Your Partner Took A Lycan Last Night

Official blog of the free Karrakin mercenary Fidelio-Theophrast, callsign Sheolspark, former enlisted officer of the BUC and graduate of the Karrakin Cavalry College. Friend and frequent special operations contractor to @neramontagofficial and personal nightmare to many others. Note: While I am available for hire for Pankrati work, you should consider hiring someone else if you care about the other team's goodwill and personal wellbeing. Discounts available for contracts to play against the House of Stone.

[sheolsparkofficial]

I’m creating a more proper media presence at behest of my friends, colleagues, and employers who feel my past page was "unnecessarily inflammatory," "a brand risk," and "blunter than the College would like from a public-facing success story".

This is the official page of Sheolspark, or Fidelio-Theophrast, free Karrakin mercenary and sexiest fucking Lycan pilot to put their fullmetal hands through a Harrison frame this turning of the wheel. While I am technically still of the House of Stone, if you call me one of them, you can join their scion in the ever-auspicious “Fidelio put my jaw through my spine on Omninet broadcast and my dad apologized for making him go through the trouble” Club, and I hope you have good healthcare so I can ask for feedback on my form after.

I’m the proud son of the currently absent Khayradin Pankrati Champion Domitia and paracausal defense technology researcher Jabir Theophrastus, and, while I am by no means an egghead like my old man, I hope my success during my time in the academy speaks for itself as a realization of my mother’s heritage and teachings.

If you want to start a conflict, contact me. If you want to end a conflict, contact me. If you want an individual currently in a conflict to get removed from said conflict, safely and consensually or otherwise, contact me. If you want me to wreck some mechs in the ring, contact me*. If you need a vanguard for your operation, either short or long term, contact me. If you want some muscle for your metavault dive that can operate even when the mech can’t, contact me. If you’re looking to spar in the mech or the flesh, sexually or non-sexually, contact me. I also take security consulting, covert ops, and field instruction commissions. If I like the job you offer me, you’ll get a hefty discount, so consider personal fit before requesting my services.

Lastly, I will happily reward anyone who can provide me with credible, novel information as to the whereabouts of my parents. Yes, I’m aware that they were ostensibly aboard an interstellar transport that went the way of missiles, no, I really don’t think that would have been enough to kill my mother, and, honestly, my father’s the type to fake his own death for convenience.

*Note: I do not take contracts to kill as part of Pankrati matches, both because they are less reliable and they limit my ability to continue to operate in the space professionally. That being said, accidents do happen, so don’t contact me to fight in a match against anyone you like. I fucking hate when clients get pissed at me for being too good at the job they paid me to take.

<[Breaking character, this is an RP blog for Fidelio-Theophrast, my PC from a Shadow of the Wolf campaign from which @neramontagofficial also originates, currently set for immediately post graduation, though that may change, especially if I get to unretire him. Fair warning, this dude fucking sucks and will be saying some deeply unsavory things, as he’s very much a toxic macho Karrakin guy who is very into the realities of and process of armed conflict in Lancer, so you might want to block this page if you don’t want to see some horrific takes. The real person behind this blog (rather than the character who originated as a hybrid between Marc Antony and a Mets fan from the Bronx) goes by Nat, and will use they pronouns here]>

<[addendum re: how to deal with Fidelio if you have decided not to block this page: first and foremost, if you do not like how I am interacting with you as Fidelio, DM me and let's talk about it. I am entirely cool with adjusting to a point and maintaining distance beyond that point, because, again, he's a shithead and this is not something everyone enjoys. Second, I don't really recommend trying to argue more with him as a deescalation strategy, because he probably does not line up with you on morals and you trying to fight with him reads as you choosing to engage with him UNLESS YOU EXPLICITLY OUT OF CHARACTER ASK FOR IT TO STOP. I get wanting to maintain the character you've written and played up to this point, including rising to challenges, because that's what I'm likely to do, too, but, if you are not enjoying it, it is probably better to just have it end on a dead subthread or a hard pivot. Third, look, he's an asshole with repugnant morals but he does crucially regularly run bits, e.g., his primary mode of interaction with karrakincavalrycollege has been joking about fucking the intern's parents. If you want to pivot to bits, I'm super game and will try to follow your lead short of you outright insulting Fidelio on one of the like two things that are core to the character not backing down on (he Is Not Of Stone and Has Fought In The Boundary Garden). We can always do bits.]>

[karrakincavalrycollege]

Listen I understand the appeal of being cool and mysterious on campus but wearing a stylized pilot's helm or mask at all times is simply not practical while attending this school.

