The Way of the Golden Dragon

Some more stuff I uncovered in my researches into annals of the Vherokior Xia, which have been adopted by HUANG as its fighting style:

The Way of the Golden Dragon is the foundation of the combat style employed by the combat pilots of Huang Yinglong. Learn the Way, and master the Eight Qualities and Twelve Abilities, and you will gain the skills to be a xia of Huang Yinglong.

The Way is subtle and simple, but the meaning is timeless and profound.
The Way has a gate leading inside; it also has a Yin and a Yang.
The gate leading inside constantly opens and closes,
Yin and Yang ebb and flow.
When the Way is battle, be full-spirited within,
But outwardly show calm and be at peace;
Appear to be as gentle as a butterfly, but react like a leaping tiger.
Though hidden within, the spirit of the body moves;
Though obscured like a setting sun, the spirit moves like an bolt of lightning,
Catching the body and outrunning shadow like a mirage.
Back and forth in one breath.
The spirit cannot be retained in form.
And, though ever moving, it cannot be heard.

The Master said:

When fencing, though highly alert,
The appearance is as calm as a butterfly's
But when in action, a leaping Tiger emerges.

Present a weakness to invite attack,
But be powerful when unleashed.
The reaction begins after the attack,
But the response strikes first.

The Qualities and Abilities of a Dragon Warrior

To master the Way of the Dragon, you must master the Eight Qualities and Twelve Abilities that comprise the skills needed to be a Dragon Warrior.

The Eight Qualities
1. Fists
2. Eyes
3. Form
4. Motion
5. Spirit
6. Breath
7. Strength
8. Technique

The fist is like a shooting star, the eyes are as quick as lightning, the form is of a striking snake, the motion is smooth and fast, the spirit is full, the breath brings life, the strength must flow freely and the technique remains pure.

The Twelve Descriptions of Ability
1. In motion, move like a thundering wave
2. When still, be like a mountain
3. Rising up, be like a monkey
4. Land swiftly and lightly like a bird
5. Be steady like a rooster on one leg
6. One's stance is as firm as a pine tree, yet expresses motion
7. Spin swiftly and circularly like a wheel
8. Bend and flex like a bow
9. Waft gracefully like a leaf in the wind
10. Sink like a heavy piece of metal
11. Prey like a watchful, gliding eagle
12. Accelerate like a gusty wind

The Path of the Dragon Knight

Been doing some research into the core values of Huang Yinglong and what it means for a modern Vherokior pod-pilot to follow warrior codes of the Old Ways. This is what I uncovered:

Tao De Long Xia: The Path of the Dragon Warrior

The dragon knight treasures the state, friendship, duty, promises, kindness, vengeance, honor, and righteousness more than his own life.

These are the ideals that combat pilots (xia) of the Jin Hu house of Huang Yinglong aspire to:

1. altruism
2. justice
3. individualism
4. loyalty
5. courage
6. truthfulness
7. disregard for wealth
8. desire for glory

For more on the background of the old Vherokior Xia, you can read the Huang Yinglong Public Galnet.

Huginn Attack!

I love my Huginn-class force recon cruiser. Great crew, dangerous ship. Loaded to the gills with artillery and heavy missles, and even more loaded with a full rack of deadly ECM mods. It has special electronics that can extend a stasis web field to nearly 30 klicks... and with more drilling of the crew, I expect to have that over 30 soon. Plus it can bring the hammer down on enemy targetting computers and warp engines.

So far this crew, ship and I have racked up four confirmed kills, and the first was an INFOD on her maiden patrol. Spotted an enemy Hurricane-class battlecruiser playing tag with a scout of the patrol... missed it on the first pass, then caught it as it was blasting the scout to debris on the far side of a gate. I ordered the crew to target with everything... and that from that moment onward, she was like a dead hulk drifting in space. No targeting, not movement, no warp... Called in the rest of the patrol, and she melted like glacial ice in a nova.

I'm getting used to this commanding of a crew again... not too many days anymore spent flying solo in my jaguar-class frigate, though I did fly as escort for a few corp battleships on an blockade mission and could fly through a veritable storm of gunfire and missles with the shields holding (though just barely). I do miss the old times, flying alone, but as a ship-of-war, the Huginn can't be beat.

War Musings...

