Federacy Race Preparations

[Khendon Sevon]

Project manager Karl Delué strode through the door like he owned the place. The uniform room was bright, overly lit. The walls were plain and white. He smiled as he entered his element. “Gentlemen,” he said in his eloquent way, “please, sit.”

A group of six men, all veraciously smoking stims, stood looking out an enormous, tinted side window—the only portal to the outside. The endless void of space tapped on the window gently, caressing the durable material and applying designed-for strains. “Hey, Karl, what exactly is this about! You know I’ve been working on an important project!”

“Max, hear me out. You’ll like this, trust me.” Delué had earned his position at Star Dust station, as such, he knew how to properly manipulate materials, physics, and people to his needs.

A sturdy, wooden table sat firmly in the center of dizzyingly white room. Each member of the congregation took a seat, reserving the head of the table for the Project Manager. “Alright, boys. You’ve all been working on projects, I know; however, I have need of the technology your developing and your expert skills.”

Looks were exchanged between engineers, technicians, and conceptual scientists. Karl continued adeptly, “All of us,” he gesticulated, indicating everyone with his hands, “serve the Federacy and the Imperator. Well, guess what boys? This one comes directly from the big guy.”

“Max, you’re working on the Titan engine,” the engineer shifted uncomfortably in his seat at the mentioning of the top-secret project, “you’re trying to make a plausible fighter adaptation. John, your hands are full with a new Quantum Gravitic drive using dual phase technology. Earl, you’re our expert on new materials. The rest of you have various smaller projects that we all know about.”

“So, what exactly are we doing? Well, we have two days to retrofit two TIE Shriekers to be the fastest and most durable craft in the galaxy.”

[Khendon Sevon]

Several of the men in the room shook their heads devoutly, “Um, Karl,” said John, “the dual phase reactor won’t be ready for production for at least one more year. I mean, as of right now, it works and the theory is sound; but it hasn’t been stress tested, safety systems aren’t installed and two days just isn’t enough time to get it up to speed!”

Delué smiled from ear to ear, “That’s why you’re getting an infusion of a million credits along with a staff of three to help you out. It doesn’t have to be safe. It just has to work and last six days of constant use.”

The developers looked at each other somewhat timidly, “I know what you’re all thinking,” continued Karl as his face grew grim, “it’s a large task. But we’re up to it! Now, boys, we’ll be in Lab 3. I’ve taken the liberty of having both of the stock Shriekers moved there along with all of the work each of you has done so far on your various projects.

“Now, if there aren’t anymore questions, I’ll show you the lab.” Delué grinned and the men followed him out.

[Khendon Sevon]

Light flooded into the dark corridor as Karl slid back an enourmous, heavily reinforced door stamped with the red letters, “RESEARCH LAB THREE: Restricted.” The crowd of Federacy technicians, engineers, and designers spoke amongst themselves as they were herded into the bright room.

Two tall, lean Storm Guards stood proudly next to two suspended TIE Shriekers. The men were as impressive as the fighters. Each soldier wore pale yellow armor that, somehow, appeared very natural. Black accepts were stroked across the palette of their design. Various red sensors scanned the team as they entered.

The Shriekers’ cockpits were extremely high off the ground for fighters. Much like the older B-wing design they sported a vertical wing. However, theirs served an even more vicious purpose. At the tip of the elongated arm sat a curved, black pod. A sharp protrusion of chrome denoted the tip of the weapon. It was a densa-cannon, an extremely feared Federacy weapon of unparalleled destructive force.

“Well, well…” said one of the engineers, “complete with pilots, eh?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” said Karl as he rolled his eyes, “they’re on loan from the Imperator’s personal fighter group, the Black Thorn squadron. The two troopers stood silently, backs rigid, weapons held ready—as if they were defending the ships.

“Alright, boys, let’s get to work!” shouted Delué, a faint smile crossing the highway of his face.

[Jake Snake]

As the techs were working, a huge blast door at the back of Lab 3 opened. Everyone, even the trained pilots looked over as fighter was brough in on a huge repulsor cart. It was positioned in an empty corner and then the cart left.

As the door started to close, a tall man walked into the Lab. Everyone turned and suddenly shot up, standing at attention. Jake smiled to himself as he walked into the hanger. The Pilots turned and saluted, "Sir!!"

Jake straightened his new Commodore uniform and looked around the room, returning the salutes. "At ease Ladies and Gentlemen. I just brought in my Vortex to get retrofit for the race. I was thinking about using some of your new tech to boost the capabilities of the fighter."

Karl looked uneasy so Jake turned to him, "Is anything wrong?"

"Well...sir..it's just that we have our hands full with everything right now. Working on these two Shriekers is taking all our manpower. There is also a limit to the amount of new technology that we have. We can hardly refit the Shriekers."

Jake nodded and then leaned in very close to the man. "Then you will all work harder. I'm sure you can almost build another power system for my fighter, with all the millions you are getting. You WILL do it. Do I make myself clear?"

Karl swallowed hard, seeing that the Commodore ment business. "Yes, sir. It'll be done."

"Very good. I want to win this race. I will also be working on the fighter myself most of the time, so I wont be needing your people all the time. I have a few helpers anyways." Jake said, pointing at the pilots. "Get to work on those new powersystems."

He turned before Karl could salute and started to remove his uniform. Jake went over to the wall and hung up his jacket. Going into the attached changing room, he put on a mechanics overall set and then walked out. He felt good wearing the suit. He hadn't work on his ship in a while, it was going to be a nice change.

Jake smiled and walked over to the Pilots, tossing each one of them a set of overalls. "Get in that room and change. You'll be helping out your Commodore today, boys. We'll be working hard on my fighter, hope you boys had a big lunch."

The Pilots snapped to attention, "Yes sir!!" Then ran to change.

Jake smiled and picked up the tool box, climbing onto his fighter.

[Khendon Sevon]

The technicians mumbled to themselves as they inspected the beautiful, yet very evil, TIE Shriekers. One of the men spoke, “There should be more than enough room for Dual Phase reactors and smaller Negative Matter Pulse drives! We could even modify the tri-array to its technology!”

“Wait, but the NMP’s don’t offer the most amazing speed. They’re maneuverable, but they don’t zip down like a racer should.”

‘Throw on a Blazer X4U, modify it a bit, I bet we can hit 400 MGLT with ease!”

The men continued talking like this for many hours. Designers sketched and modified the outside form of the Shrieker and internal configuration of its components. A few of the scientists went about fabricating parts for interfaces and others tinkered with the projects they had already been working on.

Time continued to pass. After a few additional hours more engineers entered, bringing along with them their own parts. They assisted the head engineers in their laborious work.

Karl would supply an idea or here or fix a mistake there, but other than that, he simply watched as the scientists had a field day.