Name: Castor Paltex
Call sign: Castor
Age: 19
Sex: Male
Height: 6’1’’
Weight: 163 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: N/A
Skin: Navy Blue
Planet of Origin: Ryloth
Known languages: Basic, Ryl, Lekku, Huttese
Current Planet/System: Abrae, Vectra System
Appearance: Castor is tall with a good build of muscle, having barely any fat on his body. His body, mostly his upper torso, is covered with scars from his time as a slave. He has black spiral tattoos on his lekku and two metal bands on his right lekku and two earrings in the cartilage of his left ear.
Personality: Castor can be an amiable person, generally getting along with most of the people that he meets. However, because of his time as a slave, he has trouble forming lasting bonds and is continually skeptic of everyone and everything around him.
History: Much of what was Castor’s childhood is shrouded in a veil of torment. Castor was a slave on Ryloth for much of his life, living under a cruel and corrupt lord. Castor was one of the other hundreds of slaves that the lord owned to operate his Ryll mines. Of course, this all changed when he was eleven years old. Castor was at the slave quarters when his master and two guards came bursting in. Apparently, there had been a theft of some Ryll, and the master had believed it to be one of the slaves. Of course, it had been one of the guards, but neither of them said a thing. The master walked up to Castor and pulled him outside and threw him on the ground. His master had then proceeded to kick and pummel him to a bloody pulp. At the end of the beating, Castor was covered in blood, bruises and spit. It was then that he finally snapped. Castor got up, rage swelling in his eyes; he knew what he had to do. Soon, night had fallen. Castor sat awake on his bunk, waiting for the right moment to strike. He pulled out a sharpened stone that he had grabbed from his last venture in the mine. He crept out of the slave quarters and into the velvet night. Despite the lavish appearances, Castor’s owner’s mansion was surprisingly easy to infiltrate. When asked by one of the guards where he was going, Castor merely stared up at him and said his master wanted to “finish the job.” The guard merely snickered as Castor walked down the hall to the master’s bedchamber. Castor walked in and closed the door silently as his master slept, He drew his shard stone and stepped up next to his master’s bedside. He stared down at the sleeping man, a corrupt and vile being. And without hesitation, Castor plunged the stone onto his master’s heart. There was no sound, just a muffled submission as his life slowly drained out of him. Within seconds, Castor was out of his master’s bedchamber and went down the hall. He went outside the way he had come, then fled towards the town. Nobody had come after him. By the time the guards found the master’s body in the morning, Castor was already long gone.
Castor spent the next five years of his life living in the city, mere miles from his dead master’s home. Of course, this meant nothing; it just made the law enforcement’s job easier to deal with. Castor lived as a homeless child, stealing whatever he could to survive. Of course, this just made his life that much more dangerous. After five years of being homeless however, Castor finally landed a job as a waiter in a local tavern. During his time there, Castor met various spacers, both lawful and not. Over the course of his work, he came across a spacer known as Darius Sparks, along with the rest of his crew. The week that Darius had spent in the capital had been an eventful one, with various burglaries and blaster fights “coincidentally” popping up. Soon of course, Darius left, and Castor was still stuck in the bar. Months passed, and Castor was still working in the tavern when Darius finally returned. He walked in to the tavern and pointed at Castor and ushered him to come over.
“Have a seat, Castor. I have something to ask you.”
Castor put down his tray and sat across from the large human. Darius wore a black and red shirt, along with Corellian spacer pants. He had a heavy blaster at his hip, and a combat knife attached to his chest.
Castor, we lost one of our crewmen in a raid by the New Republic. We haven’t had much luck in terms of finding a replacement. Want the job?”
Castor’s eyes lit up. He had always dreamed of getting off of Ryloth, and this was his one chance in getting out this hellhole. Castor ripped off his nametag and chucked it at the floor.
“Let’s go.”
