Imperial dungeon ship
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Star Wars craft | |
Imperial Dungeon Ship | |
---|---|
Manufacturer | Rendili StarDrive |
Specification | Lictor-class Dungeon Ship |
Type | Prisoner ship |
Length | 764 meters |
Weapons | Tractor beams (2), Quad Laser Batteries (10) |
Shield | Unknown |
Hull | Unknown |
Crew | 860, 46 gunners |
Top Speed | 2 MGLT |
Troop Capacity | 1000 stormtroopers |
Affiliation | Galactic Empire, New Republic |
Cargo Capacity | Unknown |
Passengers | 400 Imperial Dungeoneers/prisoner warden, 8,000 standard prisoners, 1,000 prisoners (in special holding cells) |
Imperial Dungeon Ship was the term given to describe the ships manufactured by Rendili StarDrive for the Galactic Empire, who used them to transport captured Jedi Knights during the height of the Jedi Purge. During the Clone Wars, the Old Republic had used them to transport captured Dark Jedi in the employ of Count Dooku. Though classified as Lictor-class Dungeon Ships, Imperial dungeon ships were actually modified Mandalorian Dungeon Ships, which were 1000 meters in length and equipped with holding cells and drop bays in a highly modularized design.
They were first used during the Mandalorian Wars, and were still used during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion by the Mandalorian Protectors. They were usually assigned to the Inquisitorius, although some Grand Admirals made use of them as well. When not actually being used to transport Force-sensitive or Jedi prisoners, dungeon ships typically transported common prisoners (although the Firrereon Lord Hethrir would put them to unorthodox use as mass prisoner storage centers, which would occasionally sell off some prisoners).
The Imperial Dungeoneers who man these vessels have a number of special options for dealing with unruly prisoners: Jedi, when carried, were normally placed in the Universal Energy Cages.
Universal Energy Cages were restraints specifically devised to hold Jedi, who during the Great Purge had an annoying tendency to be captured alive at great cost, and then easily manipulating the guards or using the Force to simply rip themselves free. They were devised by a Junior Engineer named Umak Leth, and were designed by him based on the few hints about the Force given him by Palpatine. He realized that if the Force were truly an energy field generated by all living things, it made little sense to try to entirely absorb or block it like his predecessors had attempted to do, using ultra-dense alloys and thick walls. Rather, it made much more sense to disrupt the Force with a more powerful, but localized, energy field. Thus, a Universal Energy Cage is made of many superconducting coils which are suspended by repulsorlift units, forming a containment field which reflects any energy at the wielder, preventing any breach of the walls. The cage provides oxygen, but no food or water: in this way, a Jedi is forced into hibernation for the duration of the trip, so they cannot cause any trouble. The Cages are specially produced, and can only be unlocked by Imperial Sovereign Protectors, often are highly reduced in air pressure and temperature, and the gravity increased specifically to hamper the Jedi/Force-sensitive. Regular prisoners could be handled by electric shocks, siren, chemical treatment (such as releases of hallucinogenic gases and tinkering with light), or the droids who assisted the Dungeoneers would handle them.
While equipped with a number of laser batteries, the Dungeon ship had an unusual configuration: the navigation computer ("nav computer") of an Imperial dungeon ship can store exactly and only two coordinates at a time: the location where the prisoners were transferred aboard the Dungeon ship, and the final prison-planet destination. The rationale for this crippling was that the nav computer could conceivably be tampered with by prisoners - except it is located in a command pod which is sealed off and detachable from the rest of the vessel, equipped with emergency rations and a full fuel supply.
During the aftermath of the Imperial Mutiny in 10 ABY, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and R2-D2 were transported on an Imperial Dungeon Ship to Byss, the secret throne world of the reborn Emperor Palpatine.
[edit] References
- Dark Empire, trade paperback, 1993. Tom Veitch, ISBN 1-56971-073-2
- The Dark Empire sourcebook, West End Games, 1st edition, 1993. Horne, Michael, ISBN 0-87431-194-2