Shortly after the fall of Coruscant, the Rebel Alliance evolved, and rebranded itself as the New Republic. With a huge symbolic victory, they proved that the Galactic Empire could not even defend their capital from the Rebels, and people started switching sides. The Rebel Alliance now had to transition from a military force to a government, and that meant collecting taxes and providing goods and services to the people and territory that it had to protect. If it could make this difficult transition successfully, then the New Republic was well on its way to becoming a legitimate galactic power.
One of the steps involved restructuring the current military command. Committees, boards, and offices were set up to organize the previously decentralized command. In that process, the manufactures of starship design for the Rebels had to have oversight by a board of admirals and politicians, if they were to get funding from the New Republic to develop a new design. In theory, this system would allow corrections to be made by the committee to guide the project with experience and efficiency, and to produce a craft that met and exceeded all requirements that the New Republic needed, without the issues of compromises and drawbacks that their fleet of “generalist” currently faced.
The first case, and first failure, was the BTL-G8 Tactical Bomber. The parent company, Koensayr Manufacturing, was a major starship component manufacturer, that specialized in rugged and reliable system components and engines. Their first combat starship had been the Venerable BTL “Y-Wing” Fighter-Bomber, developed originally for the Old Republic, but production started too late and it only saw use towards the wars end as a simple bomber. With the rise of the Galactic Empire, the Y-wing was quickly phased out of their navy, declining to further purchase any more, and selling off their own stocks. Koensayr began selling to various parties, and pirates and rebel groups quickly found themselves with a very capable and rugged fighter bomber.
The Y-wing’s success was owed to its combination of heavy shields, redundant systems, and thick armor, making it tough, reliable, and survivable. Its payload was simplistic, with just 2 launchers with extended magazines for each. A common variation was to remove the launchers and place a bomb chute in its place. Even with the torpedoes or bombs, armor, and shielding, the bomber was not sluggish as one might expect. The decision to go with fission-ion engines gave the bomber speed and agility that was only surpassed by modern air superiority fighters and interceptors. For defense, the craft had a turret and twin laser cannons in the nose, the turret was usually manned by a gunner, but could also be locked forward and be used by the pilot when configured to a single seater mode.
These features made the Y-wing a powerful and well equipped all around craft, better than anything else the rebels had at the time when they were introduced. The acceleration allowed it to actually dogfight, and helped it flee from bad engagements. Pilots who had made a mistake often were able to survive and learn from it, thanks to the crafts resilience, and the ordnance it carried were able to defeat all types of targets that the rebels faced, even causing damage to capital ships. However, with the development of new and sophisticated air superiority crafts, the Y-wing was rapidly becoming obsolete. The planned predecessor, the famous A/SF-01 B-wing starfighter/attack craft, turned out to be slower and harder to handle than the Y-wing, leading to the Y-wing being flown alongside it instead of being phased out. The B-wing also had done away with most of its ordnance load for modular cannon slots and increased shielding, making it an effective strike craft, but not a bomber. Another craft was required, to replace the ageing Y-wing fleet.
Koensayr Manufacturing, using a variety of techniques, from using political clout, to its fame with the successful Y-wing fighter, more or less bought the bid for producing the next generation bomber for the New Republic. Records reveal statements from the staff commenting later about how this in hindsight being a warning flag, when questioned by a committee of inquiry on how the project was being handled years later.
The New Republics original requirements called for a fast, armed bomber with significant amounts of ordnance to pose threats to capital ships, even when in small numbers. It was to be hyperdrive equipped, reliable, and tough enough to shrug off a hit from a turbolaser. Summed up, it was supposed to be a Y-wing plus. Soon, the Koensayer team of engineers and designers had put together a concept of a single seat craft, with an off centered cockpit and sophisticated computer systems serving as a navigator and bombardier across from the cockpit. It had 2 laser cannons, one on each side of the command section, controlled by the pilot. An Astromech lay aft of the Command pod, and would assist the pilot in managing the craft. Behind that was the body of the ship, where the reactor, hyperdrive, and shield generators lay. Above that was a large wing, with 2 engines and multiple hardpoints attached, and below it was the ordnance bay. The board applauded the design, on with it’s simplicity and that it only needed one to man the craft.
