Test the Waters

[Iota Valar]

The grandness of Fondor shipyards was only surpassed by that of Corellia and Kuat, both of which Iota Valar had visited during her training at the Imperial Academy. Both an exhibit of technology and Imperial might, the construction site was populated with starships in various stages of production, many floating platforms swarmed with engineers and workers engaged in the task of assembling the galaxy's most formidable fleet. Sparks flew about as metal was melded, hydrospanners exchanged hands; a wandering eye had much to be entertained with.

Amidst all the commotion, a Wroonian female stood, clad in a simplistic dark grey uniform usually worn by cadets. It had to be custom made, for Iota was short and frail; her father had it tailored in a shop where high-ranked officers usually bought official garments. The material that wrapped her petite physique was thus of highest quality - yet another reason of envy from fellow students - perfectly crafted into a tasteful piece of clothing suiting her small frame. Black-blue hair was neatly arranged in braid, the tip of it almost touching her hands clasped at the small of her back. She just stood there, legs parted at shoulder-length and observed the Empire's clockwork, waiting to be approached by whoever summoned her. The letter she received stated no purpose of this visit, or whom she was supposed to meet - just date, time and place. A casual glance to her wrist watch indicated she was on time, punctuality being one of her strong suits. Setting the clock five standard minutes in advance assured one was never late - lateness was something her superiors would have every right to frown upon. Whoever she was waiting for had another minute or so to arrive; as Valar waited, a conversation between two engineers was overheard.

''You calibrated it wrongly! That's why it burned out!'' one male engineer yelled, pointing to a charred hyperdrive regulator embedded inside a partially dismantled hyperdrive. The other did not seem to take the blame.
''Your circuitry is all muddled up! A Wookie could have connected the sockets with more precision!'' he responded, tossing a hydrospanner aside.

''May I?'' Iota pleaded upon approaching them, completely ignoring their sour facial expressions as their eyes set on her azure skin. After a brief inspection, she gently touched the circuitry, then looked up at two men.
''The circuitry is fine. The power couplings on the transpacitor are too close together. You might consider putting some shielding in between, to avoid sparks once the regulator is turned on.'' she pointed out, stating an obvious flaw in the design. Her disposition was quite unexpected, leaving both engineers speechless.

[Tannis V'larr]

Tannis V'larr was on the warpath. If it wasn't enough that he was directing three projects, assisting on seven others, and personally overseeing the construction and distribution of the TIE Wraith, he was now encountering bureaucracy on a scale that, in all his considerable faculties, he had never before imagined possible. He had thought his recent promotion to lieutenant commander would help to grease the wheels, that his new authority would streamline the network of requisitions and approvals necessary for getting anything done in a shipyard. Instead, he was beginning to appreciate what a masterful job his previous superior had done of shielding him from the politics, laziness, and outright incompetence that seemed to permeate the administrative offices of the Navy. His predecessor had likely greased the wheels with credits and insincere flattery. Tannis, unfortunately, was short on both.

He'd just learned that the engineers in foundry bay fourteen had been working for the past two weeks on outdated plans, even though the final design had been sitting in the foreman's office for a month. The Sienar Fleet Systems representative had informed him that morning that they had all but exhausted the rakatium radiation shielding they used to import from Sullust and had not yet secured an alternate supply. And as a final indignity, he had received orders from the academy on Carida to babysit their latest engineering prodigy.

The Sikarran halfbreed crossed the fabrication deck with alarming speed, tapping yet another request for additional testing materials into a datapad as he picked his way through swinging crane arms and showers of sparks. He stopped when he saw in his peripheral vision a blue humanoid poking at one of Commander Ilyich's disastrous creations.

"Iota Valar?" he said, sharply. The look on her face when she whirled around was confirmation enough. "I am Lieutenant Commander Tannis V'larr. My time is short. Please walk with me."

With no more ado, he continued on his course to the far end of the hangar.

