Editing Tailspins & Tiki Gods:The Legionnaires (section)

=Miscellany=
-“A moi, la Legion!”- this is the individual Legionnaire’s distress call, usually in town or in a rough spot. There is no promise that the answer won’t be “Demerdez-toi, Legionnaire!” (See Systeme D)

-“Belgians”: Because the King of Belgium outlawed Belgians joining the Foreign Legion, and France forbids Frenchmen joining the Legion, any “Belgians” you see are most-likely French criminals or such. (This applies to “Swiss” Legionnaires, and so on, as well.) Also, a popular Legion marching song ("Le Boudin") insults Belgians in general, every verse. 

-''Desertion'': The Legion actively pursues deserters. The usual punishment is to be reassigned to special, grueling Disciplinary Company for a term that does ''not'' count toward your initial enlistment. 

-''Discipline'': French Army discipline is infamous for its harshness. Even by those standards, Legion discipline is renowned.( There hasn’t been a firing squad lately, but not because they ''can’t''.) The dread of what officers could do is as much of a motivator as service to the Legion or France itself.

EVEN SO, the Legion is legendarily... well, roguish. Entire Legion units (officers included) have marched hung over. "System D" (see below) makes the gear of any non-Legion unit fair game. Fighting is sometimes, tacitly, allowed, within limits. ("A fight is a fight, but mutilation is against French Army standards!") and so on. This somehow doesn't diminish the Legion's fighting effectiveness at all. Though it does make them challenging neighbors.

-''Housing'':  The Legionnaires are stationed at the fort on a ridge overlooking Port Cochere. Some units near to town use ‘housing allotments’ to rent lodgings in town, but this is not their practice here. Yet.

-''Language'': Despite the multinational nature of the Legion, all business is in French. Everyone learns (quickly).

-''Marching'': The Legion uses a distinctive, slow marching cadence some people call "The Crawl". For this reason, Legion units come last in any parade they're in. 

-''Pay'': Legionnaires get paid 4 cents a day... and all the secrecy they could want. 

-''La Salud'': Similar to a ‘blanket party’, this is a form of “corrective  measure” administered by one’s fellow Legionnaires.   The Legion’s concession to fairness is that while it will be corporal punishment in the form of a group beating, Legionnaires of your nationality will be found to deliver it, so there can’t be said to be discrimination. 

-"Systeme D": Short for 'Demerdez-toi', it's a sort of aggressively "you're on your own, sort it out" outlook. "Borrowing" equipment from another (non-legion) unit is "system D", as are jury-rigs and so on. 

(A famous "System D" story: A Legion unit in North Africa got, in lieu of a radio, a cage of homing pigeons. The chef yells to the troops 'Good news! Squab tonight!". A regretful (and technically accurate) report about hawks is sent back by post. Next shipment, there was a new cage of homing pigeons and a shotgun with birdshot. The chef, again: "Good news! Tonight squab, tomorrow, ''pheasant''!") 

-''Tattoos'': There is no Legion rule against tats. An old “hardcase” trick would be to tattoo something insulting on the blade of one’s hand, so that every time one saluted an officer… 

-''Uniforms'': The Legionnaires wear regulation Khakis and the Legion’s trademark [i]kepi[/i] hats. 

==Other Nearby French Military Units==
-''The Naval Infantry'': A type of Marine unit primarily assigned to protect naval ports. The two nearest are in Noumea (New Caledonia) and Papeete (Tahiti).

-''Conscription'': Cantonment is part of the Colonial strategy. Universal conscription is the law in the colonies, no less than in France itself (where a 3-year hitch is a public duty).  The majority of the version employed at Ile Trouve is “public service” (with a rather diplomatic circumlocution for the Kamekame), and also the local police force, but other parts of French Polynesia use it more ‘traditionally’.