War Sacrifices

        "Amarr? Are you kidding me?!"

        The outburst caused some heads to turn. At the same time, the group sitting with Knee Anderthal promptly shushed him down.

        "Seriously," he said more quietly, "Why Amarr?"

        "Because it's the best ship for the job."

        The attention turned back to the instructing Fleet Commander. The lecture resumed. After it was finished and the students began to depart, the FC motioned Knee over to talk.

        "Is there a problem, son?"

        "I don't see why Amarr ships could possibly have a tactical advantage."

        "Armor tanking! What else do you expect to fly in an Armor HAC fleet? An Ishtar?"

        Knee frowned. "Okay, but why armor at all? Why not shield?"

        "You're a solution looking for a problem. Look..." The old FC's patience did not falter. He touched the panel in front of him and the presentation display on the wall sprang to life. "Build the fleet. Spec out your assault ship." The screen showed an empty fitting diagram. The FC handed over the input panel.

        Knee pursed his lips and set to work. He summoned a Vagabond into the interface and began dragging imaginary modules into the fitting. A set of guns here, some shield extenders there, and a set of gyrostabilizers. Satisfied, he looked up at his instructor.

        "Not bad, but you're forgetting something."

        "Hmm?"

        "You built this out to be a dogfighter - close combat. But you only have enough mids for Microwarp, point, and tank. What happens when someone scrambles you?"

        "Dual prop?"

        "I would agree, except now your EHP drops down to 22,000. And it was only 31,000 to begin with."

        "Well, what else am I supposed to-"

        "Like I said, a solution looking for a problem. Armor fit it now. See what you get."

        Knee was stubborn, convinced he was right. Still, he wiped out the fitting and started over. He grimaced at replacing his damage-enhancing gyros with armor hardeners, but he was able to improve the mid slot usage. He completed the fit and looked up.

        The FC pointed at the diagram. "Now, you see? You've doubled your EHP to 50,000 and you can fit dual prop on there for when you need it."

        "Yeah, but my DPS got cut in half as a result."

        "Unfortunate, but a ship does more damage than a shipwreck."

        The sheer logic gave Knee pause. "Okay, but still, you're trading gank for tank. I don't see how it improves things. You'd need twice as many ships."

        "Not necessarily. Look at this." The old man called up the Zealot fit he designed. "The problem with your Vagabond is that it didn't have enough lows. This HAC has two extra low slots where we can fit in Heat Sinks, and suddenly we have a ship with the damage of your shield fit, but the EHP of an armor tank."

        "What the hell?!" Knee exclaimed incredulously.

        "Best ship for the job." the FC reinforced.

        "I will not be caught dead in one of those abominations!"

        "First of all, you're correct; you won't. Not on my watch. Second of all, what do you have against Amarr ships?"

        Knee gave him a look which transcended speech. It was a look of pure emotion. Fear, anger, loathing. The old man read it and understood. "You need to shake off your preconceptions of the Amarr, son. You may have had a brush against their ugly side, but everyone has an ugly side. That doesn't mean that's all they are. We have plenty of Amarr folks here in corp. Have you ever talked to any of them?"

        "I've ... kept to myself." Knee admitted.

        "Another mistake. We're all here to work together. We are at war, and it's not against the Amarr. You should talk to them. They have the same agenda that you do - the success of this corporation. Do you understand?"

        "Yes sir." Knee's stomach was twisted in a knot but he knew that some of them were different. He just found it easier to keep his guard up.

        "We all have to make sacrifices. I suggest you make your pride the next one. Now go out there and show me you've learned something, and maybe you can actually fly in my fleet instead of sitting in my classroom."

        An hour later, the skillbook quartermaster looked up at the hulking Brutor in front of him. "Yes sir, what'll it be?"

        Knee swallowed and spoke with restrained emotion. "Amarr Frigate and Small Energy Turret, please."