Name: Clyde Arrowny
Call sign: Sergeant Shadow
Age: 18
Height: 6'0
Weight: 185
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Blue
Reason for joining: Second Lieutenant Timber Saden recruited me only a few days after I left my home planet for the first time to "see the galaxy".
Place of birth: Spira

History:

I was born on Spira, a planet famous throughout much of the galaxy for Chocobos, a large, bird-like creature often used as either a pack animal or a riding mount. Spira is one of the most "uncivilized" planets in the known galaxy. We're often referred to as "backwater" and "dumb", though I'm not sure how true-to-life those criticisms are. The Core Worlds, at least, look down on Spirans because we, or the majority of our people, abhor most of modern society. Spira has remained nearly unchanged since the formation of the Old Republic. Spirans never really bought into the idea of space travel (there are only two spaceports on the entire planet) and energy weapons have been banned for several millennia. I had never even seen a blaster until the day I met Timber Saden.

That's where I suppose my story begins. There isn't really much to say about my childhood; I mean, there is, but it's nothing that I want to share here. It's more like something you want to relay to your psychotherapist. So I'm going to begin from the day I met Timber. I had finally worked up enough money as a blacksmith's apprentice back on Spira to buy my passage off of the planet. After all, I was never quite the norm on my home world, and was interested in the outside systems ever since I can remember. When I had finally gained enough credits, I bought a one-way ticket from Spira to Tadath, in the Sian System. I didn't know much about it, but it was one of the few places I could afford to travel to - and I was a little interested in military operations at the time, so I wanted to check out the Zero-G stormtrooper facilities.

Little did I know that Tadath was the base for the Vast Empire's Army. At the time I was visiting on Tadath, the Vast Empire was involved in a battle with a group of rebels, and they had tons of recruiters out looking for new troopers. That was how I came to meet Timber Saden at one of the local lounges. He came up and sat down next to me at my booth, something no one else had done the whole time I had been on that strange new planet. Not that people avoiding me came as much of a surprise, it is what I had wanted. I have a somewhat imposing build, and carrying swords and knives around on you in open view makes everyone sort of draw back and shy away, even in this time of technological warfare.

Anyway, Timber bought me a drink and somehow struck up a conversation. Which, if you know me, isn't the easiest thing to do. We got to talking and his story about the Vast Empire intrigued me. I decided I wanted to see if warfare was everything Timber made it out to be. The way he was talking, it sounded ten times as interesting as hunting marlboros and dragons back on Spira.

Within a week I had breezed by Captain Cosmic's training and was placed into the Raiders Squad. At that time, the Raiders had fallen a lot in respect and power since the days when they had been the Army's elite squad. The status of my squad didn't matter to me, though, and I was welcomed in by Sergeant Major Snake and Sergeant Jedi.

Well, "welcomed" may not be the best word to use. It was wartime, and they were glad to get any extra manpower they could. It was more of a "accepting me as cannon fodder" than it was welcoming me in as an equal and expecting great things to come from me.

Of course, I can't blame them. Like I hinted at above, I'm not the social-type. You definitely couldn't call me a friendly person - I try to avoid other people when it's possible. On Spira I was ridiculed for wanting to know more about the outside, so I sort of withdrew to myself aside from one or two really close friends. I was known as a loner and a vagabond; in time the only sentient being I ever had conversation with was my good friend Baram. But I've always had Interceptor around - my faithful and trusty dog. He used to help me with the hunt, and while I don't ever take him into battle, he's still my little bodyguard back on Tadath. Whenever I don't want people coming up and talking to me, I'll talk Interceptor out for a walk. After all, one of the first things I ever said after I joined the Army was "The dog eats strangers". The other troopers know to shy away from him and give the both of us some room.

That's not to say I'm cold-hearted, or anti-social. I can have my moments - just ask Gunnery Sergeant Vox. When I'm in a good mood, I can actually get quite talkative. And there are not too many people who can beat me at a game of sabacc except for Otto and Rizzit (but I have a good idea they cheat and use the Force). I have made a few friends within the Army despite all of my social drawbacks: Otto Vox, Cloud, Nomar, Dragoon, Epic, Grizzly, Rizzit; I'm also on good terms with my superiors (most of the time).

