The Apailana's Promise, or simply the Promise, was a Braha'tok-class gunship that served the Rebel Alliance during the Galactic Civil War. It bore two X-wings attached to its undercarriage and was crewed by a dozen navy veterans. Three such crew members were Commander Tohna, the second-in-command Sharn and the rebel pilot Nemenov. By 3 ABY, the Promise was serving as escort to the CR90 corvette Thunderstrike, the mobile base of the Alliance's 61st Mobile Infantry, better known as Twilight Company.

In 3 ABY, the Promise joined the Thunderstrike for its campaigns on Haidoral Prime and Coyerti. However, the two vessels found themselves ambushed several times by Imperial forces after the Thunderstrike was damaged shortly after the attack on Haidoral Prime. To gather supplies to repair the corvette the Promise assisted it in a raid on an Imperial heavy freighter. After, the Thunderstrike and the Promise continued repairs in the Elochar sector. However, after the Thunderstrike was infiltrated by Imperial spies, who killed their top officers. The Promise defended the corvette from the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Herald until both ships were able to escape.

The Promise then received repairs from a skeleton crew above Ankhural before it and the Thunderstrike departed for their next mission. The two ships carried out a series of attacks with the intention of attacking Kuat Drive Yards in the long run. However, they were ambushed before they could depart Sullust. The Promise fled the planet initially, but returned to protect Twilight Company from the Herald when they fell under attack from Sullust's Imperial garrison. The Promise survived its engagement with the Star Destroyer after it was forced to retreat due to internal sabotage.

Eventually, the Apailana's Promise served the successor government of the Alliance, the New Republic, and participated in the final battle of the Galactic Civil War, the Battle of Jakku. During the battle, the Promise reported no sightings of the Empire's 204th Imperial Fighter Wing to the refitted New Republic Star Destroyer Deliverance.

Description[]

The Apailana's Promise, also referred to as the Promise, was described as a "mean, compact dagger of a ship". Although not designed to, it carried two X-wings on its undercarriage—whose pilots had a special infamy for never setting foot on the Thunderstrike.^[2] Like all Braha'tok-class gunships, the Promise could be crewed by 75 personnel^[1] and carry up to 15 passengers.^[3] The Promise was subsequently crewed by a few dozen navy veterans, who owed Twilight Company nearly 50,000 credits, according to a running tally on the door of the Thunderstrike's starboard barracks.^[2]

Built by the Dornean Braha'ket Fleetworks Conglomerate, the Promise stood at 90 meters long^[1] with a silver plated hull to deflect solar radiation.^[4] Its weaponry consisted of a complement of 8 double turbolaser cannons and 8 concussion missile launchers.^[1] The vessel could also deploy flares.^[2] The gunship was able to reach speeds of up to 800 kilometers per hour and was equipped with a class 1 hyperdrive that was located at the rear of the vessel. The ship's command bridge was located at the bow of the ship^[4] between its two sublight engines.^[6]

As a Braha'tok-class gunship, the Promise was designed for fast attack, bombardment^[1] and anti-starfighter roles.^[4] The gunship served in the Rebel Alliance's fleet, as escort to the CR90 corvette Thunderstrike,^[2] and in the New Republic's fleet.^[5] The Apailana's Promise shared its name with Queen Apailana of the planet Naboo, who served her term through the end of the Clone Wars,^[7] and the frigate Promise, which served the Alliance Fleet shortly after the Battle of Yavin.^[8]

History[]

The Thunderstrike's escort[]

During the Galactic Civil War, the Promise was served the 61st Mobile Infantry, also known as Twilight Company, as escort to their CR90 corvette the Thunderstrike, carrying the company's two X-wing starfighters. The gunships crew of a few dozen navy veterans came to collectively owe Twilight Company nearly 50,000 credits and the pilots of the X-wings earned a special infamy of never setting foot aboard the Thunderstrike.^[2]

In 3 ABY,^[9] the Promise traveled with Twilight Company to Haidoral Prime, where the company defeated the defending Imperial forces. During the campaign, Twilight soldiers extracted the planets governor Everi Chalis, whom wished to defect to the company and avoid punishment from her superiors for failing to defend against the rebels. Three days later, the two ships crossed paths with an Imperial reconnaissance squadron, leading to a short battle between the two opposing sides. Though both ships made it out intact, each took minor systems damage during the exchange of fire and the Promise lost three of its crew. Days later, Twilight Company fought another campaign on Coyerti, where the Promise's X-wings assisted troops on the ground.^[2]

Imperial pursuit[]

However, three days after their departure from Coyerti, the Thunderstrike and Promise were attacked by an Imperial destroyer. The Promise and its X-wings were quick to defend the Thunderstrike and they soon escaped, but not before one X-wing took a glancing hit and went offline. Thirty hours later, the two ships were ambushed in the Enrivi system by a light cruiser and a squadron of TIE fighters. The Thunderstrike and Promise proceeded to destroy their foe without much difficulty. Nineteen hours after that, the pair of ships entered the Chonsetta system, only to be attacked again by a squadron of TIE interceptors that had been hiding in a comet trail. The fighters ravaged the starboard side of the Thunderstrike before the corvette could escape with the Promise.^[2]