[Iota Valar]

Iota's posture stiffened upon salutation, rigour almost instinctive upon hearing of his rank. Her gaze leveled with Imperial insignia adorning his uniform, purely due of the difference in height between them. The hierarchical codex forbade her from looking up; her golden eyes remained fixed on a perfectly polished Imperial crest badge, an embellishment earned in servility. Before even having a chance to utter a single word, V'larr had already strolled through the shipyard.

Iota exerted extra efforts not to fall behind - where he made a single step, the Wroonian had to make two. It took much concentration and muscle strain to match his militant stride; while his own boots clanged against the durasteel floor, Valar's step remained soft and almost inaudible. A few heads were dipped in deference as they passed by, implying Tannis V'larr was indeed of some authority here.

''It's an honour to be here, sir.'' the blue skinned near-Human spoke finally, finding her voice once again - ''Professor Camasau sends his kindest regards and asks for a rematch in chess.''
She felt the need to state who sent her here, despite not knowing why she was on Fendor to begin with. Camasau was quite an authority in applied quantum physics, who's reference had to count for something. Or at least Valar hoped it would.

[Tannis V'larr]

Thalen Camasau - one of the few professors at the Academy of Carida who had taken a shine to Tannis. When Shadow Squadron was disbanded, Camasau had sent a communique expressing his sympathy and inviting him to apply for the assistant professorship that had just opened in Starship Engineering. Apparently he wasn't satisfied with Tannis's polite refusal if now he was sending his students directly.

"Do you know why you have been dispatched to Fondor, Cadet?" he asked, sidestepping a lumbering GNK power droid.

[Iota Valar]

The droid honked as it toddled by, waddling from side to side. Iota stepped aside too, knowing how limited the maneuverability of this simple artificial lifeform was; when it did tip over, it squirmed like a bug on its back until its battery ran out. Turning her attention to V'larr, she eventually noticed he was not entirely human. Those distinctive piked ears... where did she see them before? Despite having an almost photographic memory, the Wroonian could not remember. Sometimes, such trivialities were pushed aside, leaving room for memorization of more important matter like equations, blueprints and designs.

''No, sir. I don't.'' she admitted earnestly, patiently waiting for Lt.Commander to debrief her of her purpose here.

[Tannis V'larr]

They passed underneath a ceiling-mounted manipulator arm attaching a radiator panel to a suspended TIE and through a doorway at the base of the hangar. The hallway beyond was tranquil compared to the clamor and bustle of the main hangar. All along the righthand wall were doors to offices and conference chambers, and to the left one-way transparisteel offered a panoramic view of the fabrication works.

"You have been sent here to perform as my assistant," Tannis replied. "One I have not requested and do not require. It is now my task to find some use to which I may put you. What is your area of focus at the Academy?"

[Iota Valar]

The Wroonian blinked. An assistant he did not request or require? An unpleasant sensation of redundancy overwhelmed her; despite all her academic seasoning, Iota was unwelcome. Again. A half-muffled sigh left her blue lips, as officials obviously enjoyed playing ping-pong with those scant non-humans enrolled in the Academy, simply to remind of their supremacy.

''Mechanics, quantum physics, chemistry of materials, computational mathematics'' Valar named only a few subjects she excelled at before concluding with the official name of her major - ''Starship Engineering and Design.''

[Tannis V'larr]

"I requested your area of focus, Cadet, not your full syllabus of studies," Tannis replied. "I am currently involved in no fewer than ten distinct projects in various stages of development. Three of them are variants of existing starfighters. One is an entirely new class. The rest involve advances in weapons, shields, power management, and fire control. Though my work is broad in scope, it is deep in focus. I do not need a generalist."

[Iota Valar]

A polymath had the ability to focus on various areas, no matter how diverse they were. With so much mental capacity to dispense, Iota found it difficult to name her strong suit. She was equally interested in hyperdrive circuitry as well as space anomalies, piloting a starfighter or even music. Wording her affinities correctly was troublesome, given such width. Perhaps it was a waste of time to explain that the subjects she stated were actually minors she picked out as electives complementary to her major. Despite being graced with broad prowess, Valar was not boastful like her Wroonian kindred.

