Last blog post I went into detail about the experience of writing fictions within the club. Personally, I do not believe myself to be a particularly skilled writer, but the act of writing fiction, especially alongside others, can be an enjoyable experience. To that end I plan to include a series of links to fictions that I have written either myself or beside others. I apologize in advance, as some were written under time crunch for competitions, especially those with multiple cowriters.

1. What Must Be Done https://docs.google.com/document/d/1f1rbbq-1-dKU4mPse8YPb9cPQyTYhJodoiCWW8HAjVU/edit?usp=sharing. This was a run on fiction, meaning that myself and others made a series of posts (2 each) in order to write a cohesive story where we accomplished a pre set objective. This was written before I had my current character, using my first character Calenhad. An older work, and admittedly not my best, but it showcases writing styles from other people.
2. A Favour https://docs.google.com/document/d/15a7BsggeLJRAxZgx_pfm81m6H2SsQXGgo3CjjSfBQxM/edit?usp=sharing A short fictional blurb written by myself and Xuner Holst. This was one of the first fictions with my current character, Hector Ricmore. Hector was designed to be an optimistic pilot, a bit of sunshine amid the large quantity of grim characters in the club.
3. Clan Vizsla Run On 1 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Sf4Rv0IYxFVWTEHmyxwDovpQIPepjd7ja6OmxvEV_Zg/edit?usp=sharing Longest fiction piece, written for the last major Brotherhood event by my entire clan. A narrative involving 3 teams with separate objectives.

4. What Goes Around

A recent fiction from a competition about dealing with Bounty Hunters sent after your character

Major Hector Ricmore 
Clan Vizsla Immobilizer-418 Class Heavy Cruiser 
Zsoldos System, Wild Space

A lone figure walked through the hallway, a jaunty tune spilling from his lips. The tune was interrupted by the sharp Clack! Clack! Of armored footsteps. He moved at a steady pace, in no rush to arrive at his destination despite his jovial mood. The crew members of the ship granted him a respectful berth, in part due to his rank, but mostly due to his reputation for being an eccentric if effective officer. 

Hector Ricmore, Major of the Iron Legion, was quite pleased. His commission and battlefield promotion had allowed him to afford a new ship, the new A Wing variant currently being utilized by the Resistance in their fight against the First Order. Having a newer vessel was quite exciting for the Pilot, after utilizing an ancient YT-1300 and dealing with the temperamental prototype of the TIE Advanced V1. 

The Zygerrian could not help but break out into a smirk as he gazed upon his vessel. 7.68 meters long, with a central cockpit within the long wedge shape. 1 laser canon was attached to each side, with a pair of missile launchers completing the armament. Painted metallic black, with purple stripes and sigils, the A Wing was both aesthetically pleasing and an impressive ship.

Hector settled into the cockpit of the vessel and began his preflight checks. He was pleased to note that the weapons were operational, engine functioning as normal, and the navigational computer had already been set for his trip to Arx. Turning on his on board comm unit he contacted the Immoblizer’s bridge. “Bridge control this is the Lament, are we clear for the test flight?” 
The comm unit crackled in response. “You are clear, Godspeed Lament.”

The hangar doors opened wide, allowing the A wing to swiftly exit the capital ship. Hector activated the hyperdrive, the blackness of space replaced by rushing stars. Reaching down the Zygerrian grabbed his data pad, opening his chronometer and setting an alarm for when he would arrive. Trusting in his hyperdrive to get him to his destination he settled down to sleep.

Some Time Later

The shrill ringing of his alarm roused Hector Ricmore from his rest. Blinking drowsily he shut off the alarm before gazing outside his vessel, where stars continued to pass by at an alarming rate. 
“…What.” The Zygerrian mumbled in confusion, he should have reached Arx by now. 
“Are you working properly?” He questioned, inspecting his data pad. The chronometer appeared accurate and he could not seem to find any fault with the device. “The ship itself then? I swear if I bought defective junk for this price.” The Zygerrian began the process of once again inspecting his ship. Engine working fine, weapons operational, shields online. With growing horror, he looked at his nav computer. “Don’t tell me. Not this. Not the only time I let someone on my ship.”

A thorough inspection of the Nav computer proved those fears to be true. The set course for Arx had merely been a static screen programmed by a slicer, the vessel had actually been set to reach Nar Shadda. Traveling to the Outer Rim was a longer journey than moving between the two set points in Wild Space, causing the discrepancy in Hector’s alarm.

The pilot chuckled. “A sabotaged Nav computer? That’s fine. I was actually worried that we had a technician so incompetent that they could not program a Nav computer properly.” A smirk spread across his lips “This is turning into quite the adventure”

Picking up his datapad he began to sketch out a route back to Zsoldos from Nar Shaddaa. “Let’s see what happens” Hector assured himself.

A Few Days Later

Lament, Cry of the Stars dropped out of hyperspace in front of Nar Shaddaa. Debris ringed the cesspool of a planet, interspersed by the occasional vessel, no doubt up to some nefarious or criminal task. 

Hector’s eyes narrowed when he saw some of these vessels approaching; an Aurore Class freighter flanked by 2 HH-87 Starhoppers. Were these ships in league with the saboteur who sliced into his ship?

His comm unit crackled to life. “Hector Ricmore of The Dark Jedi Brotherhood, you have amassed quite a bounty upon yourself. Surrender now and we will make your death quick and painless. Choosing to resist will only prolong your agony. We do hope you pick the second one, it’s been a while before my boys and I had some fun.”

Not bothering to dignify that with a response Hector pushed the A Wing full throttle towards the freighter. Pshew Pshew Pshew! The A wing fired its laser canons. “Wait for it” Hector muttered to himself as he rapidly closed the distance between himself and the enemy vessels; who currently began to return fire. The A wing dipped and dived, avoiding the oncoming blaster fire. 

