Defender

A Venator-class Star Destroyer, the Defender served as part of the Galactic Republic's naval branch, in the Open Circle Fleet, during the Clone Wars. Under the command of Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, the Star Destroyer was incorporated into the Jedi Knight's fleet by the time of 21 BBY. In that year, the Defender and Skywalker's fleet, which also consisted of the Venator-class Star Destroyers Resolute—Skywalker's flagship—and Redeemer, were sent to attack and break through a Confederacy of Independent Systems blockade over the planet Ryloth.
Following their arrival, the Defender and the accompanying Venators were lured into a trap designed by the blockade's commander, Captain Mar Tuuk. Amid the engagement, the Neimoidian Separatist ordered additional reinforcements into the Ryloth system, catching the Republic off guard and forcing the three Venators to retreat to hyperspace, but not before the Redeemer was destroyed. After its escape, the Defender personnel were evacuated and transferred to the Resolute, as Skywalker planned to assume command over the vessel. Returning to Ryloth, Skywalker, after offering his false surrender to the Confederacy, was able to destroy Tuuk's Lucrehulk-class Battleship by sending the Defender crashing into it, allowing for the Resolute arrival and the destruction of the remaining Separatist warships.
==Description==
A member of the Venator-class Star Destroyer, the Defender was active in the Galactic Republic Navy, stretching to 1,137 meters in length, 548 meters in width and 268 meters in height. Doubly used as a battleship and starfighter carrier, the Star Destroyer possessed separated command bridges on its conning towers, the port-mounted one of which for starfighter flight control and the other for overall command. states the Venator-class Star Destroyer's bridges were for starfighter flight control and general command. The command suite inside the bridge housed a single holographic table that could perform live transmissions with other vessels, and two blue translucent tactical display screens and work stations on either side of the table. Connected via blast doors to the escape pod bay and bridge, the latter contained two sunken pits for crew and viewports with an 180-degree view. Along the dorsal hull was a hangar bay that carried the ship's V-19 Torrent starfighters.
Located at the stern, the Defender had eight sublight-capable ion drive thrusters, and a hyperdrive generator that allowed the vessel to quickly enter hyperspace. From a scomp link and astromech droid, the engines' propulsion power could be accelerated to provide greater speeds up to ramming scales. Its deflector shields, meanwhile, were projected from a forward-angled generator whose functionality repelled the heavy turbolaser fire of multiple Munificent-class star frigates and a Lucrehulk-class Battleship, and could be strengthened from the routed power of other systems. But in terms of offensive measures, the Defender was armed with eight port and starboard DBY-827 heavy turbolaser turrets for inter-ship combat, two port and starboard medium dual turbolaser cannons, fifty-two point-defense laser cannons for anti-starfighter and missile purposes, four proton torpedo launchers, and six high-power tractor beam projectors. Like all Galactic Republic Venator-class vessels, the Defender was painted with the symbol of the Open Circle Fleet, accompanied by a singular red strip on the central dorsal surface and three red livery stripes on the port and starboard wings.
==History==
===Assaulting the blockade===
In 22 BBY, during the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and Confederacy of Independent Systems, the latter's Separatist Droid Army launched an invasion of the planet Ryloth under the leadership of Techno Union Foreman Wat Tambor, which resulted in the establishment of a blockade of Separatist warships commanded by Neimoidian Captain Mar Tuuk. Responding to the blockade as well as the Twi'lek inhabitants' dire situation, in 21 BBY, the Republic sought to liberate the planet from Separatist occupation. Consequently, the Defender was dispatched alongside a fleet of two other Venator-class Star Destroyers—the flagship Resolute and the Redeemer—under the command of Jedi General Anakin Skywalker to break the blockade and allow for the landing of an invasion fleet led by Jedi Generals Mace Windu and Obi-Wan Kenobi on the surface.
Arriving from hyperspace in the Ryloth system, the Defender and the rest of the fleet began their assault against Tuuk's blockade, which was flagged by a Lucrehulk-class Battleship and accompanied by two Munificent-class star frigates. The Republic fleet launched Blue Squadron, comprised of V-19 Torrent starfighters under the command of Skywalker's Padawan, Jedi Commander Ahsoka Tano. While the squadron engaged Tuuk's Lucrehulk-class Battleship, the Defender and the two other Venators remained further back. Remaining at a distance from the Separatist blockade, Tano's squadron was able to carve a path through a swarm of Separatist Vulture-class droid starfighters, putting them on a direct course to Tuuk's command ship.
