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[Coren Starchaser]

Coren Starchaser was a lot of things. A former child of the ExplorCorps, a former smuggler, a former Imperial Officer and fighter pilot. Now? He was a widower, instructor and sponsored hyperlane pilot. And that was one thing he needed to work on. His son and daughter were both pilots in their own right, saving people, hunting things flying, exploring and keeping the spacelanes safe… sort of, the family business. Coren was not quite a Warden of the Sky. He liked to think he could be, and he knew that Kaia had a far better chance than he did. But him?

He was a bit more forward in her style. The Force was a tool, scatterguns were tools, and so were shoto lightsabers. He knew that one of his instructors was a Warden, but Coren dealt in the Unknown Regions. Life out here? It was harsh. While he did follow some of that Outer Rim credo, he knew there was so much more out here to worry on and it was needing to be handled a bit stronger.

The man was sitting in a local bar, just inside the spaceport on Serpena’s capital world. He had a bit of a hike to the next waypoint that AEI was having him make. Solovarna was taking some tricky and complex hyper jumps to make. He wanted to connect it all flawlessly, but right now? It was taking him five jumps. He’d get it down, he knew that bit, but right now? It was a matter of looking over starcharts, printed out in hard copy, and drawing on them with a grease pencil. He’d convert it over to the three dimensional electronic copy on his datapad, also on the table next to his mug of lum, and his Corellian Bloodsteel compass. It was more a trinket than actually useful here, but he’d hold onto the compass when he was trying to concentrate on the navigation, it was almost a focus.

“Alright, Nemexia, what are we going to do about you?” Really, he could use Spark Finn to talk this out with, but… Well, she was off doing something Underground-y. Maybe.

[member="Ryn Duskhaven"]

 

[H3xle]

Ryn, dressed as a typical spacer in lightly armored clothing that was pretty much non-descript, slipped into the bar where Coren was going over star maps. At the same time a well to do patron, who was apparently slumming it tonight, stumbled out the door. He stumbled into Ryn, who was nice enough to help steady the man and guide him out the door, then left for a different bar. Ryn stepped back in after helping the man out of the bar, his hand slipping out of an inner vest pocket as a highly amused grin spread across his face. A quick glance told him that none of the patrons were eyeing him and the bartender seemed only interested in filling the drink orders. Another clean score. He knew that Tyro would be less than thrilled that Ryn was continuing some of his more...illicit skills, but jumping systems didn't always pay that well, and men like that wouldn't really miss it any way.

Ryn motions to the bartender, sliding over a few credits and ordering a drink. After a few moments, the bartender returned with a drink that fizzed, it was a soft brown color and had scents that blended cinnamon, vanilla, black licorice and a little bit of rum. He took the tall glass and looked around. He had been led to this system by eddies in the force. When he arrived in the area, the eddies went away. He knew that what he was looking for was near. He spied, finally, Coren going over hard copies of star charts. Ryn figured that that was either a lucrative endeavor or someone looking for something. He'd done a bad thing, so he might as well try to do a good thing.

He walked over and sat down across from [member="coren starchaser"], making sure to not set his drink down on any of the maps. He gazed at the maps for a minute before looking up at Coren.

"This looks like it's interesting, need any help from a down on his luck spacer?" A down on his luck spacer with a lucrative set of skills, a decent knowledge set of Warden arts and a will to use both.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Coren had no issues with navigation, it just took him some time, was all. He knew where his skill set was, and this was it. This, finding objects and keeping on the move. More and more datacrons that he was going through, and hell, the Starchaser holocron, the real one, not the one the casino owner had, was discussing a lot. Altering the environment, but more important instinctive astrogation and the art of movement. There was even a discussion about short ranged teleportation. Just enough to get one moving out of a danger zone, or into a combat zone, but not anything that was going to break the Force, at least now how he read it. He’d have to contact Kaia… maybe, and see if she knew anything about this.

