The bridge of Cocytus Station was surprisingly silent, and nearly deserted as all available medical staff were fully engaged in staunching the flow of dying and critically wounded Imperial Scholae Navy and Imperial Scholae Army personnel that had returned from Arx. Besides the officer-on-deck and a skeleton watch rotation the only figures staring into the blackness of space were a short Sullustan and a taller human-Sephi.
Empress Shadow sighed deeply as Quaestor Dek reviewed the casualty lists and warily took mental note of how badly depleted the ISN and ISA had become as a direct result of supporting Arx. The combined forces had carried the day, but at such a staggering cost that had left Scholae Palatinae mortally exposed and with little to show for its efforts.
Comprehending the question left unsaid, Shadow finally spoke, breaking the chasm of silence that had ruled the day on the bridge. “This is our prize for defending Arx. We have our lives, and we were not chased back to find other Clan’s laying siege to our holdings. We proved our worth just enough to be left alive.” Dek eyed his Empress solemnly unsure of how to respond. He knew instinctively she was right.
The Sullustan studied his data pad and tried to find a glimmer of hope but there were no key figures to be had to offer a kernel of hope. “It wasn’t your fault Empress…you played the hand available. The fleet you inherited was a ramshackle assortment of ancient vessels with no coherent operational capabilities. Our ground forces were woefully inadequate – no consolidated chain of command for the assortment of regiments and the equipment an admonition of decades of accumulation with no thought for battlefield tactics. We did what we were ordered to do, we held and died. I only wish you had listened to my proposals earlier.”
Shadow cast her gaze downward, expressionless, emotionless. The silence was broken by the deck officer, indicating a friendly vessel was approaching and about to drop from hyperspace on their position. “Indeed, Dek. Indeed. We answered the call to Arx with no defenses left in system and we went to battle with no hope of victory. Your proposal was well met. We need to modernize everything now, and yet we are critically short on credits and manpower. The enemy is at the gates, and our own friends are eyeing us greedily. That is why before we left for Arx I did what an Empress must.”
A familiar voice broke over the intercom as a massive military platform dropped out of hyperspace directly in front of Cocytus Station. “Empress, Judecca Station is in position. She is taking up orbit on the axial position indicated as ordered.” Xantros voice carried a glimmer of pride and hope.
Dek looked at his Empress with not surprise, but a repressed smile. “Empress – this is…this will sure up our defensive position mightily.” They both looked at the Golan station in their view port as it fired off a salvo from its main guns in salute and launched two squadrons of Tie Defenders for a fly-by of the Cocytus Station. With a smile Shadow locked eye contact with her Quaestor and nodded slightly, “prepare Emperor’s Chosen to transfer to Judecca Station when able. The wounded are to transfer to their reassignments in the Praetorian Guard onboard Judecca once they can move. We need all our veterans and their officer corps ready to provide training to the Imperial Legion.”
The Sullustan was incredulous. “Empress – the Legion is no more. What remains is here. The rest we lost at Arx.” Shadow released another long sigh as the deck officer interrupted to inform another friendly signal was received from hyperspace.
“No Dek, the Imperial Legion is arriving now with an old friend. I took your proposal to heart and issued the orders before we left for Arx. All reserves were mobilized and all our treasury has been emptied. The Empire is broke and without additional manpower. Everything, every drop of blood and ever credit we have is dropping out of hyperspace with our new Proconsul. Convenient for us, a mercenary can always be bought.”
In front of the two coming into view and hailing the deck was a small flotilla of capital ships. The massive hull of an Imperial Class II Star Destroyer and the truly impressive silhouette of a blacked out Secutor Class Star Destroyer blocked out their view. Flanking them were a pair of Vindicators, screened by a handful of Imperial Raiders. The large dagger shaped capital ships at once discharged wing after wing of Tie Defenders and First Order Special Forces Tie Fighters forming up into attack formation, all firing a hail of salute fire. Before Dek could raise a question the Empress stopped him.
“Proconsul Wynter is one of the best aces I have ever seen. We needed a battlefield commander and we have one. You may remember him from when he began his career with us under the alias Zagro Fenn. It was no easy task but we acquired all the forces you outlined. First Order ATATs, First Order ATM6s, standardized companies and regiments…we have all of it Dek. But this is it. This is all we have left…”
The two continued to silently look out at the final hope for Scholae Palatinae.
Greetings Scholae Palatinae! Getting this first report out early in order to establish continuity and get on a consistent schedule. One item of feedback we received after the GJW and as you all helped to get me on boarded as the new Proconsul was that communication – and reporting – needed to improve. These are welcomed and valid points.
While in the future I will post more robust reports detailing the month’s events, activities, awards, promos, and the like this report will focus on initial feedback provided by you all, our plans going forward, and some details on overall Clan viability.
Shadow welcomed me back to the Clan where I got my start many years ago with open arms in our time of reorganization and review. It is no secret CSP fared poorly in the most recent GJW. Point blank – we failed as a Clan leadership and did not do our utmost to position the Clan and you all to succeed and perform as we should. While there are true and valid real life constraints and 2020 is the year from hell that is no excuse. We WILL fix this and we WILL get back to the overall viability that CSP has historically been known for in the recent past.
