Anthology Part 2: “Rise of the Lotus”

Fuel Depot Control Room
Starship Assembly Yard
Unknown Space, 34 ABY

A Quarren technician shifted his glance from the holopad in his hand to the very cross-looking Aleena sitting on the shoulder of an Iron Legion soldier. The documents seemed to check out, but something just wasn’t right about this whole ‘surprise inspection.’

“I wasn’t aware that—”

“—aware that the Lord Marshal doesn’t shed any tears for techs that defy orders?” the soldier cut the technician off.

The Quarren’s face tentacles wriggled nervously. “Yes, b-but of course.”

The Aleena huffed in a dramatic fashion from his perch as the the soldier reached up to steady him. The small creature pointed a slender finger at the Quarren. “You’d best remember your place...what did you say your name was?”

“Dorn, sir.”

“Well, Dorn,” the trooper scowled, voice modulated slightly from behind the matte-black helmet. “If you are quite finished delaying my work order...”

“Just one more moment and I’ll have you on your way.” The technician took one last look at the datapad before handing it back to the soldier. “It says you’re here to inspect our systems for vulnerabilities to terrorist attacks.”

“Indeed, we are, and thus far I am not impressed. What is to stop a Resistance cell from simply blowing the fuel lines and taking the station down?”

Dorn puffed himself up slightly as he pointed proudly at the workstations behind them. “These consoles control the various pumps and safety valves throughout the station. Ships are kept empty while they are being worked on and there are multiple valves to shut off the flow in case of an emergency.”

The Aleena nodded slowly. “Very good, I was testing you to see if you knew the safety protocols of your facility. Now is there any way to, say, override those safety features?”

The Quarren stroked the tentacles protruding from his jaw in thought for a moment. “Well there is one way, but it’s highly unlikely. Infiltrators would have to infiltrate the facility and manually open all the valves on each of these stations. But there’s no way that would ever happen.”

Before anyone could reply, a slender Human female wearing an Inquisitor’s black armor rushed into the control room behind them and sealed the door. Her hood had fallen back, revealing platinum hair tied back into a tight knot.

“We’re out of time, the cameras are down!” Alethia Archenskova barked.

A look of abject confusion and horror came across Dorn’s face. “An Inquisitor? An Inquisitor wouldn’t be here unless—”

The Aleena answered the query by leaping from the soldier’s shoulder, bouncing off an empty workstation and onto a hapless Mirialan technician that had been working behind Dorn. The soldier rushed towards the Quarren, slammed a gloved fist against the side of his head, and carefully rode the unconscious technican down to the floor. Within a matter of seconds, the control room was theirs.

The Iron Legion soldier removed his helmet to reveal the pale skin and full brown beard of Odan-Urr’s second in command, Mar Sûl. “How does the Legion even fight in this stuff? I felt like I was going to suffocate.”

Corvus Corax skipped over to the main console and began making adjustments as fast as his little Aleena hands would let him.

“Just a little more and I’m in. Got it!” Corax turned to Alethia, the director of this particular mission. “We’re ready, as soon as I press this button, all the fuel line circuits will overload.”

Alethia paused for a moment to look at her chrono, mentally running through the operational timeline and all the variables.

“Do it,” she commanded in a neutral voice before keying up her personal commlink.

Fuel Line Relay Station - West
Starship Assembly Yard

Edgar Drachen ducked into an alcove in the otherwise tight maintenance passage to check his holopad. He pulled up the pre-rendered map of the various weak points in the station. This fuel relay station was the last target on his team’s list. They had avoided detection at the first few targets but had to subdue a random patrol of guards in the last one. The bodies had been hidden in a cleaning closet in a haphazard manner that would surely be discovered in due time. Hopefully they had pulled out before then.

His comm chirped in his earpiece, and the second in command of House Hoth answered, “Go for Besh.”

“What’s your status?” came Alethia’s voice.

“We’re in position, Aurek Team. Stand by,” Edgar replied as he turned to check on his teammates. Kharoc Garrlan’s weathered face betrayed his bright, alert eyes that were focused on the mess of exposed wiring in the guts of a pried-open control panel. At the far side of the passage, Jedi Savant Junazee stood guard. While blind, the Miraluka still made an excellent sentry.

“Wha’s taking so frakkin’ long wit those charges, Besh Team?” a gruff voice interjected over the comm.

“You can’t rush this kind of work, Jax,” Kharoc said without actually rolling his eyes or taking his focus off of the wires in front of him. “It ain’t like the holovids when you have to rig a remote detonation that can’t be manually short-circ—”

“My karkin’ mothers taught me to set a blastpack faster! I though’ you dikut’la bucket-head types did this fer fun! Move it, move it, move it, soldier!”

Kharoc grunted in response and continued to work on the exposed set of wires he had run to a set of plastique explosives. His hands moved like clockwork, his focus unwavering.

Edgar was not the biggest fan of the almost too casual banter, but had to admit it was good to be working with the veteran Arconans. Kharoc had proven himself already on the mission so far with his adaptability, and Jax was a personal showing of the Shadow Lady’s commitment to aiding Clan Odan-Urr.

