Caden Von

A Life in the Empire
Caden Von was born on Selene in 16 ISY. His parents, both Imperial loyalists and minor nobles, raised the young man with zealot-like loyalty to the Emperor. From the day he could walk he was groomed to become a staunch and strong supporter of the Imperial military. Obedience and discipline were drilled into him at an early age and he was made stronger by it.

Even in his early years, he lead other loyalist children in young Imperial programs. He showed great aptitude for outdoor survival, hand to hand combat and talent in piloting speeder bikes. By the time he was old enough to go into the Imperial Academy he knew he wanted to become a Scout Trooper.

Academy at Carida
Life in the Academy at Carida was cutthroat and difficult. Where Caden had been a relative big shot on his home planet, here he was just another face. There were dozens of other students as talented, some far more so. The instructors made sure the students knew it, too. The students who excelled were given preferential treatment, and for others, their more powerful family ties kept them in the leadership's good graces.

In this environment, the cadets were always at each other's throats. The drive to outdo one another was constant and on many occasions, these rivalries turned violent. This is when Caden outshone his academy classmates. He seemed to revel in the personal challenges and the bloody combat. This sort of competition was a constant in his years training and finally, when he graduated it was with flying colors.

A Storm Commando is Made, Not Born
Driven by fierce loyalism and a deep desire for combat, he was accepted into the Imperial Storm Commandos and began campaigning with them. His first few years were miserable and he failed a number of missions while serving in their ranks.

Certain he would be ousted from his role in the elite fighting group he was surprised to see that his commanding officers continued to put him on missions. When he failed he was berated, threatened and often ostracised by the other troopers. But again and again he was given new missions. He was not ousted from the Storm Commandos and through countless failures to victories he began to do better. Work harder. He stopped failing.

After he'd been with the Commandos for a few years he was sent on missions alone. He succeeded again and again and clawed his way up the ranks of Commandos until he was finally made Colonel. He seldom failed any mission given to him and time had proven that he worked best alone. The leadership found great use for his talents and often called on him for the more brutal missions that needed handling.

In his time with the Commandos he seldom worked in large groups and often found himself in the wildernesses of the galaxy alone and that was just how he liked it.