Josef DeLaurel

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Josef DeLaurel
Biographical Information
Race	(Human)
Homeworld	Coruscant
Mother	Melanie DeLaurel (deceased)
Father	Anthony DeLaurel (deceased)
Spouse	N/A
Siblings	Jaceb DeLaurel
Children	N/A
Born	Year -19, Day 237 (28)
Imperial Service
Branch	Imperial Navy
Positions	Operations Adjutant, 8IF (Former) Chief of Staff, 8IF (former)
Prior Service	4th Imperial Fleet, 8th Imperial Fleet
Awards	IABG DB2 DIS2 INS CRM LOC FSM FoM1 5IFC OCSH

Josef 'Sarge' DeLaurel is an Ensign currently serving in the Imperial Navy. He joined the Navy after a personal reformation, following years of gang warfare, illegal goods smuggling and other misdemeanours. Having served staunchly for some time he has gained a reputation not only for his blind rage but also for a no nonsense regard to discipline as well as a fanatical loyalty to the Emperor. He recently secured his commission and has joined the ranks of the Imperial Officers.

Childhood

Josef was born on Coruscant, widely considered the centre of the civilised galaxy. Coruscant 9, the city he hails from, however is a undercity slum district and he was born, the eldest of two, into a life of crime and gang warfare. Both his parents were gang members but this itself paints a false picture. To many within the slums being in a gang wasn't just a fall back due to poverty, it was a way of life. Josef's childhood was fairly sheltered from the criminal effects of his parent's and his early childhood was fairly unimpeded by the endless drug dealing, smuggling and gang warfare. This was in part due to his attendance of a boarding school up til the age of thirteen, funded, ofcourse, by his parents smuggling activties.

Teenage Years

Upon reaching the age of thirteen Josef's parents were arrested and jailed for minor tax evation. Josef and his brother Jaceb were put into foster care and taken from their boarding school. Life in one of Coruscant 9's public schools was a huge culture shock for both Josef and his brother but in time they adapted, eventually learning the nuances of theft and vice that were commonplace even in schoolchildren.

Both Josef and Jaceb eventually found themselves associated with one of the smuggling groups, working as courier boys for the firm. This eventually led onto helping with the actual smuggling itself. Loading ships and freighters with stolen cargo became a frequent event for the 16 year old lads. It wasn't long after this that Josef had his first taste of what would become second nature to him later in life.

Whilst helping load up an export of stolen arms a rival gang decided to seize the shipment and carried out a raid on the hanger where Josef, along with several other smugglers were boxing up the weapons. Josef's bloodlust was first properly awakened by the combat and he bludgeoned several of the raiders to death with a crowbar as they rushed into the hanger. Faced with an overwhelming force his elders managed to manhandle him to safety before he could be killed by the raiders.

It was at this point that his skill in close combat was first noticed by his gang, and his parents, and by the time he turned nineteen he was regularly participating in ship raids in the immense clouds of traffic orbiting Corsucant. Although not an excellent shot with a blaster, determination, and eventually experience, coupled with his seemingly instictive feel for combat had him leading his first boarding action just prior to his twentieth birthday.

A Gallofree Medium Transport called "Tarsus III" had entered the Coruscant system on a smuggling run for a rival gang. Josef's group was tipped off of it's imminent arrival and Josef was chosen to lead a small strike force to seize the vessel and try to run the Coruscant system's authorities themselves, delivering the goods to his own gang. It was pretty much a suicide mission but if it paid off, he'd have proven his abilities beyond doubt.

Commandeering a YT-1210 and a willing pilot the strike team set off to intercept the Gallofree. Closing within range of the vessel the team prepared to board the Gallofree. At the last moment however a freak stray shot from the Transports defensive Heavy Laser turrets scored a glancing hit on the 1210's cockpit. The pilot was immidiately electrocuted and Josef, stood next to him at the time, was forced to takes the controls himself.

In an unbelievable show of natural ability Josef managed to crash the 1210 into the Gallofree, giving his men the access they needed to the striken transport vessel. He wasted no time in joining his fellow pirates and Tarsus II was quickly taken under their control. Josef managed to pilot the damaged freighter back down through Coruscant traffic-stricken skies and thus earned himself the respect of his fellow smugglers as well as future forays as a pilot.

Twenties

His sudden elevation running and leading smuggling runs for the 'firm' was not to last however. His noteriety as a pilot and as a fierce fighter had been noticed by his rivals. A few years after the Tarsus incident Josef's world was to come crashing down around him.

