[0930 Hours, M/FRG Phoenix, Firebird's Quarters, Many Years Ago]

"You've got to be kidding me."

Scion "Firebird" Altera read and re-read the news article on the desk in front of him. It announced that Astatine had been promoted to Grand Admiral, and was now in command of the whole of the Emperor's Hammer. He was stunned. Ronin had been in command of the Fleet since before even he had joined it so many years earlier. Somehow he had never considered that this type of change could happen.

He had met Astatine once before.

Unlike Ronin, Astatine spent a great deal of time as Executive Officer mingling with the Hammer's forces and personally checking in with the upper Admirals to make sure things were running smoothly. Many of them did not seem to survive the process. Where Ronin preferred to remain aloof and let everyone do their jobs, Scion had heard that Astatine would question every procedure and every decision of those at the highest levels. Those with whom he disagreed quickly disappeared.

As a younger man, Scion had happened to pass by Astatine and Proton arguing about fleet deployments in a hallway aboard the SSSD Sovereign. As Commodore of the ship, Proton was trying without success to illustrate a flaw in the position of Wing VI which left their missile boats vulnerable to attack. Normally Scion wouldn't have said anything, but as commander of a squadron in Wing VI this caught his attention.

Giving a crisp salute, he introduced himself to the Sector Admiral.

"Sirs, I beg your pardon but the Commodore is correct in this instance. This plan leaves Wing VI much too exposed. We won't get a chance to release our warheads against the enemy carriers because they will be able to scramble fighters and scatter us before Wing V can provide cover. If we deploy closer to Wings I and III, we can piggyback along with them and pop out to deploy our warheads about the same time as Wing V gets into position to protect us while we reload."

The Sector Admiral's scowl was visible, but Firebird was unfazed until he noticed the beads of sweat rolling down Proton's forehead. The Major's heart leapt into his throat and he realized only then that his life was in danger.

"Dismissed, Major." Proton's voice was uncharacteristically stern.

Later that week, the commander of Shin Squadron was hauled away during the night by a group of commandos. The rumor was that he ended up in one of the ship's giant trash compactors - crushed, then left behind to drift in space. The day after his disappearance, the squadron was closed down and its members transferred seemingly at random amongst other ships in the TIE Corps. Firebird knew that Proton had spared his life by sacrificing the whole of Shin Squadron to Astatine's insane rage. It was a debt he had never forgotten, and had yet to repay.

Growling, the retired Colonel stood and threw the offending datapad at the wall. He had to get out of here. There was no hope for an organization ruled by someone who was so wantonly destructive of his own assets. He needed to get out, but how? Joe had disappeared, and so had Timbal. Howlader didn't speak to him anymore. He had already asked more of Proton than he ever intended, and Brian hadn't been seen in years. Rising slowly from his chair, his mind raced through the possibilities. Carefully removing his old flight suit from the closet, he put it on. It didn't fit as well as it used to, but it would have to do.

Back straight. Shoulders back. Focus, old man. This has to work. The Colonel stepped out of his room and headed down towards the flight deck.

---

Thanks again for putting up with my wild ramblings about Scion's past. Hopefully it's enjoyable to read. Any comments or questions are welcome. :)

December is always a busy month. Just about everybody is celebrating holidays of one variety or another. Many people travel to be with family. For that reason I'd like to take this opportunity to reiterate that the Dark Brotherhood should always play second fiddle to real life. It's a fun thing to do while you have free time at work or school, and it can even be an escape when life is tough - getting into the mindset of a powerful Force user is a lot more appealing than studying for that calculus midterm. Don't feel bad if you let some competitions pass you by or you can't spend much time on IRC. We'll still be here for you when you have the time again.

That being said, allow me to remind you all that we have a huge competition coming up in January! The Rite of Supremacy is almost as big of a deal as the Great Jedi War, but it will supposedly take a different format this time so people don't get so burned out. If you participate in nothing else this winter, please try to make time and do something for the RoS next month! We need to pull out all the stops and show the rest of the Brotherhood that we're not the sixth Clan out of six.

Now, for the regular reminders:

Competition Participation: When you participate in something, don't

forget to let me know so you get credit for it! You may either CC me

when you submit your entry, or just send me a quick note saying you participated. If it's a Clan competition that I might be participating in too, I'd appreciate if you did not include me on your actual submission... that way I can still participate! ;)

Competition Ideas: Got an idea for a competition? Anybody can run one, and anybody can suggest ideas. Just run it past me and we'll make it happen.

Apprentices: All you have to do for your promotion to Novice is...

anything. Get on the IRC channel, participate in a competition, register for the forums, or just about anything else. If you have questions or if you have already done one of these things and you think nobody noticed, send me a quick email and let me know. In particular, I don't get automatically notified if you register on the forums or you go on IRC while I'm not around.

Everyone Else: The promotion requirements are listed on the Wiki (the URL is below). If you want a copy of your current activity record, or if you aren't sure which requirements you have completed and which you have not, all you need to do is ask. Severon, Apollo and myself all have access to the records and we will all be happy to help you figure out your path to your next promotion.

Promotion Requirements: http://www.darkjedibrotherhood.com/wiki/index.php?title=Promotion_Requirements

Website: http://www.darkjedibrotherhood.com

IRC: undernet.org in #db and #tarentum

Forum: http://www.darkjedibrotherhood.com/forum/

Wiki: http://www.darkjedibrotherhood.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

In Darkness,

Scion Altera

SW Scion "Firebird" Altera (Sith)/QUA/Gladius of Tarentum [ACC: TRN]

GC / AC / Cr-2S-6E / SoL / S:-6U

{SA: DML - DSLC}

True Gladian

Brevet Commodore, Tarentum Navy

Captain, MJHC Corsair