[One-Shot}
“The bloody hands of Matar…Yeah… Yeah the name fits. Our hands were indeed bloody, but with whose blood you may ask? Amarrians, Marari and just about anyone who happens to get in our way or is just in the wrong place at the wrong time… We didn’t care, all we cared about was instilling fear and killing as many Amarrians as we could in some attempt to get back at them for the mountain of atrocities committed against our people… So in turn? Committed our own atrocities, bombed churches during a sermon, butchered ambassadors. Murder a Holders family in their sleep just to leave them alive just to witness our work in the morning…and we justified it. All of it. We justified it as something they deserved…Reality is that It was all just blinding hatred and anger. Anger, that would never fade no matter how many were killed or how much destruction it caused. It was never enough…”
- Kegren Vevro
“Lunatic cause!? That’s what all this is to you now?!”
March 11th YC 124
Heimatar Region, Bogelek II - Lands of Clan Vevro, Maintenance and repair shed.
< Kegren tightening bolts on a drone with a wrench >
“…Kegren?”
< Kegren stopping and getting up from his work >
“Chieftain, I’m telling you - I don’t know much of this stuff yet, but I can confidently tell you again that this power converter is fried and I can’t do anything with this junk until-…”
“-Remember me?”
“… What are you doing here, kid?”
“Kid? I’d hope after all this time you’d at least address me by name after-”
“You’re dodging my question, Balor…. What. Are. You. Doing. Here?”
“… Straight to the point then? Typical…. We need your skillset Kegren.”
< Kegren scoffing and squatting back down to continue repairs >
“Look, I don’t take workorders from outside the clan. Besides, you’re better off finding any Sebiestor off the street to fix whatever you got. I’m still trying to-”
“-You think I’m here for you to fix some farming equipment?!”
“No, I just pegged you as being smart enough to take a hint and go about your way…”
“I guess some things do change…”
“Yeah, just like the placement of your arms If you keep testing my patience and don’t let me get back to my work. I have a lot to do if you can’t tell.”
“You a handyman now? How’d you end up here?”
“Well, The clan needed a mechanic… Didn’t really know how to be one, but figured my history in bomb making could be used here…”
“Does it?”
"Not really, it just gives me an idea of what not to poke and I just go from there. Maybe, read a manual or two… "
“So this is just what you do now since you walked away from us?”
“Mhmm. Are you done now?”
“No. In fact, I’m even more motivated.”
< Kegren sighing and getting back up from his work again to face Balor >
" Kid… You’re stubborn as hell. And let me tell you, that’s gonna end up hurting you badly later in life."
“That some old man sage wisdom you’re trying to give me?”
“Absolutely it is. Take it or leave it.”
“I’ll leave it, it’s you I’m here for.”
“I ain’t going anywhere… You can tell the Hand I’ll be waiting for them if they’re gonna be upset about that.”
“You’re not even gonna hear us out?”
“No… No, I’m done. I have been. Nothing you can say is gonna put me back on this path.”
“… What happened to you, Kegren?”
“What happened to me?! I’ll tell you what happened. I found a woman, she gave son and I decided to pick up something that wasn’t a ■■■■■■■ gun for once! Maybe you should give it a try instead of wasting your life away fighting a lunatic cause!”
“Lunatic cause!? That’s what all this is to you now?!”
“Should’ve come off as one way sooner…”
“You’ve changed for the worse Kegren. The Kegren I knew jumped at any opportunity if it meant taking a shot at Amarrian scum.”
“The Kegren you knew is dead.”
“Clearly, The Kegren I knew wouldn’t be hiding away in some shack fumbling away at trying repair broken farming equipment like they’re desperate for a purpose. The Kegren I knew had a purpose already! He was out there making an actual difference! Out there trying to fight back this ■■■■■■■ plague that is the Amarr Empire from destroying our people and what’s left of our culture!”