Procedures have scene changed after the debacle. Questionings and Interviews of people involved with the project have shown that the first big issues arose with the complications with the software package. Records indicate that at this point the board started to have more of a direct role in the handling of the development, and began demand changes. It all started with an issue of timing.
A few months before, the E-wing escort fighter was rolled out, and had immediate problems with the advanced astromech units that the ship required to fly. The problems had been plaguing the craft for months, as every fix seemed to uncover a new set of issues, and the eventual resolution wouldn’t come for nearly a year. The senate was furious that the company FreiTek Incorporated dare sell a whole line of defective ships to them that hadn't even completed testing, and slapped huge fines on the company, and demoted or sacked the people in charge of oversight. This was after the discovery of leaked documents showing that FreiTek’s own weapon system it had installed was close to junk at any range beyond point blank, yet before a separate inquiry found that a combination of unrealistic deadlines that were enforced by senate members and foul play by others that demanded the fighter be turned over to the New Republic immediately once war broke out with a faction seeking to restore the Galactic Empire.
Unfortunately for the Koensayer team and their BTL-S1, it was during the time of the E-wing scandals that they informed the board of their software issues. It was just a routine update, where they brought a scale model in and were running computer simulations when they filed a request to push back the deadline due to delays in developing the software package for the bomber. The board members immediately and forcefully declined their request, and demanded a work around. With one witch hunt raging already over the disowned E-wing program, the last thing they wanted was another one landing on top of their heads if news was leaked about how the next generation bomber was also facing delays on software related issues.
The board decided that if the computerized bombardier/navigation systems would delay the development time, then an alternative would be devised. The astromech could take over the responsibilities, but that was also a touchy subject, considering the E-wings woes had to do with an astromech integration as well. The other option was to add another crewman, and have them take the role of a dedicated weapons officer and navigator. The spokeswoman of the team tried to refute their demands with an argument that it would require changing the cockpit, which was designed to reuse existing parts from the Y wing, and the entirety of the command module would need to be redesigned, to compensate the expanded cockpit and recentering of it, as the dedicated computer systems and sensors that were no longer needed.
The board then proceeded to overstep its bounds, and further complicate the future of the K-wing. After shooting ideas back and forth between each other, they informed the spokesperson of the Koensayer team that they agreed with her. The usage of the existing parts was important to the mechanical reliability and keeping costs down. Remodeling the command section would also undo a few months of work and cost a lot in remodeling and re-running computer simulations. So they told here that they had the solution, adding a second cockpit -- a duplicate of the existing one -- to the other side of the ship, where the systems would be removed anyways. The spokeswoman was unable to change their minds about the dual cockpit ‘feature’, but did at least shoot down the suggestion that each of them would be controlling one of the two lasers. The board, pleased at their problem solving, and that they were influencing the first ever craft commissioned for and directed by this New Republic, told that they eagerly awaited results, and wanted to have another meeting once some computerized testing was completed.
The Koensayer team was shocked and dismayed, first at the rejection for an extended deadline for the computer system, then at the news that they would be tearing most of what they worked on out. The real kicker was that the board had ‘recommended’ the use of a second cockpit to seat the weapons officer in the space that the systems had taken up, basically forcing the engineers to take a bad idea and make it work. Of course the other cockpit didn't fit with it’s life support, controls, monitors, displays, and armor in the space that the electronics had fit, so space had to be made to fit everything else that was displaced by the second cockpit. This resulted in the widening of the command module, and a decent increase in the ships overall mass. Simulations showed a decrease in combat effectiveness, as all the extra weight went straight to the front of the craft.
