[Christopher VaughnStrever]

All right Darrell, I'll play ball with you...

The only concept of a modern knight with what we presume knights to be and involve, including the fantasy aspect of your question... Begs of a new world scene. Lets create our knight and then create our world!

1. Lets focus on the sword. Every sword we see from history, that Albion and others re-create have a system of fighting that we can learn from. If a new sword is made, a new system needs to be developed.

(Yes we can apply longsword tactics to a light sabre, but I would not want raw energy that can slice off my fingers to come as close to my fingers as I would a longsword... if that makes sense to you. Also as mentioned a steel blade is still very functional, we need our squires back to bring us an array of weapons when needed)

2. I would say that the enclosed armor that was developed back in the 16th c. such as henry VIII's armor (theres another thread on the subject thats recent) Steel has been developed to great lengths, look at spring steel jousting armor. This armor is currently taking beatings and still going strong, but to resist bullets, I would imagine a type of electro magnitism field to stop "high velocity incoming projectilles" HVIP Defense sounds great!

Lets not think of a typical Gambeson here, lets think of a body suit that can apply pressure to weakend body parts, supply air to cool the man down, as well as having more capabilities to assist the man inside of it, like a body suit that is padded, yet is electronically equipped to know how well the man inside is doing.

3. I would imagine an advanced "Gun blade" Imagine a sword that we all know and love, yet the sword is attached to the armor via a bullet supply belt, we one could simply use his sword as an automatic rifle, yet if he was in close quarters, he could wield his sword as is... Though again we need squires again because these men need an array of weapons, not just one!

4. Straight up, just as it was in the 15th century, there would be the Mercenary Companies. MC's would replace the goverments recruiting system. Trained proffesionals employed by the MC's would come to be private hire for governments across the world.

Each company would sponser their logo on the armor itself or not depending upon the governments desire to have its hired guns known or not.

5. Go and look up Final Fantasy: Advent children. There is a "bike" (if you want to call it that) and the bike is all terrain, heavy duty, 4 or 5 times the size of a motorcycle, it holds up to 10 swords/Guns, it can turn on a dime at high speeds and still whip around and take off like a bat out of hell. it is the modern knights mode of transport, It is like a motorcycle turned tank!

you want to write a story, lets co-collaborative discussion.

Hope you enjoyed darrell,
-chris v.

[Joshua R]

I disagree with the premise that a Special Forces soldier is 'just doing a job'. Most of the bona fide SF guys I have met would say that it is a calling and a lifestyle. Those folks who are of the mindset that it is just a job, they will probably never even make it in a combat MOS. Put simply, the people for whom it is just a job will not have the motivation that is needed in a special forces operator.

As for modern knightly 'ideals', one need look no further than modern SF for a positive role-model, albeit one where knightly virtues are ignored or viewed almost ironically (most prefer to see themselves as heirs to military traditions either far older than knighthood or much, much more recent). Or the Waffen-SS for a negative example, although they were explicitly established to be a new knightly order, heirs to the legacy of the Teutonic Knights.

For fiction, I feel that fighter pilots have long had the best claim to the pageantry and pomp that knights of old had. They duel each other and their mounts are (or were) painted in bright liveries, which today survive in the service of demonstration squadrons. They tend toward knightly personality quirks, including arrogance, and many are what we could call 'characters'. The firepower a modern fighter-bomber gives an individual is unrivaled: such an individual can destroy anything on the battlefield, from bombers to bunkers. The cost of a modern fighter squadron puts it beyond the reach of all but the wealthiest of patrons, just as the full, heavy armor and warhorse did for knights. There is little reason why there could not be a squadron of pilots who fly brightly colored aircraft in combat and insist on carrying ceremonial swords (even in the cockpit).

To my mind, special forces are heirs to history's skirmishers and light infantry. A combination of Robin Hood, shinobi/ninja, Berdan's Sharp Shooters, and Amerindian warriors.

[Michael Ekelmann]

The key thing with knighthood is the code of chivalry. Without chivalry, a knight is just some guy from an important family, with expensive gear and training, riding a horse.

[Lafayette C Curtis]