It had begun as an innocent remark over dinner.

Pherik ‘Serpent’ Zail had met his newest friend, pilot Trou Belin of Deathriders Squadron, for a meal in the mess hall.  Belin had been shot down in the recent Second Battle of Belgaroth, and had been forced to improvise a rescue signal after his emergency transponder was damaged.  It had been Zail who had recognised Belin’s signal and arranged the TIE pilot’s safe retrieval, and the two had developed a firm friendship as a result.

While making conversation, Zail had observed, “The more time I spend on this ship, the more I feel like I could do with understanding it better.”

Belin, a hard-faced man with a shaven head (a look more fitting of a Stormtrooper than a pilot), cocked an eyebrow.  “You mean the Halcyon Warrior?” He asked, referring to the grand Star Destroyer they both served upon.

Zail nodded.  “An officer should know his vessel inside and out,” Asserted the young non-com.  With a smile, he added, “Granted I’m not an officer in rank yet, but I am the First Officer, now.”

Deathriders Twelve looked at him.  “Well, a Star Destroyer is a very complex piece of machinery,” He said.  “However, if you want to start with something a bit smaller, I can help you out.”

“Go on,” Said Zail, curious.

“I’ve got a new Interceptor,” Said Belin, both of them well aware of the story of how he lost the old one.  “I have no idea where the VEN got the kriffing thing, but that TIE handles like a drunken bantha.  It keeps pulling to the left and I have to wrestle with the controls just to fly straight.”

“Why not have one of the deck crews look at it?” Asked Zail.

Belin’s chest swelled with professional pride.  “No one touches my fighter but me,” He declared.  “And maybe you, if I can persuade you to help me.”

“Sure,” Said Serpent.  “Sounds fun!”

-----

The two men met in the TIE hangar bay during their next mutual break.  Belin’s Interceptor had been lowered from its place on the launch rack, and now occupied a raised work platform on the gleaming white Star Destroyer deck.

Close by stood a repair droid, trying to make itself useful.  Belin swiped its tool box and then give it a kick for standing too close to his ship.  The droid scurried off, understanding a dismissal.

“Okay,” Said Zail, “How do we get started?”

The Deathriders pilot produced a datapad and handed it to his friend.  “I’ve taken the liberty of uploading the schematics for a TIE Interceptor into this.  You can refer to it as we go.  First thing I want to do is take a look at the flight controls and see if there is some problem there.”

Serpent brought up the area in question on the pad as Belin stepped forward to his TIE.  He went around and opened a panel at the back of the central cockpit ball, and had a glance at the wiring and circuitry located there.  Zail stepped to his side and they got to work.

-----

There was a lot to learn, and Serpent was grateful that his time at the Academy had included basic courses on starship design, giving him a good grounding in what they were doing.  As they worked, Zail consulted his datapad for information on the Seiner Fleet Systems F-s4 flight avionics system, the central hub of the fighter’s control, and struggled to keep up with his friend.

Serpent assisted Belin as the other man went through the system wire by wire, but nothing was amiss.  “Perhaps the bad handling is more of a software fault?” Suggested Zail after they turned up nothing.

“Agreed,” Said the pilot, and the two hooked up the flight computer to Zail’s datapad.  The pad ran a check of the avionics system’s programming, checking for any glitches that would account for the fighter’s odd habit of drifting to port.  Again, nothing.

Belin sighed.  “Okay, so the cockpit is giving the right commands to the ship,” He said.  “Obviously, the problem lies in the ship’s execution of those commands.”

“You mean the maneuvering jets?” Confirmed Zail, and the other man nodded.

So it was that they then spent an hour going over the Interceptor’s P-w401 ion maneuvering jets with a fine tooth comb.  Zail had never been a TIE pilot himself, but even as a school child playing with model ships he knew the basics of space flight.  In an atmosphere, flying vehicles would steer by using air resistance.  In space that was not an option, so maneuvering jets were needed at key points to rotate and push a fighter through the void.

Belin had surmised that the fault in the TIE’s handling was a result of an imbalance in those jets, and Zail had concurred.  Using specially calibrated scanners to measure the power flow and output of the jets, they tested each one individually.

“Nothing wrong,” Said Belin, running his eyes over the scanner after testing the last of them.

Zail checked the readings against the specs on his datapad.  A perfect match.  “So what now?” He asked.

The other man shrugged, suddenly puzzled.  “The controls are giving the right commands, and the ship is perfectly capable of executing those commands.  I must admit, I am at a loss.”

Serpent briefly considered the idea of ‘pilot error’, but was not about to offend the other man by suggesting it.  Besides, he could tell from his friend’s face that that was exactly where his thoughts were turning now.  Wanting to give Trou another option, Zail turned back to his datapad.

“What about the engines?” He asked, bringing up the specs for the SFS P-s4 twin ion engine (from which the TIE range of fighters got their name).

“All the engines do is provide power to the maneuvering jets,” Said Belin.  “And we tested the jets.  If they are working fine it means that the engines are too.”

Zail shook his head.  “No, we tested the jets one by one,” He said.  “But in combat, you use multiple jets together to twist and turn as you fight.  What if the problem lies in that?”

The pilot nodded slowly as he began to see what Zail was driving at.  “So we should check the output of the engines themselves!  Yes, good idea!"

-----

The twin ion engine array was a brilliantly simple and efficient device, hence its widespread use.  Not only was it easy to operate, but it was also easy to spot flaws, and under the scrutiny of Zail and Belin, the problem was soon apparent.

“That’s it,” Said Serpent as his friend lifted out a damaged microchip.  “Scratched, and definitely faulty.”

Belin nodded sagely, as if he had seen the problem before.  “Must have taken a knock during construction, it happens from time to time.”  He looked at the part of the engine from whence the faulty part had come.  “Yeah, see?  This was linked in to the systems that provide power to the port maneuvering jets.”

“No wonder it drifted,” Agreed Zail.  “I’m pretty sure we have that part in stock here on the Warrior,” Said the XO, recalling the inventory of TIE parts from the last resupply run.  “We can have that replaced in no time.”

“Great,” Said Belin, happy to have his Interceptor sorted out.  “Thanks for your help, Pherik.”

“Anytime.”

OOC:

1235 words.  My Ancillary Skill for Starfighter Mechanics.  It may be a bit formulaic, but I like to have an NPC help school my character on his skills.  In this case I used an NPC I created for High Stakes at Belgaroth.  Any problems just let me know!