The board was not pleased to learn of this, berated the spokeswoman for telling them that the craft has reduced maneuverability. She countered that the craft would just need to be escorted to the target, it still had enough speed to flee from the strike zone once the package was delivered. The Admirals and Generals chewed on that for a bit, then, according to eyewitness accounts, one said “Why not give it a turret like the one on the Y-wing?” It was met with applause from the rest of the board. Before the spokeswoman could interrupt and stop them, they were already debating amongst themselves about who would control it, where it would be placed, and what kind of turret it would be. They eventually agreed that the pilot is too busy flying, and the weapons officer wouldn’t be able to control the turret when it sets up its attack run, creating a moment of ‘unacceptable’ vulnerability.
The board pitched the idea to the spokeswoman about placing the turret where the astromech slot was, between and just a little bit behind the two cockpits. “The spar was just too dense, too full of stuff that the ship needed to function, and placing it ahead of the astromech slot would have blocked both of the cockpits visibility. We wanted the turret to have a clear 360 degree firing arc, and it had to be mounted on top of the chassis, because the Y-wing has one on top, and everyone knows how successful the Y-wing was at its role.” Excerpt quoted from one of the previous members on the board when asked about how the placement for the turret was decided. Before the meeting was adjourned, they added one more request: that the turret be modular and able to take different loadouts based on the mission. That way, in theory, it would be able to adapt as the battlefield changed, and it could also be multi-role as it changed its armament.
The Koensayer team was starting to live through a nightmare, where the design of their ship kept having major revisions each time the board requested a review and presentation of what they had so far. The turret required a gunner, the gunner required life support, sitting room, and armor for his protection. The turret also required machinery to rotate it, and reinforcement of the hull area for the extra weight added. Weapon adapters were required, so multiple different types could be added without the need to open her up and install new systems and rip out old ones. And the weapons and the fuel for the weapons itself were required, with the default chosen around the ubiquitous Taim & Bak KX blaster turret. All this added weight and needed space, pushing the systems that used to occupy that space forward and out.
This extended the command module forward by a few feet, and caused the flat front to become a sloped face. The weight added by the machinery for the turret, the support equipment and armored cowling for the new crewman, and the systems for the new weapons, and the weapon itself, compromised the acceleration of the craft. All the new weight added ahead of the center of mass turned the handling into that of a cargo skiff, further making the front mounted guns useless. The team didn’t have time to relocate the astromech before they were due to report to the board again.
As expected, the board did not take well to learning about the new problems with the ship. The turret worked, but the added sluggishness of the craft ment that enemies would be able to get under the bomber, and stay in the blind spot with ease. Tests also showed that the forward guns were also useless except on stationary targets, thanks to the handling issue. The board was very displeased at the vulnerability of a ship with a crew of three, and blamed the design team for failing to produce satisfactory work. However, at this point the project was over budget, and work on prototypes hadn't even started yet. After some debating, deal making, and agreements, it was decided that the K-wing would also take on the role of an atmospheric strike craft, and support ground campaigns by providing fire on both moving targets and fortified strongholds. It would also become a heavy strike craft and gunboat, and be a support platform, capable of bringing in specialized weapons like Ion cannons, tractor beams, electronic warfare pods, and sensor arrays.
Broadening the role of the BTL-S3 to being a multi-task generalist helped unlock funding that was going to be held for those other projects. Step one was to add a way to cover the blind spot on the underside of the craft, and to find a way to target ground units effectively with cannon. Step two was to strengthen the main wing and each hardpoint for heavier and bulkier payloads, and to add all types of plugs and sockets for potential high-tech systems. Step three was to make the engines dual purpose, to work both in the vacuum of space and the atmospheres of other worlds. The engines would need to fight both air resistance and gravity, so adding airbreathing systems would increase effectiveness in atmosphere and extend the operational range significantly.
Koensayer’s team tried their best to make the additions without compromising the original objectives of being a space anti-capital and anti-structure bomber that could stand its own against other modern fighters. For step number one, they selected a ball turret made out of mostly transparisteel for better visuals than most turrets of the day. It was decided to be placed behind the top turret but before the bomb bay, on the bottom of the craft. The landing gear needed to be lengthened for it, for landing on the ball would be bad for the person inside. Its weapons would consist of twin dual laser cannons, set on hardpoints on either side of the ball. These cannons, set in quad configuration, would either fire all at once, for a precise high damage shot, or cycle one at a time, for a continuous stream of laser fire. The individual manning the ball turret would be completely disconnected from the craft, and to save space, would need to wear a vac suit and bring his own oxygen with them when in space. Only a Pylon and powercords connected the turret to the craft.
