An Item of Perfection

[The End Narrator]

The build itself would be put before the current units going out on the assembly line - simply put, any field testing projects would be put at the front of the line. There was a simple reason for this - progression. She couldn't hinder adding additional products to the catalog because of back orders or any mass orders put in by contractual agreements. Just didn't work that way and a single fighter would take a fraction of the time than a mass production of XJ-9's. This process would be a few hours compared to the actual schematic compiling and would give her yet again, more time to brood about the past and where she was headed in life. Where was she headed? Was she taking Incom Corporation in the right direction? At times she felt she had backtracked from her original stance of being a staunch advocate against the C.I.S for their actions on Drunkenwell - but this wasn't the Confederacy, this was different. Some on the Board, who coincidentally did not sit on the Board of Directors anymore claimed it was just a re-branding effort by new administration - to which Alyesa disagreed.

 

[The End Narrator]

She'd find herself sending off messages and shooting out signatures to various contracts and memos to the offices of Incom Corporation while she brooded. Same standard stuff - hours pass and eventually it would be time for the prototype to make it's debut. Alyesa wouldn't be out in the shipyards to watch it perform, she didn't have the time - that is what the Field Directors were for. She'd have to wait more time for the results, subsequent adjustments and then the final results of the field tests before she decided if she wanted to scrap it or make additional adjustments to the Directors adjustments. It was the way things worked, a bit of an oversight and authority on her part - each product had her hands on it in the end result. Why? Well, she wasn't just some person who designed the damned things, she wanted to be the one to ensure they were quality products before she sent them out for people to fly in them.

 

[The End Narrator]

Somehow, she had lost track of time and had grown weary and tired of waiting - the field testing was taking longer than she anticipated so, maybe some good rest was in order. She'd find herself tossing the datapad upon the desk and standing up from it, stretching and yawning at the same time. Luckily for her, there was a long couch in her office which at this point, was looking mighty comfortable. She'd take the time to look around outside, watching the sun pass the horizon in the distance and the sky begin to darken. Yup, it was that time - no doubt in the middle of the night and during the eleventh hour, the call would come in. Alyesa sprawled out on the couch, stretching out as far as she could before laying on her side, staring out into the window and the world beyond. Her right arm would come to tuck underneath her head, trying to support her head and provide some level of comfort.

Soon, her eyes would grow heavy and sleep would take her off to the land of dreams.

 

[The End Narrator]

The sound of buzzing and the beep of a notification jolted her from her sleep, causing her to sit up quickly and look around her office. She felt sweaty and sticky, the damned air conditioning unit must have out at some point as her throat also felt drier than a Krayt Dragon bone on Tattooine. She took a moment to try to gather saliva in her mouth and swallow in order to get the dryness out of her throat and be able to talk - should it come to that. Slowly she rose and looked out into the world beyond the windows - still nighttime, maybe a few hours had passed since she had fallen asleep. She muttered a curse and walked over to the datapad and picked it up. She began analyzing the final data as she sat down in the chair behind her desk, right hand gripping the datapad while the left searched for the glass of water she left behind. In short order, she'd find it and begin to gulp it down rather quickly.

Nope, no adjustments to be made - Good.

It was finally ready to hit the assembly lines.

 

[The End Narrator]

Of course, like all good Chief Executive Officers, she had to sign off on the project and finalize the files. Her signature wasn't some chicken scratch, it was well defined and clear to prevent any sort've manipulation or copying. After the project was approved and the initial numbers released to the shipyard and the Foreman of the Yards in the skies above, she'd have to encode the files and ensure they were protected against tampering or any sort've slicing. Thankfully, the Techno Union had some of the best encryption that money could buy and Incom had paid top dollar to ensure that their files were impossible to touch. With those two pairings in mind - the schematics for the B-Wing would be encrypted and placed onto her personal datapad. Like all good things, hidden away from spying eyes and slicers who might try to rip it off the Incom mainframes and sell it to other companies.