The R-51 Aeon was a 2 seat Heavy Interdictor and was created to be the spiritual successor and bridge between the Y-wing and B-wing starfighters for the fledgling New Republic. The craft was designed by the famed Mon Calamari shipwright Quarrie, who oversaw every step of construction and prototyping throughout the ships lengthy construction and testing phase. Built from the ground up as a bombing and interdiction platform, the R-51 was outfitted with 6 modular hardpoints for cannons of virtually any configuration and could be reconfigured on the fly to suit a vast array of mission parameters creating a ship that had more flexibility than virtually any vessel in the New Republic fleet. The Aeon was also outfitted with a single torpedo launcher and a variant of the bomblet generator originally found on the Skurrg H-6, but further refined from that concept with the addition of a gimballed pivot joint for the generator and a repelling tractor emitter, allowing the Aeon to deploy its ordinance in virtually any direction rather than simply behind the craft. A downside to this revolutionary technology, was the vast amount of energy required to operate the generator, necessitating a removal of virtually all cannon hardpoints when utilizing the full bomb loadout to allow the crafts reactors to fuel the bomb deployer without leaving the ship dead in space. This shortcoming was often compensated for by fielding flights of 2 Aeons at a time; One with the bombing configuration, and one with the cannon configuration to ensure that both craft were able to cover the shortcomings of one another. The Aeon was exceptionally well shielded and armored and came outfitted with 4 separate matter annihilator drive cores that each fed power to the crafts 4 capital grade fusial thrust engines allowing the craft to reach incredible speeds in spite of its size, though operating the engines at maximum thrust while engaged in combat required a significant bleed off of heat, forcing the Aeon to vent heat through heat sinks located along the crafts central drive section, creating an ample target for enemy fighters to exploit. Taking from lessons learned from both the B-wing and the Y-wing starfighters, Quarrie configured the Aeon without the complicated and malfunction-prone gyroscopic controls of the b-wing, but maintained a similar profile and flight characteristics while also adding the bombing characteristics and sturdiness of the Y-wing, creating a remarkably durable, reliable and deadly Interdictor that could carry its flight crew into the depths of enemy territory to deliver their ordinance and return them home in one piece.
