The name's Spiff. I was born Rolf Spiff, a farmer's boy on the agriculture world of Panem in the Kappa Fornacis system. My dad made a pretty good living in the days before the new orbis station cut demand for planet-side crops. In those days, they were making daily shipments off-world to feed the various outposts. We lived half-way between nothing and nowhere, and very far from the nearest star port. I didn't get to see the ships blasting off toward the colonies for the first time till Dad took me with him for a delivery when I was 12.

Then I saw my first ship, a Lakon Type 7, leaving ground and touching the sky. From that moment I could do nothing but look up and dream of the stars. I think my father saw the longing in my eyes every time I saw one of the huge haulers hurtling away from the planet. He started to resent me for it, said "Don't know what you think you'd be doing up there, probably just be a bio-waste trucker." I know he always wanted me to run the farm with him, but overtime we just grew so distant from each other. As soon as I was old enough, I tested for the Pilots Federation Academy, took one last step off Panem, and haven't been back since. Before that day I had known only Picaurukan Wheat and soil.

After I got my license, I headed out straight away in my very own ship to the one place I'd always wanted to go, the Pleiades--or, I tried to. After some hiccups with a new ship and no credits, I eventually cobbled together enough from some odd-jobs to fit a ship that could actually take me out into the black and back. In serenity and awe, I explored for quite a while. I even discovered several of my very own systems. I had found my calling. Making my way back to the Bubble for resupply and repair, Canopus caught my explorers eye. I had found my way back into the Empire just as the news of the Emperor's passing was spreading. One thing led to another, and I found myself in a brand new Vulture (that I still fly to this day, named her Susie) fighting in a war for the new Emperor. After a taste of combat, I made the terrible discovery of my zest and zeal for battle for the Empire. For a stretch after, I continued service to the Emperor as a lethally effective bounty hunter. Conflicted in my role among the stars; I ever hoped for peace, yet only found strife.

A while after the war, I headed back to Kappa Fornacis, where I found a new faction had risen to power. This new faction had ousted the crooked creeps that had crippled the Panem agriculture market. Out of gratitude and maybe a bit of awe, I pledged myself to continue serving the glory of the Empire through the efforts of the East India Company. I haven't yet found much peace, but I've found quite a lot of credits as EIC grew into an interstellar faction. I owe a lot of what I am today to the Company. When I'm not on mission for the Company, I find time to get some mining in--to relax for a moment and take my mind off things.

Sometimes when I'm making my final approach for Harvestport, I'll pass way over the tiny patch of green I'm fairly sure I came from. It's strange to be so close, yet still so far from home.