TIE Avenger prototype

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The TIE Avenger prototype was a model of TIE series starfighter that was used by the Galactic Empire. The manufactured prototypes of the TIE Advanced x1 inspired future development of starfighters, which resulted in the creation of the TIE/IN interceptor and the TIE Avenger. The wings of TIE/d "Defender" Multi-Role Starfighter appeared similar to those found on the TIE Avenger and TIE/IN interceptor, with the difference being that the Defender's wings were angled outwards rather than inwards.

Description

The TIE Avenger prototype was an experimental[4] TIE series starfighter developed for the Galactic Empire and tested by Sienar Fleet Systems. It was heavily armed and armored, carrying an externally-mounted port side dual laser cannon, two anti-personnel rotary blaster cannons, and wing-mounted missiles and torpedoes. It also carried a heavier retractable heavy laser cannon under the cockpit pod, which, despite requiring some time to fully power-up, could punch through blast door armor with a single shot and incinerate targets. The craft was also equipped with an advanced targeting computer which could track hostile starships and life signs and assist the pilot in taking them down using a holographic heads-up display projected in front of the cockpit viewport. The targeting system could also guide the ship's missiles on a target without user input.[1]

The TIE Avenger's control system

The TIE Avenger's control system

Unlike most TIE series starfighters,[5] the Avenger was equipped with a hyperdrive, which allowed it to travel from system to system.[6] It also boasted two powerful rear-mounted engines, controlled by an unusual control system which could be confusing even to experienced pilots if not acquainted with it.[1] The ship shared aspects its wing design with those of the TIE/IN interceptor, as well as the TIE/d "Defender" Multi-Role Starfighter. Due to the exorbitant cost of manufacture, the TIE Avenger was never put into full mass production.[7]

History

Development process, enter Andor

Cassian Andor prepares to board the TIE Avenger prototype via its rear ramp

Cassian Andor prepares to board the TIE Avenger prototype via its rear ramp

Imperial engineers were intent on improving the TIE fighter design, and conceptualized a variety of iterations for the craft.[4] The manufactured prototypes of the TIE Advanced x1 inspired further evolutions of TIE starfighters, leading to the creation of the TIE/IN interceptor,[3] which had an operational prototype model[8] by 14 BBY,[9] and the TIE Avenger.[3] In 4 BBY,[1] a prototype of the TIE Avenger[4] was under development at Sienar Test Facility 73[1] by Sienar Fleet Systems on the company-owned planet of 73.[10] The rebel agent Cassian Andor infiltrated the facility with the help of a technician named Niya in order to steal the TIE Avenger prototype. On account of its unusual non-standard flight controls, Andor had some initial struggles with piloting it, which saw him flying in reverse, setting off the alarm. After finally being able to fly out of the facility, the TIE Avenger lost power as it slid to a stop at the top of a canyon. Andor narrowly managed to restore power and dove to avoid a pair of torpedoes fired by two TIE/ad v1s. After a brief chase through the canyon while accidentally colliding with the walls, he was able to shake his pursuers by collapsing an ice tunnel on them and fled 73.[1]

The Yavin 4 misadventure

Andor fires the Avenger's rotary cannons at responding stormtroopers

Andor fires the Avenger's rotary cannons at responding stormtroopers

He escaped to his remote rendezvous point on Yavin 4, where he intended to hand it off to the rebel agent Porko. However, when Andor arrived, he did not find his contact, as Porko had been killed during a misunderstanding with the remnants of a rebel group known as the Maya Pei Brigade who had, by chance been using the same location as a rally point after taking heavy losses from an Imperial ambush. The surviving members of the brigade, numbering fifteen individuals, proceeded to take Andor prisoner and investigate the TIE Avenger. The group hoped to use the ship to get off-planet, although their only qualified pilot, Rika, found herself unable to operate the unusual control systems,[1] even misfiring its main weapon while testing it out. The TIE Avenger also did not have enough space inside to fit all fifteen individuals. As the Maya Pei Brigade, short on food, water, and other supplies devolved into arguments about how to proceed, the rebel group soon divided into two sub-factions and turned on each other, with Bardi's faction holding the TIE Avenger while Gerdis' faction took shelter in the wrecked Breon HOY-39 Dayvan ship, with Andor as their hostage.[11]

