Scoundrel, Smuggler, Card Cheat...[]
...Rhys is known under a few names and in plenty of circles, but has consistently remained a small-time freighter captain, smuggler, information dealer, and card player. Although he seems fairly skilled in his work, he shows little ambition to climb the ranks or make major plays for fame. It might have something to do with how much he values his independence, or the frequency with which the more famous criminals of the galaxy tend to get themselves arrested or executed. Whatever the reason, the galaxy is a strange place, and if galactic history proves anything, it's that even a small-time fringe pilot might find himself thrust into unwanted importance in the galaxy.
Early Career[]
Records of Rhys before his underworld career are few and far between. His own claims suggest he was born on Bastion among the ragtag remnants of the former Empire. His accent would support this statement, and his unorthodox fighting style still carries fragments of mechanical, soldier-like training. The first official records of him, though, are on Tatooine, working for the Besadii Hutt Clan under J'erk the Hutt. He never rose very high in the ranks, largely because of the clan's crumbling infrastructure, but all of his recorded missions on the planet were successful. For the most part, he worked directly under Owen, one of the majordomo's for the clan, and rarely had to interact with the Hutt himself.
Though barely out of childhood at the time, Rhys had a knack for getting into trouble, mostly with a bounty hunter named Azylnn Ferris, of the former Clan Kuar. Eventually, the two developed a working relationship, and a habit of firing more warning shots than deadly ones when they came into conflict during jobs. A pair of Sith in Mos Eisley eventually became business partners for a brief time, and Rhys helped them smuggle artifacts across the planet. When that relationship soured after Rhys learned that the pair had been using the Force to mentally manipulate him into supporting their goals, including getting them meetings with members of Besadii, and feeding them inside information to use during negotiations. Though he realized after a brief and painful conflict that he stood little chance against their powers in a fight, he sought out one of the Jedi still living outside the settlement to help him protect his mind, and has since had a sour disposition towards the Force and its wielders, learning every available technique encountered in his travels to defend his mind from inspection or intrusion.
Independent Contractor[]
Never truly content to remain on Tatooine, Rhys eventually saved enough credits to buy his own ship. For nearly a decade, he worked small-time, but largely successful smuggling jobs across a number of planets, usually keeping to worlds not affiliated with Republic or Imperial incarnations. Most notably, he was a blockade runner during a previous war on Trandosha, where he developed his love of modified blasters after keeping a shipment of blaster modifications when the person who was supposed to take the delivery was arrested by Jedi, and was a frequent employee of several organizations operating out of Nar Shaddaa, where he, like many other smugglers, found a welcome base of operations. Other planets he spent time on included Dantooine and Dagobah, though the populations of force users on each planet kept his visits brief, along with Naboo, Hoth, Bakura, and briefly, Byss.
As usual, he kept to completing single jobs for credits, rather than involving himself in the hierarchies of factions. Usually, he found work somewhere at gathering hosted by the Hutt Cartel, but work on Nar Shaddaa is often available even when one isn't actively looking. During these middle years, most of Rhys's time was spent trying to keep his ship running, and developing spice, drinking, and gambling habits, though he worked in developing his skills with a blaster somewhere along the way.
Briefly, he encountered the Imperius organization, but it was always a bit too eccentric and shadowy for him. As such things go, Rhys never really made a name for himself, content with keeping his heart beating and his engines running. Even so, he made an enemy or two, and when he ran into Azlynn Ferris again in the space outside Hutta, an unlucky hull breach sent his ship crashing into the bogs on the planet's surface, presumably killing him.
Reappearance and Current Companions[]
Although rumors of his survival persisted among the few that knew him well, official records of Rhys's operation ceased until a recent report of someone matching his description being detained trying to make off with the favored dancing girl of a minor Hutt gangster on Dandoran. He escaped in the company of a force-sensitive arkanian offshoot, who had been a gift from a mysterious business partner. Upon escaping the Hutt's palace, Rhys, with his unexpected ally in tow, attempted to hijack a freighter owned by a courier who, unbeknownst to Rhys, was a synthetic replica droid. After getting several of his ribs busted in a fistfight, all three were forced to flee the planet when the Hutt's men opened fire on the ship, forcing them all into an uneasy alliance. Landing the damaged ship on Coruscant, they became trapped in the Lower City after learning that a Sith device was causing mass panic on the planet, and were forced to work under pressure trying to repair their ship and avoid entanglements with the Sith and the Empire.