Private On the other side of the fence (Jaida)

[Jared Starchaser]

The galaxy was a vast place. It wasn't a bad thing, but Jared had been learning to exist in it on his own way. On his own terms. Did he call Dawn Chaser home? Sure he did. Same as Corellia, and Kattada to an extent. His training taught him a lot, and it was near impossible to give up on that. Even if he was leaning more into his Force powers. Unlike his father and sister, he opted to not be using the Force as much. He instead followed the example of the Saarai-Kaar Veino Garn. Use it when you needed it.

Jared was a crack pilot, always had been. It probably helped his first ship was a TIE A/D, and then he moved on from there. Like the rest of his family he was always a pilot, and that had him being a vagabond. His training and young adult life was on Csillia, and with that world gone? He was finding himself. Getting deeper into the Rim, saving those he could, helping provide for those who needed it.

After reprovisioning on Susevfi with the RTL, he set his sites for the Kathol. From there he was bouncing out towards the old war front of the Alliance and First Order. It wasn't too far from Sullust, but Jared heard a call for help and wanted to tie it down. Landing at a space port, one that was set up just off the beaten path, he knew he needed to fix one or two more pieces before heading on down to the surface.

Landing the Sunrise on the port, he made his way, with droid in tow. His BD unit was getting the signal squared away, and still the Mirialan pilot was sidling up the bar, looking at the datapad he had. Time for a fresh drink and then he'd head back to the ship. Every line of text was making it seem like something much bigger. As he drained his first drink and ordered a second, Jared looked to the barkeep.

"Know of anyone looking for a few credits?"

Jaida Tess

 

[Jaida Tess]

OCC: This thread is now non-canon, but it was enjoyable while it lasted.

​

Landing the Sunrise on the port, he made his way, with droid in tow. His BD unit was getting the signal squared away, and still the Mirialan pilot was sidling up the bar, looking at the datapad he had. Time for a fresh drink and then he'd head back to the ship. Every line of text was making it seem like something much bigger. As he drained his first drink and ordered a second, Jared looked to the barkeep.

"Know of anyone looking for a few credits?"

While the bartender poured a second whiskey into a shot glass with one hand, the Besalisk stroked his chin with one of his opposite hands in mock thought.

"Hmm I may, I just may... and a good one too if you don't mind the looks," he leaned slightly forward with a smirk while topping off the stranger's drink, then the large humanoid with four arms stepped back and turned his big head, calling out for this person in the back room. "Hey JT... You're needed out here pronto!"

Captain Jaida Tess, an ace TIE fighter pilot by skill, and former commanding officer of the First Order's elite Black Squadron was no more. That pinnacle of achievement in her military career had ended in the direct aftermath of the Battle of Csilla where the Imperial faction gave assistance to the Chiss as they fought for their very existence against the Brotherhood of the Maw. The FO Navy's massive defeat there led to the government's collapse as member worlds chose to secede or looked elsewhere for security. It was a sad affair, especially when the Imperial Nation of the Western Reaches had fought so hard to come back from the dead, literally and figuratively, after the Ssi-Ruuvi Imperium decimated them a decade before.

Now, the Dosuun-born was like everyone else attempting to call the Wild West of the Outer Rim home - just a spacer trying to stay ahead of the game and make a living. It was a hard and challenging life, but that had never kept the young Tess down for long or from giving it her all despite the odds; a Pearl of Wisdom shared with Jaida by her late mother.

"Keep your pants on, I'm coming," JT growled out before giving the pipe fitting under the grungy sink one more turn with a hydrospanner; pushing herself back upright after doing so. Gah, she must look a mess but oh well...

Grabbing a somewhat clean hand towel on the way out to the front end of the spaceport cantina, the champagne blonde dressed simply in a tank and spacer trousers tucked into leather boots pushed open the swinging door with a bit of feistiness, then stepped out to behind the counter a few feet down from where the bartender and patron were located.

Her steel blue gaze went from Jester Mex, the owner of the establishment, to the Mirialan sitting in from of him at the bar. Those blueish-gray orbs lingered on the green-hued pretty boy for a second, then back to her boss with an inquisitive look.

"I'm here... Now, what's so damn important, hmm? I still need to check out the cooling unit's coil before happy hour starts."

Oh, how the mighty Jaybird had fallen.

Jared Starchaser
​

 

[Jared Starchaser]

The pilot was not really suspecting the Besalisk would know anyone. The station was an old shadowport and he suspected he would be able to find someone amenable to his plight once he knew what he was about to head into. It was an old Underground trick, but he'd just have to look. The fact that this bartender seemed to know people didn't surprise him. "Don't mind the looks?" Jared was looking absolutely puzzled as he leaned back when his bartender called for someone in the back.

He didn't know what to suspect from the comment, but one thing he wasn't expecting was a human woman. His brow was furrowed as he looked to the bartender, and swilled the glass, the amber whiskey spinning in the glass. This was someone who had seen better days, but that was fine. If things worked out well, Jared knew a few people who could move others around the galaxy, and getting anyone off of a station they've spent too much time on was always going to be an improvement for that being.

