SotP Addenda - Sith Collective, of Shadow and Darkness

by SLotH4

Documentation piece covering the history, various Orders of Sith, ideologies and philosophies, goals and objectives, and important individuals of the Sith Collective. Set within "Shadow of the Phoenix" and written by my author friend Xabiar. [In-Progress]

5. Order of Supreme Leader Snoke

SLotH4's Note: My sincerest thanks to dear Xabiar for helping me write this piece. I wrote the baseline to this until I could write no more and then passed it to him. The truth is that I'm not very good at documentation pieces. This is why the only other Addenda chapter I've written was the short journal piece in Chapter 02 of the Fellan Imperium Addenda – and really, that's just a knockoff SCP entry. :P

A special thanks of sorts to The Templin Institute's "The First Order Reimagined | Star Wars" video on YouTube. That's probably the main thing that brought this to the forefront of my mind and inspired what I was able to draft.

Also, despite my note in the last chapter, we're going to be publishing these in the order they are written, not in order of them joining the Sith Collective. That said, I may rearrange them in the future once all are published – assuming the system allows me to do so without disruption.

Xabiar's Note: This was a fun one to write, and honestly, I didn't think that Snoke would be written up this soon, mostly because I didn't really have a concrete idea of what I wanted to do with it. SLotH4 deserves the credit for the final incarnation of it, and pushing this one forward (despite his insistence that he's not good at these. Liar).

This was a particularly good one because everything clicked at a certain point, and created something that is going to have some fairly important implications for the galaxy when the right time comes. Look out for some familiar names here. The Sequels have a bunch of questionable stuff – but there's nothing that we can't take and put our spin on.

And this is one adaptation I, and I think SLotH4 as well, are very satisfied with.

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SotP Addenda - Sith Collective, of Shadow and Darkness

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THE ORDER OF SUPREME LEADER SNOKE

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ON QUESTIONS UNANSWERED

And now, dear reader, let us discuss the enigma that was Snoke. As written previously, and at length, Snoke was not a Sith as many of us would recognize. He was not driven by the dogma or ancient teachings of Sith Masters and traditional practitioners of the dark side. Yet he nonetheless represents the most primal of dark side evolutions. A man who embodies the nature of the dark side, embodies what it means to be Sith – and did so without the trappings of the Order.

Perhaps that should be the first lesson to take from Snoke – one needs not tradition to thrive. One needs not tradition to grow. One needs not the familiar to forge something worthy.

And make no mistake, what Snoke forged has etched him into the annals of history. His titanic presence has eclipsed many of the so-called 'traditional' Sith. What he forged is worthy of respect, recognition, and honor as much as that we would give our own brethren.

Yet Snoke did not consider himself Sith. Why, you may ask? The truth is that we do not know. Perhaps he considered it unimportant.

And in truth, the question is irrelevant.

But perhaps these musings are too nebulous an inspection of the man, so let me share some details of the origins of this enigmatic figure. Where did he come from? Was he a political savant? A military commander? Nay, Snoke was a religious leader, once upon a time. A member of the Acolytes of the Beyond, he rose to prominence by dominating his rivals and followers through sheer will and titanic telepathic ability.

Or so many believe. I do as well. The Acolytes were a minor sect, hidden far away in the Unknown Regions. They had no power. They had no presence. Yet they had Snoke, and when he took control of the group, they would be transformed into something far greater than mere acolytes, dominating hapless civilians and performing rituals on unknown worlds.

Snoke was ambitious. He had vision.

He was learned, and had access to resources common and esoteric, so surely he knew of the Sith and their teachings. Given his likely age – though we know not the specific number – he lived through the rise of Darth Krayt and the One Sith. He may have taken and adapted such ideologies into his own.

Then again, were he alive today, he might scoff and object. His own writings – sparse though they are – paint an image of a man who disdained the Sith that he had encountered. Openly opining on their failures, especially those of Krayt and Palpatine, and integrating solutions to such problems into the society he created.

We may never know the truth.

The Acolytes of the Beyond kept historical records, but had little interest in sharing. Were they hiding something? Perhaps a less auspicious caricature of the Supreme Leader? Again, we do not know.

Continue further, reader. Come to your own conclusions. You cannot rely merely on my words to find the truth.

Take it as another lesson.

