Ravager

The Ravager is a Harrower-class dreadnought under the command of Admiral Karl Kappler. It is infamous for repeated attacks on Republic supply lines that devastated their colonies.

As it once served to monitor enemy fleet movements on the edges of Republic space, the Ravager is equipped with a cloaking device that enables it to render itself invisible to sensors and the naked eye.

History
The Ravager was commissioned during the Cold War and placed within the Imperial First Mobile Fleet. It was used to survey the movements of Republic vessels on their fringe systems; to this end, it was fitted with a cloaking device and advanced sensor systems.

The Ravager continued on in surveillance duty until the Treaty of Coruscant was broken. By the time war broke out, its original commander had been dismissed and was replaced by his first officer, Captain Karl Kappler. The Ravager was briefly assigned to serve in the First Defense Fleet, which protected the Imperial capital.

During a sudden attack that the Republic conducted on Dromund Kaas, Kappler resolved to execute an ambush tactic in an effort to rout the attacking fleet. As he had ordered the Ravager engage its cloaking device while the Republic ships approached the main Imperial fleet, Kappler was able to move his dreadnought behind the enemy lines. Once the Ravager de-cloaked, the Republic ships were caught in a crossfire that saw them sustain massive causalities. Unfortunately, to the dismay of every Imperial involved, the naval battle was revealed as a mere diversion; a Jedi strike team had managed to infiltrate the outer defenses of Dromund Kaas and struck down the Voice of the Emperor in the Dark Temple.

Believing greater advantage could be taken of the ship's unique cloaking ability, Kappler convinced High Command to return the Ravager to the First Mobile Fleet. It spent the next several years ambushing Republic supply ships outside the Deep Core, leaving many of their fringe settlements dangerously short on resources. Many Republic colonies reported countless deaths related to illness and starvation, all linked to the Ravager 's attacks; the ship and its crew became notorious for the deeds as a result.

The Ravager reappeared on the front lines when it participated in the attack on the Jedi stronghold of Tython. In truth, the campaign was a diversion so that Darth Arkous, a traitorous Dark Councilor whose true allegiance was to a fanatical cult called the Order of Revan, could recover Rakata technology that was held within the Jedi temple. Kappler and Arkous shared a mutual disdain for one another; one that prompted the Dark Councilor to have the admiral withdraw after the initial engagement.

The Ravager saw further involvement in the Revanite Crisis when it was among the Imperial and Republic warships lured to Rishi through the Order's machinations, where it and its escorts disabled one of the Republic's Valor-class cruisers before Darth Marr ordered a cease fire. Kappler and several of his officers were brought to Yavin 4 as part of Marr's temporary truce with the Republic to eliminate their shared adversary. The Ravager itself remained in orbit of the moon for the duration of the battle.

Ensuing the defeat of the Revanites, the Republic mounted a massive invasion of Ziost, intent on advancing into the heart of Sith territory. The Ravager was one of several Imperial ships who responded to the distress signals sent from the planet. It arrived too late, however, as the former Emperor Vitiate completed an insidious dark side ritual through which he consumed all life on Ziost. The entire bridge crew witnessed the very life force siphoned from the planet, a cataclysm that left even Kappler himself visibly distraught. Suspecting they would share the same fate if they lingered too long, he ordered the Ravager leave the system immediately.

Mere weeks before unknown forces attacked Korriban, the Ravager was placed in dry dock to undergo isotope-5 modification. In the wake of Darth Marr's disappearance, the work stalled. Not long after, the Eternal Empire of Zakuul began its conquest of both Imperial and Republic territories. The Ravager was left nonfunctional, and therefore unable to take part in the fighting. As the dry dock it was placed in was located deep in the Outer Rim, far from the Imperial border, it was left unharmed. Once both factions had been subjugated by Zakuul, the Ravager was one of the few remaining dreadnoughts in the Imperial Armada.

Once Emperor Arcann of Zakuul was defeated and his sister, Vaylin, rose to succeed him, Empress Acina and the rest of the Imperial leadership saw an opportunity to restore the Empire's military might without drawing unnecessary attention to themselves. By that time, the Ravager had been restored to full functionality and stationed in the Dromund system to defend the capital, supported by a handful of Terminus-class destroyers.

The Ravager served as command ship for the Imperial fleet that moved on Iokath, a recently-discovered planet rich in resources, in the form of previously unseen but highly advanced technology. Kappler had not only survived Zakuul's attacks, but had also been promoted to admiral. While the majority of the Imperial vessels deployed ground forces onto Iokath, a pair of Thranta-class corvettes from the Republic fleet engaged the isolated Ravager but were outgunned and disabled by the much larger warship. Eventually, Empress Acina descended to the surface to direct the campaign on the ground personally. Kappler was left to direct the Imperial forces that remained in orbit. The Eternal Alliance, now the major power in the galaxy since taking control of Zakuul's Eternal Fleet, also arrived on Iokath. Acina failed to broker a partnership with the Alliance Commander, who instead sided with the Republic. Disaster struck when the Empress was slain while combating both adversaries. When news of her death reached the Ravager, Kappler was left the ranking officer in command. He called for an immediate withdrawal, a judgement call many assumed he would face a great deal of scrutiny for. That prediction did not come true, however, as Darth Vowrawn succeeded Acina and ordered a cessation of all operations on Iokath. Sometime after Iokath, the Ravager would be assigned to many missions on behalf of Sith Intelligence. Admiral Kappler had been chosen by High Command to serve as the Imperial Armada's liaison to the espionage organization, particularly its operations director, Darth Nostrem. Despite that new role, Kappler was still expected to continue in his capacity as a naval officer. As such, the Ravager took part in both the Invasion of Ossus and the Third Battle of Corellia, during which Imperial forces managed to destroy the Republic's new shipyard, the Meridian Complex.

Kappler's predecessor
The first commanding officer of the Ravager served in that capacity from the point at which the ship was commissioned up until the Treaty of Coruscant was broken. He oversaw the gathering of enemy intelligence along the border for over a decade as the Ravager served as a surveillance ship.

By the time the new war had begun, several Moffs had deemed him compromised and saw him relieved him of command.

Karl Kappler
Originally, Karl Kappler served as first officer aboard the Ravager, but became the ship's commander after his superior was removed by High Command. After repeated successes in the first year of the war, he was promoted to commodore. As the conflict continued across the galaxy, Kappler took advantage of the Ravager 's cloaking device to ambush and destroy dozens of Republic transports carrying supplies to colonies on the edge of their territory. The deprivation of resources caused a massive death toll in the colonies, earning Kappler a reputation for callous brutality.

When the Ravager was pulled from the front lines and held in dry dock to be upgraded with isotope-5, he was placed on administrative duty in Kaas City. As a result, he survived Zakuul's attacks on the Empire, as did the Ravager. By the time Darth Acina named herself Empress of the Sith, the Ravager was returned to active service and Kappler had been promoted to admiral.