TK

TK-7249, former Imperial storm trooper and technician. Current starship mechanic and wanted expat. TK is a man who always wanted to show bravery and courage in the face of adversary and danger. Now, he merely shows fear and cowardice while on the run from the danger.

In a previous life, TK-7249 was a boy known as Aceliar Starseer who grew up on the planet of Raxus Secundus in the Outer Rim. Commonly referred to as “Ace” by his friends and family, Ace was excited by the idea of action and motion. He always wanted to be a starfighter pilot for the republic one day and fly a Naboo N-1 into battle against the republic’s foes. Ace didn’t pay much mind his normal studies, and instead had a knack for tinkering and creating things. People praised him for his creativity and thoughtfulness in his creations, which reinforced his love for the skill set. Ace always preferred building things up instead of tearing things down, whether that be mechanically or emotionally. He has always had a thoughtful, optimistic, and empathetic outlook on life. That is, until the Jedi came.

Ace was intrigued by the presence of the Confederacy that had established itself on Raxus prime. When Ace was entering his early teenage years, their sleek technological and utilitarian design impressed him greatly, especially with their persuasive leadership. Count Dooku’s visits and speeches inspired hope and passion into Ace’s soul. This was a man he could aspire to be, unlike the Jedi who thought they were all high and mighty because they thought they were the good guys. See, at this point, Ace was beginning to enter his more impressionable and rebellious years. The height of the clone wars and political stirrings left its mark on Ace, who was a firm believer in the confederacy and was adamantly against the Jedi order, aka going against the grain like a good rebellious spirit. The assassination attempt on Count Dooku had left Ace speechless, dumbfounded, and fired up. How could these “paragons of justice” stoop to such a low point as to trying to assassinating someone like Count Dooku?! Someone who was trying to actually help the galaxy. This stirred a hatred within Ace for the Jedi. These so called “beacons of light” were nothing but frauds and liars. This stirring would lead to one of Ace’s greatest failures.

Order 66. The great Jedi purge. The stirrings of change in a galaxy that needed it. Ace was a teenager in the midst of these events. News had spread that Count Dooku had been murdered by treasonous Jedi, which had left the impressionable planet of Raxus in a state of mourning and weakness. The separatists were driven off of Raxus Secundus and obliterated by the overwhelming might of the newly formed Galactic Empire. Ace was uncertain now. The legion he admired so greatly in his youth had been trampled on by the once hated republic, into this newly established war machine and conquering force. The sheer oppressive might displayed by the imperial army put the people of Raxus into an even weaker state as their planet was slowly corrupted and drained dry by the new tithes required under the new Empire. While the reduction of his planet and people left Ace frustrated, the only thing he could hate more in this maelstrom of chaos was those damned Jedi. Lo and behold, hidden in the depths of the populace was a Jedi Knight, Ulon Castin, who was quietly aiding the people of Raxus. The people of Ace’s subsection had all gotten up one day with some of their belongings during the night, and all gathered together fleeing the territory. Ace was confused, being led out by his family with no explanation. He saw in this distance a man guiding his people into what looked like a transport shuttle. Ace overheard one of his neighbors saying their thanks to the force for a Jedi coming to save them. Ace felt pin pricks up his spine after hearing that. While still near the back of the line, he managed to sneak off and found a group of patrolling soldiers. He showed urgency to them saying that he found a Jedi, and that this Jedi was using the force to manipulate his people to his will and take them away from the planet. A squad of clone troopers rapidly assembled protecting Ace so he could show them the location of the Jedi. Unexpectedly the Jedi Knight was assaulted and soon overwhelmed by a large force of troopers. To the horror of these citizens of Raxus, they couldn’t believe what had just happened. That this boy betrayed their hope of escaping. After killing the Jedi Knight, the clone troopers opened fire on the transport shuttle destroying it and killing anyone inside. The empire made an example of the citizens who so foolishly tried to escape with the help of a traitorous Jedi. Ace was brought to the attention of an Imperial Captain who thanked the boy for his assistance with taking down the traitor. Ace was awarded a medal of service to the Imperium and was given a letter of recommendation by the Captain which would allow him to join the Imperial Academy with prestige honors for serving during the early years as a civilian. Ace took pride in this. He believed he saved his people from devastation like the confederacy, and had finally found a purpose to serve in his life. And so, at the age of 18, Ace had joined the imperial academy.

TK-2749 served in the Imperial Storm Trooper program with dignity and fulfillment for just about a decade. TK-2749 had helped in the unification of many planets under the Empire and was a useful figure to have on the field. His mechanical and technical prowess made him an invaluable asset on the field of battle to be a versatile piece to be moved around for defensive or covert offensive operations. TK continued to serve diligently all until the battle of scariff. This is when it all changed. TK was beyond proud to serve in such a critical battle to snuff out this shallow rebellion. TK server on the Star Destroyer just outside of the planets orbit and was called into action to act as a member of the boarding party to stop the rebels from stealing a valuable piece of Imperial. What this data was, TK and his team did not know, but it was evident that it was of major importance since he served beside the great Lord Vader for this mission. As TK was preparing for the operation, he looked outside the window of his room and caught glimpse of a moon that came into orbit across the horizon of Scariff. To his shock, that was no moon. It was a colossal weapon of destruction that utterly annihilated the planet of Scariff and any living creature on it within minutes. All Imperial and Rebel life, atomized in minutes. TK couldn’t believe what he just saw. While this moon was a technical marvel to behold, the Empire just fired and obliterated its own people, intelligence, and structures with no hesitation. TK stopped to think about this for a minute. What if he had been on Scariff? Who would hear of his death if he had been killed by his own Empire? Would his family hear about what happened to him? Would the Empire honor him for his service? All of these thoughts came flooding to him that left him entranced. He was snapped out of it after a few minutes after TK-3688 reminded him that they had to move it as the boarding party was preparing to leave with Lord Vader. TK aided the party in the assault on the Tantive IV to save the intelligence from falling into rebel hands. This was the true teetering point for TK. The rebels were ruthlessly slaughtered by Lord Vader and the party, only to find a diplomat from Alderan being onboard the ship with no hard evidence of this intelligence ever actually being there.

