A God Among Men

It had been a while since Jarik Utoni had opted out of a trip to the bar, But then again this was his first chance to get a good view of the newest addition to his collection of ships. Clearly Compensating, his Maelstrom, sat in dock. This massive battleship was not yet ready for combat, he was still waiting on his order of 5 more 1200mm artillery pieces and despite the addition of some pricey rigs the cap was still not stable. his agents were working on acquiring them and until then all he could do is wait. Just then a Civire boy, no more then 12 standard years old, ran in and took cover behind the bench Jarik was sitting at. He was wielding a toy gun popular with the youth these days if wearing the proper suit it would freeze the limbs on contact. Jarik smiled, "Use the waste disposal unit over there, it gives better coverage of the entrance." The boy looked at him, nodded enthusiastically, and took up his new position. They waited for a minute before his friends arrived, first in was a teenage Brutor with a shotgun and following close behind was an Intaki no older than the first boy carrying a pistol. They had just enough time to throw Jarik a quizzing look before their friend unloaded on them from his position. "Game Over" flashed on their suits and they were released from rigor. "Gotcha Quinn!" The Civire boy said, reveling in his victory. "You're such a cheater Troy!" Replied the Intaki. While they bickered the Brutor boy walked over to the viewport, eyes getting wider as he approached. "Guys, look!" he said, "it's a Maelphoon!" "What are you talking about Kris?" Troy said walking over to join him. Jarik chucked "Actually it's a Maelstrom." he said "...and it's not finished yet." "Are you the pilot?" said the wide eyed Quinn, joining the others. "You could say that." Jarik said revealing his pod interface implants. "You're an egger too?" said Kris, "Is it true? Do you live forever? You can't be killed? you're richer than The Empress, Shakor and Heath combined?" Jarik laughed, "No, no, pod pilots can be killed and often are, the reason we're known as immortal is because every time we die our minds are transported to a clone and we are reborn." he continued "also I'm rather poor for a pod pilot, that ship out there drained most of my resources." "that's so cool!" squeaked Quinn as he activated his suit. To Troy he said, "It's my turn to hide!" and ran off. Turning he said "Thanks for the help mister!" and ran after Quinn. only Kris, the Brutor teen remained, watching Jarik's ship and all the information on the markets super-imposed on the window. "I want to be a pilot" Kris said, "To travel the galaxy in search of fame and fortune. To make my mark on New Eden." He turned to Jarik "To fly that ship." and pointed. Jarik looked upon the boy and saw raw determination in his eyes, that drive he remembered so well. "There's only one way to get all that you wish and more" he began, "Becoming an egger let alone a pilot is going to take every raw ounce of determination you have, and many years of your life..." "Are you prepared to make this sacrifice?" Kris nodded, eyes trained on the face of Jarik, a god among men. Jarik pulled out a card "Take a shuttle out of Caldari space, Call this number here and ask for professor Ole. tell him Utoni sent you and I'll guarantee that my name can get you at least a spot in the Republic Military School. Jarik put his hand on the boy's shoulder, "Fly safe brother."