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Roj Blake was the leader of a group of rebels opposed to Earth's government, the Terran Federation. He was a capable leader, strategist and the original captain of the Liberator.

History[]

Early life and initial rebellion[]

At some point Blake worked on the Federation's teleport project. As a young man, Blake became convinced of the injustice of Federation rule and became involved with a radical insurrectionist group known as the Freedom Party. However, one of his supporters betrayed him, and following an ambush he was captured by Travis and arrested by the Federation. His followers and family were purportedly allowed to emigrate to the Outer Worlds, but they were executed on arrival there. Blake's personality and memory were modified so he would renounce his plot and vow to help capture the rebels. After his confession, his memory was modified again to the point that he had no memory of any rebellion. He was given a new life on Earth.

Second arrest and trial[]

Four years later, two other rebels named Ravella and Dal Richie found him in a city on Earth and brought him to meet Bran Foster, the leader of another insurrectionist group. Foster told Blake that his brother and sister, who Blake thought had moved to Ziegler 5, were among those executed on arrival, and that the vistapes Blake received from them regularly were fakes. During the following meeting of the group, Federation soldiers killed the twenty people who were there, sparing only Blake and Dev Tarrant, an Outer Worlds Security officer who Blake realized was a traitor at his trial. At the order of Alta Morag, three children, Renor Leesal, Carl Deca, and Payter Fen, had their memories modified to make them believe that they had been sexually assaulted by Blake. He was then charged with assault on a minor, attempting to corrupt minors, moral deviation, assault, intent to injure, cause actual injury, resist arrest, conspire to corrupt, incite corrupt acts, commit corrupt acts, kidnapping, of which he was found guilty despite the efforts of his legal defender, Tel Varon.

Blake was sentenced to lifelong exile on the planet Cygnus Alpha and left Earth on the prison ship London. A last-minute attempt to prove his innocence failed and resulted in the deaths of Tel Varon and his wife at the hands of Federation troops. (A: The Way Back)

Escape[]

Blake refused to give in and rapidly organised a rebellion amongst the convicts aboard the London. Their initial attempt successfully gained control of the ship's computer systems, but Blake was unable to stand and watch while the brutal first officer of the London, Raiker, executed his fellow conspirators and surrendered. Blake, Avon, and Jenna were sentenced to death for their part in the revolt.

However, the London encountered a drifting alien vessel, which claimed the lives or sanities of the first three men sent aboard. Leylan, captain of the London, proposed that the condemned trio go aboard in exchange for their executions being quashed. They agreed and Blake was able to overcome the alien ship's security systems and seize control of it. Aboard the new ship, the Liberator, Blake decided to renew his campaign against the Federation. (A: Space Fall)

Commander of the Liberator[]

After recruiting the rest of his initial followers from the amongst the convicts following the London's arrival on Cygnus Alpha, Blake struck against the Federation on Saurian Major, where he met Cally for the first time. (A: Time Squad)

After encountering Avalon, (A: Project Avalon) he decided to take the fight to the federation and talked to another rebellion leader Trel Dekkan. After a brief space battle, he visited Dekkan's base after he said he had captured Rendel Stein, one of Servalan's right hand men. He created an uneasy alliance with Dekkan, after Avon pointed out some concerning information he had found. He didn't like Tekkan's unethical methods and saw that Avon was right about the viral weapons. He decided to help the freighter crew to escape, but Avon decoded the messages that came some Servalan so that Dekkan would be discredited. Cally saved him before the freighter was blown up. (AUDIO: The Hard Road)

He started having dreams of a woman called Velandra, Blake starts to question if this was a remnant of a memory before his first capture by the federation. He wanted to go back and find out the truth. His dreams included a vision of Travis. He found a world where he thought the woman came from and brought the Liberator to the planet. He learnt the truth of what he had seen. (AUDIO: Velandra)

Following this Blake struck repeatedly against the Federation, evading their attempts to kill him and capture the Liberator. He destroyed the communications centre on Centero, rescued the exiled leader of the planet Lindor, and took control of the powerful computer Orac from under the noses of Servalan and Travis. (A: Seek-Locate-Destroy)

Avon and Blake went to the Bovee Mining Facility after discovering it as A1 clearance only secret. There they discovered a mine mining a rare mineral. He met with the scientist who were imprisoned there and hope to convert them to his cause. He learnt that the mine was a shame. (AUDIO: Counterfeit)

Blake and Jenna were asked by the people of Suskar to help broker the sale of some crystals to finance their newly fought independence. He argued with the apparent former owner about who legitimately owned the jewels and rumours of a legal battle caused the potential buyers to leave. He used Avon to persuade the governors of the planet to allow Blake to get further. (AUDIO: Risk Management)

He was sent to Dr Lian after he was found delirious with a gunshot wound to his leg thinking himself to be Carlin Guzan. He told her about why he was on the planet. He and Avon was on the planet to show the neutral arbitrator about how the federation was exploiting the planet's wealth to benefit themselves. He wanted them to stop the federation testing a new mind control drug on the planet and then vowed to get placed on the drug so that Orac could see if they could create a counter drug to it. (AUDIO: False Positive)

Blake and Avon Pressure Point

Blake discovers the Federation's Control is a fake (B: Pressure Point)

Eventually Blake became obsessed with destroying Federation Computer Control, despite the widespread chaos and loss of life this would undoubtedly cause. His initial attempt seemed successful until he discovered the Control Centre on Earth was a fake, designed to lure attackers like himself. The failure of this raid and the death in it of Gan caused Blake to suffer a rare moment of self-doubt and temporarily leave the ship.