But until then? He’d do what he always did, and keep moving. Working on the Blood Trail, that was something, now wasn’t it? He looked at the maps and took the mug of lum in one hand and his bloodsteel compass in the other. He was going to have to use that metal to make the lightsaber with the orange Corellian crystal. Then just remake the one that used his family’s style of viridian synth crystal. But that didn’t matter right now. The Starchaser primarch had been rolled as a few different things in other lives, but a bard and rogue were among them, yes even once a Ranger was added to the mix. One thing he was good at? Understanding people.

And finding his way.

“Down on your luck? I’d say if you’re all the way out here you’re more than just that, friend.” He looked over at the man, and nodded. “What’s got you out here, anyhow?” Maps could wait, he supposed.

[member="Ryn Duskhaven"]

 

[H3xle]

“Down on your luck? I’d say if you’re all the way out here you’re more than just that, friend.” He looked over at the man, and nodded. “What’s got you out here, anyhow?” Maps could wait, he supposed.

Ryn smiled and took a sip of his root beer and rumchata, enjoying the taste for a moment as he shrugged a single shoulder.

"I just got the feeling I needed to come out this way...I typically stay on the move and I haven't really touched this part of the galaxy yet..." Ryn had a penchant for looking people in the eyes as he spoke to them. He could attribute it to his upbringing in a family that knew the worth of a person by whether or not he met ones gaze, or he could say it was performance training. Neither would be exactly true, the penchant was something that he was just born doing. His crystaline blue eyes always searched the others as he spoke. The performance training had simply made it more of a natural thing than staring and his upbringing did allow him to measure the worth of most by their eyes. It was hard to lie convincingly when one was looking at the eyes, most people tended to have an involuntary muscle contraction of the iris when they lied. Just one of many tidbits about how to tell if people were lying. Go Lie to Me.

"Are you looking for something in particular?" He said, indicating the maps and compass as he took another drink.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Root beer and rumchata. Now that was a drink. Coren would have to remember that smell later on so he could identify it. Could tell a lot about someone by their drink. What they were like, where they were from, how they held themselves. He was on a lum fix lately, what, with Corellian whiskey being hard to find, and the Talus variant just not being the same. Probably would switch over to tequila sooner or later. Maybe not with present company, but still, it was a good poison.

Staying on the move, Coren nodded for that. “I can definitely understand that. Lived aboard a starship as far back as I can remember.” That was a lie. He remembered the home on Corellia, parts of his mind were coming back to him, slow and steady as they were. It was like this place here. He could remember sitting on some spacer bar with her father, the elder Starchaser who had long ago passed on, going over maps. Looking through space lanes and planets, trying to find those hidden gems in the galaxy. That was what he was after here. The places no one remembered, or some only thought of as legend. Living in between everywhere but calling Corellia his anchor, which was what Coren was used to. So this man, maybe he was doing what his family had done all along. “Not many come out this way, aside the ones that are born here, or choose it for work. Not exactly tourist destinations.” With all the darkness between the worlds? Yeah… Coren was here because it was what he knew, both before and after the amnesia episodes.

Looking for? “Just doing some navigation. Can say makin’ the lanes out here safer is a bit of a hobby of mine?” He grinned. Of course, while Coren was a former Imperial by the way of a Chiss Empire and born of Corellia, his accent was coming across much more… western and lacks daisy, with a drawl than anything else. Never give up all of who you are, was what his father had said.

[member="Ryn Duskhaven"]

 

[H3xle]

Ryn nodded and took another sip, setting the drink down carefully afterward. No use getting rings on starcharts where they weren't meant to be. Ryn agreed with much of what Coren said, it seemed that Coren had been doing what Ryn was doing, just for a bit longer.

“Not many come out this way, aside the ones that are born here, or choose it for work. Not exactly tourist destinations.”

Ryn shrugged and smiled. "I like the dark between stars. It's peaceful, unforgiving and unjudging. It doesn't notice me or my activity and won't miss me when I'm gone." He shrugged again and took another sip. The alcohol was treacherous in this drink, as it didn't taste like alcohol. The drink itself tasted like a rootbeer float, just without the ice crystals from ice cream. That was why Ryn liked it, not just because it held reminders of a simpler youth, but because it was a drink that lured you in with it's flavor, but could kick you in the bucks if you took it for granted. "I also like to go where people don't like to go. See things that people have either forgotten or lost interest in or otherwise didn't know about. Being the first to see a star system since the Old Republic fell at Yavin or being the first to touch down on a planet ever, that is a pride that no one and nothing can take from you." Ryn's accent had started out as Kesh, not with an exclamation point, but definitely present. As they conversed, however, Ryn's accent took on some of the flavor of Coren's. It would be obvious that it wasn't intentional or mocking, just a natural chameleon effect of speech patterns, reinforced by years of bardic training though it may be.

