V-203 Interceptor

The V-203 Interceptor is the primary fighter used in the RWI (Red Wood Industries) fleet. Sleek and agile, it’s slim profile and lightning speed allows it to chase down enemy fighters with ease. Its armament allows for devastating hit-and-run attacks on enemy capital ships. As one of the most common ships in the RWI Navy, they are often deployed in groups of four to effectively attack enemies.

Introduction to RWI
Some time early into RWI’s fleet development, the V-203 was introduced as RWI’s main fighter craft. It was supposedly meant to replace the older, larger, twin-cockpit R-302 Fighter; however this ship has not been seen in the Colony Universe, so it is assumed that the V-203 was introduced on its own.

Colonist Usage
Shortly before the Colony War, Captain Jack Roberts of RWI had a falling-out with other members of RWI High Command, and therefore left the organization to start his own colony. Since he was an officer of RWI, he had access to several blueprints of RWI ships, including the V-203. One of these fighters was built by Roberts and his crew to help defend themselves against the drones of the DRF (Drone Reactionary Force) It was usually piloted by Death-Dealer, and it was shot down during their mission to find a crashed starship and rescue the crew.

Several months later, Roberts’ crew came across two wrecked RWI Defender-class Frigates, the Gauntlet and the Stalwart. Though both ships were incredibly damaged, the Gauntlet’s hangar bay was mostly intact; inside were two V-203s, which the Colonists recovered for themselves, although they never used them in battle. The fighters were either destroyed or abandoned when the sinister GDA (Green Drone Armada) attacked the Colonists’ base, Watchtower Station, and forced them to retreat.

The Green Drone War
As RWI was thrown into open warfare with the Green Drone Armada, all available ships, including many squadrons of V-203s, were readied for combat and deployment.

Ambush on an Unnamed Earth-like Planet
Several RWI ships were ambushed by GDA Destroyers on an unidentified Earth-like planet. One ship, the RWI Malta, was attacked by a Destroyer over a starship graveyard. Two V-203s were present and were shot down after a dogfight with GDA Falcon-class Fighters. The four V-203s of Green Squadron, attached to the RWI Intrepid, managed to escape the trap and hid in high orbit aboard the Intrepid.

Later, Green Squadron and the Intrepid assisted Captain Jack Roberts’ Colonist Survivors (CSS) when they were bogged down by a GDA Scourge-class Carrier and many fighters. Green Squadron dealt with the fighters and covered the Intrepid’s Valkyrie-class Dropships as they landed to drop off supplies for the colonists.

Rescue of Craz
The Intrepid and its V-203s also assisted the CSS in attacking the GDA HQ on the planet to steal the Artifact. The RWI and CSS forces fought over a large bridge over a deep canyon, during which one V-203 was shot down. The Intrepid was attacked again by two Destroyers and was shot down. Green Squadron’s V-203s were destroyed in the crash.

However, the V-203s of Blue Squadron, one of the two squadrons attached to the RWI Valiant, the commanding Daedalus-class Battleship of the Intrepid’s fleet, arrived to rescue the CSS forces and evacuate them from the planet.

Ravcor and Demus
Blue Squadron and their counterpart, Red Squadron, took part in the Battles of Ravcor and Demus. Three V-203s were sent by the Valiant to aid the CSS forces, now officially RWI personnel, in their attack on the GDA base on Ravcor to steal the Artifact. At least one of the fighters was shot down in the opening battle.

Captain Roberts’ crew later borrowed several V-203s to help fight off attacking GDA forces in the orbit of Ravcor. Several more fighters were either damaged or destroyed. When the GDA Dreadnaught appeared and shot the Valiant’s port hangar bay with its four Atlas Lasers, all of Blue Squadron’s remaining V-203s were destroyed and their flight commander, Major Everett, was killed.

Commander Craz and a few other crew members of the RWI Eclipse, Roberts’ starship, piloted Red Squadron’s fighters after they escaped to the planet Demus, where they scouted out a GDA transmitter outpost on an asteroid. For the ensuing battle and the Eclipse crew’s time stranded on Demus’s surface at the crash site of the Valiant, the team used the V-203s from Red Squadron as well as a few damaged reserve fighters from the Valiant to fend off GDA attacks. The surviving 203s were abandoned when the team evacuated the planet on the Eclipse.

RWI Tigris Complement
Before the Battle of the Demus Shipyards, a Defender-class Frigate called the RWI Tigris was assigned to Captain Roberts and his crew. 6 V-203 fighters were given to them as well, and the pilots customized their individual fighters with different paint colors. The Tigris retained its carrier role for the duration of its service, later becoming the first Mk.2 Defender with carrier attachments on its exterior hull in order to effectively carry fighters into battle and deploy them with ease.

Battle of Icarus
Multiple V-203 squadrons participated in the Battle of Icarus. A few fighters made flybys over the capital city and attacked any GDA fighters that tried to strafe the defending RWI troops. Later, Captain Roberts and his crew utilized Phoenix Squadron, a flight of 203s from the RWI Osiris, to take back the RWI Black Vault Facility to secure the Artifact. One fighter was shot down, though the pilot, Ler, survived.

Invasion of P3-X2
The Tigris’s V-203s were used again to break the GDA blockade and invade their capital world, P3-X2. Soon after breaking the blockade, the ground assault began. Roberts’ team flew the RWI Apollo’s fighter squadron, Red Squadron, which consisted of eight fighters rather than four. They destroyed GDA defenses around the landing area. Later, a quartet of 203s from the Tigris helped cover Roberts’ ground forces in infiltrating the GDA base.

CNL Moon Defense
Red Squadron’s V-203s were used again shortly after the Battle of P3-X2. Commanders Craz and Sam Reed of Roberts’ crew took a flight down to escort the RWI Bristol in liberating cargo from a CNL-controlled moon being subjugated by GDA ships. The 203s were able to destroy the GDA Destroyer with assistance from the Bristol.

Battle of the Black Hole
Craz and another crew member, Morslupus, flew V-203s during the Battle of the Black Hole, the final battle of the war. They made strafing runs on GDA Destroyers. The RWI Tigris was also present during the battle, however, it’s unclear whether it deployed any fighters.

Joint Expedition Task Force Mission
One year after the Green Drone War, the Joint Expedition Task Force (JETF) was formed to explore a sector of space containing an ancient signal. The largest ship in the RWI Navy, the RWI Prometheus, had at least one squadron of V-203s aboard, codenamed Blue Squadron. Commander Craz served as Blue Leader, and when the Prometheus was attacked by a faction called the Remnant over the planet Chrome II, several fighters including Blue Leader and Blue Two were shot down, crashing on the planet below. Any remaining fighters still aboard the Prometheus were most likely destroyed when the massive exploration vessel eventually crashed on the surface as well.

Multiple squadrons of V-203s were carried aboard the RWI Olympus, a prototype heli-carrier deployed as reinforcements to Chrome II. Roberts and his team dubbed the squadron as Red Squadron and used them to destroy Remnant forces scattered around the planet. Several 203s also patrolled the skies around the ancient city discovered by the Task Force earlier on in the mission.