Post by New Dornalia on Jul 20, 2016 18:48:40 GMT -5
Rough draft of a recruitment poster for the CU Naval Air Corps. The plane in question was a VF-1 modified to become a FGA.6 piloted by First Lieutenant Gordon Strelnikov, named "Nina."
The Hajarran Cooperative Union has unique Regimental traditions, per the Dornie ways. However, the Dornies were never quite prepared to experience....this.
"This" was a unique and allegedly heretical practice developed among Hajarran pilots during the War of Defense that persists to this day.
Origins
The Hajarran Linh-Minaist religion is the predominant religion on Hajarra. Centered around a Singing Goddess known as Linh-Mina, the religion uses a loose array of Scriptures known as "The Songbooks," which collect the central narrative of the Hajarran religion and also consist of a collection of various hymns. Services are often song based, with very little in the way of spoken sermons, although there is an offering.
Why is this relevant? The Songbooks mention that the guardians of the Singing Goddess Linh-Mina employed guardians known as the Valkiryes to defeat her enemies who could transform into men, birds, and inbetweens as needed. Obviously inspired by distantly remembered visions of the VF-1s, the Valkiryes nonetheless remained a part of the Hajarran religion.
Cue the coming of the VF-1 and the variable fighters, and the obvious rush to adopt them as a result. An odd side effect occurred, however, and that was the rise of a uniquely Hajarran form of "maintenance," one which only intensified due to the Civil War/War of Defense, as it was increasingly tolerated to ensure that pilots properly respected their fighters and kept them safe from harm (they were rather hard to replace, after all)--the Fighter Cult.
Characteristics
The Fighter Cult is an irregular religious sect, with no explicit religious text beyond those preserved in word of mouth by the only partly jokingly anointed "High Priests," often the Captain of an air unit. Generally among the Cult, however, there is a Canon.
The Canon is essentially a comedic parody of the classic Linh-Minaist Songbooks, which holds that the Dornies sold the Valkiryes to the Hajarrans, making the Valkiryes manifest "in accordance with the prophecy." Note that there is in fact no prophecy, it's something they say that sounds cool.
The Canon mandates several Rules:
1. Thou must Respect Thy Machine, for It Will Respect Your Sorry Ass.
2. Thou must Love Thy Machine, for It Will Be Your Most Reliable Piece of Ass.
3. Thou must Care For Thy Machine, for All Women Need TLC.
4. Thou must Name Thy Machine, because How Can You Do All of the Above If You Don't Name The Damn Thing?!
5. Thou must Honor Thy Machine, because if you don't Honor Them, They Won't Honor You. And that Sucks.
6. Thou must finally Love Thy Machine. So Important We Had to Say It Twice.
All of these rules are generally interpreted to mean that one must name their machine and care for it not just with the usual maintenance routines, but even further with religious rites and devotion to the plane.
This results in pilots naming their planes, usually in a ceremony after their first mission or kill, whichever comes first (although the first kill is encouraged, as it also means immediate initiation into the Cult). It also results in vigorous practice with their planes, modifications as a result, and nose and custom art of varying sizes, from small nose art pieces to pieces which can resemble small murals. Additionally, small sacrifices and "sing ins" are conducted at the end of every mission, and before and after regular maintenance.
In an even more extensive ritual, the Blessing of the Fighters is conducted every year on Landfall Day, the Hajarran national holiday, where new pilots and machines as well as older ones are blessed by a Hajarran priest and the Captain of each unit. And, ghostly sightings are even reported around the fighters--pilots and crews and base guards report that female figures can be seen around the fighters at night, dancing around and praying and laughing.
Oh and finally, deconsecration of the fighters occurs when a pilot dies and/or his machine gets blown up, or when a pilot retires, conducted by the Captain and the Crew. Deconsecration involves returning a machine back to factory status and warpaint and then finally striking its name in a ceremony.
Pranks
OOC: Culled from OG inspired content, updated.
The Fighter Cult is naturally the target of pranks and jokes from the men of the Starways Congress and regular Dornalian Navy men alike, the latter of whom refer to them as "Robofuckers" and the former of whom find them to be...very strange, like Most Dornies.
In particular, others such as the Order of the Vanguards as well as regular Dornie officers alike have been known to prank the Hajarran crews. Among the psychic and Empowered groups, this takes the form of psychic projections of either a whimsical or scary nature, mental suggestion, and even among Ordermen, psychic song and dance numbers from the planes.
Among the regulars, nocturnal visits among the planes to spray paint messages on equipment, run around in sheets, or even partake in nocturnal activities of a decidedly sexy nature to spook the Hajarrans are common as well.
Naturally, no one can prove these events...although the Hajarrans have repeatedly filed complaints.