“Just doing some navigation. Can say makin’ the lanes out here safer is a bit of a hobby of mine?”

Ryn quirked an eyebrow up and sat back, looking Coren over with his eyes and his rudimentary force sense. "Warden?" He asked in a pitched soft tone that would only reach Coren's ears. He might not be effusively competent in his ability to use the force, but he was thoroughly competent in the arts of stage, voice and music, allowing him to pitch his voice in certain ways to varying effects.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Coren enjoyed the space lanes. It was home for him, always had been. He just didn’t know what else to do, or how else to live. He belonged where everything was foreign, and for him? That was comforting for him. Probably why he taught the ‘looking like you belong’ class at the LAA. Half the battle to getting anything done was making sure you didn’t stick out, that was the easiest way to draw unwanted attention. And now he was here, making a hyperspace lane. It was work, it paid and it used his skills.

To break is divine.

“That is true.” Starchaser nodded to the other man. He did seem to have the wanderlust in him, or at least just the need to avoid most places. Either really worked, it pushed spacers together. And they had to stick together. Much like Merrill had always said, even if Coren preferred a harder edge be used on how to handle the safety of those in space. As he spoke, Coren couldn’t help but grin as his sipped on his lum. “So, what’s your name, friend?” He stuck a leg up on a free chair and looked at the man.

“Me? Not quite. I know one, know where they are… even if they don’t think I can notice them. But they’re really not useful out here, in the Unknown…” He nodded. Coren was a bit darker than that, he enjoyed keeping the balance and doing what he could to protect everyone around him.

[member="Ryn Duskhaven"]

 

[H3xle]

"Ryn. Ryn Duskhaven. What's yours?" Ryn offered his hand across the maps.

After they shook, Ryn sat back and took a sip of his drink, then placed it back down.

"Why wouldn't they be useful out here?" The man's words confused him, Warden's protected the spacelanes, why would that not be useful out here, besides the fact that few people ventured out this way. His words also made Ryn wonder if Coren could sense him, he wasn't the most adept, but he had received some training from a Master Warden. Did he give off a force aura like a warden, or no? That might be something to ask later.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Right, names. Duskhaven, well, not any different than his. Could Coren guess what Ryn here did? Most likely. “Just make it Starchaser.” He nodded. Wasn’t like his name was Max, and he really wasn’t mad… Though he did like to believe his vessel was the last of the V-8 Interceptors. CEC was doing some nice work with new ships, but a refurbished classic? Yeah, he wasn’t going to let that go. It’d be like an old Ford F100 outflying a Ducati Streetfighter. Kind of. But the man was a Warden, even if he wasn’t going to go admitting that.

Almost a slip of the tongue. Well, people knew what Jorus was, but Coren was… well, he didn’t need to scare people off from accepting help from the Wardens. They did do a lot of good, after all. “Well, first because they’re not real. Just smoke and mirrors.” Right. That’s what he was supposed to say. “Second? All the stories I’ve heard, not a one has them being rough and tumble. Dunno if you’ve seen whats out there, but we’ve got Reavers. AIn’t goin’ talk down a Reaver that wants to get you.”

Plus the Children of Darza… Darzu… Darzomething.

What was a Warden supposed to feel like? Coren was the type of guy who would drain a Slaver or Sith before engaging in combat, he didn’t have time to mess around with what ifs, especially if someone was threatened. He’d protect them. And then get back on to his job. Flying. Exploring. And making this Blood-Trail happen.

