Difference between revisions of "Eric Jackson"

Revision as of 02:08, 26 August 2013

Eric Taylor Jackson
Biographical Information
Race	Diathim (formerly Kuati)
Homeworld	Kuat
Mother	Katherine Marie-Jackson
Father	Josef Taylor Jackson
Spouse	Alita Antigra (Deceased), Isis Demala (divorced)
Siblings	None
Children	Lucas, Leilani, Lainey
Born	Y -25, D37
Imperial Service
Branch	COMPNOR
Positions	Moff
Prior Service	Imperial Navy (O-3), Avance Coalition (Highlord, 2IC)
Awards	Plenty

Eric Jackson has been the Moff of Corporate Sector since Year 13 Day 199.

Birth

Eric was born in Y -25, D37 in a small hospital on the outskirts of Kuat city, the firstborn son of a Naval pilot named Josef Taylor Jackson and an Eraiduan woman, Katherine Marie-Jackson. Eric was diagnosed at birth with nearsightedness that would be surgically corrected later in life. His childhood was relatively normal until Y -18 D37, when the Jackson family home was destroyed by fire, killing Josef and Katherine. Miraculously, the young Kuati was found alive in the neighbor’s yard, shivering and sobbing. Visits to a child psychologist proved to be fruitless, and Eric was sent to live with an Uncle, Ronald Jackson. Eric has refused to elaborate on this portion of his life, so not much is known. However, what is known is that on Y -9 D213, Ronald was found dead in his home and the young Kuati was missing. Records would not turn up on his whereabouts for several years, and Eric was assumed to be a missing person.

Twelve Sentries of Kuat

Editor’s Note: Eric has never publically commented on his whereabouts between Y -9 and Y -1 when he was incarcerated in Kuat City Penitentiary pending charges of Murder and Theft. The following transcript appears to take place shortly before his joining the Imperial Navy in Y3. Normally, interrogation logs like this are unavailable to the public, however, it is believed that this log was leaked by individuals loyal to former Emperor Bonias in order to discredit him as a political figure in the Avance Coalition.

Eric Jackson: (inaudible)

Officer: Speak up, Mr. Jackson. I can't hear you if you whisper.

EJ: I said no.

O: Right. Well, you've been here three years. You haven't been much trouble for us, but it's a different story on the outside. There's a reason why you've been kept here in solitary, and that same reason's taken a toll on your old gang.

EJ: You have word of them?

O: Sort of. A lot of the gangs you caused trouble for banded together to hunt down the rest of your old crew. And they've succeeded. Well, sort of. There's still a few of your fellow vigilantes that are unaccounted for. But nobody's seen them for weeks now.

EJ: I…Good. They will retreat. Hopefully they will disband. They are not safe without my gui--...Good.

O: Look, kid, they're probably dead. It's much more likely they're rotting in some cellar or a dumpster, and we just haven't found them yet.

Silence

O: There's nothing for you to return to. But there's a way out for you, a new life that could be yours. People higher up than me heard about your vigilantism. A lot of people supported you and your gang. Or did, anyway, until they all started dying and went from front-page news to a blurb buried in the back.

EJ: i don't want a way out. I want to return and save my people. I am responsible for them.

O: How are you planning on saving the dead?

EJ: Why should I think they're dead? You don't know for sure. You've admited it yourself

The officer threw some pictures onto the table, before spreading them out with a palm.

O: These bodies were found. Based on our intel, they were all your lieutenants. Your top people.

EJ: Raina... She...she can't be. ...That's her ink. The one she got for me. She came when Robert did...she was never meant to be mixed into this...but we got...oh Sithspawn...

O: I'm sorry, kid. Look, your trials are about to wrap up. It's probably going to be the spice mines for you, considering how many people you've murdered. But we're offering you a way out, if you're willing to be more forthcoming about your past.

EJ: I...I want the death penalty. I got these people killed. I want justice for them. The spice mines are a death sentence anyway. Might as well make it quick.

O: Well, to be fair, the option we're offering is more or less a death sentence, too. We're offering you the chance to become a TIE fighter pilot. The powers that be have been impressed by your vigilantism and decided they could use your skills in a cockpit.

EJ: Hah. They want me in the Imperial Navy based off of my experience getting people killed. This has got to be the least funny joke you could've told me. Unless Raina came out from under that guard's hood there and yelled that this was an elaborate prank. That would be worse.

O: Well, to be sure, a lot of those people were people the Empire wanted dead. Just didn't have the time or personnel to deal with them. You could make a name for yourself in the Navy. A fresh start. Your experience of getting people killed is exactly why we want you with your hands at the controls. You recall why you're getting sent to the spice mines, don't you?

EJ: Because I killed people.

