"Citizens should not fear their governments. Governments should fear their citizens.
-V For Vendetta
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The man known as Michel Loncheval was born Michel Lanche, the middle child of Crix and Lomis, owners of a small vineyard and wine-making operation on the Northwestern continent on Tanaab. He has two siblings Meron (30) and Suzette (18).
When Michel was seven, the Star Destroyer Death's Head visited the planet and one of the attached TIE squadrons, the 11223rd “Darkstalkers”, put on an aerobatics display at the local port. Watching the small fighters demonstrate aerospace combat maneuvers forged what would become an obsession for flying in the young boy. Three years later, Michel would join the local glider association and began to learn the basics of flight. Almost immediately, he built his first home-built glider, and proceeded to nearly kill himself when it rolled over on it's port wing and subsequently rolled up into a ball. This is a process that would repeat itself many times until he was 16, and finally achieved flight, chasing thermals above his family's fields. He was _very_ good with math in school, proved himself to be a dab hand as a 'stop in the local secondary school's smashball team by virtue of being left handed..
Approaching eighteen and with Imperial recruiters visiting his secondary school with promises of choice billets for volunteers. Having spent most of his formative years remembering that aerobatics display, the idea of actually becoming a TIE fighter pilot was too good to resist. He enlisted immediately after his graduation, traveling to Coruscant to enter the Imperial Naval Academy.
To say that Michel was never the ideal recruit is something of an understatement. Being prone to being overweight, not especially fond of PT (smashball doesn't count) and generally looking like hell even when turned out in his best uniform, he redeemed himself by virtue of being a remarkably fast learner and highly intuitive pilot. Michel's instructor once remarked that 'While we spend hours shooting touch and go's with the other nuggets, I only have to show this damned Lanche fellow something once and very little in the way of further instruction is required.' Michel went on to graduate sixth in his class.
After graduation, Michel was assigned to the 4023rd TIE Squadron (The “Red Lancers”) as part of the 320th Aerospace Wing aboard the Star Destroyer Justicar. It was during this first month of his deployment the 22 year old Michel would get his first taste of real aerospace combat, racking up one confirmed kill against a Republic X-Wing and assists on two more. His somewhat placid nature was mistaken for spaciness by his alternately frustrated and amused CO, earning him the call sign “Away”.
For the next five years, Michel began to carve out a reputation as an unusually wily tactician and supremely level-headed combatant. One of his CO's opining that Michel was 'Laid back to the point of near-horizontal. Away doesn't just chase after targets like a womp rat in season, he hangs behind them, matches their maneuvers and calmly picks them to pieces.'. While he received numerous commendations for his abilities, his atypically shambolic appearance pegged him as a man who would never make Captain. Finally, he landed in the 6042th TIE/In Squadron (“The Iron Hand”) aboard the Star Destroyer Sovereign. With Taija "Blackjack" Havilland as his CAG.
On the outside, Michel appeared to be a loyal, faithful and reasonably fearless defender of the Empire, inwardly, his doubts were beginning to grow. Slowly, he began to realize that the Empire he was serving was not what it appeared. While slavers traded in Sentient lives and every manner of illegality imaginable, various cartels fed poisonous drugs to children and Imperial officials abused their power simply because they could; the very military that was meant to keep them in line were more often engaged in endless 'Counter-Insurgency' missions against threats that were often more percieved than real, with thousands of civilians killed in the process.
Finally, during his last deployment during The Decay, he was approached by Taija "Blackjack" Havilland and Ian "Krieg" Inrokanaand defected with them and several others who would go on to form the core of the The Spectres.
Scattering on Havilland's orders, Michel has spent the last two years bumming around the Outer Rim Territories under several different aliases, often playing the role of a ragamuffin bush pilot. In his travels, he has met and semi-befriended a female slicer known only as Wasp, who has helped him fudge his background and provided him with intelligence as to the status of the manhunt against him.
Some weeks ago, he was contacted by Havilland and the two met for the first time in two years on Yarvin 4, where he was officially recruited into the Spectres. Given only a few days to cut his ties, Michel took on one final job as a free-lance pilot, delivery of a Gthroc 720 from Naboo to Bespin. There, he encountered the troubled Omwati singer Aeris Xel whom he has befriended and hopes to be able to help some day.
"We are the Little Folk – we!
Too little to love or to hate.
Leave us alone and you'll see
How we can drag down the Great!
-Rudyard Kipling, A Pict Song
