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The Story of Ba'al


There is not much to say about Ba'al.

He was born on Planet Denver, and his real name was Karl Mason. He never truly liked his name, it didnt seem right for his sense of character. He was diagnosed with a social disability known as Aspergers Syndrom at the age of 5. Aspergers is a social disability which means the person who has it has a higher brain intellect, but does not have the natural instant knowledge of social interaction. Small Talk was irrelevant to him, all that mattered was work. Whilst his school mates chattered away about nothing he fought of other things. He was very interested in History, particularly the History of Earth. He studied it; all of his spare time was devoted to knowing.
His parents attempted to get him to play with his friends, to talk to them. But Karl did not care for the irrelevant small talk of the playground; he wanted to learn, to study, to be something.
One of his favourite topics was the Egyptians History. The Egyptians fascinated him, there ways of writing with pictographs always made him wonder. He studied the Egyptians gods, but his favourite by far was the God Ba'al. Ba'al can refer to any God, but in Egypt he was a god of the rain, thunder, fertility and agriculture. He didn't know why he liked him the most, maybe it was the name. The name sends power through your throat, it can be terrorfying or relieving at the same time. According to the Denver Central Library, Ba'al was a god in some religions, but evil in others.
Christianity referred to him as the devils main Lieutenant. Another name for him was Beelzebub, although Karl preferred Ba'al.


The Symbol for Ba'al.


Karl was always thinking, he liked to be alone mostly, alone with his books and his learning ways. He was above average in school, even though his concerntration was set on different goals. Ways of making the Sirius Sector a better place for everybody, the place with none the hatred, just to all live together in one undying bond. Then it changed, in what he refers to as 'The Day'. Karl has remembered everything said, everything done, everything that happened on that day that involved this situation.

It was a normal day, nothing extra special or abnormal about it, and his Parents decided to invite him onto there ship. Karl being invited on his Parents ship was rare, he had only been into space 3 times before, and he was now 13 years old.

Karls Father, Richard, was loading the ship with its cargo, food rations. Him and Karls Mother, Jane, owned a small time delivery company, taking food rations from the plantations to the capital city. Sometimes they received a special job to deliver supplies to Pueblo or the Rio Grande Battleship, which they received big money for; well, it was big money to them, but to the eyes of Synth Foods they gave them a meer pitance.
The ship launched, Karl felt that oh so familiar burst of energy on the floor as the ship left the Planets atmosphere. This was the biggest job in the companies history, a delivery to Planet Manhattan, full of the best food rations Synth Foods could supply for them to take. If they managed to successfully complete the transporting of the goods, then the company would be safe from a financial crisis for a long time, hopefully long enough for Karl to start transporting goods aswell.
The ship left the atmosphere, and his father stopped the ship under order of a member of the Liberty Navy. The Officer requested to make a cargo scan, and soon enough the officer was back on the comms with the results.
He was an average guy, apart from some facial defects. Short hairs of stubble pierced from his cheeks and his short black hair wasnt able to go anywhere except upwards or flat down, but he kept it spiked up. He had a long scar running down his face, it looked like it had been burned on. His voice was low and because of the poor quality of the speakers in the ship it came out quietly, varying in pitch after every word.
Sir, please drop the contraband. The tone he said it in was one that was used to giving orders, possibly a squadron leader.
Contraband? Karls father asked, Theres no contraband on this ship, just a shipment of food heading for Manhattan.
Failure to comply will result in your ships destruction. The officers voice started to sound agrivated.
We are not carrying contraband, I checked the cargo myself before we launched, there is nothing there except food!
The comm shut off, and the ship shuddered.
My god, those bastards are shooting us!
What do we do!? Karls mother screamed, tears started to form in her eyes. The ship shuddered again, more violently now. The computer started giving its automated warnings.
Shield strength 65%.
Shield strength 20%.
Shield failure imminant.
Atmosphere venting in cargo hold 3.
Karls father was sitting down in the control chair, the automated defences were activated after the first shield warnings started. Karls mother was in the other chair, panicking. Karl was just stood in the middle of the control room, shocked by the situation at hand. Then his father stood up, grabbed Karl under the arms, and placed him in the only escape pod.
Be safe my son, he muttered so only Karl could hear, his mother hadnt noticed what was happening between them. There wasnt contraband in the cargo, weve been set up. Then again he said Be safe my child, be safe. He closed the escape pod door before Karl could complain, and slammed his hand onto the ejection button.
Karl was not prepared and was not on the seat when his father activated the detach sequence, so when the thursters engaged and initiated the massive jolt of speed to move away from the ship as quickly as possible he was thrown into the glass screen that showed the ship, with his parents inside, getting destroyed. As he drifted into unconciousness his last image was off his father, with his hand pressed against one of the windows, his eyes were closed and he seemed to accept he was about to die.

