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I see the contestants are making their way out onto the starting grid. This article was originally created as an entry for a Horizons competition and is not official DJB canon content. It is preserved here for historical purposes only.
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- "That looks pretty bad, to put it mildly. Another good Brotherhood day."
- ―Herald Shikyo
Horizons was a conflict that erupted in 36 ABY all across the Dark Jedi Brotherhood. Beginning as a mysterious illness,Thren's Horizons Plague as it would be called, was released upon the Brotherhood by Zoraan's agents to restore him to power and fulfill his revenge. Targeting those attuned to the Force, starting with the Journeymen at the Shadow Academy, the plague seemed to progress upwards through the ranks splinting the Dark Jedi Brotherhood's forces as their Dark Jedi fell victim to the plague's symptoms. With their Force users in civil war caused by the plague's madness, the Dark Jedi Brotherhood was left open to attack in its numerous systems by Zoraan's fleets and sith spawn while the former Grand Master himself attacked Antei and in the process reclaimed his armor.
Plot
Prologue
Zoraan is released from the grave by one of his agents.
Following the conclusion of the Invasion of New Tython, the Brotherhood was left in possession of several neighboring systems harboring refugee camps. It was through these camps that a plague known as Thren's Horizons Plague was introduced to the Brotherhood through recruits they enslaved from the refugee pools. Believed to be engineered in ancient times by Xo'Xaan's former student, Lysu Thren, the plague was discovered to be released by the designs and machinations of Zoraan, a former Grand Master whose less than admirable reign weakened the Brotherhood in a time passed. Though Zoraan was eventually ousted from power, his death was never confirmed. For many years, Zoraan remained hidden, planning his revenge and also seeking the Skin of Fire. Eventually allying with a variety of other Force users, Zoraan built up a large force in secrecy until the day that he could exact his revenge upon the Brotherhood.
Internal Conflict
Shortly before the plague began to infect the members of the Brotherhood, several new recruits of extremely high caliber passed through the Shadow Academy. Surpassing all expectations, these members quickly made their way to the various Houses and Clans of the Brotherhood. For a short time, their incredible talents went hardly unnoticed. There were reports of Journeymen dueling with Force Lightning, a power very rarely seen outside of the Elder ranks. These seemingly overpowered recruits also proved to be very arrogant, emboldened by their powers and their rapid progression. While the Houses and Clans had previously welcomed the new recruits, concerns began to mount. However, the damage had already been done.
These new "super" recruits were the first to be struck by the plague, but they were not the last. As more and more Journeymen fell victim to the unknown disease, fear and panic took control. The Journeymen revolted against their leaders, leading to armed conflict. At the same time, the Shadow Academy was placed on lock down, but not before many of the trainees were able to break free to insight riots throughout the compound and the surrounding area.
A Two Front War
With the Brotherhood left splintered by the effects of the plague, the Dark Council struggled to find both a source and a cure for the illness taking over. Yet, their enemies were unwilling to let the Brotherhood breath as they pressed their attack. First striking the Taldryan homeworld, enemy fleets emerged into each of the Clans' and Houses' home systems. Only Odan-Urr was spared.
Forced into battling both their rioting Journeymen and the enemy fleet, the Elders of each Clan and House were drew back as more of their ranks fell to the plague.
Zoraan Returns
While Grandmaster Muz had promised reinforcements to each of the clans and houses that stood against the enemy fleets, no assistance seemed to soon up in time to prevent the enemy fleets from beating back each of the clan and houses. After this new tactics were taken on Kapsina by the enemy fleets. At first the infected attacked and killed the Grandmaster Chi-Long before trying to harvest his essence through a failed ritual. After this, a bioweapon was used on the planet to completely wipe out all life before the enemy fleets turned on Antei.
It was here that it was revealed that Zoraan had once again returned and masterminded the assault on the Brotherhood territories. Revealing himself while breaking into the vault of the iron throne, the former Grandmaster was able to acquire his personal armor while the Dark Council rushed to confront him.
Conclusion
Electromicroscopic image of the Horizons Virus
The Plague
The Plague, known officially as "Thren’s Horizon Plague", was apparently crafted by Lysu Thren in the form of what appeared to be a powder, but was in fact numerous cysts. The plague has been described as something that is an abomination to not only the Force, but also to science. It thrives on those who are attuned to the Force, gaining strength as it leeches away its host's connection to the universe.
