Oh God Is It April Already? QUA Report

2017/04/11, 9:33 PM, Quaestor - House Satele Shan

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Introduction - Clouds on the Horizon

The Damsels' Distress
Geosynchronous orbit above Semuboca
Nilgaard Sector

Len couldn't help but worry as he watched the Remembrance of Seher accelerate and blink away into hyperspace. Alethia was probably right that leaving an MC40a parked above an uninhabited planet for a week was a bit gratuitous, and that it would attract trouble if anyone did happen to pass through the system. Still, as he watched the LAATs in the distance cruise towards the whirling white, green, and blue of Semuboca, the Chiss couldn't shake the feeling that they were vulnerable.

It wasn't that he lacked faith in his men — far from it. Len had worked alongside or even under most of them before, and trained most of the greener recruits. The Pathfinders, now under the command of 'Doctor Delat,' as Tamashi was affectionately known, were more than capable of handling themselves. The rest of the mission crew were either Jedi or seasoned professionals themselves. Whatever they would find down there, they could surely handle it.

Nevertheless, Len worried. It was his job, after all. And he hated being stuck up in space while his men were risking their safety down on the surface. Just because they needed someone in operational command, up in space where he could help monitor the planet's volatile weather and hopefully relay communications through its thick, humid atmosphere, didn't mean he had to like it.

He spared a glance at the ship's owner-pilots. At least the view is nice. The Daegella twins, their lips, eyes, and nails painted a deep blue to match the tight outfits they were mostly wearing, tweaked the last few settings necessary to keep the Damsels' Distress floating happily above the landing zone. Len wasn't entirely sure why a pair of top-tier racers were slumming it with the Odanites, but Alethia insisted on paying them for blue milk runs like this. The Director was convinced that building a relationship with the Twi'leks as a quick source of easy cash would pay off when Satele Shan inevitably had a genuine need for their skills.

Kasula and Ysera headed back into the bowels of the ship, winking at him in unison — alluring if a bit unnerving — for some maintenance and tinkering. Commander Iode was left to fidget over his instrument panel. The LAATs were almost to the landing zone. He hoped the weather would hold, at least for a few hours. The massive tropical storm cells on Semuboca were notorious, or at least they would have been if anyone outside the immediate region had ever heard of the planet. They were dangerous and unpredictable, at any rate, and had kept the planet free of colonists. Len only hoped that they wouldn't endanger his people.

Semuboca
Base camp

Tamashi cleared his throat, and once again tried to get everyone's attention about the noise and hubbub of the hastily constructed camp. Although Pau'ans were normally intimidating to most sentients by virtue of their vicious teeth and inky black eyes, the effect was a bit muted by Tamashi's large eyeglasses and a well-tailored suit that made only the barest acknowledge of the overbearingly hot, wet climate of Semuboca.

"Excuse, me, everyone, your attention please!"

He didn't get much of a response. Ji'kip and Akaarn were having an animated discussion over the newly set-up atmosphere sensor, while Stephens, fanning himself with his hat with one hand and mopping the sweat from his brow with the other, looked on in exasperation. Across the clearing, Junazee huddled over the communications array, chatting with Iode to make sure the connection was clear.

Charlotte, evidently sick of seeing her master overlooked, roared. The entire camp turned to at least glance at the Wookiee.

"Thank you," the Pau'an nodded appreciatively. "Everyone, thank you for helping to quickly establish camp. As you know, the materials we've been sent to collect for Pau'an Pharma and Chem might contribute to new, life-saving medications in the near future. Thus I hope you all appreciate the need to move quickly to secure them in the few days we have on-world. Although the environment will be challenging, I have complete faith in —"

The Pau'an's speech was cut off as Junazee cranked up the volume on the comms array. "You've got some sort of transport coming in hot," Len's voice called out, slightly distorted by Semuboca's thick atmosphere. "Looks like it popped out of hyperspace when it hit the planet's gravity well. It should hit atmo… fifteen clicks west of your position." Some of the keener-sighted OEF troopers started pointing up at the sky, where the flaming arc of an incoming vessel streaked through the air in the distance."

"That's not ideal," Mako deadpanned. "Have any other good news for us, Iode?"

"Well, now that you mention it, there's a storm cell that looks like it'll sweep over your location. You've probably got a little while…"

"Six hours!" Ji'kip interjected while Akaarn scowled at him.

"...but it's hard to tell. This thing isn't exactly a weather station."

Tamashi rubbed his brow. They'd been planetside all of an hour before things got complicated.

"Well, fearless leader," Henymory smirked, addressing the Pau'an. "What next?"

</endfic>
Greetings Satelites and Satelettes! What you just read is the introduction to the first part of a new event series we'll be running over the next several weeks. We're putting the finishing touches of the initial slate of competitions, so keep an eye on your email and Telegram for the announcement when they're live. Now for your regularly scheduled programming.

