Sic transit gloria mundi
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on the Order of Fire and the Qadiri.
Image Credit: Here.
Role: Order of Fire adept, pilot, astrogator, Commander.
Permission: Blanket permission for subs made by Laira Darkhold's writer here and here.
Links: Tephrike, Into Darkness, After Darkness, Shahbânu Semiramis, Tygara.
PHYSICAL INFORMATION
Age: 65.
Force Sensitivity: Knight
Species: Qadiri.
Appearance: Of average height for a Qadiri female, but well-built and in good physical condition. Jazan is tall, slender and has pointed ears. She has dark skin, and black, somewhat messy hair. She has several tattoos on her body, namely on her back, right arm and most prominently on her face. The last one resembles the waves of the ocean, which is a reference to her background as a sea corsair. As a career warrior her tanned skin is scarred by numerous wounds. One of her pointed ears sustained a nasty cut during a duel with a rival corsair. Modern medical technology has helped fix, but it still does not look quite right.
Her standard attire on duty is a flight suit. It contains patches that denote the ship she serves on as well as her squadron. She also has a more formal on-duty uniform and a dress uniform. Outside of combat she has a preference for fine, though not ostentatious clothing. She tends to have a blaster on her person and is a quick draw. She wears the Galactic Cross, a Firemane medal, on her neck when she has to wear her dress uniform.
SOCIAL INFORMATION
Name: Jazan Jai Khalal.
Loyalties: Herself, Siobhan Kerrigan, House Kerrigan, Qadiri, Firemane, Mirage Squadron.
Wealth: Jazan has some loot stashed away from her pirate days, though it is not always easy to convert into hard currency. Like every member of the Order of Fire, she receives remuneration from Firemane in return for her services. The pay is on a sliding scale based on experience, rank, reward and so on. Jazan is a highly decorated officer, so she should be able to enjoy a comfortable retirement when her service ends. She is no spendthrift, but quite materialistic.
Notable Possessions:
- Iskur Class Starfighter.
- X7-B "Checkmate" Holdout Disruptor
- AE-AS2 Specter Flight Suit
- Hold-out Bolter
- Renegade Model 557
- Collection of model sail and space ships.
- Galactic Cross, a prestigious Firemane medal.
- A necklace that belonged to her mother.
- The compass her mother gave her when she was a child.
Weather Sense enables her to attune herself to the workings of local weather patterns, allowing her to predict the weather. She has telepathic abilities, which is helpful for coordinating and communicating with allies without resorting to technological means that could be jammed or intercepted. She can pilot starships up to the size of frigates, but she is at her best behind the controls of a starfighter. Jazan has also picked up some skills as a mechanic. She is not a genius machinist, but her skills suffice to say perform repairs on her starfighter. Given her maritime background, she's an excellent sailor, swimmer, and diver.
Personality: Bold. She walks with a confident swagger that can cross the line into cocky arrogance. Jazan has outgrown youthful rashness, but is daring, brave and aggressive in a fight. Her life has not been free of harshness, but overall she maintains an optimistic, fairly confident disposition. Outside of her work she is a genuinely cheerful and easy-going person. She follows a warrior code of sorts and is not given to either random acts of cruelty or malice. She respects audacity tempered by a sense of proportion.
Jazan considers herself to be a warrior. War is not just an often unfortunate necessity for survival, freedom or resources, but also a test of character. She detests wasteful use of resources and those who carelessly throw away lives, but has a low opinion of pacifists. After all, she used to be a freebooter and privateer - and not the type who took from the rich to give to the poor. She far preferred giving to herself. She becomes cool, cunning and focused when in battle. These traits, along with her bravery, have gained her the respect of her comrades. Her skills have also given her a proud countenance. She has no false modesty about her piloting abilities.
Jazan started out as a corsair. Before they became the Skyrazors, the Searazors prowled the seas and oceans of Tygara, earning themselves a reputation as formidable pirates and sellswords. When the Qadiri were uplifted, they took to the stars. She still retains a special fondness for the sea, but feels at home in space. She is at her best inside the cockpit of a starfighter. Over time she has developed a passion for exploration. Like many Qadiri, she refers to the void of space as the sky-ocean, likening each planet to an island in the eternal sea. She is a determined woman who respects audacity. Jazan is a highly competitive spirit.
