Jace Rucklin

"Hey there! Me and my friends were just talking about you. You flew in that sky race against Torra, right? You've got some skill. What's your name?" "Kazuda Xiono. Friends call me 'Kaz'." "Jace Rucklin. I'm a racer, too."

- Jace introduces himself

Jace Rucklin was a human male racer who lived during the era of the New Republic. Rucklin, who headed his own racing team, had coveted Jarek Yeager's hyperfuel for a long time, and saw Kazuda Xiono's arrival on the Colossus as an opportunity to acquire it. However, Rucklin's manipulation of Xiono to steal the fuel resulted in the loss of his racer, and thus all of the savings he had directed into it. Rucklin chose to ignore his own fault in the loss, and instead blamed Xiono, vowing to get back at him for it. After the loss of his racer, in order to earn the credits for a new one, Rucklin was forced to take a job working in Doza Tower, cleaning and serving food and drink to its residents.

Biography
Jace Rucklin, by 34 ABY, was a racer who lived on the Colossus platform on Castilon, where he had his own racing team, consisting of himself, fellow human Lin Gaava and Sullustan Gorrak Wiles. Rucklin had aspirations of being one of the top racers, but instead of trying to work hard to get to that position, preferred to cut corners, steal and cheat wherever possible. One of the ways he did this was by having all "extraneous" systems, including safety systems, removed from his racer to make it fly faster. He and his team knew that Jarek Yeager, a former racer on the station who owned his own repair shop, likely owned a supply of powerful hyperfuel, and wished to get their hands on it by any means necessary.

Rucklin saw the arrival of Kazuda Xiono, the newest member of Yeager's Team Fireball, as the perfect opportunity to acquire the hyperfuel. Xiono had acquired a deserved reputation for being naïve soon after his arrival on the platform, and Rucklin knew that Xiono was unlikely to have heard anything about his reputation for being a lazy prankster. Thus, he and his team waited for an opportunity to approach Xiono. They found one in Xiono's early weeks on the platform, when he had come down to Aunt Z's Tavern due to experiencing frustration with the heavy workload Yeager had put him under. Unbeknownst to Rucklin and his friends, Xiono's frustration stemmed in part from the fact that he was actually a spy for the Resistance, and his job as a mechanic was merely a cover.

After a conversation in which Rucklin revealed Yeager's history as a racer to Xiono, Rucklin challenged Xiono to a friendly speeder bike race. Unbeknownst to Xiono, Rucklin had had Wiles sabotage the bike he was riding. This allowed Rucklin the opportunity to ingratiate himself with Xiono during the race by saving him from the "accident". Thus, when Xiono came by Rucklin's hangar later, he was able to use the incident as leverage to pressure Xiono into sneaking him into Yeager's private hangar to see Yeager's racer, intending to use the opportunity to try and steal Yeager's hyperfuel. When the two entered the shop, they had to avoid Yeager, his astromech droid R1-J5 "Bucket", and Xiono's coworker Tam Ryvora. They weren't caught, and Xiono told Rucklin they wouldn't be able to see the ship because the hangar door was locked. Rucklin stole a canister of hyperfuel behind Xiono's back, and quickly made his exit claiming that they would have to try another day.

Rucklin was signed up in a race for that day, and expected that with the hyperfuel he was bound to win it. When Xiono came by his hangar later, Rucklin and his team quickly blocked Xiono's view of the stolen hyperfuel and declined his offer of lunch. Rucklin, however, was unaware that more than a few drops of hyperfuel would turn a ship into a flying bomb, and thus added far too much while putting it in his racer. When Xiono learned of the theft and the danger, he realized that Rucklin was in trouble and rushed off to save his life. Rucklin's friends noticed something odd with the racer's engines when he started them, but they were interrupted by Xiono and BB-8 entering the hangar. Xiono jumped onto Rucklin's racer to get him to stop, and wound up ejecting the two of them. As the ejection seat's parachute had been removed, the two nearly fell into the ocean before being rescued by BB-8 and Yeager.

Rucklin, after being rescued, ignored his own fault in the loss of his ship and, angry about the loss of all the savings he had spent on it, chose to instead blame Xiono, claiming that no one would ever know he had stolen the hyperfuel. He did not know that Yeager was in earshot when he said that. Rucklin eventually vowed to get Xiono back for the incident before storming off with his teammates.

Working at Doza Tower
Due to the loss of his racer, Rucklin was forced to get a new job, working as a servant in Doza Tower and the Aces Lounge. There, he served drinks and cleaned for Captain Imanuel Doza and the members of the Ace Squadron. Rucklin encountered Xiono again when he was invited inside the tower by Torra Doza, who was lonely and looking for a friend to spend some time with. When Rucklin encountered Xiono, he reaffirmed his intent to get revenge on him for the loss of the racer, before Xiono and Torra left the lounge area. Rucklin later saw his chance when he witnessed Xiono sneaking into Doza's office. Xiono intended to download the contents of a datapad the First Order's Commander Pyre had given Doza with the details of the Order's proposal regarding Colossus security. Intent on getting revenge on Xiono, Rucklin interrupted Doza as he was seeing Pyre off the platform, which made Doza angry with him. After Pyre's departure, Doza finally heard Rucklin out about the intruder and, due to his own suspicions of Xiono, headed back to his office with Rucklin. Xiono was alerted to the threat of discovery by BB-8, and by the time Rucklin and Doza arrived at the office, had hidden in a closet near Doza's desk. Rucklin heard Xiono gasp in shock upon realizing Doza had an Imperial uniform stashed in the closet and attempted to open the door, but Doza prevented him, angrily stating that the closet's contents were private. Rucklin was sent off to dispose of the office's garbage. Torra's arrival in the office prevented Doza from looking in the closet himself, allowing Xiono to escape. Rucklin later accidentally saved Xiono's life when he and Torra were inside the trash incinerator, by throwing Doza's garbage in at just the right time for it to intercept one of the incinerator's blasts.

Personality and traits
Rucklin was a human male with blonde hair, green eyes and light skin. He had no compunctions about stealing and cheating in order to win races, and was willing to put others in physical danger for the purpose of manipulating them. He also had all systems he considered extraneous, including safety systems such as the parachute of his ejection seat, removed from his racer in an attempt to make it as fast as possible.

Behind the scenes
Jace Rucklin is a character created and developed for Star Wars Resistance. He is voiced by Elijah Wood.