Avenger

> *"She's tough, she's heavily armored, and she packs quite a punch."*
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> *"You forgot falling apart."*
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> *"Let me tell you something, kid. The* Avenger *is one of the best bulk cruisers I've ever seen. She'll get you to your temple."*
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> - Ryko Selerra and Tam Sarkin discussing the *Avenger*
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The ***Avenger***, otherwise known as cruiser number **RSC63116**, was a Rendili StarDrive *Neutron Star*-class bulk cruiser used by the Heroes of the Tumble during their fight against Jorbo the Hutt and the Galactic Empire. Claimed by her crew to be the "terror of the Outer Rim", it patrolled backwater hyperlanes, searching for ancient Jedi enclaves, Imperial convoys, and other targets of opportunity.

Originally discovered on the surface of the desert planet Trevor's Tumble, the *Avenger* was restored by the later Heroes of the Tumble and crewed by the nefarious scum they met on the planet. Hidden at their uncompleted base, it rested until it was needed to rescue Drone and HK-51 from the clutches of Jorbo the Hutt.

After the aptly-named Heroes of the Tumble finally defeated Jorbo's attacking pirate fleet, it once again rested on the desert world, waiting for its owners to make their next move. An intervening force of Imperial Star Destroyers disrupted its rest, and it and its crew barely fled the planet. Eventually, HK-51 passed on his captaincy to Amon Beroya, choosing to serve as the second-in-command alongside Amon.

Over the next several years it would see service as a privateer ship for the Rebel Alliance, disrupting Imperial convoys, destroying deep space stations, and rescuing Rebel spies. It later saw action at the Battle of Endor and later, the Battle of Jakku, where it would rest for many years.

## **Description**

> *"Wow. This hunk of space junk actually managed to hold up for once!"*
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> *"Fact: If the shields remain active, we will avoid liquidation!"*
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> - Cain Klivian and HK-51 during the Skirmish of Najarka
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   The *Avenger* was an older model of Rendili StarDrive's *Neutron Star-class* bulk cruisers, and as such was a 600-meter long behemoth of turbolasers, laser cannons, and armor plating. Originally not having a hangar bay, it's new owners undertook an extensive project taking several weeks of removing several meters of durasteel and weapons emplacements and replacing them with a hangar bay large enough to service a squadron of starfighters. It featured a Class 3 primary hyperdrive, which was considered standard for a cruiser of its size, and a backup Class 20 hyperdrive. It's large sensor suite could reach out to long range, giving its crew plenty of warning before encountering rogue asteroids or spacecraft. Unless crewed properly, the ship could not function at a normal pace, as experienced multiple times by its owners.

## **History**

### **Early Years**

Dating back to the Clone Wars, the *Avenger*, along with many of its sister ships, was constructed by the starship manufacturer Rendili StarDrive for the naval forces of the Galactic Republic. Neither it or its fellow ships saw combat however, as the war ended abruptly with the shutdown of the massive CIS droid armies. Relegated by the newly-formed Galactic Empire as a patrol ship, it saw service for only three standard months before being sold to an unknown private entity. It later somehow mysteriously crashed on the surface of the desert planet Trevor's Tumble, where it would rest for many years in the shifting sand.

### **Restoration and First Combat**

After resting on Trevor's Tumble for an unknown amount of time, cruiser RSC63116 was discovered by a group of mercenaries in 1 ABY after exploring the planet and protecting the locals from a band of marauding pirates. Deciding to raise the massive ship from the thick sand dunes it rested on, it was restored and repaired for a number of weeks, eventually undergoing extensive modifications to its hull to accommodate a large hangar bay. After it was repaired and fully crewed, it finally saw combat action for the first time when it made a massive spice smuggling run to the Outer Rim trade world Terminus. Ramming into an Imperial Golan III defense satellite to give the mercenaries enough time to transport the spice to the rally point, it narrowly avoided destruction when an Imperial *Victory*-class Star Destroyer attacked it, jumping to hyperspace.

