1,001 Characters #41: Astro Jones

  41. Astro Jones        56B886     ex-Merchant 3rd Officer   Age 46      7 Terms

Skills: Vacc Suit-2, Streetwise-2, Dagger-2, Medical-1, Electronics-1, Jack of Trades-1.

Benefits: Cr46,000, Low Passage x2. Retirement Pay: Cr 8,000

 

   Astro Jones was born on Fixte, in the New Oberon colony. Astro's father was a soldier and died fighting the Ixxians, his mother was one of the first children born in the colony, back when the infrastructure was fairly minimal. She named her child Astro; which set him up for some ridicule at the newly built colony school. When asked she said that she hoped with a name like Astro he'd take to the stars when he grew up, rather than die in the ongoing Ixxian revolt like his father.

    When he was eighteen, Astro signed on with a Free Trader looking for a replacement. His training was essentially on-the-job, as such he didn't really learn any specific skills, but gained the ability to jump into almost any position and do an adequate job of it (Jack of Trades-1). After a brawl dirtside, one of the older hands taught him how to handle a knife (Dagger-1). A few years after signing on, Astro was promoted to 4th Officer, and received some additional training to go with the position (Electronics-1). (Term 1)

    For a while there, Astro became fixated on building muscle, and spent a lot of his spare time doing weights (+1 STR). He was also promoted to 3rd Officer and spent a lot of time dealing with the lower rungs of society when in port (Streetwise-1). (Term 2)

   Hoping to make Pilot, Astro figured he needed to improve his hand/eye coordination and therefore spent months training on simulators and in Zero-G, (+1 DEX), but failed to make the grade. (Term 3) 

    All this zero-G training and the focus on hand/eye coordination led to him neglecting his weight training; as a result he lost a bit of muscle (Ageing: -1 STR). The fact that he was also doing a lot of EVA and emergency training didn't help matters either, but he did learn a lot about different styles of vacuum suits (Vacc Suit-1). (Term 4)

    Undertaking a ship's medic training course enabled him to fulfill that role for a few years (Medical-1). (Term 5)

   Over several years Astro clocked up some impressive amounts of suit time and EVA increasing his skill with vacc suits (Vacc Suit-2). He also began to notice the weight of things more, (Ageing: -1 STR), figuring he was getting older he didn't really think much of it. (Term 6)

   Spending the next few years smuggling was not one of the high points of his career, but it did increase his familiarity with the seedier side of a planet. (Streetwise-2). This period also led to Astro acquiring his own dagger and improving his skill with such weapons (Mustering Out: Blade x2) It was towards the end of his seventh term that a newly hired ships engineer, noted that the on board grav plates needed repairs as they were only putting out 0.95Gs and had been doing so for quite some time. The crew believe this may have contributed to the muscle loss most of them experienced over the last several years. (Ageing: -1 STR).

    Before retiring Astro undertook educational courses (+1 EDU). He retired with Cr 46,000 in savings (Mustering Out: Three rolls on the cash table). Additionally he had a couple of Low Passage tickets that he'd acquired over the years (Mustering Out: Low Passage x2), and finally he had earned himself a pension of Cr8,000, which, thankfully, the captain hadn't squandered on bad debts or some mad scheme.

 

     Fixte 0807     E767667-6         Ag Ni Ri Mr

 

Astro can be found at almost any starport, but if you want him to have already collected his pension for the year, the world will need to have a class A or B starport. He doesn't want to live on Fixte, and is reluctant to return, even for a short visit. So while he has money and could live comfortably at his current standard for some time, he's looking to improve his situation and is thinking about speculative trade. So he could be treated as a Patron, NPC, or Player Character.