"Falter as many times as you want, Faltering is what makes us real." - James Ephraim
PROFESSION- PMC Company - Ephraim Labors
RANK- CEO
SPECIES- Human
PLANET OF BIRTH- Zeltros
AGE- 37
SEX- Male
VOICE SAMPLE- (X)
HEIGHT- 6'1 ft
WEIGHT- 223 lbs
EYES- Light Blue
HAIR- None, formerly black
SKIN- Caucasian
FORCE SENSITIVE- No
NATURE AND PERSONALITY
While there is much to speculate about James before properly meeting him, he himself is primarily empathetic. Of course, his previously callous nature has a tendency to shine through at times, but he tries to treat everyone with a level of kindness uncanny with most in his culture. When dealing with others, he tends to act as an inspiring force, trying to keep them cheery. Unfortunately, James tends to value his properties far above many things, aside from people he shares a close bond with. He's made unwise decisions due to this, well, unwise to others. Another unsavory fact of James' personality, is his greed. In his eyes, the want for credits is a necessary evil, although that could just be an excuse. While previously cocky, events in his life have since doused that flame, leaving a calm attitude in its ashes.
SKILLS AND EXPERTISE
When it comes to the skills that James has collected throughout the years, the most prevalent one is his administration ability. When it comes to difficult and executive decisions, James aims for the best one. When put into a position of power, he'll make damn sure that he does a good job. Accompanying that is his knowledge of diplomacy. While not as apparent as his former skill is, James is no stranger to negotiation. He tends to have trouble when first meeting an opposite party, due to other difficulties, but holds his own when talking. An ability of his often overlooked is his martial know-how. While by no means a general, he is quite capable of leading groups of armed men. Going onto a smaller scale, he holds proficiency with many ranged weapons, with some training in hand-to-hand combat.
APPEARANCE
Covered from head to toe in primitive cloth bandages, James is a sight to behold. This is by no means a necessity, with much of his previous wounds being well healed over by now, but he continues to wear them for the sake of others. Much of his body underneath has retained horrific acids scars, giving the appearance of a near corpse. Over the bandages, he wears a common dress shirt and a standard combat vest. Below, he wears standard, armor-weave pants with black leather boots. While his attire rarely changes, in colder situations he dons a heavy jacket, typically longer ones.
BIOGRAPHY
Slavery, However Polished
Born on the planet Zeltros, James' early life wasn't quite as exciting as the planet was. From infancy, he was the servant of a wealthy crime boss. Unbenounced to the youngling, his parents had owed the criminal quite a large sum of credits. They themselves weren't the best people either, however, choosing to give up their only child for freedom of debt. Needless to say, the boy's life wasn't off to a great start. Growing up, he was mistreated, beaten, and treated like a slave. For, in reality, he was.
Nealis was his name. The crime boss had become quite wealthy over, the years, amassing it through the trade of spice into the core worlds. However risky, the man and his lackeys still did it. They'd been doing it for a long time, and they had no intention of stopping either. This led to other ventures, primarily loans. In short, they had a loan shark business. Amongst all this prosperity is where James came in. Previously a simple house worker, the young boy caught on quick to their business. Much to Nealis' surprise, the boy had a natural talent for money. The crime boss' business soon became far more profitable, and James' life became a bit more bearable. Unfortunately, James was still trapped among the criminals. There wasn't much he could do, despite the residual hate he held for Nealis. But a savior did come, a few did, clad in beskar.
Like most criminals, Nealis' life had become too profitable. Others were noticing, most were getting jealous. So of course one of the man's rivals would send mercenaries to deal with the criminal. When the hail of blaster fire had died down, along with Nealis and the majority of his employees, James was one of the only things left standing. When the small group of beskar'gam wearing bounty hunters found him, they were merciful, far more than he'd expect them to be. At the age of twelve, he was taken into the fold of the Mandalorians.
