Fia (engineer)

Fia was a Human female hypernautics engineer born in 11 BBY who operated out of the Tanquilla Beach shadowport in the Kathol sector of the Outer Rim Territories in 8 ABY. A graduate of Corellia University's School of Starship Engineering, she was an exceptionally skilled engineer who took offense at anyone who questioned her abilities based upon her age or sex. She worked at Spang's, a repair bay run by her grandfather, Spang, and oversaw the engine refit of the New Republic CR90 corvette FarStar in 8 ABY. During the refit operation, Fia uncovered evidence of trapdoor programming built into the ship by its former owner, Imperial Moff Kentor Sarne, which had allowed the vessel to be sabotaged remotely, necessitating the engine refit to repair the subsequent damage.
==Biography==
Fia, a Human female, was the granddaughter of Spang, a starship engineer who operated out of the Tanquilla Beach shadowport in the Kathol sector of the Outer Rim Territories. Born in 11 BBY, Fia was a natural hypernautics engineer who attended Corellia University's School of Starship Engineering, graduating in 8 ABY at the age of nineteen. She immediately traveled to Tanquilla Beach to intern with her grandfather in his repair bay, Spang's, which was the largest on the station, and the only bay capable of repairing capital ship–sized vessels.
Several months after Fia arrived on Tanquilla Beach, the New Republic CR90 corvette FarStar arrived at the station, seeking repairs to its hyperdrive, which had been damaged by sabotage and combat in the nearby Shintel system. Spang's was the only bay on the station capable of undertaking the needed repairs, but Spang was extremely busy and refused to undertake the work, even going as far as refusing to even meet with the command crew of the corvette. However, the commanding officer of the FarStar, Captain Kaiya Adrimetrum, encountered ConJob, a florist and information broker who was good friends with the engineer. ConJob, who had resided on the planet Siluria III recognized Adrimetrum's from her time leading the Siluria III resistance. Imperial forces had killed Conjob's family during their occupation of the world, and in return for Adrimetrum's retaliation against them, he persuaded Spang to help the New Republic delegation. Spang relented, and allowed Fia to conduct and oversee the work.
Fia arranged for a portable drydock to be positioned next to the FarStar, and proceeded to repair the corvette's engines, stripping them out a level at a time to overhaul them over the course of two weeks. While running diagnostics on the engines, Fia detected traces of trapdoor circuitry embedded into the machinery. The FarStar had previously been part of the forces allied to Moff Kentor Sarne, former Imperial warlord of the Kathol sector, and Sarne had intended the vessel to undertake special missions for him. To that end, he had extensively modified the vessel with trapdoor computer programming to ensure that any officer he assigned to command of the vessel would not be able to abscond with the corvette or subvert his authority. That trapdoor circuitry had allowed one of Sarne's agents—Lieutenant Palme—to upload a computer program into the FarStar systems while the vessel was on Shintel. The program caused an overload in the ship's engines that burned out the hyperdrive when the FarStar attempted to jump to lightspeed.
Showing her findings to Captain Adrimetrum, Fia was confident that she could remove the trapdoors in the engines, but admitted she did not have the technical knowledge to search for other trapdoors throughout the ship, and she was certain there would be more embedded in the vessel's other systems. Spang, who had stopped by to see how Fia was faring, mentioned that the work was similar to some he had seen done by slicers based out of Pembric II. He advised Adrimetrum to find a man named Breslin Drake on the planet; Drake had connections all over Pembric II, and he would be able to locate individuals that would be able to help Adrimetrum remove the trapdoors.
After completing work on the FarStar engines, Fia accompanied the ship on a trial run through neighboring star systems to test her work and proclaimed them fully functional. In addition to repairing the engines on the FarStar, Fia managed to upgrade them from a Class Two hyperdriveThe DarkStryder Campaign to a Class One.
==Personality and traits==
Fia was a young Human female who had short brown hair. A friendly woman, Fia was also a flirt and loved teasing the spacers who frequented Spang's. A fully capable engineer who was confident in her own abilities, Fia also recognized the limitations of her knowledge and was not afraid to admit she did not know how to do something. She took offense to any who questioned her abilities based upon her age, or, even worse, her sex. She was sympathetic to the New Republic and its goals.
A graduate of the Corellian School of Starship Engineering, Fia was a highly skilled engineer, capable of modifying and repairing capital ships, starfighters, and space transports. She was also trained in starfighter weapon repair, and computer programming and repair. Fia could operate repulsorlift vehicles and fly small vessels. She had a head for business, and her time at the School of Starship Engineering gave her knowledge of Corellian culture. She understood some alien languages, and was able to determine the value of objects. She typically wore greasy coveralls and a tool-filled workbelt, and carried a datapad and comlink.
==Behind the scenes==
Fia appeared in Shintel Downtime, the fourth RPG adventure in The DarkStryder Campaign by West End Games which was written by Paul Sudlow and published in 1995. Although Fia is sympathetic to the New Republic, she will refuse any invitation to join the crew if it is made by one of the players while playing through the scenario. Fia was later namechecked in West End Games' Platt's Smugglers Guide, published in 1997.
==Appearances==
* 
==Sources==
*The DarkStryder Campaign
*Platt's Smugglers Guide
*The DarkStryder Campaign, Deluxe
==Notes and references==
Category:Engineers
Category:Females
Category:Humans