TK had to get out. This Empire had malformed into something he couldn’t recognize anymore. Their scope and focus had been so out of line that no one was safe anymore. His life would be next from that Moon of Death for certain if he was assigned to a ground assault on a rebel planet. TK planned his escape carefully. He would have to steal a ship somehow and escape into the Outer Rim. Set on a conquest mission near the Outer Rim, TK’s force stopped on Anaxes to red up ply and refuel their fleet before they continued. TK took his chance here. He grabbed one of the imperial Pilots on his crew and brought him to a bomber for inspection and maintenance help. When he got on the ship, he held the pilot at gunpoint and told him to fly away and he would guide him. There was a brief skirmish in which TK won and forced the pilot to fly off. All communications were shut off on board the ship and the tie bomber took off deeper into the outer rim. When the ship was near the outskirts of Gardon Secondus,the pilot tried to resist again this time pulling a small pistol on TK and wounding him. TK disarmed the pilot and locked him one of the storage chambers. TK tried to take control of the ship, but had little experience flying a bomber. The ship was already entering the orbit of Gardon Secondus due to its gravitational pull, and the ship was now on a crash course down the surface. TK was able to barely salvage the ship at the cost of critical damage to it and damaging himself in the crash. After waking up from unconsciousness to a damaged ship, TK struggled to free himself from debris as he heard sounds of clicking, screeching and growling as he saw himself amidst a fiery wreckage of the tie bomber in a dense jungle. TK was able to cut himself free and quickly fled from the ship. As he ran away, he heard the sounds of crunching, tearing metal, and screaming from the imperial pilot who was left in the wreckage. TK managed to make it to Shembi Station where he received some interesting and unnerving looks due to his attire. He fled to a shoddy hotel he could stay at briefly before his credit stick was locked by the empire. He left his storm trooper armor and blaster in the hotel while he quickly scrounged for new clothes, tools, a smaller blaster, and a friendly face. A few days later at the local Catina he met someone working at the spaceport who said that they could use help with maintenance on inbound ships. With TKs experience, he managed to get some work quickly and blend into the crowd. Currently, TK is working there trying to figure out what to do with his life now.

Ace/TK has become a lost soul in the endless sea of the outer rim. He has lost his people and his purpose in life and has a lot to consider. There is a deep sadness within him now for how he seemingly betrayed his people for the false propaganda of the Empire. He still does not believe in the capabilities of the Jedi and is skeptical of the long term sustainability of the rebellion. TK really hopes to be able to blend in with the rest of the galaxy, find a way to rescue his people on Raxus from the Empire, and settle down with his own family one day. He maintains an optimistic outlook on life and always tries to smile, but the smile has lost some of it softness from the time TK has been in the Empire. He also struggles with his identity. Indoctrination and discipline has taught him that he is now and will forever be TK-7249, and that Ace was someone who died on Raxus with the confederacy. But at the same time, he will always have Ace inside of him since that is who he truly is.

TK had joined a gang of mercenaries on Gardon Secundus after his life was thrown into total disarray after one of the local gangs attempted to bribe him to kill his boss Gunda. TK was taken on a wild ride, surrounded by people he despised and who showed no compassion towards him. TK had fallen into an all time low during this journey. He was free, at the cost of being treated arguably worse than he was in the Empire. Many nights before he fell asleep, he dreamed about how different life would be if he had just stayed in the Empire. He missed the feeling of compassion and friendship. At the very least in the Empire, he had some sense of camaraderie with his squad mates. The journey on Gardon broke TK in many ways. He had a fateful encounter out in jungle of Gardon where after entering a cavern in a mountain, he killed a group of possessed civilians worshipping a giant red gem. TK had become assimilated with the gem at this point and was left unconscious by it. One of his mercenary companions, Ralos Murata became accusatory of him for killing innocents and had given TK the final cut to his hope by calling him worthless. TK realized he was no longer in control of his life after seeing his step sister around him at all times afterwards and now somehow possessing force powers, his greatest fear. TK had given up at this point. He was betrayed by the one person he was closest to in the crew, Vehn Leval, after a kill switch he installed in his ship (in an attempt to assassinate a Chiss Diplomat Larsini) was activated by the power that possessed him now. TK managed to escape these mercenaries and fled Gardon Secundus on a Headhunter to discover his new destiny.

After leaving the planet, it was decided that “TK-7249” was dead. A name that left nothing but anguish and pain to this man. Stoic confidence returned to Aceliar after having some new determination and a burning hatred within him to kill these people who wronged him and turned his relatively peaceful life upside down. Aceliar Starseer returns aboard his headhunter now named the Vagabond driven to find a new purpose out in the galaxy, to claim his emotional vengeance, and to find some semblance of emotional freedom and peace.

Overthrow the Empire, Freedom

Bounty: 30