Private Secrets of the Rim

[Kaia Starchaser]

Being a Warden was definitely different than running her own company. Kaia Starchaser was really heir apparent to the Starchaser legacy when it came to being a Warden. Her brother was definitely the one to take up her father’s mantle elsewhere. Sure, Coren was alive and well, but he had other things to handle. Running the Home Guard, being part of the Partisan leadership, and eternally watching to make sure the Sith don’t come in to ruin the Jedi, or that the Jedi don’t ruin the Jedi. But here she was, the one who watched the spaceways, and made sure all the ore and salvage that could be found, was found and sold to benefit the OPA and her interests.

Yet, today she was on her own shakedown. Her YT-2400, the Pulsar, red plating coming off to show the underlying silver, not really designed to look like much, a wannabe smuggler’s custom ship, but definitely on a budget, the vessel betrayed that assumption. Fast, nimble, and well shielded, the Pulsar was a Warden’s vessel through and through. And the pilot at the helm, she knew a thing or two about the back roads of the Outer Rim.

The Pulsar was touching down on one of the Shadowports deep in the Outer Rim, and the half-Mirialan pilot stepped out. She was followed by her mini-probot, Drifter, and if someone knew what to look for, they’d see the cylinder of her lightsaber, a family weapon, but not one used by a Warden, typically. Though, with Sith patrols and other nasties out here, she liked the weapon handy. She hoped the OPA Revolution Shadowport wasn’t going to have any trouble, but one never knew.

Still, she made her way down to the pilot’s bar, it was a shadowport, so there were only a few, but this one was where all the good pilots knew to go to get their requisition orders fulfilled. And that was where the black nerf-leather clad pilot was heading.

 

[Cassus Akovin]

Cassus was young, but he looked older than he was, and acted the part for it as well. It helped when you were helmeted, no one questioned your identity. The Gauntlet's Off had parked itself about a lightyear away from the Shadow port after diverging from their usual route from Nar Shaddaa to Klatooine, and Cassus flew in alone on the old YT freighter The Junk'd Up Ship his mother used to fly.

It didn't fly easily, and was a poor substitute for a transport ship, but it was the only way he thought he could protect his sick mother while he tried his damndest to conduct some business. He didn't know if he could earn any money here, but a Shadow port was good for the word of mouth. If there was a job worth hearing about, he'd hear it here. Cassus made his way to the pilots bar, hoping to pick something up from gossiping ship captains.

Hopefully a seedy place like this doesn't ask to see ID or care about how old you are to enter...

Kaia Starchaser

 

[Kaia Starchaser]

The use of Shadowports from the OPA was not a new trick for them by any means. They were beacons of hope in the darkness. Places for weary travelers with the right amount of know-how to retreat to. Places to hold their own, and get their bearings straight. Kaia knew them very well, and with Starchaser Enterprises and Silk Industries, she was aware of more than her fair share. But she was a Warden, a CEO, and a vocal part of the OPA.

As she stepped into the pilot’s bar, she nodded at a few others, semi-familiar faces, or familiar logos. Small teams of smugglers, other do-gooder types, some white hat bounty hunters. The half-Mirialan was feeling at home here. She looked at Drifter and her eyes went to one of the men against the back room. Her look definitely said ‘time to get supplies’ to the droid.

Approaching the bar, she slapped a few talons on the counter and ordered a Corellian ale. “Any news from the Rim, Renner?” She asked the near-human bartender as she took a sip of the ale. The best way to know where blockades or pirates were moving, sometimes, was to just ask the bartender. They knew a lot of people.

And by know, she meant ‘had met in passing.’


Cassus Akovin

 

[Cassus Akovin]

Trouble or not, Cassus managed his way into the Pilots Bar. Though if he were honest, he was a little bit out of his depth here. He owned a ship, his mother and uncle taught him how to get from point A to point B flying, but it would be sheer arrogance to call himself a proper pilot. Being so young didn't help either, bereft of the experience and knowledge necessary to make your way through a seedy place like this.

You could be as armed and armored as you liked, if you can't see what you're headed into you can't count yourself among the prepared. Looking around the bar and catching glances, he made his decision to walk towards the bartender where he engaged in conversation with a woman ( Kaia Starchaser ).

Cassus decided to sit and listen in, without ordering a drink.

 

[Kaia Starchaser]

The bar was the typical one. The Warden of the Sky was doing her best to keep a low profile, but she was a Starchaser, anyone who had the Force would see her a mile away, and anyone who followed any briefs put out by the OPA would know who she was. She was in charge of her father’s company, and they were a pretty successful at doing some mining, salvage, and charter exploration, so she made her face known, and how many Mirialans were out traveling this far into the Rim?

Granted, she was born of Starchaser blood, so that meant space was her neighborhood. And these bars were where she went to find a way to help others. She looked over at someone who was a bit more armored than she was, well, she was in spacers attire atop her songsteel-reinforced body glove. She liked being light weight and mobile.

“You ok, pilot?” She asked as she looked up from the bartender and where he was pointing.

Cassus Akovin

 

[Cassus Akovin]

Cassus looked up from the table, surprised (though he shouldn't have been) that he was noticed. The woman asked if he was okay, and he didn't know exactly how to respond. It was his intention that he would simply sit here, and listen to the other pilot's talk and gossip, learn by hearing. Though perhaps that was never realistic, Cassus didn't know how to be a person yet.

"Uh, no not really." He said simply in response, as honestly as he could manage without divulging too much beyond his emotional state. He might not yet understand the finer points of small talk, but he knew at the very least that oversharing was never a great introduction. Particularly if those details are personal issues, otherwise one might think you are attempting to rope someone into assisting you with them.

Though of course, he would appreciate it, appearances were everything.

"I came to listen, and I don't drink, so I apologize for the disruption."

Kaia Starchaser