Einarr stood in the hangar deck of the Adjudicator, the tools adorning his belt over the armor shining new and clean. He missed his old set, but he had to leave them behind on Dantooine upon the escape. He examined first the standard issue HydroSpanner, the cylindrical tool was freshly charged, the retracting bits and connections showed no signs of wear. He checked the hinge on the socket driver attachment to confirm it adjusted properly, then returned it to the slot on his belt. Next came the standard issue F-187 fusion cutter, the fuel canister was tight in its slot, the fittings sealed to prevent leakage. 3 more fuel cells were ready on his belt, he nodded as he calculated the time it would take to check and maintain his newly issued TIE Interceptor factoring the 4 hours of work time the canisters would provide. Next he triggered the tool, adjusting the flow of the beam from millimeter sized all the way up to six centimeters in width, smiling he reset it to the standard cutting width before turning the tool off. Finding his chief tools to be sufficient to the task, he slid the fusion cutter back into its loop, then turned to make way to his fighter sitting passively in its rack.
The sharp arrow shaped profile of the solar array wings held in their docking clamps were unmarred, the light absorbing black panels covering the wings stood in their titanium alloy frames, Einarr examined them visually from the catwalk above his fighter before hooking his harness to the tie off points. He had not seen any visible marring or damage, but He wanted to get a closer look. Einarr stepped over the rail and fed out the line slowly, he came even with the top row of panels on the port side of the fighter before locking the ropes feed system to secure him at height. Turning he had Cassius pull up the design specifications and blueprints for the TIE/IN as he slowly compared the manufacturer specifications to the panels, and frames before him. He found his first sign of wear about ¾ of the way down the top solar array, one of the panels was loose in the frame, the rattling this created causing the sides of the panel itself to wear the connections inset in the frame thin. Drawing his Hydro spanner Einarr removed the bolts holding the casement. Inserting the tip of his left hands index finger he inspected the worn conductors before removing them with quick passes of his Hydrospanners slotted attachment to pop loose the pins and catches holding in the connections, next he used a small set of cutters to snip the wire loose, then retrieving a fresh conductor from the pouch on his hip he socketed the wire. Using the inner catch of the snips he crimped the wire into the slot, then sprayed on a quick dry sealant from a container tied onto his harness. He repeated this process for the remaining connections, then carefully reseated the solar panel in the pane. A second layer of sealant protected the edges of the pane from the ravages of the cold of space, finally he popped the casement back into place and drove the retention bolts back into place.
He repeated the inspection and repair process on the starboard wing, 3 more panels replaced and an hour of shift time, he slowly maneuvered hand over hand until he could slip inside the wings curve. He played out the rope lanyard as his feet came to rest on the support column containing the SFS P-s5.6 ion engine. Leaning over the edge at the rear of the wing he fixed a sonic tool to the hydrospanner and began cleaning the residue from the exhaust vent, the sonic vibrations dissolving the bonds of the clumped leftovers of the exhaust emitted by the ion engine. Next he pulled a small vacuum hose from his belt to remove the remnant dust and debris to clear the port. Einarr pulled a cord from his tool bag and fixed one end in the data socket behind his ear, the other plugged into a small diagnostic port under a panel on the inside edge of the ion engines main feed line. Cassius loaded up a diagnostic program as Einarr removed a set of armor plates with his spanner to get to the local controls for the flaps and feed control. The Starboard engine slowly came to life on a standby power setting as Cassius began testing the flow levels, the AI analyzed the settings as he fed small adjustments to Einarr through their link. Einarr's hydrospanner worked the torsion controls for the flaps adjusting the sensitivity levels to match his optimal recorded levels. Cassius satisfied with the newly optimized performance of the flaps, stepped down the power to the engines as it analyzed the fuel feed systems. The AI swiftly categorized a list of minor issues, a blocked fuel line here, a crimped hose there. The total had reduced this engines performance by 15%, Cassius began guiding Einarr in the replacement of the lines and the repair of the crimped hose. The AI diverted flow to the line as Einarr went to work on the clamps locking the line to the feed system, a flick of his wrist with the hydrospanner popping the hose loose. Next came a snake wire, the thin wire covered in a coarse wire was fed slowly through the line, the bristles catching and breaking loose the coating of stale fuel that had accrued inside the line. As Einarr slowly withdrew the wire snake, a slow trickle of previously trapped fuel began dribbling out of the line. Einarr quickly retrieved his vac hose and caught the trickle as it began streaming out, preventing the risk of allowing the spent fuel from creating a hazardous situation for the other techs and crew working on the deck below his fighter. The flow slowly ran down to a trickle, then stopped completely as the fuel previously trapped in the line ran out. Einarr snapped the line back into place in the feed system, then locked the clamp back into place with his Hydrospanner. As soon as Cassius detected the seal integrity on the line, the AI restored pressure to it, the fuel flow checking out at optimal as it ran across the internal sensors, into the feed reservoir, then back into a return line as the reservoir reached capacity.
