A Leif on the Wind

Autumn Leif was born and raised by her mother on Danny's World in the Run system. Her father had been killed before she was born by pirates on the edge of space. Her mother, Zoey, settled on Danny’s World shortly after due to the community's dire need of a resident doctor; they had not been able to hold onto the last one they acquired. They offered Zoey a nice house and a good community for little Autumn to grow up in. She had as good of a childhood as can be expected in an outer rim system ruled by The Empire . Due to her mother's status, she and her mother were able to avoid massive debt and the need to become imperial slaves. She saw many friends fall to this fate though and harbored a silent disdain for controlling governments as a result. As she grew up, she learned the basics of her mother's trade.

As Autumn became a young woman, she took up responsibilities around her mother's office, and she became very good at determining what medicines were needed for her mother's diagnoses and the proper quantities needed to effectively heal the ailment. When Autumn was 16, her mother gave her the codes to her father's old Cobra MkIII. She began using it to pick up what supplies were obtainable from Smithport , the planet’s orbital. In her time there, she made a few non imperial friends and even managed to come back with supplies her mother thought unobtainable. She spent the next few years honing her skills as a pilot while delivering medicine for her mother.

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When Autumn was 20, a deadly virus sprung up in her settlement. Unfortunately, the only cure was a compound that had been outlawed by the imperials years before due to its ability to be abused. While picking up supplies at Smithport, she informed the authorities of their situation and requested a shipment be allowed under the circumstances, but her request was promptly refused. The Empire didn't want the population becoming addicted to the drug. For several months, her mother treated patients with what she had, but all she managed to do was make the patient's death less painful. Inevitably, she too caught the disease. Autumn couldn’t bear to watch her mother fall victim to an ailment that was so easily curable. She wouldn't watch her mother suffer as she had seen others.

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One night, she took the old MkIII and headed out to a local outpost called Langley Dock. Several of her friends from Smithport had told her Langley was a hotspot for black market activity, and she hoped to find the medicine there . The trip didn't take very long in her father’s Cobra, it was equipped with class A thrusters and FSD. To her relief, the smugglers at Langley knew of her need and were more than willing to fill her hold. The low prices at Langley were too good to pass up, so she picked up some other supplies that she knew she could sell for a decent profit. They gave her a few tips on silent running for the return trip and sent her on her way. However, her trip back turned out to be less than uneventful.

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A local Imperial eagle had heard of her illicit cargo and interdicted her on her way home. She knew if he scanned her he would link the ship to her mother and that would surely be the death penalty for her. She had no choice but to deploy her fixed pulse lasers and engage him. She swiftly broke his shields and destroyed his sensors and communications. Not wanting to harm anyone, she then turned to run. As she went to deploy chaff, she felt a shudder. The chaff launcher had malfunctioned and exploded, breaking her shields. The Eagle fired its small chain gun and destroyed her FSD and radio. Angered, she turned on the Eagle and fired the only two rockets on her cobra. The eagle didn't handle them well. She was now safe, but with no FSD, she had to travel slowly. It would take her a month to get home. She pushed the cobra and made it in three weeks.

Upon arrival, Autumn learned that her mother had been taken by the sickness. She was heartbroken, but she still had her mother's patients to worry about. She administered what medicine she had, but many more had contracted the virus. One of the affected families had a T6 transport with a working FSD, and they offered it to her as payment if she would return with more medicine. Some of the others even offered to fly as her wingmen for the journey to avoid another mishap. She took the T6, her three sidewinder escorts, and all of the credits the settlement had to offer back to Langley to fill up again. This time, the return trip was pretty uneventful, and they made it safely back to Danny's World.

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As Autumn approached the settlement, she noticed several Imperial Couriers and a Clipper landed there. To play it safe, she put down a few kilometers away, and she and her three wingmen took two SRVs into town. They noticed the majority of the Imperial soldiers were at the hospital and went to investigate. As she and her wingmates walked to the door, they were stopped by armed guards in biohazard suits and told they could not enter because the area was being purged of contamination. To their horror, gunshots rang out shortly after. Her wingmates, enraged, rushed the guard. One of them was shot in the chest, but the other two reached the guard and disabled him, took his weapon, and dispatched him. Autumn tried to stop them, but before she could, a salvo of laser fire met them at the door. She turned and ran for the SRV and escaped the settlement.

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She took the T6 and fled to a remote part of the planet. There she stayed for two weeks before she was tracked down by an old friend of her mother. He introduced himself as Captain Ty Panz and told her that many of the murdered settlers’ family members had asked him to lead them in a revolt. He did not want to get involved in another resistance, but he could not say no when he found out about Autumn. He explained that the Imperials justified their actions by saying it was the only way to stop the outbreak. They had departed a week past and left the settlers to bury their dead. They wanted revenge, and they needed her smuggling expertise to help. He explained that they wanted her to take the undelivered medicines to trade for weapons and armor at Shepard's point. She agreed and returned within a day with the requested supplies. Ty organized the settlers, trained them, and within three months they had control of the local Imperial shipyard.

As the rogues began to recruit more and more fighters, Autumn found herself needing more pilots to make the “Rogue Run” as her smuggling route had become known. Six young pilots from the resistance had shown an interest in helping, and they jumped at the opportunity to help her. The “Rogue Runners” now made regular trips in their stolen ASP-Xs and Cobras and kept the resistance well supplied .

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With the help of the Rogue Runners, the resistance quickly pushed the Imperials off of Danny’s World. While the Imperials still maintain control of the system, they don't dare to impose themselves on the inhabitants of Danny’s World again. With her home safe, Autumn officially founded Rogue Runners Co., and started focusing on expanding her business and delivering goods and services to those who need them. She founded her company on the idea that people should always be able to obtain the goods they need, regardless of their governments say.

Rogue Runners Co. Works from the far reaches of the Run system now, but they have ambitious plans to expand their services. Autumn has recently hired several commanders to help her move the company forward and is continuing to hire more every day, so she can get the galaxy what it needs, where it needs it.