Advanced Rebel Starfighter Research Bureau / A.R.S.R.B.

## Presentation

The Advanced Rebel Starfighter Research Bureau, or A.R.S.R.B., is a special division of the Alliance research group Incom specialized in starfighter design, construction and testing for military and scientific usage. Altough under the juridiction of Incom, the A.R.S.R.B. acts more like a sub-contractor for the research group because of his highly unorthodox research on starfighter concepts, something that the Empire left to Sienar Fleet Systems in the past.

## History

The creation of the Advanced Rebel Starfighter Research Bureau dates back to early 2209. After almost three years of development, Incom's General Engineering Research Corps had finally released to the public and the Alliance's military the blueprints for their 1st generation starfighter : the Incom Z-95 "Headhunter". The tiny, one-maned starfighters were armed with two KX-4 light blasters cannons, powered by two standard-issue sublight thrusters and were much more agile than the aging Runner-class corvettes, which made them as a perfect cover for the heavier warships of their fleet. Plus, their low cost and the easy controls made them perfect for rapid training of pilots and heavy production by Hoth's shipyards. Compared to the mass-produced, low quality TIE fighters produced by the Empire, the Headhunter was "a bit of a revolution in starfighter technology" stated Incom's CEO.

However, only a few days after the beginning of its production, technical, logistical and piloting problems surged out of the design : insufficient weaponry, hull plating not resilient enough, poor confort, minimal life support, untrusty controls, etc... Altough Incom made some hotfixes on the starfighter to patch it up like they could, the Z-95 showed both a lot of potential and a lot of flaws, that led the Republic Counsel to reconsider their usage in the Alliance's fleet. Moreover, a conspiracy formed itself after a failed test flight that resulted in the death of a test pilot, which blamed the complete lack of ejection systems in the starfighter. Altough the claims were false, the population nevertheless got scared of those "flying coffins".

However, in April 2209, the Counsel contacted Incom's CEO after a lenghty debate over the Headhunter's performances. They asked the group to invest more effort, more ressources and more manpower into starfighter technology, as it appeared to be what the Alliance wanted to have for a mainstay fleet : squadrons of starfighters. This is why, after the succession of potentially life-threatening flaws and the need for a properly specialized starfighter design corps, Incom decided to create an entirely new division amongst their ranks, on athe 20th of July 2209 : the Advanced Rebel Starfighter Research Bureau.

## Installation and operations

For the creation of the Bureau, Incom decided that hosting them inside a building wasn't enough. What they will be designing are starfighters, spacecrafts with unprecedent agility and speed. So, after negociations with the Rebel Alliance, the A.R.S.R.B. was given a proper base of operations, from where they could design, build and test their starfighters. The mountainous area boarding an icy shore was also a great testing ground, both for the starfighter's survivability and the piloting experience, which is invaluable to the eyes of the A.R.S.R.B.

The ARSRB operations are quite simple. First, one of the senior engineer, reporting for another engineer or for himself, formulates a project about a new starfighter design that he presents to the direction staff, including the Head of research, to be verified. All concepts are then to be improved in the way the direction leads it, to see if the said design has potential, before it passes a second time before the comission. Now, the project can either be rejected or accepted, and if the latter, then the concept enters the Bureau as a fully fledged starfighter project to be developped seriously, with, at the end of the line, the construction of a functionnal prototype. Meanwhile, the design will be reworked, improved, perfected so that the future starfighter can accomplish its role with the maximum efficiency posibble.

## Personnel and Sites

When the A.R.S.R.B. was created, Incom directly placed the young and talentuous engineer Alexandre Arrivé at the head of bureau. This choice wasn't made at random, as Alexandre had recently entered the Republic Counsel as Incom's Representative and later saved the life of a fellow member, using his excellent technical skills. Adding to this his expertise and his passion for starfighters, putting him at the head of the office was the best choice Incom could make.

The A.R.S.R.B. englobes over 300 Incom engineers, designers and technicians from all kinds of sectors : electrical engineers, weapons experts, physicists, as well as some more independent collaborators. The bureau notably employs the services of the recently formed 181st "Blood Wings" Squadron, a group of talented pilots led by Lt. Brandon Gates. The main role of the 181st consists in space and atmospheric scientific experiments, ground and flight-tests of new technologies and ground and flight-tests of prototype starfighters designed by the A.R.S.R.B.

The current location of the Advanced Rebel Starfighter Research Bureau is on Hoth, where their main testing site, a starport coupled to an extensive starfighter facility, has been built over the coast of the Razgriz Straits, an area frozen over 2 meters most of the year with a very calm and dry climate. In order to perform long-term space tests, the A.R.S.R.B. has come into possession of a drydock on Hoth's spaceport, refered to it as Drydock 51. The ground base, unofficially nicknamed "Razgriz Base", also acts as the design bureau and the administration center of the A.R.S.R.B, so that production procedures that would normally take weeks are done in hours to maximize the efficiency of the Bureau and its engineers.

