Feel free to post any memories you have of the man right here folks. I'll leave it to you guys.

I really don't have many memories of Bill-Sensei, but from the experiences I had of him, he was a man who lived like he had died. Always living by the edge of the sword. He was a playful sort, but NEVER comprimized when the chips were down. He also took no crap from anyone yet knew when it was in jest. He took life seriously, but lived in the moment.

If he ever truely achieved a zen state of mind, then he truely was a Samurai. And he died a true and honorable death. One which will be remembered for a long while. If his deeds are to be looked up to, then I'm honored to have an example as to how to fight the good fight.

Although his lifestyle was checkered, who could blame the guy. His occupation threatened his very existance. Wouldn't you live for the moment, if your next breath could be your last?

Vile Bill...
Truely a man of his means.

I too mourn his passing. He and I were...never close. But I remember him fondly. He was a man of many dangerous excesses; honor, courage and virtue among them.

I wish to say no more on that matter. His passing leaves us all diminished.

.ronin

When the ink on the contracts was still wet and my training only just begun Senhor Vile Bill was already a respected Elite of no small stature.

We did not know each other on a personal level but we had been introduced perhaps two years ago by mutual acquaintances. It was in the Amp Room in Ibiza Town where he was celebrating a recent victory along with the increase in pay and stature. I watched him imbibe liquer by the case while thinking, "What sort of man would abuse himself in such a manner?"

Three months later I was in Africa assisting with my small talents in the logistics of transporting supplies to several locations preparing for an incursion by a neighboring country. At one point, in a conversation with a colonel in the native army, the battle plan was made known to me and the chance to comment was offered.

I noticed a particular area that seemed under defended and not on my itinerary for resupply. Indeed, the day before I had been contacted by my company representative and asked to ascertain if there was any manner in which I could assist in the removal of military equipment close to the weak area. My observation was that, when the offensive began, they would lose this territory immediately.

The Colonel's response was, "It is already lost."

That colonel had faced Senhor Vile Bill a year earlier and when the prospect of facing him again loomed he chose to withdraw from the area rather than lose his men and equipment to the Elite he called the Black Beast.

Senhor Vile Bill approached war in the same manner he approached life. He held nothing back and saved nothing for later. I do not believe he feared anything. I would not wish be like him but would rather he have been on my side than that of an opponent.

Can some of you here clarify some points for me?

1) Isn't Epoch a DeVries Elite? What was he doing killing one of "own"? I mean, isn't that against company policy?

2) Exactly why was Vile Bill beating to death an already incapacitated opponent? Why does that seem to be 'okay' with most of you?

I apologize if I offend anyone here on this matter, but I believe in the Rule of Law. This isn't what is going on here.

Vile Bill murdered someone in cold blood. He, in turn, was murdered in an even more horrible fashion. Now, some of you have talked about getting revenge for that murder.
This Epoch character has already murdered how many novas? The rest of you are only now offended because he murdered someone we knew?
Is Epoch going to be sanctioned by DeVries over this?

Vile Bill did not deserve what Epoch did to him. No one does. Saki didn't deserve to be beaten to death with his own arm, either. Some of you see a differnce. I don't.
Does someone want to explain it to me?

He lived life well and to the fullest. What greater compliment can be given? His women will miss him, that much I know.

As far as I understand it, Epoch is an "Elite" in the generic sense of the word, not an employee of the DeVries Agency.

Devries, is a corp,just like any other.Thye look at the green,and not the means to get it.It is noot widely known but as DeVries is an arms deal,they sell to boht side, hell any side.

>1) Isn't Epoch a DeVries Elite? What was he doing
>killing one of "own"? I mean, isn't that against
>company policy?

Does DeVries represent Epoch? Not that it matters of course. DeVries supplies Novas to both sides in a conflict and if they pulled their punches that wouldn't work well at all.

>2) Exactly why was Vile Bill beating to death an
>already incapacitated opponent? Why does that seem
>to be 'okay' with most of you?

well if it weren't for the fact Vile Bill is dead as well no doubt someone would be. Not here most likely since Saki wasn't known here but even someone as obnoxious he was must have had some friends.

