A free citizen of the Empire I might be, but only thanks to the sacrifices my parents made.
They bought themselves out of slavery through hard work, giving me and my siblings a simple, but comfortable childhood. I was always "the smart one", not a people person but full of potential. Honestly, I failed to harness it for most of my life - and never had that much ambition anyway, so I hit a certain plateau as a young adult in and, for me, it was just enough.

However, because my parents got out of the bottom ladder of the Empire by their own effort, they considered themselves as proof that the system works. And, living in Princess Aisling's homeland, the Imperator's call seemed particularly alluring to more traditional folk like them (abolishing slavery? how dare she? we went through it and got out just fine!), so they pledged support to Nova Imperium and their puppet Hadrian. As bad as Emperor Arissa might be, I felt that a coup from those guys would only make things worse - but my parents disagreed, harshly, and we went separate ways.

With Mordanticus executed on the Senate floor, the following year, any supporters outside the organization's home in Paresa were fair game. The Emperor's purge was relentless, and my parents were no exception - I was only spared because, when Imperial intelligence tapped one of Nova Imperium's communication networks (which were, at the end of the day, little more than sketchy propaganda outlets), they were recorded as disappointed at me for staying on the Emperor's side. And the Princess, of course, expressed publicly her very deepest condolences about how things ended up.
Yeah, like her own legion of sycophants were not the ones actively chasing down anyone who, despite holding strongly misguided beliefs, had never held even a hand against the Empire. The two-faced [REDACTED].

Ironically, one unexpected character from all this farce ended up catching my attention: Lady Astrid, Hadrian's wife and a fledgling pilot. The news from Paresa about her pregnancy went on about her complaining that she could no longer fly her missions - "Once a Commander, always a Commander!", they claimed.
I never gave that much thought about the Pilots Federation before, but was sick of the Empire's power games, repulsive stratified culture and the impact it all had on my family. The galaxy is enormous, so why not make a new life on my own terms? I applied for a license, and eventually got it by the middle of 3308.

A certain semi-retired Elite Commander became a friend from the very beginning, and a valuable ally when l was getting my first steps out there as a trader. Eventually my ambition started to increase; he retreated back - content with my progress - to the Founders World, and I tried everything out there: bounty hunting, mining, warfare, you name it. The war against the Thargoids might be howling now, but I set my sights at the vastness of space, still looking with fascination by new things to find.
I am no longer that Imperial nobody with an unremarkable life. I am CMDR El Saico, captain of the Choupana Velha fleet carrier and explorer of deep space.