She is no stranger to violence, having grown up among the Khaimari in the land of Khairma. These were coastal folk who alternated between being subsistence farmers/fishers and corsairs depending on the situation. Both vocations were the family business, so to speak. Jazan was raised in the life and participated in pirate expeditions. The feuding Qadiri states often hired privateers as proxies. She does not feel any particular guilt about her past life. As a person she's fairly affable, cheerful and loyal to her friends. Outside of work she's quite capable of letting her hair down. But she's also someone who's spent a good portion of her life pillaging, plundering, invading port towns and abducting people to hold them for ransom or sell them into slavery. She is against needless cruelty and death...but well in favour of 'necessary' cruelty and death. Slavery was a fact of life where she grew up and so she took on slaves. But when the sky-people imposed their 'Clear Seas' policy, Jazan realised the way the wind was blowing and emancipated her slaves. She did this rather early, which made it easy for her to become their patron. One of them is a pilot in her squadron.
Jazan was illiterate for most of her life and is still book shy. However, this does not make her stupid. She is a fairly rational sort. Unlike many of her people, she is not given to believing that machines are powered by spirits or demons. She soon gained a good understanding of the advanced technology the 'sky people' possessed when they arrived on Tygara. She is a curious individual and always seeking out more information. Jazan does not share the dualistic view Jedi and Sith have of the Force. This is only natural because her people evolved in isolation on the remote world of Tygara and thus their theological viewpoints were not influenced by the various incarnations of either Force cult. Thus she does not see the Force as an omnipresent energy field that binds all life together. She would be mystified by Jedi beliefs. For the Qadiri the Force (or Zari as they call it, literally spirit or soul) is a gift of the goddesses. They regard it as a tool to be used, and sometimes it backfires when one falls and uses their powers for their own ends. Unlike the Xioquo and the Vashyada, the Qadiri do not have a inherent predisposition towards the Light or the Dark. In that regard, the fractious nature of their race helps.
Thus one can find both light and dark side adepts among them in large numbers. In keeping with this, she treats Zari as a source of strength instead of a as a mystical energy field that controls her life. Jazan is not particularly devout though. Her people paid lip service to the Goddess Kashara, but this did not stop them from pillaging her temples or attacking merchant convoys associated with her holy city. Unlike many Qadiri, she is not particularly racist towards Xioquo, even though they are the hereditary enemy of her people. Jazan is professional in her dealings with her Firemane superiors. She shows respect, but is not in awe. Unlike some Qadiri, she recognises that Siobhan Kerrigan is a mortal like her and not some kind of demigoddess. But she also knows that staying on her boss' good side is important for her advancement. She has a friendship with Admiral Hazani Jai Hazial, who has become a mentor for the younger woman.
COMBAT INFORMATION
Weapon of Choice: Piloting skills, blade, sidearms.
Combat Function: Jazan's primary combat function is that of a pilot and officer. She is capable of piloting ships up to frigate size. However, the best way to utilise her is in the cockpit of a starfighter. In that regard one could compare her to a Jedi ace. She is a very skilled combat pilot and starfighter commander, using a combination of instincts, training, natural skill and preternatural powers to gain an edge over her enemies. Jazan is a Force-user, but a highly specialised one. Her telekinetic abilities are subpar, she cannot shoot lightning from her fingertips, summon fireballs, conjure illusions or mind control people.
Instead, she is capable of using instinctive astrogation, which is a boon for piloting and also allows her to find safe routes through hyperspace without the use of an astromech droid or a navigation computer. This enhances her inherent navigational abilities. Qadiri are almost all extremely good navigators. They seem to have an instinctual internal compass, meaning they are great sailors, travellers and now increasingly pilots. She can also use Instinctive Astrogation Control to use the Force to enhance her mental abilities, allowing hrt to calculate the incredibly complex mathematical equations of hyperspace navigation in her head. Her mental abilities can allow her to, for instance, make precise jumps to the outer reaches of a system, improve her survivability in a dense asteroid field and find her way through storms and blockades. She has the ability to perceive danger without the use of scanners or sensors, and can target accurately without the need for computer assistance. Jazan is able to use Force Reflex, which allows her to effectively slow the world around her, heightening her reflexes and perceptions. This provides her with an advantage in her reaction time.
Furthermore, she can enter into a Force meld with her allies. Through the meld, she and her comrades can join their minds together through the Force, drawing strength from each other. This is a strong ability, but a double-edged sword. A great disturbance in the Force could overwhelm the melding participants as they receive the pain through their enhanced senses. If the pain is caused by the minds the melding participants are touching, it could have very negative repercussions for the participants. If she is in the middle of a mind meld and is suddenly deprived of the Force through say ysalamiri, the sudden loss will not just be very disorientating, but also painful. This is something a canny opponent could exploit. She is a good sailor and skilled at weather prediction.
