User:Oook/Sandbox/Jack Valentine

From FEInfobase

Jack Valentine is a crewmember on board the SS Starlight whose speciality is the diplomatically named 'acquisitions'. As a competent negotiator, skilled at bypassing security systems and adept at sleights of hand, those who know him well would label him as nothing more than a thief - a capable one, but a thief nevertheless.

History

Not much of the past of Jack Valentine is particularly well known. He claims to be a native of New Sydney, and his accent and mannerisms back this up. What little he mentions of his family suggests that he either did not know his father or cared little for him, and any allusions made to his childhood contain only references to his mother - not even other siblings are mentioned.

He claims, and his experience backs this up, that he grew up mostly on the streets, scrounging for his own money while his mother worked full time to support them both. A capable pickpocket, his was a somewhat common story for those petty criminals who succeed - one day he palmed the credit chit of an important member of the Orion Syndicate, and had the good fortune that his target was impressed and amused rather than angered.

From there, Valentine claims he was trained by the Syndicate, starting at about the age of twelve. Not only were his abilities as a pickpocket developed, the group he was a member of taking advantage of his young age and size to steal from marks who wouldn't be suspicious of a child, but he was trained further in the arts of theft. Electronic locks, security systems; all became putty in his hands after enough training and focus.

The life of a petty thief could not have lasted for more than five years, and likely less, for he survived the loss of New Sydney in the war and claims he was far away from the planet at the time. The fate of his family is unknown, and it is doubtful whether Valentine actually cares. From tracing information and activities of the Orion Syndicate, it is considered unlikely that Valentine remained in their employ once leaving New Sydney, and any records of him which appear or those who have met him over the years recall him to be a freelancer.

During the Borg War, Valentine claims that he spent his time making money wherever he could. Large organisations tended to be targeted by Starfleet mercilessly; in times of war there was little patience enough for such minor considerations as 'due process', and so he says he stayed out of their way so as not to simply be culled by Starfleet Security. He claims to have performed several significant heists; the veracity of these claims cannot be established, for most, if not all, took place on worlds with whom contact has since been lost.

After the war, there are absolutely no official records available that are connected to Valentine or anyone matching his description. Similarly, he claims to have found himself trapped in a small pocket of the Outcast Rim behind Borg lines just before the conflict officially ended; that word of the war's conclusion didn't reach him until at least 2401, and that by then he was fairly well settled in the sector.

It is believed that he worked for a crime boss in the Angelus System for several years; exactly what his responsibilities were is somewhat unclear, and exactly why he left this employment is entirely unknown. All, in fact, that is known for certain about Jack Valentine is that when he turned up and joined the crew of the Starlight, he was a lone operator with no backing and very few accessible resources.