Nor is it easy to do what they do.

But yes you are right, many mercs in the field are pretty poorly untrained and new to the mercenary life.

Exactly! This isn't a matter of "who's stronger, who's better". We are all trained and molded into our own fates we decide. A capsuleer pilots and navigates in space, us mercenaries lay combat and change the tides of planets with our boots and guns. No job is unnecessary, and no job is the better.

A capsuleer probably won't stand much of a chance against a well trained mercenary, and a mercenary will be lost amongst the spreadsheets, gizmos, and intricacy of a pilots life! It's the way it is.

Exactly! This isn't a matter of "who's stronger, who's better". We are all trained and molded into our own fates we decide. A capsuleer pilots and navigates in space, us mercenaries lay combat and change the tides of planets with our boots and guns. No job is unnecessary, and no job is the better.

A capsuleer probably won't stand much of a chance against a well trained mercenary, and a mercenary will be lost amongst the spreadsheets, gizmos, and intricacy of a pilots life! It's the way it is.

For those arrogant enough to claim the ability to fight on both fronts, I can only ask them one thing: why would you ever subject your soul to the savage realities of both lives?

God, no thank you. I kill enough people per day without heading out into space and murdering my way through cruisers and transports and everything else they're flying up there, thank you very much. Besides, at least the people I kill come back. And yes, I know those flying sky bastards come back too, but their crews don't.

I am well informed of the tribulations a capsuleer must endure, though I dare say Soren, my patron, does not suffer in his service.

"The Lord's work is not something to shirk"

As the old adage goes

I look on those that make their grim work enjoyable with a curiosity and speculation. I find the concept of enjoying such a cruel way of life appalling, and yet it is interesting to see how their minds have been able to overcome the stresses of war (I am not implying that your associate is psychotic; I am merely looking back at my experiences with some capsuleers) That being said, I have found that it is more prudent to loathe the work and embrace the fellowship of those you work with. I may not like having to mow down foes with a Boundless HMG, but I can enjoy the thankful remarks of my friends that I saved by doing so. Such an encouragement is a continuous supply of morale that gives my mind strength to fight the depression of combat and sharpens my senses to make the kill happen.

I look on those that make their grim work enjoyable with a curiosity and speculation. I find the concept of enjoying such a cruel way of life appalling, and yet it is interesting to see how their minds have been able to overcome the stresses of war (I am not implying that your associate is psychotic; I am merely looking back at my experiences with some capsuleers)

That being said, I have found that it is more prudent to loathe the work and embrace the fellowship of those you work with. I may not like having to mow down foes with a Boundless HMG, but I can enjoy the thankful remarks of my friends that I saved by doing so. Such an encouragement is a continuous supply of morale that gives my mind strength to fight the depression of combat and sharpens my senses to make the kill happen.

There do seem to be capsuleers who enjoy pursuing conventional spacecraft, the means by which many a combat pilot's bread is buttered. An experienced capsuleer becomes a weapon of mass destruction; there may be some satisfaction in this. But the difference in power makes it analogous to hunting sub-sapient species in a planetary wilderness.

A far greater joy-- and it is one more common, even inherent, to us than it is to them-- is the hunt for one's peers. There is something primal and addictive in the hunt and the kill, the test of skill and cunning. Experience that even once, and it is difficult to find much joy in hunting weaker victims. It makes the mere murder that is day-to-day capsuleer combat work seem ...

... downright herbivorous, really. Like grazing on grass, or mining.

Appalling or not, this sort of fratricidal bloodlust is a motivating force behind much of the capsuleer economy.


Prudent, perhaps. And ... sometimes I do try not to enjoy it-- not to ... smile, as I prepare to vent a knife's plasma charge through the spine of a fellow "immortal" soldier. Though, really, if I did not enjoy the work, I think I would have to retire.

I'm not sure you want someone like me on the loose in the civilian population.

