Kassius Konstantine's Interdictor

Kassius Konstantine's Interdictor was an Interdictor-class heavy cruiser commanded by Imperial Admiral Kassius Konstantine during the Battle of Atollon. An Interdictor vessel, the starship was equipped with four gravity well projectors capable of generating an interdiction field, an artificial gravity well that could prevent other starships from entering hyperspace. During the Galactic Civil War, Grand Admiral Thrawn waged a campaign against the rebel Phoenix Cell, at which point the heavy cruiser was part of Thrawn's 7th Fleet. In 2 BBY, it was part of a squadron of Imperial vessels that attacked the rebel cell over the planet Atollon, where they had set up their base. 
During the battle, Konstantine commanded the heavy cruiser, where it and fellow Interdictor Constrainer prevented enemy ships from fleeing into hyperspace. Although directly ordered to remain at his assigned coordinates by Thrawn, Konstantine was lured out of position by rebel Commander Jun Sato's command ship, Phoenix Nest, with the admiral eager to claim the kill for himself. However, Sato then maneuvered his carrier into the path of the Interdictor, destroying both ships. This allowed rebel Ezra Bridger to escape the Imperial blockade and call for reinforcements, ultimately allowing the remaining rebels to escape. Reflecting on the battle in his book The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire, historian Beaumont Kin believed that it was ludicrous to place such a vital starship in Konstantine's command, due to the admiral's prior military failures.
==Description==
Kassius Konstantine's InterdictorStar Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy was one of the Interdictor line's Interdictor-class heavy cruiser, a type of cruiser measuring 1,129 meters in length. An Interdictor vessel, Konstantine's Star Destroyer possessed four gravity well projectors, which were capable of generating an interdiction field.Tarkin This field created an artificial gravity well, enabling the Interdictor to pull other vessels out of hyperspace. Additionally, the heavy cruiser was equipped with five sublight engines, a hyperdrive, deflector shields, and laser cannons. Its dorsal hull featured an open bay, the aft and forward walls of which both contained an otherwise enclosed hangar.
The Interdictor also housed a bridge, accessed by doors at the rear. The wall to the left of the doors featured an alcove which had a console covering its rear wall. The front of the bridge had a row of triangular viewports with buttons below. Behind this was a walkway leading to the door, to the right side of which was a sunken work station containing more controls.
==History==
===Blockading Atollon===
During the Galactic Civil War between the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance, this Interdictor-class heavy cruiser served in the Imperial Navy. As Imperial Grand Admiral Thrawn waged a campaign against the rebel Phoenix Cell, the cruiser formed part of Thrawn's 7th Fleet. In 2 BBY, Thrawn discovered the location of the cell's base: the Lothal sector planetDawn of Rebellion Atollon. With this, Thrawn ordered Admiral Kassius Konstantine to dispatch a squadron of Imperial vessels to the world to begin the Battle of Atollon. Konstantine, who had previously commanded the Lothal sector fleet from his flagship, Relentless, had been integrated into the 7th Fleet when Thrawn first targeted the Phoenix Cell. The relegated admiral accompanied the squadron to Atollon in his Interdictor, alongside five Imperial-class Star Destroyers, including the Dark Omen as the lead destroyer; another Interdictor-class cruiser, the Constrainer; and two Arquitens-class command cruisers. 
The squadron exited hyperspace in the Atollon system, positioned in a line formation with Konstantine's Interdictor at the right side. Upon arrival, Imperial forces blocked the rebels' long-range transmissions. Rebel General Jan Dodonna, whose forces were aiding the Phoenix Cell, ordered all rebel vessels to flee. An EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate subsequently jumped to hyperspace; however, the frigate was then pulled out of hyperspace by the gravity field from the two Interdictors. Realizing that the Empire was using Interdictor vessels, rebel Commander Jun Sato lamented that there would be no escape for the rebel fleet. Konstantine, standing on his Interdictor's bridge, was informed by a weapons technician that the ship's gravity wells were engaged. The admiral then ordered the technician to fire all batteries. As the Interdictor opened fire on the Nebulon-B, Grand Admiral Thrawn arrived in his flagship, the Imperial I-class Star DestroyerStarships and Speeders Chimaera.
===Defying Thrawn===
The rebels subsequently engaged the Imperial blockade, using Danaan tactics. Thrawn then contacted Konstantine via hologram, instructing him to keep his Interdictor back until ordered otherwise. Konstantine asked why he could not attack immediately with overwhelming force. The Grand Admiral retorted that he knew this rebel group, having studied them, and he knew they would defy convention and attempt something unexpected. He added that the Imperials would only be prepared for this if Konstantine did exactly as he was ordered. As the rebels charged the blockade, they were overrun, as Thrawn had ordered his capital ships to hold their positions and wait for the rebels to come to them.