He was piloting a shuttlecraft with his mother, father and brother aboard on what was supposed to be a family get together. Josef and Jaceb's sudden elevation within the smuggling firm had meant more and more time apart from their parents. Josef decided a trip off planet was needed and the trip was organised with his parents, with Josef piloting, ofcourse. Unbeknownst to Josef, rival smugglers got wind of the planned excursion and a bomb was planted on Josef's brand-new personal Pnath shuttle the "Brightstar".

It was as Josef engaged the shuttles thrusters to break the craft away from Coruscant's gravity pull that the bomb was triggered. His parents, Anthony and Melanie were killed instantly as the rear section of the shuttle exploded and fell away to break up in Coruscant's atmosphere. Josef and his brother Jaceb, up in the cockpit, had just enough time to grab parachutes before jumping from what was left of the shuttle.

It was over the next few months that the loss of his parents caused Josef to re-evaluate his life. His brother Jaceb carried on pilign his efforts into the smuggling business but Josef increasingly found himself feeling lost and distant to his comrades. More and more he found himself listening to Imperial propaganda reels. He could see through the dross projected to the masses by Imperial recruiters and saw in the Empire the stability and commitment he craved. The Emperor, seen by many even on Coruscant, as an evil dictator had united a greater portion of the galaxy and lead them towards prosperity and unity. Josef could see in the Empror and His Empire a cause worth fighting for, a cause actually worth dying for. His parents had died because of the petty in-fighting that plagued the life of a sumggler. A waste of life for nothing more than a slight gain for some criminal.

Aged 23, a morally reformed Josef approached the nearest Imperial Navy recruitment office and signed himself into the Imperial Academy.

Imperial Servitude

After graduating the Imperial Academy, just short of the Honours grade that would have seen him fast-tracked for promotion, Josef settled into his service to the Emperor. He was initially stationed as a Crewman serving on a survey station orbiting Aharatillian in his native Coruscant system. Although now morally pure Josef's aggressive tendancies and his experience as a criminal still rose to the surface occasionally and were noticed by his superiors. They set to keeping an eye on him.

Sure enough his aggression eventually spilled over one evening during an argument between himself and another Crewman. Josef was, by now, a fervent follower of the Emperor, completely convinced of the Emperor's divinity. Arguing this point to another, older man, Josef eventually lashed out violently when the other man pressed his own opinions. Beating the man senseless Josef was arrested and imprisoned.

Given 5 years for the assault Josef still managed to keep his faith in the Emperor, believing He would deliver him from his imprisonment. Sure enough, 6 months into his sentence, Josef was approached by an Imperial officer. He was given a chance to redeem himself. The officer was looking for volunteers for what was practically a suicide mission against a Falleen base on the planet Loronar. A high ranking Falleen officer was known to be transferring to the planet and Imperial Intelligence had decided it was an oppertunity to remove him. Josef was offered immidiate re-instatement to

Josef at Loronar

the Imperial Navy and promotion to Crewman FC if he accepted the deal. He jumped at the chance given to him by his beloved Emperor.

Three months later and advanced combat training complete, Josef joined a battalion-sized unit crammed aboard an old Imperial Star Destroyer converted specifically for the mission. With a Victory Star Destroyer, several Carrack-class cruisers and the fighter squadrons attached to such, the Naval taskforce punched it's way through the un-prepared Falleen forces and dropped it's troops before the Falleen could regroup and properly engage them. Josef was in the first wave, an entire company made up of criminals like himself and disillusioned glory seekers looking for a quick promotion.

The casualties were enormous but they managed to secure and hold the dropzone, allowing the rest of the ground troops to land. Josef again proved his mettle by single-handedly holding a gun-post on the fringe of the dropzone for an entire hour, before a squad could make it out and relieve him. His actions here left him wounded and he didn't actively participate in the final push to kill the Falleen General. Nevertheless, the deal was honoured and upon his return to Imperial space he was re-instated into the Imperial Navy and assigned to the 4th Imperial Fleet.

His assignment to the 4th Fleet was a fresh start for Josef and he put his troubled career start behind him. He poured his energy into his service in the 4th, his skills as a fighter pilot becoming more and more notable. It was here,also, that Josef fell under the leadership of then Command Flight Officer, Galdarzz Aalon, a grizzled veteran of many Imperial campaigns in the Corellian Sector. Gald stood initially as a role-model for Josef, guiding him swiftly through the ranks from a lowly Crewman up to the rank of Flight Sergeant, but soon he became a close friend for Josef.

Josef's service in the 4th continued unabated, and with it his professionalism and leadership capabilities gradually began to develop. He was given more and more responsibility, even leading an entire strike force on an extended raid after the entire force's command group was wiped out. His peak in the 4th came when he was finally promoted to Staff Flight Sergeant and given command of a special operations team stationed off of a Carrack-class cruiser.