Signs and Symptoms
While the first victims of the plague appeared to have gained incredible power, it is not known if this is because of the plague or from some other cause. While they demonstrated these immense powers for a time, they eventually disappeared as the virus ran its course, which led to the victim becoming enraged beyond all reasoning. They turned on their former friends and allies, and many are those that have been had to be eliminated by force.
Along with the phenomenal increase in Force powers, other indications that one has potentially contracted the Horizons disease are subtle. The outward, physical signs of the illness are rather like influenza or a common cold: nausea, runny or congested nose, cough, achy joints, lethargy. It would appear that the only true indication that one has contracted Horizons, rather than a generic virus, is a prolific growth in the Force.
It is unknown how the virus interacts with the Midi-Chlorian's, or if it affected the Dopamine receptors in the brain, or both. The inability of the Force user to use the Force may be psychosomatic. The increased paranoia, increased strength, and delusions are similar to some Spice overdoses. The effects seem to have a quicker and more pronounced affect on users of the Dark Side. The Gray and Light Jedi seem to take longer for the paranoia to set in, if at all. This could be due to the fact that it was created to affect Dark Jedi. It also may have been created to affect the least trained in the Force, since the Journeymen were affected the quickest. It appears that the virus feeds off the emotions, mostly fear and anger and intensifies these emotions. Which would explain the decreased affects on the Light and Grey Jedi.
Impact on the Clans & Houses
Arcona
As with all the other houses, Arcona was attacked, but very little information has been received at this time.
Naga Sadow
Macron and others fight the invaders on the Wreck of the Miner's Brother
Naga Sadow found itself dealing with a triple threat. Not only did the Journeymen revolt and cause chaos, but Naga Sadow also had to fight on the ground. Fierce hand to hand combat erupted on the Wreck of the Miner's Brother, where Macron slew a great number of the attackers. At the same time, Macron willingly exposed himself to an infected member to test a potential cure for the plague.
Odan-Urr
The Light and Gray Jedi of Odan-Urr were less impacted than the Dark Jedi of the Brotherhood. The Padawan learners were slower to be affected by the psychotic affects. This may have been due to the fact that it was a Dark Side virus. Further more, the Padawans that were affected were subdued and placed in the Tower of the Watchman. The Jedi Masters of Odan-Urr were hopeful that they would be able to find a cure, or that the virus would run its course and the affected would return to normal.
Plagueis
Of all the houses and clans of the Brotherhood, Plagueis appeared to have suffered the most. A powerful fleet, led by a Super Star Destroyer, attacked Kapsina and hammered the Plageuis fleet. However, after an intense, but relatively brief battle, the attackers departed from the system, but not without first deploying bombers. Though some of the bombers were stopped, others managed to enter the atmosphere of Kapsina and deploy an unknown bio-warfare agent. Fast acting, the biological agent resulted the deaths of countless civilians, attacking their victims from the inside out.
The planet of Kapsina will never be the same, and many wonder if it will ever be habitable again.
Scholae Palatinae
As with all the other houses, Scholae Palatinae was attacked, but very little information has been received at this time.
Taldryan
As with all the other houses, Taldryan was attacked, but very little information has been received at this time.
Tarentum
Like many other Houses during the onset of the plague, Tarentum's first priority was to deal with the crazed Journeymen. Many of them were killed,
Yridia II under attack most notably by Anshar and Bloodfyre. At the same time, Fremoc also killed several Journeymen by flooding the tunnels of Castle Tarentum as he searched for the Master at Arms, Korras. After Tarentum managed to subdue or eliminate the attacking Journeymen, the House came under attack by Zoraan's forces. The attacking fleet had bypassed the system's external defenses and headed straight towards Yridia II. Led by the Allegiance-class battlecruiser Halberd, the attackers pounded away at Tarentum's small, but professional and modern military. On the bridge of the Magnus Kaerner, Anshar and Oberst recognized the Imperial tactics, but the overwhelming force continued to drive them back.
Team Members
The following members contributed to this article (in alphabetical order):
- Alexander DelGotto- 12769
- Anshar- 308
- Jason Hunter- 974
- Raiju- 9121