What we do know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is that Supreme Leader Snoke was a formidable being. His telepathic abilities unrivaled. His vision for a reborn empire without weakness or rival is still lauded even in the quiet backrooms of the Fellan Imperium – and even whispered about in the halls of the Galactic Alliance.

How many can claim to hold such a legacy? How many have faced the full might of the Jedi and so nearly tasted victory? In the final battle against his Jedi foes, Snoke fought them within their own minds – iron will against iron will. Though he was ultimately defeated, he should ever be remembered as one of the greats in the history of the dark side.

Come, reader, and let us explore the story of Supreme Leader Snoke, and the First Order he forged.

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ON UNEXPECTED POSSIBILITY

To know the Order is to know the man. Who was Supreme Leader Snoke? Where did he come from? How did he rise from seemingly nothing to nearly toppling the galactic order?

The truth is, no one knows. Even his successors have only pieces of the puzzle that was Snoke. We know little of where he came from – only that he was an Acolyte of the Beyond for decades prior to his ascension. He studied the nature of the Force and the dark side, applying Acolyte teachings and forming his own conclusions – many of which are still in use by the Order. But most importantly, he honed his natural gift for telepathy.

The bits and pieces we have learned suggest he was always gifted in this aspect. One imagines Snoke as a youngling controlling the adults around him. It is a humorous image, and a frightening one – none are so fickle as a child that gets everything it wants. One might draw parallels to the rumored childhood of Emperor Vitiate – which is similarly shrouded in legend and uncertainty.

I am skeptical if this was what happened. If Snoke had such power at that age; if his parents were incapable of saying 'no,' then one imagines him growing into a petulant adult with narcissistic qualities that would put the most vain of celebrities to shame. No, such a personality clashes too strongly with the man who led the First Order to near-victory.

I suspect his abilities manifested later in life, or his parents were able to resist such compulsion. Again, only the Acolytes would know, and it is possible that Snoke was raised within that community itself.

What we know without question is what Snoke accomplished.

It started slowly, subtly, as all grand plans do.

It began with the First Order – a loose collection of disaffected Imperials and ne'er-do-wells. Imperials who were disgusted by the mockery of the Fellan Imperium, subsumed by sympathizers and traitors. Fury and hatred smoldered in their hearts as they saw how low their once-proud empire had become.

Yet these men were few. They were disorganized. They themselves were a pathetic shadow of the past glory they shrouded themselves in. Blind to their flaws. Blind to their failings. They only existed based on a memory, one with no hope, no spark, and no purpose.

The First Order would have faded into nothing had Snoke not seen the potential in this entity – and nudged.

Over years, slowly but surely, the First Order was subsumed through careful prodding by Snoke's greatest asset – General Armitage Hux.

As a leader, Hux was ill-suited to military life. His tactical and strategic abilities were – even by his own grudging admission – mediocre at the best of times. But it was his voice which made him powerful. A brute may smash an army to pieces, but an orator may convince them to lay down their weapons. Hux? He convinced them to turn their weapons on their former leaders. Dozens of systems fell to the First Order without a single blaster fired in anger.

As Emperor Palpatine convinced the galaxy to kneel, General Armitage Hux convinced loyal, patriotic Imperial citizens to clamor for change. To queue before the First Order recruitment centers in astounding numbers. I dare say the man could convince anyone of anything and I hesitate to say there was anything he could not accomplish with his words.

Witness the power of a mere man. A mortal who was blind to the Force.

And how, as wielders of the Force, should we interpret a man like Hux? I would suggest reverence and awe. Consider, General Armitage Hux had no great power to sway or control through brute force – he was an average soldier and wasn't even Force-sensitive. And yet he commanded legions. Controlled a multitude through his words alone. If one were to make an analogy or comparison, I would portray the man as the Grand Admiral Thrawn of propaganda. His insight and instinct perfectly attuned to his aptitudes. Where Thrawn was a military genius, Hux was a psychological one.

There is a lesson in that, reader. Never underestimate someone due to preconceived notions or internal prejudices. There are Force-users who are irrelevant, and there are Force-blind who move continents. Never forget this.

The Order of Supreme Leader Snoke has not forgotten. But I digress.

The First Order, in its reborn infancy, was a political movement. Hux's dissertations flooded the Imperial HoloNet, and in the beginning, the authorities did nothing. Because as with anything that is truly dangerous, it appeared benign. Calls to patriotism. Calls for reform. Calls for greater authority.

