You could fly away, with your fast ship and your stacks of credits. No more having to be the nice guy. So why don't you quit this job, and go back to being the next pirate king?
Because fast ships and stacks of credits are great, but being the good guy is what I love most about this job.
—Sal explaining his motivations to his sister, Ciniriel.
Salovan Vesal, nicknamed Sal was a smuggler captain, privateer and Republic operative during the Cold War. A talented marksman and expert starship pilot, Salovan and his siblings, the Jedi Knight Vidril and the Imperial defector Ciniriel, became some of the most instrumental members in the Republic's resistance against the Sith Empire during the Cold War and the Galactic War that followed.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Born on the planet of Balmorra in 3666 BBY (13 years before the Treaty of Coruscant) Salovan Vesal was born the twin brother of a sister, Ciniriel, but were left in an orphanage on the war-ravaged Balmorra, the identities of their parents a mystery. While an infant, Ciniriel was adopted and taken off-world, but Salovan remained on Balmorra. He ran away from the orphanage at the age of six, and soon found himself in the Balmorran underworld.
This began a turbulent childhood, working for pirates, smugglers, slavers, and the Hutt cartels. Salovan rarely stayed on one planet for longer than a few months, and quickly found a solace from this turbulence in technology, learning to repair and modify droids, weapons, computers, and even starships. As the war waged on, Salovan largely escaped the bloodshed, spending many years as a helper to pirate captains and bounty hunters in the Outer Rim.
Working for Kaliv[]
Recruitment[]
In 3653 BBY, now aged thirteen, Salovan fled his previous employer, a vicious bounty hunter, and stowed away on a shuttle to the Imperial homeworld of Dromund Kaas. Once in Kaas City, he quickly found his way to the seedier side of town, and stumbled into the headquarters of Kaliv, a notorious cyborg pirate lord, and his gang that numbered in the hundreds. Looking for work, Salovan walked straight up to the domineering Kaliv, offering his services, to a chorus of laughter from the gang.
After this humiliating introduction, Sal was prepared to leave when Kaliv's headquarters were approached by a Chiss diplomat. Sal, who had stepped outside moments before, recognised a holorecorder the diplomat was using to record the meeting with Kaliv. After running up and smashing the holorecorder, Sal was suddenly caught in an enormous crossfire between Kaliv's gang and the Chiss' allies, a low-ranking Mandalorian guild, who Kaliv had previously double-crossed. In the chaos, Sal saved Kaliv's life by activating the jetpack of a Mandalorian assassin, sending him flying through the roof of the HQ and exploding.
In the aftermath, Sal was recognised by Hereson, Kaliv's right-hand man, for saving Kaliv's life and helping to stop the Mandalorians from ratting out Kaliv to the Imperial authorities. With the tide of war seemingly changing, Kaliv decided this was now the time to flee to Republic space now that the Empire were on to him, and Sal was invited along by Hereson, who took a liking to the plucky youngster. As the hundreds of gang members fled to different spaceports across the planet, Sal joined Hereson, Kaliv, and Kaliv's bodyguard Jorak in their journey to find Kaliv's personal freighter.
Reaching the spaceport, the disguised gang members needed to navigate through stringent security checks, but Sal tricked two guards into chasing after a random alien, allowing the gang to make their way to the private hangar unimpeded. Inside the ship, Sal met T4-O6, the astromech droid assigned to the ship, and they struck an immediate friendship. The group were joined by Calara, a Mirialan smuggler and Kaliv's best pilot, and they departed for Republic space.
Coruscant[]
After a lengthy hyperspace journey, during which Sal got to know the members of Kaliv's inner circle, the gang arrived in orbit over Coruscant, but were horrified to arrive in the midst of a massacre: the Sacking of Coruscant had just begun. While the gang were hesitant to go, Kaliv believed there was now an opportunity to gain a foothold on the Republic homeworld, and the gang used the chaos of the invasion to land in a sector of Coruscant and take over an underground spaceport as their base of operations.
Immediately, the gang came into conflict with the invading Imperial forces. A fierce skirmish followed as the Imperials tried to take the spaceport for themselves, but the gang were victorious after Sal succeeded in rallying local citizens into joining the gang's battle. Soon after, the Empire left Coruscant following the Treaty of Coruscant, which brought an end to the war. The gang now controlled a sizeable chunk of the sector, and with popular support among the locals they had saved from Imperial oppression, they soon became the masters of an entire sector of Coruscant.