Blake accepted an invitation from the Dreamlords to show his future and how to beat the federation. However, they showed him the spoils after his victory, which had been manipulated by Servalan (AUDIO: Spoils)

The search for Star One[]

Blake learned Computer Control had been relocated to an outpost known as Star One and set out to find it. After many adventures he learned it was on a remote planet at the edge of the galaxy. At the time of his arrival the control systems were already mysteriously breaking down and Blake learned that Star One had been infiltrated by aliens from Andromeda, assisted by the renegade Travis.

With an Andromedan invasion fleet closing in and the Federation in great danger Blake chose not to destroy Star One but to warn the Federation and try to repel the invasion with the Liberator. He himself had been badly wounded by Travis and, reluctantly, abandoned the badly-damaged ship along with the rest of the crew.

After the Liberator[]

Zen reported that after leaving the ship Blake was travelling to the planet Epheron. After informing Zen of this he never appeared to try and make contact with his old crew. His activities for some time are a mystery and many rumours were in circulation; Servalan told Avon that she had seen him die of his wounds and was cremated on the planet Jevron after the War, however this proved to be a untrue.

In reality, he spent his time drifting from resistance cell to resistance cell. First he spent a while trying to locate Avon and the Liberator. This was until they missed his former crew on Sardor and seeing the effect of the Armageddon storm. He hoped to unite the rebellion again and he reinvigorated after seeing the film of the Liberator's destruction over Terminal. After being in a federation massacre on Sipon, he kept finding more cells but each of them was killed, this played on his mind. The rumour of his death was brought by a member of the rebellion creating a double after they realised that a bug was implanted in Blake during his recovery after his injuries fleeing his liberator, this was removed causing the scar on his face. He eventually became a drunk and saw a vision of Avon to which he told his story, whilst being left of Gauda Prime. (AUDIO: Blake's Story)

Bounty Hunter Blake

Blake posing as a bounty hunter (D: Blake)

He eventually resurfaced on the planet Gauda Prime, ostensibly working as a bounty hunter. In reality he was using this position to recruit others who sought to oppose the Federation. This led to a fatal misunderstanding when the crew of the Scorpio found him there. With his operation already infiltrated by Federation forces, Blake met Avon again. Avon believed Blake had betrayed him and fatally shot him even as Federation troopers surrounded them both.

The Blake clones[]

At least two clones of Blake were created as part of Carnell's scheme to destroy him and grant Servalan control of the IMIPAK weapon. One of these was killed by Travis, but the other clone took IMIPAK and went into hiding with the freed slave Rashel, his control of the weapon guaranteeing he would not be harassed by the Federation.

The Blake illusion[]

Fake Blake

The illusion of Blake (C: Terminal)

Servalan herself created an illusory replica of a seriously injured and immobile Blake, dependent on complex life-support systems, as part of her final plan to seize the Liberator. The illusion was located on the artificial planet Terminal. She herself believed Blake to be dead at that time, having seen his cremation over a year previously.

Family[]

The only members of Blake's family to appear were his uncle Ushton and cousin Inga, inhabitants of the planet Exbar. He appeared fond of them both and did not hesitate to go to their assistance when they were drawn into one of Travis's plans to take the Liberator.

Personality[]

Blake's personality was at least initially primarily shaped by idealism and determination. Immediately prior to his second trial he had a naive belief in the justice system of Earth.

However, as time went by he seemed to grow increasingly ruthless in his crusade against the Federation, willing to consider seizing control of the Federation's illegal drugs trade in order to gain leverage against it. His search for Star One bordered on the obsessive by its conclusion.

He remained a charismatic leader throughout, with only Avon seriously questioning his orders.

Relationships[]

With Avon[]

Blake was well aware that Avon was far from being a blind convert to his cause, but had a healthy respect for his abilities. He also knew that given the opportunity Avon would seriously consider deposing him and taking the Liberator for himself. However his final words to Avon before leaving the Liberator were revealing: For what it's worth I have always trusted you, right from the very beginning.

With Jenna[]

Blake and Jenna were close, and it was apparent that they probably became romantically involved at some point in the narrative, though details were not made clear. She was generally loyal to him if sometimes a little doubtful of the wisdom of fighting the Federation. When Sinofar summoned Blake to her planet to fight a duel with Travis, Jenna was also taken as a companion for Blake, which might suggest he cared for her more than anyone else in the crew.

With Travis[]

Blake's encounters with Travis dated back to before his first trial. He knew Travis' personality and methods well enough to predict what he would do in most situations. While he had no affection for Travis, he passed up opportunities to kill him on numerous occasions, knowing that while they were well-matched, he would always have a slight edge - an assessment that ultimately nearly proved disastrous.

Behind the scenes[]

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