Undisclosed Location Three weeks ago

The light flickered and wavered as the figure gave his account. The holoprojection was dim and its small details imperceptible, evidence of the distance the projection traveled and the efforts that had been taken to secure the message. The figure spoke clear and slow; the message would be heard but once and then all evidence of its existence would be discarded. Such was their way, hiding in the shadows and conducting their business in secret.

It was necessary, too, that such matters be protected. The One Sith was strong as an organization internally, yet fragile in relative terms compared to their foes. Detection could spell doom for all involved. So efforts were always made to keep matters simple and undetectable. These meetings and the private, simultaneous communications were an annoyance, but a necessity. All in the room, those permitted entrance, paid stark attention to the details of what was being reported; this was not a two-way communication where questions could be asked, and there would be no repeating the message.

The dimly lit agent of the One Sith was not the only projection. The silver holoconsole emitted other participants in the meeting while a few in this room watched in person. Among them, an image of Darth Krayt himself hovered, his features hidden by an impressive set of angled and spiked armor. Even over a holoprojector, the Dark Lord of the Sith was fearsome.

"Each of the operations was carried out in a timely and organized manner. However, we underestimated the abilities of our foe in numerous situations. While I can report success in the main disabling tasks on each of the Clan and Council planets, very few of the high-level targets were successfully destroyed. In fact, our success rate in such maneuvers was a mere seventeen percent."

Tor Siva had been anticipating this moment and she could feel the same from her cohort. She could not help but to be disappointed with the news so far. With so few of the attacks being claimed as a success, there was little doubt in her mind that the highest-value targets had been missed. Nevertheless, she needed to know if the years of planning had brought any reply.

The traitor from Taldryan began to list each of the targets, one by one. Inexplicably starting with the unimportant, it took the agent what seemed to be an eternity for the report to proceed with the men and women that mattered. And one by one, the holofigure reported that Consuls and Councilors alike survived the assassination attempts. "Finally," he continued, "our attempts to destroy the impostor lord, Muz Ashen, were unsuccessful."

And so, as a whole, it had all been a failure. The One Sith had taken its chances to weaken a dangerous foe, and despite endless planning over many years, they had been unsuccessful. The apprentice stole a glance at the others in the room. Like her, they gave no outward indications of disappointment or other emotion, but she could feel the hatred rising within them. The long game was to be played--they all understood that--but why the Dark Lord put them on this foolhardy venture to begin with was beyond her. And it was beyond her master as well.

The projection continued: "...and so our abilities at this juncture are significantly diminished. Moreover, my Lords, there were many who were captured, including those with knowledge of our whereabouts and personnel. I risked much to get you this information, and it may be incomplete, but they are aware of the names and locations of certain of you, including Lord Sinagar, Lor--" the man stopped mid-sentence, grasping for air. He reached his hands to his throat in a desperate attempt to wrangle free of the invisible hands choking him. The light of the projection flickered intensely through the movement of the struggling emissary. In a brief flash, the man's head snapped to the left. They could hear the end of his choking punctuated by the snapping of his neck. They could do nothing but watch. It was a recording, after all.

The blue image of the lifeless traitor fell to the ground, out of the projector's view. Behind him stood the assailant, a middle-aged man cloaked in dark robes with his face covered by a deep hood. A defining characteristic adorned the man's right breast: the symbol of Taldryan. Having studied the Clans of the Brotherhood for so many years, it was readily identifiable in the split second that it was visible. That is, until the figure took a few steps forward, reached out and cut the connection.

Silence filled the command room of the Krayiss II spaceport, as it did the other secure locations from which the images displayed. Or, as they all knew: the formerly secure locations.

Dark Lord Krayt was the first to speak. "Prepare yourselves."

Nfolgai Polar Ice Cap One week Ago

Turbulence rocked the transport gentler than he'd have thought, the shift from the day-baked desert stone to the bitter cold of night sending up violent battles of warm and chilled air. It howled outside the transport walls, kept at bay by a thin skin of durasteel. He felt along the ties that bound them all there, the lines of loyalty. Of blood. Of duty. Of revenge.

He noticed that his hand was resting on his saber. The image of it burned into his mind, It was another thread that bound them together, him and this place. Free will was just a dream. In another world, he'd be bored and tired, mundane life grinding him down with countless paperwork and a two week vacation every cycle. It seemed a blessing, the quietness of it all. No blood on his hands, no fear in his heart, nothing in constant peril.

