Commander John P. Shepard:
Age: 32

John, born to Taylor and Jessica Shepard, grew up in the Docks and the Military Bases of Federation Space. His father Taylor had been an Experience Admiral in the Federal Navy years before him and his mother an Intelligence Officer of High Honors. Shepard began his career as a small time trader. Hauling supplies to various Planetary outposts and stations. This life ended in the year 3298. His Colony, raided by Purple Frigaha Pirates, was completely destroyed. His home. Ransacked for cheap silverware and consumer technology. From then on he has hunted down piracy, crime, villany, and poverty. Soon after this John joined the Federal Rangers, a prestigious group of war hardened soldiers. He had made it past his probationary period and had hunted down plenty of pirates. He learned the ropes, got himself a Python, and after plenty of hard work got promoted to Second Lieutenant (Admin). Times were good, but it was not to last. Trouble was on the horizon.

The Rangers, though powerful, proved to be in-cohesive. Admiral Tree was and is the greatest Naval Commander in the galaxy tactically. However, the power structure under his reign did not work. Simply put, time and manpower were strained to the limits. The Federal Rangers had gotten into a war with the deplorable faction, New LHS Revolutionary Party. As Second Lieutenant, John was heavily in favor of war with New Revolutionaries. He urged his fellow officers to commit to this conflict and had particular sway with Admiral Tree. His main reason. Impending invasion by Thargoids. A Station was needed to rest and resupply our troops, sell our goods, and of course modify our Fleet. This war continued and many fought gallantly.  CMDR Shepard was amongst those whom fought. The war was an extraordinary display of cunning. We won.

LHS Revolutionary Party was crushed, but the spoils of war and tales of gallantry lasted only a short while. Various alliances and non-aggression treaties were signed over the course of the Admiral Tree's reign. Too many to count. In short, this came crashing down. One of the Federal Rangers members used an illegal cloaking device in combat with a member of one of these treaties. This violated essentially all treaties at once. The Rangers social image, and their power base crashed in an instant. At the time John was enjoying some much needed time off the planetary body of Risa after the war. He had also enrolled in the U.F.O., or University of Federal Officership. He had been studying History, philosophy, and basic medical practice.

He got the news late... Scrambling to get back to HQ he arrived at a locked-down base. Squatters had moved in. This cause a series of debates amongst the Admiralty. Namely, when in an effort to save the face of the Rangers, Admiral Tree elected to place diplomats from our remaining allies in positions of power. Tree's second-in-command, Vice Admiral Richard Quia Hagrid did not like this one bit. He broke off from the main group and staged a mutiny with is traitorous curs. In a vain attempt to save what remained of the Rangers loyal to Admiral Tree, the an-tom made the decision to disband the Rangers entirely.

This left John shocked to say the least. Tree, in is final address, urged loyal members to continue to fly with him. John new it was over though The Federal Rangers were left powerless in the blink of an eye.  Rear Admiral Scrapey, the man whom trained and vetted John, was among the first to pen and sign his letter of resignation. John did not know what to do. He was hesitant to simply abandon all he and his companions had worked for. He didn't want to just leave.

Disgusted with the lack of integrity shown before him he was flabbergasted.  His first idea, perhaps sarcastically so, was to defect to the Empire. At least they had a power structure. This was a bad idea though as defection is seen harshly by both mother space and foreign space. First on the list if the Feds and the Empire go back to war.  Since he was not a complete idiot he thought it best to retire.  Perhaps take a job with TerraLight Industries. Still... he did not feel ready to quit the business entirely.

John never joined TerraLight Industries though. He thought his time was done. Thus, he retired from the blackness of space and moved on to greener pastures. Or so he thought. Two years on the Gidzenko Ring went by and while he had heard from Rear Admiral Scrapey and Admiral Tree during this time he never desired to go back. But like a bright burning red star his heart began to ache for the shining lights and the incandescent nebulae of the void. It was time to return.

After such a long time, and with many pirates killed, John wanted a more peaceful life. He decided to convert the Star Arrow (his Python) into a makeshift star-liner. This happened to be incredibly profitable. John went from unemployed to making 7.5mil an hour. Life was peaceful and good. He saved his money until he could afford a new starship. A Beluga Cruise Liner, top of the line.

The Aetherius, John's new home. The Beluga cost a pretty penny and a couple of appendages to boot, but it was worth it. The Saud-Kruger built vessel had an air of luxury. It sparkled and shimmered in the lights of the stars. A new paint job was in order. Blue and gold. Beautiful.

And so was the cash... 26mil an hour wasn't bad at all. His checkbook was better than it had ever been before. Looking back to those early days, John snickered. He laughed to the meager 1000Cr contracts he used to take. He'd made it. But something was amiss.

Cruising was profitable, but it was... well.. boring. John missed his days as a soldier. Not enough to drop everything he'd worked for. But the cash he was making was burning a hole in his pocket. He thought he was done with combat, but the truth is... old soldiers never die. They just fade away. It was almost time for a new ship. Something fast, something powerful, and something that could take a beating.

Maybe it was time to re-enlist in the Navy.