If you think that the number of opportunities to train as a Mechwarrior would be severely hampered by being born out in the Bandit Kingdom, you would be correct. However, it did not stop Joel from getting there. While his goal was always to pilot one of those mechanical monsters, many hurdles along the way nearly cost him the chance.

Stealing is the pirates way of life, but to steal from a pirate, that is a crime in their eyes, and a serious one at that. Pirate law tried 9-year-old Joel as an adult for theft, but he was not sentenced to death. The so called "Judge" deemed that Joel was worth redeeming, so he took pity on the youngster, a decision the judge would not live long enough to regret.

Joel was shipped off world to another planet, left there to fend for himself. This was done to both, get rid of a thief, and to protect him from those who would kill him for his crime. Once again, Joel found himself on the streets, but he decided to try and make the most of his new yet familiar situation.

He began to "run" for a merchant who needed to move certain types of merchandise that he could not move himself. Using Joel for these high-risk runs, he could make his deliveries and yet give the police, and rivals, no chance to take him down. Joel was very good at avoiding both the police and the merchant's business rivals. Several occasions came with close calls, as a gang was hired to take Joel down and retrieve the cargo. But the job was much easier on paper than it was in reality, and though Joel had a few near misses, he always got the job done. Finally, Joel vanished from the scene, without a trace.

Joel enlisted in the military, and with no traceable criminal record, he was accepted and began basic training. He stood out during his training, so his commanding officer wanted to see if he could withstand the rigors of the military academy.

One of the strangest things, however, is the fortune of some people. To go from a convicted criminal to officer training at a military academy is just one of those things that should never happen...and yet, this guy managed to slip through that microscopic crack, and not only does he become a Mechwarrior, but an officer, a leader of men, a man responsible for the lives of others! How scary is that?

Joel went from a boy born into the pirate society, to a lance commander performing raiding missions in Clan occupied space. One of those missions did not go as planned, and he found himself isolated from his unit, eventually captured and taken to a Clan Jade Falcon Re-education Camp. He fought them tooth and nail, and found himself on the wrong end of repeated beatings, but Joel did not let that get him down. His unit came back for him and in a daring rescue attempt, freed Joel and brought him back into friendly hands. He spent the better part of two years undergoing therapy to undo what the Clans had done to him, and was eventually cleared to return to active duty.

Not wanting others to think he was weakened by the experience, Joel went right back at the Falcons, and took some of the most intense combat situations he could get he hands on. Some thought he was suicidal, but those in the field that fought beside him knew better. Joel fought hard, and fought well, but in the end, it began to wear on him. He tried other methods to pick himself up.

Joel continued to fight the Clans during the truce, as raiding missions were a constant for him. His superiors tried to pull him from the field, but without any real hard evidence to support a discharge, medical or otherwise, they had no choice but to keep him in the field. Until one day, someone found out about his true past, about his being from a bandit kingdom.

Joel was forced to resign his commission in exchange for silence about his past. Joel fulfilled his end of the bargain, only to be screwed in the end, as this evidence that proved his origins were "leaked". Now Joel faces a life with the stigma of being from the bandit kingdom, and no one

wants to take a chance on him. To make matters worse, his former unit wiped the slate clean, giving Joel no previous experience, once again putting Joel on the bottom of a roller coaster ride that has been his life thus far.

This page was created by: Copyright February 19, 2004.