But somewhere, someone wished they were him. Caught in the web of circumstance, of necessity. He needed to be here, watching the wreckage grow larger in the transparisteel of the transport. It was an old ship, divided down the front by design and disrepair in equal measure. It peered from the ice like a giant beetle, stark against the windswept tundra, magnificent and hateful.

Even here, Sanjuro couldn't shake the words from his head. They crept into his psyche, tearing holes in his beliefs and his personal truths. In retrospect, he should have known better than to ask him. There were some things he didn't need to know.

The ship spun round, the engines burning the cold air without mercy, melting the ice before his boot could touch. He sniffed the air and found himself rewarded with nothing. He knew more than what he felt. The probes going offline, the first team going dark. Death was here, for man and machine.

Sanjuro chuckled at the thought as he moved toward the frosted pincers, hand on his saber. While the rest of the clan was hip deep in swamps and jungles, fighting Mrissi and Draethos, he was sent here. Here, to the cold night. It suited him fine. It was better to labor alone than to watch the others bicker amongst themselves over who was most worthy. The adopted sons of Astronicus thought that words, arguments made them best suited. The journeymen rankled under their regime, lashing out whenever they were held back for fear of challenging them.

It was all too Sith of them.

And that was not why they were here.

Sanjuro picked his way past glacial boulders, sanded smooth by wind and sun, moving his way toward the wreckage. It was as much of a monument to the ancient Sith Empire that he had seen in decades. It was proof that once, the Dark Side had legitimacy, strength beyond challenging. That the only way they could be defeated was from within.

That was how the Sith always ended. Vader slew Sidious. Kressh betrayed Sadow. Bane sabotaged the Lords at Ruusan.

The Sith held that the conflict was inevitable, that it sharpened the order. But a sword turned against itself was useless, a ribbon of fractured and bent metal, no matter how sharp. That was why they were here. It was why the Vong were so easily able to take Antei away. It was why no matter who won their Great Wars, they all lost. It was why they moved to reclaim the Empire.

The snow grew deeper, Sanjuro pushing forward, a deep gouge behind him even as the wind tried to erase his path. He could see a breach in the hull, carbon scoring betraying some ancient tragedy. Not big enough to be what put the ship down, but large enough to decompress that deck. He made his way toward it, snow sticking to his lashes, his eyes stinging from windburn. He pressed past it all, his mind already through the breach.

Beyond the frost-coated wires that framed the opening was the darkness. Sanjuro waited, staring into the black, waiting for his eyes to adjust. He was barely able to make out the dangling arrays of the probe droid, the brotherhood seal on the fuselage burnt to a smear of paint and ash. It was halfway there, part of the droid obscured by ventilation shafts. Sanjuro ducked past the limp arms, eyes following the form to the ceiling of the corridor.

He stepped backward quickly, eyes widening involuntarily. His hand went to his belt without thought, the cold comfort of his weapon filling his palm. His mind spun for a moment, trying to gain traction in the ice, trying to sort out what his eyes saw, if it was real. It was too awkward to see, his mind drawing a different picture each time that he looked at the intersection where the probe had merged with the wall. Planes wobbled and faded in his eyes, the geometry bothering parts of his brain that still feared the dark.

Sanjuro felt the words echoing through his head, his father's voice. They repeated over and over, comforting and terrifying all at once. He found his back against the wall, the cold of the metal seeping through his robes, his scars, his skin, his bones.

What started as a chill burrowed deeper when he heard it. The shrill scream, the coarseness at the edges of it that made his own throat sting. Light and fear spilled from his weapon unbidden, his thumb drawing out the blade even as it decimated his vision. He knew that sound, knew it from the broken communiques from Plagueis, from Tarentum. Knowledge sat like a stone in the pit of his stomach. He knew what was here, what could defy the universe with such abandon, such reckless hatred.

As he saw the avatar of vehemence float toward him, Sanjuro understood now why the summit had sent him here, instead of keeping him on the front, where he could better help them conquer.

Qel-Droma betrayed Kun. Sidious murdered Plagueis. Malak betrayed Revan.

Betrayal was the way of the Sith.

The fiction above were placing fictions int he Ancient Stones and Ancient Steel events. The first snip is from Jac Cotelin's Silver finishing entry on Krayiss II and the Second is Sanjuro's Gold entry for Nfolgai. We will be sorting out a way to host the winning comps in the very near future.

Tomorrow marks the end of my fourth year as Grand Master of the Dark Brotherhood. I have been very lucky to have gotten some of the best people that the brotherhood has to offer to help drive this club forward, to help me push my vision into reality. And I intend to thank them as best I can.