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All the News That's Fit to Print

Satele Shan and COU

Tamashi was appointed to be the second BTL for Garza's Pathfinders, replacing Len who moved up to Aedile.
Talis is spearheading a clan-wide effort to revamp our wiki articles. We've got several people involved already, but there is definitely room for more. If you're interested in getting your feet wet in wiki work and lore development, or you want some project work to help with that next award or promotion, hit him up.
Edgar has become the latest Councillor of Urr. Even though he's been in Hoth for over a year now, Ed made plenty of contributions to Satele Shan before leaving. He recruited Len, leo, and me and shepherded us to Knight and beyond. Additionally, he served with distinction in DoB and was (and is) a major supporter of the Shan gaming community. Congrats, Ed.
And mostly recently, Ethan Martes was promoted to EQ3 - only one rank short of knighthood. Congrats!

Dark Brotherhood

The Headmaster is looking for a new right hand. Marcus is leaving some very big shoes to fill, but I've got faith in you.
The latest Fist report details a new gaming platform, Fister Roboto improvements, and that our own Junazee was hired for M:Fist. Congrats, Juna! As always, Ed has your back with more general gaming news.
Over in fiction-land, Wallaby gave a general Voice update, the Wombat Master launched The Atra Ventus Center For Members Who Can't ACC Good And Wanna Learn To Write Other Stuff Good Too, and our own Kasula Daegella updated everyone on recent canon material. More recently, Wally launched a wiki-based guide to DB plotlines and fiction.
The MAA talked about oppressing your medals.
The Herald announced announced the removal of old, unused dossier bling, as well as the graphics tournament that is now in its third round.

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Competitions

As a reminder, if you're interested in running a competition or just have an idea you like to see, don't hesitate to bring it up to your summit!

Fiction

Shore Leave #2: The Beach!! runs through the 14th.

Gaming

HotS Cluster Race runs through the 15th.
Fist Monthly Gaming for Glory runs all month.
Gorefest is the weekend of April 20.

Art

Space Pizza! runs through the 17th.
The Emperors New Robes runs through the 22nd.

Puzzles and Flash

Mindnight Hunter runs all month.
Rollmistress Puzzles runs weekly, beginning April 8.
Back to the Gaming Past runs weekly, beginning April 8.
28 Weeks of Jigsaw restarted, with the first puzzle ending the 14th.

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Activity Report for March 2017

March was a pretty good month for us. While we didn't have a bunch of people doing 20+ competitions, we did have some activity from people we haven't seen for a while. Zeon Blacktooth rejoined the Houth, while Aaleeshah, Jafits Skrumm, and leocadio were able to return to activity after quiet periods.

Korroth, Ji'kip, and CharLotte received promotions. Congrats!
Also congrats to Mako, Tamashi, Sa, Maximus, Seridan, and Ethan on their merit awards. Spoilers for April: there will be more.
Mako was our MVP for March, submitting to 21 competitions despite that amount of time he's invested in the ongoing art tournament, The Shroud War.
CharLotte's tearing up the SA and passed 11 courses last month.

As a reminder, the following activity only covers the month of March.

Mako Henymory

Awarded a Grand Cross!
Participated in 21 competitions
1 Crescent with Sapphire Star
1 Crescent with Emerald Star
2 Crescents with Topaz Star
4 Clusters of Ice
5 Clusters of Earth
2 Clusters of Graphite

Junazee

Participated in 17 competitions
1 Crescent with Diamond Star
3 Crescents with Emerald Star
76 Clusters of Fire
16 Clusters of Earth
3 Clusters of Graphite

Daniel "Seraphol" Stephens

Participated in 15 competitions
3 Crescent with Ruby Star
1 Crescent with Ruby Star
1 Crescent with Amethyst Star
1 Crescent with Emerald Star
24 Clusters of Fire
63 Clusters of Earth

Alethia Archenksova

Participated in 15 competitions
2 Crescents with Amethyst Star
3 Crescents with Sapphire Star
1 Crescent with Topaz Star
2 Clusters of Ice
2 Clusters of Graphite

Kasula Daegella

Participated in 12 competitions
1 Crescent with Diamond Star
6 Clusters of Fire
32 Clusters of Earth
3 Clusters of Graphite

Tamashi Adaephon Delat

Awarded a Grand Cross!
Participated in 10 competitions
32 Clusters of Earth
Passed Wiki Basics

Len Iode

Participated in 9 competitions
2 Crescents with Sapphire Star
10 Clusters of Fire
1 Cluster of Ice
27 Clusters of Earth
3 Clusters of Graphite

Ji'kip

Promoted to JM2!
Participated in 9 competitions
1 Crescent with Sapphire Star
3 Pendants of Blood
23 Clusters of Fire
3 Clusters of Ice
2 Clusters of Graphite
Passed ACC Combat Studies

CharLotteGoesStarWars

Joined Satele Shan!
Promoted from NV2 to NV3 to NV4 to JM1!
Participated in 9 competitions
1 Crescent with Sapphire Star
Passed Comms 103: DJBWiki (An Introduction), Dark Brotherhood Basics, Essentials 101: History, Essentials 102: Departments, Essentials 103: Paths & Orders, Essentials 104: Ranks, Essentials 105: Organization, Essentials 106: Medals, Comms 101: Discourse Forum, Comms 102: Telegram, and GMRG History
Earned a Dark Pundit - Essentials