Polst was a loan shark and minor criminal in Gadrin and Hedrett. He was horribly scarred, with the entire right half of his head covered in scar tissue, including where his right ear should have been. His right arm hung limply, and he carried his blaster on his left side. Due to his criminal record, he did not have a permit for a functioning blaster, so the weapon he carried had no power cell.
One of the people who owed Polst money was Kris Wahl, who owed him 1,138 credits. When Kris disappeared, Polst thought Kris was avoiding him, and kept an eye on the Wahl mansion. When a strange group of people came and went from the mansion, Polst leapt to the conclusion that they knew where Kris had gone and confronted them along with four thugs. So as not to make their boss look bad, Polst's thugs did not carry blasters, and the strangers handily defeated them.