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| - Balg, occasionally called Lord Balg by non-Sith, was a Sith Apprentice and Lord highly active during the closing years of the Great Galactic War and the Cold War that followed, both between the Galactic Republic and the resurgant Sith Empire. The Apprentice of Darth Mortan for most of his known life, Balg was feared by both the Republic and the Empire as a brutal enforcer and dangerous servant to his Master. One of the Sith's most skilled lightsaber duelists, Balg was secretly disloyal to the Empire, holding contempt for his superiors and holding the light side close when he could. Born on Nar Shaddaa (also known as the Smuggler's Moon) 18 years after the Great Galactic War broke out, Balg was discovered as an infant by the then-Lord-ranked Mortan, an infamous Inquisitor and artifact hunter of the Sith. Mortan was sent to Nar Shaddaa to enforce control in the Imperial-loyal districts, though he soon found the child he named Balg, casting the child away to Korriban. For many years, Mortan became a sort-of father figure to Balg, who assumed Mortan was his father due to his young age. However, by the time Balg was around twelve-years-old, Mortan's kindness vanished. The Sith Lord soon began using the brutal training tactics of the Sith against Balg, hoping to to twist him into an obedient enforcer. Mortan hoped to ensure one thing: that the tradition of an Apprentice killing their Master would not happen with him and Balg. At the age of seventeen, after years of training on Korriban, Balg became the true apprentice of Mortan, now ascended to the rank of Darth. Their first mission was on the world of Mimban, where they were sent to neutralize, one way or another, a group of Republic Senators who were close to negotiating a deal for the ruler of Mimban to go neutral in the War and stop supporting the Empire. When the ten Senators were in a meeting, Mortan sent Balg in. The Apprentice preceded to murder them one-by-one in cold blood. Whilst Balg didn't wish to murder them, he knew the punishment from Mortan should he refuse, and did the deed. When a group of Republic Commandos arrived to eliminate Balg, he killed them too, and the Apprentice soon built a reputation as a talented but dangerous Force-user. As the Empire won more and more battles, the Emperor surprisingly offered a Treaty to the Republic, which could possibly end the war that the Republic would surely lose. As Republic and Imperial delegates met on Alderaan, the Empire besieged the Republic homeworld of Coruscant. Balg was one of many Sith warriors sent into the Jedi Temple during the attack, personally striking down three Jedi Knights, as well as multiple Republic soldiers. The Treaty on Alderaan was now signed with Coruscant in the balance. Named the Treaty of Coruscant, it ended the war, though put the Empire on-top. The Sith had victory, but the Emperor warned the Dark Council not to destroy the Republic for good. Following the end of the War, Balg returned to his Master's side, and soon became a bodyguard to Mortan as the Inquisitor continued his artifact-hunting across the galaxy. When Balg was twenty-five, he ascended to the rank of Lord, though remained the servant of Mortan. Balg found himself now speaking with Imperial Intelligence more and more, who Mortan frequently worked with to search for Sith artifacts. One of these missions led Balg to Tatooine, where he met the Agent Cipher Three for the first time, and for the first time in his life, met a non-Sith working for the Empire who carried dissent. Balg retrieved a holocron from Cipher Three that she had recovered, and gave the Agent a stern warning: to stay away from Mortan at all costs. In 9 ATC (After the Treaty of Coruscant), Cipher Three went missing on Tatooine, as did another Agent, Watcher Four. Soon, a conspiracy unravelled, as Cipher Three - real name Ciniriel - was discovered to be the brother of the infamous anti-Imperial pirate Salovan Vesal and the half-brother of the Jedi Knight, Vidril Vesal. However, Watcher Four (a close friend of Ciniriel) was still unaccounted for, even after Ciniriel successfully defected. The Dark Council sent Mortan and Balg to Corellia (where Watcher Four was thought to be) to find the Chiss Agent, though they soon found competition in the form of the Vesal siblings, who had also come to retrieve Marsa, the real name of the Watcher Agent. On Corellia, the Empire suffered setbacks. Salovan and Ciniriel prevented the assassination of Bith Governor Wol, a leading anti-Imperial politician, and Vidril discovered the loyalty serum of Imperial Intelligence, designed to make anyone obey the injector as long as enough serum was in the bloodstream. Later on, Vidril and the astromech droid T4-O6 managed to capture an old friend of Ciniriel, the Chiss Leeo - also known as Cipher Seven - after he ran out of loyalty serum. Sal and Ciniriel eliminated Mortan's contact in the city of Arboron, the Alien Watcher Five, and soon the operation crumbled - until Marsa walked into Mortan in Arboron's industrial sector. Marsa was sent to an old Imperial outpost in the industrial sector to be injected by the loyalty serum under the supervision of Cipher One, whilst Mortan and Balg tricked Vidril and Jarn Walon, a Miraluka Jedi, into an Intelligence trap, though they were saved by Sal and T4. Ciniriel made her way to the outpost and was confronted by Mortan and Balg, who almost killed her, until Vidril and Jarn arrived. The Jedi and Sith dueled, though the Sith were unaware of Vidril's lightsaber potency and the fact that Jarn was an extremely powerful Force-user, even more so than Mortan. Eventually, Jarn used a shield to deflect Mortan's lightning, which struck and killed the Darth, whilst Vidril subdued Balg. Balg then stated that he had waited for Mortan to die for years, though not for the traditional reasons. Telling the Jedi that he had never wanted to be Sith, Balg showed regret for all of his past actions, though seemed unwilling to defect. Jarn, a known diplomat in the Republic, offered for Balg to join the Jedi Order. Despite having doubt about being able to right his wrongs, Balg accepted Jarn's offer, and defected to the Republic, being placed into the custody of the Jedi Order to be retrained as a Jedi.
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