Unidentified Mon Calamari cruiser (Geist)

A cruiser class of Mon Calamari design was used as a trading vessel by the monarchy's Mon Cala Mercantile Fleet and was subsequently used by the naval forces of the Alliance to Restore the Republic as a warship during the Galactic Civil War against the Galactic Empire. The Geist, the flagship of General Hera Syndulla, was of the class, as was Commander Lajaie's cruiser. The Star Cruisers had blunt wings and a bulbous surface.
Following the mutiny on Mon Cala in 1 ABY, multiple Star Cruisers involved in the engagement escaped with Alliance assistance. They were then modified and refitted by the Alliance with systems from the planet Shu-Torun. The equipment proved to be sabotaged by the Kingdom of Shu-Torun's Queen Trios, disabling much of the fleet and allowing for the Imperial Battle of Mako-Ta. Although the Alliance fleet suffered heavy losses, some of the class' vessels survived.
==Characteristics==
===General characteristics===
The Star Cruiser class was designed by the Mon Calamari of the planet Mon Cala as part of their merchant fleet. The cruiser was equipped with four large sublight engines and a smaller engine unit in the center. Its hull was characterized by two blunt wings on its port and starboard sides, and the bridge was situated in one of the two towers on the starship's dorsal surface. The cruiser could be optionally outfitted with a longer tower on its ventral side at midship. Characteristic of other Mon Calamari vessels, the cruiser's hull was bulbous and had differing modules that lined the surface of the ship. The cruiser also had a deflector shield generator, escape pods, and at least two hangar bays that held starfighter squadrons.
===Shu-Torun systems===
Similarly to the rest of the other types of Mon Calamari cruisers at the Mako-Ta Space Docks, many of the cruiser's crucial systems were fromStar Wars (2015) 51 the planetStar Wars: Timelines Shu-Torun that were refitted into the cruisers for several months, including its hyperdrive and communications systems. The Kingdom of Shu-Torun blockers circumvented the hardware of all the cruisers and allowed for sabotage, although it was possible that some bypasses remained operational.
Additionally, like the other ships, the hangar doors could be sealed shut by Shu-Torun blockers, which stopped direct rebel control of the doors. Despite the Shu-Torun sabotage, the cruisers remained able to broadcast rebel signals, and the fail-safes were operational. As such, the proximity sensors were able to detect when a rebel transponder flew nearby, allowing the hangar doors to open as a response. The Shu-Torun systems contained an override code that could reboot the systems within the refitted Mon Calamari cruisers. The systems rebooted once the chip containing the code was inserted into a cruiser's terminal.
==Role==
The Mon Calamari cruiser served as a trading vessel and could also serve as the flagship of a battle group.
==History==
===Mutiny on Mon Cala===
The Mon Calamari cruisers were active during the reign of the Galactic Empire, serving as commandeered Imperial trading vessels within the Mon Cala Imperial Trade Fleet due to the invasion of Mon Cala and served during the Galactic Civil War between the Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic. In 1 ABY, following a battle for Jedha, Rebel Alliance Princess Leia Organa sought to forge new alliances and expand the Rebel Alliance Navy.Star Wars (2015) 44
After a rebel team led by Princess Leia Organa attempted to persuade Grand Admiral Dors Urtya to mutiny against the Empire failed, the team managed to record King of Mon Cala Lee-Char's final words before Imperial stormtroopers killed him. Although Urtya managed to seize the recording, he decided to send the recording to all starships of the trading fleet, causing their Mon Calamari crews to mutiny. Several ships were above Mon Cala, including two of the class of Mon Calamari cruiser, when they revolted and were met with an Imperial blockade commanded by Admiral Tyrus Meori with several Star Destroyers.
Rebel Alliance forces led by Admiral Gial Ackbar arrived to reinforce the mutineering vessels of the Mon Calamari monarchy, and after the MC80A Home One Type Heavy Star Cruiser Aurora Flare broke the blockade by sacrificing itself and destroying the Imperial flagship, the Mon Cala and Rebel Alliance starships jumped to hyperspace and retreated. Months later, at least eight of these Mon Calamari cruisers were at the Rebel Alliance Mako-Ta Space Docks, where they and many other Mon Calamari starships had been refitted with Shu-Torun systems and had integrated with the Alliance Navy. At least two of these Mon Calamari cruisers served as flagships, with the Geist serving as the flagship of General Hera Syndulla's Gamma Group and Commander Lajaie's cruiser as the flagship of Beta Group.
===Assault on the Mako-Ta Space Docks===
====Pinned down====
The Shu-Torun systems, provided by Queen Trios, were rigged for sabotage, as Trios was a secret agent for the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader. At the celebration of the launch of the Alliance Fleet, several of the cruisers were docked at the Mako-Ta Space Docks, with others flying in the station's vicinity. When General Jan Dodonna's flagship, the MC80A Heavy Star Cruiser Republic, was ready, Princess Organa asked several battle groups of the Alliance Fleet to check in. Commander Lajaie from Beta Group acknowledged from the bridge of their cruiser, while General Syndulla acknowledged from the bridge of her respective cruiser. When the groups were ready, General Dodonna ordered the ships to hyperspace, but they were unresponsive.