It played out like a nativist screed and the public ate it up. The Imperial Diet welcomed the Omega Red Party into its chambers and through them, Snoke gained a small foothold in the national consciousness. The Party was disruptive to the status quo, but they were lauded by the masses in the Imperial hinterlands – such talk of patriotism and whatnot always plays well with people out of touch with the center of power.

Something else occurred parallel to this, a schism with the One Sith Remnant. At some point – accounts differ – agents of the Remnant came into contact with agents of the First Order.

Was this a rival faction?

Were they different Sith?

Was this an opportunity?

Through an… 'intermediary,' Supreme Leader Snoke opened a dialogue with Remnant leadership.

Darth Nihl.

Darth Maladi.

Darth Talon.

Darth Wyyrlok IV.

Discussions and cajoling and posturing and disagreement.

In the end, the One Sith Remnant were split on the issue. To join with this upstart man who puppeted an underling's mind from light-years away – a man who was clearly not a Sith… or to continue in the shadows alone, but unsullied.

Darths Nihl and Wyyrlok IV chose independence, and continued to lead the One Sith Remnant – eventually culminating in the founding of the Order of Darth Krayt.

Darths Talon and Maladi, however, chose to join the First Order – along with a multitude of Remnant Sith who longed for revenge on the galaxy.

Snoke welcomed them with open arms, offering positions of power and authority where it was warranted. Though ever the pragmatist, he was careful to manage the new Sith, lest their 'dogmatic views' jeopardize his vision. Over time, the One Sith influenced the First Order, and the First Order influenced them. It was that amalgamation – coupled with Snoke's stringent meritocratic philosophy – that birthed the Order of Supreme Leader Snoke as we know it today.

And so, they waited.

I'm sure you've heard tales of the Third Imperial Civil War. Of the defiance of the galaxy in the face of pure evil. Of tyranny brought low in the face of righteousness. Perhaps your only knowledge of the war is the dramatized romance holos that emphasize the torrid love affair between partisan leaders Finn and Poe Dameron – if I may be honest with you, dear reader, they are a guilty pleasure of mine as well. But such a view of the war is criminally one-sided. There are none who speak of the glory of the First Order in glorious terms.

Let us rectify this shameful omission.

For fifteen years the Supreme Leader pulled Imperial strings, until finally they snapped. Emperor Servius Draco was denounced by the planetary government of Sonwal in the Felin System. They demanded his abdication and moved to secede when it became clear he wouldn't bend.

The Emperor unleashed his forces upon Sonwal. The resulting chaos and ruthless brutality brought denunciations from other worlds who had fallen under the sway of Omega Red. Dozens more worlds began to secede, and the Emperor sent out his forces to crush them as well. And with the majority of the Imperial military tied down in anti-partisan operations, well, there was no more opportune time than now.

In a surprise attack against the entire northeastern border, the First Order launched precision strikes against Imperial military targets and infrastructure. Bottlenecked fleets enforcing blockades or overseeing the reintegration of breakaway systems were ill-prepared for the appearance of First Order strike forces – especially once their siege dreadnoughts opened fire.

Groundside forces were annihilated through orbital strikes, while divisions of well-trained and well-equipped First Order Stormtroopers were sent in afterward to neutralize the survivors. These same soldiers were then sent out to secure First Order holdings before turning their attention to their Imperial counterparts.

When the first salvo of this six-year-long war came to an end, fully one-third of Imperial Space was under Snoke's control. Between the fantastic skill and equipment of its soldiers, and the adroit application of Battle Meditation at a level not seen since Bastila Shan herself wielded the technique, one wonders if the First Order may have taken even Bastion in that first phase had they held numerical parity.

Alas, they were forced to consolidate their holdings and regroup. During that time, the war became a conflict of attrition. The lives of men and droids spent in the millions without gain on either side. Logistical difficulties making decisive breakthroughs impossible. Each world became a fortress. Every hyperlane chokepoint became a naval death zone. The military plans lovingly nurtured for decades prior to this now wallowing as the offensive ground to a halt. Neither side able to overcome the other.

As the years dragged on, the First Order became increasingly desperate. Their supplies running dangerously low in the protracted conflict. Doubt and even fear crept into the minds of Snoke's advisors, some even daring to suggest they sue for peace. Supreme Leader Snoke would hear none of it, and with a fateful decision during the fourth year, he alone changed the course of the war and upset the careful balance between the combatants.