However, her specialisation comes at a cost. For one, it means time and effort she could not put into other pursuits. She also plain and simply lacks the inherent talent for many Force powers, so even her long life span will not help her catch up. Her telekinetic abilities are extremely weak. She is limited to very basic uses, and even then only very small objects such as pens, pencils or pebbles with significant effort and concentration. This practice is extremely difficult, requiring concentration and focus, making it useless it combat. The reason for her weak telekinesis is obscure, but it seems inherent to her. Thus she cannot not use her long life span to compensate.
Likewise, her defensive powers are negligible, which means she cannot tank conventional or Force attacks with Force barriers or similar. She is very formidable in space, but on the ground she would be at a significant disadvantage if she say duelled a Force warrior or a large number of enemies. She is skilled with melee weapons such as blades, spears and javelins, in hand-to-hand combat and a good pistol shot, but not skilled in the use of heavy weapons. Her navigational and precognitive abilities come in handy on the ground. The same applies to her enhanced reaction time, agility and Force meld. But her actual combat abilities would largely mirror those of a Non-Force-User in such a scenario.
Strengths:
- Elite pilot. Jazan is an extremely skilled combat pilot and starfighter commander. She is formidable in space and seat battles. She is also a very capable shot outside of the cockpit and good with a blade. Like all Qadiri she has inherent navigational talents.
- Navigator. She has a strong Force connection with a focus on Force-enhanced navigation and Sense abilities. Jazan is a highly specialised Force-User. Her command of instinctive astrogation and Force Meld is very potent.
- Specialist. As a tradeoff for her specialisation, Jazan lacks the traditional combat powers one usually associates with Force-Users. Her telekinetic abilities are extremely weak. She is limited to very basic uses.
- Not a tank. Likewise she lacks strong defensive Force abilities.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
The difference between a peaceful farmer and a ferocious pirate often comes down to whether the harvest is good or not. Desperate people will inevitably do desperate things. This is quite true for the culture Jazan was raised in. She was born on the Khairma Peninsula many decades before first contact between Tygara and the outside Galaxy. The inhabitants of this region were coastal folk who alternated between being subsistence farmers/fishers and corsairs, depending on the situation at hand. It was a hard life that left little room for the lazy or the faint of heart.
The territory of the Khaimari was lacking in valuable resources. Thus its inhabitants were reliant on what they could earn with their own two hands. If they could not sow, they would pay the iron price and take what they needed with fire and blood. They worshipped Iskur, the god of the skies, and Nanshe, the goddess for the sea, boats, fishing and sailing. When a good harvest eluded them, they prayed for safe tidings so that their sailing ships could traverse the seas, allowing them to raid more affluent communities and seize merchant ships. While the Khaimari corsairs looted the cargo of ships they captured, their primary goal was to capture people for sale as slaves or for ransom. Those who had family or friends who might ransom them were held captive, but not obliged to work. Those who could not afford a ransom were sold into slavery. Slavery was a fact of life on Tygara and practiced by all native races to varying degrees.
When it came to their choice in targets, the Khaimari were not squeamish. They paid lip service to being good Qadiri following the Great Goddess Kashara, but Krolian ships tended to be loaded with gold, so they saw no contradiction in attacking vessels that belonged to the supreme deity's holy city. Here and there, the Qadiri states launched campaigns to stamp out piracy. For a while Khaimar was brought to heel. However, the Qadiri are a very decentralised, fractured race without a single sovereign all owe allegiance to. Indeed, they are a hodgepodge of monarchies, theocracies and republics. Warfare between the Qadiri states was endemic. Thus Qadiri rulers often issued letters of marque, hiring corsairs to attack and capture the vessels of their rivals or raid their settlements.
The Khaimari were adept at navigating the stormy waters of Qadiri politics. They also set up what amounted to a de facto protection racket in 'their waters', persuading rich merchants to pay tribute to them in return for being left unmolested. A Khaimari captain who broke their word or attack the property of a tributary would be branded an outcast. Compared to most Qadiri states, the Khaimari were more egalitarian. Like the nomads of the desert, such as Kazal's Dune Raiders, the Khaimari were also a refuge for outcasts. Captains were elected and could be deposed by the votes of the crew. Spoils were evenly divided into shares; the captain received an agreed amount for the ship, plus a portion of the share of the prize money. Romantics idealised the Khaimari as representing freedom and resistance to heavy-handed authority.Any naive romantic who had the misfortune of being enslaved by them was quickly disabused of such naive notions. The Corsairs united against outside forces that threatened their independence, but feuds between individual captains or clans were not uncommon.