For the next three years or so, Sal became a skilled combatant, and worked with Hereson in eliminating Kaliv's rivals in the lower levels of Coruscant's gruelling underworld. Working alongside the Twi'lek gunslinger in keeping the levels under Kaliv's control, Sal also became respected by the populace of Coruscant, primarily war refugees, who lived under Kaliv's control. Little did Sal know that his employment with Kaliv would take a sharp turn.
Black Sun vs Kaliv[]
Abandoning Kaliv[]
During this time, Sal's already neutral stance towards his leader turned to distaste, as he grew to hate Kaliv's cruelty and greed. Sal had learned, when the gang first arrived on Coruscant, that Calara disliked Kaliv, and that she didn't trust him. After keeping Calara's words secret for three years, Sal met with Hereson when he was sixteen, learning that the Twi'lek was also in on the act and had learnt that Calara had fled to a different part of Coruscant, after it was revealed that she had made plans to bring down Kaliv's empire and now the crime lord wanted her dead. With Sal's loyalties lying more with Calara and Hereson than with the gang, Sal agreed, and the two fled to the middle levels of Coruscant, after a fierce street battle with one of Jorak's street patrols.
The runaways learnt from one of Kaliv's informants (who didn't know that they were traitors) that Calara was hiding in a cantina called the Iridonian's Mug. They quickly followed a figure they believed to be Calara into one of the cantina's private rooms, and reunited with the Mirialan. Calara explained that she had grown disillusioned with Kaliv's control of the sector, and made her decision to leave after witnessing him kill the child of a rival gangster to intimidate him. Calara planned to broadcast this incident to the Republic, whose security forces had somewhat recovered from the Sacking. Not long after the reunion, they were attacked by a large gang of Kaliv's men chasing Calara as well. After bringing down the gang in another gun-fight, Hereson interrogated a survivor, before killing him. With Kaliv on their tail, the Coruscant security forces in-bound and Calara injured, the trio set off towards the one place Calara would be safe: her former employers, the Black Sun. Hereson was reluctant, but the trio set off anyway, with Sal learning that Calara had previously had a relationship with one of the gang's lieutenants before joining Kaliv years before.
Meeting Black Sun[]
Arriving in one of Black Sun's hidden speeder hangars, the trio were confronted by dozens of guards, as well as a masked figure who seemed to be the organization's leader. While the boss was happy to see Calara again, he was suspicious of Sal and Hereson, and commanded his men to sieze the pair. While Hereson was dragged from the speeder, Sal was quicker, grabbing two blaster pistols and disarming the guards by shooting their guns, without killing anyone. The boss, impressed by Sal's skills, released Hereson.
What followed was an uneasy alliance between the group and Black Sun, who had been waiting for years to strike back at Kaliv and his growing criminal empire. What followed was the first of many street wars between Coruscant's gangs during the Cold War. For two years, the Coruscanti underworld was ravaged by increased gang recruitment, street battles, backstreet assassinations, and disruption of Coruscant's infrastructure. While Sal, Hereson and Calara helped to combat Kaliv, they kept their distance from Black Sun. Sal became a talented gunslinger under Hereson's tutelage, and the two became a fearsome pairing among the criminal underworld. During this time, Sal learned that Calara's previous fling was none other than Raan, the mysterious leader of Black Sun. Not only this, but Raan had also been a previous ally of Hereson, but Hereson had abandoned Black Sun alongside Calara after presumably killing Raan. While Hereson and Raan were close to killing each other at various times during the war, they usually put their grudge aside to unite against Kaliv.
Leaving Coruscant[]
After two years of the conflict between Kaliv and Black Sun, things took a turn for the trio. Raan, keen to end Kaliv for good, offered up Calara as a peace offering: in truth, he planned to ambush and kill Kaliv during the negotiations. Sal and Hereson found out from a Black Sun informant, but arrived too late to rescue Calara. What followed was a bloody skirmish in Black Sun territory, which ended with Raan killing Calara by accident while trying to kill Kaliv with a blaster. Hereson retaliated by executing Raan, but Sal was unable to kill Kaliv, who escaped the skirmish and returned to his home territory. By this time, however, Republic officials had finally gathered the strength to hose out Kaliv from Coruscant. With Calara dead and Kaliv fleeing, Sal and Hereson decided it was time to leave Coruscant, making a pledge to hunt down Kaliv.