Twist

Yeah, but as far as I know, DeVries doesn't pit their own resources and novas against each other.

Not that it matters, I just filed my resignation papers there. I can no longer stay with that organization. Luckily it was after the training process completed for me. My scores were low and I had two options. 1: A desk job, or 2: Cut from the payroll. I chose #2.

I just don't feel connected to them anymore. Their outsourcing manager, who handled my registration, filed my reasons as "psychological". For the current situation, I wouldn't blame him.

Unfortunately, I cannot be re-hired by DeVries. No problem. With the Hino Foundation getting jump-started again, I need the extra time. Not to mention a couple other projects. Let's just say Dios de los Muertos was an interesting time to say the least. There is someone I can trust who's showing me a more... correct path for my tendancies to stick my nose in to things.

Epoch is freelance. That means that DeVries will hire him on occassion, but he doesn't really work for them the way that Bill did. To the best of my knowledge, Epoch wasn't working for DeVries that time.

Sorta sorry to hear that the elite lifestyle didn't work out for you Endeavor. "Sorta" because if it wasn't going to work out then you are better off finding out now, and doing something about it before rather than afterwards.

And that "cannot be re-hired" is only partly correct. DeVries' millitary arm (my outfit) doesn't want you, but their civilian arm has a policy that states that they will hire every nova they can. But yes, they might only want you behind a desk.

----------------------------

I remember Bill teaching me that it really is possible for me to get drunk. It was right after my disasterous cherry run. He had decided to cheer me up, and he succeeded. It may have cost him a million dollars, but money didn't mean much to him (just what it buys).

Bill was a big man. Big in statue and big in spirit. I'll miss him.

Epoch is a wreteched, disgusting excuse for a living entity, human or baseline.

It would be beneficial if someone killed him.

.ronin

And just who the fuck are you to judge him? You know, I'm getting sick and tired of this bullshit. Bill, god love the man, chose to die that day.

He chose it!

Bill knew exactly who Epoch was and what he could do. If he had really wanted to run, he would have found a way to get out of there but instead he chose to stand and fight, knowing he would die. Not many people in this world get to pick the place and the way they die, but Bill did and I'm sure he loved every minute of it.

Is Epoch a nasty piece of work? I think so, but that's just opinion. Every time I think about this I remember that he had the chance to cleanse me, and he instead spared my life.

There are very few people here who can say they've never acted with the same calousness or brutality in their lives. Your throwing stones Ronin and unless your glass house is made of Vitrium, you may not like the size of the stones being thrown back at you.

God, I can't believe I've just defended Epoch. Strange Times.

As presumptuous as ever, Jordan. Do not proclaim that you know me or where I've been or who I know. And do not draw nonexistant conclusions from my statements.

My previous remark was no call for vengeance against Epoch. Bill was a man I admired and considered, if nothing else, an uneasy friend, though we had not spoken in a time.

Bill also lived by the sword, and appropriately, he died by it. When he died, I am sure it was without regret, and a man can ask for no more.

I was merely making a value judgement based on what I know of Epoch. And I know him very well. That is what gives me the right to judge him.

I wish I did not.

.ronin

Go back and read my post again Ronin, not once did I claim to know who you are, where you've been or what you were about. And my conclusions were perfectly valid taking in to consideration the information you chose to withhold. You made a personal judgement about someone who doesn't have a voice here and I challenged your right to do so.

Now had you stated you were making that judgement based on personal experience with the man, perhaps I would have given the benefit of the doubt. You wanna play mystery man, then be prepared to have people misconstrue what you post here.

Umm...Not to be rude or anything, but isn't this thread a place to honor and pay tribute to the memory of the man who died? It seems to me all this talk about vengance and these nasty posts to each other only cheapen Mr. Bill's death.

I never knew him. Peronally, he scared me a little, you know, the way he talked. Anyways, from the way you guys talk about him, I wish I had had the chance to meet him.

Again, I appologize if I'm out of line.