[neramontagueofficial]

Can't have shit in this school.

[sheolsparkofficial]

What kind of school lets me wear a heavy hardsuit but won't let kids run around dressed up like that one old man Passacaglia stabbed the fuck out of back in the day

[karrakincavalrycollege]

Fidelio, your hardsuit is broadly fine given that it doesn't interfere with facial identification, maintaining full visibility in class or eating meals.

We have had to deal with so many people trying to "reinvent" themselves here by wearing that is functionally a blindfold while driving.

[sheolsparkofficial]

That's just good field ops training, why do you hate good pedagogy?

[karrakincavalrycollege]

Listen I understand the appeal of being cool and mysterious on campus but wearing a stylized pilot's helm or mask at all times is simply not practical while attending this school.

[neramontagueofficial]

Can't have shit in this school.

[sheolsparkofficial]

What kind of school lets me wear a heavy hardsuit but won't let kids run around dressed up like that one old man Passacaglia stabbed the fuck out of back in the day

[passacagliaofficial]

[sheolsparkofficial]

[normalpilot038]

@neramontagueofficial I have been seeking the opportunity to test out your recommendation of azzurri sang, and have found several unofficial fighting leagues on the edges of Throne Karrakis that seem like they have potential.

Do you know if they're likely to have an issue with deployment of a localized greywash platform?

[sheolsparkofficial]

I know you were asking Nera about this, but I can steer you to some that would make you a fucking star about it, and a few others where this is just the norm. Check your DMs, I'll get you in contact with some of the staff to get you a tour at a couple places if you want.

[aleksandar-shari-for-viscount]

Why do people keep sending this to me by the way?

[sheolsparkofficial]

What are you talking about big guy you're in this video three fucking times why wouldn't we send it to you?

[hackslashsnowcrash]

PETITION FOR A NEW CLASS OF ART

I DESERVE TO EXPRESS MYSELF AND IF MY ART IS WATCHING 2 ANIMALS GO APESHIT ON EACHOTHER THEN I SHOULDNT BE SUPPRESSED for too long we have been relegated to back alleys and streams in the dark corner of the omninet, but i deserve to show off my beautiful art to the WORLD. we centuries my people have practiced the art of dog fighting, cat fighting, puma fighting, large scale ant trench warfare, armadillo guerilla tactics, sun tzu's art of snail war, capybara leg wrestling, mma with starfish, kangaroo krav maga, t-rex tae kwon do, and star-nosed mole sniper duels. (i'm trying to get jellyfish fighting off the ground if you know how i can make these fuckers fight eachother PLEASE let me know so far they just keep floating around and staring at eachother) but for whatever reason i keep getting called "a dick" when i try to talk about the the artistic depth and meaning behind sticking 2 animals in a ring and letting them go. sign this petition here with me if you think that we should be allowed to express ourselves and our love for jaguar jager kunst - pocket boy stonelord hyderad kanamos

[normalpilot038]

I just think I don't really "get" Pankrati.

[hackslashsnowcrash]

i dont get it either. why does anyone subject themselves to this horrible awful terrifying game.

[gankration-macani]

funny

[thevoicefrompromise]

It's an artform. Duels to the death aren't common and usually aren't listed under the name Pankrati. It's sport, art, dance, performance.

Mechs clashing with strict safety regulations. Works of art engaged in a perfect duel, death is a tragedy, uncommon but oh such a tragedy.

Not all art is for everyone. But please refrain calling an art horrible or awful.

/Suzerain Arvantiel Sarthis of the House of Promise\

[sir-eddy-of-umara]

Good Suzerain, this knight does not wish to cause undue strife, nor disrespect your clear passion for art, which is most admirable. Certainly, this knight could not be called an arbiter of what is and is not art, and nor would he wish to be. He simply asks that you consider why you consider Pankrati to be art, and why others might disagree.

In the Baronies, who is it who decides what is considered art? Broadly, it is nobles. Who is it who participates in pankrati? Once again, it is primarily nobles, or at least disproportionately so. Yet who bears the brunt of the suffering inflicted by mechanized chassis, who puts in the work that allows chassis to exist, who might have reason to decry the artfulness of a sport that makes a game out of weapons meant firstly to take life?

