Gyzen Bel

= Bio =

General & Short history
Age : 30 standard years.

Quick description : Average frame yet strong in terms of resilience, 1.80m tall. Square face with dark brown hair, usually kept short, thin lips and a little oversized nose. Hazel eyes.

Profession & education : General knowledge of spacefaring and space travelling since his 15 at Corusca high school. Been trained by the Rebellion to be a fighter pilot in his 18-20. Official pilot since his 20. Been away from the Rebellion-turned-Republic after the battle of Coruscant, what he did between his 20 and 25 is not very well-known. Enrolled in the Griffons Alliance at age 25. Nicknamed his squad the 'Shadow Eagles'. Been all the way up from StarOps Ensign to StarOps Commodore, Fleet Admiral then finally Armiger of the Griffons Alliance. Been in politics there, age 28. Took care of the rebuilding and development of Cochran, Griffons home planet, for two years. Retired at age 30 from Armigership just before the Assembly of Warriors.

Current Military Status : Reserve for both the Griffons Military and the New Republic

Current Status : Wandering the galaxy, making money off trading with people who like spacefaring. Possibly conducting other actions, not widely known.

General concept
Gyzen is somebody who tries to be an all-rounder, able to protect and serve his own believes using whatever means is at his own disposal. This includes the leadership of men, the ability to speak well in public as well as being able to care for his own personal survival and combat skills. As such, he looks like Plato's ideal concept of man and the citizen.

Gyzen is also a very down-to-the-earth character. What is special of him is that he trusts only what he sees, and acts only when he has obvious pieces of evidence before him (when he does not feel passion.. which is another story). Aside from this, he is also a loyal and morale character who would rather do the *good* around him. He is a man of ideals, but he thinks that a republic so wide it controls several space systems can not sustain a totally democratic system. Hence his ambiguous stance, since he would have rather an imperial approach to the matter. He personally finds that the Moff system of the Empire to be efficient, and that the Republic should get inspiration from it. As such, he's to be considered a 'grey spot'.

Griff's Decorations
Medals

Griffon Bronze Star -- Exceptional heroism or achievement duting Ops

Gold Star -- gallantry of action or exeptional bravery under fire from a hostile enemy force.

Griffon Silver Tallons -- Defence Service Medal : Distinguished himself in day to day duties.

Campaign ribbons NR: Battle of the Death Star II

NR: First Battle of Coruscant

GA: Recon Missions

GA: Battle of Mutanda

GA: Confidential Missions

GA: Battle of the Death Star III (joint with the NR)

GA: Battle of Calamari (Retaking Calamari from Palpatine)

NR: Battle of Kappa

Certification Ribbons (e.g : qualifications) T: Griffon Training -- Combat-ready Unit

AR: Administrative Ribbon. Awarded to graduated people affected to the Governmental branch of the Griffon Alliance.

FT: Griffon Flight Training

DP: Griffon Diplomatic

S: Griffon Shipboard Assignment

CV: Griffon Combat Veteran

TSO: Confirmed Starops Pilot. 10+ confirmed kills.

LSA: Griffon Longevity Service Award (Gyzen's First Year)

LSA-OLC: Griffon LSA with Oak Leaf Cluster -- Exemplary Service.

UC: Griffon Unit Commendation

SFEM: Griffon Starfighter Expert Marksmanship

CO: Griffon: Command-qualified personnel

ILT: Interstellar, long tour -- been in more than 5 systems with the fleet

IDP : Interstellar Diplomatic Award. Given after a feat of diplomacy that helps the Griffons position in a marked way

= Full Background =

Part 1 : Gyzen's Youth and Family, and enrolling into the Griffons Alliance
Gyzen was born on Coruscant, 20 years before the Battle of Endor, from a Corellian mother and a coruscant father. He had a brother, Lian, and a sister, Torella. His father, Torian Bel, was a high-placed diplomat in the council of the Planet and when the Galactic Empire started growing more and more powerful and totalitarian, he took an active task in helping the Rebellion. Gyzen and his brother were trained as fighter pilots by the Rebels, whereas Torella showed an inherited talent in diplomatics and was graduating at the prestigious Coruscant Academy. When the Imperial DeathStar made its first victim, Lian's training became more and more intensive, and he was promoted as squad leader. When rebel fighters attacked the death star, he was one of them. As for Gyzen, he was, like his brother, proving himself as an excellent fighter pilot.