Why don't we post on our first meeting with the Vile One? Leave our anger for another place and let us remember the respect and fear that he inspired in us all.

For me, it was at the Amp Room. I was there to meet some associates and I pasted right behind Bill. Bill just turns around from the bar and floors me. I hit the floor hard and am pretty stunned. He just looks down at me and in a slurring voice says, "Are you a crunchie?"
He smiles at me, big black gums and all. I am busy reknitting the back of my skull and then I dawns on me that he actually pulled his punch.
Bill, seeing that I am not afraid, offers a hand to pick me up. As he does so, I realize that the bastard is lifting my wallet.
I put a hand over his hand before the wallet leaves my jacket.
He just stares at me, still smiling, and tells me, "You dropped this."
Then, he pushes me away, turns back around to the bar and starts laughing with his buddies.
I am picking myself back up again, trying to think about just what I am going to do to this asshole, when one of by associates comes up to me.
I nod over to Bill and ask, "Who is this ass?"
He replies, "He is the guy we have hired to bodyguard you for the rest of the week. He starts tomorrow."

That was my introduction to Vile Bill. Needless to say, he did his job, I lived out the week, and we never even mentioned our first encounter. To this day, I am not even sure he remembered any of it.

*sigh*
Let me put it like this. In Vile's Will, he made it a point to put a 50 Million bounty on the head of the guy who got him. I also doubt that Epoch is a sweet and kind treehugger. But I have backed off the need to be there personally when Epoch has his plug pulled. Elites live hard, and die harder.
I bet Vile knew he'd bite it, but I doubt he wouldn't get into a fight he knew he wouldn't win. Vile may have knew the odds were long, but not impossible. I guess he may have underestimated Epoch.

Jordan, I made a very simple statement regarding how I felt about Epoch. You chose to analyze, not me. And I'm not "playing mystery man". I have been nothing but forthright and honest regarding any questions asked of me, insofar as my safety would allow.

As for Bill...the first time I had the distinct pleasure of meeting the man was in Fargo, North Dakota. I don't know how much of his personal life Bill shared with you all, so I'm going to have to leave it at that. Suffice it to say that neither one of us left the encounter unscathed, and I think we both loved every minute of it.

I don't think he thought he was going to lose against Epoch. Bill lived his life like every day was his last.

This one just was.

.ronin

When you give all you got to attaining the goal then you're focused. The flip side of that means that you're also holding nothing back wondering, "What if this doesn't work?" And when you hold the contract, your life is worth exactly the value of that contract paid in full because that's the price you put on it when you took the job.

So you want a story.

The company policy angle is right and true; DeVries doesn't send one nova against another with the expectation of only one walking away. It's also highly frowned upon by Annie if you do it anyway for personal reasons. Professional is the contract and personal is a matter for off the field. Sometimes it happens though. Life isn't always as simple as defense vs. offense and jobs that don't seem to require a nova-on-nova engagement when the contract's written turn into just that.

Case in point.

I'd been retained to recover a piece of property and the trail eventually led to a private organization. Said organization had retained the services of two up and coming DeVries Elites for physical security after I was already on the clock and maybe because of it. My contract clauses with DeVries are a little more specific that most and give me a wide margin of discretion to exercise in certain circusmtances so I could have opted out right there and settled for a 10% payment with Annie apologizing to the client and renegotiating.

But the game isn't fun when you only play safe.

Short version; I found myself with a priceless bit of fluff in my hip pocket; ka-ching as secondary objective number one was completed and their stock was going down when the news broke. I'd just taken out a living bolt of lightning using a trap involving a super conductor his clients were developing. Ka-ching again - secondary objective number two was attained with their research going *poof* in a flash of quantum lightning. I never liked storm god's anyway so it was gravy knowing he was going to be paying penalties for that screw up. That left me with a single primary objective of getting out and delivering the package.

Dealing with sparky put me two minutes behind schedule and gave the on site security time to lock down the main exit which left me with the choice of fighting my through them or taking the scenic route. I was in no hurry so I blended into the evacuating staff and proceeded towards the nearest exit route following all the instructions from the nice security men until I got to where I wanted. Didn't even turn a single head as I split from the crowd and almost made it to the company hanger before I heard that voice behind me.