He sent his personal assassins – the 'Knights of Ren' – to Ossus.

There they eliminated nearly the whole of the Jedi High Council. In one fell swoop, the Jedi Order had been decapitated and Snoke felt secure in neutralizing a future foe – one who might stand as an equal against him personally.

In the aftermath of the attack on the Praxeum, the surviving Jedi Councilors – Alivia Skywalker and Javian Shartan – appealed to the Alliance Senate. They called the First Order a galactic threat and urged the present senators to pass a declaration of war in solidarity with the Fellan Imperium.

Had the Supreme Leader not sent his assassins against the Jedi, perhaps the Alliance would not have interfered – or at least dallied long enough for the First Order to dig in further and make victory impossible. Was it a mistake on his part? Perhaps, it is not for me to judge – I certainly cannot fault the desire to kill the Jedi should the opportunity arise.

All the same, it was tactically brilliant but strategically disastrous.

Though it took years of fighting, the outcome of the conflict was decided the moment the Alliance Senate voted for war.

We have no records of the final conflict between Snoke and the last two Jedi Councilors. No unbiased records at least. The Jedi claimed it was a hard-fought battle but that they eventually prevailed, though strangely provided no details. I've no doubt it was a battle for the ages – one need only look at the cybernetics and cloned replacement limbs and organs the Jedi required afterward to understand this.

But I can assure you, it did not quite happen like the Jedi said it did.

We will come to the details in due time.

With the death of Snoke aboard the Supremacy – and the turning tide of battle – the First Order shattered. Each system was a nation, beholden to itself and cut off from the greater whole. It allowed the Alliance and Imperium to take them apart piecemeal. To their credit, the soldiers of the First Order were tenacious and the greater galaxy was bled white trying to take these fortress worlds.

There were those who managed to escape, however – Phasma, Ushar, Pryde, Maladi… desperately needed leaders. Fleeing to Wild Space, they returned to their hidden capital: Exegol. There they waited and plotted and came to a disturbing conclusion: they had lost. They had lost and they weren't sure how to recover. They still had trained legions and cutting-edge equipment to spare, but not enough to continue the fight.

It was in their darkest moment that our Lady sent a herald to Exegol with an offer of refuge and purpose. The First Order would reorganize into a Sith Order, and they would serve as the martial backbone of the Collective should war ever come.

The leaders listened and debated amongst themselves. They were conflicted, but open. It was then that Darth Maladi reached out to Darth Wyyrlok IV and discussed the possibility of elevating the One Sith Remnant as well. As two Orders united in purpose, they could collectively bargain with our Lady.

A shrewd move for two depleted Orders, one that has influenced the actions of the Orders of Snoke and Krayt ever since. As I stated before, they are like sibling Orders – they won't always agree, but they will always favor their personal alliance over any other consideration.

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ON NOMENCLATURE

I'd like to take a moment to address something to avoid confusion on your part should you decide to interact with the Order of Snoke in the future – either as an outsider or a full-fledged member. The Order of Snoke does not refer to itself as the 'Order of Snoke' outside of its interactions within the Sith Collective. Instead, they refer to themselves as the 'First Order,' as they have since Supreme Leader Snoke conceived of the original organization.

This is because for all intents and purposes, the First Order still stands. Reduced in size, but not in spirit or structure. They are unlike any other member of our Collective for this reason. Most Orders are defined by the Sith who wield the Force. Yet in the First Order, such Force-users make up only a small minority, and they are part of a far larger and intricate civilization.

They adopted our naming conventions in their interactions out of respect, and a commitment to our mission. Yet make no mistake – they view themselves as part of the First Order; the 'Order of Snoke' is a formality – though one they will stringently adhere to when interacting with the Collective. They are nothing if not consummate professionals.

As this document was created by and for the Sith Collective, and for easier understanding and to limit confusion, the First Order will be referred to as the 'Order of Supreme Leader Snoke' in all instances of the present and future – except when referring to the organization prior to its elevation to the Sith Collective.

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ON THE TRIUMPH OF PROPAGANDA

Read what this section is titled. Ponder it. Meditate on it.

It will not be what you think.

When people hear that Snoke has an Order, many times their instinct is to raise an eyebrow in confusion. Most shrug, a few question, and more just move on. This Order is one which does not grab the eye, for what exactly is there in the Order? What do they have that is not embodied better by another Order?