On the Thunderstrike the chief engineer, M2-M5, discovered that it was being tracked because of a leak in the hyperdrive. Therefore Micha Evon, the captain of Twilight Company, held a meeting with the bridge crew of both the Thunderstrike and Apailana's Promise as well as high ranking members of Twilight Company to discuss a solution to the matter. Two individuals from the Promise suggested heading into Baskron Pirates territory and bargaining for materials to make repairs to the Thunderstrike. Commander Paonu, the Thunderstrike's naval captain, suggested having Chalis and select personnel escape on the Promise to safety while the rest of Twilight Company faced obliteration. Chalis, on the other hand, suggested locating an Imperial cargo transport and boarding it. With some altercations from First Sergeant Hazram Namir, the plan was approved and half of the officers stayed at the meeting to begin planning the raid.^[2]

Gathering supplies[]

The Promise traveled with the Thunderstrike to the Redhurne system, a star system ravaged centuries earlier when its star went supernova. The two ships hid in separate spots, the Thunderstrike being in the crescent of a shattered moon and the Promise behind an asteroid which had once been part of a planet. They awaited an Imperial freighter to attack, hoping that Imperial forces would not arrive first to pursue them. An Imperial heavy freighter arrived just two hours into the wait, and Chalis contacted it, using her clearance codes, to make the vessel change course. Once it did, both the Promise and the Thunderstrike ambushed it from each side. Flanked both ways, the freighter chose to veer away from the Promise to avoid its considerable firepower and move towards the Thunderstrike.^[2]

With the Imperial heavy freighter approaching and firing at the Thunderstrike, the corvette returned fire launched at least six boarding pods at it, carrying squads of rebel troopers to board the enemy vessel. The Promise, meanwhile, was tasked with dealing with the TIE fighters that defended it. The Thunderstrike's kept firing on the freighter, trying to disable critical systems and keep its crew busy. However, an Imperial Gozanti-class cruiser soon arrived at the Redhurne system and set a course for the battle. Captain Evon therefore gave the squads five minutes to return to their boarding pods and get back to the Thunderstrike. Once all the squads returned, the two ships jumped out of the system under heavy fire, dealing scars to both of them. The Promise had also lost its deflector shield generator trying to block fire onto the corvette. The mission, however, was a success, with the needed supplies obtained and just eight casualties from the boarding party.^[2]

Infiltration of the Thunderstrike[]

With the supplies obtained to repair the Thunderstrike, Captain Evon arranged for the corvette and the Promise to meet with three other battle groups in the Elochar sector, allocating a month for both to get repairs. In the meantime, he and Chalis had been invited to a strategy conference with the Alliance High Command at their secret base on Hoth. As Evon, Chalis, as well as Namir and two other soldiers, traveled to Hoth, the Thunderstrike and the Promise made their way to the Elochar Sector and joined a flotilla of a dozen rebel ships.^[2]

Ten days after their arrival, a light freighter named the Trumpet's Call jumped out of hyperspaces to the flotilla from a battle without working life support. The Thunderstrike was quick to take the surviving crew aboard. However, what the rebels did not realize was that the survivors were actually Imperial spies who had killed the real crew. The spies attacked the Thunderstrike's bridge and killed its leading officers, including Commander Paonu and Evon's second, Lieutenant Sairgon. Sairgon was able to get a message out to the rest of the flotilla before his death, and the rest of the ships, excluding the Promise fled.^[2]

Prelate Verge arrived in the Elochar Sector aboard his^[2] Imperial II-class Star Destroyer^[1] the Herald and demanded for Chalis. Aboard the Thunderstrike, the Imperial spies were killed by the Twilight soldier Brand, who retook the bridge. Meanwhile, the Promise, which did not know what was going on, put itself between the Thunderstrike and the Herald to protect the former from turbolaser fire. Back on the Thunderstrike's bridge, Brand plotted coordinates into the navigation computer and sent the same to the Promise. The remaining of bridge crew piloted the Thunderstrike out of the system with the gunship, taking a few hits along the way.^[2]

Recovery at Ankhural[]

The Thunderstrike and Promise retreated to the planet Ankhural. While the Thunderstrike landed in an abandoned podracing track to receive repairs on the ground, the Promise had its own repairs done in orbit by a skeleton crew. Namir and Chalis soon arrived with news that Howl and the rest of their group had been killed during an attack on Hoth by Imperial forces led by Darth Vader himself. The late captain received his own funeral, with at least one of the Promise's X-wing pilots, Nemenov, making a rare appearance among the soldiers of Twilight Company.^[2]

Sometime after the funeral, Chalis proposed her new plan for Twilight Company during a meeting between the high ranking members of the battle group. Named Operation Ringbreaker, it targeted the Kuat Drive Yards and over half a dozen other worlds before to draw more Imperial forces away. Sharn, the second-in-command of the Promise, was there to represent the gunship and pledged its support to Twilight Company and their final decision. A vote was then carried out, which was in favor of Operation Ringbreaker.^[2]

