Private A Final Dawn

[Marlon Sularen]

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A_F I N A L_D A W N
A Week after the events of the Murkhana Festival

IMPERIAL CONFEDERATION
CHOLGANNA, OUTER RIM TERRITORIES

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These past few weeks have been a nightmare for the followers of the now-defunct Imperial Confederation. Tion and Lianna had been put to the torch by a combined Sith-Mandalorian Force, while a so-called popular movement had emerged, spreading its poison across former Imperial space. For Sularen, this was nothing more than an inevitable outcome that had played out countless times after the collapse of galactic governments: opportunists and old rivals would trample its corpse, unrooting everything that government had once sought to build. It was a scenario that had occurred when the Dark Empire had collapsed, and now it was happening once more following the Confederation's collapse.

However, this time around, Sularen had no intention of allowing the chaos to engulf the remains of a nation that once stood for order in the galaxy. As the enemies of order laid waste to loyal Imperial planets and spread their lies to a confused populace, he had been building something new, something greater: a Final Dawn that would see the Iron Sun rise to never set ever again. Having already secured the support of Senior Inquisitor Garon and Moff Tai En of Crucival, Sularen was poised to emerge as a major force within the former Confederation and restore order to the region.

But he still needed more support from other Imperial loyalists in the region, namely the Imperial Remnants on Mon Cala and Mahporeem, who had become major Imperial strongholds after the collapse of the Confederation, as many Imperial military assets were diverted to both planets. However, the unity amongst the three strongholds had begun to erode with Mahporeem pursuing it's own projects while Mon Cala had been somewhat silent, especially as the so-called Confederacy of Free Worlds built its influence right under their nose. As such, Sularen had taken the initiative, calling for a virtual summit with Vorin Zonill and Karl von Strauss, hoping to pitch his vision for the Final Dawn and recruit them to his cause.

Soon, Sularen would spearhead a new era of imperialism, and there would be no mistakes made this time. Thus, once he got himself comfortably seated in his office within his Headquarters on Cholganna, he activated his holographic projector, which quickly displayed the figures of Admiral Zonill and Exarch von Struass as the joined the meeting. "Admiral Zonill, Exarch von Strauss." Sularen began. "It's a pleasure to see you both once more. There is much to discuss, and I do hope we can have a very productive discussion today," he began.

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Tags | Ronhar Tane | Karl Von Strauss​

 

[Karl Von Strauss]

Karl's holoprojector did not resolve into the usual composed, formal image expected of a figure of his stature. Instead, it connected. The feed stabilized not on a throne room, nor an office, but an active construction floor. The frame was imperfect, slightly off-center, a portable unit rather than a fixed installation. Sound bled through unfiltered: the distant groan of heavy machinery, the rhythmic clang of metal under stress, the low, constant hum of industrial effort.

Karl stood with his back partially turned to the projection, bent over a wide drafting table layered with overlapping schematics and rolled plans. What little could be seen between his movements suggested scale, not ships, but structures. Foundations. Interlocking systems measured in kilometers rather than meters. He was not dressed for ceremony. A deep-purple imperial engineer's jumpsuit hung tied at the waist, its upper half discarded for practicality. In its place, a worn officer's blouse, sleeves rolled past the elbows, and marked faintly with grease and graphite. A heavy-duty belt sat firm at his waist, tools and instruments secured with deliberate placement. Beyond him, through the open structure of the facility, massive cranes moved with slow precision, lifting, aligning, assembling. Something vast was taking shape.

The Supreme Commander's greeting reached him. Karl did not immediately turn. "I'll be with you momentarily." His tone was even, unhurried. it was not dismissive, but instead: occupied. He made a final notation across the blueprint before him, the stylus moving quickly with practiced certainty. The sheet was rolled in one clean motion as he gestured to someone just out of frame. A Quarren in Imperial fatigues stepped forward, receiving the plans without question.

"Ensign," Karl said, still focused on the transfer, "Deliver this to Jotunheim. Have it forwarded to Alfheim and Nilfheim immediately. The Axis Mundi project will not tolerate delay." The Quarren gave a sharp nod and moved off without further word.

Only then did Karl turn fully toward the projection, stepping closer. The frame adjusted slightly as his presence filled it, not composed, but direct. "Supreme Commander. Admiral. I will forgo apologies for the setting. Circumstance dictates priority."

His gaze held steady, calm but focused. The kind of attention that suggested he was already measuring the value of this conversation against the work behind him. "Mon Cala is not idle. As you can see."

A brief glance past the projector, toward the ongoing construction, before his attention returned. "Reconstruction has moved beyond stabilization. We are now in the phase of… structural redefinition."

