Balthier, known as in the original Japanese language version, is a 22-year-old Hume sky pirate and owner of the airship "Strahl" (German for "streak" or "beam" light). He and his Viera companion, Fran, prefer to remain outside politics, making their living off of whomever has the most for the taking. They are inadvertently drawn into the war, however, when they attempt to steal the Goddess's Magicite—later revealed to be the Dusk Shard—from the Dalmascan Royal Palace. Vaan gets to the magicite first, and when Balthier and Fran confront him, the three of them are caught up in the chaos of a rebel assault on the palace.