Hornet Interceptors are unusual starfighters, and look just like their names. Designed for the mysterious Tenloss Syndicate by s consortium of freelance engineers, Interceptors are short-range fighters, used primarily for defending against pirates, smugglers, and sometimes even the Empire.
The freelance engineers found that during the time of the reincarnated Palpatine, they had to hire out their services. This was a worrying time for the Tenloss Syndicate, but fortunately the engineers found a market for their work and the money was soon pouring back in.
Hornets have strange weaponry; not quite full turbolasers but more powerful than standard laser cannons. Their downside is that they become dangerous to operate after just a few uses. Although not heavily armed, Hornets do have great manoeuvrability. Slightly faster than X-Wings at sublight, Interceptors have engines and manoeuvring jets situated amidships and triangulated at equidistant points around the hull. With no hyperdrive, since the fighters are only short-range ships, this gives the pilots a much needed advantage in dogfights.
When being designed, the Tenloss Syndicate asked for a fighter that had a similar mission profile to the TIE fighter. This enabled the Syndicate to mass produce the Hornet Interceptors, which are fast and lightweight.
For atmospheric flight the Hornet has insectile wings attached to its thin, round fuselage. In an emergency, a self-contained command pod which holds the cockpit can be ejected. Since most enemy fighters strike the rear of the ships reinforced hull plating has been placed there, but the rest of the craft has light armour plating to reduce on mass. In order to give the pilots better protection, two small shield generators are located on the fighters, although these do not really protect the ship too much.
Since Hornets produce great performances, there is much demand for the ships. Only groups affiliated with the Tenloss Syndicate may gain use of them, although many were stolen after the death of the reborn Emperor. As a result many criminal organisations managed to add the Interceptors to their fleets, although more often than not they fund they had been cheated. It was not unusual for credits to change hands only for the buyer to find their Hornet Interceptor had been stripped down, and decrepit parts from old Y-Wings and Z-95 Headhunters had been added on.