Karl woke up onboard a Liberty Cruiser. After he had drifted into unconciousness his pod had been picked up by one of the ships and transported to the Cruiser.
He was in a grey room, tied to a chair with his hands behind him and his legs attached the the two front chair legs. The room had no smell, had no taste, had nothing except two plain chairs and a small metal table. He tested the bounds strengths, and found they were attached well. He couldnt escape, couldnt even scratch a very annoying rash he had been developing.
A man walked into the room. He had a sense of leadership in the way he walked, his stride was powerful, long, and confident. He had blonde hair, with two large green eyes, the basic build for a Navy officer. Even through his confident walk he saw a slight limp in the mans left leg, suggesting a wound in battle, in space or on the ground, he couldnt tell. It could have been from a heroic act of saving his squad, or from a pathetic bar fight.
He took the other chair, and made himself comfortable. Once he felt there was nothing else he could do, he cleared his throat and began to speak, his voice bouncing off of the walls, making it seem like there were speakers in the room.
Your parents, he cleared his throat again before saying the next part, There was a horrible mix up, the officer somehow thought there was Cardamine onboard of the craft and shot it down, he is being removed from the Navy and will never be heard from again.
You started with my parents, but cut it off to about the ship, why? What has happened to them? Karl started to sound desperate.
There dead son. The cold reply echoed in the room for several seconds before finally dissapating. Karl tried to lash forward, but the chair was secured to the floor and it looked like nothing more then a slight jerk of movement. The reason you are restrained is because we thought you would lash out at us after hearing this news, for some reasons thinking this was our fault, that the incompetance of our officers has caused the death of your
Enough! Karl shouted, his voice booming in the small space. The man seemed to ignore what was said and continued.
parents. The mans expression was unchanging, his voice varying very little. Seems this man was used to giving bad news. We hope this hasnt changed your views on the Liberty Navy, and hopefully soon you will join us.
Go to hell, was all Karl could reply at first, but then his confidence grew, Thats right, go to ****ing hell! Untie me and get me the **** off this ship! Tears began to form in Karls eyes.
Calm down son.
I am not your son, the man I was a son to was killed due to your mistakes. Now, get me the hell off this ship. The man complied, pulling out a small knife and cutting the bonds that held Karl back. He choose not to attack the man, it would be to much of a risk to attempt it and try to get away.
He was led down multiple corridors by the unknown man, all the while he was talking, the words seeming distant in Karls ears, and everytime he decided to listen to what he was saying he was discusted.
We hope you may one day join the Navy, it is a very good career and it would be a shame for you to lose out on the paycheck just because of one small mistake involving your parents. The man patted Karl on the shoulder.
Get your arm off of me. Karls voice was filled with discust and hatred towards him.
I dont think I will, what are you going to do? You talk big and tough but in the end of this Im double, probably triple your age and weight. Your just a kid. Karl lost his temper, straightened his arms and bunched his fists. He swung at the mans genitals and hit him in the goal, then as he was clutching them in pain with his back bent down, Karl jumped and dropped his elbow into him, forcing the man onto the floor.
Now, tell me how to get the **** off this ship. Karl put enthysis on the f word, to rub in the fact that he was swearing.
Take the next right, the man managed to weeze out of him, still in pain and gripping his balls, theres a shuttle waiting there to take you down to the Planet. Karl slammed his elbow into the mans temple, knocking him unconcious. Not bad for a 13 year old who doesnt work out much. Karl thought as he climbed into the shuttle, an enlarged version of the one he was in when he left his parents old ship. The same force that the last time flung Karl forward the last time did so again, but luckily Karl was straped in this time, decreasing the force he felt as the surge of power ran through the entire ship and caused the small reaction in the engines which gave the shuttle thrust.

Karl left the shuttle in the small field the auto-pilot navigated it to, near a Navy base and his home. He entered his house, luckily he had a key with him, and went straight to his room. He let his feelings unleash themselves there, destroying multiple objects with others. A normal person would of done this for hours, but Karl only did it for about 20 minutes. He entered an auto-pilot stage, planning how he was going to live. He decided against wanting to try and get foster parents, instead rationing himself on what he did, what he bought, buying the cheapest food and doing high paying work. He sold everything, the house had already been paid for and gave him a few hundred thousand credits, which he used most of to buy a small one bedroomed house, big enough he thought to himself. School was a key factor to him, he wanted to be the best he could be. His social life died, if he ever had one. He did everything that would increase his knowledge. He sold all of his parents belongings, keeping with him only a photo of him and his parents together, taken two weeks before the day. He bought a brilliant frame and placed the picture in there delicately, making sure not to rip it.
He no longer referred to himself as Karl, he gave himself the name Baal. He never referred to himself as Karl again, and when people called him by that name he pretended he hadnt heard them. Karl was distant from the rest of the world, locked in his own thoughts, his own wishes, his own dreams.