Einarr moved the the crimped hose as Cassius continued the testing on the feed lines, the hose meant for returning air flow which had been through the ion engine through a series of RAD scrubbers. Einarr removed a sensor from his bag as he measured the hose for any residual radiation, finding the hose to be safe, he started by removing the hose clamp and seal from the nearest end of the crimped section. A gentle rocking of his wrist on the hose pulled it free of the socket, this allowed Einarr to pull the hose straight, the crimp unfolding as the ridged hose flexed free. Einarr inspected the hose visually first, then with a slow working of his biological left hand, he felt for any cracks in the insulation, or heavy spots which would indicate the shielding inside the hose had cracked or broken loose. Finding a 2 inch crack in the crimped section, he lifted his right arm, the PAC attached to his cybernetic wrist lit as he brought it up and keyed the protocols for communication with the flight decks engineering section.
“Engineering section, Hangar supply whatcha need boss?” The slow drawl of the logistics officer came over the small speaker.
“This is Petty Officer Einarr Ghylthir, Jexxel squadron, Besh . I need a new Radiation return hose, might as well add a fresh filter to the order as well.” As Einarr spoke, the implanted comm bead in his cybernetic head section linked to the PAC cleaned up the ambient noise in the hangar so his voice rang clear on the other end. Cassius pulled up the proper logistical forms, inputted the required information, digitally signed for Einarr and transmitted them to the Logistics officers datapad.
“Gotcha Petty Officer, your forms are here and clear. I'll send a droid down with em shortly.” The line disconnected as the logistics officer closed the link. Einarr sat down on the support column with his back against the inner curve of the wing as he waited for the droid. Cassius continued to search for issues for a space of minutes before powering down the remaining systems in the Ion engine.
“Find anything else that needs replacing Cass?”
“Negative sir, the remaining systems seem to be in working order on this wing. I do suggest adjustments to the missile feed system, secondary focusing lens on the number 4 laser, as well as 2 wire harnesses in the control boards of the port side engine. These adjustments will improve combat survivability by roughly .7%.” The monotone voice of a noble sounding Mon Calamari diplomat rang out from the PAC 's speaker, Einarr had gotten tired of the odd looks he got when someone caught him seemingly talking to himself while the AI was doing its internal dialog. Einarr had also made some adjustments to its speech protocols, the constant announcement of statement or decision type had annoyed the Mon Calamari pilot to no end.
“Will do Cass, send them to the pad and I will get it done while we wait for the parts.”
“Yes sir, transfer complete.”
Einarr moved to the starboard wing, the dual missile launchers in the center of the wing had on external examination been replaced recently, the tubes lacked the slightly worn look of many of the other TIE/IN fighters in their racks, the panels covering the internal feed racks for the concussion missiles on the bottom, and the slightly large magazine for the fighter sized proton torpedoes in their slots waiting for their opportunities to fly free and shatter themselves and their targets. Einarr checked the PAC 's screen as Cassius fed directions over the sub-verbal link. The hydrospanner slid into the workings and adjusted a feed chain here, a gear assembly there. The torsion on the chain tightening in key spots, next came the locks on the magazine. He first tested the tension on the feed system, confirming the slotted chain was tight in its track, ready to grab the missiles as soon as the techs locked in the fresh magazine. He confirmed the hooks were straight and properly angled to catch the containers in their loops, then he took a step back. Cassius sent power from the ship systems to the missile feed, the actuators warming up then rotating the chain in a fast feed pattern. Einarr watched as the empty feed system ran through, the actuator lining up an empty container on the tube, a piston shooting forward to push the nonexistent missile into the tube, the locking system closing off the tube as the control jaws locked onto an imaginary missile, and finally the spark of electrical current between the jaws which would program the missiles targeting system and send it on its way. The systems carried out this process with a mechanical fluidity, and Einarr admired the smooth motion. Cassius reversed the flow, resetting the hooks in their original position and returning the empty spool to the magazine to await replacement with a full one.
