orders. However, with only one-third of a crew aboard, and the need to transfer all of the garrison's assets and personnel to the warship before destroying the repair yard, Paret was unable to leave as quickly as he had wanted. However, to avoid any potential hostile moves from the predominantly Yevetha work force, Paret hid the true nature of the Imperial evacuation behind the facade of a departure drill.

However, Yevetha underground leader Nil Spaar knew of the imminent Imperial withdrawal, and had chosen the time to seize the Black-15 shipyard and all of the vessels present as part of a plan five years in the making. With the transfer of the Victory-class Star Destroyer Harridan from patrol duty to active service at the battlefield at Notak, Spaar saw that the Imperials were essentially defenseless. In Sections 17 and 21 of the Intimidator, over a dozen external hatches were rigged to report their status as secured and sealed during an emergency battle-stations lockdown. The Yevetha leader had taken additional precautions should the ship attempt to escape&mdash;a package of explosives, disarmed only by a constant signal, would destroy the ship if the shields were activated, blocking the signal and detonating the bombs. With these measures in place, two Yevetha commando teams&mdash;one led by Spaar and the other by his second in command, Dar Bille&mdash;boarded the Intimidator through the rigged hatches. Silently and quickly, the two teams converged on the bridge without having to fire a single shot. When they breached the command deck, they killed seven of the crew present before securing the remainder.

As the events unfolded, Imperial Governor Crollick's shuttle and a convoy of Imperial transports rose from N'zoth's surface toward the Intimidator as the warship slid out of her berth at the shipyard. When the transports began decelerating in preparation for docking, Spaar ordered all of the warship's autotargetting batteries to open fire on the inbound ships, a move that killed twenty thousand soldiers, technicians, bureaucrats, and families. Spaar concluded the bloodshed by taking Paret and executing the commander with his dew claw, a retractable blade that emerged from a Yevetha's wrist. The Yevetha leader wasted no time in announcing that the remaining crew were now the prisoners of the Yevetha Protectorate, and the other eight Star Destroyers present at the shipyard were captured as well.

In the service of the Yevetha
By 16 ABY&mdash;twelve years after the failed Imperial evacuation of N'zoth&mdash;the Yevetha had learned how to operate the ships they had captured from their onetime oppressors. The Intimidator had been renamed Pride of Yevetha and was pressed into service as the flagship of Darama Nil Spaar, viceroy of the Duskhan League.

Commanders and crew
Before the Yevethan revolt, the Intimidator was used by Commander Jian Paret of the Imperial garrison on Yevetha during the preparations for the Imperial retreat from the system. At the time, the Super Star Destroyer was crewed by one-third of the amount of personnel required to operate the ship.

Behind the scenes
The Intimidator first appeared in the novel Before the Storm, the first book of The Black Fleet Crisis trilogy.

The third book in the series, Tyrant's Test, was the first to provide the designation "Executor-class Star Destroyer" for the Intimidator and her sister ships. However, recent sources such as ___________________ and an article on the Wizards of the Coast website have updated the name as "Executor-class Star Dreadnought," in addition to increasing the length of the class from 8,000 meters to 19,000 meters. This article reflects these changes. However, despite this, The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia refers to the Intimidator as a "Super-class Star Destroyer," a term widely used to describe the 8,000-meter-long Super Star Destroyers.

Essential Chronology info

 * "Several recon flights went into the heart of the Koornacht Cluster, finally revealing the long-buried truth that every warship in the "lost" Black Fleet was in the hands of the Duskhan League, including the Super Star Destroyer, which had been rechristened Pride of Yevetha."
 * "The Yevetha would never surrender and would fight to the last man. Solo was transferred to a holding cell on the Pride of Yevetha with added security."
 * "Several Wookiees, including Chewbacca and his young son, exhibited typical Wookiee subtlety by charging at the Pride of Yevetha with all guns blazing. The Millennium Falcon attached itself to the Super Star Destroyer and cut through its hull, allowing Chewbacca and his son to rescue Han Solo from his holding cell."
 * "The Imperials stopped the warships dead, brought them about, and jumped every last Star Destroyer in the direction of Byss in the Deep Core. Nil Spaar, aboard the Pride of Yevetha, disappeared along with them."
 * "The Pride of Yevetha vanished entirely. The Super Star Destroyer was discovered four years later, drifting abandoned near the Unknown Regions and damaged beyond repair."

CSWE info

 * Intimidator entry (vol. 2, pg. 109): "This Super-class Star Destroyer was sent to Black-15 from its normal dock in the Core after the Battle of Endor to make room for another Super-class ship that needed repairs. The Intimidator was at Black-15, receiving its final modifications, when the Yevetha took control of the shipyards. Because the Intimidator was spaceworthy, Jian Paret used it as his command ship. The Intimidator was captured by Nil Spaar and was renamed by the Yevetha as the Pride of Yevetha. During the final battle, Sil Sorannan took control of the starship from Nil Spaar, stranding the Yevetha in hyperspace."
 * Pride of Yevetha entry (vol. 3, pg. 44): "Formerly the Imperial Super Star Destroyer Intimidator, it was seized by the forces of strongman Nil Spaar during a raid on the Imperial shipyard at N'zoth. The Pride of Yevetha was placed in Spaar's Black Fifteen Fleet and was spotted in the Yevethan mobilization at Doornik-319. At the end of the Black Fleet crisis, the ship vanished - only to be discovered four years later, drifting abandoned near the Unknown Regions and damaged beyond repair."

Appearances

 * Before the Storm
 * Shield of Lies
 * Tyrant's Test
 * Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial

Serving Chancellor Palpatine
By the climax of the Clone Wars in 19 BBY, Sim Aloo was serving as an advisor to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine as a member of the Office of the Supreme Chancellor. He was present among other members of the office, including fellow advisors Janus Greejatus and Sate Pestage, in a meeting with the Chancellor. Together, they held up a group of delegates from the Loyalist Committee&mdash;specifically, Senators Bail Organa of Alderaan, Mon Mothma of Chandrila, Padmé Amidala of Naboo, Terr Taneel of Neelanon, Bana Breemu of Humbarine, Fang Zar of Sern Prime, and Chi Eekway of Wroona&mdash;who had previously scheduled an appointment with the Chancellor. The Loyalists had grown weary of Palpatine's amendments to the Constitution, and Organa specifically had noted that the Chancellor's tendency to isolate himself among his advisors was peculiar.

Appearances

 * Labyrinth of Evil
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * The Return of Tag & Bink: Special Edition

Notes and references
=Potential Upcoming Projects=
 * 1) Exactor
 * 2) Knighthunter/1,001st Stormtrooper Division
 * 3) Arvel Crynyd
 * 4) Megador
 * 5) Gauntlet of Kressh the Younger

Other projects

 * Wullf Yularen
 * Nahdonnis Praji (still under construction; not on Wookieepedia)
 * Tenn Graneet (still under construction; not on Wookieepedia)
 * Unidentified Sith (Sacking of Coruscant)
 * Unidentified Jedi (Sacking of Coruscant)