Bardi's group later attempted to physically pull the TIE Avenger, rotating it in place on the forest floor, in order to point its main weapons at the other side's hideout. As Andor predicted they would likely make 5 meters by midnight, Gerdis' people to open fire at the TIE Avenger, forcing Bardi's people to take cover. At nightfall, Gerdis argued the logic of his plan, saying it was unwise to kill Andor (the only person who could fly the starfighter) in the process of killing everyone else. Eventually, both sides agreed to meet unarmed in order to resolve the conflict. The two sides agreed to Five Hands under Roski rules. In the subsequent chaos from Bardi and Gerdis being attacked and killed by a sudden attack by large Yavinian doodar emerging from the treeline, Andor managed to arm himself, retrieving both a blaster and an encrypted hyperwave communicator from a secret compartment on Porko's ship, and freeing himself from his chains. Sneaking back to the TIE Avenger during the chaos of the predator attack, he kills a member of the Maya Pei Brigade who had remained in the cockpit, before flying the fighter off-planet as the stranded Brigade members futilely tried to shoot it down with small arms blaster fire.[11]

Journey to Mina-Rau

Once safely in deep space, Andor got to work trying to rewire the TIE Avenger to power the encrypted hyperwave communicator he had retrieved from Porko's ship, only managing to accidentally ignite the starboard thruster, sending him spinning out of control. Two days later, he managed to successfully establish contact with Kleya Marki on Coruscant, reporting the botched rendezvous and requesting a new drop-off location. Although Andor wanted to call his friends on Mina-Rau, Marki informed him that there was a signal blockade on that planet, prompting Andor to travel there in order to discover what was happening. Exiting hyperspace above Mina-Rau, Andor spotted an orbiting Imperial cruiser and immediately performed a nosedive through the atmosphere. Using the TIE Avenger, he killed several Imperials investigating the farm where his friends were staying, before landing to find his friend Brasso had already been killed by a stormtrooper. Bix Caleen and Wilmon Paak, realizing that Andor was piloting the TIE Avenger, arrived at his location and soon boarded the craft as the trio departed Mina-Rau.[6]

Behind the scenes

"I can't begin to explain just how big it was. The wings were enormous. We made the body sectionable so that we could unbolt and re-bolt it. It could sit on its wings. We could fly it with a 100-ton crane. We could move it around. It had fully practical steps on the back. We could take the pod off on its own and put it on a gimbal for our gimbal work. It really felt like everyone that was involved in that knew they were involved in making something quite special."
―Luke Murphy, on the practical TIE Avenger set[12]
The physical TIE Avenger prop being assembled

The physical TIE Avenger prop being assembled

The TIE Avenger prototype Cassian Andor stole was a rare full interior and exterior TIE Fighter set build. It could support its own weight on four points of its lower wings. The prototype's design was, in part, initially inspired by Kylo Ren's TIE Whisper from Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker. The TIE Avenger was first featured in the 1994 TIE Fighter computer game from LucasArts.[13]

Appearances

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Andor logo new Star Wars: Andor — "One Year Later"
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 Star Wars Encyclopedia of Starfighters and Other Vehicles second edition
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 "TIE Fighters" — Star Wars Encyclopedia
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 StarWars-DatabankII TIE Avenger prototype in the Databank (backup link)
  5. ↑ TIE Fighter Owners' Workshop Manual
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Andor logo new Star Wars: Andor — "Harvest"
  7. ↑ Star Wars: Build the Millennium Falcon 48 Starship Fact File: TIE/D Defender
  8. ↑ Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes
  9. ↑ Star Wars: Timelines
  10. ↑ StarWars-DatabankII Sienar Test Facility in the Databank (backup link)
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Andor logo new Star Wars: Andor — "Sagrona Teema"
  12. ↑ befores & afters, #33, 2025-06-17, p. 20. ISBN 979-8287898458.
  13. ↑ StarWars.com Secrets from the Set of Andor Season 2: Week 1 Trivia on StarWars.com (backup link)
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