I thought Hardcase was going to be, well , hard to write. I mean he dies in the midst of a pretty traumatic arc of the story. (BTW; Holy Hell I'm glad I missed that one when it first came out. I was not in a good place November of 2011. ) Somehow though Hardcase is just so damned up beat that this came out way happier than I thought it would but then I'm Romanian we're a depressive bunch mostly.
Disclaimer see Ch. 1
Could man be drunk for ever
With liquor, love, or fights,
Lief should I rouse at morning
And lief lie down of nights.
But men at whiles are sober
And think by fits and starts,
And if they think, they fasten
Their hands upon their hearts.
- Could Man be Drunk Forever A.E. Houseman
Hardcase just doesn't get some things. Like Rex always torturing himself over how other people see him; Fives bellyaching about right and wrong; Jesse wanting to best at everything. Kriff on that. Life's wasted on all that and clones don't have much to look forward to anyway. Hardcase only ever wanted to be happy. Happiness is a warm gun; a grenade held a second longer than the regs say, the adrenaline high of pulling off the impossible, the punch drunk camaraderie after. Life's about the rush of living or, Hardcase thinks as he jams the missile into the reactor, dying.