Cole Price

Cole Price
Biographical Information
Race	Human
Homeworld	Tatooine
Mother	Laura Keller
Father	Jack Price
Spouse	None
Siblings	None
Children	None
Born	Year -11, Day 215
Imperial Service
Branch	Imperial Navy
Positions	None
Prior Service	None
Awards	IAHG

Raised in a background of severe poverty and corruption amongst the backdrop of a struggling, desolate town on Tatooine, Cole initially doesn't appear to be the most likely candidate as an Imperial, or even an upstanding citizen of any description. Despite what initial impressions might suggest however, Cole was able to effectively abandon the apparent destiny that was forced upon him via birth, and throughout his life has strived to do the quintessential 'right thing', even when circumstances conspired against such. This determination has often led him astray more than it has benefited him, but the drive it imbued him with culminated in his enlistment with the Galactic Empire.

Biography

Early Life

Born and raised on the outback world of Tatooine, Cole spent his formative years as a street urchin with an affinity for eavesdropping in the local cantinas. For a small pittance in credits, he'd pass on information regarding criminal wrongdoings to the local militia captain, acting as the juvenile catalyst for dozens of raids on the ships and dens of smugglers that infested the township he called home.

His parents made a living as travelling caravaneers, and the advent of Cole's birth was neither planned nor welcome. Hence, on one of their trips to the aforementioned town, they relieved themselves of the duty of parenthood and let their two year old charge loose on the streets. Devoid of what they saw as a financial drain, the pair left for the next town in their trade route, content that they no longer had an unwanted straggler to carry with them. Whether due to simple callousness or the influence of other events, the couple never returned.

Life for young Cole was challenging, but the town was small enough, yet close enough to a major trading hub to have enough supplies for all of its inhabitants and then some. As a result, many of it's citizens acted as patrons for Cole during his childhood- feeding, clothing, and teaching him. Additionally, once he grew old enough he was also able to turn a personal profit in credits by working for the town militia as an impromptu spy. It was a duty he excelled at and within a short time he was able to live without the aid of others, though not exactly comfortably so.

Alongside these exploits a local retired teacher from one of Coruscants less lauded academies took on the task of schooling Cole. He took to her tuition well, and progressed as any normal child would through the standard galactic curriculum of arithmetic and language. Though the informal arrangement meant that he never earned official qualifications, he learned to a standard comparable to that of most average basic academy graduates.

In return for this education Cole would run errands for the elderly tutor and gained a firm grasp of practical work as a result, as well as a few extra credits to supplement what the militia captain handed out. As the years went by, the tutor entrusted the older Cole with piloting her bottom of the line transport to make trips to nearby towns for supplies. To his own surprise, Cole adapted extraordinarily fast to piloting and greatly enjoyed it. When he wasn't being tutored in the more conventional subjects, he'd refine his skill in the cockpit. By the age of fifteen, he was a relatively competent pilot given the duty of making supply trips for the entire town.

Adolescence

After several years of this arrangement, Cole found that he'd grown much too old to be of service as a spy for the militia. Drunken pirates and smugglers may not have paid much mind to a child garbed in rags, but an adolescent ill-shaven patron tended to incite their attention. Despite this, he still needed to eat, so he talked the old militia captain who had seen him mature into admitting him into the town militia. At around this time, the elderly teacher also passed away, having taught Cole almost everything she could have.

The militia was a pitiful force, consisting of the towns down and outs and a few elderly war veterans who had supposedly seen action in conflicts dating back to the era of the Republic. Be that as it may, the militia had good intentions at their heart, and though they didn't always have the training or equipment to police the local township efficiently, they always attempted to do the best they could for its people.

It quickly became apparent that Cole was somewhat inept at combat and manoeuvring outside of a ship's cockpit. Though he was relatively fit, he lacked the natural finesse that often makes a soldier unquestionably superior to an adversary. Like much of the other militia members his skill set stretched only as far as being able to handle a blaster. Because of this he was assigned the group's only functioning fighter craft and served as the ad hoc airborne defence of the town.

