This Week in SSG: Unity

So this week I’m afraid I didn’t have time to get swell screen shots for this post. I’ll try to do better next time. Last week’s theme was leadership. While leadership is a trait that all knights share, it’s nature is unique to all of us. This week’s theme is quite different. Unity. This idea is what bonds all of us individuals together.

Monday Knight Halo: For some people the word “Assist” is synonymous with “kill steal.” This action would result in any number of slurs and insults. Additionally, feelings of having the stage kicked out from under you can foster feelings of resentment. While partaking in the Firefight Challenge this week I noticed how different we really are from that of the standard fair of gamer. The festivities started with SSG Jettstream, SSG Cazril, and myself. With the two of them they each had a fair fifty-fifty chance of winning 1600 MS Points. That was until SSG Apocalypse showed up. While Jett, and Caz put up a valiant effort it is safe to say that Apoc secured a resounding victory. There were no harsh words, no ill will. All I heard was heartfelt congratulations from bested teammates. Later, the four of us decided to try our hand at the Title Update playlist. My kill count in the first skirmish was… abysmal.  My shots were missing their mark, but luckily I had a teammate that was right on the money. SSG Jettstream is the new John Wayne. This man pulled out his .45 and ended more lives than any spaghetti western ever did. Every assist I earned in that match was his kill.  I was proud to have him at my side. You see, unity means teamwork, but more than that. Unity means we desire victory for our comrades more than ourselves. We feel this way because deep down inside our friend’s victories are our victories. It doesn’t matter whose name is on it.

Wednesday Knight Warfare: Just another gaming session? Maybe. That is until Bigg Nate and I started a discussion. That discussion was on politics. Now the specifics of those politics are unimportant. The very nature of politics is contention, Nate and I are no exception. There were things that we didn’t see eye to eye on. However, there were no raised voices, no insults. He did not call me a “conservative nazi” and I never called him a “liberal hibbie,” or “communist.” We politely discussed our points of view and respected each other’s differing opinions. Unity is respecting our differences, embracing those differences and understanding how diversity can make us stronger.

Thursday Knight Horde: Violence, lots and lots of violence. One of our apprentices DarkFusion arrived and promptly showed SSG CodeMonkey and I the proper use of the Gnaser Shotgun. As bits of body parts flew gracefully in all directions Code and I could not help but marvel at the proficiency at which Fusion wielded his weapon. He was like an artist that used internal organs as means to sculpt his master piece. Rather than be insulted by the impudence of this upstart we offered him praise for his performance. Albeit with the occasional jab after I “Retro Charged” him a few times. Unity is accepting the fact that sometimes members of our team can be better, much better, then ourselves. Unity means we embrace and nurture teammate to make our team stronger… even if they are shotgun campers….

Unity in SSG is what brought us here, what keeps us here, and what makes us strong.