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Zeiter
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Here's an article for the next issue. It's kinda long, so maybe someone could edit it down, or break it up into two installments.
Recon Rover Routine Report - MY 2115
Good news Spartan citizens! From the latest reports, it seems our rover crews are still in good condition, and have been successful in scouting many lands near and far. The exact details remain classified with top military commanders, but we can share with you this exclusive audiofeed transmission from one of the rover crews:
Captain Zeiter: "This is R-112 Corazon Recon Vehicle Corps transmitting audiofeed to Sparta Command HQ."
Lt. Col. Maniac: "Very well. Channels are secure. Proceed with transmission."
Captain Zeiter: "I'm glad to inform you that the men's morale is high, their health good, and the vehicles are in near perfect working order."
Lt. Col. Maniac: "Hrnm [inaudible - seems to be some sort of satisfied grunt]. Continue."
Captain Zeiter: “Our scouting efforts have proceeded with utmost efficiency and precision. We’ve mapped out the area near [censored] and uncovered [censored] near [censored]. We are now in the process of mapping out the terrain near [censored], just as you ordered. So far, we have encountered no difficulties in our reconnaissance, except one, which I will describe in brief.”
Lt. Col. Maniac: “Yes, well, what was it?”
Captain Zeiter: “It was a warm hazy afternoon, some [censored] months ago. Our rover battalion was riding smoothly across some already explored rolling terrain. We were cruising at a relatively high speed, paying little attention to reconnaissance. I take full responsibility for the lapse in discipline, and I assure you, it will not happen again, sir.”
Lt. Col. Maniac: “Make sure that it doesn’t. Continue.”
Captain Zeiter: “Yes, sir! Anyways, we were rounding a large field of boulders when a leading recon crewmember radioed in an enemy sighting. Soon we could all see what the transmission was about : I sighted what appeared to be 3 Hiverian scout squadrons marching in strict frontal assault formation approximately 12 km straight ahead with 2 rover battalions speeding alongside on their right flank. I quickly decided that, even so grossly outnumbered as we were, a retreat would not be a good idea with the Hive forces at such close range. Therefore, I rallied the men to their turrets, and sped straight toward the oncoming enemy. We closed within 5 km, but still no enemy fire. We came within 2 km, but still no resistance. I radioed to my rover pilots to be prepared for evasive maneuvers. At 1.45 km range, we opened fire with our 70-caliber Alpha-Class Rocket Turrets. Much to our dismay, the rockets seemed to swerve out of the way of the oncoming army. Bad aiming, I judged. At 1.07 km range, we opened up a second wave of rocket attacks. Again, unbelievably, no hits. I decided to order the 30-caliber machine guns manned, and at 530 m range we engaged the enemy with all the rounds we could let loose. Meanwhile, I had ordered Beta team to arm their rovers with our new experimental weaponry. It hasn’t been rully researched yet, as you know, so I was a little leery about testing it on the battle field, but our situation seemed rather desparate. I'm glad to report that the diodes and fiber couplings seemed to hold up fairly well, and its firepower was extremely impressive. But even then, still no damage done to the enemy, it seemed, and, oddly enough, still no counter-offensive. At that point the Hiverian army seemed to dissolve away in the wind, and all of the sudden I felt a piercing stab of pain and fear engulf my mind. The dust seemed to rise up in the wind, choking our breath. Fortunately, I remembered my rigorous Spartan training, and yelled to the men to shake off the illusions and reach for their flamethrowers. Suddenly the real enemy revealed itself: a seething N-I [native infestation] 20 meters wide. The men immediately formed disciplined ranks on the ground and engaged the oncoming mind worms at 7 meters distance with a fierce wall of flame. The mind worms recoiled in shock, and the men ran forward and charged the mind worm horde at almost point blank range with terrifying fury. One of the most glorious battles I have ever witnessed, and a textbook Spartan maneuver, if I ever saw one. When these men get back to Sparta Command, I recommend that they be duly recognized for their discipline and bravery.”
Lt. Col. Maniac: “Glad to hear our boys are kickin’ some [expletive].”
Captain Zeiter: “Yep, and now their morale is exceptional. More disciplined than ever, and you can almost see the gleam of battle in their eyes. In addition, the vehicles made it out of the fray almost unscathed. I’m attaching a vidfeed snapshot of one of our rovers, so you can see for yourself their still excellent condition. That’s all I have to report for now.”
