1,001 Characters #1: Jace Malik

 

Jace Malik    8B7798    ex-Marine Lieutenant                            Age 30    3 Terms

Cutlass-1, Rifle-1, Vacc Suit-1, Revolver-1, Leader-1, Tactics-1 

Low Psge, Cr5000

    Jace’s home world,  Sarozand, has no navy or marines of it’s own, although there is a Scout base and a local Planetary Defence Force (PDF). On Sarozand it is relatively easy to enter the Scouts and Army (PDF), and not to hard to get a berth aboard a merchant ship. But it’s much harder to enlist in the Navy or Marines. For starters you have to wait for a patrol ship to arrive in system, then you have to compete with all the other locals who want to enlist. Which means that the Navy and Marines can afford to be picky and many are not chosen. Those not chosen or who fail to enlist in another career must submit to the draft by placing their name in a register. From this register names will be selected for different career paths. Sometimes, one can get lucky and be drafted into the Marines or Navy even after being rejected. Veterans can tell you that this is more often due to a need to make up losses through battle attrition. Jace was one of those initially rejected, but later drafted into the very service he tried to enlist in.

    Subjected to intensive physical training (+1 END) and instructed in the finer points of the Cutlass (Cutlass-1), Jace settled in to the rhythm of Marine life.

    Later he was trained in marksmanship (Rifle-1) a skill which he was required to put to good use on several occasions.

    Working aboard a starship is dangerous and requires that one at least become familiar with vacc suits to survive decompression and the vacuum of space. Jace not only familiarised himself but made every effort to improve his ability to suit up fast and understand all the systems in both standard vacc suits and the armoured versions known as Combat Armour and Battle Dress (Vacc Suit-1).

    Several years into his service Jace’s bravery and skill brought him to the attention of his superiors and he was commissioned to the rank of lieutenant. He attended a command training course at the naval base on Oberon, where he learned how to lead marines into battle (Leader-1) and issued a revolver (Marine officers carry revolvers in addition to the ubiquitous cutlass); he spent a great deal of his spare time practising with his revolver (Revolver-1) so he wouldn't look bad in front of the men when he had to actually use it.

    The next few years saw Jace put his training to good use against pirates, privateers and sometimes other forces. He was ably assisted in command by his senior NCO Sergeant F. Leath, a man with considerable experience, who did his best to impart that knowledge to his commander (Tactics-1).

    One assignment had Jace and his men looking for a pair of lost robots in the deserts of Oberon, unfortunately he and his men did not find them. It is this incident that, Jace believes, may have been the reason he was passed over for promotion and led to his application to reenlist not being accepted.

    Discharged on Oberon, and issued with a low passage ticket to get him home to Sarozand and Cr5,000 cash. Low passage? He was a lieutenant in the marines, he deserved better than that! Jace is reluctant to return home in any case, not least because of the means given him to do so, but neither does he want to stay on Oberon.

Referee: Jace can be found at the Spaceduster Tavern in startown on Oberon looking for any work which will take him off-world.

    Sarozand    0706    C486643-6    S    Ag Ni Ri Droy1                                G

    Oberon        0808    B430523-B    N    Ni Po De