Minder

The Minder was a surveillance vessel of the Galactic Empire. The starship served as an escort of the bulk freighter Yadeez, the flagship of the Empire's 204th Imperial Fighter Wing. In 5 ABY, the Minder assisted in the 204th's genocidal crusade over worlds which had gone rogue from the Empire's loyalist forces.

The Minder and the 204th's other ships were pursued through a number of star systems by New Republic forces led by General Hera Syndulla. The pursuit reached the planet Chadawa, the 204th's next target, where the Minder and the other 204th ships fled under the world's planetary mechanical rings.

At Chadawa, the Minder was tasked with studying the alien technology behind the planet's rings. The 204th was eventually forced to flee the world, but not before the surveillance vessel completed its task. The Minder's findings allowed the 204th to simulate radiation seen at Chadawa in order to easily jam enemy starship's communications.

Description

The Minder was a surveillance vessel equipped with engines and a hyperdrive.^[1]

History

Escort duty

During the Galactic Civil War, the Minder served in the navy of the Galactic Empire.^[1] By 5 ABY,^[2] the ship was added to the complement of the Empire's 204th Imperial Fighter Wing as part of the Imperial loyalist forces which had not gone rogue following the death of Emperor Palpatine^[1] in 4 ABY.^[3] The Minder became escort to the 204th's newest flagship and carrier, the bulk freighter Yadeez, alongside two Raider-class corvettes and a pirate gunship hauled from the evidence yards of the world Dybbron III. The surveillance vessel itself was stripped and rebuilt to be combat equipped.^[1]

That year, the 204th carried out a string of genocides on worlds which had cut off from the Imperial loyalists, attacking the planets Dybbron III, Kortatka, and Fedovoi End. During the latter atrocity, the Minder, positioned near a moon, helped provide covering fire for the fighter wing's TIEs, which helped release the Fedovoi End's natural gases to poison the world and its population. The 204th then traveled for its next target, the planet Chadawa.^[1]

The pursuit

The 204th's vessels were carrying out emergency drills in the Ciaox Verith system when the Deliverance, a New Republic refitted Star Destroyer commanded by General Hera Syndulla, arrived, having followed a communications signal burst from the Yadeez. The Deliverance began deploying its starfighter wing, and the 204th's TIEs fought the New Republic's Flare Squadron before the unit's ships escaped into hyperspace. Syndulla's forces then pursued the 204th to the Red Yars system and another star system. At another system, the Star Destroyer tried to pin the Minder and the other starships towards a planetoid, but the 204th's vessels escaped after 387 seconds of fighting.^[1]

The 204th stopped in the Ghonoath system to refuel a Raider-class corvette, only to be attacked again by the Deliverance and its starfighter wing. The Minder and the other vessels plunged into the atmosphere of a radioactive deathworld, and after some fighting with the New Republic's fighters, they skimmed the top of the atmosphere and escaped into hyperspace. After, the 204th was chased through the G'Tep'Noi system before escaping again.^[1]

Investigating at Chadawa

The Minder and the other 204th ships reached the Chadawa system and attacked the local Chadawan navy, which was led by the rogue Imperial Colonel Madrighast. Chadawa itself was a manmade ocean world encased in mechanical planetary satellite rings which channeled radiation from the planet's inner engines. Syndulla's forces soon arrived and the Deliverance's starfighter wing engaged the 204th. However, the 204th ships were able to pass through the planetary rings, and the Chadawan navy also recalled behind them before they activated and created an energy barrier around Chadawa.^[1]

Under the rings of Chadawa, the 204th begun its mission to wipe out the world's population. While the Raider-class corvettes begun sabotaging the satellite rings to overload with radiation and plummet into Chadawa to irradiate the surface, the Minder was sent by Colonel Soran Keize, the 204th's commanding officer, to study the alien technology used in the planetary rings. With the New Republic forces harrying the 204th through openings in the rings' particle tides, Second Lieutenant Commander Teso Broosh of the 204th's Squadron Five suggested to Keize that the Minder could assist the Raiders, but the colonel wished for the surveillance vessel to remain undisturbed.^[1]

The Deliverance's starfighters soon launched a full attack on the 204th, while the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Unyielding, the Chadawans' flagship attacked both parties. Losing both Raider-class corvettes, the Imperial fighter wing recalled its vessels and escaped the Chadawa system, rendezvousing with the rest of the Imperial loyalist forces at the planet Jakku. The Minder's studying of the planetary rings' technology had been successful, and Keize used the vessel's findings to simulate the radiation at Chadawa and weaponize it as a communication jamming mechanism against enemy starships.^[1]

Behind the scenes

The Minder appeared in the 2021 novel Victory's Price: An Alphabet Squadron Novel, the final installment of the Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron trilogy which was written by Alexander Freed.^[1]

Appearances

• Victory's Price: An Alphabet Squadron Novel (and audiobook) (First appearance)

Notes and references