I was born during a severe electrical storm on the planet Manhatten in the New York system. My whole life my mother told me the story of how the heavens clapped when I was brought into being. The heavens may have clapped, but after that they looked down with indifference. We were a very poor family. My mother worked in the kitchen of the local pub putting in many hard hours. Sometimes she brought home leftovers that were to be thrown away and I was thrilled to be eating the delicious pub food. My father worked on a junker ship, sorting through trash and eeking out a meager wage. They worked hard and scrimped enough to buy me my own small ship which I named "The Bravo" when I was 16. I love them dearly and always bring them home extra money when I can. Words cannot express how happy I was to have my own ship and sail into the world.
I traveled the world sewing my wild oats but I longed for something more. Remembering all the commercials for the Navy while living on Planet Manhattan I decided to join up. The rigorous initiation into the Navy was challenging and rewarding. I met every obstacle with enthusiasm and determination, never flagging until the day I was accepted. While training, the Liberty Security Force saw potential in me and recruited me. The LSF society is an honorable one, relentlessly pursuing the Order terrorists. This pursuit gave me the focus I was so hungry for. I worked my way up through the ranks by keeping my head down and my mouth shut.
It is with mixed feelings that I share the next part of my story. I was on a routine patrol with a senior officer. The route was uneventful until my captain, whose name shall remain private, spotted a blue glow in the distance. He ordered us to immediately investigate. As we approached we saw that it was an Order ship attacking a single nomad. My Captain ordered us to immediately kill the Order ship. I said 'With all respect sir, should we not attack the nomad ship first?' The Captain turned in a furious rage and yelled 'you must kill the order ship now, or I will kill you!' It slowly dawned on me that my Captain didn't want to kill the nomad ship. Why? Was he himself infected by the nomads? Then without any warning my senior officer opened fire on me! I took evasive actions and dropped a mine which he ran directly into, disabling his ship. As I attempted to take my Captain into custody for medical treatment, he self-destructed.
The threat of infection was always there, and some great men succumbed to it. I sent my after action report to a senior officer in LSF, although it fell on deaf ears. They did not believe that my captain had been infected. Soon after that the report disappeared. In my naivety I had missed the ramifications of what was going on, what was happening all around me. That's when I decided to leave the LSF and go into service for myself.
With a more realistic view of the political and social make up of factions, I entered a new world of independence. My freedom gave fruit to the idea of building a squad of my own - the loyalty and discipline of a finely tuned military squad without the political mess and restrictions found in the LSF. We would work for ourselves, and we would support those who WE decided deserved it, for the right price of course. I was scared I'll admit it, and still alone, but destiny called me and I knew in my heart I had made the right decision. I would form Bravo squad, named after my first ship.
As I traveled through each system, selling my services as a crack shot to support my wanderings, I met many people and got to know and be friendly with quite a few. Some of the best can be found by pure chance.
Bravo One assisted me when I was under fire from nomads and in threat of implosion. He sailed in and saved me for no good reason other that he is a stand up guy. I invited him to join Bravo squad and he accepted.
Bravo Two found me escorting a mining fleet. Reckless and impulsive, he assumed he was under attack and took evasive maneuvers. Assuming he was a pirate, I gave chase, and was amazed at the fight he put up before we could finally sort out the situation. He took to Bravo squad immediately, and we were stunned by his dedication to duty.
I met Bravo Three in a bar in Manhattan. She had attitude spilling out of every pore, but when I started using my voice impersonations of Rodney Dangerminefield she broke out in hearty laughter, and after that we were fast friends. She has followed me ever since.
Bravos Six and Seven were brothers in arms, escorts for a small mining operation. After barely managing to escape from a large ambush of pirates, losing their squad and careers, they swore vengeance, and joined with Bravo squad with hopes of evening the odds. Immediately, it was clear that they were born mercenaries.
Bravo Squad now roams the galaxy, performing private security services to those who offer the right price, and occasionally collecting bounties on those who have been conclusively deemed misfits of society.