Fiction

Troykal Berckur sat alone in his study. He pulled through each page of a book he had read hundreds of times before, always looking for the words between the lines. His wrinkly fingers clasped the book shut, blowing dust into the air. He looked up at his vast library of books, old and decaying. “What old knowledge exists in these pages?” the Master thought to himself. He had looked over most of them for many years, and yet only knew an inch of what they contained.

He slowly stood up from his seat. A protocol droid waddled over and questioned, “Do you need help getting to bed, sir?”

He coughed a little, aware fully that he needed little help doing so, but obliged the droid with a wave of his hand. The extra help wouldn’t hurt, and he needed to be fully fit to serve his people. He was a master of the Force, and with the Meraxis Empire gone, and the Democratic Republic of Elaya withdrawal of half the troops originally guarding their land, there was little need of protective services as much.

Walking into the next room, he sat on the bed, where he was greeted yet again by the creaking wood frame. He lumped his feet below the covers and the protocol droid brought them over his body. Feeling his head sink into the pillow, Troykal let his eyes rest once again this night. The protocol droid waddled off and sat, powering itself down. The lights dimmed. He could feel himself slowly dozing to sleep. He let himself dream. He felt the presence of his parents, with their loving and warm hands. He felt the presence of his friends, most of whom had become one with the Force. He felt the presence of his people, whom had great love and appreciation for him.

He then felt the presence of a dark figure. This unsettled him and he tried to wake himself up. The dark figure had protruding tendrils come from their cloaked figure. He tried to tell himself it was just a dream. He tried to force himself awake. But nothing would occur. He fought as the figure floated into the air. He readied his hands in the dreamstate. He felt out with the Force, and yet nothing would happen. Suddenly realizing his weak state, he let himself be approached by the figure, knowing that in the death of the dream he would surely wake up. The figure walked forward on dissipating black shards. It was Adoniram, the now dead Emperor of the former Meraxis Empire.

“You are dead, and this is all but a dream,” the Master smiled.

Troykal’s vision went seeping red. He slowly opened his eyes to his reality. To the left he saw a broken protocol droid, smashed to pieces. To the right he saw a pool of blood coming from his body. Shaken, he tried to sit up, but something was holding him down. He tried to scream, but only the guttural sounds of his bloody, slit throat filled the air. He looked down at his chest. Five giant knives pinned him to the bed, allowing him to suddenly realize that this would be his final resting place.

“Killed in my sleep,” he mumbled to himself as his last thoughts were on his parents, and how he would join them soon.

---

The Empress stood at her strategy table in the throne room, waiting for the new Summit members to approach. Colonel Wynter was first to enter the room. He had just finished an inspection of the new arsenal and was ready to report.

“Empress,” Mauro exclaimed with utter professionalism, “the ships are aligned to your specifications now.”

Dek Iron’yikut followed through with Xantros at his left side.

“What’s the rush?” said Dek.

“Rush?” Mauro questioned to the Empress.

“Troykal Berckur, the Master of the Republic of the Force, was killed last night in his sleep.”

Mauro looked down at the ground, suddenly realizing this his thoughts had to change from reports to something more serious. Dek sighed and looked at the strategy table. These events were usually what occurred when it was just Dek and Shadow.

Xantros was firs to speak from the shock, “Do we know who did it?”

“We’re unsure,” the Empress answered, “but we know of a possible splinter group forming in the Republic of the Force. Also, some are accusing us of doing it. Some are accusing former Meraxis Empire agents.”

“Not surprising in the least,” Dek let out. “The man was older than most Humans are. It was going to happen soon anyway.”

“Still,” the Empress responded, “the thought that we would be accused of any of it is quite alarming. We must act to prevent our image from being tarnished.”

“An investigation?” Mauro questioned.

“Absolutely,” Shadow responded. “We need to show solidarity with the system, even if it may only be temporary. With the defeat of the Meraxis Empire, and our new military, we need to show the image that we are not here to replace the Meraxis.”

Xantros’ face was puzzled, “Aren’t we already a replacement? We are an Empire ourselves.”

Dek chuckled, “We certainly are. But the Meraxis failed in their plight by the direct route. This death opens up an opportunity to gain other forms of power; diplomacy, good will, and seriousness towards this system’s order.”

Xantros shrugged affirmatively. “In my experience, violence, although not always wanted, is usually needed at a certain point. Ric understood that. That’s partially why he was convinced to blow up Imperium’s former HQ. The Sith always say there is no…”

But Wynter cut him off, “…no peace. Yes. Even I recognize what Xantros is saying.”

“Enough!” Shadow commanded. “Military action may be required. That is why you will be prepping our ships, Mauro, for an eventual defense. Xantros will be leading the investigation. Dek will go to the TRF government as a liaison from Clan Scholae Palatinae. We will be coordinating with each other at all times. I will remain here.”

“Of course, Empress,” responded Dek. The other two nodded in humility towards the head of the Clan.

Shadow continued, “We will find out who did this. And more importantly, why we had nothing to do with it.”

Welcome!

Welcome to our first major Clan event since the end of the GJW. The Uprising of the Force is an event that will begin a chapter in our Clan’s history. It is the start of a Saga of events: The Dark Times Saga. This is in reference to an Obi-Wan Kenobi in his discussion with Luke: “Before the Dark Times. Before…the Empire.”

Setting off this event is an assassination of The Republic of the Force leader. The knowledge of his assassination came to our Empress swiftly. But of course, the rest of Caperion found out quick enough as well. Hard to keep something such as this a secret.

This competition will work in two phases. Week 1 is this week. Week 2 is the next week. In between there will be a fiction to explain events happening in between. But for right now, all you need to know is that WE are investigating the assassination. Obviously with our recent dealings with the end of the Meraxis, and our participation in the GJW, we cannot idly sit by and let others weave our own fate for us. We have to involve ourselves in every known event possible. That is how we become a superpower within our own system.

Competitions:

Flash – Scene Kid: Examine the scene of a crime and help us identify clues in this flash game. Highest points in legit screenshot wins.

Member Hunt – Helping Hands of the Empress: Certain members have certain skills that we’ve alluded to. But we can’t give you all the information over official channels. Use the clues to find the members. Please put member’s full DJB Roster names!

GFX – Dreamstate: Supposedly a Force Ghost attacked The Republic of the Force leader. Draw what you think it might look like.

Puzzle – Visionary Justice: Can you help us see where the supposed assassins are hunkering down? Put the pieces of this puzzle together to find out!

Fiction – For Your Eyes Only: You have one of two possible missions. Utilize either method to get what we need!

That’s it for now! You have a week to complete them! Expect 5 next week!