Talik'Vrein

Ever since I was a little girl, I've loved gazing up at the starry night sky. My
grandfather told me stories of heroes and villians who would battle through the
heavens. He told of the how the Replublic and the Jedi fought bravely to defend
the galaxy from the Empire in the clone wars.

He and several other Twi'leks fled to the fringe to escape the brunt of the wars,
but now that the wars are over in the major systems, the fringe is left with the
fallout.

Bandits and bounty hunters have little regard for collateral damage as they battle
through our city streets. Local law enforcement can't stop them, and Empirial
enforcers don't care. The criminals always run-off, free to fly the galaxy.

My family works hard, repairing ships is my father's gift, his calling. He always
seems to know exactly what needs to be done to get a ship in the air. While he
tried to teach me his trade, I only dreamed of flying them.

With some spare actuators, what I had learned from him, and free VRware, I built a
flight simulator when I was 8. I practiced every chance I got.
My father noticed, and couldn't help "Improving" my simulator once in a while.
Little things like modifying it to fit my height as I grew, adding gyro
stabilizers to simulate the sharp turning of fighters. My eyes sparkled the day I
found an actual flight suit in the pilot's seat!

Eventually I grew up. I could no longer be satisfied with simulations. Since there
was zero chance of me signing up with the Empire (lazy bucket heads), I managed to
convince one of out part suppliers to let me fly with him.

I bid my family farewell as I boarded the shuttle, finally off to see the galaxy
with my own eyes. "...Three...Two...One..." Take-off!
The G-Forces! No land-lubber could ever know the pleasure six G's forcing the
blood to the tips of your Lekku. All too soon, we were in orbit. If 6-G was
thrilling, 0-G was heaven. I let my Lekku float about as if I was swimming under
water, but there was no water to swim against.

Eventually we docked with the main ship, a Corellian make cargo freighter I'd not
seen before. He said it was a VCX-100, and that it was designed to be a middle
ground between the YT-1300's relative agility for a freighter, and the 2400's
armor.

With no traffic, he let me, the would-be pilot, take the helm. My eyes sparkle at
the prospect. Piloting an actual ship? It was a dream come true! Trembling with
excitement, I take the helm. Before I do something foolish like slam the throttle
forward, I run through my pre-flight check.

Auto-orbit disengaged? Check.
Sub-light engines primed/ Check.
radar and nav computers online? check.
any components I don't recognize? check?

"Hey Yaro, what are these switches under the dash for?"
"Sigh, you've sharp eyes to notice my kill switch. Its to prevent those who don't
know the code from taking off with my ship so easily. I was hoping to get a laugh
out of watching you panic when the alarms went off and engines shut down, but it
seems you're not as green as I thought."

Yaro reached down and fiddled with the switches.

"There you go, Miss Tal. The Sundog should be ready to fly."
"Well then, let's see what she can do!"

As soon as he sat, I eased the throttle up to full, so as not to put undo stress
on the engines. I delicately weave through the debris that protects my home planet
from larger ships, and he begins entering coordinates into the nav computer.
Once we clear the debris field, he instructs me to push the big red button. I do,
and HYPERSPACE! If watching stars from a mountain outside the city was awe-
inspiring, what I felt their history streak past me on all sides while I sped
across something beyond normal three dimensional space doesn't have a word
invented for it in any language I know.

"Wow! Corusant, I never thought I'd see the city planet with my own eyes."
"Well you better get over it quick 'cause you're about to miss our landing pattern!"
"Huh? W-wAA! You t-trust me t-to land you're ship!?!"
"Of course, you dodged those asteroids like a pro, weaving through some traffic that cares about its own safety should be a cinch"
"Right, Which platform am I landing at?"
"Sector 27 Platform 289 Bay 37"
"Here goes nothin'"

I bring the ship out of orbit when we get to our sector. I deftly dodge past cruisers, freighters and shuttles to find our platform. Upon a landing smoothly and safely, with no damage to his ship or cargo, Yaro leaps up to shake my hand.

"You've passed with flying colors, Miss Tal! No pun intended, but that was excellent work. I would be honored to recommend you to my employer."
"Thank-you, Yaro! I'm so happy you gave me this chance!"
"Well nothing is free, your father agreed to buy power couplers solely from me, but rest assured, I'll keep my prices fair."
"He wouldn't buy anything else from you if you tried to swindle him, he watches the markets closely."

We continued chatting until we reached Coruscant's main branch of Corellian Engineering Corporation: Parts Distribution and Logistics. They stock repair shops across the galaxy with the parts needed to fix their ships. With Yaro being one of their top pilots and a personal friend of the CEO, his recommendation easily put me in their "New Pilot Incentive" program.

This program provides proven pilots a ship, and allows them to transport whatever cargo they can find. They do require a steep cut of the profits until the ship (and its interest) is paid.

I couldn't wait to see my ship! A Corellion VCX-100, just like Yaro's, awaited me in the shipyard. I was a little disappointed the shuttle didn't come with it, but I suppose good things are worth the wait.

If I could make more than the minimum payments, I could significantly reduce the interest incurred. But to earn such a sum while actually exploring the galaxy, I would need to haul some High Risk, High Reward cargo. If I was going to haul any HR^2, I was going to need a crew.

Yeah, I know it's Hera from Rebels, but the character is based off her, so the image is too. I've done some recoloring to her suit, skin and eyes to suit my preference.

OK. Nice back story. And it gives me the perfect hook to get you involved in our first adventure. Just one thing...  It's not Coruscant anymore. It's Imperial Center. True, many citizens still call it Coruscant of habit, but just mentioning that name around Imperials could cause you to get some suspicious looks. Also, take into account, that as a nonhuman, most Imperials treat you as inferior and stupid. The next obvious step for your character, which leads into our adventure, is this: following rumors, and being careful to cover your tracks, you make your way to one of the seedier cantinas on Coruscant that is rumored to be friendly to smugglers. Of course, this being Imperial Center, nobody is foolish enough to mention smuggling or High risk jobs outright. But after loosening the tongue of an old pilot with your charm and a few drinks. You learn of a planet on the outer rim that is a "trader's" paradise. Formos is located at the junction of the Pabol Sleheyron and the Trielus Trade Route and is also near the end of the infamous Kessel run. The pilot tells you that the Imperial presence there is fairly relaxed as well. If there is anywhere in the galaxy that would be a good place to pick up a crew and a job, this would be it...

Ooh! I like it! Onward to Formos!