Defender-class

The Defender-class Frigate is one of the most recognizable ships in the Redwood Industries (RWI) fleet. The design philosophy behind the defender was, as the name suggests, to defend RWI installations and worlds, but by the time of the Green Drone War they were typically thrown into any role from an escort frigate to a starfighter command vessel to a front line warship. There were two versions of the class made, the Mk1 and the Mk2, and there was also a sub class of the Mk2 RWI Tigris, which featured 4 extra docking ports for V-203 Interceptors. This feature was later implemented into a key feature of the new Mk3 design, which was introduced sometime during the year after the Green Drone War.

History
The Defender was introduced to be the backbone of the RWI Navy. It was well-tested and versatile, being able to take on a number of challenges. They were commonly deployed in groups to ensure maximum effectiveness during assignments. These frigates are usually utilized in defending points of interest of RWI, hence the class name "Defender".

The Colony War
A few weeks before the outbreak of the Green Drone War, a small RWI task force led by Admiral Markus was in the P3-X2 system with the objectives of finding ex-RWI Captain Jack Roberts and investigating rumors of a "green eyed" threat lurking in the area. In the task force were at least five Defender-class Frigates, the Vision, the Gauntlet, the Stalwart, the Talon, and the Karnack. The Vision never saw combat during the mission, and was primarily used to observe and scout their objectives. The Gauntlet and the Stalwart were tracking two INIC corvettes when they were both attacked by two Destroyers belonging to the Green Drone Armada. All the RWI and INIC ships were destroyed, although the Colonists led by Captain Jack Roberts discovered the debris and recovered the Gauntlet, which they repaired and used for themselves in their conflict against the Drone Reactionary Force (DRF). It was later destroyed for good in the Battle of the Colonies by the DRF.

Meanwhile, the Talon and the Karnack accompanied Admiral Markus’s flagship, a Daedalus-class Battleship, in their later engagement with several GDA ships. Both frigates, along with Markus’s flagship, were destroyed.

The War Begins
When the Green Drone War began, the Defender-class Frigate was the backbone of the RWI Navy. As such, the ships were deployed all over the galaxy to defend territory and counter the GDA advances. However, due to their lack of shielding technology, the Defender-class Mk1 was outmatched by the GDA Destroyers, which were all outfitted with an Atlas Superlaser - an energy weapon capable of destroying most starships in one shot.

On an unidentified Earth-like planet, the GDA was able to trap many Defenders serving under the RWI Valiant and its fleet. Many ships were shot down, including the RWI Malta and RWI Amazon. RWI Marines Owen, Morslupus, and Ler were sent down from the Malta before its destruction to find survivors of the starship graveyard on the ground below, and joined up with Jack Roberts' crew, who also were trapped on the planet after their battle with the DRF. Lieutenant Evan Connolly and a few other crewmen survived the Malta 's crash and managed to survive for a few days before being killed defending a hijacked outpost. At some point, the RWI Athens was destroyed during a battle in the Orion System.

A few Defenders managed to survive the initial GDA ambush and escaped to high orbit of the planet. One such ship was the RWI Intrepid, one of the first Mk2 Defenders (though it still lacked shields, it had the upgraded thrusters and weaponry), captained by Commander Sam Reed. He received a distress call from Jack Roberts and his crew, and moved the Intrepid down to the planet to assist them, using the Intrepid 's main gun to chase off a GDA Scourge-class Carrier and the attached V-203 fighter squadron, Green Squadron, to engage the enemy fighters. The Intrepid then set out to set up a forward operating base, and the RWI forces later joined Roberts' crew to attack the GDA base on the planet, where the Intrepid was shot down by GDA Destroyers, though Reed survived.

Battle of Ravcor
Though no Defenders actually took part in the Battle of Ravcor itself, the RWI Exeter was sent by Captain Jonathan Hunter of the Valiant to resupply Captain Roberts' team on the lava planet Ravcor. Commander Reed was sent down via a Valkyrie-class Dropship, and the Exeter withdrew from the system.

After obtaining the Artifact, the symbol of the GDA's power, from Ravcor, the remaining RWI ships retreated to a nebula in the Amre system to repair. They salvaged components from the wreckage of an unnamed Defender that was destroyed in the area at some point.

Battle of the Demus Shipyards
The RWI Tigris and the RWI Fortune, some of the first fully-outfitted Mk2s, were sent along with the flagship of RWI, the Apollo, to attack the GDA shipyard facility above the ice planet Demus in the Amre system. Due to Roberts' personal starship, the RWI Eclipse, being under maintenance, Roberts and his crew were stationed aboard the Tigris, which would later fall under the command of Captain Hunter, due to the Valiant being destroyed and crashing on Demus. After the shipyards were secured, the Fortune remained behind to finish securing intel and a damaged Defender-class frigate captured by the GDA in the shipyard. The Tigris journeyed back to Icarus, the RWI capital world, to prevent the GDA invasion fleet from taking the planet and stealing back the Artifact.

Battle of Icarus
The RWI Home Fleet, which defended Icarus and other crucial locations, was comprised of many Defender-class Frigates of both Mk1 and Mk2 types. Several frigates were lost when the GDA fleet attacked and took the Home Fleet by surprise. When the Tigris and the Apollo arrived at Icarus with reinforcements, the Tigris was crewed by a few of Jack Roberts' team and had a few weapons malfunctions during the battle, although it managed to help destroy multiple GDA ships.

During the final moments of the battle, two Defenders, the RWI Bishop and RWI Goddard were deployed to stop the GDA Dreadnaught from escaping the planet with the Artifact. Both vessels were destroyed by the Dreadnaught's quadruple Atlas Laser fire. After the battle, scores of Defenders rendezvoused at Icarus in preparation of a counterattack on the GDA capital world.

