Spang

Spang, a Human male, was a starship engineer who owned and operated a repair bay on the Tanquilla Beach shadowport in the Kathol sector of the Outer Rim Territories. The repair bay, known as Spang's, was the largest on the station, and was capable of modifying and repairing capital ships. His repair bay was regarded as the best on the station, and he was acknowledged as a master of his craft, known for his first rate work, ability to seemingly work miracles, and devise ingenious modifications. It was rumored that Spang had access to Imperial Research and Development projects, but he never elaborated on such claims.

Spang was an ally of Bequesh, the administrator of Tanquilla Beach; Spang had procured and installed the station's impressive defensive array of turbolasers, ion cannons, and tractor beam projectors from Imperial shipyards. Over the years, many individuals had tried to oust Spang from his prime spot on the station. However, what many did not realize was that interfering with Spang drew Bequesh's attention, and he did not take kindly to anyone messing with Spang. Spang, for his part, had no need to justify his usefulness to Tanquilla Beach; he invariably had a waiting list of ships several months long waiting for his services.

At some point, Spang was hired by the Tenloss Syndicate, a shadowy criminal organization. He led a freelance team made up of former Imperial engineers to produce a short-range starfighter for the Syndicate. Spang and his team based the design on the mission profile of the TIE/LN starfighter, and succeeded in creating the Hornet-class interceptor, a fast, light and easily mass-produced craft.

Spang was also friends and drinking buddies with ConJob, an information broker who doubled as a florist. In 8 ABY, Spang's granddaughter, Fia, came to Tanquilla Beach to intern with him. Fia, a recent graduate of Corellia University's School of Starship Engineering, was a natural and talented hypernautics engineer in her own right. He agreed to let her stay on the station, but was privately worried that her staying on the station was not a good idea.

Months after Fia's arrival, the New Republic CR90 corvette FarStar arrived at the shadowport seeking repairs to the vessel's hyperdrive, which had been damaged by a combination of sabotage and combat in the nearby Shintel system. Spang's repair bay was the only facility on the station capable of conducting the repairs, but as Spang was extremely busy, he was unable to assist the FarStar, and even refused to meet with the command crew to discuss terms. However, his friend ConJob persuaded Spang to help them out—ConJob had lived on the planet Siluria III and his family had been killed during the Imperial occupation. The current commander of the FarStar was Kaiya Adrimetrum, who had led the resistance against the Empire. Spang agreed to let Fia oversee the repairs and refit for a fee of 50,000 credits.

Fia overhauled the FarStars engines, and found evidence of programming trapdoors embedded in the corvette's systems which had allowed the vessel to be sabotaged at Shintel. The trapdoors had been put there by Imperial Moff Kentor Sarne, the former owner of the vessel. Sarne had intended the corvette to perform special missions for him, and took precautions to safeguard the vessel in case a commanding officer attempted to steal the ship or subvert Sarne's authority. Fia was confident that she could remove the programming trapdoors in the engineering systems, but admitted that she did not have enough technical knowledge to search the rest of the ship for more. Spang, while stopping in to see how Fia was coping, noted that the work was similar to some he had seen on Pembric II. He advised Captain Adrimetrum that if she wanted to avoid any more trouble with booby trapped circuitry, then she should travel to Pembric II and find Breslin Drake. Drake had contacts all over Pembric II, and would be able to find someone to help her solve the technical problems on the ship.

Spang was a short, old man with a cheerful disposition and a beaming smile. He was extremely protective of his granddaughter, Fia, and worried that Tanquilla Beach was not the right place for her to work in. An engineering genius, Spang was in high demand by the patrons of Tanquilla Beach to repair and modify their vessels, and had a tendency to get lost in his work. When the FarStar arrived at the station, Spang was so busy that he refused to see their representatives, and had to be convinced to help the New Republic vessel by his friend, ConJob. He was well acquainted with the running of Tanquilla Beach due to his association with Bequesh, and was fully capable of running a successful starship repair and modification business for many years. He had knowledge of several languages, and was able to determine the value of useful items.

Spang was trained to fly capital ships and space transports, and could repair most types of starships, including large vessels, personal transports and freighters, and starfighters. He could also repair starfighter weaponry, and program and repair computers. He was generally clad in greasy trousers and a shirt, with a tool-filled workbelt around his waist. He carried a datapad and comlink.

Spang 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. Spang charges the players 50,000 credits for the engine repair, although he can be talked down to 45,000 if the players are members of the Corellian Merchants' Guild. Spang's involvement with the creation of the Hornet-class interceptor was revealed in The Jedi Academy Sourcebook in 1996, and he was later namechecked in West End Games' Platt's Smugglers Guide, published in 1997.

• The DarkStryder Campaign
• The Jedi Academy Sourcebook
• Platt's Smugglers Guide
• The DarkStryder Campaign, Deluxe