OOC:

Zak Nightowl
Combat Engineer
Level 1: Electrical Systems
Story 1:Basic Electronics/Wiring

Zak sat at the back of the class and eyed his fellow classmates.  Since joining the Vast Empire he had been told of various courses that he could undertake.  He had decided that he might as well take advantage of such an opportunity, now he wondered whether it was such a good idea or not.

What am I doing here he pondered as he flicked through the book in front of him.  Sure he could fix simple problems.  He once had to repair a starship when it broke down on one of his smuggling runs but it had been a simple problem.  Looking over some of the diagrams, the detailed schematics, he began to question whether he was in way over his head or not.

The door slid open and in strode the instructor.  He was older than Zak was, in his late fifties surmised Zak.  Years of wisdom were etched on his face, his hair was a striking shade of white, yet the instructor strode in with an air of confidence.  Zak immediately respected the man whilst he sensed some of the younger recruits shirk away, almost as if they were intimidated by the instructor.

“Greetings class” spoke the instructor.

Zak’s eyebrows raised slightly from the voice.  Such a strong commanding voice and begged to be listened to.  Zak’s nervousness about being here and his thoughts of whether to slip out unnoticed evaporated.  He listened intently to what the instructor had to say.

The instructor told the class to open their books and as he started to talk, various images appeared behind him.  The images were of various circuit boards.  Some boards had a tangled mess of wires intermingling with the board whilst others seemed to have very few wires attached to them at all.

Zak listened closely to what the instructor had to say.  He talked to the class slowly, his eyes wandering over the students as if to gauge their understanding of what he was saying.  Zak was surprised as to how quickly he was beginning to understand what the various cables meant, the components of the circuit board and ultimately how the board functioned.

“Any questions?” queried the instructor.

Well that class was easy thought Zak as he looked around at his fellow classmates.  None ventured to ask the instructor any questions.  I guess they’re as eager to return to their barracks as I am thought Zak.

“Excellent” commented the instructor, “you must really know your stuff.  Follow me and we will put your newfound knowledge to the test”.

Test thought Zak as he got up slowly and began to follow the rest of the recruits, aware of their mumblings amongst each other.  No-one had told him there was going to be a test in amongst this.

The instructor led them into a large hall which was littered with medical druids, none of which seemed to be operating.

“Now we obviously haven’t gone into the finer points of droid operations so I have removed the panel which is causing the fault.  You however now have the knowledge to repair whatever damage has been done.  You will find all the tools you need to complete the repair by the droid” stated the instructor.

“Excuse me Sir” spoke one of the recruits, “but what happens if we cannot repair the droid”.

“Then you fail me class” replied the instructor, “think of it as if we were on a battlefield right now, you have injured troopers and their only hope of survival is your ability to repair your only medical droid.  If you are unable to repair it then you fail and they die.  Here you simply just fail”.

Zak nodded his head, it was a harsh reply but it was also a very fair answer.  In the heat of a battle there was no second chances, no margin for error, you either done something or your faced death, plain and simple.

“Does anyone else have any questions?” queried the instructor.

The instructor looked around at the students.  Some glanced around nervously at each other, whilst some glanced over at the medical droids.  None however ventured any further questions.

“Good, then pick a droid and begin your repairs.  You may quit at anytime but remember, failure to repair it results in failure from my class, complete the repairs and the droid will come online and you may leave with the knowledge that you have learnt something today” stated the instructor.

The class looked at each other and one by one they started to move through the large hall and set up beside a medical droid.

Zak moved the furthest and looked up and down at the droid.  Part of him wished that the droid would whisper to him that he was faking being broken but no such luck.  He looked at the droid carefully and quickly spotted the open panel at the back of the droid.

Here goes nothing thought Zak as he opened the panel further.  Inside he could faintly make out some wires but they were deep inside the droid and the lighting was very dark.

At his feet he spotted a large bag.  He opened it and brought out various tools.  One was a small flashlight.  Grabbing it, he flicked it on and brought the small sharp light to bear on the opening.  True enough he spotted a mass of tangled wires and several circuit boards.

This is going to be harder than I thought Zak decided.  He had assumed there would be one circuit board that needed a minor fix of some kind.  Finding the fault was going to be the biggest challenge of them all.

He began his inspection of the wires and the circuitry.  He thought back to what the instructor had told him and began to check the connections of the wires to the boards.  Some of the wires were very far inside the droid and he had to find a pair of tweezers to test the connectivity of wire to board as his fingers could not reach some of them.

There you are thought Zak to himself as he spotted a cable with a frayed end.  He scanned the board closest to the cable and found where it should be connected to.  He set to work deftly soldering the cable back onto the board.  It was a delicate operation as he could not afford to damage the board.

Sweat trickled down his forehead.  Partly from the heat that the soldering iron was emitting within the confined space of the droids inner workings but mostly from how precise and accurate Zak had to be in carrying out the repair.  Eventually the job was complete and Zak put down the iron.

“Let there be life!” exclaimed Zak as he flicked the switch to reinitialise the medical droid.

He heard a chuckle from one of the closest classmates as the droid stood there without making a movement or a sound.

Now that’s not right thought Zak to himself as he brought the flashlight back into the inner workings of the droid and began his search through the various boards and wires.

His attention was drawn back to the soldering job he had carried out.  He tested the wire to make sure it was firmly attached and he checked the board for any damage.  He couldn’t find anything wrong.

There must be something else I have overlooked thought Zak to himself as he carried out his inspection.

He suddenly spotted that one of the boards was slightly out of its housing and not making a firm connection that the other boards were.  He reached in and pushed the board firmly in position.

“Droid B516A online” stated the droid.

Zak nearly dropped his flashlight inside the droid as he was so startled at the droid’s sudden activation.  He remembered that he hadn’t deactivated the droid when it hadn’t come online the last time he thought it had been repaired properly.

“Good work” stated a voice from behind Zak.

Zak whirled round and came face to face with the instructor.  He ran a hand over his brow, removing the sweat that had perspired.

“Thanks” replied Zak, happy to have finally gotten his droid working.  He was suddenly aware that whilst there were other classmates still working, others had left.  He wondered how many had completed the course and how many had decided to simply drop out.

“You have passed my class, but remember, this is only a basic start down your path as Combat Engineer.  Your next courses will continue to get more intense and more challenging” stated the instructor.

Zak saluted the instructor and left the large hall.  He was glad to feel the cool air hit his face.  He became aware of how dark it was outside and he wondered just how long he had been in there for.

I wonder what the course will bring pondered Zak as he made his way slowly back to his barracks.  Only time will tell he thought only time will tell.