People used to call me Rip. I guess somehow that got combined with my first name and turned into Skip, or Skipper. Some of my father's ancestry was Rhineland, though you have to go a ways back for pure Rhineland blood. I'm more Bretonian than anything else, though I don't really think of myself belonging to any nation. I grew up in the Leeds system. My father worked for the BMM, so naturally our lifestyle wasn't very extravagant. I got sick of all that, so when I was fifteen I hopped on a transport and worked as a kitchen boy.
Three years later I crossed paths with a Bill Cunningham. He was a smuggler who's allegiance depended on who offered the best prices (or who was pointing a gun at him). He seemed to like me and took me under his wing. That's where I learned most of the best runs, legal or not. Bill was the first one to call me Skip. The rest of his crew turned it into Skipper.
At one point Bill got me a cheap ship and let me pretend to fly escort. At the time I was on top of the world, thinking I would become a fighter pilot for the Bretonian military, or something. Dreams of glory, and all that. Bill thought it was funny. Unfortunately, I turned out not to be that good a pilot. During one of our runs we ran into some Gaians. Bill tried the usual bribe, but they just opened fire. Bill was killed, and I barely got out alive. I don't know. Maybe they figured I was too pathetic to kill.
Needless to say, I don't like Gaians too much. I don't have a vendetta, or anything, but I don't need too much excuse to kick their butts when I see them. I don't have any real allegiances. I like the Zoners, just because they're pretty neutral. I try not to step on any toes, and I may act nice, but that's mostly just so I don't draw too much attention. Then again, if I think I can make a big enough buck, I'll risk pissing somebody off.
I do some smuggling, but I do plenty of legitimate trading, too. You have to keep them guessing. When I'm doing any of the common runs I usually let somebody else go first so they can distract the pirates or police when I pass by. I try to help the little guys out every now and then, but I'm no real philanthropist. I just believe that what goes around comes around.