Valik was born like so much scum, at the bottom. His early childhood was spent surviving on a toxic scrap heap at the base of a hive city. Unlike most, Valik refused to accept his lot in life. His earliest memories were of spending the days when the fumes were clearest, craning his neck up to the world above and dreaming of the heaven it must be. A seed of a sense of injustice was planted in him, and grew quickly. How could a quirk of luck of where you were born, decide your entire life? Valik dreamt of a utopian meritocracy and the seed of injustice began sprouting shoots of revolution. It was a naïve time.
He fell in with a gang of idealists and they became family. To begin with you couldn’t find a more passionate believer than Valik. He flew the flag, risked his life and ran the missions. But the oppressive weight of reality slowly crushed his dreams and he came to accept the revolution would not be happening. A meritocracy may not be possible for all, but Valik could ensure he, at least, would not die in the filth. He betrayed his family surprisingly easily. They had been planning a robbery of a noble, steal from the rich, give to the poor type gig. It was a simple matter of tipping off the noble in exchange for a job in the city. In fact, when the noble insisted that not only would he provide the tip off, Valik must be the one to pull the trigger on his family, Valik agreed without a second thought, or at least not much of one.
The noble had been impressed with Valik’s ruthlessness and efficiency and he put him to use. Valik was shocked to discover that gangs existed up in the city, more powerful although also more required to live in the shadows for fear of imperial scrutiny. The noble wanted intelligence on the gangs he had clandestine dealings with, specifically the Spicers. Valik was to join them as a mole. He would live the life, but secretly report to the noble, giving him the edge on investments and deals. Getting into the Spicer gang was easy, climbing its ranks to a position of trust was harder, but Valik managed it. In fact, he thrived. The Spicers were a sector wide gang with multiple local subsidiaries who all paid homage to system barons. It wasn’t long before Valik had contacts in every system and city. It was a life he could have excelled in. But of course he was found out.
Thankfully Valik knew it was coming. The trouble is the Spicers would want to know who he worked for. Once the noble discovered Valik had been made and that he might even have revealed the noble’s identity, Valik would be quietly gotten rid of, he was sure. Caught between a rock and hard place, Valik decided on drastic action. He created a false conspiracy of heresy, implicating both the noble and the Spicers. It wasn’t difficult to plant a few bits of incriminating literature here and there, draw a summoning circle in the noble’s basement etc. and then contact the Inquisition. The hardest part was convincing them of his honest intentions. He managed to contact Umbra and implicate the noble and the Spicer Gang. True to their reputation the Inquisition acted swiftly and mercilessly. Things moved quickly for Valik too. He knew his homeworld would no longer be safe for him, so he approached Umbra with a proposition. Somehow he ended up on her ship and under her employment.
Valik still wonders whether the Inquisitor bought his devotion story, or whether she simply wants to use his talents. Either way, it’s kept him on his toes and keen to prove his use to the Inquisition at every opportunity. Since his departure he’s tried to gather as much information about the mess he left behind him as possible. It’s become increasingly clear that although the Spicers on his homeworld were dealt with, the larger gang has survived. Perhaps they had their own deal with the Inquisition, or perhaps they were effective in persuading them it was a rogue local issue. Either way, the Spicers continue their work and Valik can’t be sure how much the gang knows of what he did. Even if they don’t suspect him, the fact he survived the purge might draw suspicion. The gang has members and minor gangs who swear fealty to them in every system in the sector so Valik has had to tread lightly. Unfortunately the noble was also part of a larger dynasty and the situation may well be similar with them. Valik doesn’t know if his existence or identity is common knowledge in that family, but it would be best to avoid any dealings with them, just in case.
It’s a dangerous existence. But Valik’s got this far by being unscrupulous and resilient. He’s survived and climbed up from the lowest place a human can be born. He’s still craning his neck upward and showing no signs of settling.