Alexandra Russo

''"Courage is being scared to death, but strapping in anyway." - '' Alexandra "Alleycat" Russo

Alexandra Russo is a Non-Force Sensitive Taanabian Human who serves as a Flight Commander in the Alliance Starfighter Corp. The elite pilot is currently the Commander of Shrike Squadron, and the Commander Air Group (CAG) of the Alliance flagship Galactica. She also is the fiancee` of Alliance Captain and Jedi Master Mark Starkiller. Her beloved and trusted copper red astromech droid is R2-M7 "Rusty".

Origins
The tall, brandy-eyed brunette is the daughter of hops farmer Han Russo and his wife Leia, and is their oldest child. Alexandra's younger brothers, Jacen and Anakin, along with her parents all tragically lost their lives in a pirate raid on their homeworld of Taanab when she was just a young teen.

Left on her own, the determined young girl went to the city to find work. She was befriended by Ketcher "Ketch" Gustoson, a veteran of the Galactic Civil War, who took her in when he found Alex always hanging around his business hangar at the Spaceport admiring his snubfighters turned cropdusters. The former ace pilot taught her how to fly Z-95 Headhunters and everything he knew about aeronautical mechanics. Later, Ketch hired her on as one of his cropdusting pilots. He often after work hours would share with Alex his flying exploits during the war, which lit a fire in her belly to become a starfighter pilot just like he was.

Before joining the Alliance officially she graduated from the Alliance Flight Academy with top honors and served with distinction in the Taanab Air Defense Squadron (TADS) for three years looking to combat the pirate menace that claimed the lives of her family. Soon after her tenure with them ended she joined the Alliance and became one of the members of Shrike Squadron, under the command of Corrax Talrus.

Personality Traits

 * Is determined, independent, driven to succeed. Could be called an overachiever. Is a calculated risk taker especially if she thinks it will make a significant difference in the outcome.
 * Is able to critically think on the fly under battle conditions.
 * Is duty bond and a career warrior. Likes to use humor to lighten stressful situations and is playful at times, but knows when to rein it in.
 * Is neat and organized. Could be called a neat freak, though is only really obsessive/compulsive regarding the maintenence of her snubfighter and her tools. It really rubs her the wrong way when someone borrows her tools without asking and returns them all gunked up and out of order in the tool box.
 * Chews on her lower lip when nervous or contemplating something.
 * Dislikes seafood with a passion. Is a meat and potatoes type of gal.
 * Is attracted to bearded men with nice butts, and prefers a good kisser (a make it or break it requirement). Believes the eyes are the window to the soul. Is a romantic at heart.
 * Is plagued by survivors guilt.

Skills

 * Starfighter pilot – Academy trained to fly X-wings, A-wings, B-wings, Y-wings. Also Z-95 Headhunters, shuttles, and light freighters. Preferred snubfighter is the X-83 TwinTail.


 * Aeronautical mechanic - Highly skilled


 * Hand to hand combat - Basic training. Prefers not to put herself in a situation that would call for it. Feels more comfortable shooting her way out of a fight.
 * Weapons - Small arms trained. Extremely good shot with a blaster pistol. Carries a DL-44 Heavy blaster pistol on missions.
 * Languages - Galactic Basic, Binary "Droid Speak"

Personal Items

 * T-65 X-wing (brought with her from Taanab when she joined the Alliance)Alex's_copper_red_R2-M7.jpg
 * Copper red astromech droid, R2-M7 "Rusty"
 * Mechanic's tool box fully loaded. Prefers a certain hydrospanner that Ketch gave to her upon graduation from the Academy.
 * Modified DL-44 Heavy blaster pistol
 * mulit-use pocket tool
 * Datapad
 * Pocketchrono (family heirloom)
 * Personal music player
 * comlink
 * Jokers Wild - a YT-1930 Light freighter she upgraded and heavily modified for the Alliance that she hopes to own someday. She stashes her old X-wing in the starboard cargo hold's fighter cradle to take on non-Shrike missions.
 * A holocube with her most precious holos loaded onto it.
 * A heart-shaped saphhire blue jem on a sliver necklace that was given to her by Mark Starkiller during their vacation on Lujo. The jem reminds her of his mesmerizing eyes.

