Cadence Vale

Despite being an Epicanthix, Cadence has never actually set foot on her species homeworld of Panatha.  Instead, the near-human was born and raised on the terran world of Corulag.  She'd like to be able to tell you her upbringing was a relatively happy one, and that she was loved dearly by her parents and raised right, but unfortunately Cadence never received that opportunity.  In all actuality, her home was about as broken as they came, her father was an abusive deadbeat, while her mother was a callous spice addict.  Abuse was the order of the day, both physical, mental, and emotional.  Over time it hardened the young girl, instilling her with a rather cynical, pessimistic view of life in the process,  and the older she became the less time she spent at home.  School was a fleeting dream, as troubled as Cadence was by the time she reached the later stages of it, it was no surprise to anyone when she dropped out.  By then the girl had been essentially living on the streets, staying off and on with what few people she could call friends rather than facing the miserable gauntlet that was home life, nor did her parents ever seem particularly happy to see her on those occasions when Cadence had to go back.  Crime became her way of supporting herself.  There was a good deal of money to be had, whether it be as a courier making 'deliveries', a lookout for spice dealers, burglarizing shops, etc.  Cadence had boosted her first speeder by the time she was 13, an act which ended up earning her a lengthy stay in a Corulag jail, but it never dissuaded her from the criminal lifestyle.  In all honesty, the time being locked up proved rather enlightening, Cadence frequently meeting people much older than herself and often times far more practiced at some of the illicit activities she was involved in regularly.  The Epicanthix would pick up quite a bit of knowledge during her many trips to various jails and detention centers around Corulag, knowledge that would ultimately start the process of crafting her from a small-time criminal, into a true professional one, or so she believed.

Cadence would steal her first starfighter at 15, but again the first time trying something new would blow up in her face, as Corulag's finest would end up running her down before she could get far.  The Epicanthix served a little over a year of her prison sentence before being let out early for 'good behavior'.  So the years progressed, Cadence honing her craft constantly, subsequently making more credits for herself and spending less time behind bars.  Often times she would fall in with gangs, albeit small time ones made up of young adults and kids like her.  More often than not they didn't last more than a couple of months before dissolving, whether it was because the leadership was pinched or due to a general lack of discipline you would expect out of these sorts of people.  It wasn't until she was 17 years old and freshly moved to Corellia that Cadence would fall in with a gang that was far better disciplined and organized than any outfit she'd seen thus far, not to mention they had 'special relationships' with a few influential Imperials on the planet, and they specialized something she was getting increasingly good at, vehicle theft, namely starfighters, shuttles, and speeders.  After a mutual friend introduced her to their leadership, and after seeing her slicing and piloting skills in action, they'd take her on board and put her to work immediately.

Cadence's career only went up from there, the Epicanthix making more credits in the space of a few months than she could have scarcely scrambled together in an entire year on Corulag before then.  Another perk that came with the job was a permanent place to call home, and decent protection from law enforcement.  For two years Cadence would work for them, two years of grand theft, of making pretty decent money for herself and not calling a prison cell home.  However, the young woman would have been lying if she'd told you everything was peachy with the band.  The fact of the matter was, their requests and jobs were getting more demanding, more frequent, to the point where Cadence rarely had much free time to spend the credits she was making.  She was also getting a first hand experience of just how ruthless the organization was, having witnessed several murders and been pressured to assist in tying up 'loose ends' herself.  While she stubbornly resisted any attempts by the higher ups to deliberately get blood on her hands, Cadence knew it was only a matter of time before something drastic would be demanded of her, and she'd seen what had happened to newer members that refused what was demanded of them one to many times, not to mention she was sick of being at their beck and call at all times.

Fortunately, that time would never come for Cadence, as an opportunity to get out would present itself when she was 19.  The gang had gotten word that the Corellian Engineering Corporation was moving a shipment of experimental craft to a deconstruction facility, Cadence didn't know the specifics, but apparently the design had been ditched for something better, but several of the prototypes were in flyable condition, and it was believed they could be sold for a pretty penny to one of CEC's competitors.  So a plan was put in motion, six ships, five fighters and one small transport carrying her and a handful of other slicers, would wait in ambush somewhere along the intended route the CEC transport was going to take.  The attack went off without a hitch, the five fighters neutralizing the transport's two escorts within a couple of minutes.  It wouldn't take long for Cadence and the other slicers to get aboard the transport, slicing into the functioning craft was a bit more time consuming, but before long working ships were fired up and ready for take off.  After departing the transport ship, they'd make for their rendezvous, all except one however...  Cadence had other ideas, in her hands was a freighter, her key to financial independence and her means to get off Corellia, and that's exactly what the Epicanthix would do.  With her life savings already with her, and only the clothes on her back, Cadence would flee Corellia.  As luck would have it, the organization wouldn't come after her, because less than a week later the Corellian people would rise up and throw off Imperial reign, the entire planet erupting into chaos.

After getting a new transponder set in her newly acquired ship, Cadence went into business for herself as a commercial pilot.  It wasn't exactly the most glamorous job, nor that high-paying at first, it would actually take Cadence a couple of years before her income was back to the levels she experienced during her time with the gang back on Corellia, and even then only because it was supplemented with a fair deal of smuggling on the side.  The freedom that came with it however, was well worth it.  It's been several years since her initial departure from Corellia, and Cadence is still going strong, putting her skills and ill-gotten ship to good use.