What's even better than a TIE fighter? The Advanced X1 model, of course. This sinister seeming ship is better known as Darth Vader's TIE fighter and was seen menacing whole squadrons of X-Wings in the Death Star trench in A New Hope. Unlike the basic TIE fighter model, the X1 appears to have better armour or shielding; rather than being obliterated with a single shot as each TIE fighter seen in combat is, the X1 simply spirals out of control into deep space when struck by the Millennium Falcon. With all its advanced capabilities, Vader's personal ship was the best Imperial starfighter in the hangar, no question about it. As an aside, it also made for a really great toy.
Mike has lived in the UK, Japan and the USA. Currently, he is based in Iowa with his wife and 2 young children. After working for many years as a writer and editor for a large corporation, he is now a freelancer. He has been fortunate enough to contribute to many books on Doctor Who over the last 20 years and is now concentrating on original sci-fi & fantasy short stories, with recent sales including Flame Tree, Uffda, and The Martian Wave. Also, look for his contribution on Blake's 7 to "You and Who Else", a charity anthology to be released later this year.
You can find him on Tumblr at https://www.tumblr.com/blog/culttvmike