Next Einarr moved to the #4 laser, the barrel jutting from the upper edge of the lower solar array on the starboard wing. He followed the guidance of Cassius to the access slot for the secondary focal lens, the lens was seated inside the barrel, but a quick loosening of the securement bolts locking the barrel in its grooved slot. Next he twisted the shrouding covering the barrel in a counterclockwise motion, the shrouding sliding free of its threads as Einarr moved it forward to rest on the barrel. Underneath the section the shrouding had covered, a set of adjustment screws were placed on 4 sides of the barrel. Cassius fed a barely measurable level of power through the barrel, the light generated hit the series of lenses allowing Cassius to measure the focus, power, and clarity of the beam. Cassius fed the adjustments to Einarr as the Mon Cal went to work with the hydrospanner, tightening or loosening the screws to adjust the orientation of the lens in the barrel. The power of the beam adjusted in corresponding levels, the increase and decrease of measurable light stabilizing as Cassius had Einarr stow his hydrospanner back in its loop.
“It has reached optimal performance levels sir”
“Good, any word on the parts? Also did you amend the order for the 2 wire harnesses?”
“Yes sir, expected arrival time is 10 minutes. Suggest you close up the laser assembly and return to the catwalk above.” Einarr nodded as he reseated the shroud in its grooves then tightened it down on the threads. The barrel securement bolts were next, their length disappearing as Einarr drove them home with the hydrospanner once more. Einarr turned and climbed the rounded surface of the cockpit, the lanyard adjusting the slack as he gripped the boarding ladder and climbed to the catwalk. He unsnapped the lanyard from his harness and locked it to the top rung of the ladder before climbing the rest of the way onto the catwalk to await the parts droid.
A short time later a J9 worker drone strolled onto the catwalk. The droid was pushing a flatbed gravlift cart loaded with the section of hose cut to spec, as well as the filter in its case and a pair of smaller cases containing the wiring harnesses. An assortment of other parts sat further back on the cart awaiting delivery to other maintenance techs, engineers, or pilots working on fighters in the bay. The droid set the parts beside the railing, next to Einarr, offered a datapad for a confirmation signature, then turned and returned to its delivery route. Einarr loaded the parts into a small parts elevator then sent the lift down to the boarding hatch level of the fighter, then he climbed back onto the ladder, re-hooked his lanyard to the harness and descended to meet it.
Picking up the hose and filter, Einarr carried them over to the still open panels, he sat them down beside the hole then bent to finish removing the remainder of the hose, careful not to drop any of the loose insulation that had broken free of the inside into the engine itself where it might clog up the works. Next he removed the replacement hose from its case and set the primary end into the filter side sealant ring. A quick turn of his spanner, and a spray of sealant locked the end in place, Einarr began carefully feeding the hose through its route in the inner workings of the fighters engine column. The hose safely laid in its slots, he confirmed a lack of crimps, cuts, or fraying in the outer layer of insulation then locked it into the engine side sealant ring. Once more the work of spanner on the clamp, as well as a spray of sealant locked it in place. Einarr nodded then moved back to the filter side, 4 bolts, 2 latches, and a cover panel came away in quick succession to reveal a rather toxic looking heavily used RADD filter.
“Gods of the Sea, did the techs ever replace this thrice damned thing?”
“Yes actually, but it was not due for another one for another 3 or 4 flights.” A dulcet tone sounded behind him and Einarr spun on one knee to face a short, thin Togruta female, her red skin, tall horn covered head, and white tattoo like markings contrasting sharply with the black duty coveralls of a flight engineer. “What are you doing working on this fighter? I'm the tech assigned to it?” Her sharp fangs poked free of her lips as she did her best intimidating posture.
Einarr stood to his full height, flexing the cybernetic right hand slowly as he faced the posturing female. “I am the pilot of this fighter, and since it is my life on the line it is also my prerogative to confirm Everything is in optimal working condition. So far I have repaired 4 panels on the arrays, the RADD return hose, optimized the missile magazine, and the secondary focal lens on the number 4 laser. Cass says there is still 2 wiring harnesses needing replaced on the port engine board, and I have to replace this filter now as well.” As Einarr spoke, emphasizing certain words, he gestured at the busted RADD hose still laying on the hull of the Interceptor, his posture emphasizing the fact that he was not happy with the shoddy level of maintenance the fighter had been in.
“Who is this Cass? I don't know any tech by that name. Also this fighter has just been reassigned, I had not gotten the chance to look it over yet.” She seemed to relax as she realized he was not some other technician trying to steal her work, her shoulders relaxing from their stiff as a board aspect, and her hands coming off her hips to gesture in apology. “Here you get this filter replaced and I will go swap those harnesses?”