Returning to their original headquarters in the midst of a Republic raid, Sal and Hereson had an encounter with Jorak, who Sal killed with a quick-draw after he made a mocking jibe about Calara. They found Kaliv's old ship still stashed in the old spaceport, and claimed it, with Sal reuniting with T4-O6. The trio fled in the Corellian XS Freighter and said goodbye to Coruscant. Over the HoloNet, news emerged that Kaliv had successfully fled Coruscant, and had been sighted by bounty hunters on Nar Shaddaa.
Hunting Kaliv[]
Arrival on Nar Shaddaa[]
Sal, Hereson and T4 travelled to Nar Shaddaa, the 'Smuggler's Moon', to begin their hunt. Instantly, they were stopped by Imperial operatives, though the Imperials were gunned down by a Zabrak, claiming to be the member of a group named Blue Sceptre. Outside the spaceport, chaos ensued, as Blue Sceptre engaged the Imperials in what would become a year-long conflict. T4 remained with the ship and hid it, while Sal and Hereson delved into Nar Shaddaa to begin their search.
They were taken in by the original founder of Blue Sceptre, an elderly man only calling himself 'Ancient', who revealed to the pair that Kaliv had worked with Imperials during the War, and so it was likely he who sent operatives to stop them at the spaceport. Knowing that their mission would likely become anti-Imperial, Hereson contacted the Republic anonymously to make them put a bounty on Kaliv's head, while Sal sent a message throughout the Nar Shaddaa radio waves: "If anyone wants cash, Blue Sceptre will pay." The trick paid off, and hundreds of bounty hunters, mercenaries, gunslingers and pirates soon joined Blue Sceptre, who themselves agreed to pay them after receiving more manpower.
Fighting Another War[]
Due to their semi-allegiance to Blue Sceptre and their mission shifting more towards attacking the Empire, Sal and Hereson found themselves mixed up in the civil war. During this time, Hereson met Melin Karl in a cantina. Melin was a Miraluka - a blind, Force-sensitive species - who had abandoned the Jedi as a teenager and become a bounty hunter instead, and was once part of the Freelancer Corps alongside Hereson, a unit in Republic Intelligence made up of criminals, smugglers and pirates who helped the Republic fight the Sith during the War. Melin promised to help hunt Kaliv after learning of his Imperial loyalty, revealing his utter contempt for criminals who aligned themselves with the Empire.
Sal and Hereson still struggled to find Kaliv, however. Despite numerous interrogations and infiltrations, no good leads came up. However, luck came when T4 managed to intercept a conversation over a locked frequency between Kaliv and one of the Empire's leading contacts with the criminal underworld, Colonel Haga, learning that the Colonel was housing Kaliv in one of his luxury apartments, though he would soon be moving to a new location.
Ending the Hunt[]
Arriving at the apartment, Sal, with the help of Hereson, Melin, and members of the Blue Sceptre, stormed the apartment. A chaotic shootout followed throughout the entire building as the mercenaries fought Haga's operatives, backed by an Imperial strike team.
Kaliv was discovered hiding with Colonel haga in the latter's office, with Sal shooting the Colonel instantly and without remorse after news came that the massacre of innocent Rodian women and children in a Nar Shaddaa slum was ordered by him. Kaliv, confronted by Hereson at gun-point, made several desperate pleas for mercy, promising to never interfere with Hereson's life ever again. Hereson simply reminded Kaliv that he had shown no mercy to Calara, before executing the cyborg crime lord at point-blank range, ending his life for good. Despite the gains, Blue Sceptre's leader was soon captured by Imperial Intelligence and the conflict fizzled out, though Sal, T4 and Hereson escaped in time.