Four years later, and Karls plan has worked with him to perfection. He had 150,000 credits in a private bank account and he made a constant feed of money through a job with a film rental company, he never has to enter his bank account unless in an emergency. Then his plan was found out, that he had no foster parents or guardian. The LPI payed a visit to his small house, bringing along with them two people to live with him. Karl said no, he refused to accept foster parents, his life was perfect as it was. The LPIs response was forcing him out of his house with massive taxes. He had to move in with his new foster parents, whose names he never bothered to learn during the two months he was with them. The foster parents claimed that they should get most of the money in Karls bank account, Karls response was that he withdrew it all and hid it in a place he refused to reviel to anyone. Karl had always predicted that he would eventually get found out, that someone would eventually realise that he lived by himself, so he had made a backup plan. The place where he hid his money was in his ship. In his spare time he took flying lessons, and found he had some sort of natural talent. He thought he might join the Navy until the Day, so he decided instead to open a larger, broader delivery company as a partner with Synth Foods like his parents had. He had bought a Rhino, hoping over the years to upgrade it to have triple the capacity of a normal one. It was armed to the teeth with the best guns around that could be fitted onto it. He wanted to make sure he never got pirated, and if he got stopped under false pretences like his parents he could stand up and fight. He always found it suspicious why the Navy officer never said what the contraband was, and why he was so ready to destroy the ship. He put these thoughts aside as the foster parents demanded to know where the money was. Karl found it obvious that the only reason they were in this was for the money. Sometimes the father even hit Karl, and in return Karl gave him a nose bleed, followed by a broken testical, Karl varied which one everytime. Eventually though it went to far. The foster father went after Karl with a chain. Karl saw this threat and took immediate action, removing the electronux he had bought for his own protection, he used them on the mans head, paralyzing him. The man was a dick, Karl made him suffer for it. Karl knew something was wrong, and he wanted imformation. After two hours the man told him everything, lets just say he wouldnt be having sex anymore. He told Karl that he had been hired by the LPI to extract the money so they could make a profit, then to ditch Karl in some orphanage. He told them about his parents death, that it had been deliberate, because his parents were competition to Synth Foods and the Navy had been bribed to kill them. Karls parents had had a large stockpile of money hidden away in separate bank accounts, and Synth Foods wanted it bad. The man who ordered the destruction of the ship had been in school and had been given the scar by Karls dad, and was apparantly happy to do the job.
In return for the imformation, Karl finished the death quickly, a few shots to the head with the electronux. Karl removed all things that could be used to trace the mans identity quickly. Arms, legs, head, penis all removed and buried in separate places, then the rest of the body was disposed off.
Karl sold everything his foster parents had and fast, the woman had dissapeared for some reason, but he didnt really care. Everything was sold for money, and he took off in the Rhino.
He felt the so familiar surge of power as he left the atmosphere, past the docking rings, and into space. He stopped as requested by a Liberty Navy Defender, wanting to scan his cargo. He complied, and the officers picture came up on the screen. The face filled him with terror, but comfirmation at the same time. It was the one who ordered the destruction of his parents ship, he made the breath that cost his parents their lives. One of the special features Karl built into his ship was that it hid his weapons charging from other ships sensors, and all power could be directed into one cannon on the front, capable of destroying fighters in one shot. He targetted the Defender and fired. He watched the energy beam glide towards the ship, watched the ship try and move out of the way, but inevitably would be hit. Watched the ship blow up into tiny metal particles infront of his eyes. He targetted the escape pod with the weapons, but changed his mind. He tractored in the pod and diverted all of his power to the engines. He received a massive boost in speed in return, sending him towards the trade lane where he wanted to go to Manhattan.