Consider a hypothetical competition in which orbital bombardment cannon crews compete to see who can more thoroughly destroy an artificial structure in a single shot. All safety precautions are followed, there is hardly any chance of injury or death. Certainly such a competition would involve skill, precision, teamwork, perhaps even elegance and passion. Arguably there is even an element of performance to it. Is it art? If no, what if the competition is instead judged on the perceived beauty of the explosion or resulting rubble? Does that make it art? If yes, what if the structure is modeled on a civilian residence, crash test dummies are placed inside, and the competition is judged on how many are "killed"? Is it still art?

Mechanized chassis and orbital bombardment cannons both are modern weapons of war, designed from their inception to commit indiscriminate violence, and used regularly to commit unspeakable atrocities that, quite frankly, most pankrati fighters could not dream of without seeing firsthand. The main difference, in this knight's view, is simply that one of theses weapons has a human shape.

[thevoicefrompromise]

I hear your words Sir Eddy of Umara.

I believe the difference in your theoretical however lies in it's scale and impact. An orbital bombardment will affect more than just the target. The environment itself damaged.

Pankrati has strict rules.

Fencing has been a legal sport for much of History as humans, false blades and scoring via touch. Sport made of war. Art made of war.

Words can lead to indiscriminate violence. Lest we forget those across the Dawnline and the precursor to our modern day... ally of sorts of Union.

Art has been used to shame, destroy, dehumanize, villainize, and propagandize. But you would not ban a painting or a sculpture as a concept would you? Your armor you wear is an art. The streets and cities we walk on. The faces we see in the mirror, no matter how they are seen or not seen are art.

Art is capable of great violence. Poetry, writing, film, painting, charcoal, every medium.

Pankrati is no different. It is sport made from Mechanized Violence. But it is a sport. It is a performance, a dance, and one that has taken several steps to protect both performers and those spectating.

My argument was not to say that people may not choose to dislike an art I enjoy, nor to silence opposition. I asked for an art form to not be called horrid, awful.

I do not enjoy how some houses partake in the sport, how their ignobles are treated. But if you wish to enjoy art without dealing with a single soul who's actions are not greatly flawed? Then you are without luck and will cease to see the beauty of many a thing.

Good art can came from vile places. And art one does enjoy can come from some of the greatest.

I ask people to look at a dear joy of mine with an open mind.

I am aware of the darker side of what I partake in. I am aware that my chassis that I use are weapons first and foremost. My house is full of veterans of war. My beloved Han Jae served in the first interest war and is dying because of the injuries he suffered then. Kalev Landsknecht served Harrison Armories and saw firsthand the evils of combat by mechanized frames. Mac sits here in my home still with the scars from a deployment that he was a part of far too young. I have seen what war does to the people I cherish greatly.

A diplomat who doesn't know war is either lucky, lying, or a poor diplomat. These are not mutually exclusive.

But if you want to decry the treatment of Ignobles I believe you have better targets to fire at than sport and art. Order. Sand. Glass. Stone. Promise. Smoke. Moments. Remembrance. Dust. Water. At some point in all our histories we have done things as houses poorly to the lower classes. Some more frequently than others.

There are better fights to spend breath on Sir Eddy of Umara.

/Suzerain Arvantiel Sarthis of the House of Promise\

[sir-eddy-of-umara]

There are indeed far better fights to spend more than just breath upon, as this knight fully intends to. It was for this reason that he did not intend this to become a fight. This knight is afraid that he is far more used to fights of a physical nature, and he had ill-considered how you, as a diplomat, might take his words as a challenge. For this, you have this knight's sincerest apologies.

This knight meant no insult to you, nor to any of those of your House. This knight has spoken with each of those you name, and considers them friends. You speak truly, art often inspires war, and war often inspires art.

This knight would simply ask that you consider: A painting may incite many to violence, but no painting has ever directly slaughtered a family. A fencing sword, even dulled, may kill, but none have ever razed a home. Mechanized chassis do both with appalling ease and regularity, indeed, if one looks back far enough in their history, one learns that it is precisely what they were designed to do. For many, this destruction is the only purpose they have known chassis to have, but none would say the sole purpose of drums is direct soldiers in battle. This knight means no disrespect to those pankrati you have mentioned, who know firsthand the destruction chassis can cause, but in his experience the vast majority do not.