Lt. Col. Maniac: “Excellent. Over and out.”
[End of transmission]
Vidfeed Snapshot:
A rover of the R-112 Corazon Recon Vehicle Corps sits in a field outside a makeshift Spartan barracks out in the region [censored] of Sparta Command.
 Attachment: unity rover spartan.jpg
This has been downloaded 71 time(s).
Last edited by Zeiter on 21-07-2004 at 08:01
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Kody
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If life's standing still and your soul's confused
Jun 2003
time: 14:36
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IC stands for "In Character". It sort of means the same thing as roleplaying.
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Kassiopeia
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Jyväskylä, Finland
Jul 2001
time: 07:36
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"United" would not be out of question at all, Diss. Maniac wrote in the IC story discussion thread:
quote:
I think giving groups of individuals the freedom to colonize other regions fits with the Spartan ideal of self-determination. When our third base actually gets established, I was thinking of next writing about some ceremony where the Spartan Federation is founded. (Note that I referred to us as the Spartan Brotherhood at the moment.) This would promote an idea of Sparta, not as a faction dictatorially ruled by military and police control, but instead a meritocratic society, a voluntary union of semi-independent bases, where each person is free to seek his own fortune in life. |
I'm fine with this idea too. In fact, I happened to mention in Issue #2 that "Being a Spartan, Part III" will be about civic duties - that would be a good opportunity to "canonise" this and make it known to non-Spartans as well. (It's not the fact of the matter in the IC story yet, but we can cut a few corners between the two - on the other hand, Maniac could have it written by the 25th-26th anyway.)
What comes to your text, Diss, it's good, if a little short for an article in its entirety. We could extrapolate on hazing and perhaps have a second story of it in the same article? That, or we could have a reader's opinion article and include yours plus other texts.
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Zeiter
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It could be a point/counterpoint type of article, where I could argue the PRO side for hazing, and Dissident's article could be used for the CON side, perhaps.
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Zeiter
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Re: USS thingy
I could either take it or leave it. Perhaps we could come up with something more unique to the Spartan faction? I don't know, I'll think about it, and try to come up with some catchy names.
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Zeiter
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PRO:
Hazing Essential to Spartan Training
To the untrained eye, hazing may seem like a cruel, barbaric, and essentially useless exercise. But to a veteran rover pilot, there's nothing that whips new recruits into shape like some good 'ol fashioned hazing. It's an extremely valuable tool. Ask any squad leader what would happen to new regiments if hazing wasn't allowed.
"I’ll tell you what you’d get: a bunch of sissy [expletive] pansies." Drill Sergeant Lance Laconia states as he oversees one of his squads during a practice session at the shooting range. “Oh sure, you can make them do 500 push-ups, but physical exercise is only half of the training. They also have to be psychologically tough. Often in the heat of battle, the soldiers who can keep their heads on straight come away the victors. It is imperative that soldiers be able to make split second decisions without any emotional or psychological interference. What hazing does is it breaks down the individual soldier’s emotional and psychological consciousness. Then, proper training and discipline rebuild the soldier’s emotions and psychology into the collective unit consciousness. A properly trained unit thinks like one mind. Each soldier thinks only of how to make the unit successful. Such a unit is vastly more effective than a group of soldiers who have not been broken down. In that case, the individual soldiers often think of themselves and their personal well-being, and in the heat of battle, such thoughts can cloud a soldier’s judgment, or can even be so overpowering as to cause a soldier to flee. And soldiers who can’t even make it through the hazing are too emotionally fragile for battle, of course, and they are immediately weeded out. That goes without saying. So, you can see, hazing is an essential aspect of Spartan training. The vets know this. They take rookie hazing very seriously (even though they like to pretend otherwise). Vets are always looking for new hazing techniques. Why, just the other day they came up with the idea of tying someone to the main shaft of one of our ships! ‘Brilliant!’ I said.
The vets make no exceptions. Every Spartan soldier must go through some hazing at least once, by military protocol. This fosters camaraderie and respect between the soldiers, as they have all been through the same trials. Of course, those particular soldiers who need a little more ‘motivation’ are offered it gladly by our more than willing veteran officers. I see nothing wrong with our current level of hazing, as it is essential to Spartan training."
There you have it! Right from Lance Laconia himself, the Head Drill Sergeant from the highly disciplined and successful Chiron Knights rover corps.
