User:Floyd Dam Dau

Early Life
Floyd Đâm Đầu was born to a poor family in 176 on Cidade. His parents and older siblings spent their days in dark factories manufacturing radio components or assembling finished units. As a youth, Floyd spent his days on the streets looking for a better life than one spent soldering vacuum tubes. He roamed the dark alleys in the shadows of Cidade's high towers and tried to make his fortune by quicker means. He became very familiar with the criminal underworld and attempted to set up several grey and black market deals, but found that he did not have a head for business. Most of his deals were unsuccessful. Often he was cheated by savvier black marketeers or forced to accept less profit than he considered fair when dealing with the agents of powerful criminal organizations. Although he is short, he is quite broad and strong for his height and his powerful, stocky build allowed him to fight his way out of deals that turned very sour. He eventually gave up trying to set up business deals and relied on his physical talents. He fought for cash in underground prizefights and worked as a bodyguard for small time black marketeers who needed some extra muscle for "trade insurance" when engaging in their shady transactions. The last time he served as hired muscle was at a meeting with some pirates attempting to liquidate some cargo. The meeting turned violent. In the end, Floyd found that he was the last one standing and was able to walk away with both the pirates' goods and the bag of cash his employer had brought to purchase the cargo. Floyd Dam Dau had found his niche in life: killing pirates for profit.

Names
Both "Floyd" and "Đâm Đầu" are nicknames. "Đâm Đầu" is a phrase in the language spoken by the Lợn Ỉ boars (a.k.a. "Potbellies") that live in their own ghetto deep in the narrow alleys of Cidade. It means "to charge headlong into something" or "to move heaven and earth to do something that cannot be avoided". This name was bestowed on him when he first began his underground fighting career. The name "Floyd" was given to him when he began working as hired muscle for outsiders who could not pronounce his real name. When he applied for entrance to Flight School, he put "Floyd Dam Dau" on the forms. His real name has not yet been used outside of his home neighborhood.

Flight School
Although not a great trader, Floyd Đâm Đầu managed to trade his stash of pirated cargo and the bulk of his cash for a late-model CR-4P and a crash course in how to fly the thing. He made a beeline for Echo and enrolled in a few courses in basic flight and an elective course in trade economics to shore up his weakness in understanding business. He did not make friends with his classmates and threw himself completely into his work in order to finish as soon as possible. He left the school as soon as he got his basic permits and licenses squared away. His education and skills have been gained largely through experimentation and firsthand experience in the cockpit. He never actually graduated from Flight School and his course of study remains officially incomplete.

Faction
In his early days after leaving Flight School, he visited the capitols of the three factions native to Skytopia and considered joining each of them, but declined each one as a poor fit. Thought he was a great combat pilot, he claimed to be "just a killer, not a soldier" and he found the Crimson Armada's military hierarchy too stifling and rigid. It was suggested that the Emerald Republic might be a better fit for a pilot of his mercenary mindset, but he found that talk of trade economics and treaties were equally dull. After looking at the Azure League and the way they took pride in their chaotic disorganization, he saw no point in joining a group that seemed to define itself as the "free and individualistic" faction. It would be much easier to be a free individual by not joining a faction.

When the Court of Violets came to Skytopia and the shining one spoke of finding art and perfection in the "application of bullets into the hull of your enemy", Floyd realized that the Shining One was putting into words the feeling that he had felt many times. When fighting with bloody knives in the narrow, twisting alleys of Cidade, he felt it. When fighting with fists wrapped with leather straps in the underground prize rings, he felt it. When soaring through clouds and watching as a pirate gently eased into his sights, he felt it. Throughout his life, it was always there on the edge of his vision. This path that he could not name was a feeling he had when everything became clear and many chaotic elements suddenly fell into place. After hearing the Shining One speak of it, he had a name for it. He would join the Court and follow the Way of Struggle.

In the belief that people are at their best when forced to excel by competition, Floyd Đâm Đầu founded the Skytopian Rucker Federation, the governing body for the full-contact sport of rucker.

Instruments
The instruments of Floyd Đâm Đầu's art have primarily been weapons of many forms from bare fists and tusks to knives and guns to aircraft with cutting edge technology. In regards to aircraft, Floyd prefers those with speed and maneuverability and he equips them with guns modified for pinpoint accuracy. As he says, "I am not impressed by overkill. Anyone can kill rats with a cannon but there is skill and artistry in killing a whale with a knife to the eye."

He used his CR-4P to wipe out a band of pirates who flew a squadron of old C4-RP or G01D-F15H-style craft and used the bounty to buy a Thor which he named "Cây Ríu" (Axe). He used this new plane to hunt pirates around the Midgard area until he had saved enough money to buy an old Valkyrie he called "Lưỡi Kiếm" (Sword) which he used to run cargo while hunting between the southeastern skylands. He upgraded this plane to a Mk-II configuration and flew to Arcadia, where he officially joined the Court of Violets. While among the Capital skylands, he continued to hunt pirates for money and he ran into some of his old black market contacts while trading in the plentiful salvage generated by his hunts. He cultivated his black market contacts with much greater understanding of business negotiations than he had possessed during his previous efforts. He bought a Bolo to smuggle grog and made a fortune, which he spent on a Havoc that he named "Hoàn Kiếm" (Restored Sword). The "Hoàn Kiếm" hunted the skies of the northwest archipelago and brought down many bands of pirates, including the Red Sevens, the Bloodhawks, and Captain Rob Marrow.

After downing Captain Marrow between Gonk and Valvia, Floyd traded his Havoc for a Leviathan, a craft quite contrary to his usual preferences. Rather than ply the trading routes like other blimp captains, Floyd repeatedly sailed into the uncharted skies west from Valvia, Gonk, and Volstoy. After several of these expeditions, Floyd sold the Leviathan and bought his famous Ingersoll, the "Nỏ Thần" (Divine Crossbow).