Prepared to begin my service to the Empire, sir. Where should I begin?

Basic Info

Homeworld: Chandrila
Age: 22
Species: Human
Native Language: Basic, understands Sullustan and Verpine.
Gender: Male
Skin Color: White
Height: 6' 0"
Weight: 160 lbs.
Hair Color: Blonde
Facial Hair: Clean shaven, sideburns line up with the bottom of the ear.
Eye Color: Dark blue
Scars: One, from lower lip to chin
Tattoos: None

ID Line: TRN/CRW JexBarris/A-4/S:137 "Raptor"/W:46 "Shield/PLF CappadociousTF TH/3 flt/VENA/VEN/VE



Physical Description:

Tall and thin, Jex is a generally handsome young man barring a thin, although deep scar running from his lower left lip and dropping off the center of his chin. His dark blue eyes can be seen as black from a distance, and his pale skin seems to accentuate this feature to a somewhat piercing effect. His smile is warm, however, and if you are not his enemy, his presence is not intimidating.  When not in a flight suit, he can usually be found in smuggler's attire:  loose-fitting vests and shirts, leather boots and slacks.

Personality:

Jex is a good listener and learner, known for his adaptability and quick thinking. Overconfidence has never been a problem, although he's always had a streak of sarcasm and a quick temper. When not piloting a ship, he's known to be generally relaxed, quick to make a joke or laugh along. In the cockpit, he's somewhat vocal as well, often being told by his father to cut comm chatter.

History:

Jex's father, Solf Barris, was a smuggler, and one of the best. He would always tell his son "I'll never be Talon Karrde, and I don't want to. A percentage of that pay goes directly to the price on your head". Jex considered that quote for the millionth time, headed in his old SoroSuub Preybird to apply for military training.
   
The old man was right. No one ever tried to kill him, and no one ever came to put him in the spice mines at Kessel. They had a peaceful thing going, Solf would bring the loads into the core, and Jex and the crew would disperse them in-system. It was near foolproof until the Emperor's death.
   
When the New Republic came to power, it didn't bother Solf or Jex. They had done their best to stay out of politics for as long as Jex could remember, And with the Smuggler's Alliance in place, they were hassled even less than was normal. All was well, until Sluis Van.
   
For the rest of his life, Jex remembered that day. The warmth of the Chandrilan sun coming through the window, the taste of Correlian brandy on his lips, and the instant pit of ice in his stomach as the emergency comm line began blaring through their home. He ran to the wall, and activated the comm, his father appearing instantly in static-laced blue.
   
"Jex!" He shouted, "We have a problem!"
   
Jex was confused. His father was on a simple supply run, visiting an old friend at the Sluis Van shipyards, getting some modifications added to his personal corvette. "Father, what's wrong?"
   
Solf's face was a mask of fear and anger. It was an expression Jex had never seen his father wear.  The comm dropped into a burst of static as he tried to explain himself. Jex asked him to repeat, and when the signal came back, Jex heard a word that he'd never heard before.
   
"Thrawn!"
   
"Say again, father, I don't know what--"
   
"Thrawn, dammit! He's an Imperial Grand Admiral, and he's moving on Sluis Van!"
   
Jex fell silent in shock. A Grand Admiral? But they were supposed to be dead!
   
"Jex, he's sacking the shipyards! I've sent notice to the Imperial ships letting them know I'm a neutral party, but they're still firing!"
   
"You need to get out of there! I can set up an escort just outside of the Sluis system, but I'm not sure--"
   
Solf held up a hand to silence his son. When Jex looked at his father he saw the anger was still there, but the fear was gone. He was no longer yelling, and had slowed his breathing. "Son, let's face it. I'm not making it out of this one." They've got all hyperspace routes out blockaded, and even if they were open--" A blast rocked Solf's ship, Jex saw him fall out of the comm's view and return, holding himself up on the control panel. "Even if they were open, the turbos would pick us off like insects."
   
"Father, I--"
   
"Silence. I've made up my mind." Solf lifted himself up to standing, Jex watched his hand shake as he let go of the panel. "I'm going to die here, but I'll be damned if I'll make it easy for them." He took a second to consider. "Jex. The business is yours. But there's only so much a smuggler can do in a war-torn state."
   
Jex saw smoke begin to appear on his father's screen, and he knew he didn't have long. The alarms in the background increased in pitch and frequency. "What should I do?"
   
Solf smiled, and in that moment Jex saw his father as he would always remember him. Tough, caring, and determined. "Speak with Theros, he's a human recruiter for a splinter faction of the Empire. They are strong-willed, and you can learn a lot from them. From there, your life belongs to you. Stay for the long haul, or retire and take over where we left off. The choice is yours. But whatever you do, do it right. Make them remember our name."
   
Jex finally felt the gravity of the situation, and the sob that finally left him was harsh, a terrible sound.
   
Solf gave him that prize-winning smile for the last time. "My son." Jex looked up at the hologram, and wiped the tears from his eyes so he could see his father clearly. Solf closed his eyes. "Goodb--" The comm hologram disappeared. As did Solf.
   
