Kal Blaton

"You can kill a man, you can hold his life in the palm of your hands and you can strip him of his existence, but no matter who you are or how much you try you cannot kill the ideas that he stands for."

- Kal Blaton discussing his views on idealism.

Kal Blaton was a journalist in the Alsakan Union during the Alsakan Crisis. He was said to have been very well respected as an objective journalist and as a conservative political analyst on his own debate show. Kal originally became a criminal and political journalist after the murder of his family, and eventually gained high standings in the Alsakan media. After the Invasion of Coruscant, Kal became the Bureau Chief of the Coruscanti News Network which an Alsakan news network had taken over shortly beforehand.

Early life
Kal Blaton was born in Xenvaer in orbit of Alsakan thirty years before the Alsakan Invasion of Coruscant. He lived with his parents and brother, Jek, for all of his young life. His family was very wealthy, having been the founders of a large industrial company that provided supplies to the military during the build up to the Alsakan Crisis, and combined with the fact that his family was very loving Kal felt that his youth was one that many children could only dream of. He frequently heard stories of how terrible things were on Coruscant and always pitied the children that lived there.

When Kal was fourteen, he took an interest in journalism. He wanted to become a scientific correspondent as nature, particularly astronomy, greatly interested him and he wanted all other Alsakans to share in his passion with his help. He became the editor of the school holopaper when in private school, and his high marks and journalistic credentials allowed him to be nominated for the Alsakan Journalism Conference, an honor that very few youth were bestowed with. The six day insight gave him insight into the world of journalism. On the final night, Kal was selected to give the closing speech with his family in attendance. However, as he began speaking, they were no where to be found and he completed it without them ever hearing a word.

When he returned home, he could not find his family there to welcome him home, but instead he found a gruesome sight that nearly sent him into shock. His family had been brutally murdered in their home, and judging by their locations and attire he determined that they had been leaving to see him. Kal called the authorities, and a few days later they determined that the murders had been carried out by Alsakan rebel extremists that opposed the military build up that the Blaton’s were assisting with.

After his family’s murder, Kal trained heavily in self-defense, knowing that he would very likely have to face another attack in some form in his life. During that time, he also attended the university where he began to focus on criminal and political reporting, as he wanted whatever happened to his family to never happen to anyone else and he also wanted to be able to correctly report the truth about the intentions behind the military build up. He graduated with high honors from the university and immediately was hired by a news firm as a low-level reporter.

Journalist
Throughout the years, Kal worked his way up through the world of journalism. He was eventually given his own small political show where he and guest speakers would debate the issues of the week. The show became very popular and gained Kal acclaim throughout Xenvaer, which quickly led to him being promoted to political correspondent status, though he continued with his program. His continued success brought continued acclaim and by the time he was thirty he became a well-respected journalist and analyst, though he was also often criticized for his so-called irresponsible playboy habits.

After the successful Alsakan Invasion of Coruscant, Kal requested that he be allowed to be transferred to Coruscant, specifically the Coruscanti News Network which the senior Alsakan news firm had subsidized after the invasion. He wanted to be on Coruscant when the re-naturalization process began, so it was important to him that the transfer be accepted. Along with accepting the transfer, his supervisors promoted him to be the Coruscant Bureau Chief, placing him in charge of the most senior and largest news network on Coruscant.

Personality and traits
To many of those who knew of him, Kal appeared to be an irresponsible and superficial playboy who lived off of the personal fortunes of his deceased family and the fortunes he continued to amass as a successful media phenomenon. However, he was also known for his contributions to charity, particularly through his own private foundation. Despite the negative aspects surrounding his public perception, he was still known as sometimes being fair and balanced but sometimes biased. He attributed this to the fact that he had two different sides to him in journalism. The first was as a conservative political analyst for the Alsakan Union, and the second was as a fair journalist who reported all of the facts of a story.

Kal was a staunch supporter of the Alaskan Union’s war against the Galactic Republic. He personally requested to be transferred off of Xenvaer to Coruscant after the invasion, as he wanted to be there when the re-naturalization process began. Kal also ensured that the public knew that he had a strong dislike of the Jedi Order due to the fact that they did not support Alsakan policies despite believing in a natural power. His public dislike of the Jedi was only amplified after the assassination of the Alsakan Vicar, and Kal regretfully became the first major reporter to cover the assassination.

Talents and abilities
After the death of his family, Kal put himself through a significant amount of combat training so he would know how to defend himself in the event that anyone tried to attack him again. However, he was not as proficient with weapons training, though he did know how to use a standard issue blaster. Such a weakness was of no concern to him as he was not involved in combat.

Behind the scenes
Kal Blaton’s early life is partially based on that of Kor Linth XXI, an early life that author Brandon Rhea had originally based off of himself. Assuming that the Kor Linth XXI article would not be expanded in the near future, Rhea took the back-story he created and worked it into Kal’s. The character is also currently a role-playing character for Rhea on TheStarWarsRP.Com.