What is their draw?

What is their promise?

What is their purpose?

As you have read in earlier chapters, so often you know that the Orders are based around the philosophies and ideologies of the Sith their namesake is derived from. Yet for Snoke, you are more inclined to conjure images of the Stormtroopers, of the First Order, and all of his Order here is a continuation of it.

Some might say that it would be more accurate to call this the Order of the First Order.

Some believe that it is the First Order that this modern incarnation derives inspiration from. Snoke, they claim, had no true philosophy or belief. He was driven, like many men before him, by the desire to acquire power and establish his empire. They would say that the First Order was an expression of Snoke's power.

Such a surface-level analysis. It truly makes me despair at how closed-minded so many of our brethren remain. To hold such a thought brings with it the implication that there is a discernible difference between the First Order and Supreme Leader Snoke. That one was not thoroughly dominated in all aspects by the other.

Snoke was the First Order, and the First Order was Snoke.

Ah, hold that thought, reader. Pause for a moment. Put the thought of Snoke out of your mind for this brief moment.

Instead, focus on the First Order. Think of what you know of it. Draw from your textbooks, your histories, your sources. Take your time, there is no rush here. Come back when you know what the First Order was.

Are you back now? Good.

Everything you know of the First Order is a lie.

"No," you will claim, "That cannot be the case. There were so many sources I looked through, from the Alliance and Empire alike." I operate under the assumption, reader, that you are wise enough to not rely on a single source. And I'm certain you did look. Perhaps you even perused a few less reliable sources for good measure.

It doesn't matter, all of them are wrong.

It irritates me to no end that parallels are drawn between the Galactic Empire and the First Order. Between Emperor Palpatine and Supreme Leader Snoke. As if there is some equivalence, as if there is similarity, as if there was anything in this perpetual lie that these two entities are the same.

They are not.

Do you think the Empire and First Order are the same? Tell me how the culture of the First Order resembled anything within the Galactic Empire. Stand before me and declare that the reclusive Palpatine was in any way the same kind of sovereign as the ever-present Supreme Leader. Declare earnestly that the Imperial Commandos of the Empire fought with the same vigor, passion, and fanaticism as the Scarlet Legions of the First Order.

Are you so blinded by outward appearances that you do not look deeper?

I forget myself.

It is not your fault.

See, there is a reason you think this. The First Order terrified the Fellan Imperium and Galactic Alliance. So much so that they made a concerted effort to rewrite history. The First Order was turned into a banal, familiar evil. Snoke was just another power-hungry tyrant. A familiar story, hitting all the necessary tropes in an ongoing conflict between good and evil.

Were that reality was so simple.

I make no secret of my own opinions. What Snoke achieved was far greater than anything Palpatine accomplished, but you would never know this with the biased histories you read. I will never dismiss the sheer brilliance and power of Palpatine – for he did achieve a galactic empire, while Snoke did not.

Yet had Snoke succeeded, his empire would have truly stood for ten thousand years.

Why, you may ask? What did the First Order have that the Galactic Empire did not? How was it different?

Patience, reader, we will come to that part in due time.

First, let us learn some more about the Order proper.

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ON THE PARITY OF THE FORCE-BLIND

It is important to begin this discussion by explaining the peculiar nature of the Order of Snoke vis-à-vis their structure: the Order is bifurcated. Unlike the other Orders, Snoke is composed of two equal parts, one that feels the Force and another that doesn't. Of course, this is not an inherently unique aspect, as each Order has those who are Force-blind – the peasants of Dromund Kaas and the Hands of the Order of Jadus come to mind – but rarely are the Force-blind given similar stature, respect, size, and opportunity in other Orders.

But why is this so unique?

Because let us reveal another unique aspect of the Order of Snoke. Think, reader, on the intentions of each Order. Think on what their goals are; what they are trying to build. What drives these Orders? What is their final intention? To rule? Of course, but that is so simple as to be useless.

Some seek to implement the philosophies of their progenitors. Some seek to conquer. Some seek to explore, experiment, and learn. Some see rule as a means to an end, and others as an end in and of itself. All seek to fulfill a vision.

So, let us ask the question: what is the vision of the Order of Snoke?