But first, what we are all waiting for: Crusade Results.

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RESULTS SHADOW ACADEMY

Nfolgai Gold: Tra'an Reith (PLA) Silver: Nite Dawn (PLA) Bronze: Atra Ventrus (CNS) fourth: Ronovi Tavisaen (PLA) fifth: Solus Gar (PLA)

Krayiss II Gold: Jac Cotelin (TAL) Silver: Keirdagh Cantor (TAL) Bronze: Wuntila Arconae (ARC) fourth: Celahir Erinos (ARC) fifth: Chaosrain Taldrya (TAL)

WIKI EVENT

Nfolgai Gold: Plagueis Alpha Silver: Karness Muur Bronze: Sadow One fourth: Sadow Five fifth: Scepter of Ragnos

Krayiss II Gold: Team Buffalo Silver: Arcownage Bronze: Bias fourth: Pwncona fifth: Odan Team One

GAMING

Nfolgai Gold: Tiamath (CNS) Silver: Raistlin (CNS) Bronze: Kuro (PLA) fourth: Ylith (CNS) fifth: Kalia (CNS)

Krayiss II Gold: Cethgus (ARC) Silver: Andrelious (ARC) Bronze: Wuntila (ARC) fourth: Marick (ARC) fifth: Enapace (TAL)

GRAPHICS

Nfolgai Gold: Solus Gar (PLA) Silver: Ylith Atema (CNS) Bronze: Atra Vetrus (CNS) fourth: Archangel (HSP) fifth: Shadowkind (PLA)

Krayiss II Gold: Morotheri (HOU) Silver: Wuntila Arconae (ARC) Bronze: Jac Cotelin (TAL) fourth: Tarax (TAL) fifth: Rian (TAL)

FICTION

Nfolgai Gold: Sanjuro (CNS) Silver: Oberst (TAR) Third: Eiko (PLA) fourth: Solus Gar (PLA) fifth: Jason Hunter (TAR)

Krayiss II Gold: Shadow (TAL) Silver Jac Cotelin (TAL) Bronze: Maaks (ARC) fourth: Andrelious (ARC) fifth: Wuntila (ARC)

ASSASSINATIONS

Nfolgai Gold: Solus Gar (PLA) Silver: Nite Dawn (PLA) Bronze: Ronovi (PLA) fourth: Eiko (PLA) fifth: Alaris (PLA)

Krayiss II Gold: Shadow (TAL) Silver: Wuntila (ARC) Bronze: Jac (TAL) fourth: Halcyon (TAL) fifth: Troutrooper (ARC)

OVERALL PARTICIPATION

Krayiss II TAL 23 sa +16 wiki +6 gaming +12 gfx +10 fiction +11 assassin =78/41 (roster) = 1.90 ARC 29 sa +26 wiki +12 gaming +18 gfx +17 fiction +14 assassin =116/63 (roster) = 1.84 HOU 8 sa +3 wiki +1 gaming +3 gfx +1 fiction +0 assassin =16/31 (roster) = 0.52

Nfolgai PLA 20 sa +15 wiki +10 gaming +13 gfx +13 fiction +9 assassin =80/40 (roster) = 2.00 CNS 18 sa +16 wiki +13 gaming +11 gfx +7 fiction +6 assassin =71/78 (roster) = 0.91 HSP 6 sa +5 wiki +2 gaming +5 gfx +6 fiction +4 assassin =28/35 (roster) = 0.80 TAR 4 sa +3 wiki +1 gaming +0 gfx +3 fiction +1 assassin =12/32 (roster) = 0.38

This means that Krayiss II was won by Taldryan, and that Nfolgai was won by Plagueis.

For fleet points, take the above scores and multiply times 400. I'll be sending the buy sheet to the summits in a little bit here, and the purchases must be final (or a 'we're saving our money until later' order sent) by the end of the month.

Good going, guys. I hope that you all had fun, and that you'll enjoy the next attacks just as much.

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It's days like today that make me look across the Brotherhood, across the people that take the time to work to make this place better, to improve things and try to give some gratitude to them. Everyone here who does work, does it out of the love for the club. None of us are getting paid to code, to draw, to grade, to correct, to host, or to get yelled at when things go wrong.

We sacrifice our time and energy so that the Brotherhood grows, gets better, more fun, more entertaining. And the only pay that we get is in gratitude. While I am going to give out a lot of high level things here, they still aren't as memorable as having people just come up to you out of the blue and say 'thank you', so please do just that. They're worth that.

