The StarQuest is a joint commercial/military venture. Incomplete when the Kuati government aligned with the New Republic, it languished in an older, remote stardock for nearly three years. A group of corporate sponsors approached the New Republic council requesting permission to convert this great warship into an exploration vessel, and follow the ill fated Outbound Mission.
Nearing completion at the start of the Thrawn Uprising, the StarQuest was relegated to a lower priority than repairing those star ships damaged in the battles with Thrawn, and later with the resurrected Emperor. It was during the invasion of the Byss system by Republic forces that the Stinger Project was discovered. The largest of the involved craft, another Executor-class, was heavily damaged in the attempt to capture that facility. It did provide many of the needed components to finish the StarQuest. It also contained a prototype computer memory core, a self-aware one.
As the final assembly was occurring in the Kuat system, Mon Mothma was able to engineer a vote to place the StarQuest in storage. Even though it was not originally intended as a warship, she apparently thought that her vow to keep the New Republic from ever building "super ships" also included those meant for peace.
With the passage of power to Leia Organa-Solo, and the quiet terror of the Stinger prototype, the StarQuest program would not remain uncompleted for long. With orders that she be armed according to her size, the StarQuest left deepdock three months later.
Although still a corporate venture, she is also partially owned and commanded by the New Republic. All military situations are the territory of the New Republic leadership, while day-to-day operations are left to the civilian officers (all of whom carry reserve commission with the Republic). Support and research is split fifty-fifty between governmental and private personnel. While it sounds complicated, it isn't as bad as it sounds. Almost, but not quite.
15 kilometers long, the StarQuest, like the other Executors, is among the largest vessels ever completed. She is heavily armed, but carries a mere third of her original weapons load, and barely two-thirds of her original fighter compliment (3 wings/108 fighters). She is not intended for surface actions, but she is equipped with drop ships and combat shuttles.
The core of the StarQuest is her sentient computer system, affectionately known as "Mother". Purged of her Imperial programming, Mother is able to operate the ship with a scant three thousand being crew. Her normal compliment is nearly 150,000, which is a sharp contrast to the 279,000 man crew of the original, Imperial Executors. Equipped with powerful engines, sensors and communications equipment, the StarQuest is still capable of making her intended mission.
Her passenger list is over 100,000 beings, including elite commandos and top researchers. The StarQuest is not only for exploration, but for research as well. Labs for everything from hyperlight physics to metallurgy to biology are on board. Using a sensor system stolen from one of the Sovereign-class hulks, along with carrying hundreds of scout and probe droids, recon craft and sensors probes, there is an incredible amount of information coming into the StarQuest at all times.
To improve her ability to operate unsupported, the StarQuest has been outfitted with an automated ore reprocessing a smelting assembly, along with an expanded automated machine shop. Given enough time, this shop can produce anything from comlinks, to blasters, to starfighters. Not surprisingly, similar systems were to originally be fitted by the Imperials, but they were deemed inadequate for the mission at hand.
Currently, the StarQuest is in limbo. No one quite knows what to do with her. Some advocate pulling the civvies, and making her a fully military craft, along with reactivating the Lusankya. Others want to remove most of the guns and make her a traveling university. Many want to scrap her. Those who want to see her used for her intended mission, exploring the outermost reaches of the Galaxy and beyond have had their voices covered in the shuffle. Currently, she is assigned directly to the Office of the Chief of State.
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