Invasion of P3-X2
When the time came for the invasion, most of the Defenders amassed at Icarus had been fully upgraded with Mk2 standards. Among the gathered Defenders were the RWI Calypso, the RWI Odi, the RWI Rascal, and the RWI Tigris. The Tigris in particular was retrofitted with exterior docking mounts for four additional V-203 Fighters, allowing it to more effectively carry air support into combat. Its command also fell into the hands of Captain Hunter.

When the RWI invasion fleet arrived at P3-X2, they engaged the GDA defense fleet head-on. The Tigris was sent to the rear of the battlefield to deploy fighters for Captain Roberts' team to use. After the ground invasion began, the Tigris and two other Defenders, the RWI Calypso and RWI Odi helped land ground troops and clear out GDA Destroyers in the skies above the landing zone. As the battle progressed, small engagements sprung up all over the area of the GDA Headquarters. One such skirmish involved a Defender attacking a GDA Destroyer and several fighters above a GDA storage and supply dock in a crater connected to the HQ.

The RWI fleet eventually withdrew all forces back into space in an effort to stop the GDA Super-Dreadnaught from fleeing with the Artifact and the leadership of the GDA. The Tigris was among them, although it had taken some damage. Along with the other ships that left P3-X2 after the battle, the Tigris was repaired and eventually returned to Icarus.

Battle of the Black Hole
During the last battle of the war, several Defenders were deployed along with RWI's, CNL's, and RCSP's key battleships. The Tigris was confirmed to be among them. Other ships noted to be present were the RWI Solar, Jaeger, and Serenity. The Serenity was confirmed to be a Defender-class, but it is unknown whether the Solar and the Jaeger were Defenders or not. Nevertheless, these ships contributed to the end of the war and the destruction of the Artifact and the Green Drones as a whole.

In the aftermath of the war, while RWI focused on rebuilding their lost ships and infrastructure, they also needed better ships to secure territory taken by the Green Drones. Due to their reduced numbers, most, if not all, Defenders received the Mk3 upgrades. These upgrades in weaponry, fighter complement, and other systems allowed the Defenders to eliminate GDA stragglers and reclaim lost planets and systems.

Joint Expedition Task Force Mission
One year after the end of the Green Drone War, the RWI Prometheus, a prototype expedition flagship for the Joint Expedition Task Force (JETF), was launched to investigate a mysterious signal broadcasting from the edge of known space. Since the Prometheus was an exploration ship, not a combat vessel, it had a small support fleet for defense, which included a few Defenders upgraded with new Mk3 advancements. However, the support fleet was absent during its ambush over the planet Chrome II, leaving the JETF stranded and completely cut off from support once the Prometheus crashed.

A few weeks later, the JETF sent a distress call to which RWI responded to. Along with the RWI Zheng-He and a new RWI helicarrier, the Olympus, were three Mk3 Defenders, the RWI Tigris, the RWI Tenacity, and the RWI Tyrant, which secured the orbit of the planet.

Mark 1
The Defender-class Mk1 Frigate's armament was lighter than that of most ships its size. It was armed with primarily eight 40mm Bofors cannons and two M61 Vulcan turrets for point defense on the dorsal hull, as well as a few others of each turret on the engine pods. It also boasted two dual-barrel 300mm Battlecannons, one on each side of the bow. The frigate's main weapon was the massive triple-barreled MK3 Battleship cannon on the ventral hull, which could deal serious damage to most unshielded enemy ships.

Mark 2
Though the Mk2 Defender changed and upgraded many aspects of the vessel, the basic armaments were kept the same. The Mk2 sitll included the ventral MK3 Battleship Cannon and the two side 300mm cannons (the RWI Intrepid featured a single-barrel MK1 Battleship cannon on the port and starboard sides rather than the 300mm cannons), and its weaponry still included multiple Vulcans and Bofors on the dorsal hull and engine pods. In addition, two flak cannons were added on the dorsal hull to cover friendly small ships, and two Heavy Defense turrets were added to each engine pod for more broadside firepower. The amount of Bofors on the dorsal hull was also reduced from eight to four.

Thrusters
Both models of the Defender relied on hydrogen thrusters for movement. There were four forward thrusters, four backwards thrusters, two left thrusters (to strafe right), two right thrusters (to strafe left), four upwards thrusters (to strafe down), and twelve downwards thrusters (to strafe up and to stay aloft in gravity). On the Mk2 variant, four of the downwards thrusters were swapped out for Tier Four Atmospheric Thrusters, which were extremely powerful and enabled the ship to hover indefinitely in atmospheric conditions.

Power and Shielding
The Mk1 Defender featured only nuclear reactors and had no shields, making them easy targets for GDA Destroyers' Atlas Superlasers. Because of this disadvantage, the Mk2 Defender was outfitted with bubble shield technology and given upgraded Deuterium reactors for better power output. This, combined with the new armaments, gave the Mk2 Defenders a better chance at beating GDA ships in combat.

Defender-class Mk1 Model

 * RWI Gauntlet
 * RWI Stalwart
 * RWI Vision
 * RWI Talon
 * RWI Karnack
 * RWI Malta
 * RWI Amazon
 * RWI Athens

Defender-class Mk2 Model

 * RWI Intrepid
 * RWI Exeter
 * RWI Fortune
 * RWI Bishop
 * RWI Goddard
 * RWI Rascal
 * RWI Calypso
 * RWI Odi
 * RWI Serenity

Defender-class Mk3 Model

 * RWI Tigris
 * RWI Tenacity
 * RWI Tyrant