Operation Ringbreaker[]

The Thunderstrike and Promise soon departed from Ankhural and began Operation Ringbreaker. Commander Tohna, an officer aboard the Promise, was transferred to the Thunderstrike to take charge of its bridge crew. He left the gunship with high praise from his peers. The two ships soon arrived at their first target, Mardona III. Tohna and the crew of the Promise had planned the insertion of Twilight Company onto the planet. It involved the Thunderstrike and Promise flying through the atmosphere at close proximity, pursued by hundreds of TIE fighters. Any enemy starfighters that attempted to weave between them were destroyed by the clashing shields. The Promise to pull its X-wings out of the fight before they could be destroyed. Once the dropships deployed the troops from the Thunderstrike, the corvette and the Promise left the system.^[2]

Namir signaled for the Thunderstrike and Promise to return on the evening of their fifth day on Mardona III. Under the cover of a storm, Twilight Company were able to escape with the two vessels. After Mardona III, Twilight Company wrecked the dockyards of the gas giant Najan-Rovi, claimed victorious over the Imperial garrison on the planet Obumubo and defeated the plastoid factories on agricultural planet Nakadia. After two more victories on Naator and Xagobah, they stopped on the junk world of Heap Nine. Twilight Company then sabotaged machinery in the Kuliquo belt. After this, only the planets Sullust and Malastare were left to attack before the Kuat driveyards.^[2]

Ambush at Sullust[]

The Thunderstrike and Promise jumped out of hyperspace so close to Sullust that the sudden clench of gravity almost ripped them apart. Twilight Company was dropped onto the surface to capture the Inyusu Tor mineral processing facility. A day later they returned to pick them up from the Inyusu Tor facility. However, once the ships came into orbit, they endured a heavy TIE fighter presence and Tohna decided that the Thunderstrike would fly in low to cover the returning dropships while the Promise covered its flank.^[2]

The crew of the Apailana's Promise soon realized that the gunship had been ambushed by a squadron of TIEs, which had been hiding behind Sullusts moon until the Thunderstrike had entered orbit. A female officer aboard the Promise reported this down to Namir on the ground and he ordered the ships pull up. But it was too late for the Thunderstrike, and only the Promise and its X-wings were able to flee the Sullust as the corvette was shot down and plummeted to the ground.^[2]

Facing the Herald[]

Now stranded on Sullust, Twilight Company began setting up defense at the Inyusu Tor facility. A team was trying to make contact with the Promise and determine its position. Though they could not maintain a channel with the gunship for more than a minute and it did not have the capacity to carry the whole of Twilight Company off of Sullust. After Namir failed to return from a mission into the nearby city Pinyumb, Chalis took charge and devised a plan to hijack ships in the Pinyumb spaceport and escape under the cover of the Promise. However, Namir returned to Twilight Company with his own plan to defend the facility and work with the local rebel cell at Pinyumb to liberate the city.^[2]

After the Herald arrived at Sullust, Twilight Company faced an assault at Inyusu Tor from Imperial ground reinforcements. As the Herald began bombarding outer the company's positions below, the Promise returned to Sullust with its X-wings and distracted the Star Destroyer. Late into the battle, Chalis stole a shuttle and allowed herself to be captured by the Herald. There, she set off around twenty Ion bombs, crippling the Star Destroyer's power. The Herald subsequently retreated into orbit and the battle soon came to an end thereafter. The Promise had come out with its laser batteries drained and its deflector shields overheated but its hull still intact,^[2] although at least one of the gunship's X-wings was destroyed.^[1]

Service at Jakku[]

In 5 ABY,^[10] the New Republic, which the Alliance had since reorganized into,^[11] launched an attack on the Empire's main forces at the planet Jakku. Among the New Republic's fleet was the Apailana's Promise, which assisted the refitted New Republic Star Destroyer Deliverance in searching for the Empire's 204th Imperial Fighter Wing, known better as Shadow Wing. The Promise reported no sightings to the Deliverance, and the Star Destroyer's General Hera Syndulla was informed of the report. The battle was won by the New Republic, and it marked the end of the Galactic Civil War.^[5]

Behind the scenes[]

The Apailana's Promise first appeared in Battlefront: Twilight Company, a novel written by Alexander Freed and published in 2015.^[2] The gunship was first pictured in the Huge Ship Conversion Kit, an expansion for the Fantasy Flight Games' Star Wars: X-Wing Second Edition,^[12] which was released on November 8, 2019.^[13]

Appearances[]

• Battlefront: Twilight Company (First appearance, simultaneous with audiobook)
• Battlefront: Twilight Company audiobook
• Victory's Price (Mentioned only)
• Victory's Price audiobook (Mentioned only)

Sources[]

• Star Wars: X-Wing Second Edition — Huge Ship Conversion Kit (Card: Thunderstrike) (First pictured)
• Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy

Notes and references[]