Smuggler, Pirate, Charmer[]
Becoming a Pirate[]
Hereson remained with Sal for a few months, giving him contacts across the galaxy so that Sal could become a true pirate, using Kaliv's freighter as a new ship. However, the Twi'lek tired of the criminal life, and settled down on Hutta after a fond farewell from Sal. Now a smuggler, Sal worked jobs across the galaxy, occasionally teaming up with former Freelancer Corps members like Melin to attack Imperial shipping in space, partly as revenge for the events on Coruscant and Nar Shaddaa, though also because the attacks were highly profitable.
Sal soon made a name for himself as a privateer. Not only was he becoming an even more dangerous blaster user, but his piloting skills were unmatched, even by Imperial starfighter aces, many of whom Sal killed when attacking Imperial merchant ships. Whle this landed him a hefty Imperial bounty, it also attracted the attention of multiple criminals, who either hired his services or aided him during missions as allies and pay sharers.
Meeting Erana[]
A year after Hereson's departure, Sal and T4 accidentally hacked into the communications of an Imperial space station and prison not far from Toydaria, codenamed Station Hord. The communications revealed that an Imperial commando team had captured a Jedi Knight on Saluecami, and the Jedi was to be taken into Imperial space by infamous Dark Council member Darth Marr. Knowing the rewards for rescuing Jedi, Sal called on his allies, primarily the Zabrak pirate Moth, who himself commander a small pirate armada, to attack Hord, and the plan was set.
The attack turned out better than expected, mainly because a Mandalorian clan was attacking the Station as well, as one of it's members had been captured by Imperials as well. Sal made a truce with the Mandos so that both them and the pirates could find their targets, and Sal and T4 found the Jedi: a Twi'lek named Erana Ryess. She was injured, so Sal carried her all the way to his ship, before Sal and Moth escaped with their forces, the Mandos eventually finding their leader and destroying the base.
Sal returned Erana to Republic authourities on Coruscant, where he was personally thanked by Jedi Grand Master Satele Shan, Erana's former Master. Sal admitted his life as a pirate and smuggler, though he was surprised to find that this news was welcomed, as his main targets were Imperials, and the Republic military praised his attack on Station Hord. After striking up a friendship with Erana, Sal remained on Coruscant, becoming a hunter of former members of Kaliv's gang, aiding the Republic's main intelligence bureau, the Strategic Information Service (SIS).
A Different Life[]
Relationship with Erana[]
It didn't take very long for Sal to end up charming Erana, who ignored her Jedi beliefs and began a secret relationship with the gunslinger. This only got stronger over time, as Sal and Erana went on more missions together, hunting Kaliv's former loyalists. The only other 'person' who knew of the relationship was T4, and the droid promised to keep it a secret, a sign of his friendship to Sal. For some time, life seemed god, with Sal finally having enough money to actually upgrade his ship instead of just repairing it after so many space battles, and enjoying his time with Erana more and more.
However, Erana soon began to recall her role as a Jedi Knight, and became frightened that should the Order find out about her relationship, she would be stripped of her rank. This fear soon turned to anger, with Sal desperately trying to convince Erana to leave the Order behind, only for Erana to argue back, her aggression slowly increasing day after day. Eventually, Sal realized that Erana was on the brink, and agreed to end his relationship with Erana, ensuring that she would remain a member of the Jedi Order, as well as ensuring that she would remain level-headed.
A Discovery[]
Two years after parting ways with Hereson, when Sal was twenty, Sal was contacted again by the Twi'lek from Hutta, stating that Hereson had to leave the planet very quickly. Sal arrived on the planet, meeting Hereson again at Jiguuna spaceport alongside Vidril Vesal, a Jedi Knight and operative on Hutta who Hereson had helped to bring down a Sith Lord. However, the pair's actions had angered the Empire, who sent an agent after Hereson. Sal killed the agent, but was injured, and so Vidril rushed the smuggler to a medical station in Hutta while Hereson hid on his ship.
Vidril, it turned out, had the same blood-type as Sal, so a blood transfusion was possible, and while Sal healed up, Vidril learnt from the medic droid that Sal and Vidril shared some DNA, pointing out that they were likely half-brothers. This was proved when they compared eyes, both of the men sharing incredibly dark-blue eyes and the same hair colour. Sal revealed to Vidril that his earliest memory was in an orphanage on Balmorra with a sister when he was just an infant, watching two Imperials adopt his sister. Vidril pointed out that if the sister was Force-sensitive, she could have become a Sith, and realized their was a danger.
