Sorry to bother you folks with such a ridiculous question, but here it is:

"Veteran" Alpha Legionnaire from the book starts right off the bat with Decieve +30. How should we treat it? Does that mean that he already has all the previous upgrades purchased? Or that he simply skips the rules from page 77 of the Core Book saying that skill advances can't be purchased without acquiring previous ones first? I am dreadfully confused.

Thank you in advance for your help.

It is considered that he had trained this skill with all the former upgrades.

Simple as that. Thank you very much for clarification!

Chaplain is entirely correct, but out of sheer curiosity, I have to ask why it's relevant? If you have Deceive +30, you have Deceive +30. Why would it be relevant if he also are assumed to have had Deceive +20 or not? The progression is linear, not additive.

Just out of curiosity. Are you trying to map out the exact XP value of the Alpha Legionnaire or something?

For the purpose of determining if he meets prerequisits perhaps? Obviously he does, but it might cause some confusion.