The Essential Guide to Force Exile/Aertijn Tamble

"Captain, I know you can’t stand the sight of me, especially on your ship, but I don’t think it’s just because of what I’ve done. I think that I scare you. I remind you of the potential for someone as devoted to Yanibar and the Guard and all its ideals and rules to realize that sometimes the universe isn’t so simple. I scare you because I knew the protocol and understood that it was wrong, that it was better to abandon it. I scare you because I can live with myself even after rejecting that strict adherence to the regulations."

- Aertijn Tamble

Aertijn Tamble was a Human male from Yanibar. His parents were one of the many inhabitants who moved from the Draskar community into the Yanibar refuge established by Selu Kraen in 15 BBY. As a young boy, Tamble was enamored with the Yanibar Guard, the defense force of the colony, particularly its infantry, who seemed particularly impressive in their powered armor suits.

He joined the Yanibar Guard in 4 BBY before the Battle of Yanibar, undergoing intensive training. He was devoted, loyal, and a dedicated soldier, who eventually earned his posting as an officer in the Yanibar Guard Marines. He was one of many Yanibar Guard officers who fought in the Battle of Yanibar in 4 ABY, when he and the company he commanded were instructed to hold a strategic river crossing against a wave of fanatical enemy soldiers. Fortifying a refueling station, Tamble and his marines held off against staggering odds for hours, at the cost of forty-one of his fifty men killed or severely wounded in the assault.

For his heroism, he was decorated and promoted to major, serving as the executive officer for a marine battalion on the cruiser-carrier Aayla Secura. Tamble was glad to be off of Yanibar on routine space patrols, away from the memories of friends who had fallen.

In 7 ABY, the Aayla Secura was sent to provide an escort for a group of civilian geologists helping establish mining operations on a world called Ta'antos, which Yanibar hoped would yield raw materials for their reconstruction efforts and benefit the hardscrabble colony. A small complement of marines was debarked to guard the scientists, some of whom were local civilians and others were from Yanibar. Major Tamble served his rotations on the surface and met a young local woman named Yoshirel, whom he quickly became enamored with.

They had been there three weeks without incident, but old tensions that had long been simmering on Ta'antos soon broke out. The compound that the Yanibar expedition had established in the city as well as the survey team out in the foothills had come under attack as an old civil war flared up again. The captain of the ''Aayla Secura, Captain Destra Starkellos Zel, ordered a relief force of marines sent under Tamble. However, Tamble defied orders and sent much of his strength to assist the survey team, despite the compound being under greater assault, in order to protect Yoshirel from harm. The result was two Yanibar Guard deaths in the city, along with many more native casualties, while the survey team got away unscathed and the local geologists were given asylum on Yanibar. For his insubordination and selfish actions, Tamble earned himself a court-martial as well as the disgust of Captain Zel, who found the man's placing his own interests above his duty repulsive. Zel had him confined to the brig for the remainder of the mission and took great pleasure in telling him to get off his ship when they returned to Yanibar. Tamble was subsequently drummed out of the military. Furthermore, though Yoshirel and the other civilian geologists were given asylum, she had been horrified at seeing him in combat, saying that he was a different man, with too much blood on his hands.

Upon his return to Yanibar, the news media found out about his actions and delivered scathing commentary on him. Yoshirel wanted nothing to do with him, and with his sullied reputation and discharge from the military, he couldn't find employment. He drifted from odd job to odd job, turning to alcohol to numb his miserable existence. One night, five years after returning to Yanibar, when particularly intoxicated, he called Yoshirel and begged her forgiveness. To his surprise, she granted it, and taught him to forgive both himself and the Yanibar Guard. Their relationship recovered slowly, and they married in 18 ABY, moving out to the highlands to farm. Yoshirel and Aertijn eventually had two sons and the former marine now strove to raise his sons so they would never have to repeat his mistakes while also working on his farm.

In 35 ABY, the Aayla Secura was retired. Tamble had friends at Kraechar Arms who arranged for him and his sons to go up and visit the ship one last time before she was decommissioned. While there, he ran into Captain Zel and several other officers, who were not happy to see him. Captain Zel ordered him off the ship, but he first at least told his story, including of how he ultimately found redemption. Though Zel and the others were largely unmoved by his story, they at least afforded him a modicum of respect after that.

When the Yanibar refuge departed for Atlaradis in 38 ABY, Aertijn, Yoshirel, and their two sons went with them to start over on a new world.

Behind the scenes
Aertijn Tamble was created for the short story The Final Voyage by Atarumaster88. His name is inspired from a Dutch e-sports commentator, Martijn "Mumbles" Bloemheuvel. He was written as a foil to Destra Starkellos Zel, with elements of his backstory deliberately drawn to oppose those of Zel's. Tamble left the military and was married, while Zel's life calling with the fleet, and he never married. His story arc was not originally in the outline, but Atarumaster88 added it later when he wanted to add more tension to the story. When writing Tamble's story, Atarumaster88 wanted to be careful to avoid too overtly politicizing the Ta'antos incident, despite the obvious parallels that could be drawn between Ta'antos and real geopolitical events.

Appearances

 * The Final Voyage