He was born on Mars, joined the Federation armed service as soon as he was old enough, and after ten years mustered out to become a mercenary with better pay and fewer rules. Being as there is always a need for hired guns in the bubble, Jim has kept himself busy and in good physical shape. His mental shape, though, is sometimes called into question.

James Mackenzie Gruden, better known as Wild Jim, has managed to gain a reputation as a dependable, if slightly unorthodox mercenary. Unorthodox is what the handlers that arrange contracts call him. Those that have fought along side Jim call him bat-shit crazy due to his fearless disregard for danger.

He is sometimes reckless to the point of treating the battlefield more like an action movie than a conflict zone. That might be seen as a liability to some, but anyone who has been on operations with him will say that Wild Jim is one of the best people to have at your side when things go bad. "All fight, no flight," is how one handler describes him. Those who have worked with him in the past have accepted that at some point Jim will start talking about the Valkyries and may, in the middle of a firefight, start yelling at his teammates that if they are going die, they better damn well die the best death they can. Because, after all, the Valkyries are watching.