At this time, Vader's Imperial Death Squadron arrived and, after pausing to foster fear, attacked the Alliance Fleet, which was caught defenseless, exposed, and without the ability to launch starfighters. Vader's flagship, the Super Star Destroyer Executor, first attacked Yavin's Hope, the flagship of General Vanden Willard, destroying it. Afterward, the Imperial fleet attacked various Mon Calamari vessels, and one cruiser of the class was near another model of Mon Calamari ship. By the time the Rebel YT-1300 light freighter named the Millennium Falcon arrived at the Mako-Ta Space Docks, Commander Lajaie's cruiser was attacked by the Executor as the rebels attempted to break through the system failure. Not having enough time, Commander Lajaie ordered all crew to evacuate the cruiser with the escape pods and for those who survived to inform other rebel personnel that some operating systems could be bypassed and further details that they learned about the failures.
While sustaining a barrage, Lajaie's cruiser began exploding as its escape pods launched. Under orders from Vader, Imperial forces targeted the escape pods, and many were destroyed by TIE fighters. The cruiser eventually exploded into a large fireball, and the Millennium Falcon flew through the fire and wreckage as Vader chased the latter in his TIE Advanced x1. The maneuver allowed the Millennium Falcon to have more distance before it launched the rebel C-3PO in a Model CEC Class-1 escape pod into the rebel flagship Republic to inform the crew about details they had learned to circumvent Shu-Torun systems.
====Escape from Death Squadron====
After the Republic starfighters launched, Force-sensitive pilot Luke Skywalker and his unit, Rogue Squadron, ignited a display trail to gain the attention of the other rebel Mon Calamari cruisers and flew near the bay doors of the Geist, another cruiser of the class. When the ship's bay doors opened in response to detecting the rebel transponder, Admiral Ackbar ordered all fighters to launch if the bay doors responded to the transponders; the Geist thus launched its fighters. After Princess Organa and rebel forces investigated and located the transponder codes to deactivate Shu-Torun system blocks on the Executor, the rebels used the Shu-Torun cruiser to board the Imperial flagship. By this time, the battle had escalated, and more cruisers of the class were under attack and exploding. Organa's circumvention of the blockers allowed the Republic to escape.Star Wars (2015) 54
After regrouping, the Republic returned to the Mako-Ta docks and attacked the Executor while several rebel transports landed on the surviving cruisers, including several of the class, and distributed the override codes. The Geist was able to reboot its systems and attacked Imperial forces while other vessels of the class remained under attack. After all cruisers were online and Alliance personnel were evacuated from the Mako-Ta Space Docks, General Dodonna ordered the surviving cruisers into hyperspace while the Republic guarded them until it was eliminated. In the aftermath, the Alliance Fleet dispersed while Emperor Palpatine was satisfied with Vader's destruction of Alliance forces.
==Behind the scenes==
The Mon Calamari cruiser first appeared, albeit unidentified, in the forty-eighth issue of the 2015 comic series Star Wars. The issue was written by Kieron Gillen, illustrated by Salvador Larroca, and published by Marvel Comics on May 23, 2018. When asked on Twitter if the Holocron contained a name for the cruiser class, among others, Leland Chee, a Lucasfilm Story Group member who additionally maintains the Holocron continuity database, stated that comic scripts typically did not specify as such.
An artistic discrepancy in a panel within the forty-ninth issue, released on June 6, 2018, depicts the cruiser as substantially smaller than the MC80A Home One Type Star Cruiser, which is between 1,200 to 1,300 meters in length.Star Wars Encyclopedia of Starfighters and Other Vehicles This length is comparable to that of the MC80 Liberty Type Heavy Star Cruiser, which is between 1,200 to 1,500 meters.Star Wars: On the Front Lines Despite being much smaller when compared to the MC80A Home One in the panel, the cruiser is depicted as being similar in size in a second panel within the same comic, as well as being a similar size once again to the MC80A and the MC80 Liberty in a third panel. The similarity in size to the MC80 Liberty is kept consistent in issue fifty, which was released on July 4 of the same year.
==Appearances==
*Star Wars (2015) 48 
*Star Wars (2015) 49
*Star Wars (2015) 50
*Star Wars (2015) 51
*Star Wars (2015) 52
*Star Wars (2015) 53
*Star Wars (2015) 54
*Star Wars (2015) 55
*Star Wars (2015) 61 
*Star Wars (2020) 7 
==Sources==
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*Ultimate Star Wars, New Edition
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*Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy 
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*Star Wars: Timelines 
==Notes and references==
Category:Mon Calamari cruiser variants
Category:Starship classes of the Alliance to Restore the Republic