Shepherd

The Shepherd was a Pursuit-class light cruiser that served in the Imperial Navy as of 0 ABY. That year, it traveled to the Inner Rim's Hapes Cluster under the command of Grand Admiral Osvald Teshik, accompanied by eight gunships. The Imperial force then proceeded to the Andalia system, where it was ordered to engage the Hapan forces due to Teshik's failure to apprehend Rebel-affiliated privateers who had previously captured Imperial Advisor Coh Veshiv. However, the larger and more heavily-armed Hapan opposition soundly defeated the Imperial attack force, with the Shepherd being obliterated after its forward deflector shields were taken down and its main reactor core destroyed.
==Description==
A Kuat Drive Yards–manufactured Pursuit-class light cruiser, the Shepherd was 500 meters long and equipped with both deflector shields and a hyperdrive, as well as a main reactor core. The bridge tower could accommodate multiple officers and had enviro-suits stored near it, though the Light cruiser itself was equipped with life support. At the time of its last mission, the Shepherd carried two squadrons of TIE/LN starfighters.
==History==
The Shepherd was part of the Imperial Navy during the Galactic Civil War between the Galactic Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic. Around 0 ABY, Rebels kidnapped Imperial Advisor Coh Veshiv from the planet Esseles, in the oversector commanded by Grand Admiral Osvald Teshik. Angered at Teshik's failure, Emperor Palpatine sent him to the Inner Rim's Hapes Cluster aboard the Shepherd, carrying two squadrons of TIE fighters and accompanied by eight gunships, supposedly as a recon patrol. Teshik's force was then commanded to engage the Hapan forces at the Andalia system, but before Teshik and the crew even met the Hapan fleet, the Grand Admiral knew that the Emperor was sending him and his crew to die.
The Shepherd faced heavy opposition—five Hapan Battle Dragons and eight Nova-class battle cruisers—which had been tipped off about the Imperials' arrival. Although the Shepherd crew thought they would flee, Teshik had the TIEs launch to attack the opposition, as he knew this confrontation was the Emperor's reprisal. The Shepherd was the last surviving Imperial craft, with all the gunships and TIE fighters destroyed. Once the Shepherd forward deflector shields failed, the lead Battle Dragon launched a salvo of torpedoes that hit the Shepherd main reactor, causing the Pursuit-class cruiser to blow apart. The explosion took with it all hands but Teshik, who was pulled out of the Shepherd by a hull breach while wearing an enviro-suit, before being picked up by a snoopship sent by Palpatine to ensure that the Emperor's wrath was recorded. Teshik later recounted the tale of the Shepherd to his Rebel captors in 4 ABY.
==Commanders and crew==
Grand Admiral Osvald Teshik helmed the Shepherd during its ill-fated trip to the Hapes Cluster, with multiple officers crewing the bridge tower, including a deck officer. When the bridge tower crew realized they would die, they showed reactions ranging from begging Teshik for new orders to sitting catatonic at their stations. The entire crew, save Teshik, was killed when the Shepherd was destroyed.
==Behind the scenes==
The Shepherd was mentioned in the introduction of 2012's The Essential Guide to Warfare, an extensive reference text dedicated to the galaxy's many conflicts, written by Jason Fry and Paul R. Urquhart.
==Sources==
*The Essential Guide to Warfare 
==Notes and references==
Category:Flagships
Category:Pursuit-class light cruisers
Category:Starships of the Galactic Empire