In some ways, the Order of Snoke has a vision more grand and ambitious than any other. The Order of Snoke seeks not simply to conquer, to rule, or to merely destroy and emerge the victor atop a pile of bodies and ruins. No, they seek to create a new society. A New Empire, a new way of life, one fundamentally alien to those who sleepwalk through this galaxy.

And reader, you of course know that the vast majority of those in this galaxy are blind to the Force. Many Sith would scoff at the idea that such individuals are worth investing in or including, but Snoke knew better, and his Order does as well. One cannot rule for eternity by being insular.

This is why the Force-blind are given such parity within the Order. It is why their Order spans worlds. It has citizens. The Order of Snoke is not an insulated Sith Order, but the future of civilization itself.

One must ask why others do not have similar visions. Something that should be pondered, reader. I cannot say if this approach is correct or wise, but I can see the vision proposed, and it is a glorious one indeed – and one that will appeal to a galaxy that cries out for instruction.

Thus we shall speak of each half in equal measure – first, those groups that compose the 'Sith' portion, then the secular or 'Imperial' portion.

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ON THE SCARLET LEGIONS

Do you know a common phrase that was associated with the First Order by those who fought them?

'Fire and Ice.'

Read the reports of the Imperium agents. Read the journals of the Alliance soldiers. Read the musings of the Jedi, and hear the unsettled voices of the Imperial Knights who fought in the war.

Fire and Ice.

You will see these words repeated over and over – or at least implied as such. They will describe feeling an unnatural heat in their heads and hearts, they will feel chills in deserts and humid rainforests. We know these effects are of the Force, yet traditional users of the power were rare in the First Order.

Force-sensitives were not.

It is no coincidence that when the foes of the First Order felt the fire and ice described, they were about to face the Scarlet Legions.

Instantly identified by their crimson Stormtrooper armor, each one of these soldiers is Force-sensitive. Each one trained to the best of their abilities. Weak alone – they cannot hold a glowrod to those who truly wield the Force – yet together they are a foe that no mortal army can stand against.

Do you think the kaminoans were the first to conceive of a Force-wielding army? No, reader, they were instead inspired by the performance of the Scarlet Legions during the Third Imperial Civil War. They are not Sith. They are not Dark Jedi. They have no special philosophy, nor deep code.

They are merely soldiers who feel the Force.

Imagine the soldiers of the Fellan Imperium or Galactic Alliance. Imagine their best operatives, their special forces. Now imagine if each of them, in addition to their exquisite training and decades of experience, were Force-users. Imagine how that changes things. Each soldier an unerring marksman. Each soldier with inextinguishable stamina. Each soldier able to anticipate danger at all times. They are not mere men and women.

They are something more.

They are those who are taught to hone their power to be used as a weapon. And this focus allows them to crystalize their innate skills in death. A single lethal shot. A perfect grenade throw. A burst of strength. A jump of ten meters. The Force militarized in such a simple, brutal, and glorious way that the kaminoans could not bring themselves to replicate.

For the Scarlet Legions were not simply called such because of their armor, but in how they waged war. These were not emotionless automatons, but as fanatical as their Stormtrooper peers. When they screamed their war cries, their power amplified the fires in their hearts. Flagging morale was boosted, and their sheer hatred for the enemy was emboldened.

They did more than kill – they slaughtered.

Where the Scarlet Legions went, carnage followed. Corpses would be found mutilated in ways only a Force-user could. Internal organs crushed. Heads exploded. Heart attacks from the overwhelming emotion pouring off of the Legions. Self-inflicted wounds. Never once did the Scarlet Legions surrender, and not once did they ever accept surrender.

Fire and Ice.

The Scarlet Legions have since been reconstituted into the Order of Snoke. They are where those who are Force-sensitive – but are not powerful enough to become a Herald – go. There is only a single Legion in operation today, but perhaps that is all that is needed.

They are the bloodied tip of the spear should war return to the Imperium. In the Third Imperial Civil War it was the Scarlet Legions who fought to the last to deny their enemies a foothold when Snoke's kingdom was penetrated. For each Scarlet Legionnaire slain, a hundred of the enemy were felled.

I will leave you a final anecdote about the tenacity and viciousness of the Scarlet Legions.

In their final known battle, there were reports of wounded Legionnaires fighting on from behind their makeshift barricades – corpses stacked like cordwood. None surrendered, unless you count those who pretended to… only to blow themselves and their adversaries to cinders with thermal detonators when they approached.