The half-brothers went back to Sal's ship and departed for Coruscant, relaying the news to Hereson and T4. On Coruscant, the group of four were greeted favourably by the Republic: Vidril and Hereson had eliminated multiple Imperials and a Sith apprentice while Vid was undercover on Hutta, and Hereson was still recognized by the Republic as a hero for his time in the Freelancer Corps. Sal and Vidril told Satele Shan, Erana and Supreme Chancellor Dorian Janarus about what they had learned, and soon they were authourized to travel into Imperial Space to search for their sister. Hereson told them about how Dromund Kaas likely held multiple adoption records, and that Taris was the only planet in the galaxy divided between Republic and Sith, so that was the easiest border jump.
Finding a Sibling[]
Start of the Search[]
First, the pair made their way to Taris, the most easily-accessible planet that could be travelled to Dromund Kaas from. After taking down two Mandalorians in the wilderness, the brothers were able to board a shuttle to Dromund Kaas, a place Sal luckily knew his way around due to his childhood in Kaas City.
Arriving at the city with ease, the pair broke their way into the Ministry of Data, finding a list of people adopted by Imperials who had lived in Kaas City. One name stood out when compared to the brothers in blood type and appearance: Ciniriel Fenaran. The two then went to the Ministry of Intelligence and finding out she was a Cipher Agent. On the way, they captured an Imperial officer, who Sal interrogated, discovering Ciniriel was on Tatooine, preparing to kill a Republic-allied Hutt.
Sal, knowing he had no choice, killed the officer, an act that he came to regret from time to time. After the brothers escaped Kaas City, they managed to get back to Taris, only to be greeted by a group of Mandalorians, looking for revenge. After a battle in the wildnerness, the Mandalorians were defeated, with Sal taking a helmet as a trophy.
Confronting Ciniriel[]
Flying to Tatooine in Sal's ship, the brothers warned Ko'ofo the Hutt of the threat against his life. However, when the Hutt's palace was searched, Ciniriel was nowhere to be found. Returning to the freighter (Hereson and Sal's crew had long since abandoned him, though Hereson was still in contact), they found a message left for them by Ciniriel, telling them to meet her in a cantina in Mos Espa.
Arriving at the cantina, they found Ciniriel under sedation, captured by four Imperial commandos and a Sith Lord named Lord Jurus, though why they sedated her the brothers didn't know. As Sal dealt with the commandos, Vidril dueled Jurus. Both brothers won their battles, though Jurus killed himself instead of being taken prisoner. Sal tried to wake Ciniriel on the scene, though he was unable, and so the brothers instead left a tip to the cantina owner for the mess they had made and returned to Coruscant with Ciniriel.
Interrogating her in a Republic prison cell on Coruscant, Sal revealed to Ciniriel her true heritage as Ciniriel Vesal and who he and Vidril were also. When Ciniriel denied this, Vidril proved it to her, showing her that she was adopted as a child, not born to Imperials. However, Ciniriel then explained why she had been captured: she planned to defect, horrified by the actions of Imperial soldiers and the Sith. Things got more interesting when she revealed she had hoped to defect with a Chiss agent called Marsa, who was unaccounted for. Now another search had begun.
Personality[]
Humourous, witty and at times blunt, Sal saw every conversation he had with someone as a chance for jokes, even when talking to a Jedi Master, a Mandalorian or a Sith Lord. Sal was also fearless, never caring what situation he launched himself into and often fighting solely for how entertaining he saw it to be, though this never stretched into a kind of arrogance, as Sal was very humble about his abilities, even if he was certain about them, and was always one to motivate others.
Despite his care-free attitude, Sal still had a good heart. Helping innocents where he could, Sal made it a mission among pirates he was allied with to attack Imperial convoys and not Republic convoys, as the Sith were everyone's enemies. It was very hard to make Sal angry, and very few things angered him, though some of his memories of Coruscant would haunt him for some time. This also stretched to a hatred Sal had for Imperials, something which made it very hard for Sal to first trust Ciniriel, though he did eventually come to love his sister.
