- "The larger ships, the Firekilns, are more powerful than you realize. Laser to laser, five of them are an even match for his Star Destroyer, and Nuso Esva currently has eight of them in place."
- ―Warlord Nuso Esva, under the pseudonym of Lord Odo
A Firekiln was a type of warship deployed by the battle fleet of Storm-hair Warlord Nuso Esva's realm. Heavily armed, five Firekilns were as powerful as a single Imperial I-class Star Destroyer. In 0 ABY, one of Esva's attack squadrons that included eight Firekilns engaged and attempted to capture part of the Galactic Empire's Task Force Admonitor—whose flagship was the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Admonitor—in the Unknown Regions' Teptixii system. However, the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Chimaera arrived and divided the squadron, which then fled.
Shortly after, twenty-eight Firekilns of Esva's Eastern Fleet fought Imperial forces—including the Admonitor and the Chimaera—in the Candoras sector's Poln system. With the assistance of the Imperial Death Squadron fleet, however, the Empire was able to destroy the Eastern Fleet.
Characteristics[]
- "Those are his ships, at any rate. Captain Parck would know better whether or not the warlord himself is on the scene. The point is that while the Firekilns are heavily armed, their shields are inferior to those of the Imperials. They rely on the screening ships to block the Admonitor's attacks."
- ―Warlord Nuso Esva, under the pseudonym of Lord Odo
Firekilns were a type of warship with shields inferior to those of an Imperial I-class Star Destroyer. Armed with heavy weaponry that included laser cannons, five Firekilns had firepower equal to that of an Imperial I. The starships were equipped with engines and a hyperdrive.[1]
Role[]
The Firekilns were used in ship-to-ship space warfare.[1]
History[]
Battle at Teptixii[]
- "Fortunately, I don't think Nuso Esva is interested in destroying cruisers today. The Firekilns could have done that long ago. I suspect he's hoping to disable or destroy the Admonitor and capture the smaller ships intact as additions to his fleet. If, on the other hand, we come around behind him as I suggested…"
"We'll force him to split his screening ships into two distinct and non-overlapping groups. Which I'm guessing he can't afford to do." - ―Warlord Nuso Esva, under the pseudonym of Lord Odo, and Commander Gilad Pellaeon
Senior Captain Thrawn, whose forces fought Firekilns
The Firekilns were used by the[1] Storm-hair[2] warlord Nuso Esva within his realm's battle fleet. Esva's Eastern Fleet included twenty-eight Firekilns. One of the warlord's attack squadrons was formed by eight of the warships and twenty-seven escorts.[1]
As part of Esva's campaign against the Galactic Empire during his conflict with Imperial Chiss Senior Captain Thrawn[1] in 0 ABY,[3] the warlord infiltrated the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Chimaera. Having gained command of the Star Destroyer, Esva, who was under the pseudonym of Imperial Court member Lord Odo, ordered the Chimaera to travel to the[1] Unknown Regions' Teptixii system.[4]
The Chimaera then arrived in the middle of a battle between the Empire's Task Force Admonitor—led by the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Admonitor—and Esva's attack squadron. The Firekilns, protected by their escorts, attempted to disable the Admonitor so that Esva's forces could capture the Imperial task force's two Strike-class medium cruisers and four Carrack-class light cruisers to add them to the Storm-hair warlord's fleet. Knowing his own forces' plans, Esva ordered Captain Calo Drusan of the Chimaera to angle the ship thirty degrees to port and set its vector to divide the attack squadron by dividing its screening starships, which would allow the Admonitor's laserfire to reach the Firekilns and damage them significantly. The Firekilns and their escorts, unwilling to risk destruction, then jumped into hyperspace.[1]
A fiery collision[]
- "The other ships of your task force are helpless to interfere. I have all of them trapped here by Poln Minor, and should any of them attempt to leave their current positions my Firekilns have been ordered to intercept and destroy. The only way to prevent the collision is for either the Chimaera or the Golan to open fire and destroy the other."
"Twenty-eight Firekilns against two Star Destroyers. Are you so frightened of me, Nuso Esva?"
"I fear nothing. You may hide behind your Imperial underlings if you wish, aboard that freighter, and allow them to die before you. But you will die. And when you are dead, I will batter the worlds below you into rubble." - ―Warlord Nuso Esva and Senior Captain Thrawn
Death Squadron (pictured) engaged Firekilns.
After Esva brought Task Force Admonitor, Thrawn's DeepWater-class light freighter Lost Reef, and the Chimaera to the Poln system, which was located in the Outer Rim Territories' Candoras sector, the warlord's Eastern Fleet arrived. Trapping Task Force Admonitor with the gravity well of Poln Minor, the second planet in the Poln system, the warlord separated the two Imperial Star Destroyers from Candoras' sector fleet, preventing the fleet from assisting the warships. The Storm-hair also set the Chimaera—whose bridge helm controls he sabotaged—on a collision course with a nearby Golan I space station and ordered his twenty-eight Firekilns to destroy the Empire's forces if they moved to escape Poln Minor's gravity well and help the Chimaera.[1]
Revealing his true identity, Esva also told the Chimaera's senior captain that once he had destroyed the Chiss, the Firekilns would destroy Poln Major and Minor; however, the Lost Reef used its tractor beam to move the Chimaera away from its collision course. The Empire's Death Squadron fleet, commanded by Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader, then arrived and destroyed the Eastern Fleet, and Esva fled aboard his Kazellis-class light freighter Salaban's Hope.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
Firekilns appeared in Timothy Zahn's 2011 novel Choices of One.[1]
Appearances[]
- Choices of One (First appearance)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 Choices of One
- ↑ "Crisis of Faith" — Heir to the Empire: The 20th Anniversary Edition
- ↑ The events of Choices of One take place in 0 ABY according to The Essential Reader's Companion.
- ↑
Star Wars: The Essential Atlas Online Companion on StarWars.com (article) (backup link) — Based on corresponding data for Teptixii system