Private Familiar Connections

[Kyra Perl]

Go to the loading docks, ask for a man name Coren.

Not the most specific directions Yula could have given her, but how hard could be it be to find an outer rim cargo ship waiting for a paddie on Silver Rest? The name sounded vaguely familiar to Kyra. No doubt one of those connections Joza held. Probably met him once at a party. Or saw his naked ass walking out of her mother's room. Maybe he was Yula's boyfriend.

Kyra didn't think long on topic as she bounded down the landing strip. It had been quite some time since she had gotten a chance to see her older sister. Now maybe she would finally say Kyra was old enough to teach her how to use that cool whip she once found in Yula's closet. Growing up was so neat.

A quick inquiry with the docking droid got her sent to the right ship. She went towards it with all the eagerness of a child at Life Day. To her, it practically was. A heavy thunk announced her arrival, the girl huffing in an excited breath as she dropped her duffel bag on the metal ramp. Were there rocks in there? Sounded like it. The rising sun hit her face at an unfortunate angle, leaving her squinting blindly into the cargo hold.

"Hello?" She chirped, taking a cautious step forward.

Pink skin. Red hair. Stellar cheekbones. Definitely a Perl.

Coren Starchaser

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The Jedi Master of the Outer Rim was out doing what he did some times. Visit the Silvers, check in on Celeste, the other Jedi, and update what data he could bring out to the Covenant and other Enclaves. What he wasn’t really completely aware of was that he had some VIPs he needed to move around as well. Sure, it wasn’t a problem with him. Spaceflight was pretty synonymous with the Starchaser name and whole aesthetic.

The challenge was he found out, on his way back towards his ship that he was going to be transporting a Perl. Great great great. Normally it was Yula, or Nida, and he did keep them under closer supervision than his own two kids, but his own didn’t get too involved in the galactic going ons. It was pretty helpful, Kaia stayed out of the way, and Jared, well, he was starting to get int eh way again.

The Corellian was taking the moment to repair one of the anti-personnel autoblasters. He heard the voice and turned, grabbing a rag from his back pocket. He ran a hand up to his head as he cleaned the grease. Right, right, Perl.

But not Nida, another one… He thought. Blue eyes, that was… different. Weren’t Yula and Nida… not blue? Interesting.

“You’re definitely a Perl. You my cargo today?”

Kyra Perl

 

[Kyra Perl]

"Uuuuh. People aren't cargo. They're people," she countered, giving her bag a good kick to nudge it further inwards. "But yeah!" Her voice was high-- flighty, even. Her tone fluctuated through emotions in manner that was sure to cause whiplash.

"Imma Perl! The best Perl if you ask me." A deeper step in helped her eyes adjust. Her gaze focused on him, a slight grin growing as she did. "Coren?" She plopped on shipment crate without waiting for an answer, making herself right at home as she looked around.

"Do you live in this? It's awfully small. Course Nida says that people can live anywhere they want to, even space ships. I don't think I could. I'd miss the sun too much." She leaned back, tossing her head into the sunlight to exaggerate her point.

She snapped her head back up, continuing her prattle without pause. "I'm Kyra. Are you Yula's boyfriend?"


Coren Starchaser

 

[Coren Starchaser]

He shrugged as he looked at the younger Perl. He had to deal with Joza, and Yula, and Nida, and now this one? The Jedi Master Pilot Master Corellian Outer Rim person was more of a realist nowadays. People could be cargo because people were something to be transported. Not like slaves, but well, look at his ship, right? It was a light freighter. That meant cargo.

“The best one? Better not let Joza hear you.” He shook his head, knowing exactly what Joza would do if she heard that. “I live in it sometimes. Sullust and Kashyyyk tend to be my main port of calls.” He was on the Rim and sometimes a Silver Jedi. It helped to have more than one place to live. Besides, he could hide away from the galaxy if he needed to.

“Nida also needs to calm down. She’s lived in plenty of lockers during combat situations. Otherwise, Mama Perl would murder me.” He laughed. “And you just have to make plenty of stops on the right planets.”

He was finishing tightening the autoblaster and shook his head, almost choking on just air. “Her… boyfriend? Haha no! I’m Coren, Coren Starchaser.”


Kyra Perl
Nida Perl

 

[Kyra Perl]

"Starchaser," Kyra echoed, a bit of breath to her tone. "That's a cool one. But stars don't move. So, you can't be chasing them that far... But who am I to talk, I'm named after shellfish guts." She grinned, twirling her padawan braid around a finger as she summed him up. He seemed to know her family well enough.

Talked about stuffing her sister into a locker which was mildly concerning but also highly amusing, if not just because she was left picturing him trying to do that to her. Fat lot of luck there, ha.

