Designed to serve as the personal flagship of Emperor Palpatine, and easily one of the
largest and most powerful warships in galactic history, the Eclipse Class Star Dreadnought
was regarded as a new generation of super star destroyer, and as the pinnacle of destructive
power among the vast armadas of the Imperial Navy.
17,500 Meters in length, the gargantuan bulk of the Eclipse Class was greater in mass and
volume than even a Vengeance, or Executor class vessel.
The ship resembled a colossal, eldritch black wedge in space, with an enormous ventral fin
fixed to its prow section, and from the vessel’s stern to the point of its bow, ten imperial
class star destroyers could be arranged end-to-end, and still fall short of the Eclipse’s length.
Beneath the thick layers of its durasteel and quadranium alloyed hull, the vessel held
a crew of over 700,000, with space left for 150,000 ground troops, 600,000 metric tons
of cargo, 5 prefabricated garrison bases, and ten full brigades of AT-AT Walkers.
Though the Eclipse’s complement of conventional weapons is inferior to that of the Executor
Class, the vessel still carries more firepower than can normally be brought to bear by an
entire fleet of warships, and its powerful shields and armor are able to effortlessly
repel almost any attack.
Within its vast launch bays, the Eclipse Class hosts 600 TIE Interceptors, as well as over
90 TIE Bombers, providing a massive force of strike craft, which can effectively engage
hostile warships, fighter wings, or even ground targets.
Should the Eclipse’s weapons and strike craft somehow prove insufficient, the vessel
can eliminate hostile warships through another means entirely.
The vessel is so large and thickly armoured, that any collision with a conventional starship
or station, would prove essentially harmless to the massive ship, and as such; ramming
attacks are not only possible, but encouraged, and few sights were more demoralising to the
enemy, than that of their largest cruisers breaking apart, as they are dashed into flaming
pieces against the Eclipse’s impenetrable bow.
Though the Eclipse is beyond impressive as a conventional warship, its turbolasers and
ion cannons serve mostly to protect the vessel, as it brings its terrifying primary weapon
to bear.
Built into the entire spaceframe of the vessel, the Eclipse carries a more-portable version
of the Death Star’s superlaser, capable of delivering blasts up to two-thirds the
strength of the Death Star.
Unlike its larger counterpart, the weapon is not capable of destroying an entire planet
in a single blast, but no starship or station in existence could survive a direct hit from
the Eclipse’s superlaser, and should it be turned against a planetary body, the weapon
is still more than capable of tearing through surface defence shields, and laying waste
to entire continents.
Though the vessel clearly outclasses the grand majority of spacefaring warships, the Eclipse
is intended more as a strategic weapon rather than a tactical one, where the Executor Class
is built to be the pinnacle of capital ship combat, the Eclipse is considered to be a
valuable weapons platform, most often kept out of range of the enemy while it prepares
its superweapon.
Another powerful support asset offered by the Eclipse are its gravity well generators,
boasting 10 separate gravity well projectors, the ship is able to serve as an interdictor
craft, with far greater levels of redundancy than a conventional interdiction vessel, and
with the Eclipse’s massive defensive arsenal, the chances of an enemy force disabling all
ten projectors and escaping the battlefield, are essentially zero.
Across its entire service, only two starships of the Eclipse Class were ever constructed,
but those vessels alone were more than sufficient to burn the memory of the Eclipse into the
collective mind of galactic society.
Even after almost 150 years, no ship had ever been constructed that came close to challenging
the size and power of the Eclipse Class, and for longer still, the ship would be remembered
not only as one of the most significant engineering accomplishments in history, but as one of
the greatest terrors ever let loose, upon the civilised galaxy.