Reyes Vidal

Reyes Vidal was a human smuggler and intelligence broker who became a prominent fixture of Kadara's underworld in the Heleus Cluster of the Andromeda galaxy. Alongside his smuggling, he traded in valuable information among the colony's quarrelsome factions, both on Kadara and beyond it. Charming and self-serving in equal measure, he concealed a second identity as the Charlatan, the secret head of the criminal network known as the Collective, and he worked patiently toward control of Kadara Port.

Background#

Reyes did not take part in the uprising on the Nexus, but he had little faith in how the station's leadership had handled the crisis, and he decided he could do better on his own. He departed with the exiles and settled into life on Kadara, where he made a name for himself as a premier smuggler and intelligence broker. The Angaran Resistance gave him the code name Shena, meaning mouth, in recognition of his services as an informant, a role he took up after Outcast leader Sloane Kelly seized Kadara Port. Reyes reasoned that exiles were more willing to talk freely around their own than around angara. As a smuggler he would carry any cargo without questions for the right fee, and he took his work seriously enough to limit himself to no more than three drinks while on a job.

Dealings with the Pathfinder#

Reyes first met Pathfinder Ryder in a Kadara bar, introducing himself as Shena before quickly setting the name aside in favor of his own. He brought word that an angara named Vehn Terev had been arrested by the Outcasts and was slated for execution, and he proposed working with the Resistance to reach the prisoner while Ryder dealt with Sloane. The two went on to collaborate on several matters in and around the port. When a series of murders plagued Kadara, Reyes pressed the theory that the Roekaar were responsible and enlisted Ryder to gather proof, keeping in contact as the investigation led to a hideout where he arrived in time to turn the tide of a Roekaar ambush.

Reyes also drew Ryder into the recovery of cargo stolen by a rival smuggler, Zia Cordier, which proved to be a trap meant to remove him for taking the best jobs in Kadara. The plot failed, and Reyes admitted freely to being a greedy man even as he resolved not to be caught off guard again. On another occasion he brought Ryder as his guest to one of Sloane's gatherings, slipping away to steal a rare bottle of Mount Milgrom whiskey from her stores before sharing it on a rooftop, where he confided that he had come to Andromeda to be someone who mattered.

The Charlatan#

The full scope of Reyes' ambition came to light during the contest for Kadara Port. The Collective's leader, the Charlatan, had turned some of Sloane's people against her and used them to beat her second, Kaetus. When Ryder accompanied Sloane to meet the Charlatan, the two were confronted by Reyes himself, revealed as the man behind the title even to Ryder. Reyes challenged Sloane to single combat for the port, but he left nothing to chance and stationed a hidden sniper to ensure the outcome. Ryder spotted the glint of the sniper's scope and had to choose whether to stand with the Outcasts or back the Collective.

Should Ryder side with Sloane, the sniper missed and Sloane disarmed Reyes, who fled and escaped, leaving her in command of the port while he went into hiding. Should Ryder allow the play to proceed, Sloane was killed and Reyes claimed Kadara Port, grateful to Ryder and convinced that Sloane would have brought a war the colonists could not survive. He resolved to rule the port from the shadows, remaining anonymous and working through a front, the angaran representative Keema Dohrgun. Asked why he had kept his identity hidden, he explained that he had not wanted his friend's view of him colored by the ruthless reputation of the Charlatan, and he affirmed that Reyes Vidal was the name his mother had given him. Whatever passed between them, Reyes later lent his aid to the final battle against the kett at Meridian.