Rory Swann
Physical
Race	Terran
Gender	Male
Hair	Brown
Eyes	Brown
Political
Affiliation	Kel-Morian Combine (formerly) Raynor's Raiders
Occupation	Miner and mine owner (formerly) Chief Engineer of the Hyperion Marauder
Real Life
Voice Actor	Fred Tatasciore[1]

Rory Swann is the chief engineer of Raynor's Raiders.

He's "a big fun guy" who speaks with a New York accent, and has been described as the "soul of the ship". His main task is keeping Hyperion together in the years since it was stolen from the Terran Dominion^[2] and is constantly working on new technology.^[3]

Swann has extensive knowledge of technology and units^[4] and is quite opinionated on some of them. He has a very favorable view of the diamondback. On the other hand, in disagreement with Jim Raynor, he derides the vulture as poorly designed. He often addresses Raynor as "cowboy" and "hotshot," and sometimes "chief."^[5]

Though temperamental opposites, Swann gets along well and is good friends with Bill "Pearly" Bousquette, the sergeant in charge of the Raider's SceeVee Special Engineering Corps. They roughly have the same rank and the same expertise, but as a rule their duties never overlap, and so they can gripe to each other with total impunity and not risk ruffled feathers. They often drink together in the Cantina.^[6]

BiographyEdit

MinerEdit

Rory Swann came from a family of tech-savvy miners. His own understanding of technology was even deeper than theirs, however. Instead of leaving and becoming an engineer, he remained in the mining industry.

He opened a mining operation on Meinhoff at considerable cost, but he enjoyed initial success. However, his operation was soon being crushed by ever-rising taxes. Other operations, secretly under the control of Tavish Kerr, didn't face this burden. Kerr was bribing officials to put rival claims out of business through excessive taxes. Swann tried lodging a complaint against Kerr to Kel-Morian Combine officials, but all those involved with Meinhoff had been bribed. Kerr had no interest in sharing profits with him either.

Swann started a miner's revolt, claiming independence from the Combine. However, Combine forces arrived and mercilessly crushed the revolt. Swann himself lost an arm, along with many friends, and was only saved because Raynor's Raiders responded to their distress signal. Swann had nothing left, so he joined the Raiders, becoming the chief engineer of Jim Raynor's ship, the Hyperion.^[7]

RebelEdit

Swann worked to keep the Raiders' spirits up during dark times, remembering his debt to Raynor.^[7] He often pushed Raynor to fight the Dominion.^[8] He came to establish an armory bowling team during his time on the ship^[9] and encouraged people to sign up.^[10] When Milo Kachinsky joined the Raiders, Swann, still remembering his failed revolt against the Kel-Morians, argued with Raynor about Kackinsky's membership. Swann eventually grew to respect Kachinsky and placed him in charge of the robotics wing of Hyperion's weapons research.^[11]

Second Great WarEdit

With the return of the zerg to the Koprulu Sector in 2504, Swann aided Raynor in his activities. Mostly this involved procuring weapons and technology, along with providing upgrades for both.^[5] At other times he took a more direct role, providing support/reinforcements via special ops dropship. During the conflict, Swann had to deal with unwanted individuals – Agrian colonists wandering around in his armory and "pirate" Gabriel Tosh, prompting an inventory check.^[5]

On Monlyth, Swann procured marauders for Raynor's Raiders and picked up the artifact,^[12] and on Xil, Swann reinforced the Raiders with siege tanks.^[13] He also acquired banshees for the mission on Typhon XI.^[14]

This article or section contains information from the optional Colonist Missions in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.

When Raynor's Raiders came to rescue the colonists of Agria, Swann was able to procure firebats for them.^[15] On Meinhoff, Swann was able to procure the hellion schematics^[16], and on Haven, Swann called in a few favors to get the viking schematics.^[17][18]

This article or section contains information from the optional Covert Missions in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.

For the mission on Bel'Shir, Swann got goliaths to aid the Raiders.^[19]

Being helped to free "his brothers" from New Folsom, Tosh submitted data to Swann so that spectre equipment could be manufactured.^[20][5]

Being helped to destroy the spectre creating facility at Avernus Station, Nova submitted data to Swann so that ghost equipment could be manufactured.^[21][5]

This article or section contains information from the optional Rebellion Missions in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.

After finding abandoned diamondbacks on Tarsonis, Swann got their schematics so that the Raiders could produce them.^[22] When the Raiders attacked Valhalla, Swann reinforced them with Wraiths.^[23] After the Raiders stole the Odin from Valhalla, Swann reverse engineered the thor schematics from examining it, and made it less expensive to produce.^[24]

The Powder KegEdit

When Raynor allied with Valerian Mengsk in an effort to retrieve xel'naga artifacts that could deinfest Sarah Kerrigan, Swann was concerned, knowing that the Hyperion's crew was composed of individuals who lost family and friends to the Dominion, hated it, and would not look kindly upon an alliance. However, Raynor didn't care, and promptly justified his decision.^[5] Such concerns were well founded and Swann found himself defending Raynor against Kachinsky's outburst. In the case of Tychus Findlay, the convict and armorer came to blows. Swann was no match for a CMC-clad convict; he was thrown easily onto Kachinsky. Raynor intervened however and put the crew at ease, helping Swann to his feet.^[25]

He would also be glad to get battlecruiser schematics from Valerian after the mission to the Sigma Quadrant Worldship.^[26][5]

Belly of the BeastEdit

During the invasion of Char, Raynor took Swann into the tunnels to prevent the zerg from using the nydus network in the coming assault on the main hive. The engineer carried the seismic charges to flood the tunnels with lava, and an enhanced Perdition turret, "Flaming Betty". He felt uncomfortable on the battlefield, much to Raynor and Findlay's amusement.^[27]

CampaignEdit

Main article: Bay 12 (Hyperion)

Rory Swann is usually stationed in the Hyperion's armory and oversees researching upgrades.

Game UnitEdit

Rory Swann
Unit
Race	Terran
Affiliation	Raynor's Raiders
Campaign	Wings of Liberty
Base unit	Marauder
Armament	Grenade launchers Claw (hidden)
Movement
Speed	2.25
Protection
Hit points	200
Armor	1
Type	Heroic
Grenade launchers
Damage	25
Targets	Ground
Cooldown	1.2

Swann appears as a hero marauder in the "Belly of the Beast" mission. He is capable of deploying a Flaming Betty, which is useful for keeping zerg at bay.

He has a melee attack, made with his cybernetic arm, in addition to the standard ranged attack.^[27]

Flaming Betty
Usage Duration 45 Cooldown 44 Hotkey T
Notes
Rory Swann can deploy a Flaming Betty.

NotesEdit

• Rory Swann's portrait is available on battle.net for players who complete the Master Mechanic achievement.

• Swann's overall look and body build is very similar to that of a dwarf from the Warcraft universe. Much like most dwarves, he has a mining and engineering background.

ReferencesEdit