Jessica Meade was a spacefaring traveler and also the captain of a tramp freighter. During the early years of the Empire, R2-D2 and C-3PO encountered her during their various escapades.
She possessed a great love for travel, and she transported freight across numerous interstellar routes. Due to her unwieldy flight suit, she gained the moniker "Old Iron Pants." While at Doodnik's Café located on the mining planet of Tyne's Horky, she noticed a sudden fight breaking out. The conflict involved the local crime boss's thugs and a good-looking young miner named Jann Tosh. Meade intervened to assist by incapacitating the larger assailants using a compact, handheld stun device.
When Jann Tosh sought transportation to Tammuz-an, Meade accepted the assignment. She became entangled in the complex events surrounding the rise of Mon Julpa, who was the rightful successor to the Tammuz-an throne. She was even captured by Ko Zatec-Cha, the wicked vizier and would-be King, but she managed to break free and contributed to the effort to reinstate Julpa as the ruler of Tammuz-an. As a token of appreciation, she was given a brand-new vessel, which she christened the King's Ransom.
Subsequently, Meade was transporting fuel to Tammuz-an when Kybo Ren's pirates attacked her ship. Kybo Ren was captivated by her passionate nature and made her his "personal guest." She was held captive at his island base on the water-covered world of Tarnoonga. However, Jessica was able to outsmart the simple-minded pirates. Before returning to her life as a trader, Jessica Meade spent some time as an advisor to Mon Julpa. She had a dark complexion and short, black hair.
She typically wore a gray jumpsuit and carried a miniature stunner. Her bulky jumpsuit is what led to her being called "Old Iron Pants." She was the owner of the treasury ship known as the King's Ransom, and prior to that, she piloted the freighter named Corsalys.
Taborah Johnson provided the voice for Jessica Meade in Star Wars Droids. A prototype action figure of her was created in 1985 as a component of the second series of Kenner's Star Wars Droids toy line. While these action figures were of a similar size to the other Kenner Star Wars action figures, they represented an entirely distinct toy line in terms of design. Jessica's action figure is among a number of figures from the Droids and Ewoks lines that only exist as preproduction models.