No quarter given, no mercy this day

We will be revisiting the subjects of machismo, fist-waving and the relations of these two today. This will be done through fictional storyworlds, mainly the one that is nowadays known as either the Tribes Universe or Tribes Canon. The Tribes have been brought back to the public view by Tribes: Ascend which is spreading through the online community like wildfire. I'll try to go through the backstory and lore a bit here, since this post might be a bit confusing otherwise, but the fine print will not be necessary for today's point.

The Tribes Universe originates from the game series Earthsiege, which later spun off into Starsiege, which became the Tribes series. Both Earthsieges and Starsiege are mecha vehicle simulation combat games with somewhat confusing bunches of lore. (On a completely unrelated note, Earthsiege is probably the reason I like mechas as much as I do.) With Starsiege came two books explaining most of the backstory, which I'll try to shortly recap here.

The series is set in the future of our universe, with the Earth united into an Empire that is rather Terrasentric. With most of our galaxy (and later further into space yet) settled, there's some dispute between Earth and the colonies that eventually (in Starsiege) spins into a full-blown civil war. At the turning point from mechas to humans and cybrids - cyber hybrids, humans that aren't humans, basically - the Empire at Terra is forced to send more and more troops further into the galaxy to quell the rebellion. Eventually, these forces fighting each other evolve from their militaristic (or not-so-militaristic) origins into tribal forces, usually referred to simply as Tribes or Tribals, that end up warring over the edges of space called the Wilderzone. All of this spins into a huge ball of fighting and blood feuds, ending in a huge tribal war at around year 4000.

At this point came out the first Tribes game, Starsiege: Tribes (later followed by Tribes 2, Tribes: Vengeance and then Tribes: Ascend), marking the beginning of the most fast-paced first person shooter game series out there. Tribes also further popularized CTF (Capture The Flag) as a game mode in shooters, a fad that was started by Quake two years prior and is now basically a hallmark in all multiplayer shooters. Anyway, Tribes: Vengeance is chronologically the first game in the series (and the only one with a single player plot), and lines out the beginning of the Tribal Wars, which are played out in the rest of the games. It's unclear how all the Tribal factions came to be, but the four largest "Tribal Nations" are Starwolf, Children of the Phoenix (the "original" Tribals), Diamond Sword and Blood Eagle (the two last ones being old forces of the Empire - Blood Eagles definitely and the Diamond Swords most probably).

Now, as I said, the plot is a bit confusing and difficult to follow, but as the Tribes games are all focused on the multiplayer aspect, backstory has never been a high priority. If this rabbling sparked some curiosity, the Tribes wiki has more on both the story and the different Tribes, although much of what's there could be called speculation. All of this brings me back to the start, however, and the subject of machismo.

It's often argued that war is inherently male, with all the flag waving, boasting and such that comes with it. I do not necessarily fully agree with this, but testosterone seems to have a lot to do with punching people in the face. That said, I find some small part of me inherently answering to the call of duty, honor and blood. I would not wish to take arms for a cause in person because there are few, if none, causes worthy enough, but the fictional possibility to do so caters to me on some level. (And no, nationalism isn't a good reason, it's a fake ideal and the faster we transcend it the better.)

The title of this post is a quote from the newest Tribes game, Tribes: Ascend. Specifically, it's one of the game opening quotes of Blood Eagles. The game has only two of the four large Tribes (the previous two titles having had all four), the Blood Eagles and Diamond Swords. There's a very real difference between the two factions, with Blood Eagles being more the out-for-war, scorched earth faction and Diamond Swords being more the "war philosophers". Both seem to follow a rigorous code of honor, but ones that differ from each other sufficiently to make the teams feel different.

Blood Eagles are more about just pushing it to the limit with full-blown conflict, all out from the start. "No quarter given, no mercy this day." "We'll push those sand-rakers off our world." "We'll make the Sworders pay for their treachery." The Butchers are more savage and more outright and clearly cater more with the machismo. If you don't take my word for it, just take a look at their nickname.

The Diamond Swords are more mystical and aloof, with a more thinking approach to the subject of war. "Invincibility lies in the defense, the possibility of victory in the attack." The Sworders are a tactical tribe, made out to be some sort of space samurai.

Now, the whole game is about these two trashing it out 200mph. The whole point has been to create a sort of juvenile fantasy setting where war is the thing, because it just is. It's kind of goofy if you ever stop to think about it, but on some level, it works. Giving it to the other guy just because he's the other guy - sprinkled with a million underlying reasons and history - works as fiction: it's a perfect steam valve. When I get the urge to cave in some heads, it's not real heads. Gaming doesn't make me more violent, just the opposite: the machismo and stupidly over-done attitude is an outlet. You won't find me caving in heads at the grill because I need to vent my frustrations.

No quarter given, no mercy this day.