Ultimatum

> Considering the amount of damage we've sustained, they must have been destroyed.
>
> Captain Lorth Needa,

The ***Ultimatum*** was an Imperial Star Destroyer under the command of Captain Rae Sloane during the reign of the first Galactic Empire. Assigned to Death Squadron, the personal flotilla of Darth Vader, the *Ultimatum*Template:'s career was cut brutally short when it suffered a direct collision with an asteroid in the Hoth asteroid belt.

## Description

An *Imperial II*-class Star Destroyer, the ship was equipped with a communications tower and two deflector shield generator domes, as well as engines.

## History

### Gorse

Eleven years before the Battle of Yavin, the *Ultimatum* was deployed to Gorse to assist Count Denetrius Vidian in mining thorilide. Following the Gorse Conflict, the *Ultimatum* was placed under the permanent command of Rae Sloane from its previous commander, Captain Yale Karlsen, who was on a construction committee during the conflict.

### Serving Death Squadron

> Asteroids do not concern me, Admiral.
>
> Darth Vader, to Admiral Firmus Piett,

 File:ThisCantEndWell-ESBHD.jpg
In 3 ABY, during the Galactic Civil War, the *Ultimatum* was under the command of Commodore Rae Sloane, though Captain Canonhaus was temporarily placed in command whilst Sloane undertook a weeks-long inspection of new shuttle technology at the Fondor Shipyards. The *Ultimatum* joined Death Squadron, the personal fleet of Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader, by the time of the Battle of Hoth, and chased the *Millennium Falcon* through the Hoth asteroid belt alongside the rest of the fleet.

 File:YouCanProbablyBuffThatOut-ESBHD.jpg
During the asteroid pursuit, the Star Destroyer was serving as an escort to the *Executor*, and Canonhaus joined Captain Lorth Needa and another Imperial officer in a hologram report to Darth Vader. As Needa was relaying the last time the *Falcon* appeared in any of his scopes, the *Ultimatum*Template:'s command tower was hit by an asteroid, obliterating it. The ship was then instantly engulfed in massive explosions, which destroyed it. As such, the captain's hologram disappeared from Vader's view as he was killed, although the Sith Lord ignored this disruption. Subsequently, Needa suggested that due to the amount of damage Death Squadron had sustained, the rebel freighter must have been destroyed, although Vader correctly maintained that it was still intact.

## Behind the scenes

The *Ultimatum* was created by John Jackson Miller for his 2014 canon novel, *A New Dawn*. The novel's cover, illustrated by Douglas Wheatley, provides a visual depiction of the *Ultimatum*. The vessel later appeared in Seth Dickinson's short story "The Final Order," published in the 2020 anthology, *From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back*, which confirmed that the Star Destroyer that was struck by an asteroid in the 1980 original trilogy film, *Star Wars*: Episode V *The Empire Strikes Back*, was in fact the *Ultimatum*. In the *Star Wars* Legends continuity, the vessel first appeared in the *The Empire Strikes Back* novelization by Donald F. Glut, released prior to the film in 1980.

## Appearances

Template:Mediacat

* Template:Shortstory Template:Mo
* *A New Dawn* Template:1stID
* *A New Dawn* audiobook
## * *Ultimatum*

Template:1st Template:Ret
* *Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back* junior novelization Template:Ret
* Template:Shortstory
* Template:Shortstory Template:Mo Template:Flash
* Template:Shortstory Template:Mo

## Sources

* Template:ForceCollection Template:Imo
* Template:ForceCollection Template:Imo
* *Star Wars: On the Front Lines* Template:Imo
* *Star Wars: Geektionary: The Galaxy from A - Z* Template:Imo
* *Starships and Speeders* Template:Imo
* *Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy*

## Notes and references

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1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `ESB`
2. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Card Trader`
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `AND`
4. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `GA`
5. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Lord Vader`
6. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Final Order`
7. ↑ *Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back* junior novelization
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Template:Twitter
9. ↑ *The Empire Strikes Back* novelization