I have no doubt the feeling of accomplishment in any field is something the human mind enjoys, but I always watch for the motive of a person to achieve anything. Is it the admirable zeal of a faithful Amarr such as Adamance, or the quest for a prosperous and successful Republic bound by kinship that I and so many other Matari seek? Maybe there are those in the Federation that seek a resurgence in credibility among their government, or a Caldari soldier fighting for the prosperity of his nation. These are all noble, and many other causes are admirable.

The problem I have is when a motive for accomplishment in our line of work is the work itself, when we begin to kill for the sake of killing. I have also smiled and shouted for joy even in the midst of combat, for the relief that comes when the fighting is over is uplifting to me. I would, however, prefer that the fight never had to happen. Those that would love for the fight to continue so that they may continue to partake in their enjoyable killing sprees, in my opinion, have lost something higher in their person, and have let war drag them to their basic instincts.

Maybe I am being too judgmental, but I have seen too many terrors take place with mercs that have this mindset, and I'd prefer to not witness them again.

I don't know, that was the life I accepted. I knew I would partake in the raffle and the bloodshed, spraying both like leaves on a warm, green day. This world we live in is nothing but dominance, if you are at the bottom, good luck; if you are the top, don't go to the bottom. We, demi-gods of "Lazarus" flesh, blood, and bone are the dominant, a dominant made to fight, to contest and spill each others throats.

The world revolves around an eternally moving machine, fueled by blood, bullets, and currency. It breathes luxury and pleasure into our lungs, and preaches words of greed. We are bound to this machine.

Mr. Trifarn:

The Templar Crusader acts as he believes is right; so do many others, seemingly including yourself. Respectfully, does this grant you absolution for the harm you inflict? Perhaps time will tell. Certainly, you are stronger, more focused, than the lost, or those who so badly want us to believe they are lost that they throw boxes of kittens out of airlocks.

Really, I wonder how many of us are actually lost. We are capable of atrocity, certainly, but that is mostly a matter of frailties common to much of humanity.

For my own part, I am content to channel my damaged soul toward constructive ends. The question for me is not whether I am "noble," but whether I serve a purpose beyond my own fractured existence-- whether I am useful.

To return to the original topic of discussion: I'm sure many capsuleers could, briefly, do what we do. Some had background as ground soldiers before entering the academies, or come from elite backgrounds such as the Khanid cyberknights. Many of our weapons occupy the outer edges of what even enhanced soldiers might use, but, still, no doubt a few could still perform passably.

What they would not do, is survive the experience.

Capsuleer emergency cloning is dependant on the availability of a capsule and, more importantly, its onboard cloning rig. It is rare for the vast majority of us to walk away from a battle without at least one death. A capsuleer who walks into one of our conflicts is unlikely to walk away again.

For the Capsuleers who think they can do what we do I say this ..... I was a trained baseline combat pilot before I became an Immortal Clone.

I can still pilot, who of them will unpod and help me take back control of the gun turret that is keeping the squad pinned down?

I do not believe I am above judgement for the things I have done, for we all are human and all have had moments where they succumb to the darker possibilities of the soul. I am merely trying to offer insight from my past experiences. If time will tell, it will be a very long story, for the supply of our mortal vessels is only increasing. Until we run out of clones I anticipate that time will tell a library's worth of stories about our lives and our ventures.

(( Lore wise we cannot have both the Capsuleer Implants as well as the current generation of Clone mercenary implants....))

Each could always be taught the others trade. Both have an eternity to learn...

Our implants come from sleeper technology.

Our humanity at this stage is debatable, Mr. Trifarn. We meet many definitions of it, but we have become detached from what's commonly known as the "human condition," notably the bits involving death.

Reversing that observation, it's unlikely that most of us will be able to enjoy that bounty of time. Capsuleers last six months on average-- scarcely an eternity. At a guess, our average careers will be much shorter; death for capsuleers is both less traumatic and less common.

[

I keep hearing this, but while it stands to reason I haven't been able to get it verified.

((As far as I know, CCP's never clarified whether this bit of lore is IC knowledge.))

If you read templar 1 it says that all the implants come from sleeper tech. Also the video shows the ship pulling up to a sleeper base in WH space.

Ten years of this existence would be ... trying. I wonder what sort of shape our minds will be in after fifty, if we keep at it.