The Chhhetri family traces their lineage (whether true or not) back to a nation-state called Nepal on Terra in the Sol system. Supposedly, the Nepalese were some of the toughest sumab%++! fighters ever produced on that planet. What’s that got to do with Rai? Not a damn thing, as he sees it… but it is what it is. And his family has maintained a tradition of a term or two (at least) of military service.
So, after a youth spent flirting with delinquency, grease-monkeying, and a minor business in repairing what was broke (Streetwise, Mechanics, Electronics) Rai decided (at his family’s badgering) to buckle down and join the military. But he wasn’t going to be some grunt. No, he was gonna be the guy giving the orders. Being clever, he figured OCS was just around the corner for him.
He was a bit poleaxed when he failed the entrance exam for the Military Academy. He rationalized to himself, Couldn’t be my scores. Had to be I didn’t have all those extra-curriculars. Undeterred, he went straight to a recruiting office… and barely managed to pass the evaluation. Infantry, here I come!
Rai’s first hitch went well, enough to earn a promotion but not a commission. His second hitch was far more intense. Bullets were buzzing like lethal gnats. His unit was cut off from support and had to hold a grav vehicle factory while waiting for reinforcements. It was a long four days. But, along with a bullet crease across his skull, Rai learned the joys of grenade launchers, and earned a battlefield promotion. He still wasn’t the guy giving orders, but he was really beginning to enjoy the job.
His third hitch featured another furball and another set of life-or-death moments. It was weeks of street-to-street and house-to-house fighting in a joint forces operation. There were even Star Marines getting in on the action. Rai got another scar, another promotion (to Lance Sergeant), and made a few new comrades from various services.
While his brains never got him that commission to the officer ranks, it did get him noticed by military intelligence. They recruited him just before his final tour of duty. He enjoyed working undercover and the absence of automatic weapons fire ringing in his ears. And the whole gig seemed quite a bit safer… until the operation unraveled and his cover was blown. Then it became a very deadly game of hide & seek. Fortunately, Rai had an old combat buddy in-system with a connection who had a boat and was willing to do a clandestine exfiltration.
After that, he mustered out with some cash and combat enhancements. His CO ‘misplaced’ the form requiring him to surrender his trusted ACR that he’d had and repaired since Basic Training. Old warriors need their trusted companions. And Rai ‘retired’ to lead a presumably quiet civilian life… But some itches are hard to scratch and he was still young enough to want a little more action – and spending cash. So, he decided to see if he can parlay his set of skills into income.