This was the sort of world Jazan grew up in. She was born into the Qasimi clan, an old tribe of freebooters. Like many Khaimari clans, the Qasimi had a traditional kinship system. Thus Jazan lived in a large clan of extended family, led by a matriarch. From an early age, the girl was taught to be strong. She learned how to fish, care for crops, navigate, use a blade, musket, spear, bow and arrow. Jazan was the second daughter of Darya, a renowned corsair who commanded her own ship. Darya was feared for her cunning, temper and ruthlnessness. Following in the footsteps of Hasana Majelani, she had circumnavigated the world of Tygara in her ship.
It did not take long for Jazan to receive her baptism of fire and blood. The target was Sestos, a well defended coastal town in the territory of the Mirza of Jakai. Several corsairs volunteered their services and so Jazan's mother was able to muster a notable force. The raid was backed by the Mirza of Lakish, whose fiefdom was a rival of Jakai. Although they lost contact with one of their ships due to averse weather conditions, the flotilla reached its target. At the head was a Jakai ship, previously captured by Darya in an unrelated engagement, designed to fool the townsfolk into thinking that the flotilla was a Jakai one.
While the flotilla anchored offshore, a small force of pirates that included Jazan were landed some distance from the town and waited until early the following morning. While most of the town's militia were sleeping, the corsairs scaled the town's walls and disabled its fortifications. Jazan distinguished herself in the fight, personally eliminating a militiaman who sought to raise the alarm with a javelin throw. This allowed her mother and a larger force of corsairs, who had marched overland, to enter the city and overcome the remaining defences. Nonetheless, the fighting was fierce, as the defenders used the high ground provided by flat-roofed stone houses to their advantage.
One of the defenders Jazan ended up duelling turned out to be a Force adept. The young corsair fought bravely, unconsciously manifesting a form of Force enhanced speed and reflexes. She was able to injure her enemy with her scimitar, but was overpowered and blasted with lightning. Her lack of raw Force strength and inexperience worked against her. However, her mother Darya intervened, striking down Jazan's adversary with her Force imbued blade. The pirates sacked the town and took a large number of captives including the town's satrap. Jazan obviously participated in the plundering that ensued.
The surviving members of the town's administration agreed to terms of surrender. Realising that an organised sack was more profitable than wild looting, Darya had trustworthy warriors guard the mansions of rich citizens who were willing to pay ransom. The citizens under her 'protection' were 'persuaded' to hand over valuables, lest they suffer the fate of their unlucky brethren. However, on the third day of plundering, a Jakai fleet, composed of a number of warships, appeared on the horizon.
Alerted by their scouts, the corsairs retreated with hostages to a nearby island and waited for ransoms. Impatient when it did not arrive, Darya ordered the mutilation of a few hostages and had their ears sent to Sestos as a warning. However, one of her co-captains, Arezu, was angered by this. The two argued and then fought a duel. Arezu received a slash across the wrist and was returned to her ship in shackles. The wound soon turned gangrenous and she died shortly thereafter.
Despite being pursued by the enemy, the corsairs were able to get through the blockade. To create a breach, they repurposed a captured vessel into a fire ship and fooled their enemies into thinking it was fully crewed. The Mirza of Jakai repudiated the agreement the corsairs had made with the local officials. Thus the captives were sold into slavery. Jazan had taste first blood and earned some respect among the freebooters, though she was still a neophyte.
It did not take long her mother decided to embark on a more audacious venture. This time their target was a treasure ship loaded with gold and other tribute and bound for Krolis, centre of the Kashari faith and residence of the Saoshyant, high priestess of Kashara. The Saoshyant had incredible moral and spiritual power over the faithful, but in practice the Qadiri nations often conspired to prevent her from becoming too powerful. Unsurprisingly, these treasure ships were very well-guarded by escorts. While Jazan's mother paid lip service to Kashara, the riches of the Goddess' servants were too tempting a prize.
