Age: 58.
Planet of origin: Helios V.
Height: 6’0.
Weight: 237lbs.
Hair: Ash Brown.
Eyes: Blue/Grey.
Sex: Male.
Status: Civilian. Ha!
Affiliation: The Rogues.
Rank: N/A
Service: N/A
Occupation: Rogues Leader.
Bio: Bal was born into a family of merchants who had been living and working on Helios V. Much like the rest of community he was suddenly a part of, his childhood was nothing special. He gained an education in things his family and the community deemed useful, basic education by Empire standards. However he was taught the ‘tricks of the trade’ by his father and siblings. Bal learned how to maintain technologies and even repair work on the ships, he learned what items were worth scavenging for repair then trade, and how to do this. Also when an item was worth salvaging or just scraping, not to mention prices and the gift of the gab.
The most notable change to Bal’s life was when he started employ with a ship of traders, better known for the term ‘smugglers’. This took his life to a crossroads, you see for the longest time Bal had wanted to join the Navy! He had wanted to travel to new worlds and meet with new people, often fantasising about meeting aliens! The voluptuous, blue or green skinned kind with long silk like hair running past their backsides. Tall and slender, Short and THICC, it didn’t bother him! But as he grew up, these ideas were gradually realised for what they were, unrealistic childish expectations, his view on the Navy began to grow just as bleak, this wasn’t helped by his father and his new employer's own opinions on the Empire being forced upon him any time he would mention it.
Eventually Bal gave up hope on his childhood expectations and looked for a more reasonable career, one much closer to hand. Not liking his earnings and the way the crew worked, he managed to get work on a Rouge transport vessel during one of his visits to Port Royal, this seemed a much better fit, there were more people in this vessel's crew he could get along with, those that hadn’t turned bitter and selfish like his last crew. Bal found this line of work far more enjoyable, though a bit more boring. He spent three years with this crew, twice as long as he had managed to put up with the last, before he was offered a chance at more serious pirating. His captain of the time paid back a favour by offering up some of his crew as extra muscle to another captain looking to perform a few raids, while Bal had experience with some pickpocketing and five finger discounts, he had never actually taken part in a raid before. Needless to say he was bricking it. The target was a lightly defended convoy of civilian ships, Bal wasn’t given the full details of the raid, only that the people on board were travelling with a fair amount wealth. The raid itself went well, that’s what Bal got told anyway, the sizable increase in pay agreed. Bal was no stranger to a fight, he had brawls many times in his life, but the raid had been something else, the people they were raiding had not wanted to give up their cargo without one hell of a fight! With bloodied knuckles, a black eye and a fat lip Bal sat at a bar trying to process the raid in his mind, some things were still a bit fuzzy and some patches were a blur all together. He remembered seeing a fellow raider beating a man unconscious with a metal bat of some kind. His right ear was still ringing from the lad who had opened fire on a group of what Bal assumed were security personnel in frikken armour! It had been chaos at one stage, Bal had just kept lugging a crate behind him as he and a small group made their way back onto their ship. Acquiring the crate had involved Bal bare knuckle brawling with a very angry bald dude, while both sides fought around him. If not for the fact bal had joined the rest of the crew for a drink afterwards, that would have been it for his career as a pirate. Bal had earned the respect of those he had worked with, he had fought and he had looted to an acceptable level.
As the old adage goes, ‘it gets easier the more you do it’. And it did, Bal began to get less skittish, he had learned from his mistakes and began to act more aggressively during raids, violence was not always necessary, just the illusion that violence would come was sometimes enough to get what they were after. With the more prepared, the armed defenders, violence was always a necessity, the levels differed, but Bal soon found himself almost enjoying the challenge, rushing a force, taking a temporary hostage and employing other hidden tricks, he began to think of this all as a game. Most of the crew members Bal worked with were from poor backgrounds, much like himself they had made a living as best they could, their distaste for the governing body was something he could never really get on board with. Bal had little to hold against the Empire, he understood both sides of things. At this point though there was no chance he would have reconsidered joining the Navy or doing something they could consider productive, he had such a level of freedom here with the Rogues. Everything was going fine until one job landed them all in hot water, the navy rolled up much sooner than expected, while the ship Bal was on, along with some of the others managed to get away, their captain of the time and a handful of other ships were immobilized. Leaving the raid force in a precarious position. Most just found other jobs and the like, some even scrapped the ships they had managed to escape on. Bal on the other hand, with a small group of those he felt he could call friend, decided to make a go of it themselves. At first their group seemed pretty rag tag, one extra ship following along with a group of others, it took a while, but eventually they started to gain momentum. They split the pot fairly, no one person got any more than another, however they were selective in their crew, Bal had a good eye for slackers and did not allow it on his ship. No one seemed to question Bal’s leadership, he had brought them together and constantly searched for work and leads for them, kept them well stocked and rested before a job and did little prying into their private lives. He was a pretty nice guy… provided you pulled your weight and held the same mantra the rest of the crew did.