Speaking of people who do not get recognition often enough, Korras, our Master At Arms, puts up with us at our worst. When we get a promotion declined or a medal redacted, we all get a bit upset, and It's his job to tell us why and deal with us while we are in turbo-angry mode. Korras has done this for years, and he's not lost his temper yet. That alone is awesome, aside from the consistent improvement of turnaround time and in consistency that he is constantly driving. It's not an easy gig. Today, he's getting awarded with one of the bigger shinies that we have on Offer, the Diamond Sword. Check out his dossier once i stealth it on there for the reccs that we got together for him.

Gaming used to be roughly a tenth of what we did as a club. Since putting Fist on the DC, we've seen some resurgence of that, along with how we've integrated ina big way with the Old Republic MMO. Most of that heavy lifting has been done by Fremoc, a guy who has busted his tail for the club, ran the servers and tweaked the rules to make sure everything is as fair as it can be for us. There's a pretty massive pile of words that was sent to me to help back my decision to promote Fremoc to Dark Side Adept, and you can read them on his dossier.

Another stalwart member on the Dark Council is Shikyo. In charge of the graphics for the site, he's constantly working on projects that we won't see for some time now, because my masochistic planning takes us years into the future, so we work to be prepared for that. It's been over a year since Shikyo got a medal from us, and two since he was promoted. Today, we're resetting that clock with a promotion to Dark Jedi Master.

Sitting as my deputy is a mean job. They have to do a LOT of work, from fictional stuff, to cleaning up my proposals, to being able to tweak projects and wrangle staff. It's an easy way to burn out. Raken is no stranger to doing big work. He's written novels for us in GJWs, he's been a driving force for a long time. His return to influence has been kinda divisive to some, but his work speaks volumes to me. Behind the scenes, he's gotten back in the saddle as if he never left, diving deep into things like the fleet reset, organizing a major vendetta, and helping build on a huge plotline. The amount of work, even in so short of a time, makes us take pause and recognize his dedication. As such, we've decided to name Raken as a Sith Lord.

When we talk about bringing the Brotherhood forward, there are few who have as much impact on this than the Seneschal. This code guru is responsible for taking my insane ramblings and making them happen in the real world. We are extremely fortunate to have Jam3z in that role for us. His work is fast, clean, and modern. He's fixed huge issues and gotten us into a beta site faster than we dreamed. The guy is elite, and it's high time we awarded him for that. Jam3z is getting promoted to Dark Jedi Master

But wait, there's more.

Solari has been brilliant as Headmaster. He's only been in the role for a short while, but he's already gone gangbusters on revamping the way that the Academy is going to move forward, with a change from 'trivia' to 'practical', as well as building in some cool lore stuff on the backend. Taigikori is facing a huge load of cases, more than we've seen in some time, and has been navigating treacherous waters for a little while now due to the politics involved. That's an awful lot to expect out of someone, even one so talented as Taigi. Benevolent has been working under the radar on the Wiki for a great long time now, and he's been pretty awesome as a voice of reason in our DC discussion on how and why we do what we do.

All three of those guys are scoring Sapphire Blades for their work, their dedication, and their ability to not run screaming from the messes that they have had to deal with.

I have a few more promotions and awards going out over the next few days, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

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Ask the GM time.

Andrelious asks "With the newly captured Avenger II, will the Iron Throne's forces be undergoing a revamp?"

Maybe, but not right away. We'll probably just bolt-on the new ship to our existing Order of Battle and move on. There's been a couple questions about renaming it. I don't mind one way or the other, so I may open it up for a vote.

Socorra asks "In the last year as GM, has the DB changed from what you had expected or hoped for? Where do you see it in another year?"

Everything changes. If you had told me last February about half the things that are going on right now, I'd probably look at you sideways and ask if you were drunk. There's some great stuff going on: from new vendetta methodologies (The first phase is participation graded, but things WILL change later, so be sure to try hard and get warmed up while it's not so important) and old faces coming back from the past to get back involved and get stuff done (Jac, Mav, Yacks, Raken, Sarin, Windos, Etc) to new technologies like regular G+ hangouts to bring us closer together and share ideas, a whole shiny new site (Jam3z is awesome) and a complete reboot of the Character sheets and ACC...

We're in a huge transition phase right now. But what is coming looks bloody awesome. It's going to be a great tenth year of Independence for the Brotherhood.

And that's about all i have tonight. If you need anything, shoot me an email, look me up on TOR or PM me on IRC.

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