[The New Order] Chapter 3

Wrath
Iron Navy Flagship
Arx System, 34ABY

Dracaryis drummed his fingers against the biceps of his crossed arms. The Fist of the Brotherhood, Commander of the Iron Legion and Iron Navy, did his best to not look bored. The Resurgent-class Star Destroyer was certainly very large and very impressive, but he could not seem to shake the feeling of restlessness. The dark side of the Force allowed him to calmly radiate power and patience, but inside he was dying to get back into heart of battle.

That had been the main draw to the Grand Master’s offer to lead—to be the hammer that shattered walls and brought enemies of the Brotherhood to their knees. In his mind’s eye, Pravus identified a threat and Dracaryis executed the action with fury and fervor.

The new Fist was no fool, though. He knew that he needed more than bold strokes to accomplish everything he wanted. He needed a right hand man, so to speak. He needed someone with the patience and lateral mind honed for the more subtle nuances of tactical warfare.

Which was why he now watched as an older woman worked at his desk, slender fingers typing away at the lone terminal. Thin strands of faded, fiery red hair mixed with hints of silver escaped the tightly tied ponytail that cut off between her slender shoulder blades. Hazel eyes glanced off screen every so often to check her notes spread among the cluster of scattered datapads haphazardly sprawled all across the wooden surface.

“Do you require anything else, Moff Rhell?” the Fist asked, gesturing around the office.

The woman shook her head and patted her collection of datapads. “No thank you, Lord Dracaryis. I have all that I require here.”

Dracaryis lifted an eyebrow. “Are you sure? You don’t need some special kind of lighting? Is the room too hot, too cold? Perhaps some Lotus-inspired art? I heard that can be helpful in analyzing an enemy's strategy.” He did his best not to openly roll his eyes at his own suggestion, but did flash a grin when he saw his new tactician's lip quirk.

“In my experience, sir,” she replied evenly, “most operation failure comes from the smallest of details that tend to get overlooked in the grand scheme of things. You know what they say: the difference between a good officer and a poor one is about ten seconds.”

“I’ve heard the expression before.”

“After reviewing the data from each of the naval encounters with this...Lotus resistance,” Rhell continued, “I’ve noticed that in each engagement there was always a significant delay in attack orders after initial contact was made by radar technicians.”

Dracaryis nodded slowly as he chewed on the information.

“Very well. Prepare a communique for the fleet. I’ll address them personally to initiate our order of escalation in the name of squelching this resistance before it gets any more out of hand...”

ISD-II Magnus Kaerner
Outer Rim

Darth Aeternus was lost in thought as he stared out the viewport of Tarentum’s renowned flagship. The former Master at Arms looked utterly calm in his dark, flowing robes. Which seemed rather odd when considering the warning klaxons blaring across the ship’s bridge. The emergency rotary sirens threw crimson light across the frantic officers abandoning their stations and posts. The Iron Navy’s Flagship had them cornered and there was not a whole lot they could do to fight back. After their last run-in with the Pravus’ forces the Tarentum fleet was simply stretched too thin.

The Magnus Karner had been with Tarentum since the naval restructure the Clan had undergone after the Battle of Antei, otherwise known as the Eighth Great Jedi War. Korras, the man behind the Sith Lord known as Darth Aeternus, had been there for it.

Even when he left to join the Dark Council, Aeternus watched as it weathered campaign after campaign, storm after storm. While Tarentum struggled through the Dark Crusade, they had found their footing in the chaos of the conclusion to the last Great Jedi War.

Darth Aeternus glanced down at his lightsabers. He thought of all the strength and power he possessed, which he had earned through the fire and flames of duty and service. None of it was enough to stop what now faced the independent clans of the Brotherhood.

Pravus was relentless and unforgiving. Or perhaps it was this new Fist he had selected. Aeternus had served and seen many Fists in his time, but something was different about how this one was operating. The Iron Navy’s gunships had fired their initial salvo’s even before the Magnus Kearner had spotted them on radar scans. There had been no hesitation, and without support from the rest of the fleet the Magnus Kaerner was bluntly outmatched.

“Sir!” a firm voice cut through the sirens from behind Aeternus. The Elder turned to see a member he knew well. The dark crew cut and matching mustache gave Pel Tarentae an endearing charm that reminded Aeternus of older fashion trends that he had seen some pilots stubbornly refuse to let go of.

“Lord Aeternus, we have to go. Now,” Pel explained calmly, the helmet to his flight suit tucked under one arm as he motioned emphatically with his free hand towards the hangar bay.

Read the full fiction here

TL;DR

• Drac decides to be more bold in how the Iron Navy fights its battles. He brings in a tactical expert.
• Tarentum’s flagship is destroyed by the Iron Navy.
• Damon Nix manipulates a member of Scholae Palatinae to betray them. While Scholae’s forces are spread thin, Nix attacks their homeworld of Judecca and lays waste to it.
• Alara and Zee witness the destruction of Judecca.
• Blade Ta’var is revealed as the traitor as she heads towards Kaist to join Clan Odan Urr.
• Nix reveals that he used Blade and was getting revenge for her refusing to kill her opponent in the Journeyman Tournament.
• Former Consul Locke gets a visit from the Iron Navy, and is surprised to see Atra Ventus alive and leading the attack. CNS Flagship destroyed.
• The Arcona Defense Force is ambushed on their home turf. They are lured into a trap, which is later revealed to be the work of Marick. The current and former flagships, most notably, are destroyed.
• Pravus is pleased. Arx is soon ready to be revealed to the Brotherhood.

Artwork

Special thanks to our lovely Herald for his render of Darth Pravus overlooking the soon™ to be announced planet Arx. Another special thanks to our own Zehdoodle for the sketch found in the glossary of characters at the end of the fiction update. Both pieces of art were created for this piece of fiction, so make sure you thank and/or share hugs with Vyr and Zee when you next see them. My hope is to continue to feature our local artists for snapshot moments in future fictions.

About This Fiction

Going forward, I will be labeling any fiction update with the appropriate “story arc” it belongs to. The current story arc is being organized under “The New Order.” This goes back to the “Undesirables” fiction update and will carry us up to Great Jedi War XII. You can find more information on the Voice Staff Resources Hub.

This update took a few months to get done for a number of reasons. First, I’m going to cite a major real life change for me as I switched jobs. This timed out roughly with a combination of the holidays, people being away, and my own transitions. I lost the ability to DB work while at my day job, so I’ve had to adjust to how I tackle my workload.

Second, it involved gathering information and research from four separate units. I also had to step out of my comfort zone and learn more about ships (usually referred to as ‘Pew-Pews’). I researched some famous naval generals, such as Arleigh Burke.

Third, over twenty characters are featured or mentioned by name in this fiction. Multiple members have helped proofed this fiction, including my entire staff, people I trust, as well as the Grand Master. Special thanks to Atty and Atra for helping me with the writing of a few small scenes I feel added an extra level of depth to the narrative.

Any characters or places used or mentioned in this Fiction have the explicit consent of their writer and/or unit leader. This was a huge communicative collaboration with Naga Sadow, Arcona, Tarentum, and Scholae Palatinae. Thank you Locke, Atty, Sith, and of course Xen for working with me on this.

Thank you to everyone who proofed and test-read the fiction. There are too many people to list, but you all know who you are. I appreciate each of you and thank you again for helping me pull off the largest update I’ve written on this scale on my own.

Questions or comments, you know where to reach me. Otherwise, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below.