“Done, but I will be over there momentarily to help you. Cass is not one of your techs, he's my AI, and he seems to be doing a better job than whatever halfwit had it before you.”
“Yeah the last tech to work on this one was a Devronian by the name of Castor, not much flowing between his ears if you catch the drift. I'm Kaja Dural by the way.” She extended her hand and Einarr took it in a firm grip. She smiled as he released her hand then turned to work on the other wire harnesses on the other wing sections engines. Dismissed the female from his thoughts as soon as she was out of sight, then bent to remove the fresh filter from its case. He then donned specially lined gloves as he bent to snap the final locks off of the old filter, the square dirty filter slid free as Einarr pulled and he quickly popped it into the new ones case and closed it locking in the filter so it would not be able to leak if any of its heavily weathered seals or components broke loose. Einarr then slid the lock plate back on, sealed the edges, engaged the outer locks with his spanner, then bolted it into place with the 4 coated bolts. He then stood, visually inspected his work area to make sure no debris had dropped into the engine, then closed and bolted the armor plates back in place. Finally he carefully picked up the bad hose, careful not to spill any of the insulation rolling around inside onto the people below as he closed it in the new hoses case, marked it as a bad part and sealed it for shipping to the recyclers. Einarr lifted the 2 cases and carried them to the elevator, slid and secured them inside the cage and headed to help Kaja at her work on the harnesses.
As Einarr approached Kaja was just soldering the last few connections from the 2nd wire harness into the control board, the primary connections already crimped and weather sealed. Einarr inspected her work on the first unit and found that this female had an eye for detail, not only was the job done properly but she had even rolled the excess wire into coils, secured them with strips of tape, and stowed them where they would not interfere with anything. He picked up the cover panel and began securing it back in its casement, as she finished with the second harness and did the same, they both coated the edges with a thin layer of sealant, then began bolting the armor plates back in place. Einarr finished a moment or two ahead of Kaja, so he turned to examine her work, as she finished she did the same for his. They shared a acknowledging look of respect as Kaja bent to pack the second bad harness into the case, then they headed for the boarding ladder. Einarr headed up the ladder as Kaja stowed the cases beside the others in the elevator, then Einarr called it to the top as she ascended the ladder. Einarr disconnected his lanyard and lowered it down the boarding ladder as Kaja did the same, then they both moved to the railing to collect their lanyards, ropes, and locking gear.
Einarr moved to the boarding ladder one more time and descended quickly, as he reached the bottom he popped the hatch and slid into the seat. Kaja stayed on the catwalk, a datapad in hand as she prepared to check the levels. He slowly ran the start up on the interceptor, bringing the power up slowly to allow the new wiring and fresh hoses to pressurize and adjust. Kaja measured the flow, back feed, radiation, and chamber readings, surprise on her features as she read the newly optimized numbers on the pad. Einarr slowly brought the power down, then shutoff the engines, he engaged the lockouts before climbing out of the cramped cockpit and ascending the ladder. Kaja showed him the data with wide eyes, her expression locked on surprised disbelief.
“Sure your not in the wrong section? You gotta show me how you adjusted the hardware to bring it this close to true.” Einarr smiled as he thought-clicked his neumonal interface, Cassius picked up on the command and sent the report log to Kaja's pad, and the female Togruta nodded as she began reading.
“Well technician, if your work on those harnesses is as good as your normal work quality, then I will happily accept you as my fighters tech anytime.”
“Thank you sir, and I got to say its nice to see a squint pilot willing to get there hands dirty. To many of your fellows think maintaining anything themselves is to far below them.”
“I know the feeling, just remember Kaja, the pilots can't fight, if the spanners don't turn. That said, I think its time for me to get cleaned up. My duty shift technically ended a half hour ago.”
“Know the feeling, I only came in because the warehouse called and told me someone was working on a fighter assigned to me. Well want to meet up for a drink later? We can discuss a maintenance schedule.”
“Sure, meet you there.” The pair headed off to get cleaned up before heading off to one of the ships bars.
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OOC: 3834 words
FM/PO2/Einarr "Norsedragoon" Ghylthir/Besh 2/S:46 Jexxel/W:101 Blade/ISD Adjudicator /TF:A/2Flt/FC/VEN/VE
[MC2] [SoA] (=Eng=) {AFM} {Astr} {VehM}