After years of struggle against the Empire came the great battle of Endor. Gyzen was 20-year-old. He was assigned to his brother's squad. It wasn't his first strike, but he got pursued by two TIE fighters he couldn't escape from alone. His brother, who was himself in high need of cover, engaged the fighters pursuing Gyzen, and took them down. Unfortunately, while doing so, he wasn't watching his six and his ship got destroyed. After the battle, a commemorating ceremony took place to give Lian the last honnors. It was really a dull ache for Gyzen to bear his brother's death and still is. It also rose his hate for the imperials to an incredible level.

Eventually, the Empire seemingly started to fade out, and the New Republic was gaining worlds upon worlds, including Coruscant. This was a great victory for Gyzen. At this time, the Empire discovered his father's betrayal and his real political siding. Torella graduated with excellent marks in Diplomatics, and Gyzen started to take fleet tactic lessons -- the path to becoming a Flag Officer in what was now called the New Republic. Unfortunately, that good omen couldn't last long.

Later, the Empire attacked Coruscant. Fighters took off, but hundreds of TIE fighters were waiting for them. Gyzen had to order his men to hyper out of the area, as their shields were depleted and they were suffering from heavy attacks -- the battle was already lost, anyway : Capital ships were down, the situation was desperate : Coruscant had fallen to empire's hands. Gyzen thought the lives of his men mattered more than a foolish fight. As to his family, they escaped Coruscant space aboard a lambda shuttle, but unfortunately it got captured by pirates. Their whereabouts is unknown to Gyzen.

Once back on Corellia, which was now hosting the Senate, Gyzen decided to retire, deeply shattered by the disparition of his family. He also wanted to retire because he didn't like how the Galactic War had turned into a private matter between the Empire and the New Republic -- they both wanted to rule the galaxy to his eyes. He didn't like the Senate either -- along with it came greedy senators, craving for power. He longed for the former structure of the Rebellion -- Everybody knew what to do, they had to fight, not talk. Now the Republic was deliberating -- and less and less actions against the Empire were taken.

So, he left and became an independent being. He had been wandering around the Galaxy for some time, when he heard about the Griffon Alliance -- a rogue group that decided to split off the New Republic. They were a military body, and their ideals were about the same as the Republic -- except they were taking actions, and deliberation was kept to a strict minimum. They were also researching technologies, something that the New Republic was lacking -- they were still using their old-fashioned Y-Wings as bombers and the X-Wing needed some workout. For all these reasons, Gyzen decided to apply for a Starfighter Pilot position within the Griffon Alliance.

Gyzen's Career In The Griffon Alliance
From March 2001 to June 2002.

Gyzen joined the Griffon Navy with the rank of Ensign. He was quickly disappointed : The Griffons were an established Government that was ruling a huge Space Station and ... a planet. The space station -- Pride-1 -- was almighty and well defended, but it was bastion that couldn't move in case of an attack, and the same goes for the planet. The Griffons were getting wealthier, and looked more independent than fighting against the Empire. The only actions they were taking were moving intelligence agents. In short, they were very defensive, and all their technology was useless in that setup. (March 2001)

That technology had some impact on Gyzen's mind. All of a sudden, he became fascinated with the same things as imperials -- power. He wanted to get a name for himself in the Galaxy, and he wanted power over those VSDs and enhanced troopers of the Griffons. Gyzen quickly realised that the only way to achieve that goal and get involved in the Galactic evolution was to work his way to the top of this political organisation. He could pursue his goal within the New Republic, but he found them caught in red tape already. And this was easier to do within a small organisation. So he started to work his way up, forgetting about his family, giving up his search for them. He worked his starfighter and leadership skills. He found a powerful ally in his cunning perception, that allows him to anticipate actions in combat and feel how others react, thus giving him an edge when it comes to talk people into doing something. He got promotion over promotion and evetually became the Squadron Leader for Alpha Squadron -- which was an honour since Alpha Squad was supposedly the best of them all. He soon nicknamed his squad the "Shadow Eagles". (April 2001)

But Gyzen was to understand soon what the Armiger, Robert Bruce, was planning. A short while after, the Navy planned the liberation of the close world of Mutanda, that was in the claws of the Corporate Sector Authority. The attack was a complete success, and the almighty Griffon Navy drove the CSA off the planet. The problem now was the small moon of Justa -- a galactic strategic asset, Justa produces the Tibanna gas, which is essential to the working of hyperdrives.

This could have been easily foreseen -- the Empire came in system with overwhelming forces to settle the matter, but they didn't open fire. Instead, Emperor Valak himself came to meet the Armiger in person. The Emperor proposed a deal -- ally with us, or die. With the New Republic taking no interest at the strategic value of Justa and providing no support to the Griffons, the Armiger had little choice but to cooperate. The Galactic Senate, comprised of the Caspar Democratic Union, the Corporate Sector Authority, the Galactic Empire and the Griffon Alliance was then born. It was supposed to restore peace throughout the Galaxy -- but it was too obvious that the treaty would be turned into a forced allegiance to the Empire as to destroying the Republic. These were perhaps the darkest days of the Alliance... In the meanwhile, for bravery in combat and achievement, Gyzen was promoted StarOps Commander. To him, the lack of support from the Republic clearly showed it was dead -- it wasn't even supporting those who fought the Empire. (June 2001)

Now that he was a Commander, he started to get Fleet training and study capital ship tactics. Also, a plot to destroy the Third Death Star was on the way -- at last, the New Republic showed signs of life. But Gyzen wasn't very informed at the moment. He continued his training and his run for the top with less energy, he started to lose faith. His cunning perception and keen skills with mechanics allowed him to become a swoop star. Eventually he was promoted to the rank of Commodore and admitted into the Inner Council. (October 2002)

Armiger Bruce retired and the FleetOps CO, Ba'el korr, became Armiger. Under his command, the Griffons research and development department at AEC drastically increased activity to finish off a project of Griffon Capital Ship -- the MAKO Battle Cruiser. Finally the blueprint was finished and the MAKOs were produced at a secret location. Gyzen was both satisfied and worried at the plot -- satisfied, because the Empire was going to pay, worried, for he thought Griffons were running to their death. When the joint forces of the NR and the Griffon Alliance attacked the Third Death Star they had three MAKOs -- one was struck by the DS Superlaser. It was seemingly a victory for the New Republic and the Griffons, as they succeeded in destroying the dark moon and shook the Imperial High Command again. (Februar 2002)

The Galactic Confederation lost its status and slowly faded away. But Gyzen Bel made a calculus -- to him, the Griffons were lost. Already at the DS Battle, the Imperials showed their will to crush Griffons vessels rather than Republican -- almost not reacting against the rigged capitals headed their way. So, they would crush them in the end. He decided to retire from the Military and to found a civilian business -- The Griffon Industrial Conglomerate, but his real focus was on the GMC, the Griffon Merchant Corporation. This was a mean to still have power, at least economically, should the Griffons be destroyed. He managed to stay inside the Inner Council. (May 2002)

But the Empire didn't strike back -- not at the moment at least. Armiger Korr decided to retire and follow his career in another branch -- so Gyzen had a clear path to becoming Armiger... which is what happened. (June 2002)

A new challenge
July 2002 to August 2002

Gyzen was now Armiger of the Griffon Alliance. his goal was seemingly fulfilled. He had total control over a whole military and government. But instead of satisfaction, he got frustration and disillusion. He suddenly got plunged into the circle of politics -- A circle he wasn't familiar at all with. He realised his own weaknesses, a lack of global knowledge that was essential to a good leader at such a level.

Days of disillusion
Damn... My story ended in 2002... arrrg

This part yet to be done ;)