The promise of riches motivated many of the Khaimari to join. It helped that the harvest had been a poor one. Jazan utilised her skills as a neophate navigator, working beneath a more experienced seer in her mother's service to help predict a good course. The Krolian ship and its escorts were intercepted by the pirates. Jazan was part of the boarding party that attacked the main Krolian vessel. A Fire acolyte, full of righteous fury against those who transgressed against the Goddess, smote her with flames and blazing light. Jazan was burnt and disorientated. But while her naked sight failed, she was able to perceive her opponent with the Force and cut her leg with a blade before stabbing her through the chest. Darya praised her for her bravery. Overall, the battle was a victory for the raiders. Some of the smaller vessels managed to escape, but several were seized.
When the Kashari clerics cursed their attackers and promised them fire and brimstone, Jazan was dismissive. Flush with victory, she did not take their threats of doom and gloom seriously. Nonetheless, time was of the essence and so the corsairs moved quickly, retreating with their plunder, captives and stolen ships. However, pride comes before the fall. Contrary to all their predictions, the pirate fleet ended up running into a terrible storm. The main ship of the fleet was wrecked by the storm and sank. Jazan's mother Darya and her older sister were among the casualties. Most of the stolen treasure had been loaded on it.
Jazan could do nothing to intervene, for she had been stationed on one of the ships they had stolen. Anger coursed through her, but she was soon fighting for her own survival. Determination and a sense of responsibility for her crew animated her. Taking the helm, something guided Jazan through the storm, directing her around rocks and sandbars and past the worst of the storm. She was able to navigate the safely at night through some rocks and shoals. Some of her crew regarded her as blessed, others believed her mother's actions had cursed them. When the ship limped their home port, it was a less than triumphant return. What had started as a promising, highly lucrative raid had turned into a disaster.
Moreover, it opened the doors for a struggle for leadership in the clan. Jazan's aunt Azar laid claim to leadership of the clan. A Majis was convened. This was a gathering where the leader of the tribe was chosen by the captains and warriors. Despite her bravery, Jazan was too junior and inexperienced to be a serious contestant. In addition, her close relationship with her dead mother tainted her more than a little. The Khaimare were pragmatists, but also superstitious. Her aunt Azar, an ambitious captain and a rival of Darya, emerged the victor. It helped that she had treasures to bribe voters with. In all fairness to her, this was common practice among the Khaimari. A tribal leader was expected to be a capable captain and take care of her crew, after all. Darya had also flaunted her credentials as a reaver and war leader and used booty to buy votes.
However, there was bad blood between the new chieftain and her niece. Jazan had an altercation with Azar's followers, which left her with scars on her face and a cut ear. Jazan was angry about her mother's death and not in a very rational mood. Her actions made her an outcast. However, her navigational skills had not gone unnoticed. Several of the corsairs who had been saved by her felt respect for the young corsair. This gave her a small clientele, but her resources were scarce. Because the great raid had ended in a fiasco, there were outstanding debts she could not pay, even after drawing upon what was left of her share of the loot. However, it was not just creditors who took an interest in her.
A powerful Corsair commander called Tanaz Jai Kushal had heard about how the young Qadiri had managed to navigate through a storm and saw an asset she could cultivate. With her patronage, Jazan was able to build up a reputation and pay her debts by carrying out a series of small raids on ships and minor coastal settlements. In so doing, she honed her skills as a Force-user and commander. At first Jazan had regarded her weak aptitude for combat Force powers as a weakness, but Tanaz beat it out of her. The Qadiri warlord was a Force-user herself, though with a more conventional skill set. She knocked some sense the girl - sometimes literally.
It became clear to Jazan that she would never be able to utilise the flashy powers that were common among many of her peers. Wasting time and effort on powers that eluded her would make ber a suboptimal Force warrior at best.So she focused on those that came natural to her, namely Sense abilities, instinctive astrogation and eventually the ability to perform a mind meld. Tanaz was moderately skilled in this ability and taught Jazan the basics, encouraging her to specialise instead of becoming a master of nothing.
She was recruited into a large fleet of corsairs to take a well fortified but rich city in the domain of the Mirza of Lakish. Not so long ago this ruler had been a business partner, but their alliance had ended. Jazan was tasked by Tanaz with finding a solution to getting past a harbour chain covered by heavy guns. So what Jazan did was send forth a ship to break the chain. It failed in its task, but this was part of the plan. While enemy guns put the ship under fire, they were distracted. Meanwhile, Jazan led a handpicked force to disable some of the cannons, allowing the main force to enter the city. Unfortunately, in the hour of victory many of the corsairs ran amok, looted and burnt the city. They destroyed much of the wealth in the process. Thus the returns were poor but Jazan gained respect for her skilled fighting.