Her feet kicked out, a set of shiny combat boots kicking against the crate in a light-hearted rhythm. "Doooooes this mean we're gonna go up against some pirates? Cause I've been training. You can think of me as your peeeeersonal guard. Numeral Uno. I'll protect you," she told him confidently, hopping off. She walked towards him with a pep in her step, her gaze turning wary as it dropped to his hands.

"Lightsabers are better than guns anyway. Trust me."

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Looking at the Perl he was wondering if he was going to be rolling his eyes. But she was taking his name as way too literal. Granted, his family was a bunch of space borne wanderers who made their way from one system to another, a few hyperspace jumps, and making their way to new worlds far beyond the reaches of what most did. “Not guts, actually. Covers sand, and is actually something valuable on most worlds.” He grinned as he watched her for a second.

“Pirates? I mean, if I do it right, no, we won’t be seeing any pirates. Most can’t catch up to my hyperspace charts.” Not many could, maybe Merrill… Definitely Merrill. Maybe some of the Aing-Tii as well. But they weren’t here. Jorus was out doing Jorus stuff, and the Aing-Tii were probably heckling Drake. “Have you ever even sat in a turret?” He asked as he thumbed towards the belly gun of his ship. Luckily he could control some of it using the ship’s droid brains.

“Trust you? And what sort of Master are you?” He laughed and shook his head.

Kyra Perl

 

[Kyra Perl]

His laughter had her straightening, her chin rising in defiance against his words. "Well. See. I-" She was left floundering for a moment, no quick quip coming to mind. Kyra had surely become a more studious student as of late, yes, but that did not make up for her years of casual delinquency.

She had only just earned her first Kyber crystal and her work with the force... well... Thankfully Jacen wasn't anywhere near SJO to be telling that story soon. Kyra was a novice, and surely there was nothing wrong with that. She just hated hearing it.

"Oh what do you know. You're just a pilot," she retorted, her brows pulling into the shadow of a pout. The expression worked wonders on her siblings. She cross her arms and huffed down on the crate across from him.

She knew nothing of turrets, but now she wouldn't be telling him that. "I'm a jedi, that's good enough." Her voice rang with unquestionable confidence at that assertion, her head shaking at him as she said it.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

There were few things that worried Starchaser in this galaxy at the moment. The Sith were… there, doing their thing, but he could easily handle their shenanigans. It was hardly ever himself he was worried about. He lost an apprentice to the Sith, but his conflict on that front wasn’t over yet. The Jedi Master knew that some people learned and advanced at their own rates.

As for him just being a pilot? The man was just shaking his head at that. “I’m a pilot, but the Force is all part of who I am. And it helps my fly, helps me defend the rest of the Jedi.” He tipped his head to the side. He knew what he could do, and he’d let her figure it out in time. Still, there was that itch…

What was it? Who was she?

“It helps to be a Jedi, but you need to learn how to use the Force in the right way. Doesn’t always come natural, squirt.”

Kyra Perl

 

[Kyra Perl]

Oh. He was... he was a jedi too... wasn't he... Heat crept upon her cheeks as she replayed his words through her head, the insinuations obvious now that she listened for it.

Her gaze skimmed his body, looking for a sign of that saber then. Meanwhile she showed an incredible lack of manners and stretched out awareness out through the force, sniffing out what she could about his signature... Emotions... Thoughts. In classes the girl showed impressive potential as an empath. Unrefined... Usually unconsciously done... But strong.

JJ had sorta taught her this trick. Sorta. Some of his technics could be reapplied, if one tilted their head and squinted a litt...-- Alright not at all. She was curious, alright?

"You train with my mom at all then?" She asked, her voice causal.

First you encourage their thoughts in the right direction...

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Someone didn’t know who Coren Starchaser was? What was Celeste teaching these Silver Younglings? Or apparently not teaching, as the case seemed to be. He was the leader of the Jedi at one time, and he did his best to keep them unified, but lately he was working more to help protect the OPA and keep the Sith at bay. It didn’t matter today, supplies, and taking Kyra… where was he going with her?

His saber was up under his jacket, similar to most spacers carrying their blasters in a docker’s clutch. It kept him looking less than a Jedi in the pilot. When he felt the tug of the Force from her, that was a bit of an unexpected. He tried his best to keep his emotions in check and there may have been a slight tinge when she looked at him in the Force. He was the type of person who was able to focus the Light in the Force, and find the paths between everywhere in space, and finding ways to protect others.

“Joza? Trained with her a bit. We’ve traveled in the same circles before.” He took a beat, then two.

Could she?

Kyra Perl

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra found nothing of initial interest, her attention waning against the task as quickly as it came. The tugging lessened, the girl tilting her head as she watched him watch her.