If someone who has experienced great loss due to mechanized chassis in war expresses outrage that they are also used in a sport played mostly by those who know not their pain, you may disagree with them, but this knight humbly asks that you consider their perspective before you put it in the same category as others who would disparage another form of art. It is cold comfort to tell them "but it is art".

[thevoicefrompromise]

Art has been a cassis beli before.

Blood still spilt. The root cause is tied to the hand that pulls the trigger.

My argument was never about not enjoying the sport. Merely asking those to not degrade an art they don't enjoy

[orion-regulatory-and-legal]

I know right, people keep trying to shut down the dogfighting rings that crop up around Carina, just because they're too squeamish to enjoy it!

Luckily, we seem unified in our goal of protecting the arts from those who would threaten them.

And remember everyone, if you run an honest sporting event that has been unfairly harassed by animal rights groups, you can contact me to defend you!

[thepankratikidd]

anyone in this thread smoke weed

[sheolsparkofficial]

Not officially but definitely yeah, and gliss more rarely.

[normalpilot038]

I just think I don't really "get" Pankrati.

[hackslashsnowcrash]

i dont get it either. why does anyone subject themselves to this horrible awful terrifying game.

[gankration-macani]

funny

[thevoicefrompromise]

It's an artform. Duels to the death aren't common and usually aren't listed under the name Pankrati. It's sport, art, dance, performance.

Mechs clashing with strict safety regulations. Works of art engaged in a perfect duel, death is a tragedy, uncommon but oh such a tragedy.

Not all art is for everyone. But please refrain calling an art horrible or awful.

/Suzerain Arvantiel Sarthis of the House of Promise\

[sir-eddy-of-umara]

Good Suzerain, this knight does not wish to cause undue strife, nor disrespect your clear passion for art, which is most admirable. Certainly, this knight could not be called an arbiter of what is and is not art, and nor would he wish to be. He simply asks that you consider why you consider Pankrati to be art, and why others might disagree.

In the Baronies, who is it who decides what is considered art? Broadly, it is nobles. Who is it who participates in pankrati? Once again, it is primarily nobles, or at least disproportionately so. Yet who bears the brunt of the suffering inflicted by mechanized chassis, who puts in the work that allows chassis to exist, who might have reason to decry the artfulness of a sport that makes a game out of weapons meant firstly to take life?

Consider a hypothetical competition in which orbital bombardment cannon crews compete to see who can more thoroughly destroy an artificial structure in a single shot. All safety precautions are followed, there is hardly any chance of injury or death. Certainly such a competition would involve skill, precision, teamwork, perhaps even elegance and passion. Arguably there is even an element of performance to it. Is it art? If no, what if the competition is instead judged on the perceived beauty of the explosion or resulting rubble? Does that make it art? If yes, what if the structure is modeled on a civilian residence, crash test dummies are placed inside, and the competition is judged on how many are "killed"? Is it still art?

Mechanized chassis and orbital bombardment cannons both are modern weapons of war, designed from their inception to commit indiscriminate violence, and used regularly to commit unspeakable atrocities that, quite frankly, most pankrati fighters could not dream of without seeing firsthand. The main difference, in this knight's view, is simply that one of theses weapons has a human shape.

[thevoicefrompromise]

I hear your words Sir Eddy of Umara.

I believe the difference in your theoretical however lies in it's scale and impact. An orbital bombardment will affect more than just the target. The environment itself damaged.

Pankrati has strict rules.

Fencing has been a legal sport for much of History as humans, false blades and scoring via touch. Sport made of war. Art made of war.

Words can lead to indiscriminate violence. Lest we forget those across the Dawnline and the precursor to our modern day... ally of sorts of Union.

Art has been used to shame, destroy, dehumanize, villainize, and propagandize. But you would not ban a painting or a sculpture as a concept would you? Your armor you wear is an art. The streets and cities we walk on. The faces we see in the mirror, no matter how they are seen or not seen are art.

Art is capable of great violence. Poetry, writing, film, painting, charcoal, every medium.

Pankrati is no different. It is sport made from Mechanized Violence. But it is a sport. It is a performance, a dance, and one that has taken several steps to protect both performers and those spectating.

My argument was not to say that people may not choose to dislike an art I enjoy, nor to silence opposition. I asked for an art form to not be called horrid, awful.

I do not enjoy how some houses partake in the sport, how their ignobles are treated. But if you wish to enjoy art without dealing with a single soul who's actions are not greatly flawed? Then you are without luck and will cease to see the beauty of many a thing.

