Cal's job the for the last half-decade was to free climb through mile+ long defunct spaceships and set up the safety rigging for other scrappers to follow (or to just place the demolition charges, but that's less relevant here), so any time he meets another climber having some trouble he either offers to spot them at the first sign of slipping or requests that they help him locate scrap metal so he can weld foot and fingerholds into the more impassable sheer drops with the handheld welding torch he brought with him. He's got a shock of red hair, damp at the temples from the exertion of getting as far out of the belly of the beast as he has so far, and scuffed up clothes that look a little like he's been dutifully washing them and putting them right back on for the last five years. Which he has been, because the Scrapper's Guild does not pay well anymore. His face has a smattering of scars and a smearing of soot from his work, but he still manages to somehow look both a touch skittish and determinedly friendly, and he stands at a pretty generally average height for a human man.
He also, notably, has an explorer droid that's a little over a foot tall riding on his shoulders who occasionally flits ahead on tiny little propulsors and comes back with detailed holo-maps to help them locate the best route out to more survivable spaces. Cal seems to be trying to be pretty outgoing on his own, but he's got nothing on the excitable little droid, who keeps up a frequent stream of beeps and boops and blats (in droid binary, for anyone who speaks it), scuttling around and scanning everything that moves—including any Privateers the two of them happen to come across.
"Beedee—" Cal interjects as soon as he notices that there's someone on the receiving end of his droid's bright blue scanning sweeps, smiling apologetically as the droid stops with a beep that sounds somehow distinctly whiny. "Sorry, he's just curious." And if they seem willing to talk: "I'm Cal, he's BD-1. Are you trying to get out of here too?" (Who knows? Maybe some people are supposed to be down here.)
II. the dust has feelings, actually
Anyone wandering through what might have once been sleeping quarters can follow a series of beeps and trills, and the low murmur of an answering voice. Further investigation reveals Cal crouched over one of those precious few remaining items, his little droid walking in a curious circuit around him and throwing out scans. Cal reaches to touch it, searching for its history through the Force, looking for the emotion of the last living thing to touch it but finding... emptiness instead.
"I don't know, buddy, there's nothing left in the echo. It's too old. Older than the Zeffo, I think." He sighs, stands up and brushes off the knees of his pants, oblivious. "Even the Force doesn't hold onto stuff forever." The droid lets out a staticky bwee! at the same time Cal turns towards whoever might have overheard him, looking like a deer in the headlights (or a more appropriate space creature in setting-appropriate-vehicle lights) for a moment. "Oh. Uh, hi."
IV. bumble for pirates
Cal's unflattering candid picture is mostly of BD-1 peering at the camera up-close and curious, with Cal actively sneezing into the crook of his own arm in the background. Lovely.
Tell me a little about yourself. I'm Cal Kestis. I was a scrapper, but there doesn't really seem to be a market for that here, so I'm also a decent mechanic. And BD-1 says he'd be willing to help us out on the search too. He's an explorer droid, I should mention that. He says "hi".
Are you a LEADER or a FOLLOWER? I don't know. I guess I don't really want to be in charge of anything, but I prefer decision making by committee.
What is your best feature? I'm good at finding stuff. That's gotta count for something here, right?
WILDCARD
If you have something else in mind that doesn't fit any of those starters, go ahead and throw it at me, I'm flexible! Alternatively if you'd like to plot something else first hit me up by PM or at Cris#4369 on Discord.
Cal Kestis | Star Wars (Jedi Fallen Order)