Jex mourned for a month, then began his exit from the smuggling world. He passed contracts and materials to other ships his father had trusted, and spent a year and all his family's credits dismantling  their ships, transferring their property to friends, and erasing the wealth that they had acquired. He wanted the Barris name to lay dormant, in waiting.  And when the right moment came, whether through military or financial conquest, he would rise, strike, and plant his family's name into the annals of time.

http://www.vastempire.com/wiki/Jex_Barris

"You will do better than they did."

The line stuck in Jex's mind. "Doubtful." he thought, examining the other trainees as they begin picking simulators, "If anyone here has flown into combat blind before today, I'll eat my helmet."

He lowered himself into the nearest open cockpit, and examined the panels. Identical to the pictures he'd viewed in class.
The Interceptor was a beautiful machine, superior in every detail to the TIE/In that it had replaced, and its deep instrumentation was evidence enough for him.

Jex was adjusting the position of his targeting computer when an instructor knocked on the side of the simulator and lowered his head to look in. "Are you prepared, trainee?"

Jex turned, and gave the man as crisp a salute as possible when one is jammed into a fighter. "I believe so, Sir."

The instructor was not amused. "You believe so, trainee? Let me remind you that we are attempting to form a military power here, and that unconfident whelps shall be tossed aside without regard, before they hesitate and get men killed. So I ask you again, trainee: Are you prepared?"

There was no hesitation in Jex's response. "Yes sir, I am prepared."

The instructor nodded, and pointed to the simulator's screen. "Demonstrate." He stepped back, and the simulator door closed.
Blackness. Worse than space. Jex went through a tense moment of claustrophobia where every nerve in his body screamed "OUT!" all at once. But when the cockpit began to hum, and the instrument panels lit up, the fear disappeared, and was replaced by anticipation and nerves. In preparation, he switched his firing linkage to twin bursts, alternate between the top and bottom cannons. Tightening his chinstrap, he waited for an image to appear.

When the screen lit up, he was shocked by how sudden it all happened. One second he was in a dark room, and the next he was in space, a group of Interceptors bearing down on his position. He immediately opened fire, noting the positions of his squadron and hoping to tag a few enemy before the groups coalesced. His first spray went wide, but his second got lucky, shearing through the center of one of the leading TIEs, the wings blowing away from the sphere at different angles.  He whooped aloud, excited to have picked up a kill, be it from luck or otherwise.

The groups came together and it was chaos. He tried keeping track of his allies, but it was like counting the stars, a lost cause. He broke from the mess and began circling outside, watching the movements, trying to discern patterns and discrepancies in ship detail.

A sudden jolt tore him from his thoughts and whipped his head against the viewport glass. Turning, he noticed one of the craft had fallen in on his left flank. He accelerated and turned into the battle, hoping to lose the tail  in the mass of ships currently busy battling each other.

As Jex's Interceptor entered the fray, he immediately took another blast, the craft shaking with the blow. "Shields must be down by now." He thought with a grimace. "Better make this quick." A number of green bolts passed over him from behind. The tail was still there. He dipped and weaved , not wanting to smash into another ship. He glanced behind him, and saw that the tailing fighter had vanished.

He smiled, and turned to face his viewport, just in time to see a loose Interceptor's wing tear through the front of his ship. "Ahh!" Jex recoiled instinctively, covering his face with his hands. When he lowered them, the screen was blank, save for the words

                              SIMULATION FAILED

The door lifted, and the same instructor he'd spoken with stood in front of the exit. He shook his head, almost mournfully. "I thought you said you were prepared?"

Jex stammered, trying to come up with words. The instructor only lifted one finger to his lips, silencing the young Chandrilan. "You know what you learned today, trainee? You learned that there is no ready. There is no prepared. There is only what happens, and how you react to it. Let me ask you, if you had a fully equipped ship, would you have failed that exercise?"

Jex considered. What little flying he'd seen from the other combatants was only fragments, small mental images. But what he remembered of their piloting skills, even in the bedlam they had just been through, was good. "No. I have no doubt that we would have completed it properly."

"Of course you would have. It would have been simple. An easy test, for anyone who knows even the basics of combat flight." Jex flushed slightly, and the instructor laughed at him. "Embarassed? You should be. But why do you think you are here, trainee? I'll tell you. Because when this academy has finished with you, you'll be one of two things:

You can be a washout, a quitter, and go back to whatever you did before joining us here, or you can be a starship pilot in the Imperial Navy. And if you choose the latter option, you'll be able to complete simulations like this with a blindfold on. Now, which are you going to be?"

Jex saluted professionally, back straight and heart set. No matter what the smuggler's life had held for him before, the feeling of the TIE, the feeling of battle, and his superior's words had enthralled him. He'd come to a decision.

"I will be a starfighter pilot, sir!"

OOC:

WC = 920

Jex's Report: 05/12/2012

Activity:
[IC]This week I was accepted into the VE Naval Academy. After completing the required coursework, I participated in a simulated exam, and am now awaiting assignment to a squadron.

[ooc] I completed my bio, my wiki page, and my flight school post. I also edited a few typos on the VE wiki.

Upcoming plans:
Awaiting assignment to a squadron, won't be able to post until at least the evening (GMT -8) of 5/13/12

Questions/Suggestions:
None at the moment.

Crewman Jex Barris
Trainee Raptor Squadron Alpha Four


TRN/CRW JexBarris/A-4/S:137 "Raptor"/W:46 "Shield/PLF Cappadocious/TF TH/3 flt/VENA/VEN/VE