Good art can came from vile places. And art one does enjoy can come from some of the greatest.

I ask people to look at a dear joy of mine with an open mind.

I am aware of the darker side of what I partake in. I am aware that my chassis that I use are weapons first and foremost. My house is full of veterans of war. My beloved Han Jae served in the first interest war and is dying because of the injuries he suffered then. Kalev Landsknecht served Harrison Armories and saw firsthand the evils of combat by mechanized frames. Mac sits here in my home still with the scars from a deployment that he was a part of far too young. I have seen what war does to the people I cherish greatly.

A diplomat who doesn't know war is either lucky, lying, or a poor diplomat. These are not mutually exclusive.

But if you want to decry the treatment of Ignobles I believe you have better targets to fire at than sport and art. Order. Sand. Glass. Stone. Promise. Smoke. Moments. Remembrance. Dust. Water. At some point in all our histories we have done things as houses poorly to the lower classes. Some more frequently than others.

There are better fights to spend breath on Sir Eddy of Umara.

/Suzerain Arvantiel Sarthis of the House of Promise\

[sir-eddy-of-umara]

There are indeed far better fights to spend more than just breath upon, as this knight fully intends to. It was for this reason that he did not intend this to become a fight. This knight is afraid that he is far more used to fights of a physical nature, and he had ill-considered how you, as a diplomat, might take his words as a challenge. For this, you have this knight's sincerest apologies.

This knight meant no insult to you, nor to any of those of your House. This knight has spoken with each of those you name, and considers them friends. You speak truly, art often inspires war, and war often inspires art.

This knight would simply ask that you consider: A painting may incite many to violence, but no painting has ever directly slaughtered a family. A fencing sword, even dulled, may kill, but none have ever razed a home. Mechanized chassis do both with appalling ease and regularity, indeed, if one looks back far enough in their history, one learns that it is precisely what they were designed to do. For many, this destruction is the only purpose they have known chassis to have, but none would say the sole purpose of drums is direct soldiers in battle. This knight means no disrespect to those pankrati you have mentioned, who know firsthand the destruction chassis can cause, but in his experience the vast majority do not.

If someone who has experienced great loss due to mechanized chassis in war expresses outrage that they are also used in a sport played mostly by those who know not their pain, you may disagree with them, but this knight humbly asks that you consider their perspective before you put it in the same category as others who would disparage another form of art. It is cold comfort to tell them "but it is art".

[thevoicefrompromise]

Art has been a cassis beli before.

Blood still spilt. The root cause is tied to the hand that pulls the trigger.

My argument was never about not enjoying the sport. Merely asking those to not degrade an art they don't enjoy

[hackslashsnowcrash]

you sounds exactly like my moms... ive said it before but i hope i get hit by a bus. that would preferable to even one more moment of pankrati

[sheolsparkofficial]

I like how you solve problems, kid.

[normalpilot038]

If I got plugged into an Enkidu neural link I wouldn't even notice it tbh. Got too much other shit going on.

[sheolsparkofficial]

ATTAGIRL THAT'S THE WAY TO LIVE

[sheolsparkofficial]

OOC:

I do want to just toss this wiki page out there for people because I read this paper (and also, critically, the commentary articles cited in the wiki) literally my first week of undergrad and it does to some extent probably influence how I flesh out Fidelio's relationship to Pankrati.

That and I know a lot about irl bloodsport, including reading a LOOOOOT of papers on the Roman gladiatorial tradition. That's not to say all of my familiarity is rooted in academic literature and like. Loose familiarity in this way. I grew up around people who did a lot of competitive martial arts, and this also influences things.

Notably, Fidelio is still A: a Karrakin nationalist and B: a violent shithead to the core, and his beliefs do not reflect mine. I'm inclined to agree with my friend who runs @neramontagueofficial on a lot of stuff around the psychosocial shit going on with Karrakin fixation on mechs after getting their shit handed to them via mechs.

[normalpilot038]

I just think I don't really "get" Pankrati.

[hackslashsnowcrash]

i dont get it either. why does anyone subject themselves to this horrible awful terrifying game.

[normalpilot038]

Don't you play it professionally?

[neramontagueofficial]

You are both students of the KCC, yes?