Well, I've been busy. Busy with out of pod stuff... my baby sis got married back on Pator and it seemed like the clan's feasting and celebrations lasted forever and not long enough. Oh, and two wars (or more? I lose track now). Frackin' pirates tried to shut down Molden Heath... Infinitus Odiom. Yeah, they had more pilots and more ships, but Huang Yinglong and the other Namtz'aar K'in pilots did more ass kicking than they expected. I lost a couple of ships and clones in that scrap, which lasted a few months... but gave way better than I got.

After INFOD left for greener pastures, some other jokers dec'ed us... 505, or Save Our Souls. What a bunch of whankers. They hid in Teonsude in high sec, and whenever they poked out we smacked them, though sometimes we lingered too long... out killboard stats show it. When they finally withdrew their dec, I even helped nail two more in the waning hours of the war... to you stealth bomber pilots out there--never mess with a Huginn!

The whole alliance has move to Hrokkur now. Used to be such a quiet system. Now it's packed with blues, and friendly neutrals. I even get commed all the time whenever a bad guy dares poke his nose into the system. It's good to be the good guys.

Now it's almost too quiet. Bad guys dock or leave the system when Huang pilots jump in. Only guys we get are guys who don't know us, and after they lose ships and clones a few times, they get to know us all too well...

Catch up time... and an Ode to Axen Vormar

A lot has been happening since I last logged in. I've been doing a lot of research into Old Vhek culture, and also there have been lots of changes to Namtz'aar K'in. Corps have left and joined, pilots have left and joined...

Here's an old Vhek poem I found and posted as a farewell to a pilot who left who I greatly admired: Axen Vormar, who went on to join the fabled Star Fraction.

The hard keyura jewels hang straight down.
Twirling, shining, the creatures keep falling.

Truly, they are the angels' cries of grief,
clearer than hydrogen--
haven't you heard them,
sometime, somewhere?
You must have heard their cries
stab heaven like icy spears.

But if you hear of the people who fall,
or of the people who, dying,
breathe deep the bitter vaccum,
you, as your are now, will merely think
it's a piteous story about some foolish people,
or a story a little unusual.

But to merely think that
and to actually bite the vacuum
are totally, wholly different.
Space is so cold it feels hot,
so bitter it seems tasteless,
so painful it penetrates the blue dark.

All who fall there cry,
"Did I fall into the void?
Is it possible that I should have fallen?"
Yes, who'd believe it, at first?
And yet finally they will believe it
and feel all the more sorrowful.

I have told you this
not to prevent you from falling
but so you will be reborn after you fall.
For everyone sees,
and the strongest shall fall by their wish
and then soar with others.

Battlecruisers and beyond

Well, I finally reprocessed or bought the minerals for a Cyclone-class battlecruiser and hired a crew. Fit it up with tech 2 arties and decent shields, and took her on a maiden voyage tour through the belts of Hrokkur. It's just so frackin' SLOW. Yeah, the big guns are nice. But SLOW.

The crew performed admirably, so we docked in the Vherekior tribe station in the system to see what sort of work the tribe had to offer. Only some eight-jump jaunt into Ammatar space turned up was offered by the agent. I told the crew they had station leave indefinately, and hopped back into my pod and loaded it into my Jag... Double Trouble, the fifth of that name. Haven't gotten back into that expensive, shiny new cyclone since. Probably the stupidly ostentatious name I gave it in a fit of pride that did it: Lion's Mane.

A friendly Vherekior pilot in Gradient corp, Aule, was ratting in-system when he got jumped by four pirates of the self styled Immortalis Silens. Vahakin, a new recruit but already commanding a cyclone battlecruiser, and me in my trusty jag responded.

By the time we got there, Aule was in his pod, and all four were hammering away at Vah. I fired up the autocannons and hammered at a caracal that quickly warped off as my barrage ammo vaporized it's armor. Then I turned to the stabber when I saw the Domi let loose a whole damn swarm of drones... and I DIDN'T HAVE DRONES ON MY DAMN OVERVIEW. By the time I had them added I was down to 25% shields... as I saw another damned pirate warp in, I knew the cause was lost, and signaling Vahakin, I warped off. Vah put up a valiant fight but it was hopeless...

Best outcome of this was Aule, a good, solid chap, joined Huang. Guess he liked our quick response, even though it was in vain.

Later, I was pinged by family for a medical emergency, so I couldn't join the fleet that was warping in to deal with these clowns. Later I heard that they got the stabber pilot. Last night we chased these same criminals around Hrokker and Hrober, but they didn't stand and fight. Someday, I'll pod one of those suckers.