On several occasions he proved that the decision to assign him such a position was a prudent one. Whenever a smuggler's craft tried to escape the militia's ground forces, Cole would be there to shoot it down before it could get far. Every organized operation the group took on received close ground support from their own guardian angel. Although the late adolescent Cole was hardly an ace pilot, his opposition mostly consisted of drunken pirates and drugged smugglers leading to the popular perception that he was much more skilled than he actually was. Still, he was in his own estimation, a fine pilot.

Change in the Wind

Shortly after his 21st birthday, a particularly infamous band of criminals passed through Cole's town. They emerged out of the desert from parts unknown, with intentions just as mysterious. All anyone knew was that they were trouble, and even the local miscreants urged the militia to make a stand against them entering the town. Reluctantly, their leader rallied the force, including Cole, and set up an ambush to greet the criminals.

At the time the sole fighter craft of the group was out of action due to damage sustained during a particularly intense pursuit a week prior. As a result of this, Cole was issued a rifle and ordered to stand in line with the rest of the group to head-off the criminals on the ground. Understandably, Cole wasn't particularly pleased about this turn of events. However, loyalty overcame his doubts and he did as he was ordered.

Surplus weapons and little to no training in their use resulted in the forgone conclusion of a massacre on the part of the militia forces. The superiorly trained and armed pirates eliminated most of the group, killing just over half of their number and seriously wounding most of the rest. Cole was one of the lucky amongst the group, receiving a blaster shot to the leg that was mostly superficial.

Once the fire-fight had settled, the criminals neglected to pillage the town, instead raiding one of it's households and dragging away two individuals who's identity couldn't be ascertained by Cole. With their new cargo, the group simply left.

Though he recovered relatively quickly from his wound, Cole could tell that his life in the town militia, and indeed, the town itself, was over. Without enough willing men and women to reconstitute a new defensive force, it took a mere few months for the town to become overrun by outlaws and smugglers. The new order demanded that residents pay protection money on a regular basis, with the only method of gathering enough credits to meet the tithe lying in crime. Without a legitimate economy or legal trade with other areas, a life of crime was the only method of survival, and it was one that Cole wasn't willing to take.

Instead, he said goodbye to the few friends left in the town and headed out into the desert wastes. Without any real intentions, he drifted from locale to locale for nearly a year, finally coming to a stop in Anchorhead, where he was able to bargain for off-world transportation via an independent trader named Danielle Mara and her freighter.

A New Life

Danielle, it turned out, had been a former pilot in the Imperial Navy. After a few years of service, she was honourably discharged on the grounds of medical reasons stemming from wounds sustained during an operation against radical insurgents on the fringes of Imperial space. Cole listened intently to her stories of life as an Imperial, and how she mourned having to leave active duty. Over time, the pair forged a close friendship, and eventually, romance.

Deeply in love, the two travelled as a pair of independent traders earning a modest living from system to system. During this time, Cole proposed to Danielle and the two became engaged to be married. With a fiancée and steady work now in his life, Cole for the first time felt happy.

However, two years after they met, Cole began to tire of life as a privateer. Though he loved Danielle dearly, he didn't hold their now shared occupation in the same regard. After lengthy internal debate, he put an idea to her; he was going to enlist with the Imperial military, perhaps following in her footsteps as a Naval pilot, or as a soldier in the Army. She was overjoyed at the idea, and so it was that mere days later Cole stood outside of an Imperial recruitment office on Coruscant, intent on embarking upon a new life.

Imperial Service

Soon after, Cole graduated from the Imperial Academy. Spending all of his time on his studies, he managed to attain a final score of 96% by the end of basic training. As a result he graduated from the academy with honors. Remaining in correspondence with his fiancée throughout his training, Danielle had convinced Cole to follow in her footsteps and join the Imperial Navy.

As such, Cole Price officially entered Imperial service as a Flight Corporal within one of the many fleets that compose the Imperial Navy on Day 217, Year 12. Immensely proud of being accepted into the branch of service that his beloved had once served in, Cole took to his new duties with enthusiasm.

Service Record

• Recruit [E-1]- Year 12, Day 216
• Flight Corporal [E-3]- Year 12, Day 218