Disruption on Mount Karbon

The Grand Admiral of Clan Scholae Palatinae was walking through a city. It was a place he had not recognized before. It was hazy in all directions, but he could still see the spires of metal twist into the sky. They were made of junk, yet had a rustic feel as well. Old Judecca? Old Seraph? Who knew…

The Shistavanen felt a little nick on his shoulder. He looked up and saw what looked like rain. He suddenly shuttered his eyes as a shower of sand fell on top of him. It starting raining sand all around him. He looked up and through his lashes he could see all the towers and buildings crumbling into sand dunes. Each speck added to a greater height, coming closer to either drowning the Rollmaster or giving him a leg up.

He bolted to the nearest dune, using it to climb up and wade through calf-level deep sand. He kept climbing and climbing as the area around him got more difficult to step through. Eventually, he stopped, feeling the top of what was now a sand dune.

Mune looked up, peering around the now leveled city. All he could see was sand.

He grasped for his throat, feeling a pain inside of it. He started choking, attempting to cough up whatever was lodged in his esophagus. He reach in with his clawed fingers, and pulled out a jagged, bloody knife. As it splattered the ground, so too did drops of red rain hitting the sandy horizon, beading up and rolling down the gritty slopes. He felt the rain go into his fur. Soon he realized it was not rain, but blood.

He spat it out of his mouth as it soaked his ears, eventually pooling to the edges of his mouth. He spat it out again, eventually being unable to breath because of all the rain…

“Mune!” Raiju yelled.

“Mune! Snap out of it!” the Grand Vizier yelled.

Mune opened his eyes wide. He was on all fours, kneeling on the floor of his meditation room.

Raiju held onto his friend’s shoulder, “The Empress has received a message and wishes us to meet up.”

Mune breathed deeply, still feeling the effects of the vision. He looked up at the black eyed being and said, “Death. I don’t know how or when, but surely it approaches.”

---

“I would have rather met on the ground,” the Quaestor of Excidium said.

“What is ‘the ground’?” the surgical droid repeated attempting to mimic the voice of the Sephi.

Alara chuckled, “A place that I can naturally feel without knowing that if I step outside I’ll die in the vacuum of space.”

“’The ground’,” the droid repeated dryly, “does not sound as superior of a place as space. Did you know that during the Battle of Endor, the rebels were captured on ‘the ground’?”

“Enough of this! Where is Ironius?!” the Quaestor yelled.

“9TS,” calmly spoke the Quaestor of Imperium, “please do a self-diagnostic.” He was standing right behind the droid, walking around it and through the lounge of the Kola to the seating where Alara stood by. The droid stared straight ahead and began whirring on response. Dek continued, “He’s a boat load of facts. Not sure why he said that...” but the Commander was interrupted.

“What is the purpose of this meeting, Ironius? Have you come to claim dominion over my recently captured city?” Alara eyed Dek, placing her hand on the hilt of her saber.

Dek sat down reaching for his blaster, but instead he unclipped it and placed it on a table near him. He smiled, “I have information that may benefit us both.”

“Nothing you tell me couldn’t be figured out by my Excidiacs,” she stated firmly.

“You’ve been broiled in a little war, and haven’t had much attention outside of it. The Moldates that are attacking us have united behind a singular group, forming a unitary government for the first time in centuries.”

Alara sighed deeply, “And this is relevant because…?”

“I’ve received information that they have an ally in the Caperion System. After further research and intelligence gathering, we’ve found out that they may have potentially worked to funnel arms and weapons to the crime lords on Ulr Uvi.” Dek pursed his lips.

“Bad for us both, it seems,” Alara sneered.

“It does seem,” Dek answered.

Alara paused, then shot a deep glance at Dek, “Are you proposing...”

“...an alliance? Yes,” Dek responded. “We could both use the help. I have the foot soldiers on Caelestis and you have the resources of a newly conquered place, we could pool our resources together, making our Houses great under our new Clan.”

“What does the Empress think of this alliance?” Alara questioned.

“I’m sure they’ll find out on their own. Our solidarity will curry favour with them anyway,” Dek responded.

“Ok, Ironius, we’ll work together...for now.”

---

Raiju and Mune both entered the royal chamber and bowed deeply as they approached the throne.

“Rise, Kang and Cinteroph. You know I despise fake pleasantries.” the scientist verbally poked.