Junazee’s brow furrowing as she seemed to pick up on something through the Force. “Uh-oh,” she murmured over comm.

“What do you mean, ‘uh-oh?’” Alethia asked slowly over comms, her voice teeming with impatience.

“Charges are all set, but uh, I think we have a problem,” Edgar explained.

A squad of Iron Legion troopers clad in plasteel armor rounded the corner and open fired.

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Fiction Breakdown

The Lotus Blooms

The above fiction was a collaborative effort between the Consuls of Clan Odan Urr and Arcona and was created to help give life and a name to the Odan Urr-lead resistance now known as “The Lotus.” I want to personally thank Atyiru and Turel for helping collaborate with me on this piece. Furthermore, I’d like to point out that there are roughly twenty (20) characters played by members of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood in this fiction. That’s right, twenty. Please make sure you remind and thank your Consul’s for how hard they work for you guys. Thank you to all the editors and proofers, and also thank you to Vyr for providing the sweet graphic included with the fiction.

For those that like TL;DR’s, I have included a summary below. I also went ahead and added a Glossary of People and Places at the bottom of the fiction to help newer members understand what’s going on a bit more.

Summary

• Mar and Corvus impersonate Iron Legion troopers to get to the control room, not unlike Luke and Han in “A New Hope.”
• Lead by Alethia, the Resistance sets up to blast the fuel lines for Pravus’ new Fleet-maker.
• Edgar’s team runs into trouble, gets pinned down.
• Arcona and Odan Urr coordinate to retrieve Edgar’s team, extraction.
• Odan Urr’s flagship recovers the strike teams.
• Arcia triggers the detonators, taking out the fuel lines for the Brotherhood's Fleet-maker.
• Pravus is not happy.
• Pravis is very not happy. Appoints a new Fist in Dracaryis to lead the charge against the Resistance.
• The Resistance adopts the name of “The Lotus” under the continued banner of “Remember New Tython.”
• Pravus has his sights now on Arcona, and also realizes that Odan Urr is a legitimate threat to his plans.

Glossary of People and Places

• Arx Fleet Systems - The name of the store within the new Possessions system where units will purchase ships for their fleets.
• Iron Legion - The Grand Master’s military forces, similar to Stormtroopers and First Order Troopers.
• Lord Marshal - References Damon Nix, the Grand Master’s liaison and trusted consultant for overseeing the Iron Legion.
• Mar Sûl- Proconsul of Odan Urr, Human male.
• Alethia Archensksova - Quaestor of House Satele Shan, Human female.
• Corvus Corax - Rollmaster of Odan Urr, Aleena male.
• Edgar Drachen - Aedile of House Houth, Human male.
• Kharoc Garrlan - NFU Major, Clan Arcona, Human male.
• Junazee - Jedi Savant, Clan Odan Urr, Female Miraluka.
• Atyiru -Shadow Lord/Consul of Clan Arcona (mentioned).
• Jax - Atyiru’s Fade, NFU Arcona Armed Forces Ranger, Zygerrian male.
• Christopher Winchester - NFU Commander, Clan Odan Urr, Human male.
• Mateus Kelborn - Gray Jedi Seer, Clan Arcona, Human male.
• Rrogon Skar Agrona - Dark Jedi Warrior, Clan Arcona, Kaleesh male.
• Seth Danner - NFU Raider, Clan Odan Urr, Human male.
• Ka Travitz - Jedi Padawan, Clan Odan Urr, Human male.
• Seraphol - Aedile of House Satele Shan, Clan Odan Urr, Human male.
• Ihi Ariki - Colonel, Clan Odan Urr, Pau’an male.
• Arcia Cortel - Quaestor of House Hoth, Human female.
• Turel Sorenn - Consul of Clan Odan Urr, Human male.
• Arx - Brotherhood seat of power. The new Antei.
• Pravus - Grand Master of the Brotherhood, Human male.
• Evant - Regent of the Brotherhood, Human male.
• Montresor - Praetor to the Grand Master, Human male.
• Dracaryis - Fist of the Brotherhood, Human male.
• Marick - Voice of the Brotherhood (mentioned).
• ISDII- Eye of the Abyss - Clan Arcona Flagship.

Future Plot Updates

With Anthology Part 2 completed, Part 3 is now on deck. Titled “Seven Strands”, the next Anthology fiction will focus around the seven Clans of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood. Working with the respective upper summits of each unit, this Anthology fiction will look to give us a better understanding of where each unit stands right now in the larger Brotherhood narrative. While the main publication will feature a “segment” from each Clan, each story will be expanded separately into full, DB canon-approved fictions for each unit. It has really been a great experience working with the leaders of each Clan. You guys are lucky to have such a great group of individuals leading your respective units.

In Closing

• Don’t forget to see my latest Voice Report where I (again) talk about Species for the Character Sheets and a few other hot talking points in terms of fiction and canon within the DJB.

• ACC Event is now in full swing. Make sure you’re completing your matches. Sign up for more, compete, develop your characters and have fun!

Look for more updates in the following weeks to come. Questions? Concerns? Hit me up at [Log in to view e-mail addresses]. My door is always open.

Thank you.