Partly acting on tales other corsairs had told her, she was roped into a treasure hunt. Several Xioquo pirates searched for a mystical artefact that was supposed to awaken Myrou, their sleeping goddess. The expedition was sponsored by several families. Jazan allied with one of the band of adventurers. However, the island were the artefact was rumoured to lie was full of hazards, such as traps, undead and sirens. Furthermore, the participants in the expedition soon clashed with each other. At first it seemed like the artefact was turning them against each other. However, it eventually turned out that they were being driven apart by their own greed. When Jazan had a moment to examine the artefact, she realised that it was completely mundane. She sold it for a profit though.
Ironically, she would end up fighting on the side of the Krolians. The Xioquo, hereditary enemy of the Qadiri, amassed a large force to sack the holy city of Krolis. The timing for a raid appeared fortunate. The Amikarese Empire, the most powerful Qadiri state, was embroiled in a civil war over the royal succession, so no aid could be expected from them. Moreover, the Saoshyant's position was uncertain, for she had antagonised some rulers by claiming that she alone possessed the right to invest Kashari clerics. Sacking Krolis would send a powerful message - and elevate the position of the houses that had backed it. Thus a large force equipped with some of the finest weapons the Xioquo knew was assembled for this undertaking. After deploying scouts in advance, the Xioquo traversed the seas in steamships. Their priestesses drew upon the Dark Side to blacken the skies, allowing their comrades to fight without fear of the sun.
However, instead of despairing, the Saoshyant rallied the defenders of the city. She entrusted command to Sahali Jai Bysara, High Mistress of the Sistren of the Eternal Flame. Her charismatic, fiery presence gave the defenders heart. Tanaz decided to throw in her lot with Krolis and offer her services. With some reluctance, Sahali accepted the corsairs' aid. Jazan was at first opposed to helping, for she bore a grudge against the Kashari clerics, but Tanaz told her to see the larger picture. The Xioquo possessed more advanced technology than the Qadiri. Instead of sailing ships, they used steam-powered ironclads. However, though tougher and superior in firepower, these ships were slow and unwieldgy, similar to a Star Destroyer.
To counter this menace, Jazan and her comrades used small boats to get in and behind the Xioquo ships. A boarding attempt was repulsed, she used explosives to set off some of their ammunition and sink them. Fire ships dispatched from Krolis threw the vanguard of the Xioquo fleet into disarray. However, large numbers of Xioquo were still able to land on the shores. The dark elves penetrated the city's defence, but were ultimately repulsed by the Fire Sisters and the warriors of Krolis. When the Krolian sorceresses undid the Xioquo's dark ritual, the drows were burnt by the sun and forced to flee. This made them easy pickings for the corsairs, who had opportunistically refrained from intervening in the ground battle until its outcome was clear. Several Xioquo were captured and enslaved. Jazan kept some of the captured drows around.
Soon she was in a position to launch independent expeditions.Jazan set her eyes on the Amikarese Empire, the largest of the Qadiri states. Its ruler Shahbânu Semiramis was the feudal overlord of both Jakai and Lakish. Its treasure ships were a tempting prize. Jazan and her ship trailed an Amikarese treasure convoy, but could not get close because of the escorts. Until a storm erupted. She was counselled to abandon the hunt. Several of her crew members remembered what had happened to her mother. Some grew so fearful they mutinied.
However, Jazan took the helm and piloted the ship with unerring precision towards her target. The storm had dispersed the escorts, so in the gale her ship was able to approach and seize one of the treasure ships, getting away before the escorts could intervene and prevent her escape. This success netted her a very large reward and enhanced her reputation. From Jazan's perspective, these were good years. To avoid being raided, many settlements and rich merchants paid tribute to Tanaz, who rose to the position of a corsair admiral.
However, the times were changing. Tygara's long period of isolation was coming to an end. People from beyond the stars came, encroaching on Tygara. Some were slavers, others were both like and unlike the Qadiri. The natives were uncertain what to make of these strangers. Some proclaimed them to be sky gods, others saw them as demons and others concluded that they were just people from other worlds with advanced tech. Jazan belonged to the last category. The Qadiri, interestingly, had a long tradition that there were other people living out amongst the stars.
Her first confrontation with the sky people was an unfriendly one. When Jazan led a raid on the Amikarese Empire, she was surprised when Semiramis' soldiers not only possessed more advanced weapons, but were backed by foreigners. Her forces suffered heavy casualties and were repulsed. Deciding that survival mattered more than her pride, Jazan ordered a retreat. While recovering from injuries she had suffered in the battle, she pondered what these developments meant for the future. The sky people possessed war machines and metal ships she had never seen before. However, she saw some similarities between their war machines and those of the Xioquo, though the latter were cruder and less advanced. Her contacts informed her that the outsiders were building a great city in the north.
