Sienar Fleet Systems TIE/D Defender Starfighter

TIE/D Defender


 * "Imperial High Command decided that defender pilots would only be selected from TIE interceptor pilots who had flown at least twenty combat missions and survived. We're either the best pilots in the Imperial fleet or the luckiest."

The TIE/D Defender, commonly known as the TIE Defender, was an advanced experimental TIE line starfighter manufactured by Sienar Fleet Systems for the Imperial Navy of the Galactic Empire. Unlike previous TIE models, the starfighter featured a hyperdrive as well as deflector shields, and was easily recognized by its three wings mounted around an aft section of the cockpit. These specifications made the fighter much more difficult to destroy than standard TIE fighters.

The TIE Defender was considered a fighter-bomber; it was armed with heavy cannons and missiles. The ship was introduced as a result of Grand Admiral Thrawn's new fighter initiative at the Imperial Factory on Lothal in the year 2 BBY, launched to deal with the growing rebel threat, and was supported by Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin.

Although it never saw widespread use, many of its design features were later incorporated into the First Order TIE/sf space superiority fighter and TIE/vn space superiority fighter.

Characteristics
Like the rest of the TIE line starfighters, the TIE/D Defender featured a ball-shaped cockpit module and solar array wings. However, while the standard TIE/ln space superiority starfighter and many other TIE variants, including the TIE/IN interceptor and the TIE Advanced x1, had two parallel wings to either side of the pilot module, the TIE/D Defender had three wings mounted around an aft section of the cockpit. It also included deflector shields and a hyperdrive, new features for TIE fighters. The fighter was too fast for Y-wing starfighters and armed with six heavy laser cannons and missiles—causing high damage over a moderate area. Some TIE/Ds featured red markings on their wings, similar to some elite TIE interceptors.

As development of the TIE Defender progressed, a new, faster and stronger variant was produced, which was classified as the TIE Defender Elite, with the prototype being tested by Commander Vult Skerris. The speed and maneuverability of this craft was drastically increased compared to the earlier Defender prototypes, along with stronger shields, better hyperdrive, and the addition of a warhead launcher capable of firing up to six missiles.

History
In the year 2 BBY, the Galactic Empire, at the instigation of Grand Admiral Thrawn, began preparations to mass produce TIE Defenders at the Imperial Factory on the planet Lothal. With the help of Ryder Azadi's Lothal resistance, the Spectres stole the starfighter's schematics. Upon seeing the Defender's specifications, Captain Hera Syndulla of Phoenix Squadron feared that if the Empire were to mass produce them, their pilots wouldn't have a chance against them.

Thrawn's project was supported by high-ranking Imperial officials, such as Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin and Emperor Palpatine. Although most of the Empire's R&D funding was tied up in Project "Stardust', supervised by Director Orson Krennic, Tarkin and other Imperial leaders had become dissatisfied with its progress, which had turned into a costly operation while yielding little results. This allowed Thrawn and Tarkin to acquire the funding necessary to begin production of the TIE Defender on Lothal.

Thrawn's fighter initiative was able to produce a prototype for the TIE Defender in a short amount of time, and it was first used during a mission to capture the rebel senator Mon Mothma. The Ghost crew transported the senator through the Archeon Nebula to avoid Imperial capital ships. Thrawn then tasked the TIE fighter pilot Vult Skerris to pilot the prototype and flush the rebels out into the open, with the assistance of two TIE Interceptors. The experimental fighter proved to be very effective against the rebel pilots, as Skerris easily destroyed three Y-wing starfighters of Gold Squadron. The rebels then attempted to defeat Skerris by getting close to a forming star in the nebula, but the ship was able to withstand the extreme temperature which burned up the TIE Interceptors. Eventually, the rebel pilots Ezra Bridger and Jon "Dutch" Vander managed to disable the prototype and escape by hitting the ship with an ion cannon.

Later, in 1 BBY, a new prototype, the TIE/D Defender Elite, was produced on Lothal. This model had superior speed, maneuverability, shields, and weapons. One TIE Defender Elite was stolen by members of the Spectres, who had recently returned to Lothal. Thrawn activated the TIE's kill switch, causing the ship to crash, however the Spectres were able to salvage the ship's hyperdrive and flight data recorder. Eventually, the flight data recorder made its way to the Rebel Alliance and they decided to launch an attack on Lothal. In the ensuing battle, another TIE Defender Elite was used by Skerris, but was shot down by the rebels and crashed into a Arquitens-class command cruiser, which in turn crashed into the bridge tower of a Imperial I-class Star Destroyer.

After the failed attack on Lothal and the capture of General Hera Syndulla, Tarkin contacted Thrawn, telling him that Krennic had been arguing strongly in favour of his project and that the TIE Defender program's funding was at risk of being pulled away to fund the continued construction of the Death Star. In order to persuade the Emperor to continue supporting the TIE Defender, Tarkin arranged a meeting with the Emperor for Thrawn, who immediately left for Coruscant.

Soon after his depature, a rescue of Syndulla was attempted by the remaining rebels on the planet. Although Lothal Governor Arihnda Pryce was successful in cornering the rebels as they made their escape through the factory's fuel depot, her determination to stop them let her to order the destruction of the depot. The resulting explosion resulted in the death of rebel leader and Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus, dealing a crippling blow to the rebels but an even bigger one to the Empire. With the fuel depot destroyed, the factory was instantly shut down and production of the TIE/D Defenders was brought to an indefinite halt.

At least one Defender flew during the Battle of Jakku and was destroyed, crashing into the Graveyard of Giants. Although the TIE/D never saw widespread use during the Galactic Civil War, its nature would be revived by First Order tacticians who saw it as a versatile attack craft to throw at New Republic forces. Many of its features were incorporated into the TIE/sf space superiority fighter, which were later refined in the TIE/vn space superiority fighter.

RPG D6 Stats
Name: Sienar Fleet Systems TIE Defender

Type: Space Superiority Fighter

Scale: Starfighter

Length: 7.2 Meters

Skill: Starfighter Piloting - TIE

Crew: 1

Crew Skill: Astrogation 4D, Starfighter Piloting 6D, Starship Gunnery 5D+2, Starship Shields 4D

Consumables: 2 Days

Cargo Capacity: 65 Kg

Hyperdrive Multiplier: x2

Hyperdrive Backup: No

Nav Computer: Limited to ten jumps

Space: 12

Atmosphere: 450;1300kmh

Maneuverability: 4D

Hull: 3D

Shields: 2D

Sensors:

Weapons:
 * Passive: 25/1D
 * Scan: 40/2D
 * Search: 60/3D
 * Focus: 4/3D+2

4 Laser Cannons (Fire Linked, see below)

Fire Arc: Front

Fire Control: 3D

Space Range: 1-3/12/25

Atmosphere Range: 100-300/1.2/2.5km

Damage: 7D

2 Ion Cannons(Fire Linked, see below)

Fire Arc: Front

Fire Control: 3D

Space Range: 1-3/7/36

Atmosphere Range: 100-300/700/3.6km

Damage: 4D

2 General Purpose Warhead Launchers(Fire Linked)

Fire Arc: Front

Fire Control: 2D

Space Range: 1/3/7

Atmosphere Range: 50-100/300/700

Damage: 8D (Concussion Missiles), 9D (Proton Torpedoes)

Game Notes: The Laser cannons and Ion cannons can be left to fire separately or combined to fire as a fire-linked unit. If this is done, treat separately-fired Laser Cannon damage as 6D and Ion Damage as 3D.