Jarek Yeager

"You can work as a mechanic on my team. But when it comes to your mission as a spy, I don't want anything to do with it."

- Jarek Yeager, to Kazuda Xiono

Jarek Yeager was a human male mechanic who owned a repair shop on the Colossus during the era of the New Republic. A former Rebel pilot and veteran of the Galactic Civil War, Yeager once served with the Alliance to Restore the Republic. After the war, he sought a quiet, peaceful life and, therefore, retired to a refueling installation located on the ocean planet Castilon in the galaxy's Outer Rim Territories.

In addition to his occupation as a mechanic and shopkeeper, Yeager was the leader of a racing team known as Team Fireball, which consisted of a younger generation of starship pilots. During the cold war, his team accepted the New Republic pilot Kazuda Xiono as the newest addition to their ranks. Although Yeager permitted Xiono to work as a member of his crew, he knew the young pilot was, in fact, a spy for the Resistance and wanted no part in their conflict with the First Order.

Galactic Civil War
"Wow, he was in the rebellion too? I didn’t know Yeager was at the Battle of Jakku... Yeager had family."

- Kazuda Xiono

During the Galactic Civil War, Jarek Yeager served as a Rebel pilot in the Alliance to Restore the Republic, and later with the New Republic when he participated in the Battle of Jakku. At the end of the battle, Yeager was photographed along his victorious X-wing squadron in front of the wreckage of a downed Star Destroyer.

War veteran
"You showing up always means trouble."

- Jarek Yeager to Poe Dameron

Following the defeat of the Galactic Empire and subsequent rise of the New Republic, Yeager started a family; marrying a woman and having a daughter with her. At one point, Yeager was photographed with his family on the planet Batuu. Yeager also became a successful racer, earning the envy of his younger brother, Marcus Speedstar. During one such racing event around 24 ABY, that both Yeager and Speedstar were competing in, Speedstar used large amounts of coaxium to fuel his ship in an effort to beat Yeager. However, Speedstar's ship crashed, killing Yeager's wife and daughter, who were attending the event at the time. Furious at Speedstar's actions, Yeager ceased contact with him for many years.

At some point following the deaths of his wife and daughter, Yeager retired to the Outer Rim Territories, where he settled on the ocean planet of Castilon as a member of the Colossus community. While living on the refueling station, Yeager established himself as a starship mechanic, a repair shop owner, and the leader of Team Fireball &mdash; a racing team composed of a younger generation of mechanics and pilots, including Neeku Vozo and Tamara Ryvora. In addition to its organic members, Yeager's team was served by his droid R1-J5, a decrepit and obsolete astromech commonly referred to as "Bucket". Yeager also at one point competed in the station's races, often winning, but by 34 ABY he no longer did so. He owned a supply of hyperfuel which he occasionally used as a boost when racing.

Sheltering a spy
At the height of the cold war, the Resistance planted a spy on the Colossus in the hopes of gathering intelligence on the rising threat of the First Order. Resistance Commander Poe Dameron, who was an old friend of Yeager's, asked him to hire the spy, former New Republic pilot Kazuda Xiono, as a worker at his shop as cover. Yeager had misgivings, especially after Xiono was embroiled in a bar brawl less than an hour after arriving, but acquiesced, although he wanted nothing to do with the conflict between the Resistance and the secretive First Order.

Yeager and his team had to quickly to fix up an old racing ship, the decrepit Fireball, for Xiono to use in a solo race he had been unwillingly signed up for by the overly-eager Vozo. Ryvora was displeased, as Yeager had promised her the ship, and he told her he was doing it as a favour for a friend. Yeager was unimpressed with the used parts Xiono acquired for the ship, who hadn't had enough credits to pay for new parts. In the race the next day, Yeager warned Xiono not to fly too fast or he would cause the ship's engines to flame out. Xiono flew well, and eventually ignored the advice due to sensing victory, causing him to crash. After Xiono came to in the repair shop afterwards, Yeager took him aside and told Xiono that, although he could work on Team Fireball, Yeager had no interest in getting involved in his mission.

The pirate raid
A short time later, Yeager and Team Fireball were hired to work on a shuttle belonging to Hallion Nark, a Neimoidian who claimed to be in a hurry. He was not impressed by Xiono taking an unnecessarily long time to fetch a part, and after Xiono accidentally made Nark lose his comlink, he promised to deduct the cost for it from Xiono's pay. Yeager was unaware that Nark was spying on the Colossus for pirate leader Kragan Gorr and his gang. During the pirates' subsequent attack, which coincided with a "triple dark" storm, Yeager took shelter with Ryvora, Vozo and Bucket in one of the platform's designated safe areas. When they returned to the repair shop, they found Xiono working on the Fireball, which he claimed to have been doing for the entire time. Yeager didn't believe Xiono when he was told that the spy had helped drive off the pirate attack.

Personality and traits
Having survived the Galactic Civil War, Jarek Yeager enjoyed his retirement on the Colossus, which kept him far removed from the central systems of the galaxy. Possessing a life's worth of experience, Yeager was noted for his quiet and hardworking attitude, as well as the wisdom that came with age. Though a father figure to the young members of Team Fireball, Yeager found Kazuda Xiono to be a source of both trouble and grief due to the latter's spying activities. Knowing Xiono's ties to the Resistance, the former pilot declared that he had no intention of getting involved in their fight against the First Order.

Yeager was a human male with brown eyes and dark skin. By the time of the cold war, approximately three decades after the Battle of Endor, his black hair had begun to turn gray.

Skills and abilities
Possessing a lifetime of experience, Jarek Yeager's skills included piloting and repairing starships. He was also experienced at running a local business through his occupation as a repair-shop owner on the Colossus installation.

Behind the scenes
"Yeager represents the old school. Yeager was a pilot for the Rebellion. Now he's just trying to live his life, as mainly, a mechanic on this installation in the middle of nowhere. And he, unfortunately, keeps getting pulled back into the action...He's the father figure of Team Fireball."

- Meet Team Fireball featurette

Jarek Yeager is a character created and developed for the Star Wars Resistance animated series. He is voiced by Scott Lawrence, who was the official voice of Darth Vader in all Star Wars games from 1994 to 2006 when Matthew Sloan became the official voice of Vader in spin-off material.