The white-blue glow of wire light pierced through the darkness of the room. The light cast a hue upon the face of the Zabrak woman who was currently studying one of the outer orbs intently. Orbs and shapes were spread across the room, displaying an all-too-familiar system for all in the room.

The Zabaki Proconsul turned sideways to glare at the scarred human who had been almost lazily poking at the wireframe shape of a space station. Tasha’Vel stood at his left, focused on the globe representing Tarthos, deep in thought. The Summit had been in discussion for a few hours already trying to form the perfect strategy.

“The Collective cannot be everywhere at once, I think.” The Corellian Sith nodded to himself as he backed away from the glowing model of the Onyx 2 station. “There is a lot of system for them to cover. I mean, I am sure we have plenty of things hidden in the Inos asteroids, but they hold little interest to the uninitiated.” He put a hand on the shoulder of the Twi’lek Rollmaster as he spoke. The two made brief eye contact before he stepped around her to close the distance between Consul and Proconsul.

“They tried to secure the ruins in the Lyra-3K-a system.” Ashia’s voice was low as Bentre drew closer.. “They have been willing to throw bodies at us before.”

“The most important things are hidden away beneath the Palace. They seem less interested in going after the hidden things when they can smash things.” Bentre scoffed as he peered back at the form of Tarthos which the Onyx 2 protected. “I mean, I think we would be more worried about the artifacts that we didn’t manage to evacuate. I am sure that the Markosians have some surprises hidden away.” The Overlord gave a grimace. “Or perhaps we should worry more about things like the facilities on Gamuslag.”

“There is always work to be done.” The light glinted off of the metallic teeth of Macron Goura Sadow as he spoke. As Bentre turned to face the man, he could see the Mad Alchemist’s eyes studying the hologram display of the Orian system. “The labs should be safe enough, though. The planet is a harsh reality for the Collective. The planet will claim the weak, and burn away the chaff. It is of little military use to outsiders. They would be hard pressed to overturn Cenota.”

“I am sure Takagari would be willing to drop some kids off to make sure that Collective doesn’t wreck your toys.”

“Yes, sir.” The response from Darkhawk was crisp and immediate.

Tasha’Vel let out a sigh, and began to poke at the Tarthos model. A tone sounded as the globe enlarged. Pins were poking from various points on the planet. She brushed her lekku back behind her shoulders as she considered the planet from multiple angles. She then zoomed in the section towards the Ragnos Cathedral and gazed at the display before looking towards Bentre. “Muz will not be happy.” Tasha grumbled. “We put so much work into that Cathedral. I hate to think about how much damage they could do in the time between an arrival and an attack.”

“We hit multiple points at once.” Consul, Proconsul, and Rollmaster turned to look to Ciara. Beside her stood the broad-shouldered form of Hades, who was currently drinking in the light displays of the system, lost in his own thoughts. Even with the eyes of the Clan’s Summit upon her, Ciara was nonplussed. She locked eyes with the Overlord. “Trust in the strength of the Houses”

Bentre’s eyes searched Ciara’s face as he weighed her words. “I will not mince words. I don’t want to lose people if we can help it. This whole fight is likely to be dirty enough as it is. I am tempted to have us steamroll our way into the system, planet by planet.”

“The Collective would shore up their defenses.” Hades was still studying the displays, his tone matter of fact. “It would be foolish to assume they wouldn’t try to retaliate. If we hit them on multiple fronts, we will sow confusion in their ranks. Strike high value targets in quick succession and they will not have ample time to rally their forces to fight back.”

“So we strike at Markosian City, Seng Karash and the Palace of Orian, all at once.” Ashia rounded back to rejoin the discussion. “We hit them hard, we hit them fast, and we make it hurt.”

“We are in a weaker position than we were before Simonetti was taken prisoner.” Bentre bit his lip. “Who do you propose we have lead the fleet movements?”

“Surely you have not forgotten that we have the former Consul, Locke Sonjie?" Tasha’Vel interjected. “He worked extensively with Simonetti before Sang was Consul.”

“Hades has storied naval experience.” Ciara added, looking at her friend.

“I can offer my expertise.” Hades tone was short and to the point. “If there is any more data available, we could formulate some contingencies as well.”