O: And why did you kill them?

EJ: To stop them from killing other people.

O: And that's what you'd do as a TIE pilot. Only you'd be legitimate, rather than doing so against the law.

EJ: And in a few months, I'll be killed flying one of those tin cans, and this will all be moot.

Silence

EJ: I keep the photos of my people. Do me this favor, and I will answer your questions and get killed in the Navy.

O: That's fair. Now? we need to know what you've been doing since the day your uncle died.

EJ: Fine. What would you like to know?

O: What did you do? How'd you survive?

EJ: After...after my uncle...died...I wandered the streets for a while. I saw a woman being attacked. Went in to stop it. Killed her attackers. She was Sasha Santrix. She became my second. We ...we went into a burning building once. Rescued two more from it before the whole structure collapsed. Raina and Robert Knight. These were low class housing. The slums. The places you guys forget about. We banded together. Stuck together. We made it off of what I was able to shoplift and steal, but soon we got caught in between the Vipers and the Scorpions. That was a bloody war, and they did not care that people were being hurt in the crossfire. The four of us agreed. We had to do something. There were plenty of people who knew us at that point, and I ended up recruiting eight more people. Keep the group small, so you can split into fire teams and use guerrilla tactics against them. That's how our war started.

O: How'd you pick your targets?

EJ: At first we did it reactively. We'd see a guy attacking someone, we'd take him out. Over time, we started being able to identify problem elements in the upper levels. After Santiago replaced Vini, we realized that this wasn't always the best idea. Santiago was effective. Vini was a madman but somewhat predictable. We should've left him in power. I got a lot of people killed when we picked off Vini and let Santiago take over. Hard lesson. But you probably knew that already.

O: Yes, we kept tabs on your little war. But we needed to know your reasons. All right. You'll be checking out of here at 0300. None of your personal effects will be returned to you, but you will be issued a uniform for the Academy. We'll give you something for you to keep those photos in. I wish you the best of luck, Mr. Jackson.

EJ: You were doing a job, Officer. Don't condescend me by pretending to care. I eagerly await my uniform.

O: Good.

End of Transcript

A New Path in the New Order

Eric was conscripted into the Imperial Navy and assigned to the Naval Guard of his home sector. His first assignment was typical – he was assigned to a TIE-ln squadron, Dark Spears, and assigned to the 3rd Sector Fleet’s Beta Line under the command of Lieutenant (JG) Quisitor and Ensign Jerek Darklighter. He severed his ties, more or less, to the criminal underworld where he had been for the past 12 years. It was in the cockpit of the TIE fighter, forced to confront the risk of death at any moment, that Eric realized his true love. His concerns were on the ground. The abuse he’d suffered, the horror he’d seen, it didn’t matter when he was among the stars.

It was at this exact moment that Eric Jackson, the well-intentioned criminal from the Kuati underworld, became Crewman Eric Taylor Jackson, a proud member of the Imperial Navy, following the tradition set by his grandfather and his father before him. He continued to serve with distinction, flying sorties and scouting missions for the 3rd Sector Fleet. He rose quickly through the ranks, earning his commission ahead of many of his compatriots after showing incredible valor and competence in the field of battle. Eric’s life, for the first time since he was seven years old, felt like it was going okay.

He should’ve known better.

The Return of the Sith

Elsewhere in the galaxy, there existed a faction. The Imperial Core. Splinter group that broke off after the ascension of Emperor Mccarthur that deviated from the ideals of the New Order, favoring power over order, destruction over the rule of law. It embraced the rule of the Sith Lords of old. It was a dark place.

Eric was vaguely aware of it, but he had spent a lifetime underground trying to survive. His knowledge of galactic politics was extremely limited at best, he was struggling with basic literacy, and he did not fully understand all the intricacies of the Dark Empire’s relationship with the greater Galactic Empire. All he was aware of was the reprehensible news articles detailing atrocities against human and non human civilians alike. Eric was disgusted.

And then he received the news.

Unceremoniously, one day his Moff broke it down to the fleet. The Kuati was aghast, declaring in private to the Moff that he would not serve in an Empire that allowed those warmongers and chaosbringers to serve openly and above the fear of retribution.

It would not be the last time the headstrong Kuati was talked down from his vows. He begrudgingly agreed to continue his service, but to never acknowledge the Warlord Bonias’ claim to his status. And then his vow was to never kneel and take orders from the Warlord.

And then Moff Mak Davar assigned him to the Order of the Dark Hand fleet.

It was a temporary assignment under then-Admiral Machkhit to Denevar, where Jedi Master Felix Darque had been spotted. The Sith Forces, with the Kuati’s Lancer-class Frigate Celerity assigned to provide fighter support, were dispatched to chase him down. It turned out to be a fruitless gesture, forcing the Kuati to walk in the Sith’s company for several months without orders, floating through the system without aim. It was on the last day that a thought struck him.

