[The Anchorage]

[Lower Levels]

Teylas Ramar raised his flashlight slightly to see further down the corridor. In the previous months, the Plagueian engineers had been able to restore most of the power to many of the lower levels of the Anchorage from the outside of the station. However, with all the dangers the lower levels pose, the life support system was still critically damaged with the only way to repair it being deck by deck. The darkness of the dimly lit corridor, the barely functioning lights, was also a reflection of much of the Force aura the teams were feeling.

The comm chirped to life: “With everything going on, do you think it was wise for you to go into the lower levels yourself?” Selika barked over the comm.

Returning the favor Teylas retorted in kind, “Probably not, but I we need to know what this is. We need to get rid of this threat. Besides, it already tried to kill me once and failed.”

“Should we really be bickering about that over an open comm?” Tra’an Reith murmured into Teylas’ ear as he came up on his right side.

“That’s all they do when they don’t have something to kill together,” Dracaryis could be heard over the comm in everyone’s ear. Teylas smirked at the truth of the comment.

“Have any teams found anything of importance yet?” Bloodfyre growled over the comm, pictured in Teylas’ mind undoubtedly standing next to Selika Roh in the command center with the arms crossed and a scowl on his face.

“Nothing yet,” Scion Tarentae said coming up behind Teylas’ left in the corridor. “But I can feel it.”

“Whatever it is, we’re getting close. It’s unsettling, even by our standards,” Teylas added.

The trio of Teylas, Tra’an, and Scion continued forward, constantly checking behind each other for anything. After the incident with the Sithspawn, the two Plagueians expected trouble could come from any direction. Finally they were approaching a familiar room in the lower levels: the arboretum. Walking inside, Teylas and Tra’an both instinctively looked up at the huge hole in the glass ceiling, exposing the level above it where Plagueians had come through it in their attempt to rescue Teylas in what seemed like forever ago.

They walked into the arboretum and looked around. The lush vegetation was still, somehow, alive. It was one of the unknowns that went unexplained when Plagueis withdrew from the lower levels with little to no intent of returning. Suddenly, they felt it. Scion was the first to speak, “What was that?”

Tra’an shook his head, “Whatever it is it’s getting closer.”

From the shadows, a silhouette appeared. Stepping forward, the shadow took a familiar shape: Xander Drax.

The three immediately withdrew and ignited their lightsabers. The hue of the orange, purple, and red blades glowed vibrantly against the grass growing out of the soil they were standing on. It was an almost surreal experience. However, their actions garnered no response in kind.

“Hmm. I had almost forgotten about those,” Drax mused. “But it has just been so… long.”

Teylas, Tra’an, and Scion looked at each other, a little puzzled. Their man was in front of them, though, and they weren’t going to think twice. For someone they thought was dead, he seemed very much alive. Teylas made the first step, but was almost brought to his knees by a crippling pain in his mind. Backing off, without turning his gaze away from ‘Drax’, he guided his thoughts telepathically to the other two, ‘This is definitely not Drax.’

‘Agreed,’ Tra’an returned the thought.

However, before Scion could respond ‘Drax’ spoke up, “Oh no, I’m not Drax… or am I?” he said stretching his arms out in front of him and sarcastically looking them up and down intently. Drax started to continue, “I guess I can be…” he paused slightly as before their eyes the form changed. It wasn’t someone Teylas immediately recognized well, but it was definitely someone he had seen before: a Plagueian soldier lost on the battlefield of Korriban during the short-lived Plagueian Civil War.

“… a lot of different people…” the form said, shifting again to another vaguely familiar, dead face. Teylas and Tra’an looked at each other in disbelief, while Scion gripped his lightsaber even firmer than before. “Your presence here is enough to feed me for many more millennia.”

Teylas took a step forward to approach, but just as quickly as the ancient form had appeared from the shadows it disappeared back into it. Teylas attempted to give chase, using his lightsaber as a guide through the dark but it was futile. Returning to the others he sighed, “This might be a lot more of a problem than we thought. Check in with Selika and Bloodfyre, let them know what’s going on.”

[Majestic-class Heavy Cruiser Corsair]

[Yridian system]

[Itaana Belt]

Jai’de Serpens strolled across the deck towards Farrin, “Any updates from the teams you sent out?” she queried.

Farrin stood, arms crossed, staring out the window into open space, “One has very promising results. They’re trying to decrypt the ancient holocrons they found in the chamber with the artifact, but it might be just what we were looking for. I just hope we can get it before it’s too late. Have you heard anything?”

“Nothing. Not even a check in since they left. It has me a bit worried,” Jai’de admitted.

Nodding in agreement Farrin added, “It is unsettling at the prospects of exactly how ancient and powerful something could be to stay alive in that abandoned station of yours for so long. Surely anything – or anyone – that resourceful to stay alive is not to be trifled with.”