"Hold it right there, Hoss."

Pretending to be Yosi-Salariman, I turn around slowly and smile like a good little worker bee with the story of being a slightly dense computer weenie already coming to my lips. Here's this tall drink of water with black gums looking seriously nasty, eyeballing me from top to bottom as my story covers the floor and the level rises to engulf his pretty pointed boots. He listens then he tells me that I'm in the wrong area, that he's one of the Elites hired to beef up security and that I should head back along the main corridor to the check.

I agree, apologize for my ineptitude and then proceed halfway across the hangar floor heading back when I hear this sound like a toilet gurgling up after a three alarm mexican dinner. I move and this gusher of nasty crap spews past me with just a drop or two hitting my jacket on the way.

In the next few seconds events happen quickly. Bill squints at me measuring the distance between us and how fast I'd just moved. I smile and step to the left leading him. Bill shifts to his right and I know he's going to try and cut me off with another gusher of his nasty black then close me. The gusher comes but by then I'm into position next to the drainage access I'd been making for while he thought we were getting ready to dance.

Difference in approaches. Vile Bill was a front line combatant paid to kick ass while I was working snatch and jack. His contract required him to stop me from departing with the goods, though handing his clients my hide would have gone a long way in getting forgiveness from them. Unfortunately my goal only required I extract with the package.

By the time he figured out I wasn't under the pile of goo and standing around to fight him I was halfway to the perimeter and about to blend in with the suits. I have to say he took it well though he wanted a rematch. In Helltown or the Barrens, he didn't care which but he wanted another shot. When I asked him how he knew back in the hangar, he told me he didn't until I was walking away.

He suddenly realized I hadn't asked for his autograph.

One thing I have to admit, Vile was a good tactician. Not one of the best, but his head kept him in the fight much longer than his brawn on some accounts I've heard. Too bad the bigger dog in the fight won this time.

Bill was a great combatant, but his tactical sense left something to be desired. Epoch chose the time and place for the encounter. Fighting that fight was not a good thing. Bill was so fucking MEAN that he often bulled his way out of situations like that, until that time he couldn't.

It isn't that Epoch was so much tougher than Bill, as it was that Bill was playing Epoch's game. Had Bill be gunning for Epoch, I think it would have been someone else's funeral. Bill was that damn good and I too will miss that big, bad-ass bastard.

That may all be true but I try to keep three facts in mind when I think about what happened.

First; the team lived.

Second; only Bill was in any shape to get out in one piece after the first round. All he had to do was walk away from his team.

Third; saying "I don't want to die" isn't the same as "I want to live."

I think he knew exactly what he was doing.

All of you gunning for Epoch do realize that he has friends too, don't you? People like The Primacy and Nova Vigilance? I'm certain that many of you are the gods of war you imagine yourself to be, but this clarion cry of "We're Bill's friends, we should do something!" is just going to beget more death if/when Epoch is killed as a result.

This is not a threat. I just want all of you to consider that making this personal is going to earn you a lot of enmity with people just as vicious as Epoch and just as dangerous as you.

Epoch and Bill were paid operatives carrying out contracts to respective employers. If you want to make this a personal matter between you an Epoch, even if it is for the considerable sum of money left in Bill's last wishes, most of us aren't going to lift a finger to stop you.

But once you take out Epoch, they'll come gunning for you. And then, your friends will go gunning for them. And so on. And so on.

Business is business. It begins and it ends.

But vendettas and blood-feuds take decades or centuries to end. Make this personal, and it becomes something signficantly larger than a single killing.

Even Epoch has his Achilles' Heel. The puzzle lies in knowing it. If properly struck, Epoch's death could be made to look like any number of things. And of course, if the body is never found...

Epoch always did keep to himself a lot. Him and his little "garden".

Not that I'm advocating Epoch's murder. But I wouldn't be at all sad to see him go.