For those uninclined to sport, it is best to understand it as a form of soft power projection: kavalieres are, pilot to pilot, some of the best across Union space. Pankrati is a way to display this, publically, clearly, so as to deter attempts at conflict. It allows us to display our military prowess without actually engaging in conflict. Consider this: we have seen no wars since the First Interest War, prior to our adoption of the mech, and yet since our military has become renowned for our use of chassis across Union. This is in part due to the efforts of House and Free Companies, yes, but Pankration Mekani has also shown our prowess extensively and without the need for a conflict to display it.

Further, many great kavalieres get their start as pankrati. I am to believe one of you is among them, whose talent in Pankration has led the BUC to see your talent and allow you into the KCC. In many ways the pankrati ecosystem also serves this second purpose: to train pilots and to entice the youth into aspiring to piloting prowess. This is not all pilots, of course, but a great many will see the mechanized chassis first as an object of sport and then be recruited to aid in the defense of the Throne. As such, we become stronger and more capable of addressing conflict when it does occur.

As for the sport of it all, I see no need to understand. Either you are drawn to it or you are not.

[normalpilot038]

I see, I see. Perhaps the deciding factor is time spent in or away from war in that case.

Having gone from the battlefield to a brief attempt at the Pankrati ring, I find that the situations presented in matches bring to mind memories and instincts formed across old battlefields. Situations in which one is encouraged to give the battle everything that they have and holding back can be a fatal mistake.

This has obviously led to some... tension with the safety restrictions, and while I have managed to avoid causing any serious harm, the matches feel as if they cause me more stress than they do to those around me. Even watching matches can sometimes put me on edge for whatever reason

I have of course been working on eliminating this personal failing.

[sheolsparkofficial]

Take it from an alumn of your school, most of the safety restrictions are rooted in the construction of your frame and your opponent's, as well.

Some of the soft-spined Cradle-courting media divas on here will tell you that it's a personal failing to know what it is to fight and to choose to fight well, but face it, from one soldier to another, they're fucking wrong.

Pankrati is what it is because it is both right and Karrakin to fight and win with all you have. We would have lost so much more to both the bastards in SecComm and their upstart bastard children the Harrisonites if we were not what we are. Rely on the engineers to make sure everything's up to snuff, and, based on what you've said here, you know that to get into a mech is to smell death's musk, whether you get out of it on your own or not. If the other party doesn't understand what they're getting into, that's on them.

You're risking your life here. A lot of great Pankrati got where they did, even after getting back from tours as kavs, because they knew they were risking their lives, and they fucking acted like it. If you act like it, you aren't fucking up, and you aren't failing. You're proving for all the world that you have captured truth, and that you are fucking worthy of it. That, Lucia, is the true beauty of Pankrati Mekani at the highest levels. It is death, caged, being volleyed back and forth by pilots who signed up for this, not because it is safe, but because it is a chance to be perfectly, truly, correct.

If you ever want to hear about how Pankrati was like a few generations back, I learned a lot second-hand from my mother, and would be honored to share her stories with you.

[normalpilot038]

I see, so the true purpose of Pankrati is to engage in life-or-death violence?

[sheolsparkofficial]

Yeah, pretty much! It's a context in which life-or-death violence can be constrained so that the fullest efforts to kill and live instead result in victory and failure conditions. This is why point defense is such a popular element for team-based formats. It's still a bloodsport, but the stark martial beauty of having your people behind you comes from that, above all else, your job is not to kill your enemies, but to stand until they stop coming. Your mission in life-or-death defensive violence is not just to kill before you get killed, but also to survive and to shield those behind you. This makes it at once more palatable and structured in such a way that civvies find it more interesting despite it being no more or less inherently violent than, say, a one on one duel to the collapse of one or the other frame.

Does that make sense?

[normalpilot038]

I just think I don't really "get" Pankrati.

[hackslashsnowcrash]

i dont get it either. why does anyone subject themselves to this horrible awful terrifying game.

[normalpilot038]

Don't you play it professionally?

[neramontagueofficial]

You are both students of the KCC, yes?

For those uninclined to sport, it is best to understand it as a form of soft power projection: kavalieres are, pilot to pilot, some of the best across Union space. Pankrati is a way to display this, publically, clearly, so as to deter attempts at conflict. It allows us to display our military prowess without actually engaging in conflict. Consider this: we have seen no wars since the First Interest War, prior to our adoption of the mech, and yet since our military has become renowned for our use of chassis across Union. This is in part due to the efforts of House and Free Companies, yes, but Pankration Mekani has also shown our prowess extensively and without the need for a conflict to display it.

