Defender History
The high success rate of Rebel starfighters versus standard Imperial TIE Fighters caused the Imperial Navy to rethink its doctrine of preferring swarms of cheap craft over fewer high-quality ones- thus, the TIE Defender initially appeared somewhere between Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. It was developed by Grand Admiral Zaarin who later attemped to use it to try to overthrow Emperor Palpatine. As well, the inclusion of a hyperdrive in a high quality starfighter would enable the Imperials to conduct missions independent of Star Destroyers and other support vessels, similar in manner to Rebel operations.
Several shielded and hyperspace-capable Imperial starfighters existed before the initiation of the project which would lead to the TIE Defender (Assault Gunboat, and the Skipray Blastboat). However these were not agile like TIE fighters despite having better protection and weaponry, and Admiral Zaarin was determined to produce a new starfighter that combined the best traits of both. The TIE Advanced x1 (Darth Vader's TIE Fighter) and the TIE Avenger (also known as the TIE Advanced, causing some confusion with the former) were two fighters produced during the development process which would ultimately cumulate into the TIE Defender. The fighter was created shortly after the release of the TIE Avenger, but - like the TIE Avenger - never saw even limited production (most likely due to the extreme expense, and/or due to production facilities having been destroyed by rogue Grand Admiral Zaarin).
Although the ship is very rare, it is rumored that a squadron of TIE Defenders fought in the Battle of Endor (named Onyx Squadron by the Decipher Star Wars CCG). In the years following the Battle of Endor, Ysanne Isard re-appeared with a few squadrons of TIE Defenders. Ironically, Wedge Antilles and Rogue Squadron piloted these to help Isard take down an Imperial Warlord threatening the New Republic. Further rumors state that even more of the fighters had been seen or used by Admiral Pellaeon, who at this time was the leader of the Imperial Remnant.
