Pieter is a villain. The worst kind of villain, in point of fact. Pieter's a villain so vile and terrible that I can't even tell people what kind of villain he is, because just mentioning the kind of villain he is will completely derail 80% of discussions about the subject.
When you read a book about some of the terrible things that human beings have done to each other on the state level, there is inevitably a disbelief about how normal, decent, friendly, family-oriented, fathers, sons, brothers and husbands could have possibly been complicit in such things. Pieter is the answer to that question - taking only a handful of qualities that are individually considered to be 'good' qualities, he is quite capable of carrying out atrocities.
In order to play that kind of villain, it requires that the character have friends and family to which he is staunchly and resolutely faithful. It needs you to see him put a couple of kredits in the 'Homes for Orphans' tin and not suspect a PR campaign. It needs you to imagine him patting a dog on the head, smiling at a pretty girl, bouncing his daughter on his knee and sharing an intimate meal with his loving spouse.
And then you need to be able to accept that he participated in an act like breaching a civilian dome, taking down a medical aid frigate, shooting up a freighter carrying refugees or something similar. This act must grow naturally from the very qualities that made him likable, even admirable, and not contravene the habits and history that he has acquired. Moreover, he must be able to go BACK to the puppy, wife, daughter and friends without being consumed by the monstrous things his loyalties have made him do.
I wanted to play a sympathetic monster.