Coming into existance aboard the Kig-Yar Raider
Transgressor, one of the rare instances where such a usually short-deployment craft saw itself underway for several years before returning home, Chur’R-Jek - then merely Jek - would have a fairly normal ‘childhood’ otherwise. Like any good member of his people, he dreamed of becoming a pirate, of growing his own wealth and, to a lesser extent maybe, the wealth of his clan. He would take the first opportunity that came, joining the raider
Contemptuous as general crew. While not suborned to the Covenant, the vessel’s Shipmistress had connections there and they soon joined the most righteous fight against Humanity. The idea was, of course, that they might be able to go about, to collect technology or systems or simple material wealth, that they could perhaps even board a few of the human vessels.
That period was as difficult as it was profitable. Jek suffered under the Shipmistress, cruel and harsh as she was, and they encountered dangers few Kig-Yar would be happy of weathering. The ships that she had intended to board turned out to be universally hot glowing rocks of sheer metal, leading to more adventures on the ground than could otherwise be desired. They would often find that some bases, despite their outward appearances, could still have a reasonable number of flesh aboard that was still willing to fight and such humans knew the terrain better than expected. It was harsh, dangerous, and after a few months of it the Shipmistress - and indeed the majority of the crew - decided that more profitable ventures could be found for far less hassle.
Their first instance of attempts to commerce with humanity, an act inspired by the events of
23 Librae, would go remarkably poorly for the
Contemptuous. Coming upon a human installation deep within a planetary asteroid ring, one they only noticed by the radiation and a vessel moving from one asteroid to another, the raider broadcast its intent and entered the field. Nine asteroids detonated disagreed with this course of action, rendering the raider suddenly dead in the water and the entirety of the bridge crew dead, to include the Shipmistress herself. Jek survived, by virtue of checking the cargo bay, as human boarding parties began to come alongside with the clear and utterly vile attempt of pirating
them. The defense of the ship would be harsh, and require the unplanned explosive decompression of several decks, but ultimately was a pyrrhic victory. On taking stock of the overall state of things, by virtue of seniority Jek declared himself Shipmaster. The human installation would be immediately destroyed by plasma torpedoes, while their few lifeboats were captured.
This was in 2536, and for the next decade or so Chur’R-Jek made a good enough name through his salvation operations. They would be present for the counterassault at
K7-49, staying for a good period following the battle to collect the near-entirety of Alpha Company under the assumption that they might be able to scavenge some use from their armor or sell the corpses to more wealthy Kig-Yar ‘Collectors’. The former would prove an utter failure, though the latter did find some success.
When the Prophets declared the Sanghelli to be traitors, the Shipmaster of the
Contemptuous answered that call - but not as intended. The declaration of heresy merely meant that a new market had opened to Chur’R-Jek, a market of the few who were more than willing to fight to the end yet would always need the weapons for that fight. He began to immediately smuggle arms to the Sanghelli throughout the Great Schism. The Shipmaster also began a policy of salvation towards the Huragok wherever possible, noting that having a body of engineers would be more than profitable in the years to follow.
The end of the war would prove to be the end of this venture, though through his efforts Chur’R-Jek would gain notable rank among the Swords of Sanghelios. This was something he immediately leveraged to gain a station on Anvil, seeing the opportunity as one purely driven by profit - the technologies and connections developed there could, after all, lead to an even greater margin than any back home.