''Hyperdrive calibration to achieve maximum efficiency in astrogation.'' the blue-skinned woman stated concisely, offering an apologetic nod - ''I'm keen on developing new algorithms to calculate hyperspace trajectories.''

[Tannis V'larr]

Tannis led her through a static purifier gate, past a lounge where some techs were holding an animated debate about the upper limit of the Vyper Mk II power plant, and into another parallel hallway lined with doors. He stopped to open one of them, revealing a compact office with datapads and schematics on flimsi piled high in neat, orderly stacks on every available surface. A large window occupying most of the outer wall peered out over the host of construction platforms that made up the shipyards of Fondor, the skeletal forms of cruisers, carriers, and star destroyers taking shape in the ice-blue glow of the desert world below.

"None of my current development projects involve new navigation systems," he said, sifting through the piles. "However, if you can deign to operate in three dimensions rather than ten..."

He fished the appropriate datapad from his desk and handed it to her. "These are the schematics for an automated point-defense system designed to intercept and destroy incoming torpedoes. The software must acquire targeting data and develop a firing solution far faster than the response times that standard droid brains currently allow. I require improved algorithms that optimize accuracy and runtime requirements. It is a menial task, but one that requires a great deal of concentration and persistence."

If she was bright, he expected the task to occupy her for at least the rest of the day - enough time for him to finish simulations on the Mjolnir fire control unit.

[Iota Valar]

Iota took the datapad, giving it a casual look before setting it down on that small patch of free space available on an adjacent table. The office they found themselves in was crammed enough to instigate a slight sense of claustrophobia, yet was quiet and peaceful, thick glass keeping noise from construction works out. Lack of interior design made for a sterile environment fitted for rudimentary start of a keen intern.

''I'll work on it, sir.'' she replied, dipping her head in a compliant bow, then watched the Commander exit the room. Valar then took a seat and toned the lighting down a few notches, leaving her in relative darkness. Golden eyes skimmed across the screen, taking in the complex mathematical language fire commands were written in. Countless equations made up an advanced skeletal structure, forming an algebra in its own right. Meticulously studying the array, Iota became mesmerized by the glow of the screen and the symbols flickering before her eyes. It was almost as if they were telling her, whispering, singing in a melodious language she could only understand.

''Deterministic.'' the Wroonian mumbled to herself, shaking her head while her iridescent gaze never left the screen - ''The trend is deterministic. Complex, uses working memory to compute numerically, yet inefficient. It yields no solution.''
She just sat there for a few moments with eyes closed, the curious clockwork of her mind operating in the background. The problem might have been three dimensional, but the solution was not.

Nothing is impossible, Cadet Valar. Only improbable!
Camasau's words echoed in her cranium, bringing about elucidation. Life was a game of chance, the course taken a matter of choice. Golden eyes shot open.
Probability.

Blue fingers ran across the keyboard, calling up a programming environment to the screen. Typing commenced at lightning speed, rows filled with a seemingly endless code - and not a modified sequence of former high-order equations, but a fresh strain with stochastic elements integrated into the pattern. For an hour and a half, Iota Valar was completely motionless, apart from the dance of fingers across the motherboard. Once she wrote the last command, a simulation was ran to see the effect of upgraded coding. The torpedo was elegantly obliterated in slow motion , in a reaction time several times faster than the eye could perceive.
Iota exhaled, then pressed a button to copy her findings into the datapad she was given. A smile curved her blue lips as she strolled out of the room, happy she could be of some use. Nevertheless, the system worked in theory and still needed actual testing. What better way to prove a theory then by experiment?