“Perhaps, but that’s also our home.”

---

This fiction can also be found in the Forged Alliances fiction folder

HKM Quaestor Opening

First and foremost, even before the Forged Alliances updates, we have some business to address with the position of House Karness Muur Quaestor. Prior to the start of our event with Tarentum, Callus let us know that he would be needing to step down from his position as Quaestor. It seemed like a combination of work and new, longer commutes (also, apparently nature trying to wash his state back out into the Atlantic) were putting more of a squeeze on his DJB availability than he could deal with while still doing his utmost as Quaestor. We got him to stick around until the end of the event, but now that we’re in the tail end we’d like to have our new Quaestor in place and ready to take over once the event concludes. I’d like to thank Callus for his long service, and once again reinforce the mantra of the Brotherhood: Real life comes first!

With that being said, Plagueis is opening up applications Brotherhood-wide for the position of House Karness Muur Quaestor. The application period will run until Thursday November 12th at 11:59 PM EST (GMT -5), and all applications should be submitted via email to myself and Proconsul Selika Roh. In the realm of qualifications, we’re looking for the following:

Required Qualifications

• Minimum rank of JM3 (Hunter/Padawan/Yeoman/Lieutenant)
• 24 hour email turn around time

Preferred/Desired Qualifications

• 12 hour email turn around time
• Telegram & Skype/Google Hangout access
• Prior leadership experience at BTL or higher
• Basic familiarity with most or all DJB activity systems (SA, ACC, Gaming, etc.)

The preferred qualifications are not requirements, so just because you don’t meet all of them shouldn’t discourage you from applying. All applicants should also include any examples of relevant special or unique skills that they feel they would bring to the table as well.

Forged Alliances

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you all should be well aware of the current event taking place between Plagueis and Tarentum. With us about half way through the penultimate round, there is still plenty of competition out there to be had. The results for the first two rounds have been released, but I thought I’d publish them here in case anyone missed them:

Round 1: Trivia

1. Scion Taranatae
2. Kz'set di Plagia
3. Revoc Aryss

Total Participants: 19

Round 1: Caption

1. Callus Bo'Amar
2. Scion Tarantae
3. Eiko

Total Participants: 13

Round 1: Gaming

1. Kelly Mendes
2. Revoc Aryss
3. Doku Rivendare

Total Participants: 16

Round 1: Graphics

1. Vivackus Kavon di Plagia
2. Dracaryis
3. Taranae Rhode

Total Participants: 10

Round 2: Fiction

1. Scion Taranatae
2. Kz'set di Plagia
3. Dracaryis

Total Participants: 9

Round 2: Poetry

1. Kz'set di Plagia
2. Ranarr Kul
3. Dracaryis

Total Participants: 10

Round 2: Crpytography

1. Kelly Mendes
2. Kz'set di Plagia
3. Dracaryis

Total Participants: 13

Round 2: Gaming

1. Dracaryis
2. Brimstone
3. Frosty, Tra'an (tie)

Total Participants: 13

Team Totals:

1. 147
2. 111
3. 199
4. 13
5. 188
6. 185
7. 0

Round 3 is currently in full swing, with round 4 to follow. As you can see from the point totals across the first two rounds, it still is a wide open field given how many points are still left on the table. (Especially with the RO still to grade.) So, make sure you get your third round entries in!

Forged Alliances

• Round 3 Fiction I
• Round 3 Fiction II
• Round 3 Gaming
• Round 3 Word Find

DJB News

• SWTOR Report #1 - Somebody gave Beef more power. Uh oh…
• Herald Report #8 - Special Halloween Edition
• Gaming Update #43 - Something about Battlefront? Again?!?

Final Thoughts

Overall I think I speak for the entire summit when I say we're doing a great job in Plagueis right now. We (and especially I) know this is a particularly hard time as many people who are in school are knee deep in their semester right now. People are still churning out activity. The Forged Alliances competitions have gotten pretty good feedback, and we've been working off that. I also want to say a huge thank you to both Farrin and Beef for working hard to help keep this going. Tarentum has been great to work with: both summit and membership. It seems like we did pick a great clan to do this event and in-story alliance with! I can't say enough good things about those guys, and the feedback I've personally gotten from you guys (Plagueis) has also been very positive.

In the next few weeks we look to round out our staff again as a severe case of "the real lifes" has swept through recently. But my goal, and the goal of the staff and membership of Plagueis I think, is to at least have things that you guys enjoy available for you to do. That's what we strive for, and hopefully, I think, we've continued to provide you with that as a release from your everyday stresses to sit down and do something fun Star Wars related as a member of the DJB.