Intergalactic Summit

I'm certainly no expert on the Amarrian faith, but all I am able to see here is one sect of a heretical cult proclaiming that another sect of heretical cultists are in fact the actual heretics. I'm not entirely sure what the actual appeal of this Sani Sabik is if all it promotes is a delusional sense of self-entitlement and privilege while practicing maudlin displays of drinking blood and expecting others to bow before the grandeur of clothes they do not wear. Of course, it's often those who are too delusional to see just how naked they are in public - indeed those without a modicum of dignity and self respect no doubt feel little shame at their public displays of undress - that feel the need to cover themselves in facades of false power. Those with true power often feel little need to impress it in public with empty rhetoric, I've found.

I'm certain the MIO is no doubt both amused and enthused at the prospect of potential Sani Sabik sectarian conflict however.

Ms. Vitalia,

If the extent of your power is acts of unsanctioned capsuleer violence in low-security corridors I certainly feel no need to travel the distance to witness acts that occur much across the cluster. After all, why travel to catch small fish in a small pond when there are far larger trout to snare closer to home?

Your bravura is commendable though.

[Camera Image]


* The camera feed opens to a darkened room in an undisclosed location. A single spotlight shines down upon a solitary man. The man is bound, blindfolded, naked.... and in great distress. He whimpers softly to himself.

Two pairs of footsteps can be heard approaching, and a door opens off-camera. *

(Off Camera) Vitalia: "This is he?"

(Off Camera) Unknown True Amarr: "Yes, milady. We took him as our prize when you struck their deadspace observation post. He is the head Apostle of that particular facility."

Vitalia: "Was. Child of Omir, do you know who I am?"

Prisoner: "You are...n....nothing! Your life won't be worth sp..."

*The blow is quick and brutal, a savage fist directly in the man's face from the unidentified True Amarr. The prisoner collapses to the floor and begins to cough-blood. The True-Amarr male gives him a kick to the ribs for good measure, as the prisoner cries in pain*

Unidentified Male: "That tone will not be tolerated, heretic. Milady asked you a question."

Prisoner: *cough* "Yes... yes I know who you are."

Vitalia: "Excellent. Now, are you going to tell me what I need to know?

Prisoner: "I ....*cough* ... I don't have those sorts of locations. That sort of information is not given to Clergy of my stature. We..."

Vitalia: "Oh, child, how I wish I could believe you. I really do."

*snaps fingers*

*The unidentified Amarr male produces a blade, and begins to approach the prisoner, who starts trying to scurry away unsuccessfully.

Silas reaches out and grabs the floating camera drone, pointing the camera directly at her face in an extreme-closeup. *

"Your followers are legion, yes, but I have all the time in the world. Are you listening, Omir? Your Red God is not going to save you. Your Red God will do nothing as I slaughter your disciples, spill their blood unsaved into the voids of space, and wipe all of their names from your precious book forever. Are you listening, Omir?"

*The feed fades to black as the screams begin off-camera*

There are men and monsters in this world who are not the least bit moved by the idea of a helpless man beaten, tortured and his throat slit. They find such things routine, everyday, boring even.

If you thought such a display would frighten or even register to a man like Omir, I think you are Walking into dark places you are ill-prepared to tread.

We are so many of us born into Darkness. I shall bring light to every corner.

So you would weigh the life of one man against the untold horrors unleashed by the larger States of New Eden?

I imagine the millions and millions of helpless civilians caught in the crossfire on the State / Federation border conflict for the last several years would disagree with your imagined levels of 'humanity and dignity.' Or the millions stuck in grinding poverty as cogs in your State machine, or the millions of unemployed Matari in the Federation eeking out a pathetic existence due to the inactions of the political elite.

All our hands are bloody in the pursuit of our goals.

Guilty as charged.



In the end Mr. Khross, people in this life are only as valuable as their ability to further your cause. Yes we have friends, we have acquaintances, but one should never forget this truth that underlies all things. Those who recognize this are that much better equipped for advancement in our little game of life.

In ages past the goals of individuals to accumulate wealth and influence was tempered by our oh-so-brief candle of life. We had but a short time to enforce our will and see our progeny benefit from our work.

We capsuleers have been given a great boon; There are now no limits. No ceiling. You and people like you can squander your gift by holding hands and singing songs of cooperation and love, or you can grab life forcibly by the neck and squeeze it for all its worth.

Yes, I am a combat pilot. I have killed and I have never denied that.

Every life has value but that value is beyond measuring from any single individual or group of individuals. It is both relative and intrinsic at once, a paradoxical level of value that can be attributed to very few things.

The taking of a life is not inherently an evil thing, it is a solemn thing.

I do not take glee in the destruction of life and anyone that knows me would attest to that. It is never something I do lightly and it is never something I do flippantly. It is a solemn sacrifice, a conscious decision that I make as I pursue and uphold that which is most dear to me. My hands are indeed stained with blood. I have robbed a families of their fathers and mothers, I have stolen a mother's son or a father's daughter. I have laid to waste hopes and dreams and trampled over them in the pursuit of my own.

These are all things I have done but I have not done them with glee and pleasure, nor with jubilation and sadism. I have done them with a solemn burden, knowing that each life taken had value to someone, somewhere and I would never seek to dishonor that value even as I must steal it from them. It is the price I pay each day in fighting for that which I hold most dear.

I am a monster and I make no qualms about it. I am a beast who dreams of beauty, a warrior who dreams of peace. There is very little joy in the duty I bear, except the joy in knowing that I pay the price so another may not have to.

We are different monsters, you and I.

It is a wicked and vile thing to take pleasure in the killing of another but infinitely moreso is it an atrocity to take life for pleasure. You are guilty of both.

I was wondering when this argument would show up. Hoping and praying it would.

On the surface it looks like Vitalia is trying to call out Khross on his hypocrisy. And in most circumstances I'd be all over that. I've seen my share of hypocrisy and hate it as much as the next self-righteous person. But there's just one problem. In order for this argument to work--at least the way you've framed it--you have to establish the premise that you, Vitalia, are a horrible person and the things that you do are horrible. Because the essence of your argument is, "You're just as horrible and depraved as I am, and you should just admit to it."

And yet here you are earlier in this thread trying to rhetorically prove that you're not so horrible as all that. So which one is it?

Then you should enjoy what you do, Captain.