[member="Ryn Duskhaven"]

 

[H3xle]

"Starchaser...that's a good name." He responded with a quirked eyebrow. No first name...this guy is a real mysterioso. Ryn thought to himself. He had seen some of the things out here, and his time with a Warden had had some action, but he'd never faced down anything like what he had heard Reavers were like. He didn't think he'd have an issue getting 'rough and tumble' where savages such as that were concerned, and he didn't think his former...master?...would have had any issues either.

"Well. I've never seen a Reaver myself, I have more sense than to just write them off as legend, but I don't see as there being a problem getting rough and tumble with them as you said." Ryn gave voice to his thoughts. He completely ignored the smoke and mirrors comment, he knew some of the truth behind the Wardens, though he knew that he didn't know all, or likely even most of the secrets of the Wardens. He took another sip of his drink. "Well, I'm willing to help you make this area of space safer for a spell...I can't say as I'll be sticking around forever, but I can get my hands a bit dirty on behalf of the throng of innocents here abouts."

He was interested in helping, he knew enough about the Force to know that there was a line between light and dark, and that his former trainer had warned against the dark. Ryn was still young, though, and he still had his less than noble skills at hand and in practice. He hadn't met any other Wardens and who knew what path Ryn would end up taking.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

When Ryn spoke, Coren nodded. A good name? Yes it was, it was his, after all. And that was the only thing that mattered for certain. Was this man a Warden, the one in front of him? They really should make a special super secret handshake. Coren knew of one, and that was Jorus, but he had some suspicions based on names that were tossed around in friendly conversation with his Astronautic Academy counterpart. Out here in the Unknown Regions, there were so many different monsters behind the shadows that he wasn’t even sure who could survive.

One needed to be rough to master this section of space.

“Yeah, out here you sometimes have to make the decisions on the fly. Going to run, or going to fight. And who is worth helping?” That was standard spacer talk. Couldn’t just leave someone with their backside in the wind, now could ya? Not in Coren’s book. Even before he was a Warden, he was out there, working between the stars and helping folk down on their luck. Now? He was making sure they had a safe route to get to and get through the Unknown Regions.

“Can always use the help. Got your own ship, or you seeking passage and board? That you can work of, can’t rightly pay, but can keep ya fed and armed for the interim.”

[member="Ryn Duskhaven"]

 

[H3xle]

“Can always use the help. Got your own ship, or you seeking passage and board? That you can work of, can’t rightly pay, but can keep ya fed and armed for the interim.”

Ryn supposed he could have his own ship, he had access to the funds. He did not, however, want to squander what his parents had died building, even if it only amounted to a large pile of credits and some underworld contacts from Kesh to the Core. No, Ryn would get his own ship once he felt like he'd learned enough from travelling as a vagabond.

"I'm looking to book passage and board. I can do without money, that's never been an issue for me." Truth. He could survive on what his fingers could pick as long as he was in a sizable town or spaceport. If that didn't work, he could also perform for some money, though that would put a nice big hole in his anonymity. "As long as you can feed me, I'll stay on board for a spell. What's the destination, what is our goal?" He finished off his root beer and rumchata and set the glass on a nearby table as he glanced once again at the maps.

[member="coren starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

For the Starchaser clan, and all the families united by the Dawn Treader there was a desperate need for a ship. Not necessarily something big for each person, a fighter would do, something with a hyper drive that opened up the freedom of the space lanes to everyone. But not having a ship? Any craft? To the families that were pilots and the ones that didn’t seem to have the mindset that the Treader would provide all the needed, which she WOULD, it was like being paralyzed. Not being able to walk. And of course, Coren had… three ships?

One that was his personal craft, and marked with Chiss and Corellian origins, one that was an Underground vessel that had no port aside from Ord Mantell and a number of shadowports, and finally his Rassilon fighter. He liked variety. And it was where his money went, after all.

“Book… well, as long as you’re half awake and can keep up with whats going on. We’ll cover passage an’ board for you workin’.” He nodded. Right, the destination? “I never fly with a destination. We are looking to get from here, at Serpena, to Solovarna.” He was pointing to them on his paper map, and pulled up a third. “But we’ve got this queen of Nemexia in the way. She’s causing a bit of tricky maneuvering.”

[member="Ryn Duskhaven"]