TADS
After Alleycat graduated from the Alliance Flight Academy, she returned to her homeworld of Taanab and joined the newly formed Taanab Air Defense Squadron (TADS) as a Flight Officer. The T-65 X-wing based squadron's primary objective was to police and defend the Taanab System from piracy that plagued the surrounding area of the Inner Rim. If this had been in place years before, perhaps her parents and two siblings would not have died during the pirate raid that decemated her family's hop farm when she was just a young teen. Alexandra made a promise to herself when she joined the Yellow Aces that she'd never take revenge against those that took her loved ones away, but rather reach above that and help to bring liberty, peace and justice for her fellow Taanabians in hopes they wouldn't have to go through the same pain and loss. The past could not be changed, though the present and future could be made better.

Shrike Squadron
When the Rebel Alliance started actively recruiting the local planetary Defense Squdrons for more starfighter pilots to aid their galactic cause, Alexandra put in a application and was accepted into the Alliance's elite squadron, Shrike Squadron, under the command of Corrax Talrus. Upon reporting to military's base on Firrerre in the Outer Rim, the Lieutenant was greeted by Commander Talrus. TBC...

After Rear Admiral Talrus's return from his top secret mission to the Outer Rim, he became mentally unstable over time. Which led to his rash decision to resign his commission and steal an Alliance shuttle to go on a self-imposed crazy mission back to the planet he had been to when Admiral Adama didn't give into his demands. The Old Man had no choice but to fill Corrax's vacant position, so he promoted Alex to Flight Commander and Commader Air Group (CAG) for the Alliance's flagship Galactica. Soon afterwards, a rescue team was assembled to go after the deranged former Admiral. Jedi Master Starkiller had come across Corrax in the hangar bay prior to leaving and decided to accompany him to find out what was behind the pilot's bizzare behavior, and if there was any truth to what he alleged was happening on Alzoc III.

Vacation on Lujo
Having earned enough points finally for a two-week shore leave, Lieutenant Russo of Shrike Squadron chose to spend her time off relaxing on the neutral Core planet of Lujo, a tropical paradise known for it's caribbean blue waters, white sandy beaches, and romantic sunsets. Staying at the Royal Calrissian, named after it's main investor when the 'Pink Palace' was built after the Galactic Civil War, the brandy-eyed brunette took in the hotel's pool first where she unexpectantly ran into her commander, Corrax Talrus, who had been off on a non-Shrike top secret mission to the Outer Rim. Corrax didn't stay long as he was itching to be on his way back to the Galactica.

The warm waters called to her so the athletically-inclined elite pilot grabbed a surf board and paddled out. Alex had surfed before while staying with a fellow Cadet on the Gold Beaches of Corellia after graduating from the Academy. She had been out on the water having fun surfing for about a hour when a shark attacked her out past the soapy soup. The battle for her life began. If not for the intervention of a brave swimmer nearby, she would have died a horrible death for sure as the Great White was too much for her to fight off. Safe on the beach, the long-legged brunette finally was able to meet her knight in shinning armor. The tall, ruggedly handsome dark-haired man was Mark Starkiller. Soon she found out that the blue-eyed Jedi Master was also a Captain in the Alliance Navy. He not only was very good looking and charming, but wore a beard and had a cute butt. Now she wondered if he was a good kisser! A selfish prerequistie for her in matters of the heart as she was drawn to him at first sight.

Wanting to show her gratitude to the man for saving her life, Alexandra asked the Jedi Master out to dinner where they hit if off magically. After a night of heated passion, they continued to enjoy their vacation together, spending the rest of her two weeks not far from each others side. When it was time to go their separate ways, Alex back to the Galactica and Mark to the Legacy in which he commanded, they promised to continue seeing one another as best they could to find out where the relationship might go. Neither one wanted to end the sweet thing they'd started as a bond of some sort had been formed between the two military officers in the short time they'd been together.