Height: 6' (1.83m)
Weight: 175 (79kg)
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Grey
Birth: March 6, 2989; Bruges, Hanseatic League

Callsign: Bash
Battlemech: Mongoose - MON-67 ('Rikki-Tiki')

Attractive; Gregarious

Bastiaan Valk's childhood could have left him jaded and bitter at best, or in some galactic prison or dead in the streets at worst, but somehow he managed to come out the other side with his sense of humor and a deep appreciation for life still intact. Rather worn around the edges, his subdued and somewhat rough appearance can give the impression that he's older than his years to those first meeting him, but that only lasts until he inevitably cracks a joke and breaks into a boyish smile that brings a twinkle to his grey eyes and is all the more charming for being slightly off-kilter. That charm isn't the polished performance of a professional schmoozer, but that of a man that genuinely loves people and is most at home when surrounded by those closest to him, one for whom strangers are just those friends he hasn't met yet. He's a man that is at peace with himself and comfortable in his existence, moving through life with a brilliant smile on his face and a confident, cock-sure swagger that says no matter how shoddy or rundown his proverbial castle might be, it's his and he absolutely owns it.

It's that natural swagger and confidence that make it easy for him to reel in people, despite his lack of polish and style. Bash doesn't put a lot of care into his appearance beyond showering when he can and regularly trimming up the beard that he keeps because it's less hassle than shaving all the time. His hair is perpetually tousled, sometimes on the verge of being a little too long before he bothers to drag out the clippers and buzz it down again, and the most effort that he's ever put into styling it comes from a brisk toweling dry. His physique is lean, the musculature more that of a man that works hard for a living instead of just working out, that impression reinforced by the callouses on his hands and the fact that no matter how many times he washes them, there's always a trace of dirt or grease beneath his nails. Exposure to the sun turns his hair and beard a lighter shade of blonde, and his skin never quite loses that little bit of tan that comes from time spent outside. Tattooed on the left side of his ribcage is a single black centimeter-high line that reads: « 10 • 18 • 3009 • 20:13 • -446.895 : 4.26 »

Everything Bash owns is old, but crafted of sturdy, serviceable materials designed to last for years if taken care of, from his well-worn combat boots to the faded and patched field jacket that sports a Black Death badge on the shoulder. The inbetween space of his wardrobe is filled out by cargos and jeans, T-shirts and henleys, and the rare flannel shirt if the temperature is just right. Not a single article of his clothing looks new, their age marked by threadbare hems, stains, shiny knees, and the occasional hole. On the first finger of his left hand he wears a heavy gold signet ring that bears a heraldic crest depicting a falcon striking. When out and about in more dangerous locales, he carries a standard autopistol on his belt as an additional accessory, but will readily admit that he's never actually fired it at anyone.

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Bastiaan's battlemech is a Mongoose MON-67, named 'Rikki-Tiki' because as a man whose most-prized possession is a legitimate actual leather-bound, paper-paged copy of his favorite childhood collection of tales, The Jungle Book, what else would he possibly call it?

The battlemech isn't painted in anything fancy, instead covered in not really a camo pattern but more just a mis-match of terrain-colored paints. Almost like it was painted with whatever happened to be on hand at the time repairs were needed, with more than a few pieces coated with little other than basic gray primer. The exception are the Mongoose's cloven feet, which are painted fire engine red and upon close inspection appear to be covered with a random assortment of cute stickers of the type that school children might receive as rewards, some tattered by age, others relatively fresh and bright.