## Missions and objectives

The main mission of the Advanced Rebel Starfighter Research Bureau is to imagine, design, build, test and push to the very edge of their performances future starfighters' prototypes and concepts.

Several concept crafts are already being designed and planned for a first prototype's construction. Accordind to anonymous sources, the first scheduled spacecraft that should take off from Razgriz Straits is the early prototype of a brand new space superiority starfighter called the X-Broom. According to the same sources, several other starfighters and, a premiere, starbombers are already on the simulation holograms.

However, the A.R.S.R.B. doesn't only design new starfighters, it is also excpected to provide uprgrades for existing starfighters and light warships, in order to increase their effectiveness whilst augmenting their defensive capabilitises and their safety protocols. The very first project of the Bureau was to actually incororate an entirely new power distribution grid to the Z-95, because the original one was malfunctionning beyond modification. It only took the team 2 weeks to come up with a durable solution, proving their efectiveness to a no-longer-doubting Incom corporation.

## Security forces and Budget

In order to keep the A.R.S.R.B. from any sort of intrusion, both Razgriz Base and Drydock 51 are heavily guarded, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by specialized security forces recruited by Incom Corporation. The security around Drydock 51, for example, makes the site virtually sealed from the rest of the spacedock : only two entry points, security at every corridor, centralized surveillance system, extremely thorough biological and numerical scanners, and the possibility of having a squad of Rebel soldiers within 30 seconds, and a mercenary detachment within 120.

Concerning Razgriz base, to give someone an idea, it has the same protection specifics as Drydock 51, except that they have been pumped up even more, and that the base has its own military force : 4 prototype Z-95s on their landing pads, several anti-vehicle and anti-air turrets, and a detachment of Rebel infantry to complete the security forces already accomodated by Incom. Plus, in case of an extreme attack by an invading force, such as a warship, the Mercenary coalition holds an ensign 500km from the base.

As for the budget, since Incom knows that the future of the Alliance's fleet will be starfighter-based, they have donated over 15% of their annual budget to the A.R.S.R.B., plus a little extra for the initial cost of installation. That way, the Bureau can constantly be supplied with brand-new design tools, computers, personnel and materials for their starfighter projects. For the moment, the budget given by Incom is enough to run the facilities of the A.R.S.R.B., but as starfighters will come out of their docks, it is expected that the budget will increase accordingly.

## Drydock 51's visit

On the 19th of november 2209, thanks to the consideration of Chairman Rimbeck, of the Republic Council, Alexandre Arrivé invited the Republic Council to visit Drydock 51 in order to clear the doubts about the Z-95 flaws, doubts that had spread since the start of the "fliying coffin" conspiracy. The visit was personally carried by Alexandre Arrivé and council member Jonah Goodrow, where they briefely explored the installation. However, in order to convince the Council of the A.R.S.R.B's seriousness over their work, Incom and the Bureau had prepared a surprise for the Council : a modified Runner-class corvette, desgined for speed, resilience and confort, reclassed as the CR-91 or Consular-class corvette and named "The Resolute" by Chairman Rimbeck.
However, the visit was cut short during the first stop of the tour by the actions of council member Wargey. The first stop of the tour was to examine the simulators in which the test pilots trained and tested their starfighters before taking flight. At the demand of Jonah Goodrow, the Chairman accepted to do a simulation with the 181st squadron to prove the agility and the survivability of the Headhunter. However, during the simulation, Wargey, as a fervent anti-Headhunter partisan and source of the "flying coffin" conspiracy, got angered by the situation he had to witness and started to agit, saying that the visit was all propaganda and manners to hide the truth, and launched his foot onto the simulator.

Moments after Wargey kicked the Chairman simulator, the Head of Research approched him to make the council member back off the device, as he noticed that Wargey's behaviour had an impact on the Chairman's brain functions. But Wargey, seeing the man approaching him, suddenly got enraged, shouted his anger of the Z-95 and kicked hard the simulator. The device lost its video feed, causing the recently traumatised Chairman to make a panick attack, and, as an high-voltage cable got broken, a powerful burst of sparks stroke Arrivé's right arm, causing him to fall to the ground.

As Wargey was apprehended by Goodrow and the Drydock's security and the Chairman was delivered from his cockpit, a medical team arrived to check on the Chairman and assess Arrivé's situation. However, in a last effort before falling uncounscious, Alexandre managed to convince the Chairman not to leave and to lead the council directly to the flight deck, where their new corvette landed and embarked the finally impressed council members. Onboard, the medical team treated the engineer properly, as the Chairman was getting rest and prepared for today's meeting with the counsel.