It’s a great big galaxy out there, full of exotic planets and strange alien races. And sometimes Lieutenant Commander Talmar Chen, chief Tactical Officer of the venerable Republic warship Home One, feels like he’s fought on each of those planets and killed members of each of those alien races. And now he’s just about ready to retire. Settle down somewhere. Buy a farm, perhaps. Or a small canteena. Find a woman. Get fat.

Not many of the crewmen currently serving with the veteran marine know much about his background. For soldiers that somehow manage to survive devastating conflict, sharing background with people that might die tomorrow becomes less and less important as more and more friends die. Most of the people serving with him today know that he fought with the Rebel Alliance. They even have a vague idea that he used to be a marine during the war against the Empire. In a navy that hasn’t seen a real all-out war in over two decades that seems rather unreal to many of the young crewmen serving with the forty-something man.

Only a handful of his friends actually know that he comes from a small mining colony on Rageth III, a barely habitable moon orbiting a massive gas giant in one of the endless insignificant systems on the Outer Rim. And that his first taste of combat came when he joined a local resistance movement that tried, unsuccessfully, to resist when the Empire took over the mining operations and nationalized the mining company and staff.

The uprising on Rageth III was hopeless from the start, but a few of the fighters, Talmar amongst them, managed to escape as the Empire tightened the noose, leaving family and loved ones behind. He and his friends joined the Rebel Alliance and never looked back.

And so it came to be that Talmar was one of the many young men to join the Alliance in the wake of the destruction of the Death Star, at only 17 years of age. He served as a marine for years, fighting in some of the bloodiest conflicts with the Empire during the war, both before Endor, and against the remnant forces of the dying Empire in the following years.

After the war the navy was slowly but surely downsized. There were still conflicts to fight, lawlessness to banish in the galaxy, but the need for fighting men was diminished. Talmar got promoted to Sergeant and although he still went on combat missions when required, his duties revolved more and more around training new recruits. His superiors found that he could be an excellent instructor for the young men and women enlisting with the marines, and in this task his gruff outlook was actually beneficial. Talmar himself hated his new role, but suffered through it nonetheless. What would he do, after all, if he quit the Navy?

After years of relative peace, Talmar had decided to retire. He had been stationed on board Home One for almost a year, and was getting bored with training soldiers. His retirement documents needed only the signature of his captain to go through, but to his surprise, the captain refused to give his consent. Instead, he asked his old friend to help him bring up the discipline and morale of his gunnery crews and promoted him to Lieutenant.

Talmar was surprised to find that he sort of liked his new duties. There was something about firing the big guns that gave him a sense of purpose again, even as he tried to bash heads together to get the gunners up to the standard demanded by the captain.

After serving for two years as a tactical officer in the Republic Gunnery corps on board Home One, the captain again promoted Talmar, this time to Lieutenant Commander. With his new rank came even more responsibilities as the Chief Tactical Officer of the ship. Talmar protested to his friend in private, but the captain was persuasive and Talmar agreed to take the job until the captain found a decent replacement, unwilling to saddle his friend with an incompetent core-worlder.

Talmar again postponed his retirement, for a while at least, and found that he, again, enjoyed the change of pace. Mostly. His duties tended to be interesting and varied, and he had a lot of freedom moving around the ship since he is in charge of security around the huge vessel. What he disliked about the position was mostly the endless reports and paperwork, but also the politics that came with the territory.

When the orders came to bring the venerable Home One to a drydock for decommissioning Talmar decided that this was as good an opportunity as he ever was going to get. With the ship he loved getting decommissioned he might as well decommission himself at the same time. And so, his plans to retire from the Navy finally seem to be about to work out.

Motivation: Retirement

Talmar has started to feel that perhaps he's done his share of killing and bleeding, first for the Rebellion and then for the New Republic. He had decided that he wanted to retire when he got to old to go on missions with his marines any more, but somehow ended with a promotion he never really sought and the position as a Lieutenant on the venerable warship Home One when his friend recommended him for the position. After serving in the position for two years, the captain promoted him to Lieutenant Commander, and to the position of chief Tactical Officer. Now that Home One is due to be scrapped, Talmar feels like he should, perhaps, be scrapped as well, and intends to retire once he's accompanied the old girl on her final journey.

Obligation: Addiction (10)

Talmar has been addicted to Booster Blue ever since he was a marine in the Rebel Alliance. It was a common habit among the soldiers in the special forces unit he served in at the end of the war. He has been meaning to quit using the spice ever since he got promoted to Tactical Officer but keeps finding reasons for really needing just one more dose. He has a deal with a flight deck mechanic who mostly sells the spice to pilots and gunners, but other than his source of the drug he's been very careful to keep his drug habit from his crew mates. Talmar also frequently takes pills from the ship's doctor to help him sleep, since he has reoccurring nightmares from his years of fighting.

Description:

Talmar Chen is a tall, burly man in his early fifties. His face is lean and hard, characterized with his short-cropped graying hair and beard. He has a nasty scar over his left eye. He tends to wear his heavy combat armor even while serving on his ship, and carry both his helmet and a nasty-looking blaster pistol in his belt. His superiors have long since given up trying to get the man to look presentable. Unless forced to wear his dress uniform for formal occasions, Talmar will always look like he's either about to wade into battle or like he's just come out of a fight.


Personality:

Talmar has seen it all and is generally not impressed by the younger soldiers crawling up through the ranks. As far as he's concerned those babies wouldn't stand a chance in a real war, and he's not afraid to tell them. He still carries the air of an annoyed drill-sergeant and after years of service, which tends to intimidate those who don't know him.

Once people get past his gruff exterior they will find that Talmar is a loyal friend and companion. He is selfless and mostly honorable, although he is not above using dirty tricks to win. This applies equally when he's playing cards and when he's fighting a war. Honor is important, but winning doubly so.


Quote:

“You worthless piece of shit make me believe in reincarnation. No one could become that stupid in just one lifetime.”