Voice’s Office
Dark Ascent
Elos Vrai, Arx

“You’re pacing.”

“No, I’m thinking.”

“Alright, well you’re moving back and forth from one side of the office to other,” Evant Taelyan stated calmly, careful to keep his tone level. “...while thinking. In most cultures, they call that—”

“—it’s been three months since Meridian,” Marick Tyris said to no one in particular. The office was acoustically isolated from the outside, but his voice had little trouble carrying back towards Evant, who was casting the report from his datapad to the large vidscreen mounted to the wall between the two Dark Councilors.

“Not a trace, or even a whisper from the Collective or their agents. No raids. No backwater planet meetings or hand-offs. Even our deep cover agents have been quiet on any new developments.”

“So, that’s good, isn’t it?" Evant replied. "Capital Enterprises had a lot of funding invested in Meridian. Antillus is sharp, but I don’t think even he could have predicted a united strike force from the Brotherhood. Losing Mouk, and the artifact, certainly sets them back as well. Maybe they realized we’re not worth the fight.” The Regent flicked through to a different tab, bringing up a new set of database information. ”For now, at least.”

Marick shook his head, clearly unconvinced. “No. Rath will never stop until the Brotherhood is eradicated. So long as he draws breath, the Collective is a threat.”

“No one is saying they aren’t a threat,” Evant said as conciliatory as he could. “I think you’re just frustrated that they aren’t presenting themselves as one, so you can’t strike at them.”

Marick didn’t respond to that, and his silence seemed to prove the Regent’s point.

Brotherhood Rising

With the crushing loss of Technocratic Guild leader Daggo Mouk—and the subsequent seizing of Meridian Station—the Brotherhood has forced Rath Oligard to reconsider his strategies against the Brotherhood. The mastermind behind the Collective had not predicated a demonstration of unity—frail as it might have been—between the disparate and often volatile clans and the Dark Council. Oligard realized that different strategies would be needed to accomplish his goals.

*Meanwhile, with the Collective now in recession, the Brotherhood has begun to raise its head as a power to be recognized and respected within the Unknown Regions. Thanks to the resources provided by their home planet, Arx, the Dark Council continues to expand trade and commerce while establishing loose order with the Clans. *

No success comes without its risks, of course. Tensions still run high between the Dark Council and the Clans, and reports indicate that there might be more than just the Collective that could be lurking in the shadows to challenge the Brotherhood...

A new story arc begins. Click here to read the full fiction

Written by: Marick Tyris

Summary

• Archenskov, as the new Combat Master, takes stock of the Combat Training Center facilities.
• Nearby, at the Shadow Academy, we are introduced the Acquisitions wing where artifacts and relics brought back from expeditions are checked in for processing.
• Vera Wright, an ACE pilot who was injured in a bout with the Collective prior to the attack on Meridian, is fully recovered and back to escorting Shadow Academy agents on shipping routes. With the Collective pulled back, for now, the routes have been much safer. Members voted on a #VeraLives vs #VeraDies newspost thread and the former won out.
• Vance Kordall, previously a captive of the Collective after hunting down an artifact in the Kessel Sector, is also looking to be recovered and back on the job.
• Vera and Vance meet TC-42, a protocol droid tasked with monitoring incoming deliveries for the Shadow Academy Society.
• Vance mentions finding a rare journal belonging to Veris Hydan, a man who worked with Emperor Palpatine during the early days of the Rebellion and was obsessed with the “World beyond worlds” that could lead to such things as time travel.
• He asks to speak to Madame Curator Deandria Clery — the master archivist for the Brotherhood. Kind of like the DB’s version of Jocsta Nu.
• Vance gets rejected at the open net by Vera.
• Meanwhile,Evant and Marick are looking over reports in the Voice’s office nested within the Dark Ascent.
• Marick is “pacing”, frustrated and concerned in his own way that the Collective have been so quiet since Meridian.
• Evant says that it’s probably a good thing and recaps a bit of what happened as a result of Meridian (the last RoS).
• Meridian was handed over to the Clans, but is also serving as a Inquisitorius outpost. It was damaged, so repairs are still being worked on.
• Evant is happy that trade routes seem to be safer now, since the CEO of ACE is being slightly less annoying about profits.
• Marick notices something in the reports from Meridian. Captain Crimson, the poster mascot for the Liberation Front (Collective pillar) is meeting with an unknown third party.
• Neither Evant or Marick have heard about something called the “Sevarian Principate”.
• To be continued...

Conclusion

A report will follow shortly with more information. For now, enjoy the fiction and please support the official release.

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