I have to say, I am dissapointed to hear you say this, Aria Jenneth.

You can kill me all you want, Ms. Jenneth. It won't stop me from being right OR coming back to be right in the future.

The mind, heart and soul must work in unity while walking the path, to divide them against one another cripples the walker.

You may eventually find, Mr. Thessalonia, that there is a great difference between being blindly obedient and understanding one's place in things.

As an efficient but, in certain ways, damaged killer, I am fit to be a sword, not a king. That doesn't make it okay for me to blindly do as I'm told (I'm a self-wielding sword, quite a nifty innovation), but it does mean that if I decide not to serve a sword's function just because doing my part is not going to save the world all by itself, I am not doing my job.

Don't get me wrong: I am loyal to the State because it protects my mother's people, the Achura. This is nothing new.

And it should neither surprise nor disappoint you in the slightest that I value the school of thought and spirituality that makes me what I am over either the Gallentean path or Sansha Kuvakei's utopian lab explosion.



This is a statement of belief. Of course you believe you're right; you wouldn't be where you are, doing what you do, otherwise-- unless of course, you had those thoughts forcibly inserted into your cranium, which, in your line of work, is always possible.

We capsuleers are not true immortals, Mr. Thessalonia. And neither, for good or ill, are you. Ergo, you can perish. It's just a matter of working out how to do it. It may be that the one to figure out exactly how that's to be done will be a neurologist or a computer tech. It's even possible that being a capsuleer could be a disadvantage in working out the method.

It doesn't really matter. Until we come up with a method for eliminating you, or you come up with a method of eliminating or subverting us, I have something to protect, and I will do so.

And while we are expressing disappointment at the shallowness of one another's thought, here's my own:

I am disappointed, Mr. Thessalonia, that you simply expressed disappointment instead of asking me why.

It really is a shame that we had to exist as we do. There is so much potential in capsuleers, and so much danger inherent in our very existance, and in my opinion our deployment was handled in a way that could scarcely be worse so that we ended up with the most inherenet danger to the least positive potential.

Oh, that's quite possibly true. Just to start with, I'm not quite sure who thought that turning us loose as independent operators and granting us quasi-sovereign legal status was a good idea.

... Of course, that's from a very specific point of view. If you look on us as, say, beneficiaries of Jovian web-spinning (not a possibility far from being fetched if you consider the enormity of the gift the Jove bestowed on us), it starts to make more sense. At one point, I strongly considered making that-- the possibility of being a Jovian scion-- the center of my approach to the universe.

Even if that were true, though, I would still want to see my mother's people and their faith survive. So....

As a Gallente, perhaps you do not realize, that independence is a mathematical abstraction. Even planets separated by millions of kilometers are not independent. Governments and beliefs cannot exist without people, that you should understand. But also, peoples cant exist without governments: there are always those who lead and those who follow. And existence without beliefs will turn you from a human to a machine... or to a sansha. People can't live independent each of other. By living together in larger groups, they share same beliefs, and government, formed by these peoples share same beliefs too. Everything in our world is connected, everything depends on each other, and because of this huge network of dependencies we get this unpredictable existence called life.

The manner of your "working on" these issues crosses paths with my role, and Khross-haan's, and, for that matter, General Inhonores's.

And we will kill you if you try it, Sansha, as many times as it takes.

You're something we can all agree on.

It is a tragedy that our nations call for ceaseless war, an usurpation if you like. .

Have I not stated time and again that this is exactly what I'm doing? Have you not observed so for yourself?

If I could tear out these implants and still serve my function, you had better believe that I would jump on that chance. Unfortunately, they have proven to be very difficult to remove without causing permanent damage to the former capsuleer.

Yes, we are, Aria. That is exactly right. That is why I have to stay the course. And...the answer is no. I don't have that function anymore.

You are welcome to kill me a thousand times and more, if you will do it together.

For what it's worth, I'm grateful to you. And very, very sorry.

Hee. You sound as though you don't want to be a Jovian heir/puppet/experimental subject. You do know that your Master has been merrily implanting that same technology into plenty of skulls, himself, right? I wouldn't assume just yet that your boss has gone off-script.

I mean, directly attacking capsuleers? In ships designed to roughly match our own capabilities? Has he even pursued the "upliftings" any time recently?

With all due respect to your ideals, Mr. Thessalonia, you're starting to look a little practice dummy-ish.

A major difference between our perspectives seems to be this: yes, I'm aware of all this. Yes, I know I'm likely being manipulated from various sides. ... But I don't presume that it is necessarily bad to be manipulated. I haven't surrendered my judgment; I just "judge" that it's best to observe and play my part.

That way, if the time comes when I decide to go off-script, I might be able to.

A fragment, only, but true as far as it goes.