Now, in the simplest terms what does that mean you will surely ask. Few main takeaways and feedback I received from emailing each and every one of you. First, communication will be strengthened. Shadow and I discussed this and will make a concerted effort to drive and foster Telegram, email, and Discord channels to ensure EVERY member knows what is going on, how they can stay active, and how we as a Clan can all best contribute to the rebirth of the Clan.
Secondly, many of you simply stated it appeared to be a lack of things to do internal to the Clan. That is a valid point but it misses the mark. I humbly ask you all to take some time to reach out in the Telegram chat, send out a response email, and just generally take part in our little community. Likewise, we have several initiatives that are about to roll out with an eye to fully revamp and revitalize CSP.
And that brings us to our Clan Possessions. Please take a minute to look at our Clan Possessions under the Clan Roster. You will see an entirely new listing. As Shadow indicated on her report a small task force of leadership, newer members, and veterans took a systematic and holistic approach to rebuilding our assets. This was not done in a vacuum – we placed last in the GJW. Fictionally, that comes with some battle scars and destruction. This was taken as an opportunity. What did we determine? Well frankly we needed to streamline, modernize, and fashion a thematically sound list of possessions to use. You will now see all Imperial designed craft, the most modern Army composition, the most sophisticated fighters, and a small but growing cadre of big gun capital ships while retaining some highly mobile and balanced support craft.
What else? I am glad you asked…keep reading.
Another initial item I took to heart when assigned as Proconsul was a direct response to both the perceived lack of communication and lack of activity in the Clan. Well, we can’t drive activity without knowing what you all want to see us do. A survey went out several days ago and we had a full half of the Clan provide responses. What did we find?
• Fiction, puzzles, and graphics are the FIRST priority for competitions you would like to see
• PVP/PVE is the LEAST priority for competitions you would like to see
• From a military stance you want a force that is balanced – we can forward deploy while keeping our system secure
• Fleet composition should be a mix of “big guns” and mobile craft
• Fictionally you want to see us expand our role as THE Imperial faction
This is VERY encouraging to get this level of granular information and feedback and the good news is it has directly allowed us to execute improvements rapidly. We used these results in part to build our new possessions – we have a Golan defense platform for system defense and a fleet of capital ships that can go forth and rain destruction upon our enemies. Likewise, we have a small cadre of Vindicators and Star Destroyers along with a flotilla of Imperial Raiders for hit and run striking the balance you wanted to see. Finally, we fully intend to capitalize on our niche as THE Imperials and The Empire going forward. This was not only a stylistic choice but a vote of confidence and viability of our Clan Identity.
Additionally – from a leadership and Clan organization standpoint we have some great news. First, Xantros is back as Aedile of Empire’s Chosen and we have plans for the Rollmaster position as well. As you can see – far from being a dying unit we have in short order filled the nearly empty roster of Leadership and have a fully functional support staff. This may seem trivial but is vitally necessary for enough hands to provide the guidance, direction, and activity that you deserve. This is an additional show of confidence and a hope for the future.
Speaking of activity please continue reading…
Shadow and I are launching a small event to get the cobwebs off from the GJW lull and get us back in the habit of Clan level competitions being run regularly to give us all options to take part. This is important as Dek and the Clan leadership have a FULL calendar of events, fiction updates, and news articles that will take us well into the early stages of 2021 and let me say it will be a very busy time with options for everyone. That being said…
Operation Phoenix launches Monday– a small event that focuses on our status after the GJW and provides the membership the opportunity to interact with our new possessions in many ways. There will be 3 competitions (fiction, graphics, puzzle) that are intended to be a relatively fun way of getting back into the swing of things. The event will run for 1 week only so get your submissions in! Have no fears I will be hyping it to irritating levels via email, Telegram, and Discord so you really wont be able to avoid it!
Well as you may be aware we WILL be having a very large and long slate of events and comps to roll out over the next few months. We are also going to be focusing on a recruitment drive at the leadership level and will leverage YOUR help in reaching out to grow the organization and the DJB as a whole #spoileralert.
In terms of internal projects we have a plan to revamp and streamline all of our Wiki pages and keep a small yet important list of them updated at all times as a repository of the Clan as it is in near real time. We will be asking for volunteers for this and already have a small team in place to assist #hype.
This, as it goes without saying, are all ways in which YOU can all partake and keep pushing for the next award, promo, credit payment, or personal achievement. Beyond this – we are lucky enough to rebuild CSP’s legacy and get back to our rightful place. However that requires the help of all of you which in conclusion…
Bottom Line Up Front: CSP is in a rebuild mode. We are battered, we are bruised, our ego’s have been crushed under heel. Yet, we are still here. We still fight on. We have a plan, action items, a team in place, and dedication to all of you. We have multiple projects being worked on and already have tangible results (steady stream of reports, more communications, a new military). But, we will only be successful as a TEAM. Without all of you taking part we will indeed fail. I, and the rest of the Clan, ask each and every one of you humbly for help. Like a phoenix CSP will rise from these ashes and become stronger, tempered in the fire of war, stronger in the bonds of friendship, and will do our best with our backs against the wall. Be excited Scholae Palatinae. Be hungry. Be ready. Let’s begin.
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Fantastic first report, Mauro! So glad to have you with us! We got this, CSP!!!
Excellent Report. It sounds like great things are in the works for the CSP.
Great report!