The 12th day of April has come and gone. And with it the anniversary of the Brotherhood's Exodus from the Emperor's Hammer (EH). For those of you who do not know, please indulge the ramblings of a senior member. The Dark Jedi Brotherhood (DJB / DB) and the EH existed and operated amicably for nearly a decade. How could they not? Both were devoted to the "bad guys" of the Star Wars mythos. On one hand, the Galactic Empire, the stretch of will and power of Emperor Palpatine. On the other hand servants of the Dark Side of the Force - the Sith like Darth's Vader, Maul, Tyranus, Bane and Sidious. As much as we enjoy playing the villain it must be acknowledged that the vast majority of us are not villains. In fact we are not even hero or anti-hero. We are who we are - people.

And, like people we must acknowledge that when you get a group of people together, some will get along, some will not. Friendships can and will be formed. Alliances come and go. Enemies and enmity will be spread. But, above all else, it must be remembered that it is the people in this organization that make it what it is. Everyone from Jac & Mav, who strove to be inclusive; to Havok who through sheer force of will was able to bring violently opposing sides together to build the nascent organization of the Brotherhood, and later the Emperor's Hammer as its Executive Officer; to Khyron who ushered in the Golden Age of the Brotherhood; to even Astatine for whom ego was all. Each and every one of them, every one of you and every one who has ever had an ID-line has contributed to this organization. Some greater than others, some remembered only by a few.

<p>

In the fall of 1995, I was an undergrad at UCLA. In the fall of 1995, I first ran across the Emperor's Hammer website while bored and looking for mods to TIE Fighter. I joined the EH, that November, as a member of the Infiltrator Wing (X-Wing, being more difficult, was a superior game to TIE). It wasn't until around January that I sent in an application to join the DB. I was not very active in the DB, or the IW for that matter, in the beginning. I was 17, in LA, with the only car that was reliable in my dorm hall. Trust me, video games back then were very much a late night session. And even then, Doom 2 and Rise of the Triad were way more amusing, because it meant getting to take a shotgun to the weird, Christian guy 3 doors down that ratted on everyone for the smallest thing (informing the RA at 2am on a Wednesday, that someone has their girlfriend sleeping in their dorm room is not a great way to make friends in college). We actually threw a party when he was moved out by his parents, because of a "lack of Christian values" by the rest of us or something. A friend of mine flashed her breasts at him as he was leaving. Believe me when I say no one liked this guy. Not in our Wing anyway. I remember relating this story a few days later to one of the few people I'd had contact with in the EH. A guy who went by the name "Doomsday." Our Bulk Cruiser is named after him. Now, here's one of the guys I think probably did the most for the EH and the DB, but is almost unheard of. He was the first Recon Officer for the EH. He actually went out and solicited other organizations to build some sort of camaraderie in the Internet Star Wars community. He also went around smoothing over the gaffes and foibles of less than polite and politic members. Trust me when I say there was a time when being a member of the EH meant being banned from #starwars on the Undernet. Prior to Doomsday, there wasn't a whole lot in the way of trying to reach out the greater community, to grow the EH and in turn strengthen the community as a whole. It was a largely thankless job that largely went unnoticed. But, probably the best thing about Doomsday was that he was always approachable by anyone. You could raise many problems and he'd do his best to mediate or come to some resolution with. Hell, you could just hit him up to chat and he was amicable. Doomsday passed away in 1996, unfortunately, but in my mind's eye and my memory, Doomsday represents the best of what it means to lead. To be omnipresent, even if you're not present.

<p>

Now, a sharp contrast to Doomsday was Havok. Here was a guy who took nothing from nobody. If there was a problem, you're damn sure he could and would step in and solve it. It didn't matter whose toes he stepped on, stuff was going to get done his way. The key to Havok was that he had more ears out there than anyone else. If someone said something couldn't get done, he'd have a list of people to consult to verify that it couldn't get done. If they disagreed, said it could and how, you're damned sure he'd come back to you with it. In '96, a game was popular with many EH'ers - Earth: 2025. It was a web based game where you had a nation and resources, could wage war against other nations. Now, one of the guys that enjoyed the game was Threat, the first Communications Officer for the EH. Threat had a bit of an ego that bruised easily (and if I'm mentioning someone's ego you know it's significant). He was talking up a storm in ##Emperor's_Hammer (official chan at the time), about how no one would dare attack him, and that EH'ers would give him resources for free, because he was so loved. So, I did what any sensible person at the time would do. I invaded his nation. I took almost 3/4 of his land mass in 10 turns. Threat was livid. He banned me from the EH chan and attempted to bring me before the HCI for dereliction, stating that I had hacked into X and Aeon. Ronin believed threat, even after several people said that if I hacked into X, I'd be banned from the Undernet. Ronin even went so far as to call one of the IRCops (Hoopycat) biased, since Hoopy and I "kicked it" in another non-EH/DB related channel. Here's where Havok comes to play. Havok wanted to know why Threat said it was possible, but an IRCop said it wasn't. He cleared up the entire mess. Now, here's also where my mouth got me into a heap of trouble. The moment I was unbanned I just laid into Threat with just how much of an idiot I thought he was. Havok interceded, and sternly reminded me that the problem had been fixed, end of story, move on. Just as much as Havok was a problem solver, he was also a really good sounding board. He'd give you real advice. He wouldn't coddle you, but he wouldn't just put you down either. He'd point out the flaws in ideas, but he'd also point out the strengths and leave it up to you to decide if it was viable.

<p>

I think I've ranted on enough about the past, but before I stop, I wanted to share one other thing. There is always a reason for organizations like this to exist. They exist for the same reason a Bridge Club or a Book Club or a Tennis League exist. They're there for interaction. And in that interaction, you satisfy the very human need to be. In the course of that interaction you are going to form friendships, and those friendships are ultimately what makes you loyal to the organization. It is not the organization, but the friendships and relationships you form under the umbrella that you are loyal to, and in return the organization takes the part of you, and your loyalty, that you give it and give into it.

<p>

I still speak to Havok on a quasi-regular basis. A lot of our discussion goes back and forth between the past and the present of the DB and EH. And, I remember telling him once, "You know, there are now several generations of members that don't know Doomsday, Yoni, Veelon, Chuck, etc. And it's weird. Not to aggrandize the past, but you'd think we'd at least give a nod to our past once in a while and everyone who helped give us those first steps to today." He told me, "So, do it yourself." And so I make the nod to the past. To Karel, Odin, Windos and Bane, congratulations on your new Seals of Loyalty. Because of what you've done for this Clan, the Summits of Clan Tarentum and its members thank you for adding a few more steps on our trail, and on the Brotherhood's trail. And to those of you who already have Seals or any other medals, know that you too have added to that path, and we thank you. To quote Goethe (I'm sure Saitou's loving this) "He who does not feel his friends to be the world to him, does not deserve that the world should hear of him."

<p>

By My Hand,

<p>

Maxamillian von Oberst-Tarentae,

Propraetori,

Marshal of the Armies of Tarentum,

Master of the Sea of Darkness,

Death Dealer of Clan Tarentum

</p></p></p></p></p></p>