You serve your enemy. They are the demons you fought in the underworld. You serve them now.

It was not a thought organic to his mind. It was a thought that, as was later revealed to him, came from the Jedi Master. He had sensed the trouble within the Imperial Lieutenant, and had spread doubt in his mind. Eric immediately contacted his Fleet Command and Sector Command, and told them flat out what he had seen, and what he had not been doing.

The next day, he received his orders. He would be returning to his fleet, and joining them to fight the Rebel presence at Alderaan

He breathed a sigh of relief. His bout with the Sith was finally over. And yet? It was never over.

The Dark Moon Rises

Eric returned to his fleet at Alderaan, under the command of the Fleet Commanding Officer, Commander Quisitor. Commissioned a Lieutenant, Eric was given oversight of the fleet’s command operations in connection with the greater combined forces of the Second Assault Fleet and the Kuati Naval Guard. It was a tumultuous command, with the operation as a whole suffering under the weight of the greater struggle for power between the Sith and the Imperials loyal to Emperor Charon.

The operation wasn’t an entire wash, though only if one allows other parenthetical events that took place as a happenstance. Eric at this point met Captain Syn, who would go on to be one of his closest friends over the next ten years. He would integrate himself socially with the rest of the Second Assault Fleet, becoming the unofficial mascot. It was a pleasant period in an otherwise bleak time, and Eric’s habit of denying the greater reality came back to bite him.

Little did he know, his assignment with the Dark Hand fleet had raised suspicions of his connections with Vodo Bonias’ shadow intelligence organization, Majestic 12. Further compounding the suspicion was Eric's clinging to the insignia of his old gang, the Twelve Sentries of Kuat, with the ship prefix XIIS. This unknown prefix, combined with his unwitting service to Darth Gwar, left him in a compromised position politically. He suddenly made a lot of very curious friends from the Imperial Security Bureau, and strangely lost a few others in a sea of awkward conversation and narrowed eyes. A mark had been placed on his head. Eric, ignorant of this, went about his business and the suspicion would eventually subside, or at least become less overt.

Would that could be said for the rest of the Empire. The mistrust and internal war had finally come to a head. Vice Admiral Dreighton assumed control of Task Force Alderaan one day, over the objections of the other command staff. ISB Agents loyal to Charon moved to detain the Admiral. All hell had broken loose.

The Fall of the New Order

On Y4 D133, Eric woke to his comlink buzzing frantically. He saw the most recent emails first. Resignations. His eyes scanned over the entries in stunned disbelief. His subordinates. His superiors. His Moff. His entire Chain of Command had resigned before he’d ever known what happened.

And then he saw it.

The coup d’etat led by the Warlord Bonias had been successful in toppling Emperor Charon. In the aftermath, Imperial soldiers were deserting en masse, leaving their posts and stealing whatever was not nailed down. To Eric’s horror, he found the life he had spent the past two years rebuilding crumbling in front of him. He was struck with a paralyzing fear. He had no idea what to do. Would he be in violation of his parole at this point if he left? Would he even leave? This was way above his paygrade. Eric in truth had no comprehension of the higher political machinations, much to his great dismay. But he understood one thing.

He would not serve this betrayer, this regicidal maniac, this…Treasoneer.

As he realized the full enormity of what was happening, he was stuck looking for answers. Kuat was his home. He had never gone much further than the outer reaches of the Kuat sector. His instinct was to run, but the Imperial worlds would not be safe under the Sith. And would he even want to leave? Thought upon thought would go through his mind. Could he really abandon his home to the Sith?

A new email interrupted his thoughts. Kolace Jorgensen, a man who briefly served as his CO, gave him his orders. The Imperial Forces loyal to Charon had been offered safe haven from the Sith. By the Jedi.

By the Jedi…

Now whose was the treason? The Imperial Loyalists would be retreating to Rebel-controlled Republica? Eric felt bile in his throat. Though he hated the Sith, he hated the terrorists that had claimed many young TIE pilots on distant worlds just as much. But there was no Empire for him anymore. Kuat was not safe. The Core Worlds were not safe.

Eric had to leave.

But before he did? He had one last piece of business.

Walking Amongst The Jedi

Eric had been disconcerted when he traveled to Republica. The Jedi, against the wishes of the Rebel Alliance, had given the Imperial defectors sanctuary in the outer rim. At first, Eric was skeptical of the Jedi Order. Had it not been for the long nights of debate and discussion with the Jedi Masters – to say nothing of his having nowhere to go -- Eric would have left immediately. Over time, he took over the logistical support for the Jedi Praxium, and began managing the resources of the Jedi Praxium’s military wing.