A clerk directed her one of labs where V'larr was to be found, presumably busy with one of his numerous projects. With the datapad in hand, Iota walked in, but could not visually locate the Commander.
''Where's Lt.Commander V'larr? I need to talk to him.'' she asked a junior officer who ran the diagnostics. Soon, a voice sounded through the speakers. -
''Lt.Commander V'larr,sir, cadet Valar is here to see you.''

[Tannis V'larr]

Tannis stiffened at his workstation. On the table before him sat the targeting module, trailing bundles of data conduits in every direction, feeding it with hundreds of imaginary combat scenarios and recording its output and performance.

The computer could continue running simulations for a few moments in his absence. He double-checked a few readings and stalked off toward the entryway to the test labs where the diminutive Wroonian girl was waiting.

"Do you have a question, Cadet?" he asked.

[Iota Valar]

''No, sir. The task was pretty clear.'' said the Wroonian, then held out the datapad for the Commander to see. A glitch of curiosity had her leaning to the side for a fraction of a second, simply to see what he was working on. Before he could notice, the blue skinned girl retrieved her to initial position.

''I'm done.'' she stated, looking up meekly - ''When you have the time... please take a look.''

[Tannis V'larr]

There was a slight bunching of his eyebrows as he took the datapad in hand. She had returned in a quarter the time he'd expected her to take, which spoke ether very well or very badly.

As he thumbed through the results, he had his answer. "These are simulation results," he said. "You have already tested these algorithms?"

[Iota Valar]

''Uhm...'' she stammered, uncertain if he asked her to run an actual experiment or just a simple simulation. Surely, such an endeavour required security clearance she was not given. Yet.

''No. I haven't tested them, sir.'' Iota admitted, sulking to appear even smaller - ''Was I supposed to?''
A brief pause ensued, Valar's insecurity only amplified by lack of communication between them. She was never too certain of her work, never too assured in her own programming superiority. Mistakes were natural, even if they yet had to be made.
''I was hoping you would.'' voice Iota, biting her lower lip inwardly.

[Tannis V'larr]

"Unfortunately they cannot yet be tested in a live-fire scenario," Tannis replied. "The engineering team assigned to develop the servos for aiming the device has not yet produced a prototype capable of tracking torpedo-sized objects in real time."

He skimmed up and down the branches of her code. Even without studying it closely, he could see the patterns of elegance, symmetry, and creativity that shaped the code. What faults it contained would not be difficult to suss out; the Cadet had already done all the intellectual heavy lifting.

"Perhaps when I tell them that a mere cadet has solved in a matter of hours the problem they could not in four weeks, they will find new motivation to succeed. Have you eaten yet today, Cadet?"

[Iota Valar]

''No, I haven't sir.'' she replied, genuinely surprised with the reaction. There was no scolding, no look of reproach; Commander V'larr had probably exhibited more positivism than any Imperial she encountered over the course of last four years. Perhaps he was more tolerant, more open-minded than the rest? Iota never even thought of attributing the praise to her own skill and mathematical prowess, but sought to rationalize it otherwise. Unpretentious and coy, simple and natural in conduct and appearance, she was an antithesis to all that was Wroonian.

''Perhaps I can help them, sir.'' Valar offered modestly, with a sagacious lustre in her amber orbs - ''Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them - a wise physicist once said - maybe there is a higher-dimension solution to your three dimensional problem.''

[Tannis V'larr]

Tannis lifted an eyebrow. "Perhaps," he said. "In any case, I wish to further assess your capabilities before I decide how to allocate them. I will be working here for another thirty-two minutes, after which I will take my lunch in the galley on C deck. I recommend you eat before I arrive. You will be doing most of the talking."

He turned sharply and disappeared back into the lab.

[Iota Valar]

***

''A vegetarian sandwich, please. And a glass of blue milk.'' Iota asked kindly, barely tall enough to be seen behind the counter. She pushed the tray forwards, then glanced around the gallery of deck C, waiting for her order to be prepared. The vista was simply majestic, the celestial crescent of Fondor dominating the view, the opposite side of the planet slowly emerging into daylight. The surface shimmered in a blue-violet glow, desolate dunes meandering in soft loops. Quite a site to behold - it also explained the crowd of engineers and technicians gathering here to dine.

