Jay Ortega
| Jayceon "Jay" Ortega | |
 | |
| Biographical Information | |
| Race | Cordu-Ji |
| Homeworld | Vandor-1 |
| Born | Year -28 Day 104 |
| Physical Description | |
| Gender | Male |
| Height | 6'2" |
| Hair Color | Black, graying |
| Eye Color | Blue |
| Political Information | |
| Affiliation | None |
Jayceon "Jay" Ortega was born on the world of Vandor-1 to two Cordu-Ji scouts that worked for the Ypsobay Trading Company. He worked for the Trade Federation for a period of time before becoming a professional hunter. He is best known for being the former Governor of the Siluria while working for Total Outer Rim. While Jay is a Cordu-Ji, a highly xenophobic race, he tends to hide his extra arms underneath his clothing in order to avoid prejudice from the greater galactic populace.
Early Years
Jay was born in Fort Ypso to two employees of the Ypsobay Trading Company. While they were not married, they were partners and were generally partnered for exploration assignments. For most of his childhood, his parents were absent while on missions. With no formal school at Fort Ypso, he was forced to learn under a protocol droid with the other child inhabitants of the fort. Not only was the 3PO their teacher, but also the sentients that found Vandor-1 as their jumping off point in the galaxy. Many of the children he grew up with became smugglers, arms dealers, or big game hunters. While he was still young, the Trade Federation bought out the Ypsobay Trading Company and hired the former employees. As a teenager, Jay was hired by a hunting guide to serve as his aide. For the next few years, Jay helped pack out animals and gear of wealthy tourists that would visit the world. When he became of age to get his pilot's license, Jay decided to become an explorer like his parents.
Adulthood
While in the Trade Federation, Jay worked in the Department of Logistics as an explorer. The job proved to be unrewarding and uneventful, Jay wasn't sure how his parents had kept it up for so long. He stayed in this position for a few years of his young adulthood while he looked for more work in a more active lifestyle.
Hunter
Jay soon returned home to Vandor-1 to start his own hunting guide business. Instead of restricting himself to just Vandor-1, he used Fort Ypso as a home base while he took paying customers to various locations in the Outer Rim. This gave him an edge over the competition by providing customers with a greater range of big game to hunt. In this period of time, he helped bag over 100 different species of big game animals. After a couple years of this, Jay was approached by a paying customer that requested a different kind of hunt to take place. Accompanied by Jay, this sentient wished to find a governor of his home star system to kill. At first, Jay shrugged off and ignored the man. But when protests over game hunting began to reach his corner of the Mid Rim, Jay was forced to accept the job.
The assignment proved easier than expected. Jay was not required to take the killing blow, that was reserved for the customer. The customer introduced himself as Grange LeClair a small time arms dealer on his planet. He revealed that the governor had been restricting trade in the system, and his death would prove to be helpful in opening up all trade in the system. After the governor's death, Grange was so impressed with Jay's skills as a tracker that he introduced him to shadier associates of his. It was at this time that Jay slowly began a life of crime. Over the next few years, he proved himself as a reliable tracker and information broker, keeping tabs on some of the biggest names in the galaxy. He became infamous for his connections to all kinds of beings from different jobs and occupations.
Governor
Just past his 29th birthday, he was approached by a liaison from the mining group Total Outer Rim. They had heard of his shadier reputation but were willing to ignore, should he run for the position of Governor of the Siluria system. He was desired for his connections to many small independent groups. T.O.R. wanted to gain mining rights for the system, but the other candidate was already backed by another mining group. Jay took the nomination, and after minimal campaigning he was elected to serve a two year term. During his two years, Total Outer Rim was able to bring an unprecedented number of jobs into the system. The economy flourished to the point that the government was able to purchase a small defense fleet to help protect mining ships as they traveled to refineries. When his term was over, many attempted to convince him for reelection. But the two years as governor had taken its toll on him. He was sleep deprived and depressed from such a stressful job. He departed the Siluria system on a transport headed to Nar Shaddaa.
Life of Crime
Jay moved to Nar Shaddaa to further his career as an information broker. It was here that he had his first run in with his future ship. While gathering information on a Gran gunrunner, Jay followed him back to his ship, a gray/green JM5000. To get more information, Jay posed as a resistance cell leader interested in buying weapons. The meeting took place on the Gran's ship, where Jay made his move. Word had it that a rival gun runner was going to assassinate the Gran, so Jay decided to cut out the middleman. He made his first kill in the business and claimed the ship and the bounty, as his own, renaming it the Andrasta. After hearing of his hit on the Gran, he was approached by representatives from a local mercenary group. They were looking for information on a pirate band that had been causing them trouble since they took up base in Nar Shaddaa, and they invested in Jay to do so. Jay tried to gather information on the band but couldn't find anything. He blew the credits almost immediately on modifications for his ship, which included many hidden smuggling holds. After months of laziness failure, the mercenaries came back and insisted a return on their investment. When Jay was unable to pay, they kidnapped him in his sleep and ultimately were responsible for the loss of his legs. When he was found in an alley, unconscious and legless, he was rushed to a hospital where the doctors attempted to recover his legs, but they had been so badly beaten that they were forced to amputate. They were replaced with two state-of-the-art cybernetic legs. He stayed in the ICU for weeks while he attempted to regain walking capabilities.
When he was eventually released, he attempted to track down his old ship, and also the people who had done this to him. The legs proved to be faulty and caused Jay much trouble in his search for the Andrasta. When he found the ship, it was occupied by two sleeping members of the mercenary gang that ruined his legs. So, the next night at the same docking bay, Jay struck out and reclaimed his ship. In the weeks that he had been in the hospital, the group's domain had grown further, so word got out of the murders. They believed Jay to be dead, so the deaths were blamed on the pirate band that had troubled them in the past, pushing Nar Shaddaa into a series of turf wars that ravaged the Underworld. Now having his kill count up to three, Jay threw caution to the wind and secretly advertised himself as a fully fledged hunter. Accepting bounty after bounty, he continued to work until he accepted his largest contract to date. An Imperial presence was starting to be felt on Nar Shaddaa, in response to the violent series of turf wars.