Step two and three were relatively straight forward, but adding all these new systems, and redundant systems for the important ones, spiked the weight of the craft. Reinforcing the whole structure to withstand both atmospheric reentry and to compensate for air resistance added most of the weight. All in all, the unloaded STL-S4 massed about twice as much as it had before the refit. The engineers slashed the ordnance it carried by over half to make up for some of the weight gain.
When presented to the now swollen board, fighting nearly broke out. Eventually the Admirals and Generals were able to agree on a few things. The ship was overweight, and all non essential systems need to be removed/trimmed. In regards to the underslung quad turret, members of the board that were lobbying for a strike craft wanted the turret moved to the front. In the front, the guns would be able to aim up and concentrate fire with the existing dual laser turret. Members of the board that were lobbying for a bomber wanted the turret moved to the rear for better overall protection. The board dismissed the spokeswoman, and told her that the Koensayer team better bring back something better than this.
This sent the engineers back to the drawing board. To still fulfill the role of an assault craft, the now-useless fixed front guns were removed, lightening the load, and the ball turret moved to under the nose. Then, they started removing systems. The bomb bay and the ordnance racks were removed, along with the hyperdrive, hyperspace navigational computers, and plans to eventually add back in the astromech were also scrapped. Fuel capacity was also diminished, and the additional shields were cut out. Armor plating around the non-vital areas were removed, and some of the redundant systems were pulled.
Simulations still showed the BTL-S5 to be a slow and ungainly craft, but it was better than before. However, it’s ordnance capacity was only a fourth of what was originally planned, it took 4 crew members to fly, and was as sluggish as a B-wing. Removing the Hyperdrive also made it specifically a carrier based craft, severely limiting the operational capacity of the bomber. It now failed all the requirements that it originally had met.
Of course, the improved version was met with a standing ovation by the board. Testimonies from various engineers in the program said that they were shocked when they heard the news from that board meeting. They had thought that the board would of shut the project down upon seeing the bomber that couldn’t bomb, the assault craft that couldn't dogfight, and the support gunship that couldn’t jump. The board was pleased that everyone had gotten something out of the deal, and regarded it as the beginning of the program, even though they were several years, and many billions of credits, in.
A complaint was that a crippling hit to the bus would leave four trained navy personnel floating in space, while later models of it’s predecessors had the cockpit act as a detachable lifeboat. This was viewed as unacceptable, and they demanded a change. They also wanted to fill the space under the wings, between the engines, where the bomb bay used to be. The spokeswoman mentioned that the empty space there was created because the craft was too heavy for the engines. Designing new engines this late in the project would take a lot of time and money, she argued. Chewing over that, the board decided she was right, and new engines was not a possibility.
“It new engines weren’t on the table, then the only other option was to add more of them.” was the response of a board member during one of the hearings when pressed on some of the design features. Craft commonly have two engines, even though a single larger engine is more efficient in terms of space, power, and weight. Having two smaller engines to provide the thrust of one allows the craft to continue flying in the event that one suffers an engine failure. However, having more than two usually takes up more space and adds more weight than the optimal layout of just two. The famous Incom T65 and T70 X-wing starfighters both suffer from this, but Incom overcame that with the intelligent layout of their starships.
Adding a third engine already added more mass which largely canceled out most of the gain in thrust. The real question was where they were going to put it. An obvious place would be in the empty space under the wing where the bomb bay used to be, but the board had plans with that space. They were going to add another set of wings with more hardpoints to increase the multi-role capacity of the craft. More hardpoints meant more space for ordnance or equipment for the craft. Unlike internal storage, it could hold more exotic shaped packages, and also release the ordnance quicker and faster. The downside was it weighed more, and had more parts that could break. And the ordnance was suspended outside of the craft, farther from the center of balance, and was in danger of damage from ‘external sources’.