The officer woke up in a clearing of a dense forest, tied to a chair. Karl was sat on a nearby log, watching him. The officers mouth was dry, but he managed to talk.
'Where.. where am I?' he stammered.
'All will be revieled in due time,' Karl replied, 'but now I have some questions for you, starting with why you killed my parents when they weren't smuggling contraband.'
'What have you done to my stomach!' the man shouted, seeing as he had noticed the large scar on his stomach.
'Ah yes, I planted a bomb in your stomach, so I would get the answers I want. It's on an automatic timer but I can shut it off if I want.'
'You already know, if you kidnapped me you must know.'
'Remind me then.'
'Your parents had a large stockpile, millions of credits. Synth Foods bribed me to kill them so they could get the money, giving a false accusation of smuggling contraband. They came to me because they knew that he was the cause of this scar. He used a knife from the school cafeteria, he wasn't the bullying type, but when he got angry man he put up a hell of a fight.' The man laughs, watching Karl move back and forward. 'So I gave the order to destroy your parents ship, it was just unfortunate that you survived it, I should of picked up your tractor pod, gone in there and executed you there and then. Synth Foods promised me 15% of the total they got from it, which is worth it. That's it, that's everything I know.'
'Good, that has comfirmed a lot of things.' Karl turned around and started to walk away, heading toward the area where the clearing ended and the jungle starts again.
'Where are you going?' the man asked, sudden fear and panic in his voice.
'I am leaving,' Karl's reply was cool and serious. He looked at his watch, and nodded. 'You are about to explode.' The man screamed, filling the area with his low pitched noise, followed by the massive explosion, which made birds take off from miles away. Karl did not even turn back and watch the explosion as he was walking, his mind focused on other matters at hand. Small embers burned in the night sky, some of them landing in Karl's long, black hair, where they dissapeared into the dense jungle of Karl's head. The explosive Karl had used was extra powerful, but it didn't cause fires on the plant and animal life, therefore a minimal of damage to the already tiny forest, the rest of the surface being covered by the massive city. Karl found the next clearing where he had parked his ship. He laughed at a no parking sign he hadn't noticed before and took off, heading for the nearest ship dealer in the vast jungle known as Manhattan.'People say Manhattan destroyed the jungles of this planet, but really the forest never left.' He thought this as he entered the city.

Finding a dealer was easy, finding the right ship was easier. Now that he knew the truth he wanted to be a fighter, to fight Liberty and aid its enemies. His parents hadnt revieled where there money was hidden, but Karl had a fairly good idea. He knew that they always loved coming to Manhattan, and Karl always wondered why. He now guessed that it was because where they had stored there money, and they came to draw some out and use it for emergencies. He headed for the Manhattan central bank, and asked if there was a Mason account. They said there wasnt, so he tried his name, which had more success. This came up with one result, an account that held 15 million credits. He withdrawed it all, after proving it was his off course. He traded all of his money in for the best ship and weapons he could get, a ship that was an enemy of Liberty, a Sabre, with the best Outcast weapons. The dealer told him it was the best in the deal, and when Karl asked him how much it was the dealer said 16 million credits. Ive come this far, Karl thought. The dealer received a lethal dose of electricity to the brain, Karl didnt care about his life. He took the ship and kept his credits, spreading small traces of cardamine on the body to make the police think the murder was about drugs.
The ships controls felt good in Karls hands, and as he fired up the key systems he felt a burst of power 10 times greater then the one he had ever felt on his parents old ship. He launched, and plotted co-ordinates for several Navy patrol paths in New York.

Two years had passed since then, and Karl was in a tight spot. His voice had stopped changing, puberty was finishing, and he was short on cash. For the last two years he had been engaged in destroying hundreds of Liberty Navy patrols. They all flew defenders and the Krakens ripped through them like a knife would do to human flesh. He had 1.5 million credits left. Being in that much combat brought on massive repair bills for the ship, and it all added up. Karl knew he had to make more money, so he left Liberty, and began to terrorize the other houses. Three years later, the Rheinland Federal Police tried to take him down on New Berlin during a Cardamine smuggling operation, but Karl had used his infinate knowledge of detective books to evade them, setting multiple traps that killed the Inspekteur Der Polizei of that time, springing forth the joint leadership of Viktor Heinz and Frederick Belz. He managed to smuggle the Cardamine all over the Planet, making hundreds of thousands of credits. Then he met an Outcast on the Planet, and he wanted to join in there cause. They were highly organized, powerful, and had money, men, and were operating all over The Sirius Sector. The Outcast took Karl to Malta, home of the Outcasts, where he was taught further in his fighting skills, until he join The Reapers of Sirius, a small organization of professional Outcasts, they were the right thing for Karl.

And that is pretty much it about Karl Mason. Since that day he has been a proud member of the Reapers of Sirius, spreading chaos forward to all of his enemies. His only possession he had taken from Planet Denver was the picture of him and his parents, which is always hung in his private quarters on Malta, a memorial, a shrine, a reminder never to give up, no matter what.