Eric buried himself in work, watching the reshaping of the Empire from afar. The treacherous reign of the puppet Emperor Greyson Uebles had resulted in a catastrophic sundering of nearly every branch of the Empire, save the Sith Order itself, who were the only group who remained untouched. The Kuati felt himself grow embittered by the betrayal, and watched his homeworld turn from the bittersweet land of his birth, to the darkest hole that the Empire had to offer. He knew that even if he did return home – which he, on occasion, did – it would never be the same. Over time, he came to accept Republica as a home, and developed new contacts amongst the Jedi and the Rebel Alliance. And yet, he still thought of home.

Eric served in the Praxium for a period of a year and a half, before departing the Outer Rim, having grown disillusioned with the withdrawl of the Jedi from the Praxium as well as the inept command staff of the military itself. There had been no action against the Sith usurpers. There had been no retribution, no avenging of the fallen. There had just been complacency and contentment. It was not going to suffice.

Shortly after he left the Jedi Praxium, Eric’s worst fears were confirmed when the Treasoneer, Vodo Bonias, ascended the throne after the disappearance of Emperor Greyson Uebles. Disgusted and looking for a way to depose the false Emperor, Eric began looking for ways to find vulnerabilities. To do this, he would need to study his ways. He would need to study the Dark Side of the Force. But how?

And that’s where he was contacted by an old friend. And that’s when he met the Dark Jedi, Thraken Solo.

The Order of Krath

The Kuati spent months in the makeshift temples that the former Sith Lord had created. It was there that he would begin to learn the history of the Sith Order, the history of the Dark Side of the Force. He was an able and curious pupil, and despite his relative lack of a formal education, he found himself gaining a greater understanding of the Sith, and the ways he could take down the Emperor. It was the first time in his life that Eric actually considered what he was wanting to do. To assassinate an Emperor? He would never be able to pull it off on his own. He would need the help of everyone in the Order of Krath. And he would need the help of Thraken himself.

Unfortunately, Eric’s dreams were not realized. Thraken Solo would depart the Krath abruptly, taking Eric’s source of knowledge from him. A few months later, he was dead. Unceremoniously murdered aboard a forgotten Corellian vessel by someone the Kuati had never heard of. And Eric began to wander.

The Underground

Eric began to frequent bars. Although he rarely drank himself, he was more than happy to take part in the company, which often included his former compatriots. It was not ideal, and Eric would often find himself leaving the place with a healthy amount of self-loathing for his failures. But it had become home. Of one sort or another.

It was in this underground that he was gravely injured in an explosion meant for the White Angel, Tara Tylger. His injuries were severe, requiring the removal of his eyes and scarring that would take years to fade over most of his body. His knee was destroyed in a later barfight with her Enforcer, Banquo Knox, an on-again-off-again enemy/friend. He was never able to fully ascertain what his relationship was with most of the people in the underground. Except for one.

It was a cold night in the Underground when he laid eyes on her. The woman who would pull him out of his funk had been lost and looking for shelter from the rain. Eric had bought her a drink, and they had gone home together that night. And for many nights after that. For the next six months, Eric and Alita shared a life that Eric could only describe as pleasing. For the first time, he began to think that maybe not everything in his life was worthless sithspawn. It was only then that his world collapsed around him.

Alita had been found dead in a speeder wreck on the way back from the doctor’s office. Eric later found out that she had been declared pregnant by him. Eric was left an emotional wreck, crawling into a bottle for months at a time in an effort to forget her.

It was during this time that he met Isis Demala. Introduced by a mutual friend during one of Eric’s few moments of sobriety, Eric began to let her pry him open again. And eventually, he married her. He would never find himself as happy with her as he had been with Alita, but maybe, just maybe, he would be okay in time.

The Beginnings of Avance

Kyle Rainer, a Falleen businessman associated with the Wraiths, contacted him and Isis. He was starting a new enterprise, and wanted the capable to join him. Bidding farewell to the home they had on Bastion, Eric and Isis made the trip to Endor, where Eric would take up the post of Consul of Infrastructure, in charge of managing the infrastructure and mining operations. Isis would become Consul of Culture. In a few years time, Eric and Isis had several children, Lucas, Lainey, and Leilani. He had not been consulted on the names, merely told what they were. The Kuati had shrugged it off – this was what happened, right? – and let it and a great deal of other things slide. He buried himself in work, only knowing that this life he’d built in the Coalition, though a good life to anyone else, would not be enough for him.

A Jedi…?

The Rogue Knight

The Revenge of the New Order

The Rise of Darth Sigyn

On Broken Wings