“… < Frustrated sigh >”
< Kegren tossing his wrench onto a nearby table and sitting down on a crate. >
“Take a seat, Kid…”
“I think I’ll sta-”
“-Sit your ass down! I’m only asking once…”
“…”
< Balor pulling a barrel over to sit on >
< Kegren rummaging in his pockets >
“You smoke, kid?”
“No. I don’t.”
< Kegren pulling out a cigarette and placing it in his mouth. >
“Good, that means you still have a better chance of getting your life in order than I ever did.”
**< Kegren picking up and using a blowtorch to light his cigarette > **
< Kegren taking a long draw and exhaling >
“… Damn, you’ve grown since I last saw you kid… Beard and everything. How old were you when we first met?”
“Sixteen.”
“Holy ■■■■!.. ■■■■! Just a boy…”
“… And you? How old were you when you joined the Hand?”
" < Chuckle > Sixteen…"
“Who are you to judge me then?”
“Judge YOU? No… No, I’m judging these ■■■■■■■ maniacs. The Hand… Filling youth with hate… Turning them into remorseless killers. Like they did with us…”
“They turned us into soldiers, Kegren.”
“Soldiers?! Kid, if you wanted to be a ■■■■■■■ soldier you go enlist in the Republic Fleet or your Clan’s militia. Not some deranged outfit of psychopaths that don’t give a ■■■■ who winds up in their crosshairs.”
“And what?! Stand guard at some pointless depot in the ass end of space? Become restrained by bureaucracy when I can go take a fight to these Amarrians myself?! I want to fight Kegren! I want to make this Amarrian scum suffer for what they’ve done to us! ALL of us! Every true blooded Matari deserves justice! And if this Republic won’t go out and get it, then we have to! We cannot sit ideally by and wait for some legislation to pass or for the Amarr to come to their senses while our kin continues to be exploited and raped both physically and spiritually by these monsters!”
“That. That right there is the problem…”
“Of course it is the problem! It’s why we need to take action!”
“NoNoNo! That HATRED in your voice. That anger festering inside you Balor. That’s your problem.”
“It drives me.”
“-Into a ■■■■■■■ grave. Yes.”
“What would you suggest I do? Forgive the Amarrians for all the vile ■■■■ they’ve done to our people? The ■■■■ they’ve done to me?”
"You ain’t gotta forgive a thing. Hell, you can stay pissed off and bitter for the rest of your life for all I care. All I suggest you do is give up this ■■■■■■■■ before you get more innocent people needlessly killed. Just stop all this violence… "
"Violence is the only thing the Amarrians understand! We can’t negotiate with them, we can’t bargain. All we can do is fight them at every front. Fight them until they relinquish our people, fight them until they can never threaten one of our worlds again! NONE of them are innocent so long as they live iff the backs of our kin!
“You’d spend the rest of your life fighting? Killing? Bombing?”
“You had no problem with it for sometime…”
“I didn’t have any problem originally because I was a pissed off little ■■■■ like you! ■■■■… Now I get why they sent you of all people, kid… Because I see myself in you. I was young, and I was enraged with no way to get this anger out of my system besides bashing some poor bastards skull in! This rage, this hatred I just held onto… Yeah, it drove me to. Not into a grave thankfully, but drove me to commit some horrifying ■■■■…”
“…”
< Kegren taking a drag of his cigarette >
“… I did a lot of horrible ■■■■, Balor. ■■■■ that’s gonna haunt me for the rest of my life… You wanna know why I did all of it though? I did it, because I thought I was justified. I thought anyone of Amarrian blood deserved my wrath because I was angry at them… Angry at what they’ve done to my people, to my culture and to myself… We can speak openly about it here kid, we were both born into slavery… I understand your pain better than anyone else. I understand where that rage inside you comes from…”
“…”
“Anger isn’t an excuse to lash out as we did. We did it because we had nothing else, either because they took everything else from us or we had no other direction in life… All we’ve accomplished is make things harder for our people…”
“What?”
“The Hand is a barbaric embarrassment to the Matari people. Were the Republic makes an attempt to show the cluster our people are civilized and not ruthless savages as the Amarrian narrative claims, The Hand throws that to the winds, bombs a few churches, slaughters entire households and when not satisfied spilling Amarrian blood they go after their own kin!”
"Those Amarrian apologists are not our kin… ANYONE of ANY tribe tries to break bread with the Amarr are a part of the problem. Those traitors are just trying to corrupt us from within. They’re nothing more than Ammatar filth! "
“Listen to how you’re talking! The words you’re using! Declaring who and who isn’t Matari and turning them into targets for your butchery.”
“If you haven’t forgotten Kegren, we’re at war! Our people have been at war since gold plated dropships descended from the clouds of Matar to drag our ancestors away into their abyss! No treaty signed or resolution passed has ended this war. It only has made it more insidious, the Amarr still send out ships to take our people, and if not theirs then the Angel Cartel. All they do is fight their war in sneakier ways so cowards like you can hide away and pretend that everything is fine! That your sky won’t be plagued with the sight of Amarrian warships barring down on you and everyone here you hold dear!”
“I’m the last person you wanna call a coward, boy…”
< Balor standing up >
“Then what do I call you?! What do I call a warrior who refuses to continue the fight for his people? Who wastes away feeling sorry for himself while his kin bleed for a brighter future for all Minmatar of all seven tribes!”
“You can call me a Father and a Husband. That’s what I am.”
“… So that’s it? You’re just gonna try and put this all behind you like nothing happened?.. You think Republic security is gonna allow that?”
“Republic Security? Kid, this ain’t Midular’s Republic anymore… I’m clean. I took Shakor’s amnesty offer.”
“You… You accepted the amnesty offer?”
“Didn’t have much of a choice really… My wife is native to this Clan, not me. Elders here aren’t fond of my past, but showed me enough mercy to let me stay so long as I took the amnesty deal…A new start.”
"… How? You… You just, what? Went into the office? Told them how super sorry you were and they just let you off with a slap on the wrist?!
“Mhmm… That’s it. Maybe give it a try kid, get out while you still can.”
“No… No…That can’t be that simple! Shakor or not, the Republic isn’t our friend. They want us gone as badly as the Amarr do! Maybe even as an attempt to appease them. A sincere apology isn’t gonna cut it, you’d have to have done something…”
“…”
“What could they want from you? What DID they get from you?!”
< Kegren dropping his cigar down and snuffing it out with his foot >
“… I think you should get home, kid.”
"No! No! What was your end of the amnesty deal!? What did you do?! You… You told them something didn’t you? "
< Kegren standing up >
“And if I did?”
“… You ■■■■■■■■■■■■! YOU were the goddamn mole that sold us out in Aedald! YOU told them our safehouse locations! YOU got our brothers and sisters detained! YOU ■■■■!”
“I did the right thing…For once, I did the right thing.”
< Kegren picking a tool up and turning back to face his work >
“Tell the Hand whatever you wish, I don’t-”
< Kegren getting shot from behind by Balor >
< Kegren collapsing ontop of the drone, coughing and gasping for air >
< Balor walking over >
“B-Balor! < Cough > < Gasp >”
**"You were my hero Kegren… No, more than that! You were my brother! And now?
** < Balor placing his pistol up to Kegren’s head >**
“-Now? You’re just a ■■■■■■■ traitor… Just like the rest…”
“< Cough > Well, what are you waiting for then? Do it! Just add me… < Wheeze > Just add me to your body count! Go on! Do as I always told you and Finish the job!”
“…”
"Pull the ■■■■■■■-
< Balor shooting Kegren in the head >
< Kegren’s lifeless body falling to the ground >
< Shouting far out in the distance outside >
“…”
< Balor making his exit from the shed >