Nowhere to Run
Marlene Starlight's public persona as ExO, 874 ABY
Marlene Starlight, 858 ABY
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To finally flesh out one of Darkwire's main antgonists
- Image Credit: Meryl Streep from The Devil Wears Prada, Neomilitarism poster from CD Projekt Red
- Role: Now ExO of the Corporate Authorities of Denon, formerly one of the five preeminent DireX, CEO & President of Starlight Industries
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: Denon, Darkwire
- Age: 57
- Force Sensitivity: Non-Force User
- Species: Human
- Appearance: Thin and taller than many at 1.8m, Marlene Starlight cuts a knife's figure underscored by fitted suits and bespoke dresses. Starlight looks ever the professional, her platinum blonde hair always styled and under control, her skin clear but for the protrusions of her facial cybernetics. She looks her age while seeming ageless, a catalog-worthy specimen of the preeminent leader of business and politics.
- Name: Marlene Starlight
- Loyalties: First to herself, then to the Corporate Authorities of Denon and Starlight Industries
- Wealth: Extremely
- Notable Possessions: Starlight Industries, functionally the Corporate Authorities of Denon as ExO, Personal Starship
- Skills: Focused, Strategic, Logical, Keen sense of business and politics.
- Languages: Basic, a few trade languages such as Huttese
- Personality: Marlene Starlight is incredibly hard to read. She's tight-lipped and terse, particularly to subordinates. Relying more on her reputation, not to mention authority, rather than charisma, she comes off frigid cold to others. She reviles displays of opulence, opting for pragmatic attire and offices, though she does tolerate an entourage of guards. She takes successes and failure in equal measure, not to celebrate or commiserate over but simply move on to the next step, keeping both enemies and allies alike off guard as to what her plans actually are. Her one warm delight is when discussing or operating instruments of war, here she becomes a vibrant woman of vast expertise and wisdom.
- Weapon of Choice: Blaster rifle if possible, but commonly carries a blaster pistol when armed. Most commonly unarmed.
- Combat Function: Not a combatant, will likely be protected by a cadre of Devaronian guards.
- Force Abilities (Force Users Only): N/A
- Arsenal of Profits: Her company produces weapons of war, as many sold around the galaxy as maintained for use with CorpSec; Starlight frequently has just the tool for the job or the credits if not.
- Impeccable Vision: Her cybernetic implants only enhance her acuity of vision, she possesses a natural affinity for focus and precision already. This lends itself to her aim, not only of weapons she can hold, but to those applied by her company or government as well.
- Legitimate Business Interests: Starlight Industries has built its empire upon the perfect legality of selling weapons of war. Her hands may be bloody, but they are not dirty. On a world of corruption and backstabbing, she can stomach no part.
- Iron Foot, Invisible Hand: She has risen to the forefront by being a stalwart background player. Her influence is felt across the entirety of CAD, while avoiding the cultivation of a prominent public persona.
Marlene Starlight was not always the pragmatic industrialist. Born to a modest family, she pursued the freedoms and passions of youth until the ripe age of eight, when a speeder accident left the young Marlene without the use of her legs. Her family, not wealthy enough for the intensive medical therapies that could recover her mobility, were left with the unenviable choice of replacing her legs with cybernetics or condemning her to a wheelchair. Unable to injure their child further, Marlene had an array of mobility tools except the use of her own legs while growing up.
The young Marlene, sometimes overlooked or left behind by peers, grew into a demure but sharp-tongued girl. Shouldering her own family's remorse into a reluctance to self-advocate, she became known as the quiet girl to all but those who crossed her. Her enemies received a sharp look or word, followed by swift retribution in unexpected ways. An unexpected computer system crash when submitting their next exam, a reassigned group for their next class project, even the reticent Marlene found allies —often like-minded individuals set against the same opponents— she could win favors from and pay them off through other favors.
Trading favors was not the talent that won her recognition, though it elevated her standing. Marlene took up marksmanship as her sport of choice, where her patience and natural talent for spotting details came in handy. She found notice at local tournaments, but hit a ceiling going up against cybernetically enhanced opponents. Though her parents were still not particularly wealthy, Marlene convinced them to invest in her enough to obtain cybernetics that would enhance her vision and aim. With her new tools, she began climbing the leaderboards and exchanging favors in earnest to gain access to more exclusive competitions. At one, she finally found notice from a mercantile spectator, an executive at a weapons manufacturer who also enjoyed seeing his products in the hands of civilians more than soldiers. He offered to sponsor her for higher education, as long as she came to work for him afterwards.
Time and talent earned Marlene high marks in her university studies, while favor and prestige eventually earned her enough standing to regain the ability to use her legs. The inlaid cybernetics were extensive and painful, but like all things in her life, Marlene's patience and tenacity saw her persevere. Standing on her own two feet again, she quickly rose in standing with her employer. Eventually she leveraged that to find a new job, a better advantage, where she gained more leverage to move upwards.
Founding Starlight Industries, then, was a natural conclusion to her upward momentum. The company focused on what Marlene enjoyed most, putting weapons into the hands of beings who would appreciate them. Actors of violence, particularly as an act of vengeance or justice, were her best clients. Her company provided fewer products for the front lines, more for the rear guards and maintaining order, products that often went overlooked by other defense manufacturers but made Starlight Industries wealthy on reliable, long-term contracts.
As was her norm, Marlene was no stranger to winning allies and leveraging favors, a facet that aided her in the world of business as well as politics. Corporate Space was a cutthroat realm to wage business in, but in time she flourished there, making close partnerships with several other business partners. When the Sith encroached upon their home region, she moved with the others to Denon, establishing the Corporate Authorities in the model she was accustomed to, and earning herself a seat on its Direx Board.
The Corporate Authorities of Denon survived, growing in power and influence, with Marlene close to its helm. As the Corporate Authorities came under more threat from within, Starlight's expertise in both weaponry and tactics were put to good use. When events lined up in her favor, even leveraging the unfortunate death of a close financier and fellow DireX, Marlene took advantage to propel herself into the highest position in the Corporate Authorities. Under Marlene Starlight, the whole of Authority space would learn that silence is not always consent.