The distance between the ships decreased until Hector could see the pilot within the Freighter. “NOW!” He thought as he fired the proton torpedos aboard his ship, replacements to the usual missiles carried by such a vessel.

Hector pushed his flight stick forward, turning on its ion afterburner for additional speed. The Zygerrian was thrown back into his seat from the sudden acceleration, gripping his flight stick with gritted teeth as he tried to retain some semblance of control over his ship. A sudden shockwave ran through his entire ship and sent a shiver down Hector’s spine. “I’ll take that was a success then.” The Zygerrian said aloud.

He spun his vessel around to deal with the HH-87 Starhoppers. Charred wreckage filled his vision, the freighter and starhoppers reduced to slag floating through space. 
Hector’s jaw dropped. “Proton Torpedos alone should not have carried enough of a blast to destroy all three ships. What on earth was that?” 
He hadn’t yet targeted the Starhoppers so it was doubtful it was anything involving them. 

“The ships nav was sabotaged, could the saboteur have gotten to the torpedo’s as well? But that makes no sense, why would a saboteur bother doing something that could increase my firepower and my chances of escaping the bounty hunters?”

That left the Freighter than. “…were the hunters carrying something unstable aboard? Did they actually expect to win an engagement while carrying something explosive?” 
Putting his helmet into his hand Hector gave a sigh at the sheer stupidity he had encountered.

“Hopefully Declan can help me sort this all out. I’m certain he has contacts over at the bounty office.” Hector flipped on his nav computer and set his course for Zsoldos, triple checking that the course was accurate this time. 
“Let’s head home Lament.”

While members are free to write quite a bit within the established Star Wars universe there are a couple of guidelines when it comes to writing within the Dark Jedi Brotherhood (although some of these guidelines apply to writing in general). There are no restrictions when it comes to free writing and sharing it via the websites Discourses section, but it is recommended that writers give an advisory warning if any explicit content is present. When it comes to writing for competitions, where a large majority of the club’s writing occurs, the rules and regulations pop up.

The first rule to consider is that the club has a fictional narrative and structure. In order to fit in with the new movies and current canon it is currently the year 37 ABY. ABY stands for After the Battle of Yavin, the space battle which occurs during Episode IV and ends with the destruction of the first Death Star. Star Wars years are typically measured against this movie, with events occurring before the movie measured in BBY (before battle of Yavin) and events afterword being measured in ABY.

The Dark Jedi Brotherhood faces an interesting quandary as a fictional group; how do we approach the canon universe? To put things simply, we don’t. The Brotherhood resides outside most of known space, in the wild space area called the Unknown Regions. Due to the lack of canon information about said area the Brotherhood has a series of fictional planets where many events occur. That is not to say that a member is banned from visiting iconic planets such as Tatooine or Naboo. Merely that a member will not be fighting side by side with someone like Luke Skywalker as he faces off against the Empire or First Order. The canon Star Wars media tells the stories of these characters, it is not our place to interfere.

Once again, this rule does not disbar a member from participating in canon events, they are allowed to be involved as one of the many supporting background characters. An ace pilot who served with the Rebellion? Go for it! Chances are you had a different shift and may have never met Luke Skywalker, you may have been fighting in a different front or theater the entire time. Captain of a Star Destroyer, left without a ship or crew after the fall of the Empire? Perfectly acceptable. But do not fill pressured to shoehorn your character into events which have already occurred. There will be plenty of time to develop your character as you write, their stories will be told.

Last but not least, have fun! If you find writing to be a chore do not force yourself to churn out material at a rapid pace. Take your time and develop your flawed and interesting character.

Hector Ricmore,

Signing Off

A little over a year ago I found myself a member of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood, a free to join, online Star Wars Club that offers quite a bit to its members. I was fresh out of high school and looking for something to do with my summer. As an avid gamer and Star Wars fan I happened to stumble across the site by accident, when going through wiki’s and websites in search of Star Wars lore. The club is relatively small, with a few hundred members, but it is a family that I am happy to be a part of.

The club offers its members various activities; a member creates a fictional character and can engage in these activities to earn fictional credits, unlocking various items and gear for their character. If fiction is not your thing, there are also gaming and art societies. The gaming society allows you to earn fictional credits through playing approved games with members, but don’t let this restrict you, feel free to use the club as a way to find players for games not approved for club use, just focus on having a good time and enjoying yourself.

I’m not much of an artist unfortunately, and have only done a little work with the graphics/art society. Similar to the gaming and fiction societies, competitions will be held in which a member can participate to earn fictional credits.

Another thing worth noting about the club is the organization present. The club is split into 7 clans each having anywhere from 29-51 members. Each clan is based around a theme or idea from Star Wars; examples including Clan Naga Shadow as an Ancient Sith Empire and Clan Vizsla as a group of Mandalorian bounty hunters. Regardless of clan, the people within the Brotherhood form a community which encourages individual and creative thought through its various societies, and offer an enjoyable experience to those who give the club a chance.

Personally, I have had a wonderful experience with the Brotherhood and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Star Wars media, or is looking for a great group of people to game, write, and create art with.

Hector Ricmore, Signing Off.

Hello there!

My name is Sterling Auty, but a number of people know me as Hector Ricmore, member of the online Star Wars club, The Dark Jedi Brotherhood. This blog is being created for 2 purposes; the first of which is academic. My digital toolbox class in college is requiring us to create a website; so I figured that I should create an area where myself and others could come together and share our love of the Star Wars universe. I ask that any readers bear with me as I attempt to figure some of these things out, but hopefully things will be going smoothly before we know it.

the first of many posts,

Hector Ricmore

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
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The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

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You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.