Once food placed was on the tray, the Wroonian picked it up and walked across the hall to sit by a window overlooking both the construction site and the cosmic menagerie. Chewing on the sinewy strands of algae crammed between two slices of bread and a vege-steak (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Vege-steak), Iota mulled over the events of the past few hours.
''Several weeks?'' she thought, wetting the contents of her mouth with a sip of blue milk - ''Commander must be exaggerating.''
When lost in thoughts, time flew by; even before she noticed, those thirty-two minutes passed. Precise as an atomic clock, V'larr appeared at the entrance just as she nibbled on the last of her sandwich.

[Tannis V'larr]

At the sight of the Sikarran halfbreed, the galley workers scurried to set out a tray with a bowl of plomeek soup, a disc of flatbread, and a glass of of iced stim tea. He collected it without altering his pace and turned directly toward Iota's table.

"Cadet Iota Valar," he said, setting down his tray, "born to Fausto and Iocasta Valar, top marks at the Wroona Academy of Sciences and Engineering before applying to the Imperial Academy of Carida."

He took a spoonful of soup and let it hover in midair to cool. "You display sufficient talents to be quite successful as an engineer in starship, navigation, or weapons design, and yet you are currently in flight training. Why would you exchange a stimulating and rewarding career at a peaceful post for a borderline suicidal occupation as a TIE pilot?"

[Iota Valar]

The question was perfectly valid. Iota pondered on it for a few moments, biting her lip inwardly. The following words were carefully picked, her aim to leave an impression of a serious, grown-up person she was. At nineteen, Valar had received enough education to earn her multiple PhDs, yet emotionally she remained somewhat behind her age. She was determined not to let any of that playfulness surface. Not here, not now.

''Experience without theory is blind, but theory without practice is mere intellectual play.'' the Wroonian quoted, tacitly answering his question with borrowed wisdom.
''I need to see, feel and fly what I aim to design or advance. There is nothing that satisfies me more than testing my own creations and witness it come to life. In order to achieve this, I have to know how to pilot a ship just as well as any TIE fighter pilot. Surely, you can relate, sir.'' offered Valar, then wetted her lips with blue milk.

[Tannis V'larr]

"So your primary interest lies in design?" Tannis surmised, and he swallowed his spoonful of soup.

[Iota Valar]

''My primary interest lies in the final product - a harmonious, fluid, flawless flight. Design is just one part of it, but a part I enjoy greatly. So yes.'' the Wroonian confirmed, nibbling on the rim of her glass before placing it back on the table.

''Given the chance, I'd like to put that design into use, see it firsthand in escort and combat alike. That way I'd be aware of eventual flaws and could make steps to correct them.'' she explained, then timidly sulked in her seat as a few passing officers gave her a loathing look.

[Tannis V'larr]

Tannis ignored the derisive faces. He was used to receiving such scorn, and Iota would have to become accustomed to it as well, and to learn how to prove herself above and beyond her human colleagues. It was the bitter reality of living as an alien in the Imperial Navy.

"Very few starship engineers are afforded the opportunity to test their own creations," he said. "If you wish to do both, you must be doubly committed, prodigiously patient, and uncommonly fortunate in your connections."

He dipped his flatbread into his soup. "What is the extent of your experience in spacecraft development and fabrication?"

[Iota Valar]

Courtly nodding, Iota acknowledged everything the Commander said. She didn't expect the ascension through the Imperial ranks to be easy; given her heritage, she'd have to work twice as hard, exhibit inhumane persistence and grow immune to any voiced or more subtle remarks regarding her race.