--- --- ---
Castor was brought on to the ship was instantly accepted as one of their own. Darius was the head of a smuggling band that went up and down the Corellian Run. Castor and the rest of the crew called the YU-410 freighter known as
White Demon home. When they landed, Castor was given an education in telemetry, hyperspace coordinates, and ship repair. He also became an incredibly good shot and an avid martial artist in Escrima, thanks to one of the crewmembers, Largo. Luckily for Castor, his combat skills never really had to be put into service. However, his piloting and coordinating skills had to be on multiple occasions. The one that would end his life as a smuggler occurred two years ago; he would never be the same after that day…
The mission had started off simply enough. Castor and the crew aboard the White Demon were to transport 90 tons of cargo, mostly contraband, to Kuat for a drop-off. Unfortunately, the point of origin for the trip was Bonadan, which was in the center of the Corporate Sector. Castor felt that this run was going to end badly; he could feel it in his bones. The ship entered Corporate space without being stopped by the ISD, which wasn’t surprising considering that they were carrying no cargo. They went through the normal business of entering the planet’s atmosphere and landing at a nearby docking area. Within six hours, all of the cargo was accounted for. Castor still didn’t feel right; it had gone far too perfectly. There had to be something coming along. And it had to be a bad something. The crew boarded and Castor took the helm along with Bastion, the head pilot. They left easily enough, getting clearance and lifting off, watching other ships land and take off with them. However, the Corporate Sector watched everything very closely, and when a ship left with 90 tons of cargo in that short amount of time, they got very suspicious. As Castor suspected, they were called back to land. They obeyed, and as they landed, 15 ESPO troopers surrounded the ships, weapons drawn. As the landing door opened and Darius walked out, the ESPO troops trained their weapons on him. For a few seconds, everything was calm, and then Pandora’s box was unleashed. Out of nowhere, a shot was fired; neither side knew who it was, but the ESPO troopers opened fire milliseconds later. Darius ran into the bridge, holding his arm.
“Get us the hell out of here!”
Castor didn’t need to be told twice. He started the ships engines and blasted off of the planet’s surface. Of course, that was probably one of the largest blunders of his life. Within minutes of that, two ISD Marauders were tailing them. When they were nearly out of the atmosphere, both Marauders let loose their fighter contingents, for a total of forty-eight fighters. Castor heard the sound of the
White Demon’s twin laser cannons opening fire on the ISD fighters, scoring some very good hits. However, when they did that, they forgot to realize they did it in the middle of the ISD raven’s nest of cruisers. Within minutes of the exchange, two more Marauders appeared, opening fire with their turbolasers. Castor did all he could to avoid them, but all he was doing was delaying the inevitable. The
White Demon took too many hits, and was now a sitting target. Before Castor realized it, he was pulled out of his seat and brought to the back of the ship, where the escape pods were. Before he knew what was going on, Castor was tossed into one of the pods and the door was shut on him. The last thing he saw was Darius’ smiling face. Then Castor became very aware of what was going on, and his face lost color. Before he could open his mouth to scream, Darius hit the button, jettisoning Castor out into Bonadan’s atmosphere. The last thing Castor saw before he blacked out was the White Demon exploding, cascading fire and metal to the surface below.
Castor woke up minutes later, blood dripping from his forehead. He looked around, trying to get in his surroundings. He still felt shaken, but that had to wait for later. Then his eyes widened and he looked to the sky for any sign of another escape pod. But there wasn’t one. Then Castor turned and ran, in to what he didn’t know, but he had to get out of here…
A few months later, the Vast Empire Navy came to Bonadan on a routine recruit hunt. The test for joining was quite simple: Pilot a test fighter across an obstacle course. The ten best times would be accepted into the Navy. Castor signed up immediately; he needed an excuse to get off of the planet. Within two hours, it was Castor’s turn to enter the pilot’s seat. He started up the engines and started the repulsors and hovered above the ground. Then he saw the ready light, and he waited. It changed form red, then to yellow, then to blue. Castor punched it to full speed, blasting out of the staring gate. Castor turned and spun with the grace of a hawk, dazzling the crowd beneath him with a spectacular array of maneuvers. When Castor landed, he jumped out of the cockpit and waited for his time to come up. And when it did, his face lit up. I’m finally getting out of here! A few hours later, Castor was on a shuttle with ten other recruits, heading for Tadath to start his life in the Vast Empire.
Notable Skills:
· Martial Arts: Escrima – Escrima is a martial art hailing from the Philippine Islands. It is a martial art that includes grappling and close quarters hand-to-hand combat, as well as knife and stick fighting. Because of this, Castor carries either an extendo-baton or a 15-inch vibroblade, depending on his situation.
· Hyperspace Navigation
· Telemetry
· Piloting of freighters, airspeeders and small fighters
· Ship repair
· Sleight of hand (Stealing)
