Aggressor Mk II Class Star Destroyer

This is one of my ships from my Star Wars Fanfiction Series: Star Wars: The Shadow Wars. The series is currently between "Seasons."

Note: The information below is from my own universe which is a blend of old and new canon and it not to be considered canon in any other universe but mine.  I should also mention that this ship is canon (at least Legacy Canon) but its history is significantly different as far as my universe is concerned.

The image was acquired via the Star Wars: Warlords Mod for Homeworld 2 Classic.

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Class: Aggressor Mk II Class Star Destroyer
Manufacturer: NNaZ Fleetworks, Kuat Drive Yards (Briefly)
Affiliation: Zann Consortium, Imperial Remnant (Formerly)

"The Empire sure loved their big guns. Guess the Emperor was compensating for something." "I doubt it, it sure took some balls to build the Death Stars." "Yeah, and the Aggressors were on the small end." "Guess they were made in the colder regions of sp-." "One more euphemism like that and you're all taking a walk out the airlock!" - Lando Calrissian, Han Solo, and Leia Organa regarding the Aggressor Star Destroyer.

In 11 ABY, during Emperor Palpatine's brief return to power, the Emperor commissioned a new model of the Aggressor Class Star Destroyer from loyal agents within Kuat Drive Yards. Although KDY had since renounced their Imperial ties, there were many influential members of the KDY Stockholders and Board of Directors that remained loyal to the Empire and accepted the Emperor's commission. The Aggressor Mk II was developed by KDY for the Emperor but the elements of KDY that were loyal to the New Republic managed to get the design schematics of the deadly new Star Destroyers to New Republic Intelligence who proceeded to launch a daring raid on the shipyards building them. The reborn Palpatine never saw the new ships enter service as the Republic managed to seize them before hand.

After the Emperor was defeated for good, the New Republic banned the Aggressor Class and ordered the ships to be scrapped. Unknown to the New Republic however, agents in the employ of Tyber Zann and the Zann Consortium managed to steal the schematics along with two of the finished destroyers and bring them to Zann's palace on Vjun. Zann had copies of the schematics sent to his private shipyards over the planet of Nal Nomba which is just within Hutt Space. Since then, multiple Aggressor Mk IIs have cropped up in the hands of pirate groups and in the hands of private militias. Naturally Zann has a couple of his own protecting his palace on Vjun. The exact number of Aggressor Mk IIs in Zann's possession is unknown.

Aesthetically the Aggressor Mk II looks very similar to the originals used during the Galactic Civil War. One of the most noticeable differences is the increased number of turbolasers used to defend the vessel. These turbolasers, however, have to be taken offline, albeit briefly, whenever the Aggressor's massive plasma cannon and ion cannon are preparing to fire. Once the cannons fire, the turbolasers can be brought back online. The most notable change to the Aggressor are the wings. The wings on the Mk II have been shortened significantly as they were unnecessary for the ship's day-to-day operations.

Perhaps the deadliest additions to the Aggressor are a pair of tractor beam emitters located at the forward ends of the wings. These tractor beams can snare smaller craft like corvettes that can usually evade the Aggressor's plasma cannon and move them into the plasma cannon's line of fire, holding them in place until the cannons fire which typically spells doom for these smaller craft. The tractor beam emitters receive their power from the turbolaser arrays, thus necessitating the need to bring the turbolasers offline. This creates a window for enemy starfighters to attack the Aggressor while it's moving its victim into alignment and holding them there while the cannon prepares to fire.

As with the old Aggressors, the Mk IIs are equipped with powerful self-destruct mechanisms. During a skirmish with New Republic forces, a former Imperial Warlord utilized a Mk II against New Republic Forces, commanding one of the Mk IIs personally. When it became obvious the New Republic was going to defeat him, the warlord directed the tractor beams on his ship to snare the nearest Republic cruisers or corvettes within range and pull them in close to the destroyer. He then initiated the self-destruct which not only destroyed himself and his destroyer, but also destroyed a New Republic Nebulon-B Frigate and a Victory Class Star Destroyer. This maneuver has since been referred to as a "Despot's Demise" and refers to any self-destructing ship with a tractor beam that pulls targets in closer with the intent to destroy them in the resulting explosion.

The primary weakness of the Aggressors' though was at the space between the two guns. A well placed proton torpedo or spread of smaller missiles could breach the firing chambers of the Aggressors and cause the ships to explode. This space could not be filled in as the cannons relied on the chill of space to help cool down and needed a lot of exposed surface. Some of the more industrious Aggressor Captains had a long series of X shaped durasteel struts put in place. Not only did this help negate its weakness but it also reduced the stress on the hull when the cannons fired.