“I could break you, you know.” I grunted out with effort. The headache was killing me; that would teach me to breathe properly next time. I held the barbell across my shoulders, squatting, my legs shaking, my veins pulsing with effort as I strained to stand once again.

“I’m ok with that.” Seo replied, the smug smirk of satisfaction across his face. It wasn’t that he was a sadist and enjoyed hurting his clients, it was more a smile of complete understanding, having been there himself a thousand times over. He was currently training for competition, so knew well the pains I was experiencing. 

“C’mon Roc, only three more.” Seo encouraged as I pushed out the last of my reps. My legs felt like rubber, but there was no pain there as I put my hand to my forehead. It was such a simple thing, breathing, yet such a painful reminder for the rest of my workout.

• 3 x 50 leg press
• 3 x 50 leg extensions
• 3 x 50 squat press

It was a grueling workout, but one I knew would be beneficial to my obsessive insanity.

“Alright, onto shoulders.” Seo chimed, full of merriment.

“One day, Seo, I’m gonna…” My words were cut off by a resounding boom. To me it was recognizable as the sound of artillery impact, maybe on the far side of the station.

“What the hell?” I asked out loud. “Seo, turn on the monitor.” Seo quickly thumbed the remote and we watched as the station news channel announced the attack. 

“A large pirate force has gathered in Dal, and is bombarding local stations. Concord has responded in force, but it seems the pirates are well organized, sacrificing countless frigates to Concord while protecting their larger battleships. No demands have been made at this time, but anyone following the recent news can guess at what prompted this retaliatory strike. Station security systems are quickly sealing off damaged decks. There are no reports of death at this time.”

The reporter continued on, but I was already heading out the door, leaving Seo with a stunned and frightened look on his face.

Pirates. With every action they made they only reinforced their negative stereotype to society. Didn’t they see that? Some would say they didn’t care, but I knew better. Emotion was always the motivation behind despicable actions like this; and cowardice. Attacking civilian stations, attacking undefended militia support stations; these were the acts of desperation.

My NeoCom was already contacting High Command, and I quickly requested backup for this rising situation. “I don’t care if they have all the gates camped in Dal, Concord isn’t helping much, and these bastards have crossed the line. I need support now dammit.” I listened to the response. “Know what sir? Fine. I’m going out there myself then. Get me some ships and some pilots here or you can explain the political fallout of an inadequate response force to the Sanmatar personally!” I disconnected the comm.

My temper still got the best of me sometimes, and I knew I would be reprimanded for speaking to a superior officer that way. I didn’t care. What mattered at the moment was that innocent lives were being jeopardized as a response to my actions. It was I that had started the political campaign to clean up Heimatar and the rest of Minmatar space from the pirate infestation. It was my door they had just come knocking on.

As I entered my personal bay, barking orders at my mechanic crew to get my Firetail ready, I commed whatever militia pilots were available in local.

“Attention all pilots of the TLF. This is Colonel Roc Wieler, preparing to engage the invading pirate force in Dal. I need every able bodied pilot available now to teach these pathetic cowards the lesson they’ve had coming for a long time.”

I plugged into my pod, and fired up the ship. Immediately Aura notified me of multiple requests to join my fleet. I quickly began reconfiguring my HUD to a more suitable fleet command configuration, and watched as my fleet member count grew.

I lifted the ship out of the docking bay, rocketing towards open space as more impact explosions echoed. 

If it’s a fight you want, it’s a fight you’ll get, I thought to myself, priming my weapons systems. This had been a long time coming, and I was going to see it through.