Caern

"'It's okay, I was busy thinking about rice. Uh, name's Caern. Pilot.'""―Caern"

Caern /sern/ is a pilot, Captain of the USS Roger, slave, smuggler, and criminal who piloted for and eventually lead the Rogues crew throughout the late 41st century. He is known for his blatant sarcasm, blunt communication, and general amicability, as well as a love for coffee and the game Pentris. Caern was born on the planet of Rakis as a slave before escaping in his late teens to begin his piloting career deep-space freighting. Not long afterward, Caern would meet Org and become a foundational member of the Rogues crew.

Caern is also the sole owner of the USS Roger following Tors' death.

Description
Caern is of average height, and for much of his life has jumped between above-average muscular definition and unhealthy form. He has a darker skin color with natural darker, brown eyes, the right of which being an aqua eyeOS, and shorter cropped dark brown hair. He is known for avidly collecting and wearing graphic T-shirts, and can usually be seen wearing technical cargo pants or jeans, and maglock work boots.

Rakis
Caern was born on some undetermined date in 4048 AFC - as no one kept track of the timing of the event - on desert planet Rakis as a slave. Caern was not initially born as Caern, but instead with a number (which at this point he cannot remember). Caern spent much of his early life crawling through Rakis' various crystal tunnels, as was common for child slaves, given their small form factor. Following this, Caern spent a short stint of his life pumping molten fuel out of the planet before being burned and instead chosen for raw Manii mining (a constituent of the narcotic Prime) and sex work given his physique. Caern, like much of the slaves, suffered abuse such as whippings and torture through his mid-teens. Caern would eventually win the favor over of a baron's daughter, who inadvertently assisted in his escape from Jakis.

Space Freighting Career
Caern, hopping in a cargo box of rocks on a transfer ship from the planet, managed to escape to a nearby trading port. Since Caern does not remember his birthday, he instead chooses to spend it on the day of his escape -- July 7, 4065. Not long after, Caern would decide on his name based on an advertisement in a shipping yard. Not long afterward, Caern would begin working for the Taiklovsky-Popov Deep Space Freighting Company, at first being chosen as a payload specialist for a particularly dangerous cargo of exotic pets before being chosen as co-pilot, and eventually chief pilot of freighters. At this time, Caern began to learn elements of Galactic Basic and Russian, as well as obtaining his signature eyeOS on accident.

Los Angeles
Caern, after terminating his contract, headed to Earth and Los Angeles, where he spent some amount of time living questionably (though he swears it was better than being a slave) learning more Galactic Common and elements of Spanish. He took on minor delivery jobs and contract work as a pilot to further improve his skills before meeting Org and being hired onto the first Rogues crew.

Major Relationships
Caern generally tries to build positive relationships with those he is around given his nature. A few of such relationships are listed below.

James "Tors" O'Callaghan
Caern, having known Tors for since they met upon the initial formation of the Rogues, grew closer over the years as they remained the only truly constant crew members between iterations of the crew. Caern believed Tors to be his platonic life partner and best friend prior to his death.

Elli
Meeting Elli about the same time as Tors, Caern ultimately feels connected to Elli as a close friend, though her occasional naivete and innocence make it difficult for him to be completely honest with her. All the same, Caern considers Elli a valuable friend.

Org'rejhluea'laegthal
Following the inception of the first Rogues crew, Org and Caern have had a complicated relationship. On one hand, Caern believes he owes a lot of his piloting and work experience to Org, and serving under him for years, feels some respect for his authority (to some extent). However, Caern also feels Org has a tendency to overstep his own power, and despite serving with him for years, does not feel much true emotional attachment to Org.

Relnan
Although their relationship on the Rogues was somewhat brief, Caern was one of the few people who actually talked to and kept in contact with Relnan past his stint with the Rogues. To this day, Relnan remains one of the few people he trusts to interface with his eyeOS.

Prisoner JU-135 "Jules"
Meeting Jules after obtaining him from Koal, Caern grew close to him due to their shared backgrounds and his craft in making guns. Caern considers Jules to be a valuable friend and asset to the Rogues crew.

Aesop Williams
Having hired Aesop relatively recently, Caern has a strong connection with Aesop both in terms of similar senses of humor, a love of cooking, and history with the Los Angeles neighborhood of the Western Megacity. Caern feels like somewhat of a big brother to Aesop.

Rose "Redd" Green
Caern, recently romantically involving himself with Redd, considers her to be the person he trusts foremost outside of his immediate crew. He finds himself comfortable around her and shares many of the same interests (the foremost being piloting and food).