“Flatspace” was born Zorlan St Cyr on Mars in 3254. His father was a Federation pilot who retired from service before Zorlan was born and made a living flying luxury cruises to the remote reaches of the galaxy. His mother was an astrobiologist who contributed greatly to telomere research that lengthened human lifespans. She publicly fought to make the biotechnology available to all but the Federation had other plans. When Zorlan’s mother’s campaign began to take hold with the people, the Federation struck hard and assassinated her (though they denied it, of course).

Following in his father’s footsteps, Zorlan was making a name for himself as a pilot in the Federation making “Flat spaces” out of enemy installations when his mother was assassinated. A trusted friend got word to him about his mother’s assassination and that he was to be arrested as soon as he returned to his base. Calculating the risk and consequences, “Flatspace” picked a random star at maximum distance and clicked his FSD as his flight leader screamed at him over comms…and he was gone.

He ran for several days, refueling at stars along the way until he eventually came to Rishair, deep in Empire space. Selling his Federation ship at well below its value thanks to a shrewd dealer who could smell his desperation, Flatspace took a job servicing ships at Lindblad Port where he stayed for years until he was fairly confident he was no longer being hunted. He ran short runs to adjacent systems until he made enough credits to purchase an old beat up Diamondback Explorer. Some coats of paint and an engineered FSD was all he needed to start making his own way in the galaxy.