In the year 2945, humanity was at war with the Vanduul in a battle to drive them out of numerous systems or risk being overwhelmed. One of the Vanduul’s latest ships was more than a match for the latest UEE tech and that ship was called the Stinger. Although the A3G Vanguard Series had already proven itself as an incredibly valuable asset against the Vanduul, the UEE wanted to have a new fighter built from the ground up to outperform whatever the Vanduul had to offer next.
Aegis Dynamics created the Sabre, an agile dogfighter with a strong emphasis on speed and stealth and pitched it to the UEE Navy in an effort to win the bid for the next generation fighter contract. To this day, the UEE Navy has still not accepted Aegis’s offer to adopt the Sabre but that didn’t stop the company from offering the newest fighter to civilians.
As Aegis was still dealing with immense backlash from the public over their role in supplying weapons and military hardware throughout the oppressive Messer Regime, selling the fighter at all costs was at the top of the minds of Aegis executives. But little did Aegis know that the Sabre would put the company back into the spotlight once again but in a positive light.
The Sabre sold extremely well in the civilian sector as numerous civilians and corporations ranging from former Navy pilots to PMC organizations wanted to have a solid fighter that was both durable and adaptable to a wide range of combat situations. But Aegis had another ace up its sleeve, and that was the introduction of the Sabre Raven, the next step in the Sabre Line.
Due to the commercial and explosive sales of the base Sabre model, the Raven was able to be born.
Before the Raven was unveiled to the general public in October 2947 in Frankfurt, Germany during the annual gathering of citizens which is known as CitizenCon, Aegis invited a select group of individuals to a secret testing facility in the Davien System to allow a first look at the newly constructed Raven. Among this group included several pilots from across the Empire, two writers from the famous magazine known as Whitley’s Guide, and even some astro-engineers.
During this demonstration, lead designer Blair Nyberg took them on a tour of the prototype exclaiming how this variant was much smaller than the normal Sabre to both increase aerodynamics and put an emphasis on stealth. Nyberg also mentioned that the Raven was designed as an intelligence model though he was interested to see what other uses owners of the ship would do with it.
Furthermore he stated that the newly built Raven had a smaller profile than the regular Sabre, plus it was built around 2 highly advanced EMP generators tucked away into the hull. These EMP generators were built by the company called MaxOx who focuses on personal and ship based ordinance. Alongside the unique hull design and EMP addition, the entire avionics and sensor suite package had been overhauled from the ground up and that this was one of the most advanced fighters to purchase for those lucky to get their hands on it.
Speaking of luck, Nyberg mentioned that the Raven wasn’t going to be mass produced and instead extremely limited to only a very small amount of production numbers to emphasize its importance and uniqueness among the rest of the ships available throughout the UEE.
“This is first and foremost an extremely limited ship, the vast majority of citizens will not be able to get access to one, but to those that manage to snag one, they will have a ship in their collection that is both an incredibly useful tool and will turn heads everywhere it is flown.”
Blair Nyberg, Lead Ship Designer, Raven Division
After the Raven was introduced to the general public during an annual CitizenCon in 2947, the ship was an instant success and became the crown jewel of those fortunate enough to obtain one through the unique purchase promotion. To market the Raven, Aegis Dynamics had partnered with Intel, a company known for their skill in developing a vast amount of computers and technology for both citizens and governmental organizations.
The Raven was locked behind incredibly exclusive drives that were only manufactured by Intel. If a citizen managed to purchase a drive for a high price tag, they’d have to run it through Aegis’s corporate chain of communication to get the codes verified. If that process was completed successfully, Aegis would fly that particular citizen out to their headquarters in the Davien System where the CEO of the company would personally congratulate them on their new Raven. At this event, Aegis would also paint the Raven in a special black and blue livery to symbolize the partnership between Intel and Aegis
As the Raven was an ultra exclusive ship that was incredibly rare to find flying around in the verse, some owners sought to come up with a plan to start a club to connect other Raven owners from across the Empire. Although this club started off slow due the exclusivity of the ship, once quarterly ship meetups began, the club began to rapidly expand into what it is today.
Named SROC or the Sabre Raven Owners Club, this organization’s primary purpose is to maintain interest in the ship which only continues to get rarer and rarer. In this club, Raven owners get the chance to talk with fellow owners regarding ship updates, customization, and perhaps engage in one of the main attractions: quarterly ship meetups where once every quarter, those that own a Raven are personally invited to attend a ship show where Ravens gather in one spot and owners get to meet each other for the first time. These meetups have exploded over the past few months to be noticed by Aegis Dynamics who regularly attends these meetings as well to show their support for not just the Raven but to SROC and its members.
