Duelist
The honor-focused culture of Terra Nova sprang a unique role amongst it's warrior's ranks -At the front of every Gear regiment stands a single pilot who bears on his shoulders the history and reputation of his unit. This is the Duelist, for whom the personal nature of war is the strongest, and in his person are reflected all the contradictions of Terra Nova.
Champions and diplomats for their regiments, Duelists know better than most that the divisions between North and South exist along with a shared heritage of honor, struggle and survival. They were the first onto the battlefield when war returned to the Terranovan landscape, and they felt most acutely the shattering of the trust built after the War of the Alliance.
They know it will happen again.
Outside of the military, others also take the mantle of Duelist. They represent their cities in regulated sporting duels or their gangs in bloody underground fights, but they too can sense the tide of battle still on the horizon. They too understand the difference between a duel of honor and the indiscriminate carnage of the battlefield.
Duelists lead a lonely life, their duties separating them from their fellows. Military pilots are expected to lead perfect lives, to always think of the regiment first and forget about any personal considerations. Professional sports Duelists are constantly surrounded by packs of scandal-conscious reporters and dazzled fans, rarely finding time to establish any real friendships.
Underground pilots live on the edge, regularly risking their lives for the entertainment of wealthy gamblers and bloodthirsty crowds. The scarcity of meaningful human contact makes what friendships a Duelist does establish very strong. The pilots, ingrained with traditions of honor and respect, are uncommonly loyal, ready and willing to stand by their companions in the direst of situations. When these obligations — as a friend and as a Duelist — come into conflict, the results are rarely pleasant. The pilot must choose between becoming a pariah and letting a friend suffer.
Duel Types
Military Duels
Military duels involve combat between the representatives of two Gear regiments. These battles are highly structured and involve the defense of the unit’s honor and prestige. Most take place between otherwise friendly forces for the entertainment of the troops, with stakes consisting of simple bragging rights. Duels over minor points of pride — such as which regiment has the bravest commander — are also quite common and rarely lead to fatalities.
Some military duels are fought for much more important stakes, however. In military standoffs over strategically minor points, enemy Duelists may do battle to avoid large scale confrontations. The loser’s forces are honor bound to withdraw in these cases, and few regiments would risk the disgrace of refusing. These duels are significantly more dangerous than casual sparring matches, and often lead to serious injury and even death. Accusations of cowardice, treason or dishonorable behavior can also lead to deadly duels between pilots of the same league. Most armies officially discourage such battles, but the tradition of regimental honor leads most commanders to overlook the regulations in this case. For most pilots and commanders, a duel is the only way to resolve serious accusations leveled against the unit as a whole.
Regimental duels form the model for all other types and are considered the most “pure.” In matters of honor, even non-military pilots will follow the military rules of engagement, confident that doing so will ensure a clear victory that will settle the dispute. These rules have been established over the life of the military Duelists and are taken very seriously across Terra Nova. Each regiment nominates a Duelist and expects him to follow military protocol to the letter, embodying his unit’s honor and defending it to the death.
Sport Duels
Professional sport duels are the legitimate cousins of regimental combat. Taking advantage of the popularity of dueling, most leagues — and several smaller groups — have established professional dueling circuits in which highly paid civilian pilots compete. These battles are not fought for honor in the same sense as regimental duels are, but each city-state and league takes great pride in its professional Duelists and their performance is often seen as a reflection on the community as a whole. A city-state with a championship team gains tremendous prestige and will often attract businesses and tourists as never before, simply because of the massive media coverage that comes with winning. Many city governments sink significant parts of their public revenues into local teams, building massive arenas, practice fields and maintenance facilities to attract the top pilots.
Massive crowds of rabid fans and intense media scrutiny are commonplace at the most prestigious of professional duels. During a league’s championship tournament it becomes nearly impossible to escape the match, as game footage, commentary, analysis and retrospectives fill most trideo broadcasts and billboards plaster the streets. Public security forces in cities with winning teams have learned to dread this time of year; a crowd of jubilant fans of a victorious team or their angry defeated counterparts can easily turn into a rioting mob.
Unlike military duels, professional sport duels are often team affairs. Whole squadrons of Gears confront each other in a large arenas, often using simulated “sporting” weapons to score points. One-on-one duels are still possible in professional circuits, but nothing is quite so spectacular as two dozen war machines darting around a complex playing field. Impressive arenas accommodate these games are often one of the major landmarks in a city-state.
Gladiatorial Duels
In the darkest corner of the dueling world lies the underground gladiatorial duel. Banking on the mystique of military duels and the popularity of professional sport Gear battles, criminal kingpins and opportunistic promoters across the Badlands and the poles establish illegal arenas where anything goes. Immensely popular in the huge fringe out of sight of polar law, underground dueling pits pilots against each other in dangerous and often deadly combats for the pleasure of gamblers and combat fans, and for the profit of underworld organizers.
Like professional dueling, gladiatorial combat is often quite distant in form from the traditional battles of the military, but the sense of pride and the deadly dangers tie the two traditions together. Obviously rigged duels are commonplace in the ruthless world of the underground, but the top circuits keep it to a well-regulated minimum. The kingpins make most of their money off of gambling, and high-stakes gamblers quickly learn to avoid circuits in which they stand no chance of winning big. Gladiatorial Duelists of the highest order also rarely stand for extensive duel fixing. These men and women consider themselves to be part of the same tradition as their military counterparts, and value their honor on the battlefield. It is mainly because of this common attitude that even the most brutal of underground arena fights can still claim the status of duel.
The modicum of honesty in the major arenas attracts large numbers of fans, who come to the Badlands or other areas to see Gear combat at its most visceral. While most organizers understand the value of keeping their best pilots alive, rare is the illegal arena that has not seen its fair share of spilled blood. Unlike sport dueling, underground weapons are live and audience members can and do get hurt by ricochets and wild fire. The few truly large underground arenas — such as the Web Arena in Khayr ad-Din take precautions to avoid fatalities, but occasional accidents are unavoidable. The most important of the these arenas are located in the Badlands, where polar legal codes are meaningless, but smaller dueling circuits exist at both poles, often deep in the countryside, but sometimes just under the noses of law enforcement authorities.