You do know that your Master has been merrily implanting that same technology into plenty of skulls, himself, right? I wouldn't assume just yet that your boss has gone off-script.

What we are is a group of people who through varying mixtures of genetics, training and money, have been either a gift and a responsibility, or a curse and a burden, depending on your point of view.

Our fascination continues to rely primarily with cybernetics. You'll find the upgraded Nation vessels and True's to be constructed in the same fashion.

Mr. Thessalonia, a capsule interface is distinctly cybernetic in nature (to wit, a neural shunt), the original slave implants were based on capsule technology from the very beginning, and certain of SYNE's early investigations into the "upliftings" led us to a certain capsuleer turned Nation officer. Shortly after we made that find, True Slave ships started popping up with some distinctly capsuleer-like traits.

Draw your own conclusions.

We tend not to put too much stock in SYNE over here.

As for the rest, you are correct in some sense, but incorrect in others. True Slave ships certaintly have traits similar to capsuleers, but we had beaten death long before cloning and pod technology merged to allow the rest of you to do the same.

When my ship explodes, Ms. Jenneth, my crew wakes up with me.

If it makes any difference, I was one of the investigators.



... To the degree they ever wake up at all, yes?

Interesting claim, but I think that's a more recent development than you seem to suggest. The Master himself aside, I haven't seen or heard of many survivors from the first war, and the span in between was characterized as much by entire hidden communities perishing of neglect as by reconstruction.

In any case, I wasn't speaking of cloning technology at all. That, if I recall correctly, is our own innovation, not a Jovian gift.

The question you should be asking yourself is not whether you've managed impressive technical achievements. It's whether your Master is a madman, a visionary-- or a pawn.

If you're going to be paranoid about the Jove, there's no point in being selective about it, and there's plenty that's fishy about the Nation's recent behavior.

I don't think he's a pawn, Ms. Jenneth. If he were, I doubt he would be quite so insistant that the Jovian's and their brainchild CONCORD need to have their influence curbed, nor would we be working towards making that dream a reality.

"The game" is the militia itself, Malcolm. Opposing it involves leaving the militia and telling the empires that we are not pieces in some cluster-wide board game of theirs.

We are not toys to be played with. We are not tools to be used for their political gain and discarded when it suits them.

What we are is a group of people who through varying mixtures of genetics, training and money, have been either a gift and a responsibility, or a curse and a burden, depending on your point of view.

As long as you fly under a militia's banner, you are supporting the game. You do not need to be part of a militia to accomplish your goals.

You only need to be in a militia to avoid going GCC on those who get in the way of accomplishing those goals.

Did you hear that, just now?

It sounded ... a little like ...

... the largest and most sophisticated intelligence network in human history ...

... snickering.

Believe what you like, Mr. Thessalonia, but you may want to keep an open (and free-willed, if possible) mind, just in case.

With all respect, Morwen, the "game" is more than just the militias. The militias are merely one field on which the "game" is played.

Also, there is more than one path to opposing the game. That you and countless others can't seem to realize that not everyone who flies in the militias is trying to accomplish the same thing is of no concern to me, I've dealt with the countless criticisms, accusations and generalizations from the start and will continue to do so.

With all respect, Morwen, the "game" is more than just the militias. The militias are merely one field on which the "game" is played.

Also, there is more than one path to opposing the game. That you and countless others can't seem to realize that not everyone who flies in the militias is trying to accomplish the same thing is of no concern to me, I've dealt with the countless criticisms, accusations and generalizations from the start and will continue to do so.

Maybe someone else will set you straight. I did not become what they call a "war hero" for nothing. It took the blood of many for that, in fact.

[....]and not a public relations tool branded with advertising for the latest fashions and carbonated soft drinks.

and not a public relations tool branded with advertising for the latest fashions and carbonated soft drinks.

I will use my status to further the cause outlined above, but as I am still a soldier, I have my obligations. The corporation-run State is still an enemy, and they will remain an enemy as long as capitalism is at their core. One might say capitalism is also fundamental to the Federation but, last I checked, the ability to choose one's own fate is at the core of a democratic society.

I'm afraid your attempts to sow doubt in my mind will be unsuccessful, Ms. Jenneth. I've spent relative decades since my conversion thinking of my decision and its consequences, and I have thousands of minds behind me providing additional weight to my thoughts. I've gone over the logical process of my decision, considered the consequences and the meaning behind it. The chances of you making an argument towards me that I have not already made to myself are quite slim.

You will likely not believe me when I say that I made my decision on my own (I won't dignify the use of the term 'free-will' in this case through its use) but to be quite frank?

Your belief is not required.

That would be a professionalism from a gallentean point of view

Have I not stated time and again that this is exactly what I'm doing? Have you not observed so for yourself?