Arbitrator

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This article is about the Executor-class Star Dreadnought. You may be looking for the Venator-class Star Destroyer.

"New Republic forces chased the Arbitrator into a black hole."
―Ushos Statura, in an annotation of Rebel Alliance document "RI 043-N1"[1]

The Arbitrator was an Executor-class Star Dreadnought in the Imperial Navy and one of thirteen Super Star Destroyers in the Empire's service prior to the Battle of Endor. Around the time of the Galactic Civil War, the Rebel Alliance considered it to be one of the Empire's most critical Executor-class vessels. Between 4 ABY and 5 ABY, the Arbitrator was pursued by several New Republic starships. Attempting to escape them, the dreadnought jumped to erroneous hyperspace coordinates, which resulted in the destruction of the vessel after it was pulled into a black hole.

Description

"These dreadnoughts, or Super Star Destroyers, are more akin to mobile command centers than proper warships, yet they can annihilate an armada through concentrated arms alone. Five thousand turbolasters…what could withstand such a broadside?"
― Gial Ackbar, Rebel Alliance document "RI 043-N1"[1]

As an Executor-class Star Dreadnought, the Arbitrator measured 19,000 meters long and was armed with 5,000 turbolasers. Rebel Alliance Admiral Gial Ackbar believed that a ship of the Executor-class could destroy an armada through concentrated firepower alone.[1] The Arbitrator was also equipped with engines and a hyperdrive. The command ship transmitted tracking data to the Hall of Imperial Register on the Imperial planet Coruscant, allowing for a black box recording of information so it could be discerned what occurred before the ship was destroyed, captured, or surrendered.[2]

History

"Following are the Empire's most critical SSDs, both those currently in service and those still under construction: […] Arbitrator"
―Gial Ackbar, Rebel Alliance document "RI 043-N1"[1]
A black hole (one pictured) evaporated the Arbitrator.

A black hole (one pictured) evaporated the Arbitrator.

The Arbitrator served in the Imperial Navy during the Imperial Era. At some point, Gial Ackbar wrote a classified document titled "RI 043-N1" that detailed the Empire's most critical Executor-class Star Dreadnoughts—both those in service and under construction—which included the Arbitrator. The document contained a technical specification of the class and was sent to Alliance Commander Mon Mothma. Rebel archivist Hendri Underholt later included the list in The Rebel Files, a compilation of information, reports, and accounts belonging to the Alliance, in the "Alliance Chron 3" section,[1] spanning approximately between 0 ABY and 3 ABY[4] during the Galactic Civil War.[5]

Prior to the Battle of Endor[2] in 4 ABY,[5] the Arbitrator was one of the Empire's thirteen in-service Super Star Destroyers,[2] a title given to several classes of capital ships.[6] After the battle, which saw the Rebel Alliance defeat the Empire after the Emperor and the second Death Star were destroyed, the Empire fractured, and the Rebel Alliance transitioned into the New Republic.[2] Sometime after the battle, between 4 ABY and 5 ABY,[3] the Arbitrator was pursued by forces of the New Republic's fleet. In an attempt to escape, the ship made an erroneous hyperspace calculation, causing it to be sucked into a[2] black hole[1] and evaporated.[2]

In 5 ABY,[3] after the vessel's destruction, Imperial Grand Admiral Rae Sloane of the Executor-class Ravager visited Coruscant to research Gallius Rax, her mysterious superior. While at the Hall of Imperial Register, Sloane discovered that eleven of the thirteen dreadnoughts originally in the Empire's service, including the Arbitrator, had been destroyed, captured, or surrendered, with the only two remaining being the Ravager and the Eclipse.[2] The Rebel Files was subsequently discovered and annotated by the leadership of the Resistance,[1] a military movement founded in 28 ABY to oppose the First Order, the successor of the Empire.[5] Ushos O. Statura,[1] an admiral in the Resistance,[7] noted on "RI 043-N1" that New Republic forces had chased the Arbitrator into a black hole.[1]

Behind the scenes

The Arbitrator was first mentioned in the 2016 novel Aftermath: Life Debt, the second entry in Star Wars: The Aftermath Trilogy, written by Chuck Wendig.[2]

Appearances

This article has an associated index page with page numbers and/or timestamps.

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Star Wars: The Rebel Files
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 Aftermath: Life Debt
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Star Wars: Timelines dates the Battle of Endor to 4 ABY and the main story of Aftermath: Life Debt to 5 ABY. Aftermath: Life Debt establishes that the Arbitrator was destroyed prior to its narrative but after the Battle of Endor.
  4. ↑ Star Wars: The Rebel Files states that The Rebel Files' "Alliance Chron 2" section, which mentions the Arbitrator, spans 19–22 AFE, or nineteen to twenty-two years after the formation of the Galactic Empire, which Star Wars: Timelines dates to 19 BBY. Therefore, the section spans approximately between 0 ABY and 3 ABY.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Star Wars: Timelines
  6. ↑ Star Wars: Complete Locations, New Edition
  7. ↑ Star Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary