Viqer Fell offers a new solution to the Amarr
Continuing our series of interview, this time we present you a well known name in the Minmatar community: Viqer Fell. For friends he is the perfect picture of a loyal tribesman for his enemies he is a cold hearted psychopath or a troubled and disillusioned slave.
Viqer fell started his pilot career as a miner, he met the other founders of his corporation and they quickly became friends, they shared the same ideas on the fate of their people. The corporation would grow famous under the name The People’s Front of Minmatar, it represented the ethos they wished to create, a brotherhood of pilots that would defend and stand for their own people.
Viqer Fell: “We all had come from broken families, smashed and tattered backgrounds with a common link; that of slavery. We decided when we left Metis Industries that we would endeavour to change society. That we would try to ensure that future generations would not suffer the injustice and degradation that the Amarrian disease had imposed upon us and inflicted upon our families.”
For years Viqer and his associates have fought and rebelled against the Amarr in many imaginative ways, yet some may say primitive. They broke Concord law when they hunted slavers in empire claimed space and they thwarted Concord when they would come after The Peoples Front of Minmatar. Viqer Fell: “We were the first corporation to lay minefields at the gates of Amarr prime, to close down travel for the general populace and in some cases to escape the Concord fleet that pursued us 8 jump gates in an attempt of retribution”.
Viqer is brutally honest in admitting his acts of crime, or justice. It seems as with so many stories it happens to depend on who you are asking whether something is seen as a crime or swift justice. In this case Viqer has a rather unique viewpoint on his murderous acts. Viqer Fell: “I have killed many many pilots now and I have every one of their names noted. It is a long list and I curse their names each evening. Had they chosen their lives better I would not have been forced to kill them and they owe me for that.”
According to Viqer every Amarr is guilty for the sins and crimes their people has committed against the Minmatar, so whether an individual opposes slavery is irrelevant. The next logical step is to ask who else has made a profit from slavery or never actively acted against it. The answer to this question has not eluded Viqer and his corporation for long. Recently there has been an announcement made on the future cooperation between The Peoples Front of Minmatar and Jericho Fraction , now both of these corporations will fight the old empires and other tyrants of their Free Space Ideal. I couldn’t help but ask more surrounding this next step.
Viqer Fell: “For too long have we focussed on the symptoms and not the root cause of the problem. We have believed that in genocide lay the only hope for the victims of the Amarr and yet as you yourself have mentioned, the other races stand by and allow this vile trade in human misery. We ourselves have come to see that oppression is not only limited to the more extreme facets of human evil such as slavery. Oppression is also present in much more civil and social disguises however, oppression it remains. In joining Jericho we seek to tackle this mindset that capsuleers have wrapped around themselves”.
Arielle deVoir: “Do you think that these social constraints and the heritage of Empire constricted life is the reason why sometimes Minmatar who were freed then willingly return to their Masters and continue to serve in slavery?”
Viqer Fell: “Some are so indoctrinated that they see no alternative and prefer the safety and somewhat debatable refuge of a Holders estate. Some are treacherous scum who willingly embrace enslavement. It is a sad fact that many people are so unhappy, their souls so small within them, that they feel it necessary to punish themselves. These tend to be the willing slaves and it is those that I pity the most. Others are just misguided fools”.
After the topic of slavery there was need of a more light hearted subject to converse about, after all he insulted me several times already because of my own race and this discourse did make you wonder about owing a debt to an entire race, it’s sure to make one feel slightly uneasy. Viqer told me about his family and partners, who like so many other partners finds it hard to accept that their other half is a pilot. Yet they make time for each other and it’s a reassuring idea that even the most cold hearted murderers can find love and happiness with someone. Apart from love Viqer also has a fondness for scuba diving on the planet, he reads avidly and likes to spend time with his family. Viqer Fell: “I am ever a soft hearted man, its just many people can't see through my cold hearted psychopathic outer shell to see it. I cannot count the amount of times I've killed someone then apologised privately and given them isk.”
So it seems that Viqer truly is a man of contradictions, he is a warm family man, respected amongst Minmatar and feared by the Amarr and considered a murderer. Some people accuse him of piracy and being a lawbreaker others cheer him for being a rebel with a good cause. We quickly came unto the topic of respect for enemies in battle. Even between blood sworn enemies it is possible that they find a way to respect each others capability, and Viqer isn’t an exception to this practise. I asked him how someone can respect the person they are sworn to kill and hate with a passion. Viqer is convinced that his enemies respect him for his combat style and that of his entire corporation; they always abided to strict rules and behaved well in public. When an enemy shows respect they can count on being respected in return. An eagerness to fight is another way to earn respect from enemies, especially when you fight with honour. Viqer sums it up in the eloquent line: “Courteous in defeat and kind in victory”.
So, what can we expect now from Viqer and his corporation? The corporation will exist in name but most of the members will join the ranks of Jericho. Together they will fight for their new and shared ideals, that of a free space and liberation from the visible and invisible bounds that the old empires have us tied in. This means that there is also a new way to free the minmatar that doesn’t involve the slaughter of the Amarr race. However Viqer maintains that it will be necessarily in the end because it is unlikely that the Amarr will change. Viqer Fell: “I think the Amarrians would be the first to admit they'll never change and therefore we have two options; force change or accept their evil existence. If I did the latter then I may as well put the fetters on my own wrists myself and hobble off to Gaius's holdings. If they refuse to accept change through sensible means then extermination is their own choice”. Sometimes nothing seems to change truly at it’s core, or as Viqer said my death is rather postponed then cancelled. With that I saw it fit to say my farewells and leave, rather quick too I might add.