Family, However Difficult
While James never truly knew the history of Clan Awaud, he owed much of his life to it. It was the Mandalorians of the clan that saved him from that place, and it was them that raised him. Living the majority of his life hopping from planet to planet did have its drawbacks, for one, James never truly made friends outside of their nomadic group. This didn't cause him to become inclosed though, rather, it encouraged him to be vocal with others. When taking on jobs, it was James that negotiated the prices, when a peaceful surrender was needed, it was James who convinced them to come in.
Through this, he was quite different from many in his group, although his father was proud. Ephraim, the Mandalorian who found him as a boy watched happily as his 'son' became more and more adept at the lifestyle. James slid into it, like it was his nature. In truth, he was just happy to have his freedom. In that way, he drank up everything the Mandalorians offered him, becoming more of a Mando'ade than most natural-born ever did. That manifested in a number of ways, but eventually became something akin to cockiness.
During his late teens, an unexpected tragedy struck. His father, Ephraim had fallen during a job. This crushed the young man, causing him to grow callous in the coming months. What was once a talkative and outgoing young man, soon became a dejected glaring mess. In that way, yet again, he became even more like a Mandalorian. James was twenty-two when he left his nomadic family, not being able to stay around them, out of the memory of Ephraim.
Alone, However Wealthy
Bounty hunting was second nature to James, so it's only natural that he'd go to that line of work. For years he served as a bounty hunter in the outer rim, becoming far better in combat than he ever had been with his family. He was alone, so it was necessary at this point. There were a few times when he led paramilitary teams, serving small governments dotted here and there. But if you paid him, it didn't matter who you were. Over the many jobs he took on, the Mandalorian became increasingly hardened. In a profession such as his, it paid to be cold-blooded, and he was as ruthless as they came.
In truth, he was losing his way. His morals waivered, losing themselves in the tidal wave of bodies. For the second time in his life, he served the criminals of the galaxy. It didn't matter though, because he was in charge of his own destiny, no one else but him.
As time went on, as it usually did, he found himself taking more and more jobs on the planet Tatooine. While the planet itself was not very wealthy, the criminal presence there was great. He found particularly prosperous employment with one Zabrak trader named Doja. He took many jobs from the Zabrak, with most being outrageously dangerous for most others. The last job James ever took with Doja was the killing of a Krayt Dragon. He wasn't alone in this, with a large number of bounty hunters on board. The job didn't go to plan, though, with much of the team being killed, and the remaining leaving James for dead, burnt by the acid of the Dragon.
Humble, However Callous
Luck, fortune, or perhaps even the force itself favored the Mandalorian. Dying in the desert, he was found by a roving tribe of Tusken Raiders. And he was certainly lucky that these particular Tuskens had experience with others before, as instead of leaving him for dead, they tried to save him. And again, luckily for him, they had acquired some bacta. While the healing process was not high-tech or advanced, it did save his life. Indebted to the Tuskens, he spent a few years with them in the desert, wearing their garbs, learning their ways. He was once again the diplomatic one in a family, conducting all the trade that took place between them and the others of Tatooine.
Like before, he left his family, not out of disdain or sadness though. This time, he left for purpose, and reasons, therefore. But still, he had a lot to thank them for. They'd humbled him, letting him remember that there was beauty in the galaxy despite what he may think. With that little piece of knowledge, he returned to his Mandalorian ways, with a far better outlook.
Playing the part of a mercenary again, he found work with a small arms corporation. Mihael Co., they were called. It was a family business, inherited feudally through the children of the CEO. It didn't take long for them to realize his skills, soon placing him as head of security. Sadly, the company would eventually fall with the death of the current CEO, between split between his multitude of children, with James' loyalties being Mihael central, headed by the eldest son. It didn't take long before the companies were locked in a brutal war, it slowly killing off each of the children, and with the death of the eldest, James was left the only one with command in the company. Finding himself in the newly acquired executive position, James took on the last name 'Ephraim', in memory of his father-figure, and to truly take on the role of a company leader. There was much to do afterward, reforms, and reclaiming lost factories. But like always, he'd simply try his best.
PROPERTIES
PERSONAL ITEMS
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