After witnessing several rebel vessels be destroyed, Commander Sato ordered rebel Lieutenant Commander Ezra Bridger to go to heading 221 before evacuating the Quasar Fire-class cruiser-carrier, Phoenix Nest, leaving only himself and two rebel pilots onboard. As the carrier approached the Imperial blockade, Konstantine noticed it was a command ship and ordered a fellow Imperial officer to move to intercept it. Although the officer protested, citing Thrawn's orders for the Interdictor to maintain its position, Konstantine repeated his order, not wanting to be denied the glory of destroying the flagship.
===An Interdictor's end===
Subsequently, Konstantine's Interdictor broke from the blockade, banking port so it was perpendicular to the Imperial line. Noticing this, Thrawn contacted Konstantine and ordered him to return to his assigned coordinates immediately. Konstantine retorted that he had had enough of the Grand Admiral's games. As the Interdictor closed on the rebel carrier's port side, the heavy cruiser fired several blaster shots at the enemy vessel. The Interdictor itself received several blasts, which were absorbed by its deflector shields. On the bridge, Konstantine ordered the other officer to prepare the gravity wells before smiling to himself.
After waiting for the heavy cruiser to get closer, Sato made a sharp portside turn into the path of Imperial craft. The other officer informed Konstantine that the carrier had changed course, with the admiral—realizing his mistake—crying out and futilely ordering the officer to take evasive action. The two ships then collided head-on, with the Interdictor being sawn in half medially and the resulting explosion rocking the Chimaera bridge. Both ships were destroyed in the collision, and both Konstantine and Sato were killed.Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy Seizing the opportunity, Bridger then successfully escaped to hyperspace in his Gauntlet starfighter, Nightbrother. Ultimately, the loss of the Interdictor severely disrupted Thrawn's blockade and allowed Bridger to recruit Mandalorian warriors, who destroyed the Constrainer and allowed the rebels to escape, although much of their forces had been destroyed.
===Legacy===
Historian Beaumont Kin, writing in his 35 ABY book The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire, noted that Thrawn had recognized that, to ensure its military success, the Empire needed to force the rebels to remain on the battlefield. Thus, the Grand Admiral's use of Interdictor cruisers at the Battle of Atollon to trap the rebel fleet demonstrated Thrawn's ability to preempt his enemies' strategies and counter them in advance. However, Kin also noted that entrusting Konstantine with an Interdictor at Atollon was one of Thrawn's errors of judgment during the battle. Due to Konstantine's prior tactical failures and that his promotions had been due to political connections, Kin believed that it was ludicrous to have placed such a crucial vessel in the admiral's command.
==Commanders and crew==
The Interdictor-class heavy cruiser was commanded by Kassius Konstantine during the Battle of Atollon. Konstantine, a Coruscanti officer, was stern, unforgiving, and unimaginative. Despite having suffered a series of battlefield failures, Konstantine was a competent leader, although he was more a politician than a warrior; the admiral preferred meetings than direct action and owed most of his promotions to his political connections. By the book and adhering slavishly to the Imperial Navy Handbook, Konstantine tended to lean heavily on his subordinates for day-to-day operations, for whom he had little respect.
Konstantine had a need for personal glory, which proved fatal at the Battle of Atollon. Although the rest of Thrawn's forces were disciplined, Konstantine could not resist the temptation to attack Phoenix Nest. In breaking formation, Konstantine defied Thrawn's orders and fell into Commander Sato's trap, resulting in the admiral's death and the destruction of his vessel. In addition to Konstantine, his Interdictor's bridge was manned by at least one Imperial weapons technician, who controlled the vessel's gravity well generators. Another Imperial officer was also stationed on the bridge during the Battle of Atollon, who made an unsuccessful attempt to remind Konstantine of Thrawn's orders before ultimately tending to the admiral's contrary instructions.
==Behind the scenes==
===Appearance in "Zero Hour"===
Kassius Konstantine's Interdictor first appeared in "Zero Hour," the third season finale of the animated television series Star Wars Rebels. The episode was released over two parts on March 25, 2017, serving as the twenty-first and twenty-second episodes of the season overall.
In "Zero Hour," the vessel is absent from several wide shots of Thrawn's blockade, for example, here and here. In the episode's corresponding installment of the official Star Wars YouTube channel's series Rebels Recon, Keith Kellogg, Rebels animation supervisor, explained that due to technical limitations, not all of the ships could be rendered at the same time.
===Other media===
Prior to the airing of "Zero Hour," Kassius Konstantine's Interdictor was first pictured in a preview for the episode titled "Showdown with Thrawn," which was released on the Star Wars YouTube channel on March 21, 2017. The cruiser was unnamed in the episode, but was identified as Konstantine's cruiser in the StarWars.com episode guide for "Zero Hour."
The ship was then named Konstantine's Star Destroyer in the reference book Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, Updated and Expanded,Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, Updated and Expanded which was released on October 3, 2017. In 2021, the reference book Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy identified the cruiser as Kassius Konstantine's Interdictor.Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy
==Appearances==
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==Sources==
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*Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, Updated and Expanded 
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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 
*Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire 
*Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy
==Notes and references==
Category:Interdictor-class heavy cruisers
Category:Starships of 7th Fleet
Category:Starships of the Galactic Empire