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Googlie
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Commanding Officer, CRYPTEIA
Apr 1999
time: 21:36
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Hmm - neither this post (nor the one below) worked
How do you set up a table with columns for a forum (11 rows, 4 columns)
Last edited by Googlie on 23-07-2004 at 10:31
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Maniac
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Gent, Belgium
Jul 1999
time: 06:36
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How about this article? The idea comes from Andemagne.  
At the top there's supposed to be that Spartan emblem picture I fail to create. (See "Help! Graphics problem" thread)
***
![]()
I have often been asked by young officers, unaware of our faction origins: "What is the meaning behind our faction emblem?" This is an important question, as any empath can tell you our symbols are the key to understanding what our faction stands for. Therefore I will in this small contribution shed some more clarity about the nature of our emblem.
The first thing one notices when seeing the Spartan flag is the Arrow in the middle. This Arrow symbolizes our Strength and Persistence. It means we know which direction we want to go, and effectively going that direction. Even if we have to overcome high barriers.
Curvy or circular forms generally indicate softness and emotionality. These are characteristics not generally appreciated in Spartans, and therefore are not part of our flag. Instead, the Arrow is surrounded by a Hexagon. The corners and straight lines of this figure indicate Strictness, Discipline and Rationality. These are mandatory survival traits on this Planet, and so naturally Sparta holds them in high regard.
On a general note, the Spartan emblem is a rather simple symbol. Unlike for example the Gaian and Peacekeeper icons, it has no needless extra's diverting our mind from our goal. After all, this is what it means to be a Spartan. It's not the killing or the suffering that matters. It's the strength of will. The purity of focus for our goal, without fear of death or pain.
Besides the meaning mentioned before, the Spartan symbol also has a second more ancient meaning. On Old Earth the Vikings, a brave warrior people, often wore necklaces or pendants with at it a silver piece of jewelry. This jewel represented Mjöölnir, the Hammer of Thor, protector of the universe. Thor's Hammer was a symbol of his supernatural strength. Here you can see an example of such a jewel:
Indeed, the Spartan symbol also refers to the Hammer of Thor, as we feel akin to the Viking Warriors. Recently we have even started an initiative to continue their tradition. From now on during the Citizen Inauguration Ceremony each new citizen receives this Spartan-Viking hanger. After five years of Federal Service necessary for achieving full Citizenship, it is a recognition of the courage and honour we Spartans apprecriate in our people. Needless to say, every citizen wears their hanger with great pride.
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Primus Pilus
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re the DI in Full Metal Jacket, R Lee is GOD, and Mail Call (History Ch) is just his excuse to weed-out maggots.
re Service Ranks, i'm an ElecEngr and have spent 6-yrs w/Army and 13+ w/Navy. i know them all with varying degrees of disgust and admiration
re Spartan Navy Hull designations, believe in keeping w/conventional stds, S-Spartan/'C'-Class/'F '-Function. ex, SCA would be a Spartan Cruiser AAA while a SFP would be a Spartan Foil Probe. Obviously, there are many variations and a 4th letter can be added.
to Zeiter, where did you get the LAW on your Rover? (i won't tell)
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Kassiopeia
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Jyväskylä, Finland
Jul 2001
time: 07:36
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Nah, I think he meant "pendant", but used "hanger" for the lack of a better word, happens to me sometimes as well. It's a thing that hangs, so hanger - the Finnish word for "pendant" is derived from the Finnish verb for "to hang", the same could be the case in whatever the language Maniac grew up with is, French? (never mind the fact that pendant means something quite different in French, as you as a Canadian probably know)
In any case, I'll use "pendant" when posting the article unless Maniac objects. Thanks for spotting that, you always need more than one (or two  ) people to proofread things.
Last edited by Kassiopeia on 27-07-2004 at 09:45
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Maniac
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Gent, Belgium
Jul 1999
time: 06:36
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Yeah, I'm not native English, so I don't know the connotation of certain English words. Pendant is of course fine by me.
Just like there's a relation in Finnish, in Latin pendant comes from 'to hang', so literally translated pendant and hanger would mean the same.
Just for the record, I live in Flanders, which is the northern Flemish-Dutch speaking part of Belgium. Wallonia (the southern part) speaks French. We're supposed to learn French as our second language, but of course, as English is the international lingua franca, I speak French worse than English. Heck, I have hardly spoken or read French the last two years.
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18-07-2004 20:33
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