The Riever heavy fighter was long the impressive mainstay of House Marik's aerospace forces. Most do not realize that the Draconis Combine maintained a factory complex for the massive flying wing as well, but while the Mariks upgraded their factories with Star League technology the Combine had other concerns. It was not until the Jihad hit them that the Coordinator ordered a refit of the design. The fall of Altair resulted in the loss of its factories and the Rievers in Combine service began to die. By the end of the Jihad they were extinct, the victims of battle damage and loss of spare parts. When the Ridzik brothers captured Altair, they found blueprints of the F-700K and instantly placed a large number of resources into rebuilding the factories. They have since built new factories for the design and it has become the most common fighter in use throughout the Tikonov Free Republic.

         Unlike many other aerospace fighter designs, the Riever is not a copy of a Star League production model, but an original design. In addition to being a reliable fighter, the Riever is more easily maintained and repaired than most Star League-based designs. Designed purely to aid in establishing air superiority, the Riever has a low thrust rating that prevents it from carrying much air-to-surface ordnance. Instead of attacking surface troops, the Riever engages enemy fighters and DropShips in close combat.
         The Riever's main weapon is an Imperator Class-20 rapidfire autocannon adapted for aerospace combat. Though its ammunition supply is limited to little more than a minute of weapons fire, the weapon can still inflict devastating damage. The four Artemis-equipped Republican Far-Shot seven-tube Multi-Missile Launchers allow it to launch up to twenty-eight missiles in each salvo. Though the Riever's total firepower is lower than that of some other heavy fighters such as the Thunderbird, most pilots feel that the extra armor protection and the versatile ammunition loads more than compensates for this slight inferiority.
         Because of the unusual wing design necessitated by the vehicle's heavy armor and weapons, the Riever is not particularly fast and maneuverable. The extra lift provided by its wings in atmospheric flight precludes intricate acrobatic maneuvers, meaning that the Riever cannot easily evade lighter, more agile enemy fighters. If such an enemy happens to enter the Riever's field of fire, however, the battle usually ends right there.
         Against fighters of similar mass, the heavily armored Riever is well-matched. Though inferior to some craft, the Riever actually outguns faster heavy fighters such as the Eagle because it can sustain heavy damage while waiting for an enemy to get within range of its weapons.

         While it was once heavily used by the Draconis Combine, all but a handful of these units have fallen over the years. It is now the primary heavy fighter of the Tikonov Free Republic though, and is the most commonly seen fighter in that region of space.