Looking between the bartender and the blonde, all Jared could do was smirk. "Barkeep here seems to think you may be able to help me, if you're looking for some bigger work?" He could identify the look of a spacer a parsec away, part of being a Warden of the Sky, bigger part of being a Starchaser. "Starship can use a second set of hands to get her moving to her peak again. May even have a quick in-and-out mission to do, if you're a capable gunhand?"

Jared wasn't one for beating around any bush.

Jaida Tess

 

[Jaida Tess]

​

The Besalisk must have said something to the green-skinned spacer before she came out as there was a lot of smirking going on between them. Men?!

"I am," Jay responded matter of fact with one answer to both questions, then finished wiping her hands off on the towel, giving it a toss into a bin under the counter afterward.

The long-legged blonde took a couple of steps closer to the two men and poured herself a shot of whisky. "Jester here can vouch for my skills. Force knows I've saved him from himself a few times," she quipped lightly before downing the amber-colored liqueur and did so without a face as it burned her gullet.

The former Imperial captain had greatly improved her handling of booze since the First Order's diplomatic mission to Solem; a sanctioned drinkfest with the native dignitaries to win their favor. The lightweight at the time had puked for days, but the mission was a success and that is what counted in the end.

"Well, erm I wouldn't say you saved me rather... had my back? Yes, that's it!" the bartender shook his head and flashed a lopsided grin at Jaida, then turned back to the Mirialan. "You'd be a lucky man to have her, very capable indeed in many ways," he continued on raising his brows with a mischievous look.

"You wish!" she retorted with a rather stinging punch to Jester's top arm on the side closest, having earned that response from the befriended human.

"Ouch! See what I mean, JT's very capable," the Besalisk said with a serious nod, then he rubbed the sore spot on his big deltoid. She was indeed one hell of a woman. Sad the Dosuun-born had been reduced to this kind of life. Jaida stuck her tongue out at the four-armed alien as a sibling might then turned and walked pointedly into the back room.

"Well, kid... That one's all yours now. JT will definitely keep you on your toes that's for sure," the bartender lamented with a friendly wink, then the alien returned to filling a warming unit with small flimsi bags of shelled nuts.

A few moments later, Jaida reappeared wearing a leather bomber jacket over a wrap-around tunic with the tank showing underneath and a gunbelt strapped low on her shapely hips along with a rolled-up tool kit in her hand.

The blonde stood there for a minute, chewing on her lower lip before strolling around the end of the bar and toward the man with a job offer. There was something about him she sensed, but couldn't quite place the feeling. It wasn't like her previous hunches while flying. No this was a bit different.

"Well, let's go see what's up with your starship, hmm... Time is money after all as they say out here on the Rim."

Jared Starchaser​

 

[Jared Starchaser]

He'd been around the galaxy a bit. A bit of a wandering hero, a bit of a treasure seeker. He'd seen all types, and when the Besalisk gave a warning, he only took it partly serious. Being a member of the groups he traveled with put him in touch with all manner of people. Light and dark. He didn't judge too harshly on that, he was a fan of the Jedi approach, but he wasn't just a Jedi. The odd thing with Jared, is with who his father was, he still was more qualified to pilot TIE type craft over Incom vessels, so meeting with an Imperial type was not what he was expecting but not something he was against.

Hearing her speak, Jared couldn't help but stifle a laugh. She had the chops of someone who was in the service. Maybe pilot. Or it was just the trials of being an attractive woman in a galaxy that saw that soul adjective as her soul use in trade. No. Jared understood that people were always more than met the eye.

With her moving at the speed she was, Jared finished his drink and got to his feet. "A few bays down. Got an older Nova Class Cutter, Outer Rim edition." He was proud of the ship. It was developed off of one of his father's design, and with the Outer Rim, it was Jared's home, so why not have one of the better ships designed for that region. "Ever worked on one of them?"

Outer Rim Coalition was a part of Jared coming into his own. He lead her down to the hangar, the orange and yellow ship had its cockpit open and one of the access ports to the engines and fuel lines were open. "Engine issues, the power is fluctuating. That and the shields, but those are secondary. Not expecting some dogfight, just gotta get to a distress call and out in one piece."

Jaida Tess

 

[Jaida Tess]

​

Steel blue orbs checked out the Mirialan as the man stood up. He certainly wasn't bad to look at, in fact rather pleasing to the eye, but that was beside the point. Jaida had a job to do and it seemed it would be on the spacer's gunship.

"No, I haven't actually. This would be my first time working on a Starcutter, though one just needs good mechanical sense to figure it out and go from there," Jay nodded.

At the First Order's flight academy where she had trained, the Dosuunian had received high grades in mechanical engineering, piloting, and leadership. Those strong foundations in time led her to earn the coveted mantle of Black Leader. Captain Tess was one of the best of the best TIE fighter pilots of the Corps; just like her mother was back in the day as Saber Leader - Kalast's Sword. But that was then, this is now...

The blonde looked back over her shoulder and gave the bartender a two-finger salute. "See you on the other side, Jester... Oh and don't forget to feed your fish while I'm gone," she farewelled with a soft chuckle, then followed alongside the spacer as he led her towards the hangar; her long legs keeping good stride with his.