It was undeniable that Sal made a presence as well. His introduction to the Black Sun almost cost him and Hereson their lives, and it was unlikely for him to go somewhere new unless it was to cause trouble. Even after becoming an official Republic operative, Sal was distrusted and disliked by many Republic military and intelligence commanders, who saw him as reckless and immature, though some were able to see that was still a very skilled shooter, pilot and tech whiz.
Physical characteristics[]
Almost as tall as Vidril (who was around 2m tall), Sal was also quite slim, and was very agile in his movements. He had dark blue eyes that his siblings also had, along with the same colour hair as Vidril: dark brown. Sal's hair was short, and he had a beard he loved to keep tidy and clean, mostly to impress women.
Sal's normal apparel was a brown jacket, with a white vest beneath and a blue vest beneath that. He wore fingerless gloves, comfortable boots and a belt full of hackng equipment. He wielded two blaster pistols, both identical, a holster on each hip. He also carried thermal detonators with him at times, and knew how to use carbines, vibroblades and scatterguns.
Skills and abilities[]
Combat[]
To say that Sal was an excellent shooter would be an understatement. Under Hereson's tutelage, the young gunslinger soon became a young-but-dangerous gunslinger, often quickest on the draw and rarely missing his mark, even at far ranges. Sal knew every trick with a blaster, though he was more accustomed to pistols only, and was often uncomfortable with using rifles, carbines and scatterblasters, even if he knew how to use them.
Sal's one drawback was in close-quarters-combat. While he did own a vibroknife for close situations, he had no training with it, and so made sure he was at the back of a battle. If it did come down to 'kick and punch', Sal often failed, possessing barely any upper-body strength and unknowing of any basic fighting styles or self-defence techniques. While Vidril managed to teach some basic martial arts to the privateer, Sal retained his comfort level near the back, in the perfect position to shoot his enemies with leisure.
Piloting[]
Sal was lucky enough to get his own ship at the young age of just 16, with the shared possession of Kaliv's ship with Hereson, before taking full command of the XS Freighter at just 18. However, Sal showed surprisingly good piloting skills early on, and these only grew better. Soon gaining a name among the criminal underworld as a lethal pirate and starship captain, even Imperial starfighter aces feared to take on Sal and his ship.
Sal was not afraid of piloting other craft, either. During his mission to rescue Erana from Station Hord, Sal stole an Imperial starfighter to help escort some fellow pirates towards a hangar, and he also showed competent speeder-piloting skills during his experiences on Nar Shaddaa and Coruscant, often using speeders in daring pursuits of criminals or associates of Kaliv.
Other skills[]
Sal showed a vivid knowledge of technology, knowing how to hack into, slice into or disable multiple kinds of technology, as well as showing some adaptibility, often figuring out unfamiliar circuit patterns with ease. This skill got to a point where Sal was able to not only connect his ship's communications systems to Imperial Navy messages, but could also hide his presence from the Imperials completely. During Sal and Vidril's trip to Dromund Kaas, Sal discovered that the Empire had been trying to track his signal for months on end, and even Imperial Intelligence were struggling to find him.
Sal also knew his way around almost any environment, as he spent his childhood travelling between dozens of planets. Street-wise in urban areas and a survivalist in harsher climates, Sal even knew more than Ciniriel, who had trained in the Imperial Academy, of all places. Sal also had a strong weapon radar as he called it, almost always knowing if a person he was talking to was hiding a gun, often looking for inflated pockets, unnecessary layers of clothing among other things.
Sal lacked in one category completely, and that was conversation. Whether willingly or not, Sal managed to annoy, provoke or anger almost everyone he spoke to. While this seemed trivial with some people, soon it got out of hand, and his interactions with General Elin Garza of the Republic Military almost got him arrested. In a way, however, Sal was a skilled talker, knowing how to persuade and coerce people, and knowing the right time to bluff or tell the truth.
Quotes[]
I'm sorry, but your accent is really distracting. I'm used to shooting people that sound like that.
"What?
"Sal!
—Sal, Ciniriel and Vidril having a friendly family conversation.
Don't mock me, pirate!
"Why not? Would you prefer a blaster over some harsh words?
—Sal insulting Sith Lord Jurus.
Two words: thermal detonators!
"How are we related?
—Sal and Vidril planning an attack on Mandalorians on Taris.
Note to everybody but myself: find peaceful solutions.
—Sal giving some helpful advice.
| The Vesal family | |
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