Further, many great kavalieres get their start as pankrati. I am to believe one of you is among them, whose talent in Pankration has led the BUC to see your talent and allow you into the KCC. In many ways the pankrati ecosystem also serves this second purpose: to train pilots and to entice the youth into aspiring to piloting prowess. This is not all pilots, of course, but a great many will see the mechanized chassis first as an object of sport and then be recruited to aid in the defense of the Throne. As such, we become stronger and more capable of addressing conflict when it does occur.

As for the sport of it all, I see no need to understand. Either you are drawn to it or you are not.

[normalpilot038]

I see, I see. Perhaps the deciding factor is time spent in or away from war in that case.

Having gone from the battlefield to a brief attempt at the Pankrati ring, I find that the situations presented in matches bring to mind memories and instincts formed across old battlefields. Situations in which one is encouraged to give the battle everything that they have and holding back can be a fatal mistake.

This has obviously led to some... tension with the safety restrictions, and while I have managed to avoid causing any serious harm, the matches feel as if they cause me more stress than they do to those around me. Even watching matches can sometimes put me on edge for whatever reason

I have of course been working on eliminating this personal failing.

[sheolsparkofficial]

Take it from an alumn of your school, most of the safety restrictions are rooted in the construction of your frame and your opponent's, as well.

Some of the soft-spined Cradle-courting media divas on here will tell you that it's a personal failing to know what it is to fight and to choose to fight well, but face it, from one soldier to another, they're fucking wrong.

Pankrati is what it is because it is both right and Karrakin to fight and win with all you have. We would have lost so much more to both the bastards in SecComm and their upstart bastard children the Harrisonites if we were not what we are. Rely on the engineers to make sure everything's up to snuff, and, based on what you've said here, you know that to get into a mech is to smell death's musk, whether you get out of it on your own or not. If the other party doesn't understand what they're getting into, that's on them.

You're risking your life here. A lot of great Pankrati got where they did, even after getting back from tours as kavs, because they knew they were risking their lives, and they fucking acted like it. If you act like it, you aren't fucking up, and you aren't failing. You're proving for all the world that you have captured truth, and that you are fucking worthy of it. That, Lucia, is the true beauty of Pankrati Mekani at the highest levels. It is death, caged, being volleyed back and forth by pilots who signed up for this, not because it is safe, but because it is a chance to be perfectly, truly, correct.

If you ever want to hear about how Pankrati was like a few generations back, I learned a lot second-hand from my mother, and would be honored to share her stories with you.

[neramontagueofficial]

Omninet, let me pose to you one of the more mundane of my problems:

Jäger Kunst, as a martial art, requires the use of a hardsuit. There is no compromising this, as many of the forms are so intense on the body that external reinforcements are absolutely necessary. Some of you may know that I have become a practitioner of Jäger Kunst, and use it as a form of meditation. This has become one of the more effective forms of grounding that I do.

However, hardsuits as a technology rely on a set of connections. Neural ones, to be precise. There is a paradox within armoring that maintains that protecting joints will always be difficult due to the fact that protection trades off with mobility and maneuverability. Earlier precursors to hardsuits made this tradeoff by only protecting one side of a joint, or having less solid protection at that position. The innovation that the hardsuit makes does the inverse. It protects the entire joint with a similar hard shell, but it does so by powering itself and using a mechanical system to bend the joint in time with its user. The question of how it knows when to bend the joint is resolved simply- a low-traffic neural connection that monitors the body's inputs to the limbs, integrated with the suits' other neural port filtering capabilities. It sees that my brain has told my body to move my arm, and also relayed that to the joints on the suit that need to be bent to move. So then I can move without difficulty.

But I am still in the process of resolving from a CNS injury. My grafts are not fully integrated, will not be for a while, and I have been told to limit strenuous activity that requires use of a neural connection. Jäger Kunst is now part of this.

What, dear omninet, is a girl to do to vent now?

[sheolsparkofficial]

Nera I propose to you two options:

Practice more conventional groundwork techniques typically not focused on in JK on account of "Hardsuits get fucky wucky and kill people harder on the ground regardless of intent", which can also provide some valuable development and reinforcement of your squishy flesh joints that might even allow you to do some conditioning centering on coordination in certain lower impact movements in JK later on should you need to rest the ol' data transfer ports again.

