Jana Vellam

"Where the FUCK am I?!" - Jana to Jefferson Graveson, Operation Discordant Monster

Jana Vellam is a citizen of the Byblosi Union and a pilot attached to the Clandestine Shock Squad Arakeev. She has served in several campaigns and undercover operations on behalf of the Union. While not a formal member of the CSS, she is more familiar with the group than the vast majority of people.

Early Life
Born on 21:11:3 GrS on the shipyards above Kuat to Imperial Flight Officer Aya Vellam. Jana would never know her father, a Kuati native attached with the Shipywards Commander Christodoulos Nikias. Commander Nikias would be redeployed to convoy protection following a political scandal on Kuat, an assignment he would never return from. She would grow under strict discipline as her mother wanted Jana to avoid her upbringing and to reflect "her father's station". In fact when family friends learned Jana was to go into service many joked that she was already disciplined like a soldier.

Jana would spend a large amount of time with her mother's father figure, Skipper Styke. She would split her time between Abregado-Rae in the Atreidean Estates and on the shipyards of Kuat. She would grow close with the old clone and joined her mother in seeing him almost like a father (or grandfather in Jana's case).

Military Academy and Imperial Service
In 37 GrS she would attend Melford Star Academy as a TIE Cadet. Unlike her mother, Jana was no natural behind the controls. She was a competent pilot, solidly middle of her class. She would graduate as a pilot in the Imperial Starfighter Corps with higher marks in close air support missions and personal defence.

Jana would love living on a planet for an extended period of time. While Lianna was hardly a tropical world or one that immigrants would find particularly attractive, it's terrestrial nature and similarity to Abregado-Rae would be comforting for her. While at the academy she became a relatively skilled Limmie player.

Imperial Military Service
Despite her skills as a CAS pilot, Jana would be assigned to the defence fleet at Loronar; specifically the squadron tasked with protecting Jade Moon. Jana despised her time on Jade Moon's lunar bases since they vividly reminded her of her younger years. While she would improve her ship-to-ship combat abilities while deployed, she found the TIE Interceptor she was given was not suited to her skills.

Jana would see a brief bout of action when Rouge Squadron worked to keep the air defences busy while a Rebel Commando unit infiltrated an important base. While the local force was unable to stop Rouge Squad, Jana found for the first time in her life felt completely at ease behind the controls.

The Slice War
After the fall of the Empire, Jana was to be reassigned to the Kuat Defence Fleet. However before that the Lononar defence fleet would align with the newly established Byblos Sector Authority. Initially Jana was annoyed by her commander's move as it kept her tied to Lononar. However when the Slice War began in 40:6 she finally got her chance to leave Lononar when she volunteered to fly with the 1st Fleet.

She would see her first taste of battle against the Blood Empire as a part of Operation Jaguar Paw in the Abhean System. As the 2nd in command of her combat group she helped lead her fellow pilots to a resounding victory. When General Operation Black Angel forced the Byblosi Navy back to Lononar, Jana was given a TIE Defender and made was given the title of a Flight Commander. Her Flight Group, the 45th Headhunters, would distinguish themselves in the space above Lononar.

Assignment to the CSS
Following the Slice War, Byblosi High Command chose to assign a pilot to the Clandestine Shock Squad so that more of their commandos could be deployed without having to worry about extract or keeping track of their aircraft. Jana was selected in a field of about a dozen candidates primarily due to her skill as support airman.

While not a formal member of the CSS she is often called upon to support the squad as an infantryman. Her first operation with the unit, Operation Operating Table saw her serving on foot with her rifle and would be tasked with commanding a BPLA APC. She would assist with leading commandos during Operation Thieving Terror on Fel Hel.

During Operation Discordant Monster she was called upon to shoot down or disable a Lambda-Class Shuttle which contained a frozen clone of the late Empress of the Blood Empire. Unable to bring down the shuttle with her cannons, Jana would ram and pin the shuttle, destroying both ships in the process. Despite destroying her own shuttle she survived the crash and would later assist with fighting Hutt Pirates to secure an extraction zone.

Personality
Jana has long struggled under the yoke of military discipline. While entirely able to perform the basic outward actions expected of her she finds it entirely degrading. Outside of rigid expectations, Jana has a serious sense of irreverence and sarcasm. Fiercely loyal to those she fights with, Jana has a tendacy to give "nicknames" to her comrades (in reality these are often just shortened versions of their names).