Cannon Fodder

As Demi-Gods we appear to be unaware of the thousands of souls working tirelessly to operate on-board systems to our every whim. Without hesitation we hurl our precious hulls at adversity irreverent of the human cargo we carry. During any fleet engagement there are literally thousands of lives lost on either side and these lives consist of highly trained, specialised personnel whom signed onto various crews seeking notoriety, adventure or any other viable personal destiny.


This sense of loss is more profound whenever an experienced ship is destroyed. I lost a Harbinger recently which was built by the I-A corporation and equipped with salvage and parts from the corporation hanger. This Harbinger was statistically unremarkable, but I’d flown her many times through w-space, hunted within DED-space complexes, participated in gate-camps and had even maintained security during mining operations on behalf of the I-A.

Lost to a pirate blockade(karma) I mourned the loss of my vessel but, unbeknown to me at the time were the thousands of crew member’s lives lost, probably entirely loyal Amarrians whom were unjustly denied a moments thought post ship destruction.

It made me wonder exactly what motivates such selflessness in individuals to surrender their fate to the POD pilots. With this sentiment the next ship lost will harbour a greater sense of loss as it’s my duty to honour my crew members whom serve me without fear and who deserve a greater fate than an undignified burial in the frozen vacuum of deep space.

In honour and remembrance of the thousands of brave souls who gave their lives in battle serving on the Amarr Battle-Cruiser; Guile-Villain.

You will not be forgotten.

May your souls find peace...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Many of them do escape on escape pods and the like to the best of my knowledge, so the entire crew does not die every time.

That being said, as with anything like this, people are going to do it for one of two reasons. It pays well and they're addicted to the adrenaline rush :)

Myrhial Arkenath said...

Desperation also springs to mind. Even slave crews generally get taken good care off since they have to function well.

And yes, on larger ships crew has a higher survival rate due to the time it takes before the ship goes down. Those close to the escape pods, at least.

Latro said...

Interesting discussion that roils around a lot. Given the status of most of the various Empires' non-spacefaring populations, any kind of job in space pays a lot. I could imagine that crew pay on an independent warship would be quite a bit more than aboard a faction navy vessel. Although, one could argue the opposite as pod-pilots fly, fight and operate key systems on pod-equipped vessels, while faction vessels require more skilled specialists to fly, fight and operate their vessels.