Star Wars_ I, Jedi - Michael A. Stackpole [144]
First thing I noticed was how roomy the cockpit seemed compared to that of a Headhunter or X-wing. The pod’s spherical shape meant, naturally, there would be spare room. The spherical shape also meant it had no nose, per se, which took a lot of getting used to. I felt as if I were strapped to an engine for my flights.
The TIE’s steering yoke had been replaced with a stick that had a trigger, a targeting control knob, and a multi-position switch for shifting between weapons systems. The grip felt molded for my hand, and the stick itself had good but restricted play. I didn’t think the craft would fly like an X-wing, but the controls would feel similar and that was a plus.
The huge cockpit windscreen and peripheral panels provided a very good field of vision. The primary sensory monitor and two secondary monitors sat on a bar bisecting the windscreen disk, but really didn’t interfere with what I could see. Throttle was on the left, though it operated by twisting a handle instead of pushing a stick forward. A smaller handle similarly constructed controlled the repulsorlift coils. The comm panel was also on the left, allowing me to access it without pulling my right hand off the stick. Shield controls were still on the right, however, which could make for some difficult decisions in the heat of combat. Etheric rudder pedals were down below the monitors.
I clipped the lead from my helmet into the comm panel socket. “Idanian here.”
“Kech here. Lower right is your ignition sequence panel. Once all the lights are green, you are good to go. Head out on ten percent power, bearing zero two six, and wait for me.”
“I copy.” I reached down and flicked all the switches, then waited for the system lights to cycle through red and yellow before going green. Once that happened, all the monitors sprang to life. I fed power into the repulsorlift coils and kept a steady hand on the stick. I twisted the throttle up to ten percent power and guided the clutch forward until it broke out onto the ferrocrete expanse in front of the hangar. Once there, I tried out the rudder pedals and found the ship moved pretty well to the right and left. It might not have been as maneuverable as the Interceptor, but had the X-wing beat to Stardust in that category.
Kech brought his clutch out and raced it past mine, pulled the front up and jetted upward on a column of ion exhaust. “It’s not a landspeeder, Idanian. We’re pilots, not drivers. Get some atmosphere below you.”
I smiled and hit the throttle. “As ordered, Rock Lead.”
I made my ascent more gradual, working upward in a spiral that let me assess power and maneuvering as I went. The Tri-fighter, when compared to an X-wing, really didn’t come off that badly. Sensor range seemed a bit light, but without proton torpedoes or concussion missiles, the need to hit at extreme range vanished. The ship’s rolls were a bit sluggish, but the climb rate was good and dive rate was impressive.
Above all, though, the craft’s agility impressed me. The rudder response allowed for quick shifts in which way the bow pointed. More importantly, the throttle and repulsorlift levers functioned in multiple ways. With the throttle, pulling back on it would, in essence, shift the craft into neutral, killing thrust. The button on top of the lever would reverse thrust, so when it was lowered back down again, the engines would be blowing backward. With this quick cut-out method of working, a maneuver like a reverse throttle hop wouldn’t require chopping thrust back and pushing it up again, but just taking it offline. Likewise the repulsorlift coils could be left with a power setting in place, but pulled offline until needed. Crank back the throttle, cut in the coils, and the clutch could dance.
Clearly the Invids I’d faced before were not the best available.
Kech wasn