Like many Martians, Jed Toln’s grandparents were from Earth. His family wasn’t one of the privileged few that came over during the first wave in the early 2100s, but rather they emigrated after winning a lottery to get them off the UN’s UBI as long as they helped with the terraforming project. Seeing as they were not skilled scientists or of military age, they became water techs and ag farmers. His father, however, was drafted into the Martian Congressional Republic Navy after the UN had blockaded terraforming supplies bound for Mars from Vesta during a period of escalation of the Earther/Martian cold war later known as The Vesta Blockade  . During this time, Jed’s father learned valuable skills in repair and ship maintenance, which he then passed onto a young Jed after finishing his tour.
 
On his 18th birthday, Jed started his mandatory MCRN enlistment and knew he wanted to be a ship engineer. Jed demonstrated a technical prowess for his innovations in increasing fusion drive efficiency, and even learned a thing or two about how to get some extra juice from the weapons system of a Corvette gunship or even the larger Frigates and Destroyers. He’d never gotten a chance to work on some of the MCRN’s Donnager class Battleships, but that hasn’t bothered him (too much).
 
Unfortunately, Jed quickly discovered that all of his innovations were the property of the MCRN, and he never got individual accolades for his discoveries aside from the odd promotion or medal here and there. This lack of appreciation came to a head when on one of his last tours a tech he was training neglected to follow his instructions correctly, nearly causing a reactor meltdown that would have destroyed the whole ship. Due to his quick thinking, Jed was able to save the ship (not to mention the Tech’s life) but the resulting radiation damage caused him to lose his left arm.
 
The MCRN was kind enough to buy him a new prosthetic arm, but they couldn’t afford a full limb replacement like the rich on Earth get. Realizing where he stood in the big picture, Jed cut his losses and decided to settle down and start a family after his second 6-year tour. However, even after all he’d been through, he couldn’t give up working. After only 2 years off he signed up with the Sommelier to work as their head engineer. The pay is decent and this way he might finally get some respect for his talents. Plus, now he gets a chance to see how life really is, “out in the shit”. His no-bullshit attitude always has him ready for the worst (even if it doesn’t come after all, he already gave his arm and talents for a thankless planet, what’s the worst that could happen?