An unexpected guardian.

My expedition to the middle of nowhere yielded far more than I could've expected, even discounting the Sith Temple that the Thule Holocron mentioned... I was attacked by an unknown force, fighters clad in what looked like old Stormtrooper gear, needless to say I beat a hasty retreat on the Exploration Unit, but these guys seem to be more than mere scavengers, much to my horror there was a Star Destroyer accompanying them, judging by it's markings I'd say it was pretty old, but a Star Destroyer is still a Star Destroyer, and the damned thing blew up my Y-Wing! Thank the Force Orchid and Jae were using my Jumpmaster... Anyway, I was in trouble either way, that Y-Wing was my ticket off this planet, and now it was tiny flaming pieces, all I could do was run and hide long enough to send out a coded distress signal, though even that seemed like a stretch, the Star Destroyer deployed fighters... They looked like a Tie-variant, but I've never seen them before, they were definitey a step up from some of the traditional Tie designs, perhaps on par with Interceptors, and speaking of Interceptors that's where things get REALLY interesting... As I struggled to evade my pursuers another ship joined the fray, like a bolt of lightning it shot across the sky and engaged the enemy fighters, and as soon as it fell into position behind me I recognized it's markings, markings I hadn't seen in over a decade and a half... Dead-Eye. She was alive, and even more perplexing she appeared to be defending ME. ~Quinn Shara, Extract from a report in which she details an attack by an unknown faction, and her rescue by a former enemy...
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Whooo-eeeee! Star Wars OC AU stuff! There's a lot going on with this, I'll try to summarize briefly! XD

Following the conclusion of the Yuuzhan Vong war Quinn and co. form an independent, apolitical faction, operating from the SSD Starchaser, a heavily modified Star Dreadnought/Super Star Destroyer (For specs and history SlingBlade87 created an excellent profile for it here: SSD Starchaser  ), their goals were to provide aid for those in desperate need, such as refugees, and to preserve knowledge and history within it's archives and vaults, particularly pertaining to the Jedi and the Sith, and it's this quest for ancient artifacts that leads Quinn to a Sith tomb on a long abandoned world, following co-ordinates from a Holocron unearthed on an old Clone Wars battlefield Quinn discovers she's not alone in her search for the ancient tomb... 

For the purpose of exploring she and some of her Goldsaber buddies (most of which now retired from military service) constructed a couple of small exploration crafts, the purpose of their design was to reach places their fighters were too large to safely navigate, quick, nimble, and compact, they could easily navigate difficult terrain from narrow crevices to thick debris fields that would be a nightmare for larger fighters (though such fields were still dangerous to operate in as the pilot had no protection beyond the suit they were wearing). The craft was very lightly armed and armored, definitely not designed for combat, it could however be stored aboard larger ships, it's wings folding neatly into themselves, and if need be detaching for storage (the craft itself could be easily disassembled to minimize the space it occupied), and the surface of the wings themselves featured solar panels reminiscent of the Tie series. I must admit, when designing it I started having Nausicaa flash backs, I'll have to get that movie, it's really good, and I haven't seen it in years, maybe I'll name this craft in reference...

In the background a Star Destroyer fires on a small plateau, a few second prior it supported an old Y-wing that Quinn was using for her exploration... Her primary ship at this point however (besides her X-wing which itself is pretty old, and too small to store the Exploration Craft...) is a Jumpmaster 5000, whilst the Starchaser is her home and her charge, often when chasing leads on relics she'll depart in a Jumpmaster, it's an old ship that perfectly fitted a niche, and it's been modified heavily to suit her needs, thankfully she hadn't brought this time, as Orchid and Jaeriel were using it at the time, had she lost it she wouldn't been VEEERY peeved, though losing the old Y-wing is still frustrating, and puts her in a very awkward position... The Star Destroyer is an old one, likely abandoned, left to drift after sustaining heavy damage in a conflict long past, Naraka's forces make use of any resource they can find, restoring it into working condition on the payroll of Porunga, a Hutt with a long-standing vendetta against Quinn... Unlike the Star Destroyer however the Faux-Ties are completely new, their designs unknown, conceived by Naraka himself and produced on Porunga's payroll, they feature boosters on their wings which grant them increased speed and maneuverability, as well as wing-mounted guns to increase their firepower, whilst their design heavily borrows from Tie designs they cannot be considered true Ties, Quinn and company designate them as "Faux's"...

Immediately behind Quinn is what initially looks like an enemy, during the days of the Empire that Interceptor's marking filled many Rebel and Republic pilots with dread, that ship it piloted by Dead-Eye, Black Magic squadron's "Ace who never missed a shot", after Galgriev's defeat years earlier she vanished, though there were rumors of a bounty hunter named Dead-Eye, Quinn dismissed them as it was a common enough moniker for bounty hunters and snipers, now years later she resurfaces and saves Quinn from a rather tricky situation, taking out the fighters leading her, and positioning her Interceptor behind Quinn to provide cover, once the remaining fighters break off Dead-Eye picks Quinn up, and Quinn guides her to the SSD Starchaser where, no doubt, there is much to discuss... Dead-Eye's Interceptor has had many modifications since leaving the Empire, for starters it is now equipped with a hyperdrive, life-support, and basic shields, it's cockpit isn't much bigger however, so the ride back to Starchaser is a little cramped, and quite awkward...  

This takes place very early in the Naraka conflict, and is one of Naraka's first acts of aggression against Quinn, with many more to follow as he reveals his hand... 

Eheheh, Phewwww... Again, that's only brief, but I've already talked long enough, I don't want to keep ya'll all day/night! ;w; This was pretty fun to draw I must say, though I find Tie Interceptors are probably the ship I find it hardest to draw, it's the wings, the way they turn in, even with models for reference it's still very difficult! but designing entirely new craft more than mitigated any frustration, I've drawn the Faux-Ties before, but tweaked them a bit here, putting a gap between their upper and lower wing panels. The Exploration platform (codename: Nausicaa? XD) was very fun to draw, and it incorporates features from various ships, from the Z-95, to the T-65, and even the Tie series, it was lots of fun! (I'm quite interested in SlingBlade87's take on it, I must say, he's really good when it comes to the technical aspects. )

Anyhow yeah, I hope ya'll like, as ever feedback is greatly appreciated!

Star Wars (c) Disney

Quinn Shara, Dead-Eye, the Faux-Tie, and whatever I end up calling that thing Quinn's flying (c) MidoriNoHonoo