Hunter took a deep breath and thought carefully about his next few words. His story was long but very bland, large sections being melded into one monotonous mass.
"Well... I was raised in the Texas system, in a rough neighbourhood on one of the many cities culminating in the massive sprawl that is the surface of Planet Houston," he started, "For my first nine... Ten years? Everything was- well, as fine as you could get in those days. Food was scarce and money was short but we always managed to find a way to survive."
"Typically, by scavenging. However, one these runs we tended to encounter competition. And competition for survival breeds hatred like no other. I was forced to learn to harm in order to gain ever last scrap or morsel. By the age of eleven I was fighting boys of the ages of thirteen, or fourteen. Against that kind of opposition you either learn fast or get out of the heat. And sadly, there was no option to get out of the heat for me."
"This continued on until I was about seventeen," his tone became more serious, "by then. the nomad wars were occurring, albeit it was not known at the time. Tax increases came about, and money and food were even more scarce."
He took another deep breath here, and made note of the amount of guns in visible in the room. One on the Major's desk, and he also guessed the Major's compatriot had one as she was the one who seemingly shot the last person to waltz on into this office. Two total.
"I started looking for a job. All were revolved around the harm of others, whether for good or for bad reasons. Some came and went, like bodyguarding, and being a bouncer. But by far the most horrific was being, for lack of a better word, a 'thug'. Coercing others into believing my employer's viewpoint. But sooner or later I accepted the fact that I was earning money, and that was all that mattered."
"I was not afraid to harm others in order to continue the survival of my family and I."
"Before long I got greedy. Beating up people for a living soon transpired into petty theft, major theft, and ultimately, stealing spacecraft."
"The years passed, I honed my basic navigational skills in these spacecraft in solitude. I was still too poor to afford lessons. My father and mother both passed away. They lived relatively long, it could be thought. Fifty was well past the life expectancy for our district. I was thirty by then. With nothing left for me on that damned planet, I decided to set out and explore space."
"My natural affinity for crime is what drew me into them. I joined, or was forced, depending on your viewpoint, into the Liberty Rogues. I worked for them, furthering my piloting skills but ultimately learning how to kill. After a while, this lifestyle no longer suited me. I wouldn't say my departure was peaceful, but I certainly got out of there alive."
"I began to work as a mercenary. Killing was all I had done up until then, so I decided to continue it. The pay was better than anything I could imagine and before I knew it I had an unbelievable ship and a devastating array of weaponry. They were four codename class weapons, by the designation "TWILIGHT". I had these mounted on my ship at all times. I even adopted the name Twilight for a while, but I soon abandoned it as it seemed a it... Childish."
"And so my work as a mercenary continued, up until I got bored with that lifestyle as well. Commitment to a cause is something I find hard, but within the Coalition I should be able to amend this flaw. And now, my story trails off here, sitting in front of you, Major."
He ended his speech, exhaling a quiet sigh of relief.