Get laid.

[neramontagueofficial]

I have just been informed that my neural grafts have been strained by the amount of hardsuit wear I've been doing over the past few weeks.

They say this would explain my headaches, and the anxiety, but I'm not sure that's the case.

Regardless, if anyone knows a source for low-impact custom hardsuits, I'd appreciate the ability to look beyond my typical sources. Home remedies for headaches would also be appreciated.

[neramontagueofficial]

Also, ideally those custom hardsuits would be capable of performing Jäger Kunst. That is to say: I am not in the market for mere body armor.

[sheolsparkofficial]

I've got a couple folks my mom used to have me working with when I was younger and less conditioned to using my suit as regularly as I do now. They also make frames designed for both localized rehabilitation and secondary bodily development, if you want to work up your tissues to match your hardware better and be less disadvantaged by time out of the suit. They've been laying low for a long while due to some disputes with public figures, but I'll get in touch with them and see if we can't get them interested in a consult. On the JK front, everything they make is combat spec, so you should be in good hands for that.

As for headaches, provided you're talking about the kind associated with graft-strain, I'll send a few practice exercises over. You'd be surprised what you can do with just bodily and sensory control exercises, but most of what I'm familiar with has to do with pushing through rather than actually resolving the pain, so I might not be much help for you there.

[neramontagueofficial]

Being able to function clearly with the pain is actually my goal, as my primary complaint is the fact that it is keeping me from my duties. I am accustomed to the sensation of pain even as I dislike it, the thorns are as essential to the plant as the rose after all. (And spending time in post-surgery recovery helps for establishing a baseline tolerance at least.)

As for your hardsuit manufacturer, I'm interested so long as those disputes with public figures are not of the legal variety. I am capable of being discreet, but you understand that unlike you my job necessitates that I operate above board.

[sheolsparkofficial]

Yeah no worries, it's more of a rich fucks being pissed that someone doesn't want to work for them and putting a lot of work into bringing them to heel situation than anything else. I try not to post about anything I can't openly speak to, y'know?

And I reached out to them, and they're extremely interested. You should be getting some official correspondence in the next day or so at the latest.

[radiofreesanjak]

Please tell me about Graywash Hole Day

We dump graywash in a hole and take bets on what would survive getting tossed in there.

@passacagliaofficial has the running tally on it but so far just the BUC MREs have survived.

— Mistral

[passacagliaofficial]

WE ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR NEW APPLICANTS FOR GREYWASH HOLE DAY. ALL HOUSE OF STONE LOYLISTS WELCOME TO APLY!

[sheolsparkofficial]

PASSACAGLIA MY BIGGEST OF MEN I AM MORE THAN HAPPY TO HELP WITH YOUR RECRUITMENT DRIVE

[karrakincavalrycollege]

hm, can you please point to where the third committee explicity told the house of stone to blockade sanjak with no other alternative options. Im sure it exists but it behooves the person making such claims to provide basis for those claims

Well, they halted the House of Stone's attempts to stablize Sanjak from the surface. The planet still needed protection from outside exploitation, so the Blockade was formed.

[sheolsparkofficial]

Sorry Terry, I'm gonna soapbox on this for a bit, because I see other issues than the fucking Blockade here.

Hey anon how about you shut the fuck up about "behooves the person making such claims" until you stop getting dicked on for making shit up that simply isn't true and having neither the dignity to tuck tail and live or rest properly on your fucking spearhead, huh?

Like I get it, you're having a real tough time, nobody wants to fuck you, nobody respects you, nobody cares about you enough to stop you from making a fucking fool of yourself publicly like this, and your attempt at a cheap win fucking with the KCC intern so far has really just been a kick in the nads for you, to the point that even the fucking Sanjak Ungratefuls have gotten on your ass for how fucking wrong you are about them, but you could at least take five fucking minutes to think before you open your mouth now that you know you ain't that fucking smart without it.

Playing the "basis of claims" game is kind of like fighting fair. You don't get to bitch about me putting your head in the solvent bucket after you pull a fucking knife, and certainly not with your Cradle-coddled-ass "hm, can you please" bullshit after you get called on being an ignorant fucking liar and don't even bother to concede what you fucked up. You wanna play that card? You give yourself a quick brush down, stand the fuck up, and commit to doing better on the factuality front yourself.

Take some fucking accountability, I promise, life is better when you try for real.