Freelance
Traveller
Kraig Louis 9A8985 5 terms Age 39 Rank O4 Cr90,000 Pension Cr5,000
Navigation-3, Vacc Suit-2, Shotgun-2, Computer-1, Zero G Weapons-1, Zero G Environ-1, Stealth-1, Interview-1, Leader-1, Energy Weapons-1, Demolitions-1, Carousing-1, Brawling-1, Admin-1
Snub Pistol, Low Passage, TAS Member
Kraig was born a lower class child on an overcrowded planet near the Spinward Marches. Scraping through school, Kraig decided to see the universe and escape the lower class life ahead of him, existing on the dole. Enlisting in the Navy just prior to the Fourth Frontier War, Kraig was assigned to shore duty near the edge of the Marches for his first two years. As his luck would have it, the world on which his base was located was subject to massive guerilla activity, and although he was nominally a line troop, he was reassigned to base security, where he was wounded twice, once badly. Displaying a knack for antiterrorist work, he was twice promoted before being reassigned to shipboard duty.
A mixture of routine patrol and siege activity led to opportunities to be trained in navigation, which Kraig took up quickly. It also led to further promotion, and he found some cameraderie among his fellow petty officers.
Kraig's increasing skill in navigation soon came to the attention of his new commanding officer, and he was sponsored to OCS. His general lack of education showed, but he nevertheless scraped through, and vowed to better himself through self-education courses, a promise he kept over the next several years.
As a junior officer, Kraig went back into space, on both routine patrols and training cruises. Skirmishes with insurgent elements led to his being badly wounded again. While in recovery his service record was examined closely by an admiral who selected Kraig as an "Aide". In reality, Craig's early service on base security augmentation came to the Admiral's attention, and Craig was sent to commando training for follow-on assignment fighting the next generation of saboteurs, now known to be sponsored by the Zhos.
Kraig spent the next five years securing bases and high ports as the leader of a small navy security team, all the while waiting to get back into space and the bridge crew duty he loved so much. He was assigned back to space duty following his success in almost totally stopping infiltration near the bases his team was assigned to. As a reward for Kraig's service in security, the Admiral sponsored Kraig for membership in TAS, a reward which was formally conveyed during the same parade that the Admiral retired at.
His promotion to Lt Commander was well deserved, and his tour as navigation officer on a cruiser would nicely position him to command his own small ship and prepare for promotion to even higher ranks within the service. He brushed up on his navigation and administrative skills and embarked on his year long cruise with Capt Sir Davin Yourkerki.
Kraig was sure his hard work, high skills, loyalty, and advanced self education would serve him well during his tour as a department head. He was wrong. Capt Yourkerki, a member of a cadet branch of a high-ranking noble family, was shocked that the Navy that his family had served so well for so many years would assign some lower deck rat and base security guard as a department head on his ship! This was his last great navy assignment, the glorious solo cruise before his promotion to Admiral and then semi-retirement to take charge of part of his father's fief. This boob, "Call me Kraig", couldn't even eat without slurping, and his manners in the lounge were horrible. Sometimes "Call me Kraig" would cheer while watching Tri-V sports! Capt Yourkerki put the best face on things that he could, pretending to ignore Kraig's lack of manners and breeding, while at the same time composing the worst officer evaluation record in the history of the fleet for this piece of trash.
Kraig learned of his betrayal soon after the cruise ended. He could not pull enough strings to stop his forced retirement, but he was able to help himself to some of Capt Yourkerki's petty cash, from his private safe, as a parting gift. Suspicion fell on him, but the cash was never found on Kraig (mostly because it was off the base within minutes after it left Yourkerki's safe).
Kraig is now on the beach, living comfortably at the TAS Hostel, seeking a crew position as a navigator. He is willing to buy into a ship, but only after carefully looking into the background and character of the owner. He is convinced that his years of security duty were the cause of his career being derailed just as it was really starting, and he will pretend to be less skilled at fighting and protected environment/zero-g combat then he really is. He has nearly thrown away the low passage he was issued at discharge several times as the final insult from Yourkerki, but caution and common sense keeps the passage in his spacer's bag.
Kraig harbors raw rage against Yourkerki, and any of his family, or friends, or retainers... or even academy classmates. The Admiral has also just learned that Kraig is... 'available'... and the Admiral has a new and very different Command now...