Approved Ned Gorshun | Independent Spacer

Name: Ned Gorshun

Species: Human

Homeworld: Nar Shaddaa

Profession: Spacer, Smuggler, owner of the Fresh Pursuit

Age: 33

Appearance: A male human with a troubled, uneasy glare, always wearing a pressurized yellow flight suit denoting his chosen occupation. Multiple pockets on the suit overflow with data cylinders and stored tools; a holstered BlasTech DL-30 heavy blaster pistol features prominently on his right hip. The Nar Shaddaa stare is pronounced in his nervous look - always assessing risk, never sitting with his back to a door, and frequently resting his hand on his pistol under the table.

Force Sensitivity: None.

Affiliation: Whatever keeps him clear of his many, many debts.

Equipment:

• A modified BlasTech DL-30 heavy blaster pistol. A powerful weapon in experienced hands, it packs a sizable punch without sacrificing range or accuracy. Illegally modified galven circuitry allows this particular DL-30 to charge a bolt for additional impact without damaging the capacitor. A silver flash suppressor affixed to the end of the barrel only somewhat mitigates the burst of crimson light that accompanies the weapon's use.
• A high-velocity V-55 flechette scattergun, typically kept on the ship for emergency anti-boarding operations. This weapon fires shot in a tight spray pattern rather than blaster bolts, making it effective against deflector shields, but less effective against armor and flak. Ned typically doesn't bring this weapon off the Fresh Pursuit, as it would likely attract unwanted attention.
• A pressurized Corellian flightsuit (yellow) covered by an armored flak vest and equipped with a Novaldex Diagnostech life support mount and accompanying respirator. The integrated life support system features a G-force indicator and custom atmosphere exchange hose capable of sustaining the spacer's life in the event of a shipboard support system failure - or worse, ejection into the vacuum. The anti-radiation flak vest provides moderate protection to the wearer. The right glove features a datapad capable of projecting technical readouts and measuring pilot vitals.
• A SoroSuub F-152 Fusioncutter, capable of slicing through dense metals, duraplast, and other reinforced materials - essential to tinkering with the Pursuit, but like most fusioncutters, too unwieldy to be used as any kind of weapon.
• A handheld Fabritech comlink with spliced helmet integration for hands-free communication while piloting. The comm also features a jury-rigged signal transmitter to the Fresh Pursuit which can engage the ship's autopilot, with pre-set orders to land as close to the comm as the environment allows.
• A pair of Neuro-Saav Corporation electrobinoculars.
• A Duwani Mechanical Products T3-series utility droid, T3-K7, designed for general maintenance and repair aboard starships. The droid's sophisticated software enables it to serve capably as Ned's copilot aboard the Fresh Pursuit. T3-K7's personality has been described as 'aggressive.' It primarily serves as the ship's gunner.

Starship: The Fresh Pursuit. A Republic Sienar Systems light freighter modified for high-speed sublight maneuvers; the pride of Ned's life, the source of his joy. His home, livelihood, and greatest weapon combined, the Fresh Pursuit has seen countless close calls over the course of the spacer's career.

Ned obtained the Fresh Pursuit, along with T3-K7, during a Mandalorian incursion into the Outer Rim in 3977 BBY. Then only 19 years old, Ned evacuated the ship and a cargo bay full of refugees during a harrowing raid on a spacer port along the Perlemian trade route. With K7's permission, he retained ownership of the freighter and began life as a spacer, desperately keeping one system ahead of the explosive conflict that tore through the galaxy.

The Fresh Pursuit has a length of 40 meters and a width of 20 meters. Four engine cylinders accelerate the ship to dizzying sublight speeds. The ship boasts a dazzling Class .9 hyperdrive unit that allows its crew to outrace most warships, though it is prone to malfunction and requires a lengthy seven-minute startup, often necessitating a skillful escape at sublight speeds before achieving the relative safety of a jump to lightspeed.

Featuring duralloy plating over the hull and a custom-tuned Kuat Drive Yards shield generator, the Fresh Pursuit is a resilient craft, securing the precious cargo within against pirates and law enforcement. It can survive laser blasts which would render an ordinary freighter inoperable. A high-grade sensor suite installed in the ship's fore can keep track of up to fifteen sublight targets at a time. An illegal sensor jammer protects the ship during dogfights at the cost of broadcasting its general location.

With respect to armaments, the Fresh Pursuit had initially included a set of fixed forward-firing laser cannons. Ned and T3-K7 tore these out of the hull and instead installed a dorsal tricannon battery with full range of fire around the ship. Consequently, the ship can attack even as it flies away from a threat. The cannon is operable by a crewmate from the gunnery chair or by the pilot directly from the cockpit. A custom laser actuator amplified the power output of the tricannon at the cost of additional overheating. The gunports for the initially-installed laser cannons were replaced by a concussion missile tube. This aftermarket modification is temperamental at best, and the threat of a misfire always looms large in Ned's mind; T3-K7 is more enthusiastic about their use. The ship also boasted a mounted antipersonnel cannon, illegally concealed underneath the ship's ventral plating and operable remotely by the pilot from outside the craft.

The Fresh Pursuit is as much a home as it is a starcraft. The main hold contains a lounge area with a holographic gaming table as well as a viewscreen for watching holodramas. The shipboard bacta tank (chronically on low reserve) helps heal the crew from wounds they may sustain as a consequence of Ned's dangerous line of work, though neither he nor T3-K7 are capable medics. The Fresh Pursuit can comfortably host a crew of seven, not including the droid.

The Fresh Pursuit's most unusual modification is a life support system killswitch installed in the cockpit, enabling the pilot to divert all power from the RSS-9 life support subsystems to the engines, deflector shields, or weaponry. A well-running life support system utilizes technology to produce necessary chemicals and gases needed to sustain on-board life, as well as filter out toxic gases and waste. When the life support system is deactivated by the pilot, the interior of the Fresh Pursuit becomes uninhabitable by most organics who require oxygen without the use of a vacuum-suit. The presence of this 'emergency button' is why Ned wears a respirator while flying. He is more than willing to sacrifice breathable oxygen for a little extra boost - and doing so has made the difference between life and death many times in the past.