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The Nova Dragons - Unit History (Era +1ABY) Many mercenary units owe their formation to the way lives intertwine, and the Nova Dragons are no exception… Kethan Falor was born the first son of a small, but wealthy, family on Etti. The family business, a building and Design Company, passed to Kethan's uncle when Kethan's father, Kolaham was killed in a construction accident. Kethan's mother always suspected foul play in the death, as the company had never previously had any fatal accidents, but could never muster enough evidence for an accusation. Needless to say, simmering family resentments led to the Falor family, Kethan, his mother and younger sister, moving to an isolated rural estate, that had belonged to Kethan's maternal grandmother. Kethan's mother gave both her children a sound education. Whilst she did school them well in the business culture of Etti, she also taught them about the wider galaxy. Kethan always found tales of interplanetary travel exciting, and showed a strong desire to travel. His grandfather taught him to fly in an old Ghtroc 720, also passing on the rudiments of astrogation and other skills needed for space travel. Kethan was barely 17 when his grandfather died. Kethan's inheritance was the battered Ghtroc freighter his grandfather had taught him to fly in. He used this to expand his piloting skills, running cargo trips to one of the moons. Life seemed good for many months. Then the developers moved in. The family were forcibly evicted from their land by the very company that had once been theirs, all to supply a country retreat for some nameless Imperial Admiral. Yolandra, Kethan's mother, argued long and hard with the construction boss but to no avail. The family moved in with friends and was shocked to discover that the land had been stolen from them in the Empire's name, at the behest of Vangor, Kolaham's brother. Yolandra bade her son take them far away from their homeworld. She had an old friend who lived on Corellia who would help them find a place to live, and so it was that Kethan made his first interplanetary trip as a pilot. Yolandra was able to make enough money as an interior designer to support Kethan and his sister, Yasmina. Life was hard, but Kethan was able to help out by using the Ghtroc to haul small cargoes. When at last Kethan's meagre skills and resources could no longer keep the ship flying, he sold the hulk for parts, and bought a share in a larger ship, with a native Corellian, Boz Nango. Boz was a better pilot than Kethan, but Kethan was the better businessman. The two made a good living for almost a year, before Boz decided they needed a bigger ship. Talked round, Kethan agreed to the purchase, even though it left the pair with heavy debts, and the need to take on extra crew, as they now ran a YT2000, the Wild Fire. Loan repayments meant taking extra risks with cargo, the Wild Fire proved herself a capable ship in several scrapes with pirates, and after two years of living on the edge Kethan and Boz took hold of the title of the ship. Kethan and Boz were able to get a regular contract with SoroSuub, shipping ball bearings. Their regular contact on these runs was a Sullustan named Syl, with whom they both got on well. When, after about a year, Syl asked them to help him leave Sullust, neither man hesitated (and Syl was able to offer payment equal to a ship's share!), and so Syl joined the crew, initially as Chief Engineer, but he also showed strong aptitude as a pilot. It took over a year for SoroSuub to catch up with the Wild Fire; in fact they didn't actually connect the Wild Fire to Syl's disappearance at all. In a case of dumb luck, Kethan, Boz and Syl had been out in a Cantina on Ord Mantell, celebrating the birthday of one of their current gunners, when a pair of bounty hunters had crashed the party. In the ensuing firefight, both gunners were shot down, and Boz was badly wounded. Kethan and Syl managed to kill both the bounty hunters and return to their hotel in the spacers quarter. Whilst Syl tended Boz's wounds, Kethan went looking for mercenaries to hire as bodyguards. He found a pair named Chaide and Kal. They were only too keen to sign up; both were looking to leave Ord Mantell and both had had grudges with the two bounty hunters killed in the cantina fight. The group was ambushed on their way back to the spaceport. Boz was wounded again, and died shortly afterwards. Chaide and Kal showed their worth by disposing of the bounty hunters. They were also able, through Chaide's connections in the bounty hunter trade, not only to persuade SoroSuub that the contract had been fulfilled, but they also managed to cash in on the bounty. It was agreed that the bulk of the bounty should go to Boz's family. Chaide and Kal signed up as mercenary crew on the Wild Fire. After around a year, they each bought a share of the ship from Kethan and Syl. It was at this point that the concept of the Nova Dragons was developed during a drunken evening. Though they would always look to take on cargo contracts, no paying job was deemed off limits, bar slaving and bounty hunting. Since that momentous (not to mention drunken!) evening, the Nova Dragons star has been mostly in the ascendancy. The group has expanded from the original four members to fully 13.
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Copyright © Dave Powell, 2000. All rights reserved. Where applicable, copyright © Dean Magill and Jon Conway. All rights reserved. The author gratefully acknowledges the material provided by (and hours of RPG entertainment with) the players of our role-playing group: Gareth, Mark, Paul and Mick. Artwork used with permission from Ian Houlihan. |
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