So rather than charge into the fray again, Jazan decided to investigate these 'sky people'. Taking a ship, she was accompanied by a loyal Xioquo slave and a small crew consisting of her most dependable associates. Passing as a common sellsword looking for work, she attracted little attention in the streets of New Santaissa. Using gold she had acquired she purchased a 'talking golem' - in actuality a basic protocol droid. She found the so-called golem's mannerisms vexing, for it would not cease yapping. Fortunately, the droid eventually got to the point before she lost her temper. The droid told her much. Her Xioquo servant, who had been something like a machinist before being captured compared it to the golems that had been constructed by her people.
Jazan learned of worlds beyond number in the stars beyond Tygara. Fascinated by the idea of life in outer space, she desired the means to reach them. Interacting with humans, Eldorai and others, she learned all she could. She realised that the Eldorai were distant kin of the Tygaran elves. Moreover, she found out that the war machines that had foiled her raid belonged to a 'foreign queendom' called Firemane. The leaders of this realm were not elves, but humans. However, both the Eldorai and Semiramis seemed to defer to them. Jazan had to deal with racism from both humans and Eldorai, but the haughtiness of the outsiders left her cold. For reasons she had trouble understanding, the sky people seemed to oppose slavery, viewing the practice as barbaric.
It soon came to her notice that the sky people were preparing for a great campaign against the Xioquo. Realising that this was an opportunity, Jazan offered her services. She was less interested in gold and more in the technology of the outsiders. She realised early enough that understanding it was the key to influence, freedom and survival. She fought in a few skirmishes with the Xioquo and participated in the final assault on the Underealm, helping clear out one of the forts that guarded the entrance into the Xioquo's subterranean lair. Needless to say her raiders also used the opportunity to loot a bit.
The Underealm fell and the Xioquo submitted. The Qadiri's hereditary enemy had been defeated. However, Jazan realised that the old ways were dying. Anti-piracy and anti-slavery campaigns encroached upon her business. Moreover, Firemane and the Eldorai tried to enforce 'global peace' on the planet. In effect, this meant they expected the local rulers to do as they said and bend the knee. Several of her comrades could not accept the changes that were overtaking Tygara and tried to resist them. Some of her allies called her a coward for not joining them. However, Jazan had become fascinated by the prospect of venturing into the stars. Her aunt Darya was one of the old guard who fought against Firemane's 'Clear Seas' policy. She eventually met a bad end. By contrast, Tanaz put down the sword and retired, living in luxury. In an ironic twist of fate, she became one of Semiramis' advisors and was made a governor.
Jazan tried to volunteer for Firemane because she wanted to see the stars, but was turned down by snobbish folks who thought a Qadiri could not fly. Other Firemane employees were distrustful of her due to her history as a pirate and slaver. When she came across the wreckage of an atmospheric fighter that had been downed by a storm, she had it brought to her home and tinkered with it in her spare time. Eventually she was able to hire an outsider who helped her get the starship back in shape and taught her how to fly it. More conservative Qadiri called her mad, but she was determined to find out what was out there and gathered some equally adventurous allies from her old crew. They called themselves the Skyrazors.
After acclimating herself to flying and doing a number of jobs, she returned to Firemane and demanded she go through the test. Jokingly the responsible officers put her through the simulator, but found that she was actually really good. Working for Firemane meant following their rules and refraining from activities they considered vile. But it was very lucrative and created new opportunities for her. She proved her skills in skirmishes with Kraal raiders, Eldorai reactionaries and the First Order.
Gathering a small group of Qadiri Force adepts, she turned them into a potent fighting force. Like her, they were children of the sea who had graduated to space and the sky. They were trained in piloting and Force meld, allowing them to draw strength from each other in a battle. The unit was called Mirage Squadron. Her piloting abilities caught the eye of Siobhan Kerrigan after Jazan and her people played a vital role in a skirmish with a Rogue Sith fleet. The Lady appreciated Jazan's attitude, initiative and lack of superstition. By the time the Qadiri made their first steps into the stars, Jazan had found her place in the stars and set up her own network among the spacefaring elves. She grew close to Hazani Jai Hazial, the Admiral of the Void Ocean. Both had similar backgrounds as Qadiri corsairs who went 'legit' and decided to ally themselves with the sky people. Jazan became a protege of the older woman.
