M3-A Scyk interceptor

The M3-A Scyk interceptor, also known as Scyk light fighter or M3-A Scyk fighter, was a light interceptor, the lightest of all the starfighter designs produced by its Mandalorian manufacturer, MandalMotors. It was named after the Scyk lizard of Tatooine.

Characteristics[]

Although the Scyk barely provided more amenities to its pilot than a TIE/LN starfighter did, it had two strong points - it was cheap and its weapon mount was designed to handle nearly anything. Its standard equipment consisted of a weapon, an engine, a reactor, a capacitor and a weak shield generator. Its laser cannon could be easily swapped for an ion cannon, concussion missiles or a proton torpedo launcher. Large organizations used this versatility to create wings of starfighters with complementary weapon mixes, while individual pilots benefited by replacing or upgrading damaged weapons anywhere in the galaxy. Apart from that, it had very little room for modifications and additional equipment, and was not able to fit a booster or a flight computer in addition to its default equipment, which made its pilots rely on allied ships to plot a hyperspace jump.^[2]

Variants[]

There were two basic variations on the M3-A Scyk design, the main difference being that the second, less common design had an elongated section of the wings protrude forward past the cockpit. The difference in design had no known consequences on the performance of the starfighter.

The design of the Scyk starfighter was used as the basis for its successor model, the G1-M4-C Dunelizard fighter.

History[]

M3-A Scyk fighter — A M3-A Scyk in flight

The Scyk fighter was designed shortly after the Clone Wars. During the Empire it was produced under unusual circumstances because MandalMotors was not allowed to do business under the auspices of the Galactic Empire until an Imperial "adviser" was placed on the company's board of directors. Although MandalMotors operated under the supervision of the Galactic Empire, deception and bribery allowed it to produce ships for such organizations as the Hutt clans and Zann Consortium. The Scyk fighter was one of the biggest sellers to such groups, as it was dangerous enough to be worthwhile, but not advanced enough to attract Imperial attention. The production of this ship stopped around the time Alliance to Restore the Republic became active.^[2]

Smugglers and thugs in employ of the Hutt cartels or similar organizations loved the Scyk fighter for its essential traits of speed and maneuverability. In the hands of a skilled pilot the M3-A Scyk fighter was a deadly weapon. Pilots of the Black Sun learned this in the Battle of Tansarii Point Station in which many of them were killed by spacers hired by the Car'das authorities who were in charge of security aboard the station. The spacers flew a completely unmodified M3-A Scyk fighter, relying only on skills and maneuverability.

Behind the scenes[]

The M3-A Scyk fighter appeared in the 2003 video game Star Wars Galaxies, a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts,^[5] prior to its closure on December 15, 2011.^[17] The Scyk fighter was added to the game with the release of the expansion pack Jump to Lightspeed on October 27, 2004. As this expansion introduced space content in the game, the Scyk starfighter was added as the starter ship for players who chose the non-aligned "Privateer" faction (with the Z-95 Headhunter and the TIE Light Duty as the Rebel and Imperial starter starfighters respectively) and could only be used by pilots of that faction. In addition, the M3-A Scyk could also be crafted by players with a shipwright profession. In that way, the fighter could be built with two different chassis (appearances), each of them being highly customizable through addition of other ship components (reactors, weapons...). This made each player's Scyk fighter rather unique. Also of note, M3-A Scyk fighters were widely used by non-player pilots, particularly by criminals and mercenaries.^[5]

With the release of the "Publish 25," a.k.a. the "New Game Enhancements," on November 15, 2005,^[18] the New Player Tutorial was completely revamped with the introduction of several space missions. In these missions, a M3-A Scyk fighter was given to the player by Serissu aboard Tansarii Point Station.^[19] If the player chose to perform this tutorial, they would keep the M3-A Scyk after starting the main game. They would then have to use that Scyk fighter when starting the original Jump to Lightspeed pilot quests, even when joining the Empire or the Rebel Alliance. The "New Game Enhancements" therefore made the M3-A Scyk fighter the only starter starfighter playable by any faction.^[20]

As the M3-A Scyk fighter was a starter starfighter, it could only be customized with low-level ship components and was not adapted to mid- and high-level quests, forcing the players to abandon it at some point in the game to use another starfighter model.^[5] A "high-mass" variant of the M3-A, nicknamed heavy Scyk, was eventually added to the game (via crafting), with an identical appearance to the original vessel, to permit players to pilot a M3-A Scyk at any stage of the game.^[20]