The phrasing was deliberate. Not rebuilding. Transforming. He reached up absently, realizing the drafting pen was still in his hand. It was clipped neatly into his shirt pocket without breaking cadence.

"You indicated there is much to discuss." A slight narrowing of focus, not impatience, but precision. "Then I would suggest we proceed directly to it."

Marlon Sularen | Ronhar Tane

 

[Ronhar Tane]

FLEET ADMIRAL VORIN ZONHILL
CHOLGANNA, OUTER RIM TERRITORIES
[REDACTED]

To be quite frank, Zonill was getting sick and tired of all these meetings that didn't really go anywhere or lead to any sustainable action.

Mon Calamari. New Alderaan. Jabiim. How quick they were to forget all the sacrifices that Mahporeem and the Imperial Confederation had made for them. How quick they were to run to the nearest available faction to save themselves from their own incompetence and lack of ability to govern themselves and the sectors around them. How quick they were to secretly contact the Imperial Remnant, begging for a return to normalcy and stability!

Zonill was just as sick of them as he was with what was going on with the Confederation.

So when Supreme Commander Marlon Sularen had contacted him and Exarch Karl Von Strauss , Zonill had answered his summons with the understanding that this meeting might very well be his last with the Confederation. Should Sularen fail to convince him or Karl to move forward with him, then Zonill was fully prepared to move on his own, and continue his attempt to cement Mahporeem as the preeminent power in the Outer Rim. The Imperial Remnant had already gone about securing outside resources that would better allow it to maintain a long term military campaign against its neighbors and those further away from it, and it still held a significant portion of the Confederation's armed forces on and around the planet, providing the Imperial Remnant with a seriously powerful strike force that it soon hoped to unleash against its very many enemies.

Zonill logged onto the meeting to see that Sularen and Strauss had gotten on before he had. Karl greeted him and Marlon, and after a short delay he began to make his pitch:

"Supreme Commander. Admiral. I will forgo apologies for the setting. Circumstance dictates priority. Reconstruction has moved beyond stabilization. We are now in the phase of… structural redefinition. You indicated there is much to discuss. Then I would suggest we proceed directly to it."

"I must concur with the good Exarch", Zonill added sharply as he impatiently crossed his arms. "I'm sure you have all heard of the pretenders who are currently making their claim on former Imperial territory. The longer we allow them to do so, the more legitimacy we add to their false claims. I assume you have a plan in mind, Supreme Commander?", Zonill continued as he awaited what Sularen had to say. Hopefully, it would involve tangible military deployments around the sector and an extended time table for military operations throughout the Outer Rim.

After all, Mahporeem was more willing than ever to go fight for what it truly believed in...

TAGS:
Marlon Sularen
Karl Von Strauss

 

[Marlon Sularen]

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A_F I N A L_D A W N
A Week after the events of the Murkhana Festival

IMPERIAL CONFEDERATION
CHOLGANNA, OUTER RIM TERRITORIES

---

As expected, both Zonill and von Strauss sought to get straight to the point. Sularen expected nothing less, as he knew both of them were most likely aware of the events that had transpired throughout former Imperial space and would be most certainly willing to jump at any opportunity to revitalize the last remnants of Imperialism within the Outer Rim, given their willingness and eagerness to hear what the Supreme Commander had in mind.

"To put it in simple terms, I am launching a new initiative and wish to secure the support of Mon Cala and Mahporeem in this project." Sularen began. "I'm sure you've already heard of the devastation of Tion and Lianna at the hands of the Sith and Mandalorians, along with the rise of this so-called Confederacy of Free Worlds within former Imperial space," he added. "It's only been mere weeks since the collapse of the Confederation and its corpse is being trampled by opportunists and former rivals alike, that must come to an end," the Supreme Commander continued.

"Our holdouts on Cholganna, Mon Cala and Mahporeem already provide us with a power base from which we can commence our operations in the area, and take action to restore order in the area and deliver judgment upon those who would seek to take advantage of our weakness, without compromise or mercy." Sularen then paused, giving both Zonill and von Strauss the time to process his proclamations before continuing further. "However, i should note that this project is not a continuation or revival of the Confederation, but rather something newer and greater than the Confederation and all Imperial Regimes that came before it, the beginning of an entirely new lineage of Imperialism."

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Tags | Ronhar Tane | Karl Von Strauss​

 

[Ronhar Tane]

FLEET ADMIRAL VORIN ZONHILL
CHOLGANNA, OUTER RIM TERRITORIES
[REDACTED]

"About time", Zonill replied in approval to Marlon Sularen 's declaration. "I, for one, am eager to test the might of Mahporeem against these upstart neighbors of ours. With the combined Imperial and Mahporeenian forces at my disposal, I sincerely doubt there is much capable of standing in our way at the moment. That being said, I do have some questions for you, Supreme Commander."