Eventually the Mirages were assigned to the Scarlet Destiny, Firemane's exploration ship, as an escort on its shakedown cruise. Commanded by Tegaea Alcori, the Destiny was supposed to go boldly where no Firemane had gone before, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilisations. However, as is often the case, the plan did not survive first contact. The Firemane exploration corps came across the world of Tephrike, which had been cut off from the rest of the Galaxy due to the outbreak of the Gulag Virus.
It soon transpired that the Dark Age had never truly ended on the planet, for vast swathes of it had been turned into a wasteland and riven factions fought for dominance. One of them was the Jedi-led Dominion of Light, a totalitarian theocracy. At first Firemane attempted diplomacy, but an extremist faction in the Dominion attaked the foreign delegation. In response, Firemane declared war. However, though primitive, the Dominion proved to be a dangerous opponent. At first, Firemane initiated a surgical bombardment of key military, communication and Jedi facilities in and around the Dominion's capital, Nexus City. The city had a shield generator, but Firemane used magpulse torpedos to disrupt it. This gave Mirage Squadron an opening to slip in.
Jazan personally led the strike, blowing up the generator. Thereafter the Scarlet Destiny levelled the Jedi Temple with its Harbinger cannons. However, the Dominion had deployed special surface-to-space missiles and now targeted the Firemane fleet. Through alchemical manipulation, these nukes were far more potent and a serious danger. A Dominion faction that opposed the war course and feared Firemane would retaliate by levelling the city, was able to stop two missiles from being launched. However, the other two were fired. One hit a Firemane corvette. Producing an effect akin to that of a small-scale thought bomb, it consumed their souls. The other missile had targeted the Scarlet. However, Jazan and her crew were able to use tractor beams to capture it and hurl it into the sun. As Jazan put it, they took out the trash.
Now Firemane deployed ground troops to take a key military installation, Fortress Purity. Heavily guarded, it was a vital military base that protected access to the capital. Because Firemane only had a limited amount of troops in the theatre and lacked knowledge of the lay of the land, it entered an alliance with the Republican Guard, an anti-Force-User faction that idealised the Rebel Alliance and had a strong Vong contingent. These rebels would supply most of the manpower, but mutual distrust made the alliance a tenuous one.
The Dominion attacked Firemane transports with kamikaze fighters and used a weather control machine to summon a storm. This disrupted communications between the ground troops and the fleet and made it hazardous to land reinforcements or conduct bombing runs. Firemane and Republican Guard troops soon found themselves engaged in fierce, brutal combat with the enemy. A good number of Firemane gunships crashed. The Dominion made ample use of Force-Users to compensate for its technological weakness.
But Mirage Squadron came to the rescue of a group of Firemane and Republican Guard special forces that were being overrun by Dominion troops after conducting a foray into their second line of defence. When Reaper Squad and Viper Company were being flooded by Dominion infantry and armour, the Mirages sprang into action. Their Force-enhanced coordination, preternatural and inherent navigational skills made them some of the few pilots who could fly into the hot zone despite the raging storm. Firing missiles they destroyed Dominion armoured assets and relayed targets to Firemane artillery.
This bought the Republican Guard time to deploy the Andorian Guard, thereby forcing a stalemate. However, intense combat continued on the ground. Eventually the allied forces were able to overcome the defenders and the Republican Guard planted its standards upon the Fortress, but the cost was high. Meanwhile, the Mirages were assigned to the task force of Major Tempest, who had been charged with finding the captive Elpsis - or avenging her.
The Mirages escorted Tempest and her soldiers to her destination, providing vital support when they engaged enemy forces. Jazan and her pilots strafed the camp's defences and the Dominion troops, bombarding them with missiles and laser fire. Ultimately the Firemane troops broke through and found Elpsis. By now the Fire Princess had managed to free herself from her brainwashing and slaughter her captors with the help of rebellious prisoners.
With the campaign over, Jazan stands ready for whatever future missions await her. Her squadron's success was a boost to their reputation. Given what she had to put up with when she first applied for a position in Firemane, it has been particularly gratifying for the former corsair. She was awarded a medal for her conduct. Jazan is a very ambitious woman and intends to work her way up to a senior command position. For the time being she sees her place in Firemane and intends to rise further in its hierarchy. Admiral of the Void Ocean Jazan Jai Khalal has a nice ring to her.
Last edited:
