Solon Halwinder Background

Background
Solon Halwinder is a descendant of a long line of famous men with his name. Most recently, his father was a hero of the Rebellion who fought with distinction in the Battle of Hoth and died during the Battle of Coruscant. His grandfather was an Imperial Royal Duke, who was an early member of the Commission for the Preservation of the New Order Imperial Security Bureau. One curious thing to note about this famed family is that there have never been any force adepts in this family as far as anyone can remember.

Solon was raised to hate his grandfather, since his father was a very passionate member of the Rebellion, and so, for most of his young life, he did. He thought he hated the Empire, though he never really thought about /why/ he hated it, and, as expected as a man of his line, he joined up with the New Republic Mechanized Division as a vehicle pilot, having tested for and failed to become an infantryman. This was a great disappointment to his father, and it was to be the start of tension between the two, with heavy implications for later. But, still wanting to make his father proud, Solon spent all of his time training himself, and finally, during the Battle of Etti IV. While the Republic lost that day, Solon Halwinder's vehicle was destroyed, and he fought ferociously and valiantly, being one of the few survivors of that ground battle to make it out alive. After that, he was approached by a secretive clandestine Special Forces group known only as Squad One.

For many years, Solon fought with Squad One, raising through the ranks eventually to the rank of Captain. He then voluntarily retired from Squad One to take command over the New Republic Mechanized Division, being promoted again to Major. Solon had made a good career for himself, becoming a Colonel at the age of 23, and then a General at 25. However, Solon was unhappy with his situation. During a raid, he uncovered documents about his grandfather, and his memoirs, and it made him have deep-seated doubts about himself and his loyalty to the New Republic. He felt that it was corrupt and bloated, the same things that plagued the Old Republic, but still, he was unable to bring himself to see the Empire's solution as any better. After many months of contemplation, Solon Halwinder decided to retire and go out on his own, to go on a soul-searching journey to find himself. This did not go over very well with the Republic High Command, and resulted in a large argument to which Solon walked out on. After that, there were rumors that Solon had defected, though the truth of the matter has never been revealed.

Now an Independent, still a citizen of the New Republic, but no longer with close ties, Solon began to fly back to his home planet of Corellia, only to be ambushed by a man named Utah. Utah, as it seemed, hated Solon because of his friendship with a man named Kenja, who used to be the boss of Utah. This was completely unknown to Solon, who to this day has no idea about the grudge the man had against him. In any event, Solon's ship was destroyed, and Solon was captured by these two men, kept kidnapped for an entire year, before he rushed Utah, rendering him unconscious, before escaping, now on the backwater planet of Tatooine.

On Tatooine, Solon found himself with a very small amount of money he had in the bank, no equipment, and no employment. However, he happened to see an advertisement for a local Bounty Hunter's guild looking for hunters. Solon joined up with this Guild (OOC Note: There weren't any guilds at the time that were PCed, which is why I haven't named it ;), and immediately began to take a name for himself. He claimed the bounty on the man who kidnapped him, Utah, and his friend, who was with him when captured. After another series of high-profile bounties, Solon was now seeing credits flow in, and saved up enough to buy himself another ship. Upon doing so, Solon met a man who would later terrorize the bounty hunting world, Detjin. The two men became fast friends, or as much of a friend anyone can be with Detjin. Solon took the young rodian on as his apprentice, though after a very short time it was clear that the ruthless apprentice was a far better hunter than he himself would ever be. This contributed to Solon's decision to give up hunting, and move on to something that suited him best. Besides, he had saved up a substantial amount of money, and he had no need for hunting anymore, not sharing Detjin's unbridled passion for hunting. So the two men parted ways, Solon giving Detjin his ship, and stayed on Corellia for many years, living a life of peace and tranquility.

However, after a time, Solon became bored with his life. He realized that the life of peace and luxury was not for him. So he went on another year long sojourn, going throughout the Galaxy and trying to find another direction of life...until he finally came to the planet of Caspar. There, he met a man named Arands, who recruited him into the Caspian Democratic Union Marines, which Solon would eventually come to run. Solon was truly happy on Caspar, taking a wife there, and having one child, Solon Halwinder IX. However, some events would happen that would change his life forever.

The shadow of his past, the man known as Utah, burned Solon's house down. Solon was supposed to be there, but he was called out in secret on a mission for the CDU Marines. When he returned, he was to see the charred body of his wife....but not his son. To this day, Solon does not know if his son wa skilled, or if the man named Utah kidnapped him. This was to change Solon's character forever.

As a newly promoted Commander of a Marine Regiment, Solon began to become more heavy handed, and began alienating the Government of Caspar, who disapproved of his tactics. The final straw came when Solon declared martial law on KDFS SPace station to catch a thief. After this incident, Solon Halwinder was asked to retire from the Caspian Marines, and Solon left the Democratic Union, heading back to the New Republic, deciding to go back to his roots.