TIE/D Defender/Legends

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."

- Rexler Brath

The TIE/D Defender was a high-performance Imperial TIE series starfighter.

Characteristics
The high success rate of Rebel starfighters versus standard Imperial TIE/ln starfighters caused the Imperial Navy to rethink its doctrine of swarms of cheap craft vs. fewer high-quality ones. This interpretation might have been Rebel propaganda; several shielded Imperial starfighters existed before the introduction of the TIE Defender, though they also saw limited service; examples include the TIE Advanced x1, the TIE/ad starfighter, the assault gunboat, and the Skipray Blastboat.



Unlike standard TIE series craft, the TIE Defender possessed a Novaldex shield generator and a hyperdrive. It carried a formidable array of weaponry, with four laser cannons, two ion cannons, and two warhead launchers each capable of holding four missiles. A small tractor beam projector could also be equipped, and models produced by Ysanne Isard's Defender production facility regularly carried them.

The Defender's triple wing design and powerful engines made the craft faster and more agile than any other starfighter in Imperial service. It was also very expensive, at five times the cost of a standard TIE fighter. Even an organization as wealthy as the Imperial Navy chose not to mass-deploy such a fighter (or even the inferior TIE Avenger), so only elite pilots flew them.

The TIE Defender was in many ways far superior to any other starfighter of the time, having the advantage against the X-wing and perhaps all other Rebel craft (even the A-wing's speed) in every respect, exceeding the X-wing's armament with its two ion cannons and two missile launchers with an increased capacity.

History
The original TIE Defender project was supervised by the treacherous Grand Admiral Demetrius Zaarin. However, whenever he attempted to attack the Emperor, his own starfighters were used against him.



At least one squadron of Defenders, Onyx Squadron, saw action at the Battle of Endor. However, they were a very small minority of craft at the battle; the majority were TIE Fighters and TIE Interceptors.

During the New Republic's campaign against Prince-Admiral Delak Krennel, Rogue Squadron was rescued from an ambush at Distna by two squadrons of TIE Defenders belonging to Ysanne Isard. Later, the Rogues were trained and equipped with Defenders by Ysanne Isard to attack Krennel and a clone of Isard.

Using the Defenders, Rogue Squadron pilots successfully brought down the planetary shield of Krennel's capital Ciutric, destroyed the clone of Isard, and neutralized defenses around a prison housing prisoners from Isard's Lusankya, including Jan Dodonna.

Defenders remained in limited use under the Empire. They were deployed at Adumar in the service of the 181st fighter group under Turr Phennir, but only four were present. These fighters acquitted themselves well and destroyed or disabled many New Republic starfighters.

A squadron of Defenders were stationed aboard the Interdictor cruiser Wrack during the Yuuzhan Vong War. Three participated in the Battle of Bilbringi; two were destroyed and one retreated to Imperial space.

Despite being a rare sight, TIE Defenders came to be referred to occasionally as "trips" by enemy pilots due to their distinctive triple-wing shape

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption
 * Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
 * Star Wars: Rebellion
 * Star Wars: TIE Fighter
 * Star Wars: X-wing Alliance
 * X-wing: Isard's Revenge
 * X-wing: Starfighters of Adumar
 * The Final Prophecy
 * The Unifying Force