While on approach to the Lucrehulk, the Neimoidian captain ordered four additional frigates to the star system in order to reinforce his blockade. Upon their arrival, the Defender, alongside its accompanying Venators, were caught off guard by the Separatists as they became overwhelmed and suffered damage from a series of suicidal attacks by the vulture droids. As a result, Republic Admiral Wullf Yularen ordered Tano and her squadron to return and assist the three Star Destroyers after their battle lines were broken by the droid starfighters. Disobeying the order, the Padawan explained that her squadron was still able to break through the blockade, but relented shortly after when Skywalker ordered her back to the Resolute. After Tano returned to the fleet, the damaged Defender and Resolute began to withdraw from the battle into hyperspace, while the Redeemer hull was torn apart in space amid its retreat.
===Return to Ryloth===
Following their retreat, the Republic began to devise an attack strategy against the blockade, while the Defender, which had lost one of its command towers in the battle, had developed several fires across its hull. As the Republic fleet recuperated, Skywalker convened with Generals Kenobi and Windu regarding the situation and their losses, but he was informed by Windu that, if the blockade was not breached before the next planetary rotation, the Republic would be required to postpone its invasion, despite Skywalker's dwindled forces. After convening with his fellow Jedi, the Jedi Knight devised a plan to destroy the blockade as he ordered the evacuation of all personnel from the Defender to the Resolute in order for him to assume control over the damaged Star Destroyer alongside his astromech droid, R2-D2, and prevent further Republic losses. Explaining the plan to his Padawan after she became alerted to the Defender evacuation, Skywalker told Tano that he planned to pilot the damaged Star Destroyer into Tuuk's command ship, while the Padawan would arrive aboard the Resolute to destroy the frigates as Skywalker waited in an escape pod.
After the Defender personnel were transferred to the Resolute, Skywalker and his astromech boarded the Star Destroyer and returned to the Ryloth system. Upon his arrival, as Tuuk had anticipated, the Neimoidian's Lucrehulk was contacted by Skywalker aboard the Defender, who promised the false surrendering of the Star Destroyer and its crew to Tuuk in exchange for the safe transport of foodstuffs and medical supplies to the displaced Twi'leks on the surface. Initially in belief of Skywalker's deception, the Separatist captain was informed that the Defender was heavily damaged and the starship's power had been diverted to the forward deflector shields, with only a single life-form aboard. As Tuuk discovered the Jedi Knight's deception, the Resolute exited from hyperspace directly behind the Defender, to which Skywalker instructed R2 to increase the engine power before the two of them fled the doomed vessel aboard an escape pod.
As the Defender hurtled toward Tuuk's battleship, the Lucrehulk's crew of B1-series battle droids and the surrounding frigates opened fire on the Star Destroyer in an attempt to prevent its collision with their command ship. However, unable to destroy it, Tuuk proceeded to board an escape pod and left the battle droids in control of the remaining frigates as the Star Destroyer crashed into the Lucrehulk's central sphere, destroying the command ship and sending the OOM command battle droids into a period of confusion. Following the Lucrehulk's destruction, the blockade was broken by the Republic, which allowed for the arrival of their invasion fleet of three Acclamator-class assault ships on the planet's surface. Afterward, the Republic successfully furthered their campaign and liberated Ryloth from Separatist control.
===Legacy===
Following the war's end,Lords of the Sith in 14 BBY,Star Wars: Galactic Atlas Galactic Emperor of the Galactic Empire and Dark Lord of the Sith Sheev Palpatine and his Sith apprentice Darth Vader—formerly Anakin Skywalker—traveled to Ryloth to cease a growing rebellion led by General Cham Syndulla. During their mission, while Vader piloted an Imperial shuttle, the Sith Lord recalled his memory from the Battle of Ryloth, when he had once drifted alone in an escape pod above the planet after destroying the Separatist flagship.
==Commanders and crew==
During the Battle of Ryloth, the Defender was placed within the fleet of Jedi General Anakin Skywalker under his command from his flagship, the Resolute. It was operated by its own crew, who were evacuated from the vessel in order for Skywalker and R2-D2 to control the Star Destroyer.
==Behind the scenes==
The Defender was introduced in the opening newsreel of "Jedi Crash," the thirteenth episode of the first season of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series, which aired on January 16, 2009. It later made its full appearance and was identified in "Storm Over Ryloth," the first season's nineteenth episode, which aired on February 27, 2009. In "Storm Over Ryloth," one of the Defender command bridges was removed as a result of the battle, but was restored in a subsequent scene, although it was once again removed in its next on-screen appearance.
==Appearances==
* 
* 
* 
*Lords of the Sith 
==Sources==
*
*
*
* 
* 
*Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy
==Notes and references==
Category:Ships of the Open Circle Fleet
Category:Venator-class Star Destroyers