Zero never really had a really rough childhood like many Vast Empire soldiers and pilots. The son of a starship merchant, and a successful merchant in his own right, he had much to live for. Born Tetra Raydur on the city-planet of Coruscant, he enjoyed a fairly prosperous life on a kilometer-high apartment. His father's workplace, Raydur Starships, was a hundred clicks away in the commercial district. Having a father in the starship business proved advantageous, as he was able to attend the best flight schools, save the Imperial Academy.

It wasn't because Zero was an incompetent pilot. Rather, his father wanted him to stay and manage the family business, and so he stayed behind. Leaving the care of business to his trusted friend, Darc "Dumsticks" Dra'koun, who posed as Tetra, he sneaked away and joined the Academy. While there, he learned the best in starfighter combat.

While there, he learned that his father had died in an ambush on a routine shipping route. The news report said that the Hutt syndicate was involved in the strike, to steal the starfighter cargo. Transferring to the reserves, Raydur went home to Coruscant to find his remaining family members huddling in the streets, a wretched situation.

His sister berated him for leaving them and the business behind, then told him that Dra'koun gave the business to the New Republic and shipped the entire stock to the Hutts. Enraged, Raydur gathered his loyal ex-employees and started the mercenary fighter squadron ZM: Zero Mercy. Taking his moniker from the squadron's name and the fact that he had nothing left, Zero relentlessly hunted down the Hutt's and the New Republic's many bases. The group also took freelance missions against said groups. But always he hunted for Dra'koun, with a passion.

A mysterious figure came up on the bulletin board, with information pertaining to Dra'koun's crime ring. Zero eagerly took it, despite protests from his squadron members. ZM struck a freighter just above the Lotaith system, and found to its dismay an ambush prepared by the Vast Empire and Dra'koun. The squadron was annihilated, and Zero crash-landed on the planet. Luckily (or unluckily), a Vast Empire trooper happened to be nearby. His name was Cyanus.

Pressed by the stormtrooper's questions, Zero spilled the beans and closed his eyes in readiness for death, but Cyanus thought it over. Realizing the potential of this young man, the knight signed him up for the Navy as a sort of repentance. Zero now spends his time doing hours for the Navy to pay for his mistake. But he never forgot his promise...