One the Nature of Evil part 2

(Okay, that took me three months to finish. Shame on me for being sloppy.)

So far, I have mainly dealt with "The enemy beyond and the enemy without", that is to say deamons and aliens. But the Imperium of Mankind harbours many dark secrets within itself.

A good example are the traitors. True, in the Space Outlaws, these are quite few, but if you look at it, the main antagonist, Lord Kevlinn, is a traitor. He was once a loyal Space Marine and is now the unholy King of Berzerkers. How he became what he is I have already dealt with. But there are others, more minor traitors and heretics, the dreaded "enemy within" which the Imperial Inquisition is forever at war with.

As has been recorded at several places in the stories, the main strength of humanity is its ability to adapt and its free will, which the Imperial Scholars claim sets humanity apart from most of the alien species and the deamons of the Warp.
This strength is of course a weakness too. By being able to go wherever they please with their minds, humans leave themselves open to the whispers of the Warp-beings. It is quite a roundabout, but by possessing the one thing deamons lack; free will, humans can easily become prey to deamons. Which nicely illustrates the very nature of the Space Outlaw universe and why it at times comes across as so dark and bleak.

So how do deamons lure otherwise true and loyal humans over to the "dark side"? By that most human of emotions: greed. Many are those, even in the Space Outlaw universe, where deamonic possession is a very real thing indeed, who cannot resist the promise of power, be it personal or political power. Deamons usually go in for a combination of both, as this is the easiest way of baiting as many humans as possible.
And once they have baited on weak-willed heretic, more are sure to follow as the word spread.
Heretics as such are, perhaps mercifully, quite few, in relation to how many citizens there are in the Imperium, but they are good at organising themselves and thus pose a very real threat. In terms of how they appear in the Space Outlaws, so far, the deamonically possessed heretics have been minor characters with close to little impact on the story line or they have only been mentioned fleetingly. Why this is, I cannot really say; maybe because I do not wish to take the focus from the major heretic and traitor Kevlinn.

And speaking of traitors: there have been a few, haven't there? Commissar Holt, Governor von Strab and George McKenzie to name a few. What sets these out from your ordinary heretics? Well, a traitor does not necessarily have to resent the Emperor. In the case of heretics, it is sort of a pre-requisite. Both Holt and von Strab can be branded as traitors on the premise that they put personal power and goals over the goals of the Imperium. George McKenzie lost his mind dabbling with bio-technology and trying to improve the human species. But he never really turned from the Emperor's light. His brother Edward would probably say he never was in it. Maybe so.

So, what is evil then? How do we define evil? How do they define evil in the Imperium? Yes, there is a difference. Surprised? It is rather alarming if you are, at the same time that it is reassuring.
Evil as we define it, and as I perceive it, is when we hurt other people. Not necessarily physically. There are many ways to hurt people. Thusly, it is also evil when we hurt people even when we try to do good.
Not so in the Imperium: there the ends justify the means. Always. This means that Edward McKenzie, although being a Hero of the Imperium in every way, can justify to kill hundreds of unsanctioned psykers and mutants if he finds that it works for the betterment of the Imperium. This is why Commissar Rolf Yarrick can shoot cowardly troopers with no qualms (although he did not do that much even in Tracks of the Wolf) as it works as deterrent for the other soldiers.
A normal human being of Earth, that is us, would consider these people cold-hearted at best. So it is quite clear that we have a different set of moral values from the Imperials. Yet still, in the stories, I have to make these people come across as likeable, for no other reason than that they are the heroes of the show.

And they do come across as heroes. Why? Because the only prerequisite is that you as a reader accept the moral and ethical moors and manners of the Imperium as the norm to judge these people by. It is the famous "suspension of disbelief" that is so often talked about in Science Fiction and Fantasy literature, the former to which the Space Outlaws belong quite clearly.

If you feel a bit put out having been so horribly fooled by my writing this, consider why you feel irked by it before replying or formulating a scalding message. Is it because of me being a tricky vixen or that you didn't see it coming and thus are angry with yourself, when it comes down to it.
What I want to put across is simply that Good and Evil are no absolutes. To my younger readers, this might be an extremely hard concept to grasp at first, but you will understand it in time. If nothing else, it will make you all aware that there are always several angles of lighting to view the truth in.

And speaking of that, next time, I'll be talking about the Outlaw universe and politics. That is going to be a blast.