INTRODUCTION

Low Orbit Casino In Orbit around Cadinth

An empire's fall in just one day You close your eyes and the glory fades

Arden couldn't help but be reminded of that as he walked into the casino. He'd told himself several times he'd never had anything else to do with his former...associates. He couldn't help remember all he'd gained and all he'd lost with them. It didn't matter how many victories he brought or how much glory he gained for them and himself. It all turned around on him in an instant. It was something he had to rectify and this was just one more step on that path.

Despite all the distractions of this place, he glided right past the Sabacc tables and Jubilee Wheels. Such things carried little interest for him these days. Chance wasn't a luxury he could afford to indulge anymore. It was never something he liked to indulge to begin with. With proper planning everything could be controlled, manipulated, massaged to go the way he needed them to. The Force, of course, helped, but even it could be fooled at times. Still, Arden wasn't quite sure what to expect out of this encounter. Betrayal was in the nature of these people, he'd learned that first hand. This one seemed different, though. Arden knew he was being played for some greater end but, for now at least, the Masked Man's schemes and his played into each other. A man on a mission, changing the vision I was never welcome here "He'll see you, in here."

The Ettian looked up as he heard the familiar voice of a commando droid behind him.

Saying nothing, Arden pivoted and followed. There were several other droids in the room and at least a couple other Force-users in the crowd. The Masked Man didn't trust him, far from unexpected. Still, Arden for some reason was unconcerned. Naturally, he had his own contingencies, but he still doubted he'd need them.

"Karn, good, you came," The Masked Man said smoothly as Arden was led into a private booth. "Please, sit. I've procured some fine Corellian Brandy, I've been told you enjoy it."

"I'm not here for pleasantries, Dupar. I'm here for business," Arden replied. "I will, however, make an exception for that. Assuming you haven't poisoned it."

The Masked Man quirked an eyebrow. "Why would I do that to someone who's performed so admirably?"

Arden gave the man a slight glare. "As a general rule, I'm skeptical of those who know my preference in potables. Last time someone did I ended up in the trunk of a speeder."

The Man chuckled a bit. "Kritch said you'd say that. He also said you'd never pass up this vintage."

Arden was silent a long moment, trying to gauge the man's sincerity. After a few seconds he chuckled and sat down. "I'm glad he remembers and that you haven't killed him yet."

As the Man pulled Arden a drink, the Ettian reached into his cloak and pulled out a datapad. Sliding it across the table Arden said, "The virus I put on the datacard I gave to Alliance Intelligence was only somewhat successful before I had to leave Fondor, but I did manage to get some data. There was hardly a mention of anything related to..."

Arden stopped cold for a moment, unsure of the right word.

"To us." The Man filled in. "As I hoped. And in case you haven't heard, the Alliance took the bait quite well."

Arden nodded. "I saw the Majestic on the way in. Interesting way to make sure the Alliance stays off your rear, at least until they realize they're chasing ghosts."

The Man slid the glass of brandy to Arden. "We'll deal with that when the time comes. Besides, from what I hear you're chasing a ghost, too."

Arden pulled his mask up slightly and took a sip of the brandy. "Drax took my master from me, he deserves nothing less than a blaster bolt between his eyes from my rifle."

"You could always come back." The Man stated, though somewhat half-heartedly. "It's only a matter of time before we take the fight to him again."

"I don't have a choice to stay." Arden stated as he finished the brandy and stood up. "I'd rather die than do it your way."

RECAP

Apologies for the lateness of this report. After four days of no internet, I am finally back online. Moving right along, then.

It's been a hell of a month and while my time as PCON started off a bit crazy, things have calmed down a bit and it seems I'm starting to settle in here. As I stated in my initial address to the clan, I am an outsider to Plagueis so I had the added challenge of learning what I could about the history of the clan while trying to help Aabs get a clan-wide event going. I hope you all enjoyed the Sphere of Influence feud, I certainly enjoyed reading the entries for some of the events. I'm glad to see such a turnout.

Enough of this nonsense. Let's get to what you all really want to read about; the Sphere of Influence results!

SPHERE OF INFLUENCE

House Ajunta Pall has won the Sphere of Influence feud. I am very pleased and impressed at the turnout and the competition in general. Great job to all who participated and especially to the victors. Keep it up!

Fictionally, Hyperdyne Manufacturing profits now funnel to Plagueis via our puppet President Teek Amavia. Corvin Zexx and Danyë Sukat are both presumed dead, Admiral Toss Agram is flying blind to Utapau, and we hold a certain Agent Ostrander in our custody (still on Cadinth). So it's been a busy few weeks!

Look below for merit awards that were given out for the feud and other things. Click here to look at the overall feud results.

MERIT AWARDS

So thanks to activity during the feud and awesomeness in general, the following people received merit awards. Note there are three big missing awards here (you'll know who) because we're still working on that front.

• Ophelia Delacroix – Steel Cross, Anteian Cross
• Calvo – Dark Cross
• Ra'gnar – Anteian Cross
• Koth Rai'Hakk – Steel Cross
• Tra'an Reith di Plagia – Dark Cross
• Dacien Corsair – Dark Cross
• Silent – Dark Cross
• Montressor – Anteian Cross
• Marduss – Anteian Cross
• Taranae Rhode – Anteian Cross
• Seabr'imsto'nedansr, aka Brimstone - Steel Cross
• Callus Bo'Amar – Steel Cross
• Furios Morega – Grand Cross of the Dark Side

Congratulations to all who were awarded. Keep up the excellent work and more will come for you.

ACC AND RUNON PRACTICE TEAMS

Aabsdu mentioned in his latest report that we were working on a training team for the ACC and for runons. This is a bit of a misnomer. While I will be organizing the ACC side of things, I will not be teaching anyone how to write in ACC combat. I am far from an expert in the field so I won't even bother trying to teach anyone anything. What this group will actually be is a practice team. We work together to get the kinks out of our writing styles so that we aren't making minor mistakes in major DB competition and we help each other become better at the different types of ACC combat that we have available.

I will be creating a Google group to make it easier on everyone involved when they'd like help proofreading a post or advice on how to use certain abilities effectively. Anyone with advice on a posted subject will be allowed to respond and assist. Everyone is encouraged to bring their experience to the group and help every member of the clan get better and dominate ACC competition. Four of our members have already showed their skill by progressing to the latest round of the current ladder competition. They, and everyone who didn't make it quite as far can share their experience with the rest of the group so that everyone can learn from the mistakes of others. I will definitely learn from my mistake in this tournament and never use something I had taken out of my CS and forgot to put back in.

If you are already qualified for the ACC then you will be added to the group once it's made. If you are not qualified, I highly encourage you to do so. Of the clan's 51 members, 18 are currently qualified for the ACC. I'd like to see this number increase before the next DB-wide competition so if you're not qualified yet, it's not difficult. Just create your character sheet and go to the Shadow Academy and take the courses. If you need any help, just ask. Someone will be able to help you if they can.

Along with improving our abilities in the ACC we are looking to improve our run-on writing. To that end, a run-on practice group will also be put together. The group will focus on improving post quality and length as well as eliminating posts that are unnecessary and possibly harmful to the run-on story.

More on both of these topics as we move close to implementing them.

CONCLUSION

So it's been a month of really odd things going on. Chosen to be PCON of Plagueis, jumping right in to help put together the Sphere of Influence feud and right around the time when I get to write my first report in years, my internet decides to abandon me. Now that things have settled everything should be smoother. Next report will be on time. I promise. :P

~Koth Rai'Hakk Proconsul, Clan Plagueis