The Katana Fleet was a force of 200 Dreadnought cruisers led by an advanced flagship, the Katana, which controlled the other 199 ships. At the end of Dark Force Rising, the location of a lost fleet of Clone Wars-era warships - which have been sitting in the depths of space for decades, waiting to be recovered and put to use - threatens to tip the scales for either side. But when Zahn picks up with the galaxy in Heir to the Empire, our heroes face a cunning grand admiral who uses his tactical genius to marshal the remaining, divided Imperial forces to restore the Empire. Five years after Return of the Jedi, the New Republic has been largely able to take over the galaxy. That fleet of Star Destroyers harkens back to another story from the Star Wars universe: Timothy ZahnвЂ™s famous, beloved, and now non-canon Thrawn trilogy from the early вЂ™90s.

Two subsequent Star Wars novels, Black Spire and Resistance Reborn, promise to fill in the gap between the two films. While Leia, Poe, Rey, and Finn, and a handful of their companions, were able to escape, no matter what theyвЂ™d spend some time in the aftermath licking their wounds and looking to replenish their forces and allies. The First Order attack decimated its DвЂ™Qar headquarters, and pursuing forces chased them off into space, picking off their ships one by one until a final confrontation on a distant world named Crait. The Resistance was hit hard at the end of The Last Jedi. Cue the rampant speculation.Дid Emperor Palpatine conquer death before Star Wars: Rise of the Skywalker? These look like the classic Imperial-class Star Destroyers of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi - ships that weвЂ™ve seen crashed in the deserts of Jakku, but were phased out in the years since the Empire fell. Moreover, these arenвЂ™t the hulking, Resurgent-class Star Destroyers that weвЂ™ve seen the First Order use in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. When we see the fleet of Star Destroyers - dozens of them - theyвЂ™re parked in rows, lights off. It looks as though the scene is teeing up a confrontation between the Resistance and the First Order, but when you look a little closer, somethingвЂ™s off - something that gives me vibes of one of the earliest Star Wars novels: Timothy ZahnвЂ™s Dark Force Rising.

ThereвЂ™s a moment in the latest teaser for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker that made me sit up and go, вЂњHuh!вЂќ At the 1:20 mark, we see a fleet of Resistance fighters and capital ships drop out of hyperspace, and seconds later, we get a glimpse of a massive fleet of Star Destroyers.

Katana fleet star wars