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- "Looks like the Imperials welded an engine booster pack to a simple TIE fighter. Wow, can that thing move!"
- ―Rebel pilot Gwen Habbert
The TIE Experimental M5, also known as the TIE Booster, was an experimental member of the TIE Series and a part of the TIE Experimental Project.
Characteristics
One of the starfighters built by an Imperial research project led by Director Lenzer under the command of Grand Admiral Demetrius Zaarin, the M5 was essentially a standard TIE/LN starfighter, but with a large booster engine attached to the aft of the fighter.
The fighter, thanks to the booster, was much faster than the standard TIE/LN, but its maneuverability was slightly lower. Like the other TIE Experimentals, the M5 was remotely controlled by a modified Beta-class ETR-3 escort transport. The fighter was equipped with a hyperdrive, which was slaved to remote systems in the control ship. Many TIE M5's also had shield generators added with no discernable loss of performance.
History
Rebel forces first encountered the M5 when the Empire executed a retaliatory strike against the cruiser Liberty. They were also present at the main TIE Experimental research facility, defending the hangar ship Sardis and space station Obsidian.
After the destruction of space platform Obsidian, no TIE Experimental fighters were seen again.