Born on the planet Svivren, Slade was the son of Sirius Ragnor, a contraband and weapons smuggler for a group of pirates. Being on his own for often weeks at a time, Slade resorted to stealing to get by. He saw his father for only one or two days at a time until one day he never came back to Svivren. Slade never found out what happened to his father. He left his home and at the age of tweleve, stole credits and a small blaster from a bounty hunter named Baras laeth. instead of killing Slade, Baras brought slade with him and trained him to be his partner. They had done many jobs for the Empire and other groups. When Baras thought Slade was ready, he left him with a ship they captured and some credits and went off on his way, leaving Slade to find his own work.