Giving the engineering team credit, they did manage to fit all the ‘recommendations’ that the board had for them on the craft. The command module would be able to detach from the rest of the craft at the bus, and have small, limited maneuverability, feeding off power cells from the guns. This prevented the installment of a secondary reactor and large engines on the command module itself. The added wings and hardpoints were straightforward enough, and could also double as the landing gear for the back half of the craft. The third engine’s placement was problematic, and was slapped on top of the main wing as a stopgap measure with initial plans to move it once a better location was found, or room could be made for it.
The board was pleased with their new multi-roll craft, remarking on how deadly the BTL-S7 looked. However, combat simulations were showing problems with the craft reaching it’s combat speed, and the bomber tended to nose down constantly while in atmosphere. The spokeswoman was adamant about refusing the ‘suggestion’ on adding an additional engine to the craft, as a fourth engine would of meant upgrading or adding another reactor, and adding something like that would call for a complete redesign. Eventually, an overcharge for the engines was added, cutting the operational life in half but slightly increasing the thrust of each one. Then a boost system was added to the top engine, allowing for temporary bursts in speed.
Problems plagued the boost system, which was nicknamed SLAM by a board member, as it tended to burn out after just being activated once. This problem persisted, and it was decided that it would just be replaced after every combat mission. The increased thrust was enough for the bomber to outpace the B-wing, but could not keep up with the old Y-wings unless the SLAM system was activated. The lifeboat, if the command module wasnt hit when the ship was crippled, could detach and offer limited maneuvering to the crew, not enough to return to base, but enough to be easily captured by the foes they were previously fighting. This was 8 years after the initial contract was signed with Koensayer Manufacturing, and the project was several billion credits over budget. It would be another two years before the BTL-S8 saw deployment.
Over those years the frankenstein bomber was affectionately dubbed the K-wing by her test pilots, and the name stuck. Simulation testing showed the craft to still be slow, ungainly, and vulnerable if not escorted. The board pressured the testing offices to change some of the variables, and to change the mindset of “proving” where the craft succeeded, rather than where it failed. However, some of the quality and control testing personnel leaked the results of some tests and how they were fudging numbers for the oversight board. That triggered some watchdog committees to scrutinize the project, to the military commands displeasure.
Almost immediately they found that the project was massively over budget, and a committee of inquiry was launched to find out what was happening with the Republic’s new bomber. It was, at the time, 5 years overdue, and the amount of credits splurged by the project is still currently being tallied, but estimates place the figures in the tens of billions. The end result was a bomber that couldn’t keep place with the current generation of fighters, a ground attack craft that had very limited operational range, a gunship that relied on a carrier, and an assault ship that couldn’t dogfight.
Unfortunately, the damage was done, and the New Republic had around 152 of these profoundly useless K-wings already made and a production line already set up. A new team of designers were ushered in, to review the design and make improvements at minimal cost. An investigation was also launched, which ultimately placed charges on the five most prominent board members, and numerous smaller groups, ranging from misconduct to charges of corruption and money laundering. Lessons were learned and new policy enacted, to prevent an issue like this from ever happening again. The BTL-S8 K-wing itself saw its first combat later that year, and over time adapted to its previous roles, with the help of pilots input and extensive combat studies.
(end of the sixth update)
So, how is it so far? This assumes the New Republic started working on the K-wing after the liberation of the galactic center, and it is first used in 16 ABY, giving me 10 years of development time to pull shenanigans partly inspired by the "pentagon wars" and you guys, that give us the K-wing. I will keep editing the original posts as I go. Due to the lack of lore for the K-wing, I am basically constructing it from scratch. The section on the Y-wing will be used to show how the K-wing matches up (or not) to its predecessor.
I guess notify me and quote snippets where I got lore wrong and stuff with the previous existing ships and cannon, but bear in mind that I might exaggerate some things.
I will keep working on this to finish it up, don't you worry! 