Since joining the Vast Empire Army, I've participated in several campaigns, most of which were to eliminate certain rebel groups on various planets. Throughout my five months of service, I have risen from Cadet to Sergeant and accumulated dozens of kills in battle. I have seen members in Raiders come and go as the reaper comes to claim some and Cosmic replaces our losses with fresh faces. But over all that time, Snake, Jedi aka Rizzit, and Otto have been there with me. We've seen a lot of battles, some much bloodier than other, and come out of each one a little stronger.

Growing up on Spira, one of the cleanest planets in the galaxy, combined with a slight genetic mutation, has given me enhanced senses beyond anyone I've ever met since leaving home. With my superior eyesight, I became a sniper by default and served that role well during my first few weeks of service. That's what first caught the eyes of Snake and Demi Wraith and got me some recognition from the high command.

Later on in the campaign I had to drive the squad's TIE Crawler into battle. I had studied its controls before, but that was the first time I had ever sat in any kind of vehicle before, especially one built for warfare. It was a frightening experience, but also one of the most invigorating of my life. Ever since, I've given up sniping to be a combat vehicle driver. And to my good fortune, the Raiders have recently become the Army's armor squad, so now I get to drive an AT-ST/A into battles. Its combination of speed, stealth, and firepower is unmatched among strike mechs - I feel sorry for anyone who goes up against me in battle.

If there is one event that sticks out in my mind since I joined the VEA, it would have to be the end of our last campaign. Otto and I had just wrapped up a spontaneous surprise attack on a rebel base when Snake ordered Private First Class Nomar and I out on a scouting mission. So we had hopped into my "chicken walker" and took off toward the enemy's position.

Unfortunately, we were attacked by rebel strike mechs and forced to abandon our walker. We made it out alive thanks to my mini-rocket launcher, but we were stranded outside of enemy territory - and the foe knew our position thanks to distress calls the rebels we had just killed sent out. So began our trek back to friendly ground.

So for three days I had to use all of my survival skills and knowledge to keep us from getting caught by the enemy. It wasn't easy, especially not with Nomar with me, slowing me down and holding me back from time to time. The kid can fight, but he gets nervous sometimes - and he doesn't have the greatest endurance and stamina in the galaxy. Nevertheless, we made decent progress until we came across another enemy patrol. We were able to fight our way out again, but I somehow got turned around and all that evening we hiked back the way we had been coming.

My mistake cost us precious kilometers and hours and the next morning, when I realized my blunder, we found that the enemy had air patrols out looking for us. That complicated things to the extreme, and the next two days of travel were probably the most gut-wrenching days of my life. Every step we took I expected to be ambushed by the enemy. But, somehow, we continued to journey safely.

Finally, right outside of friendly territory, the rebels laid a trap for us. I was able to see it coming thanks to some intuitive thinking and scouting ahead, but they had us in a pincer attack - ground forces ahead and airspeeders coming in from behind. Nomar had a surge of bravery and convinced me that we should die fighting. That made up my mind, and we decided to make a desperate last charge toward the rebels waiting for us up ahead.

We never did manage to get the first shot off, though. Just as we emerged from our hiding place to bum rush our opponents, the cavalry finally arrived. While Nomar and I had been lost inside enemy land, VEA and FES forces had wiped out the rest of the rebels on the planet. Our comrades could finally spare the resources and men to look for us and the last remnant of the rebels, and they had lucked out and found both.

The rest of the Raiders and the Dark Dragoons smashed into the enemy force from behind, catching them totally off guard. A few moments later the Wraiths were right there in the mix, too, and the rebels were all killed or captured before they knew what had hit them. As for the squadrons of airspeeders and fighters making their way toward us from behind, the Vast Empire Navy had a few words to say to them. Warrant Officers sk8guy and Denethor had spotted the large cluster of enemy ships while on a recon sortie, and Aegis and Viper Squadrons arrived in time to decimate the rebel pilots before they could get to Nomar and me.

So, we were rescued by our friends and brought back to Tadath. Both of us were exhausted and had to spend several days recuperating. But in the end it was a learning experience for both of us, I think. Nomar and I bonded and we both respect each other now more than ever before. I also learned the importance of having other people fighting alongside of you when going into battle - I never would've made it out of there alive without the rest of the Vast Empire Army coming in to save us at the right moment. I also found out that there are people that care about me, no matter how I treat them sometimes.