Thomas W. James has no known family members or relatives. He was abandoned and left at a hospital's doorstep soon after being born. He became a ward of the state living on Earth in a Federation orphanage. He hated it there but was properly schooled and prepped for military service as well as learning how to fix ships for the Federation. Even at an early age, Thomas was fascinated with space and ships and always dreamed of flying one of his own someday; though he doubted it since credits did not come easy.

Because he was a ward of the state he was automatically enrolled in the Federation's military. There, he worked as a mechanic fixing the ships that fought against the Empire and learned to play poker with the other recruits. He was a quick learner and soon even earned his way into the military's brass home games. He was slowly making a name for himself when one day his division was ambushed and captured by the Imperial military, destined to be sold as slaves somewhere far from home. He managed to escape by sneaking aboard other ships and playing poker to pay his way to buy passage back home to Earth.

On his travels, he would help fix other pilot's ships, where he soon started to make an even bigger name for himself amongst the Pilot's Federation. It was at a stop at Baker's Prospect in the Asellus Primus System that he played his poker game of the century winning an old rust bucket Sidewinder ship incapable of flight. For months Thomas worked on the Sidewinder, mainly playing poker to pay for parts. Finally, it became space worthy and as they say, the rest is history. He began trading the known trade routes and doing the odd courier jobs to earn credits. Eventually, he was able to buy an Asp Explorer and now a Krait Phantom and joined the Canonn Interstellar Research Group to help explore the galaxy and solve its mysteries.