### **Defeating Jorbo the Hutt**

The *Avenger* once again saw service in combat at the First Battle of Trevor's Tumble when it and its crew raised from the planet's surface to rescue the MagnaGuard "Drone" and the droid mercenary HK-51 from captivity at the hands of Jorbo the Hutt. Surprising the Hutt's flotilla of cruisers and patrol craft, the *Avenger* opened up on the Hutt's flagship with its massive turbolasers, interrupting a gladiatorial fight between HK-51 and Drone against Jorbo's pack of vornskrs. Colliding with the massive flagship and trading blows with it, it gave Cain Klivian and Ryko Selerra enough time to create a boarding party to rescue their friends. It later rendezvoused with the Jedi Padawan Tam Sarkin after he was captured by Jorbo's ally Bogan, who attempted to turn Tam to the dark side of the Force.

Routing the pirate fleet after destroying the Hutt flagship and apparently killing Jorbo, the *Avenger* once again landed on the surface of Trevor's Tumble to repair the damage to its hull and tend to the wounds of its crew. It was heralded by the mayor of Kathol Town, Trevor, and was promised by it's crew to protect the world from then on.

### **Evading the Empire**

Several weeks past the destruction of Jorbo the Hutt's pirate fleet, the *Avenger* and it's crew looked for other sources of income and entertainment, preparing to search for ancient Jedi Enclaves at the request of Tam Sarkin. However, an Imperial invasion force disrupted their plans, forcing the Heroes of the Tumble to rescue Wodi "Trevor" Trevoris, who revealed himself to be a Jedi Master, and rally with their friends aboard the *Shadow's Scepter*. Now in deep space and hunted by the Empire, they turned to the only people they hoped would help them liberate the planet; the Rebel Alliance. After meeting with a Rebel General and agreeing to serve as a privateer ship, the *Avenger* and its crew spent the next several weeks attacking Imperial interests and destroying targets to prove themselves to the Rebel cause, all the while serving as a training ground for Tam Sarkin in learning the ways of the Jedi from Trevor.

### **Rescuing Trevor and Grounded Again**

After Trevor left the *Avenger* in search of where the Force was leading him, the ship and its crew made their way to Najarka, a jungle planet in the Outer Rim. After surviving an ambush from Bogan and his Imperial masters, Tam, Amon Beroya, and Drone called for help from the *Avenger* and their motley fleet after they were tracked down and attacked by an Imperial task force in orbit of the world. As the *Shadow's Scepter* did battle with TIE/ln starfighters, the *Avenger* opened up on the Imperial's *Arquitens*-class light cruisers and *Interdictor*-class Star Destroyer under the command of Captain Demarcis. With the help of their new Corellian allies, they managed to destroy the light cruisers, but were unable to defeat Demarcis aboard the Interdictor, which escaped via hyperspace. Recovering Trevor and leaving the planet, they were forced to travel to Smarteel and land once again on a desert planet after losing their crew, who complained that they were not being paid enough to deal with the Empire and the dangers that the Heroes of the Tumble kept placing them in.

### **A New Home**

After Tam Sarkin and Amon Beroya determined that a hidden swampfront homestead on Xostooine would be an excellent place to hide the *Avenger* and their posse, Ryko Selerra and HK-51 chartered a course for the swamp world, landing the cruiser in a spot in the swamp cleared out by Amon and Tam using their starfighters. It rested there until the outlaws had enough credits and crew to get it fully operational again.

### **The Galactic Civil War**

Assembling with the rest of the Rebel fleet above Sullust in 4 ABY, the *Avenger* and its crew served with distinction during the Battle of Endor, which saw the death of Emperor Sheev Palpatine and the beginning of the fall of the Empire. It later saw service with the New Republic fleet at the Battle of Jakku, where it was forced to once again crash amidst the sand dunes of a desert planet along with hundreds of other starships.

### **Legacy**

The *Avenger* would continue to live on as a happy memory for its former owners, and would be sought after by treasure hunters, scavengers, and ship thieves for its extensive navigational database of Wild Space worlds. Besides its combat history, the *Avenger* and its crew served as an example to future Rebel and New Republic starship manufacturers as a template for which to turn their bulk cruisers into a carrier conversion for starfighters to support a fleet, a tactic that would be used later on by many Rebel starship captains.