Something that several of us started doing was creating a biography for our armored alter egos. We enjoy staying in character and creating a role-playing element within our trooping events. It allows us to have more fun with the big and small kids alike.
Below is the biography for Longshot.
--Longshot (AKA Bill Holmes)
Name: Raith Albus Jerriko
Designation: TB-7014
Call Sign: "Longshot"
Homeworld: Coruscant
If the a word would sum up the life of Raith Jerriko, prior to turning 24 standard cycles it would be rebellion. Not the kind of rebellion that currently wrecks decades of peace brought by the Galactic Empire, but that of the child to his parents.
Raith was born into an aristocratic family that had benefited from the lucrative contacts with the Empire. In his parents named him after the head of Seiner Fleet Systems Raith Seiner. Both parents were high level design engineers for the Sienar Corporation. Both his parents were sadly more interested in their careers than raising their child. Raith spent his formative years with his droid nanny "Maisey" (MaZe) than his real parents Albin and Lucia Jerriko.
The droid served many function throughout its standard cycles of functioning. Her primary function was that of a refernce librarian for the Republic's and later the Grand Imperial Library. The droid was programmed with a feminine personality and had a love for the romantic and adventure stories of High Galactic literature from the databases of countless worlds and species.
Raith early in his teenage years he began testing the boundaries of his fantasy life and his real world. I began seeking the adventure that he has experiencing through his readings. After several incidents of Raith being returned to his home late at night by the local authorities his parents felt that MaZe was part of the problem. She was filling his head with nonsense. The Jerriko's donated her to the Grand Imperial Library, after an extensive memory wipe, where she still serves today. However, Raith was angered by the loss of his parental figure and companion. This drove a wedge further between the Jerriko family.
Anger and rebellion fueled the drives of Raith through his adolesence. The only attention he seemed to get from his parents was when he was in trouble with them or the authorities. With age he learned to control his impluses and mix it with his drive to work. He found acceptence from his father after entering into the Engineering and Advanced Cybernetics program through Sienar. He excelled within the program and completed the four year program in two years.
He balaced his intense educational regimine with extreme play. Raith became an adrenaline junkie. He always pushed the envelope between life and death. He became an accomplished swoop racer and completing the Corellian Crystal Forest Course with record time. A record Raith still holds today and where he first picked up the name "Longshot".
He was a gambler that enjoyed risk in all its forms. Games of chance was his vice. He loved both Sabaac as well as any game tht could be wagered. He loved the related trappings that went with such a lifestyle: wine, women, and song.
He also was an accomplished young weapons engineer with the Seiner. He spent many long nights researching many cutting edge programs. He expected top quality and perfection those working on his projects. He was often disturbed by officials in the company cutting corners on weapons and armor projects for the Imperial Navy and Army. In fact he leaked information to the Imperial Senate concerning substandard equipment being shipped to the troops throughout the Imperial Forces.
The final straw for his family was he proposal of marriage to one of the low level shipping managers that worked for Siener. Alva Vargas was not what his family had sought for his future wife. She was a labor activist that called for improved working conditions within the factories. His parents refused to accept his decision knowing such a union would end their career with Seiner. Most of the labor activists were being rounded up for work details on Kessel for their treasonous activities.
His father had a plan that would change Raith's life completely. His father paid a bounty hunter known as Jodo Kast to drug him after his wild and rancorous bachelor party. He remembers the stranger that he met at one of the many establishments on board the "Queen of Empire."
The last thing he remembers is the drink of Merezane Gold and the taste dancing on the end of his tongue that the man offred him. The next minute he awakes with an aching head on board a transport shuttle landing on Carida. He found that he had enlisted with Imperial war machine and no one was excepting his explaination that this was an mistake.
Oddly, enough he never imagined himself as a soldier. His lack of discipline his whole life did not suit him to a warriors life. However, he found a way life that rewarded him for taking the risks he loved. The thrill of pushing yourself to the edge and going a centimeter further. He excelled in marksmanship, heavy weapons and infiltration. He received his call sign from his cadet squad who knew both his history and his love for playing the odds.
He was assigned to the 501st after he and fellow cadet Darmon graduated with a first ever perfect score their finial evaluaion. He served with the 501st for the last 10 years with exemplary record.
Raith was viewed as unstable by many of his fellow soldiers due to his desire to be on the frontline. Also, his love of weapon modifications and experimentation was something that earned him "private quarters." Strangley there always seems to be smell of singed material and hair around "Longshot." After several injuies to fellow squad members due to weapons malfunctions during his experiments in the crew quarters. His fellow soldiers refused to bunk with him. One crew mate said he would rather bunk with the Rebels than Jerriko. At least he was expecting them to try to him.
He is most noted for piloting the sabotaged lamb class shuttle after a renegade attack by one of the Emperor's Hands against Lord Vader. A bomb killed the pilot of the shuttle and blinded Raith in one eye. Raith managed to pilot the shuttle safely to the Kuat Shipyards with its badly damaged systems. Raith was awarded with the Imperial Medal of Honor and surgeons replaced his eyes with prostheitic eye. His vision in his right eye allows for vision in various spectrums including infrared and ultraviolet, as well as built in electrobionoculars.
Currently, Raith serves with the 149th Elite Mobile Tactical Unit: The War Wolves. He serves as their sniper and heavy weapons specialist. The War Wolves are a conterinsurgency unit used to fight the Rebellion in small guerilla like cells. These units were the tactical design of Grand Admiral Thrawn. Jerriko has a close personal relationship with Darmon, Grit, and Wartooth.