She strode over to enlarged microscope, letting go of her illusion momentarily to see easier into the scope itself. The blue and white danced off her skin into a golden yellow, “Just as I thought. Another virus defeated by the likes of my bloody creations.”

Mune growled, “What is it you wanted, Empress?”

“We came as fast as we could, not to look at cannibal cells though,” Raiju continued.

Elincia sighed, “None of you beasts understand the struggles of a working scientist. Anyways,” she moved back to her throne and pressed a button, “I received this message recently.”

“Empress,” it was a darkly woven, cloaked operative of sorts, “I have received word that Imperium and Excidium are both working together on a new...issue. It seems that they both have enemies that may have a singular benefactor. Also, this benefactor is located in the Caperion System, possibly with one of the great nations. We do know it isn’t Meraxis, which is troubling. But we’re looking...” the Empress turned the image off.

“Your orders, Scientist in Chief?” the Nautalon quipped.

Elincia sat on her throne, and smiled, reigniting her Togruta image, “We can’t let the Houses have all the fun alone, can we.”

---

---

Welcome to the first House Co-op Event of the year: Disruption on Mount Karbon!

Alara and myself have been working on this event for the past month, slowly piecing together what the story should be about. We’ve done it with as little Clan summit oversight as possible, because we want everyone to be able to participate. So why House Co-op? Because we want both of our Houses to be able to not only compete with other members in their House, but also to work with people across House lines.

The event will happen in two major parts throughout the month.

The first part will involve the finding of these supposed traitors to our Clan. This cluster of competitions will occur from today (June 1st) until June 14th. The second part will involve an advancement in the story. This cluster of competitions will occur from June 14th until June 30th. The winner of the comps from each House will win a special, unofficial Clan Scholae Palatinae reward as well as the crescents for participation and placement in all the events.

Here are Part 1’s events:

The Evidence Tells A Story - On a secret endeavor to find more information on the Houses’ enemy, you find some rather incriminating evidence that Dupront was helping in the plot to alienate Clan Scholae Palatinae from Nayama. What do you do with this evidence? How do you stop his plans from flourishing to existence?

Meme Your Way Out Of This - Make a meme regarding the Houses’ current plot to work together, whether you feel for it or against it.

Remember Who Surrounds You - Answer as many questions as you can as fast as you can regarding Imperium and Excidium.

Imagine The Look On Your Face - Draw a picture of your character, NPC, or both, discovering evidence of Dupront’s plot to alienate Clan Scholae Palatinae from Nayama.

Private Eye - The Clan has hired you to find some information on a suspicious target, possibly of the Nayaman crime family. She has been messing around behind her family’s back, which could be of devastating consequence to the family’s reputation. Discover the scandal and put shame to the crime family’s name.

Event Long Competitions:

Hunt for the Assassins - Your enemies wish you dead. Luckily, you have had the training needed to do the same. The Nayaman crime family has sent assassins after you and your fellow Clanmates. The Quaestors have raised some additional fame for those who can hunt down and kill the most assassins. Of course, you will be competing against your fellow Clanmates as well.

Gather and Distract Run Ons - Still needs full approval, but here are the current comp details anyway:

This run on is split into two parts. You may pick one to be a part of. Posting in both qill disqualify you from both.

Distract In this run on you will be causing a distraction near Mount Korban in Nayaman territory. You’ll be going to the group’s base and attempting to cause a distraction by sabotaging, fighting, or using other means to distract the Nayaman crime family.

How this goes down is up to you and your allies. This distraction serves a purpose though. While this team is distracting, the other team will be infiltrating and/or attacking Nayaman crime family bases on other planets. The distraction should last about a day, so expect a lengthy holdout.

Gather In this run on you will be trying to gather evidence on the Nayaman crime family and their attachment to the Moldates and the crime lords of Ulr Uvi. The Moldates are an interstellar enemy currently combating Imperium while the crime lords are currently causing some trouble for Excidium.

Evidence is somewhere in Caelestis City, the capital of Clan Scholae Palatinae’s land. Use your teams resources to infiltrate, attack, and gather evidence from the building of the crime family in order to prove our story correct. Luckily, another team is heading off to cause a distraction for the crime family, meaning you will have an easier time getting the potential evidence.

So go out and participate! If you have any questions, feel free to contact Alara or myself at any time!

Glory to the Empire!

Dek Ironius II