May the Foremost be with you

If you’ve ever looked up at a Star Destroyer and thought, “I’d love to see the breakroom,” then May the 4th is your day. This Star Wars Day, I took a shuttle to the orbital dockyards to tour the ISZ Foremost – one of the few Imperial capital ships opened to the public.

Now let me tell you about a few of the highlights...

1. The TIE Interceptor (Flight-Ready)

You walk into the main hangar bay, and your breath catches. It’s not a mock-up. It’s an operational TIE Interceptor, its solar arrays polished to a sinister shine. A retired flight officer lets you sit in the cockpit – for a small “donation” to the Imperial War Widows’ Fund. The controls feel twitchy, and the lack of a hyperdrive is still terrifying. But the sound? They fired up the twin ion engines for two seconds. I felt my fillings vibrate.

2. The Sith Quarters

This is the unexpected gem. Behind a blast door labeled “AUTHORIZED DARK SIDE PERSONNEL ONLY” (now taped open), you’ll find the private quarters of a former Sith apprentice. It’s surprisingly minimalist: a meditation sphere, a cracked obsidian mirror, and a glass case holding a collection of supposedly genuine Sith holocrons, all glowing faintly red. Another, a wayfinder, is mounted on a pedestal with a warning that touching it “may redirect your destiny (or your security deposit).”

The audio tour whispers ominously in your ear, but the family next to me kept pressing buttons on the holocron display. Nothing happened. I think. (I’ll check my soul later.)

3. The Brig & The Rodian Rebel

And now, the part that makes you uncomfortable in the best way. The Foremost’s brig still functions as a low-security detention centre. Cell Block D houses a live Rodian prisoner – a captured rebel pilot identified only as “Vex.” A placard reads: “Subject was detained after attempting to steal a Lambda shuttle. Interrogation scheduled for 1500 hours. Visitors are reminded not to pass food or sympathy through the ray shield.”

Vex looked up as I approached. His antennae twitched. He tapped his cuffs against the bench – a slow rhythm. Was it a secret rebel code? Or just the boredom of being on display for 12 hours a day? I don’t know. But I did slip him a ration bar, at which I was escorted out by a disapproving dark trooper.

4. The Bridge & The View

Finally, you ascend to the command bridge and it’s everything you dreamed. Officers’ stations still hum with inactive targeting data. The captain’s chair swivels (I sat in it. No one stopped me. I am now legally an vice admiral, I think). But the real show is the viewport.

The ISZ Foremost orbits high above a blue-green world, and the panoramic transparisteel window frames the ship’s own dagger-like bow cutting into the starfield. To port: a shattered moonlet, debris still drifting from an old battle. To starboard: the gentle curve of the planet below, storms swirling over its nightside. You can stand there for ten minutes, watching shuttles crawl across the hull like insects, and feel the terrifying majesty of Imperial naval power.

A holographic sign warns: “Do not tap on glass. Do not attempt to calculate jump coordinates. Do not ask about the tractor beam.” I did all three. A stormtrooper sighed at me

The Verdict

The ISZ Foremost is brilliant Imperial storytelling. It’s equal parts military museum, dark side curiosity cabinet, and ethical dilemma. You’ll leave with a souvenir photo in an officer’s cap, a vague sense of unease about that Rodian’s fate, and a sudden desire to join the Alliance.

Final rating: 4.5 exploding Death Stars out of 5. (docking half a Death Star for the cafeteria food – the absence of blue milk was did not go unnoticed by me).