It had taken around ten years for Bal to get a ship of his own even if it was sods luck, another ten of just getting by.. but after twenty years in the Pirate game and around twenty five years away from the desert planet he had once called home, Bal and his crew were actually getting some decent recognition. Which he continued to build upon for the next fifteen years, never getting caught was probably the biggest factor to his rise in reputation (although distraction and a silver tongue has also gotten him out of a few tight spots), Bal and his crew work quickly, striking hard and fast with what could be described as tunnel vision, get in, grab the goods then get out. He takes care to keep his crew and his own identity as much as a secret as possible while doing business as it never hurts to retain a level of anonymity to those you're robbing. Snap judgments and following gut instincts (not to mention the good grace of lady luck!) has allowed Bal to climb through the ranks to Pirate King, although the crown is metaphorical.
Helios V
Helios V is a desert planet of similar size to Venus, gravity on Helios V is rated at 15.37 m/s which is almost twice the level of Venus and in retrospect Earth. A day on Helios V last for roughly 36 hours (earth time). Due to the rotation and orbit of Helios V and its twin suns, on average Helios V experiences 6 hours of darkness (night), 4 hours of *dawn, 22 hours of daylight and 4 hours of *dusk before the cycle begins again. It should be noted *Dawn and *Dusk are loose terms, these are merely times where only 1 of the twin sun’s are visible to those upon its surface, these are some of the most comfortable hours of the day cycle in terms of temperature.
During the peak daylight hours the temperature on Helios V’s surface can reach 90C, Dusk and Dawn are much more stable at around 22C while its nights drop right down to 2C. Keep in mind Helios does have some form of season, this can cause the max temperature to reach heights of 130C in ‘summer’ and low points of -5C in ‘winter’.
Helios V has large mountain ranges between the vast expanses of desert, there are many cave systems which extend deep underground and can be just as vast as the deserts. Settlers of Helios V used these caves in the early stages of colonisation, some still use them in lieu of the settlements which can indeed be more suitable for comfort, if not so much for power usage. While Helios V has a fairly hostile environment those with the will to endure and the ability to adapt have been able to make it their home.
Helios V has underwater rivers and flora, mainly luminous mosses and lichenous plants, however these reside at a fair depth into the caves. Animal life on Helios V is split into reptilian, insectoid and some mammals, residing in the deserts, caves and mountain ranges. Helios V is plentiful in minerals and some ores, there seems to be some volcanic activity planet side however a major eruption has not been reported for several centuries.
During the peak daylight hours the temperature on Helios V’s surface can reach 90C, Dusk and Dawn are much more stable at around 22C while its nights drop right down to 2C. Keep in mind Helios does have some form of season, this can cause the max temperature to reach heights of 130C in ‘summer’ and low points of -5C in ‘winter’.
Helios V has large mountain ranges between the vast expanses of desert, there are many cave systems which extend deep underground and can be just as vast as the deserts. Settlers of Helios V used these caves in the early stages of colonisation, some still use them in lieu of the settlements which can indeed be more suitable for comfort, if not so much for power usage. While Helios V has a fairly hostile environment those with the will to endure and the ability to adapt have been able to make it their home.
Helios V has underwater rivers and flora, mainly luminous mosses and lichenous plants, however these reside at a fair depth into the caves. Animal life on Helios V is split into reptilian, insectoid and some mammals, residing in the deserts, caves and mountain ranges. Helios V is plentiful in minerals and some ores, there seems to be some volcanic activity planet side however a major eruption has not been reported for several centuries.
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