''There was a contest at the Academy last year - for the best original conceptual starfighter design. First place reward was an internship at Sienar Advanced Projects Laboratory (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Sienar_Advanced_Projects_Laboratory). I've spent my two months off there, working on several improved models of TIE Defenders (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Tie_defender). I was mainly charged with experimental bionic missiles and hyperdrive upgrades. I realize these two are diametrically opposite, but I had no choice. Perhaps professor Camasau wrote something in his letter of intention that he had me hand in upon arrival to Coruscant.'' the Wroonian debriefed, pausing to take a sip of milk as her throat dried, then continued -
''I've also done my part of wrenching at Sienar Advanced Research Division (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Sienar_Advanced_Research_Division) on Corulag, working on a development of a wholly new class of bombers (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Scimitar_Assault_Bomber).''

[Tannis V'larr]

It was an impressive field of experience for a cadet. Tannis would have jumped at such an opportunity had it been offered to him during his time at the Academy, but he had been focusing his attention on flight training more than design. It occurred to him that he could easily requisition her performance reports from Sienar Fleet Systems and investigate more specifically which parts of each project she had worked on and how she had fared. Of course, such reports tended to diminish the contributions of junior engineers so as to amass more credit for the project leaders, but Tannis was relatively certain he could read between the lines.

If he chose to take a personal interest in this cadet, of course. There were only so many hours in a day, even for someone with a multipartite brain.

He swallowed his mouthful of soup-laden flatbread and said, "Very well. I believe you can be of assistance to me, provided you understand that you are here in the capacity of an assistant and not a student. My day-to-day tasks will take precedence over your education while you are stationed here. That is not to say you will not learn. In fact, the learning curve will be even steeper here than at the Sienar Laboratories. This is an active shipyard with constant a demand for redesigns and retrofits in addition to any original projects we may have in process. You must make yourself familiar not only with variable schematics but also with the refitting process, and sometimes even the history of individual ships. I will be available to answer questions, but not to hold your hand."

He drained the last of his tea and reached into his briefcase, pulling out two stacks of datapads. "You will begin by compiling these progress reports and lab results into an executive summary on the state of the TIE Wraith (http://www.sw-fans.net/forum/showthread.php?t=15348) Mark Two. This material should help you familiarize yourself with my primary project. It will also, unfortunately, expose you to the grammatical and stylistic ineptitude of the average Imperial engineer."

[Iota Valar]

His sarcasm coaxed a smile out of the Wroonian, full lips stretching to reveal pearly white teeth. Iota's instructors were mostly humourless beings, often too self-absorbed to show some signs of humanity, especially towards a student of another race. On the other hand, reflective irony was a clear sign of sagacity; Valar felt she would learn much from this man in the future.

"I am happy to serve you and the Empire in any way I can." the blue-skinned girl reassured modestly and reached out for the datapads he presented. Golden eyes skimmed across the screen as Iota browsed over several files just to make sure she knew what the Commander wanted her to do.

"Very well. I'll assemble the report today and have it on your desk first thing in the morning." she promised, knowing such a task was almost impossible to complete on such a short notice. But limits were there to be pushed, right?
Rising from the table, Valar offered a court nod and a salute.
"Commander. Duty calls." the cadet voiced, then turned to the door, datapads in tow.

[Tannis V'larr]

As it happened, Tannis had little difficulty in discovering uses for Cadet Valar. He found her to be an eager and efficient worker, even when he gave her assignments that were more or less glorified secretarial work. If she felt her talents were being poorly used, she never complained; in the meantime, she was learning far more about Tannis's projects from summarizing and filing his paperwork than if he'd simply dispatched her to crunch numbers in a lab every day.

After a week of reading, editing, and writing progress reports, Tannis intimated that he would soon be ready to phase her into a more hands-on role in the Wraith Mk 2 project. He'd left her in his office poring over blueprints and test records, at her own insistence.

The next morning he entered his office to find her slumped in his chair and fast asleep, a datapad gently pressed between her thumb and forefinger, the desk still littered with flimsis and holo-schematics.