It was at this point, just as Josef had managed to get his career back on track that he was approached by an old friend from his days in the Academy, Jathrin Thorin. Jathrin came to Josef talking quietly of rumours of a plot against the Emperor by the then Pro Consul, Arturus Goth, himself. Josef, a staunch Emperor loyalist was drawn in by the quiet whisperings of Thorin and eventually began to believe the rumours of a plot, his faith in the Emperor putting a nievety to Josef's view of the subject.

Jathrin eventually inducted the nieve Josef into an underground cult known only as the Brotherhood, a sect dedicated to the protection and servitude of the Emperor, no matter the cost. Josef was suspicious of the Brothethood right from the start but decided to wait it out, his loyalty to the Emperor blinding him to the realities of a secret, underground cult. The consequences of such an entity lost in his care and concern to protect the Emperor and His Will.

Thankfully for Josef, although it did not seem like it at the time, the Brotherhood was uncovered before Josef could become properly initiated into it's ranks. All of the members, Jathrin Thoyan and Josef inculded, were uncovered and Josef was arrested almost instantly. They were all charged with treason. Thoyan, himself, managed to evade capture but resorted to suicide to prevent his arrest. Several of the Brotherhood's members were executed but Josef was spared, in part thanks to his complete honesty as to his involvement in the cult and also due to the fact he intended no harm or disloyalty towards the Emperor or Empire.

DeLaurel was, however, punished with a two ranks demotion and a permeanant mark on his record. It seemed that after all his hard work and effort to re-affirm himself within the Empire he would end up as nothing more than a low-end NCO, serving the remainder of his days as an example to others of the price of treason, no matter the intentions involved. Josef did, however, have one consolation, he was alive and he still had his service to attend to in the Imperial Navy. Demoted from Staff Flight Sergeant, his Spec. Ops. team dissolved and re-instated as a Flight Corporal, Josef was left feeling hollow.

Unexpected Feelings

Josef and Inwe

After Josef's second re-instatement he was left feeling lost and disillusioned. His zeal and fervour for the Empror had diminished to a sad, cold and dogged determination to do his duty. His gritty and cynical side had been firmly set in his character make-up and he was more than living upto the reputation of 'grumpy ol' Sarge'.

After clawing his way back to the rank of Flight Sergeant, he still felt alone and empty, his self-pity driving those around him away. It was at this point when he happened to meet a young Thyferran woman bythe name of Inwe Ventidius. After sidling into the enlisted mess to meet an old friend by the name of Mekum Campbell. Josef was captivated by the beautiful Naval enlisted woman sat at a table not far from the cynical pair of veterans and before long Campbell noticed Josef's inerest in the woman.

With an evil glint in his eye Mekum turned to the young Naval Imperial and announced to the enlisted mess that Josef had the hots for her. With a red face and a furious glare at Campbell, Josef rose from his seat and apologised for his friends childish behaviour before modestly requesting a date with Miss Ventidius.

After a date or two Josef's relationship with Inwe began to develop properly as the two got to know each other. He loved her sensible, organised and level-headed approach to life as well as her own mysterious interest in himself. Her warmth and life dragged Josef back from the brink of despair where he had been teetering ever since the Brotherhood incident. With his relationship blossoming with Inwe and another promotion under his belt he decided to make a change to his life and filed for a transfer to the newly formed 8th Imperial Fleet.

His new position in the Fleet as a veteran enlisted kept him immensely busy, from Fleet assignments to directly aiding the new Fleet Command he gradually began to have less and less time to spend with Ventidius. It was the beggining of the end and after an especially tough month where Josef was away permeanantly on a Fleet operation, Inwe sat Josef down for a talk. Both their lives were causing them to drift apart and Inwe, always the level-headed and calm side of the pair, called an end to the relationship before either of them could be hurt any further. Josef's heart was broken and he moved on in his Naval career, another bittersweet chapter in his life drawing to a close.

Military History

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Promotions

Graduation (IABG) Year 9 Day 60

Promoted to Crewman Year 9 Day 61

Promoted to Crewman First Class Year 9 Day 90

Promoted to Flight Corporal Year 9 Day 120

Promoted to Flight Sergeant Year 9 Day 155

Promoted to Staff Flight Sergeant Year 9 Day 205

Demoted to Flight Corporal Year 9 Day 258

Promoted to Flight Sergeant Year 9 Day 278

Promoted to Staff Flight Sergeant Year 9 Day 306

Promoted to Master Flight Sergeant Year 10 Day 30

Promoted to Chief Master Sergeant Year 10 Day 52

Promoted to Flight Officer Year 10 Day 81

Commissioned as an Ensign Year 11 Day 42

Honours

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Character Description

Personality

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Appearance

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