EVATI
“THE HUB” BAR & GRILL

Roc Wieler downed another beer at the Hub, the Bastards and Hellcats favourite bar in Evati. They were in a closed door debriefing, leaving him to his own devices hours ago.

He didn’t really care what they were saying about him. He didn’t care if all the blame fell to him. He was used to that; it was part and parcel of being who he was.

Most capsuleers took their immortality for granted. They didn’t realize they bled the same as anyone else. It was becoming a more and more common attitude amongst this generation of podders. He tilted the new beer glass up, draining its content in one long swig. Another beer was already waiting for him on the bar.

It wasn’t unlike Roc Wieler to become depressed at his life of immortality. In fact, he had started drowning his sorrows in alcohol years ago when he finally realized the only escape from eternal life was bitterness and loneliness.

If you didn’t allow yourself to love, you couldn’t be hurt by the loss of that loved one. If you didn’t care about those around you, you wouldn’t feel deep pangs when they eventually all died.

The problem was that he cared too much. He had loved and lost, he had family growing old, he had a nation of people that his heart cleaved to. 

So he drank; another empty glass hitting the bar. Roc motioned for a refill.

If you were cursed to live forever, unable to love, then who really cared what kind of monster you became to protect yourself.

He still had one small hope, one small glimmer of life left to him. Roc believed that each capsuleer had a purpose; that each immortal, each being gifted to be a god among men, had a responsibility to do something great with his life, to make a significant difference in this universe that only he or she could. 

He had read stories of great capsuleers whom had influenced great wars in the past, defining an age, shaping a generation by their selfless acts, but they were mostly myths. Men who had taken on different identities, different lifetimes, to do what needed to be done from the shadows while others took the glory and fame.

Where were those heroes now? They certainly didn’t walk among us. Today’s capsuleer was selfish and ignorant, indulging in sins and debaucheries that would leave them souless throughout eternity.

His hope was shattered. His dream of a united Republic seemingly forever out of grasp. He believed that his destiny was to come to Evati, to demonstrate through action and morality that living the militia life, living for a cause greater than yourself, was what all capsuleers were meant for. He had foolishly thought he could save a bunch of no good pirates from the darkness and depravity of their existance, and marshal their skills and experiences into something of value to society. 

He was a fool. 

So let them say what they will, he didn’t care. And let them come to this pub, and speak with disdain to his face, he wouldn’t raise a fist. They weren’t worth it. Not a one of them, including himself.

Another beer down, another on the bar. The fact he could still indulge in such a philosophical debate with himself let Roc know he wasn’t nearly drunk enough.

That would have to change.