.ronin

...
Too bad I have NO intel on this Epoch fella. I would sure love to find some and let the world know what color his undies are... ahem... Wrong analogy, but it's the sort of detail I think we need for this guy. His PL alone deserves careful research...
Perhaps Mom left something in her archives...

Endeavor....

I think you are coming close to getting in over your head. Tell you what. Step into the ring with me. I'll even let you borrow Bill's BFG. I'll send in a clone so you can try to kill him. After that, if you still want to go after a front line combat nova, at least you'll have a better idea of what is involved.

On a different subject,

I was just looking through some of the stuff Bill left me and I found a pound or two of a mysterious powder.

Well,the Trooll has apoint.Have you ever fought for you life in comdat?And really , do you knwo what it is like to fight another nova, and oen who is more power than you?I do, I know that power has flaws, but I do ntot hink that Epoch is going to be a or I shoudl wowould be an easy target....

And I do nto think that a man such as him has friends,,as I recalled the only people they hated as much ofif not more than Utopia were elitties, if Epoch is one, I would think he is a memeber only out of fear.Good Troll, I would like to talk to you about somethings, do nto worrry I am not going to ask you to try to face anyoen like Epoch,but there is a trublesome preson who needs to be scared,not kill mind you..Think you could help me out on that?

I'll say this right now, I no longer want ANY part of Epoch. The 1.5 Million has been WITHDRAWN. I do not want some fool to risk their life just to be first. Not to mention I don't want to do myself in trying to take on someone with a 80% advantage over myself. Yeah, I found some small details. Large enough to swallow me whole.
As for that mysterious white powder, put 2 and 2 together David. VB was a regular substance... enthusiast. If you're a straight edge, that stuff would put you flat on your back. Anything high-grade enough for the Vile Man to get a decent buzz off of, must be hardcore.
Too bad I didn't introduce him to my Ambrosia. Ask Twist and Jager. Now that I've refined the taste, it should be a matter of time before Ambrosia is mixed with Ampwells in Nova night clubs across the whole god lovin' planet.
Then again, I might just keep this goodie all to myself. *grins*

Addendum: Get in the Ring with you? *grins* Perhaps if it was an XWF Pay-Per-View. Purses to Charity, of course.

{browser error}
Oops... Sorry about that... hehehhh...
Gotta fix my voice recognition program...
{Connection terminated}

Ambrosia hmm... the food of the gods is what you're thinking about I guess but all that name does is make think of tinned rice pudding.

I will vouch for this drink's potency however. Did you go the aniseed and wormwood route?

Twist

*scratches head*
Actually I picked a few random mixtures...
Although, the first re-do I did had cold Sake as part of the mix. Tasted like battery acid, and the reaciton with the mixture caused me to hallucinate for hours. Look at my post on 2 mins. H8 trying to get TUM-TUM to talk to me.
Then there was the mix that had the same effect as a depressant. Cried for days.
But, this new mix I use in small doses when I need a quick pick-me-up. Mixing Ambrosia with an Ampwell makes for a good buzz that lasts.
Anyone for another party? In Vile's honor?
My manor has been fully repaired and cleaned up from the last little debaccle. It's to quiet over here, and I don't care what sort of music I pump through the speakers. It'd don't help. I'd like to have one more good party. With the security cams off this time.
This time, no table is safe. *evil grin*

Glad to hear it. 50 mil is a lot, even by our standards. Bill made Epoch's life much more interesting.
Yes, probably a waste, but I flushed it.
Looking forward to it. I'm definitely up for another wake. Word to the wise, it takes a lot.

Miss-Fortune,
In a word, Maybe. DeVries has been giving me small assignments recently and this probably would qualify.

I would be dealing with you, not DeVries, you understand.I do not want o deal with yoru comany,wile I find osme of it's empolies to be worth wile, I keep my money away from it's hands.Noticed hwo I asked you, and not some desk jocky?

Nowif you will name your price,I will must aprove of this ,and give you th details.But If you wish to give any of themoney to Anee, I beleve that is her name..Or any part of Devrises,I will look else where for help.Is taht clear?