Kyra was new. New enough to remained sheltered and careless enough about names. It wasn't like she was ever gonna meet any of them. Well. Until she did. To her he was nothing more but a curious do gooder. Knew her mom when she was a paddie too, which lead her to a sudden explosion of a statement. "Wow. You're old. Like.... 50, right? I'm 16. Annnnd a half. That half is very important you see. In six months I can drink."

Her expression widened and then collapsed in all of a few seconds, the girl realizing something.

"Ewwww, what circles? You didn't date her, did you?" Her tone reeked of childlike protests. She really hated encountering her mom's men.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The Jedi Master was almost smirking at the feeling of her trying to get a gleam of something off of him, if that was what she was going for. Coren smirked. But then she started speaking. The Corellian’s eyes went wide as he shook his head. “Me? Not that old. Carbonite naps can ruin your own timeline.” He followed this with a shrug.

“On what world?” The pilot laughed. Giving the younger Perl a once over he tipped his head to the side. Maybe Tatooine, or anywhere in the Outer Rim. Terminus, probably. What was that saying about the state of the OPA? Well, it was just booze, if the drinkers were smart? They could handle their own demons.

As for her next question? “Well, Jedi, but not traditional, so sometimes the galaxy needed us to go save everyone.” Jedi were Jedi, but there were new ways to get around it, with different powers in the Force and looser morals with collateral damage and weapons beyond that of a lightsaber. “But date? Nah.”

Kyra Perl

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra slumped in relief, the subtle tension that had been building dispersing out of her. "Thank the cookies above. I woulda killed Yula if she had done that to me again. K i l l e d."

She seemed to slump further into an easy going pose, giving him a wide grin. "Well I think that's cool. What you did with my mom. I don't get why she stopped. I mean I do get, its nice having our money and all, but jedi don't need money to gain satisfaction helping others so--" She frowned, voicing a long withheld quandary. "Why can't she?"

Words she'd never ask her mother, they almost sounded like an insult. Why, oh mother of mine, do you focus on family and fortune instead of saving the world?

You're only a jedi master ignoring your calling.

Why?

Her brows furrowed on him.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Craning his neck to the side until it made a welcome popping sound with a few vertebrae coming into alignment, he just smirked. Finding himself doing a lot of that, the Jedi Master was doing his best to be patient. “Done what again? What sort of fiasco is Yula Perl getting herself into now?” That one was really going to be the death of him.

“Sometimes the fire can burn out, and then you hide from the world. I’ve been there, but also, well, sometime needs to keep the fight going, especially with the Sith…” Now he was getting into the deep end of who it meant to be as Coren. “Jedi and money don’t need to be in opposite silos. But for some, it just changes when you keep working on things.” He didn’t have a great answer for her.

“Why do you have that in mind?”

Kyra Perl

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra gave a delicate shrug, deigning into silence for a long moment. The energy she’s had been carrying fizzled out of her, until she’s was just a girl with her shoulders rounded in, staring at the top of her steel toed boots.
Not much excitement there.
“I think about her. A...lot here. She doesn’t really really talk about this part of her life. Never really thought to ask either but now...” she look around herself, chewing her lip.

“She’s done all this too. Every bit of it. I wonder what she was like.” Why she stopped. “If she was cool.” Those blue eyes pulled up to Coren, seeking.

Was she Strong or flawed. A natural or not. Confident or.. the question burned inside of Kyra, and if Yuroic was here he’d chastise her for attempting another comparison.
But this was her mother.

“I’m starting to realize I barely know her.” As all children eventually do.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The Perls were definitely a clan all their own. How many were there? And they all had this weird grace about them. Even Yula, yeah that one, the one out in Terminus, being a Judge and… well, insane. “Doesn’t talk about the Jedi side? Joza is… she’s not typical. But that’s probably why I like her around. When she comes.” He knew that chasing a Perl was not the easiest, and with Mama Perl, she was lead by the wind. And that was fine. But when she came around? She came to help.

And she came hard.

“Most of her story is really hers to tell.” Watching her blue eyes, he was starting to… no.

“Where are you from? Where are you going?” It may be better to change the topic away from Joza, less she hunt him down.
Kyra Perl

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra narrowed her eyes at him, her brows pinching subtly as her lips pursed.

Hey, riddle for you.

What worse than a momma Perl hunting you down?

A baby Perl smelling blood.

"So you know it," Kyra stated, ignoring the topic change. "You said you ran with her. So you were there for stuff." She edged forward on the crate, her head tilting at him. He'd feel the tug again, insistent and nosy as she tried to catch him out on any tell tail tics of lies or emotions.

"Was it the sith stuff?" Her brows rose up eagerly, the girl unaware of just how vague a statement that was.