 Ensign Smix, destined for great things in the Empire. Born on Chandrila, the youngest of four children, Kidd Smix enjoyed a childhood of rustic privilage. He grew up on the family's farm, just outside the village of Breem, near Nayli, where he was taught traditional values and was sheltered from the corrupting influence of big cities. He was a happy child, who made friends easily, and was often influenced into adventure by his older brothers. Shortly after he turned six, however, Kidd became very sick and was bedridden for months. His mother, loving as she was, insisted he was not to be taken to the city hospital; she was concerned the doctors would pump her poorly son full of drugs and unnatural chemicals when, as far as she was concerned, all he needed to get better was her famous Daligrut Stew and the fresh country air. In the winter, his condition deteriorated, and under pressure from her husband and eldest son, Dobi, Ma Smix relinquished care of Kidd to the specialists in Nayli hospital. His recovery was long and difficult, but in the end, he was released from the hospital just in time for his seventh birthday. It was a happy occassion, on the surface at least, but for his parents, memory of that day was forever marred by the knowledge that their son would never be the same again: weakness would haunt him for the rest of his life.
On the inside, he was still the same old Kidd; following his brothers outside the farm's borders, returning way past their curfew covered in bruises and mud; playing impromptu games of dropball with friends, shockpads not included; helping his father with the seasonal harvests of sheemi and khush, and afterwards, taken to ride alker in the fields; until, inevitably, he collapsed from exhaustion. That was when Ma Smix stepped in and brought him home, cursing her husband and sons for leading him astray. In the days that followed these incidents, he was housebound, with only the company of his sister for entertainment. Smaali was a very intelligent girl, and in their time together, she taught him how to read, write, and how to solve problems of basic arithmetic. It was after they performed a joint recital of Nancy the Nuna, that Kidd's parents realised their son's potential could take him far beyond the limited confines of a farm. So while his brothers learnt to herd scattle and trogs, Kidd sought out an education at Breem Elementary for Younglings.
Four years passed, and Ma and Pa Smix's youngest was ready for greater things. After no small amount of pursuasion, Rae agreed to send Kidd to Bariss Basic, a respectable secondary school in the neighbouring town. There, Kidd cultivated his education with a broad variety of subjects, his favourites being mathematics, science, shop class, and musical appreciation. It wasn't long before he was putting together new pieces of furniture to take home while burning other parts of the house to the ground through his experimentation with flammable powders and corrosive acids. When he was thirteen, his father inherited new land from a deceased old friend, and to accomodate the extra demand he bought a host of droids to help with the chores. Unfortunately, his family had little experience with droids, so Kidd took up the study of droid linguistics as an extra curricular endevour - one which would prove costly in the immediate future.
During his time spent deciphering the blips and beeps of astromech droids, Kidd became associated with an interesting group of individuals who concerned themselves with the sub-culture of droids and their place within society. They called themselves the Droid Appreciation Society, and what started out as an innocuous affair of writing local politicians, quickly turned into something more sinister, and dangerous. A new leader rose up, a boy called Pavolo Jobb, and a reformation took place to streamline the group with his own militant ideals: the Droid Appreciation Society became the Droid Equal Rights Program, or D.E.R.P. for short. Theirs was a much more pro-active approach to solving the problem of droid discrimination; the first target was a scrap works run by a particularly ruthless, and insensitive, trandoshan. An incursion was planned but Kidd, being the feeble pacifist that he was, insisted he would stand guard during the sabotage attempt. It wasn't until later, during a stint of community service, that he realised he the life of a droid freedom fighter wasn't for him.
To be continued...
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