Tannis's eyes crinkled, an infinitesimal sign of amusement.

"Good morning, Cadet."

[Iota Valar]

The sound of Commander's voice resonated through the air, waking Iota up from a dreamless slumber. How long she had been up previously, one could not tell; completely absorbed into the matter she was studying, Valar lost track of time. The stimcaf pot was empty, as it fulfilled its purpose to keep her awake as long as possible. Golden eyes shot open, peering up at the ceiling of V'larr's office.

"Wha.... huh?" the Wroonian mumbled, puzzled by her whereabouts. It took a few moments for things to compute; rubbing the bleariness of out her vision, Iota shook her head to compose herself.

"Commander." the blue-skinned girl voiced after clearing her throat, then rose from his chair to salute him - "You startled me."
Instinctively, her hands ran down her uniform to iron out creases and folds created from sitting in a position that was not entirely formal.
"I've finished studying the blueprints and test data. And have a few suggestions, if I may... I don't know who drafted it, but I see a few potential flaws in the design."

[Tannis V'larr]

Tannis sharply arched an eyebrow. "I would be eager to hear your thoughts on the matter, Cadet."

They stood together over the blueprints, and Tannis listened as the Wroonian cadet listed her concerns in encyclopedic detail, pointing animatedly to the various schematics, cutaways, flowcharts, and equations littered across the desk.

The TIE Wraith was one of the most technically formidable starfighters in the Empire's arsenal. Built on the V38 frame, the same chassis as Admiral Martio Batch's ill-fated Phantom project, it used a modified hibridium cloaking device, far less expensive than the nigh-unobtainable stygium the Phantom used. Normally a hibridium cloak would be impossible to use on a starfighter, both because of its size and because it was just as impossible to see out of the cloaking field as to see in. The Wraith solved both problems by establishing only a partial cloaking field just large enough to hide its own engine components. With no observable ion trail, power signature, or heat profile, the Wraith was a silent shard of blackness against the midnight sky - not invisible like Batch's Phantom, but no more noticeable than a fragment of interstellar scrap.

And yet the cloak had its drawbacks. Its power consumption cut the available engine power roughly in half and left no available power for shields. Besides that, it was a delicate, almost temperamental fighter that required dedicated precision from the pilot and a small amount of technical wizardry from the sensory officer who balanced the cloak and scanner output. Those who knew Tannis were not at all surprised to learn that he had designed the thing himself. However, in order to meet the lowest common denominator of Imperial flight crews and pilots, the Wraith had to be tempered, even if it meant sacrificing some of its redoubtable stealth abilities. Hence the Mark Two.

The Wraith was a knot of seeming contradiction - a craft that demanded enormously high power output while minimizing its energy profile, whose fuselage was packed so tightly with highly sensitive equipment that there was precious little room for the shielding that equipment required. Nothing could be added without subtracting somewhere else - speed for stamina, power for stealth. The operating tolerances were uncomfortably slim for most seasoned technicians, which made it all the more impressive that Iota had not simply curled into a fetal position and asked to go back to refitting Defenders.

And not only had Iota risen to the challenge of interpreting these schematics - she had made meaningful suggestions, some of which resembled Tannis's original design, others which he had not considered before.

"The original design did in fact include another centimeter of molybdenum shielding between the cloaking coils and the ion accelerators to prevent the magnetic resonance you have pointed out," Tannis replied. "I am well aware that such a resonance may compromise the cloaking field and render the fighter detectable from a few narrow angles. However, it was more important to add additional shielding outside the cloaking coils. Otherwise, they would be far too vulnerable to electromagnetic interference - even a mild solar storm could compromise the cloak entirely."

Making any change to the design was like substituting a new piece in a jigsaw puzzle. A change here forced a hundred other changes, and it was not always obvious whether you'd still end up with a complete picture.

"Unless, of course, you can suggest an alternate configuration that allows the coils to be shielded on both sides?"