"Firstly, what of our other compatriots? As I understand it, there are some Imperials who have not left the sector or defected to regions unknown, but have been, shall we say, difficult to contact. What of them? Will they support our endeavors? Do we even know where they are or what they are doing? Inquisitors, prefects, pilots and commanders alike will be needed if we are to succeed where the Confederation failed. We must ensure that everyone is on board and on the same page going forward. At the very least, I have a number of contacts on Dornea, and I am rather confident that they would support our military endeavors provided we gave them ample time to begin preparations of their own. Still, we should prioritize bringing other Imperials back into the fold before they disappear permanently, and the more allies that we have at our disposal, the better."

Zonill's face suddenly twisted into a nasty grin as he prepared to ask his second question.

"As for my second question...well, I suppose their isn't any reason to be coy or beat around the bush here. Where do we intend to strike first? What is our next target? As previously stated, Mahporeenian forces are quite eager to get back into combat, and I wish to do so as soon as possible, in order to get some momentum going for our reconquests of the Outer and Middle Rim. We should take advantage of the experience that our forces gained under the last several years of conflict before they start to lose interest in the reclamation of Imperial territory and before our enemies can entrench themselves in the worlds that they've claimed for themselves."

A nasty grin began to slowly spread across Zonill's face.

"After all, time is of the essence here, and we wouldn't want our former member worlds gaining misplaced loyalties now, would we?"

TAGS:
Marlon Sularen
Karl Von Strauss

 

[Karl Von Strauss]

Karl listened in silence, the steady cadence of the worksite continuing around him, the distant clang of metal under stress, the sharp call of reverse klaxons cutting intermittently through the feed. Where others might have muted such noise, Karl made no effort to do so. It was not a distraction. It was context. Sularen's words came as no surprise. The Supreme Commander had always been a man of action, of vision shaped quickly into reality, of ambition given structure. He sought to carve order from chaos, to seize what remained and forge it into something enduring. In that, they were not dissimilar. But similarity did not imply agreement in execution.

Karl remained still for a moment longer, weighing not only what had been said, but what had already been lost. The Imperial Confederation had not simply fallen. It had been failing. He had seen it, identified it, even moved to correct it. Too late. By the time structural reform had begun, the foundation had already given way. What followed was not collapse, but inevitability.

His attention shifted briefly as another section of framework was hoisted into place behind him: aligned, secured, reinforced. This time would not be built the same way. He returned his focus to the call.

"The Confederation failed." The words were delivered without hesitation, stripped of sentiment. "It failed under the weight of its own structure; bureaucracy without restraint, a lack of defined boundaries between civil authority and military command, and most critically: a divergence of identity. We attempted to unify under a banner we did not collectively define."

He reached forward, retrieving a carafe and pouring water into a glass with a measured motion. The heat of Mon Cala's equatorial zone had long since made itself known, though he gave it little outward acknowledgment beyond the brief pause it necessitated. A single drink, and the glass was set aside.

"What comes next cannot afford that same ambiguity." His tone did not rise, it narrowed, it focused. "We cannot afford to be Lost-Imperials. Not Reborn- or Mahporeemian-Imperials, not remnants of prior doctrines, nor regional interpretations bound to individual worlds. We MUST be Imperials. And that distinction must be absolute."

He allowed that to settle before continuing. "That being said I know we all have contracts and agreements outside of Imperial channels. We can and should still work with others outside our space. But those agreements need to strengthen the whole, not just the individual. If they don't, then we're not building anything unified, we're just dividing ourselves again."

Zonill's earlier point was not ignored. Karl inclined his head slightly, acknowledging it without breaking cadence.

"On the matter of external actors, I share the concern. We moved too quickly in our initial formation. We consolidated internally, but failed to secure alignment beyond our immediate sphere. That vacuum has now been filled. Predictably." His gaze held firm. "If we intend to avoid repetition, then we do not simply rebuild, we expand deliberately. Cholganna, Mahporeem, and Mon Cala form a foundation. Nothing more."

"To endure, and to matter, we will require additional loyalist elements. Not loosely aligned factions, not opportunists clinging to familiar names, but Imperials who understand what those names are meant to represent." A final pause followed, measured and controlled. "I have no intention to keep watching capable soldiers and viable assets drift toward self-proclaimed successors in the unknown regions; particularly those trading on the legacy of states that have already failed."

Marlon Sularen | Ronhar Tane