SETH FIGHTER


     Craft:  Sienar Systems Fleet X-4 SETH 
     Type:  Experimental Space Superiority Fighter
     Scale:  Starfighter
     Length:  10 meters
     Skill:  Starship Piloting; SETH 
     Cost:  Not for Sale (5,000,000 credits, used only)
     Crew:  1 or 2, can combine
     Crew Skill:  Varies considerably
     Passengers: 1
     Cargo Capacity:  200 kg.
     Consumables:  1 month
     Hyperdrive Multiplier: x1 
     Hyper Backup:  None
     Nav Computer:  Yes
     Maneuverability:  3D
     Space:  10
     Atmosphere:  415; 1200
     Hull:  3D
     Shields:  2D
     Sensors:
          Passive:  20/0D
          Scan:  40/1D
          Search:  45/2D
          Focus:  2/3D
     Weapons:  
     1 Concussion Missile Launcher
          Scale:  Starfighter
          Fire Arc:  Front
          Crew:  Pilot
          Skill:  Starship Gunnery
          Fire Control:  2D
          Space Range:  1-2/4/8
          Atmosphere Range:  100-200/400/800
          Damage:  7D
     4 Laser Cannons (fire linked)
          Scale:  Starfighter
          Fire Arc:  Front
          Crew:  Pilot
          Skill:  Starship Gunnery
          Fire Control:  3D
          Space Range: 1-3/12/25 
          Atmosphere Range:  100-300/1.2 km/ 2.5 km
          Damage: 5D

     Before the Sienar Systems fleet produced the widely successful
TIE fighter, they produced a number of other prototype fighters. 
The SETH (Single Engine Twin Heatpump) was one of the most
successful of those ships, going through several versions before
the fighter type was finally abandoned.
     The SETH fighter is widely considered one of the finest
fighters ever, a craft far superior to the later TIE series. 
However, it did not become the standard space superiority fighter
of the Old Republic or the Empire, for a pair of reasons.  Firstly,
the SETH ships had a troublesome problem with the integration of
their heatpumps.  Very often, one of the two solar panel would wind
up overheating, and failing to function.  Advances in Engineering
under the Empire have solved that problem, but too late for the
SETH fighters;  The TIE had already become standard.  Secondly, the
SETH was simply too expensive.  One of these ships had the same
production cost as 23 TIEs.  In an attempt to solve this problem,
SSF came up with the earliest TIE fighters.  Even with all the
advances made in engineering, SETH fighters will still be just
about as expensive to produce as they were at their inception,
though they would probably be even better in terms of speed and
weaponry.
     In form, the SETH is a work of art.  The body of the ship is
long and smoothly molded, with the laser cannons set flush against
the craft's sides, and the concussion missile hardpoint directly
below the nose.  A pair of solar panels extend outward, past it's
rear.  They are angled slightly, away from the ship and down (sorry
if you can't really see it, but I don't have a scanner....)
     In combat, the SETH has no virtually no equal.  No ship of
it's time was capable of it's performance, and few modern ship are
a match for a mint condition SETH with a repaired heatpump
mechanism.  The SETH's combat effectiveness is due to a number of
advances that SSF built into it.  Many of these were discarded from
the TIE series due to their great cost.  The Laser cannons are the
equal of modern starship weapons, despite their age.  The SETH was
one of the first ships built with modern gyro-stabilizers, enabling
it to reach great speeds without smearing it's crew on the
viewscreen when it makes sharp turns.  The controls of the SETH are
highly intuitive, and are designed to be used by either one or two
pilots:  The pilot's chair can be moved to the right, and a second
seat folded out of the rear bulkhead.  Finally, their is a high
level of top quality miniaturization in all of the SETH's internal
systems, from the hyperdrive to the shield generators, allowing for
such a high level of performance from all the internal systems,
despite the thick reactant armoring of the SETH.
     The final run of the SETH was of twenty ships.  These ships
had almost none of the problems that plagued the earlier versions
of the fighter (except for the heatpump interface).  Budget
concerns and budget concerns only kept this ship from going into

production.  Those final run SETHs that survived the various tests
that the craft was put through all wound up in the hands of
government officials.  Those that are still around are either in
the hands of Moffs that fancy themselves either fighter pilots or
collectors of rare items.  The blueprints of the SETH were erased
from the Imperial records during the capture of Coruscant with many
other classified documents, and if the New Republic ever gets their
hands on a working SETH, they may very well resurrect this fighter
type, in a somewhat stripped down and modernized version.