The Overlord looked across the room at each of the assembled Sadowans in turn. His mind whirred as he considered each of them, and their words. Briefly, he reflected on the absence of Muz. That was a concern he could address later, though.

A lot of time had been spent, a lot of energy had been expended, a lot of waiting had occurred, and still he struggled with a doubt which nibbled at the back of his mind.

Which was not what the Clan needed right now. Drawing himself up, the Consul, the Overlord summoned every bit of pomp and circumstance he could muster to meet the gravity of his position.”Have them report to the Quaestors. Prepare the Sadowans, ready the troops, rally the fleets. Have the House leaders finalize their orders, and await the final call to battle. We are going to rally against the Collective. We will let loose the dogs of war, and we will bring down a reckoning fitting that of our legacy.”

...To The Place, We Belong....

“...Orian System, Orian Palace, take me home, oh Hyperlanes.” (okay, so it was only a rough approximation of the original, but hey). In a less tongue-in-cheek fashion, we have been away from home for too long. The wait and prep had been longer than any of us have liked, as eventually the heart always turns toward one place: home.

For some of our members, their characters have not known Orian as a home. For others, it is an old haunt with plenty of stories and even more memories. For all Sadowans, however, it is a haven. It is a home. It is a home that is ours to take, that is ours by our inheritance. With any luck, with any fortune, we will drive the Collective permanently from our system.

The destiny is ours to seize the Orian system for Naga Sadow. In one weeks time, a little less as our planned start date is the 25th, the final campaign to retake our system begins!

News From Within the Clan

• Our very own Rivio has joined the ranks of the Knights within the Brotherhood! Hopefully this will be but the first of many promotions for this young, promising member.

• The Aedile of House Marka Ragnos has released another monthly report for the House.

• After the Orian Wargames simulation ended, a number of victors were announced! Malisane, Bentre and Malik took 1st, 2nd, and third respectively as the Clan made final preparations for the Orian offensive.

• Xuner Holst, the Dakhani Aedile, released a short report on behalf of the Quaestor! Yeah, unfortunately I don’t have a cute little follow-up to this one. It’s pretty straightforward. Maybe I should have inserted a lolcat or something?

Recent News From Across the Club

• First off, we saw the first report of our new FIST. No cheeky nickname for Justinos (just yet), as Drac is still the titleholder of the “Lord of Salt”. Still, best of luck to Justinos, and may his term be long and fruitful!

• Our Voice Idris has released a supplemental report announcing a new Megistrate.

• Speaking of supplementals, our Regent Atra also released a suplemental about staff rotations.

• Though I hope you gave them a peek already, the latest Clan Pulsefeed was released on the first of this month, giving an eyeball into what is happening with all the Clans.

Competitions of Note

• The Deputy Grand Master has released a number of competitions to celebrate the launch of the Disney series, the Mandalorian.

• Our Regent and competition-crafter Atra has released another The Pictures in the Sound competition.

• Qyreia has dropped a fiction comp in which you can write as or alongside Dr. Jones in a wild fantasy adventure!

• And as always, you all should not forget to take part in the GMRG Quarterly Series as part of the competition for the GMRG leaderboard.

Parting Words

I normally like to give some words of encouragement here. And don’t worry, I will have them here as well. I will fully admit, despite our extensive little float about the galaxy, Orian is a place close to my heart. The system is where the Clan was based when I joined. It has a long, storied history with the Clan. It has been our home time after time, despite repeated attacks, rebellions from within and without. This is going to be a time for us to sink our teeth into our home, to keep our territory, and to secure it against attacks, both within and without.

It is the people within our Clan, the stories we create together, the games we play together, the fiction we craft, the art we create together, that makes Clan Naga Sadow such a wonderful place. It warms my heart to see each entry, to see everyone who contributes to that overall experience is ways both large and small. It thrills my heart to see every contribution, and I hope to see everybody take an enthusiastic part in the retaking of our system. Ultimately, this is not my story, or that of the Summit that we are telling. Rather, it is the story of the Clan. In other words, this is our story.

I am confident you all will make it epic.

For the Sadowan Empire. For the glory of Sadow!

”Conquest is our destiny; we shall not fail.”

Consul of Naga Sadow