"Do the power fluctuations happen while the engines are at sublight and/or lightspeed?" Jay inquired. "That would be a big tell right there," she added as they approached the hangar bay door where his ship was docked. "Also, we never actually were formally introduced. I'm Jaida Tess by the way... but JT is what I usually go by around these parts."

A low whistle left her upturned lips as the Sunrise came into view. "She's a real beauty. You're a lucky man."

Jared Starchaser​

 

[Jared Starchaser]

It was definitely the Fringer nature that he found himself in lately that gave him more of an understanding that life wasn't a cut and dry black and white sort of deal. It wasn't all starships, but it was about helping and meeting others. Jared did his best to be a beacon of hope, even if his approach to bringing around a positive change wasn't always healing and using the Light side. Not expressly.

He wasn't dark, but he was a bit more on the gray part of the spectrum. Still, didn't affect the way he saw others. And if he could get this JT on his crew? Well, who knew. Not that he was about to run any one decision on that fact. But if she had a steady hand and a willingness to work, that was all anyone ever needed to get moving in this galaxy. Regardless of their affiliation.

"They're interesting ships. Set up with the old Outer Rim Coalition in mind. So they're easily to modify, but run a bit different than many of the inner planets' designers." He was watching her, trying to see if he could gauge where she was from. Keying in on the military experience was simple, the rest of it, putting her into a box? That was the more challenging part of it. He figured she'd look solid in a TIE.

As they got up to leave and she called back to her boss, the Mirialan smirked. "He goin' to be alright while you're gone?" As they kept their pace, he was answering the questions. "Came around on sublight. Fairly good with my hyperdrive, call it a family trait." That was followed by a bit of a grin. "I'm Jared, Jared Starchaser."

When they stepped in to see the orange and yellow ship, theFringer nodded. "I got lucky. Working as a Judge for the old Coalition had its perks. Ship is one. Got the fuel lines and majority of the engine access. Have a look, the tools in the repulsor cart by the ramp."

Jaida Tess

 

[Jaida Tess]

​

"I remember those old days. It's nice to meet you, Jared... I think," Jay quipped, flashing a lopsided grin the Fringer's way before tilting her golden head towards the engine compartment exposed. "Thanks. I'll give the ol' girl a shakedown and let you know the verdict. Hopefully, it's just something easy to fix that was just overlooked."

And with that Jaida got to work quickly. Time was credits, right?

There were several possible reasons why a ship would experience fluctuations of power when engaging the sublight drive. The former Imperial pilot who was well-versed in the twin-ion engines of TIE fighters went down the mental checklist methodically. Thankfully, these engines had very few moving parts as the drive created a fusion reaction that broke down the fuel into charged particles known as "ions" to drive the starship through realspace. The energy generated by this reaction created thrust, thus propelling the ship along with lateral thrusters to help with directional movement.

The blonde's blue eyes went wide with astonishment when she found the culprit... bad maintenance it seemed. "Seriously?! This was too easy. How was that missed? He needs regular maintenance, and oftener than naught."

She fixed the problem with a few precise adjustments, then backed out of the engine compartment, again wiping her grimed hands off on a rag and the tools used putting them neatly back onto the repulser cart.

"Hey, Starchaser... " Jay called out, her voice echoing in the cavernous hanger bay.

After getting the Mirialan's attention, Jaida continued. "The firing cell and engine intake were misaligned, which if not maintained can lead to the destruction of the drive altogether, and that will be a costly mistake," she nodded rather knowingly from a personal perspective. In the fledgling last days of the First Order, cutting corners in maintenance to save dwindling credits for the military had led to many accidents.

"The Sunrise should be good to go now unless you want me to check out those ailing shields of yours too. They are kind of important, you know just saying."

Jared Starchaser​

 

[Jared Starchaser]

The old days. Yes, he was looking back at them with some joy. But now? Now he was on his own. He was a Hunter of the Fringe, a Judge of the Outer Rim, and whatever else he found himself to be. It wasn't that important that he define himself. He was a Fringer and that meant something to most people. And letting this blonde look at his ship, well, it wasn't like she was a clear foe. Help wet a long way in this galaxy. Watching her he was smirking.

Some times when you looked at a problem, or a puzzle one too many times, you didn't see the solution. He knew his ship fairly well, but there were always things that got in the way of solutions. "Well, a fresh set of eyes goes pretty far." He needed as the blonde got to work.

"Well, that's a good catch Jaida. Want to check the shields and then we'll run the sequence, see what it looks and sounds like when we get her started?" The Mirialan nodded towards the shield access. "What I figure, we get her moving, else I won't be able to help this distress call I found. And who knows, if you're game, we can do some saving, be a bit of heroes, and that'll pay for a while."

Credits were always the thing that made the galaxy move. He tapped a small satchel on his hip and the sound of metal, what he knew to be credits, jingled. But it meant her score could be a bit better. "Shields are coming out of a mix of the stock stuff and a few things off the after market. They're not always… in agreement."

Jaida Tess