First of all, this is right after a nice, long, and detailed report from our new DGM, Raken, so you should read that if you haven't already.

**VAC Despot

Low Orbit Aeotheran**

"Sir, we have communication with the Harbinger, on com, " the bridge officer reported.

"Good, who am I speaking to?" Locke asked, one hand tapping his blaster impatiently. He needed to know where the Clan's people were. Since the Dark Council fleet had arrived, Zoraan's forces were being pushed back, but there were still some present on the surface of Aeotheran. They refused to let go of their last holdout, deep in the jungles of the world.

"Director L'eonheart here." It was the voice of Methyas.

"Good to hear your voice, " Locke answered. "Who do you have with you? Speak freely, this line is secure."

"The Ragnos Quaestor is aboard, Shar Dakhan's and Roxas are on their way to the surface. Where do you want me?"

Locke thought for a moment. The conflict seemed nearly resolved, but there were still reports coming in of bits of fighting throughout the system. "SHADOW has an extensive network, correct?" At a nod from Methyas, Locke continued. "I want Kalia to coordinate their efforts. Make sure civilian populations are not in unrest, we don't need another uprising. I need you to find our Journeymen; make sure they're all cured and accounted for. Don't kill any of them." As if he had to say it; Locke knew the Miraluka Jedi wouldn't do so unless he absolutely had to, which made him perfect for the job. "I'll connect with Atra on the surface, that's all."

As the signal closed, Locke turned to the Despot's current Commander, Jeric Cyrin. "How close can this thing get to the surface?"

"Are you planning to jump out of the ship?" Jeric asked. He provided no honorific, no pretense, and got straight to the point. Locke appreciated that in the Battlelord. He was fortunate to find the Despot available upon returning to the system.

The Krath grinned. "Yes, how close can this ship get to the surface?"

"Close enough, " Jeric said. He turned toward the main view screen and began barking orders. "Bring us in low over the surface. Fire on any enemy that moves. Watch the flanks; no starfighters must conflict with the Consul's landing."

"Thanks, " Locke said. He nodded to the other Dark Jedi in the room - Noktar Jameki, the first Journeyman Locke had encountered on his arrival. "Let's go disembark."

In the hangar, as he and Noktar suited up, Locke fit a microphone to his ear and tested it, getting a couple of clicks back from the bridge crew. Once their jumpsuits were sealed, he gave the signal, and the Despot's ventral doors pierced with light and slid open, revealing the battle-scarred jungle surface of Aeotheran below. There was a bright flash overhead as the Despot's laser cannons opened up, laying down suppressive fire to ward off enemy fighters.

"Con, " Locke said into his com, "Where is Dark Wind?"

"Atra is directly below you." Jeric said, his voice ice.

"Good, we're out." He signaled to Noktar and the two jumped, suspended in freefall for a few moments before their parachutes expanded above them. As they fell, Locke surveyed the battlefield in front of him, trusting the Despot's guns to keep the two figures safe. It was a risky move, but this was the back side of the war zone itself. Only a few stray fighters wandered in range of the Despot's guns, each one quickly fleeing as it fired on them.

Soon the pair of Dark Jedi touched down, running a bit to expel their momentum. They were immediately greeted by soldiers in standard light combat armor with the Sadow emblem, who quickly saluted. "Sir, the Quaestor is this way, if I may?"

Locke returned the salute and gestured. "Please." The soldier led them a little way off, into the forest a bit before they made it to a clearing. There, propped on a log, was a holo-map of the surrounding area with two men standing around it. One was dressed plainly; the other wore full body armor. The Consul smiled as he immediately recognized Atra and Roxas.

"Atra, " Locke said. "Good to see you."

You too, _ the Corellian sent. For a moment Locke wondered why he was communicating directly through the Force when they were right next to each other, but then he noticed the bandage wrap around the man's neck. _Orders?

"Read my mind, " Locke mumbled. "Looks like you're already doing it. Drive these bastards off our world. Find something for Noktar to do while you're at it."

And you?

"I"m going to find a fighter and personally explain to these people that they do not belong in our system in the best language I know."

Hi guys. First off, I sincerely apologise for the length of time in getting this report out, as it is my first report post-Horizons. I had quite a bit of real life stuff going on, but that's no excuse. This will be a short report, especially compared to that big, shiny one of Raken's below it, but it covers some important stuff.

First off, the Vendetta awards. They're in Raken's report as well, but bear another mention.

Goat got a Steel Cross!

Atra got a Steel Cross!

Methyas got an Anteian Cross!

Kalia got an Anteian Cross!

Malik got an Anteian Cross!

Roxas got an Anteian Cross!

And finally, as a direct result of his work writing the fiction for Horizons, as well as helping to judge it, and a lot of other stuff, Macron got promoted to Dark Adept!

Great job guys, I'm proud of all of you. I also was recently reminded that every entry, no matter what it was, got us points to spend purchasing troops and ships, which makes me even more happy, because new stuff is cool! Don't worry, this is not a decision I will be making alone.

Next, we have some rather big news. The Summit is changing again. This is mostly because, given what resources we have, we decided that a different structure would serve the Clan more and be better for fictional development and stuff.

That said, we're removing the Aedile position, and in the near future will be replacing it with Battleteams! I'm really excited to say we will have Battleteams again, as for the longest time we did not, and they're a type of unit that has a lot of possibilities, despite their small size. Each House will be gaining one.

Rollmaster will also be making a come back, as we decided the position was very important.

Now, as to who will fill these positions: Kairus will be the new Quaestor of House Shar Dakhan. I'd like to congratulate him. He's got a lot of work to do over there, but I'm sure he can hack it.

Methyas will be moving over from his Aedile position to Rollmaster. His prior experience made Methyas a great choice for this position. Finally, Roxas had a good application for HSD Quaestor, and has been a fairly active member, so we have chosen him to lead Shar Dakhan's new Battleteam.

For you Ragnosians, Kalia will be running applications for hers soon.

Next, as you no doubt saw in Xen's report (because you read it, right?), we will be having our post-Horizons feud with House Scholae Palatinae sometime in the next couple of weeks, though we do not have an exact date for you yet. This one will tie up the plot with the Horizons Plague, and we think it will be a lot of fun.

There's also a couple of small competitions that just began running to give you something to do until our post-Horizons feud begins, so I figured I would mention them here since they're for the whole Clan. They are:

YetiSports: This one is pretty hilarious.

Naga Sadow Word Scramble!: The name is pretty self-explanatory on this one.

Finally, we have one last announcement. We've recently been working on a large overhaul of the Black Guard system and how it works. It will be returning in the future and will be new and different, but it's not quite ready to release yet, so we'll be talking more about that next time!

There's no tl;dr, because hey, it's not that long, just read it!

For Sadow!

• Locke