The numbers of the Scarlet Legions may be diminished, but make no mistake, the galaxy remains yet unprepared for their return. Mercy be unto those who would bring conflict upon the Order of Snoke, for the Legion offers none.

xxx

ON THE PRAETORIAN GUARD

Let us speak of those surrounding the Supreme Leader. The crimson-masked guards who accompany them at all times and in all locations. The Praetorian Guard.

In the past, when Snoke himself lived, the Praetorian Guard was little more than a vicarious extension of the Supreme Leader's will. Men and women puppeted like droids and wielded as one wields a blaster. Through Snoke's immense telepathic ability, their every action was controlled and enhanced – it is said that they were no longer individuals but a hivemind that danced to the Supreme Leader's tune.

Did you know that Snoke never wielded a lightsaber?

Did you know that he was of frail stature? That he was physically weak? That even walking caused him pain?

Did you know that Snoke never once raised a hand to protect himself?

How, you may ask, how could this be the case?

Let this be a lesson in perceptions, reader – never let yourself be deceived by those who wield enormous power, but are physically frail. No, no, there was no grand battle between the Supreme Leader and the Jedi. No lightsabers clashing, no revelation of true strength by Snoke when the Jedi wolves howled at his gate.

All he had was his mind.

And that was all he needed.

His Praetorian Guard were his instruments. More flexible and numerous than a single lightsaber ever could be. Ponder the immense skill it takes to dominate one mind – now understand that in Snoke's last stand, sixteen of the Praetorian Guard, along with the remainder of the Knights of Ren, stood with him.

Most believe that another with Snoke's raw telepathic talent will never emerge, yet all the same, the Praetorian Guard has endured, and its new incarnation has adapted to this reality, while paying homage to what they were before.

The modern incarnation is vastly different, in that it relies on the skills and experience of the individual, rather than a psychic overmind. Those of the Praetorian Guard represent the best of the best, drawn from every corner of the Order and tasked with a single objective: the protection of the Supreme Leader.

Each guard is dressed in identical red armor and robes, each wearing a featureless helmet. Perfectly identical and anonymous. In truth, the only way to differentiate them for the uninitiated is to look at their weapons. Each wields a lightsaber-resistant mêlée weapon, but they vary wildly. From vibro-voulge and electro-bisento, to vibro-arbir blades and even a Bilari electro-chain whip. And each is a master of their chosen weapon with decades of experience.

This is the one organization within the Force-wielding apparatus of the Order of Snoke that draws from both the Force-sensitive and the Force-blind. Yet the fact that the Praetorian Guard are drawn primarily from the Scarlet Legions, the Heralds, and yes, rarely, the Knights of Ren, is sufficient for their inclusion. With a standing force of only several dozen, they are composed of only the best.

Pity any who approach the Supreme Leader without his blessing.

xxx

ON THE HERALDS OF SALVATION

Take a break, reader. Go learn some history. I could not begin to give a comprehensive overview of the entirety of the First Order, or the war they took part in. See for yourself – learn, watch, listen. I am a simple historian, I cannot convey the glory of their fleets, the shining white legions of Stormtroopers led by a black-robed man bearing a cross of blazing red.

I cannot replicate the fires raised in the hearts of millions as they listened to the words of Hux.

I cannot convey the horror felt by Alliance soldiers as they faced an army perfectly coordinated and commanded.

I cannot convey the power as the minds of star destroyer crews snapped as they faced the Supremacy, and with a single command from Snoke, turned on their brethren.

No, no, do not rely on me; do not rely on a single source when it comes to history. Learn from many, for I alone cannot provide the full truth, and I will only recount what I see as relevant. But you may find something worthwhile that I do not – go, reader. Do not worry, these words will still be here when you return.

Have you finished?

Good. Let us continue.

Let me first ask a question – when you looked through the pictures, the holovids, and the reports, what did you see? Stormtroopers, politicians, officers, admirals, fleets – yet I suspect that very rarely did you see those who bore lightsabers in the First Order. They existed, of course, but they were rare. They were never like the Jedi.

They were something greater. Something pure.

They were the 'Heralds of Salvation.' Snoke's personal acolytes. Their true number was never learned, but they were believed to be less than one hundred, each the equal of any Jedi Master. Warriors, scholars, writers, artists, poets, and commanders without equal. They were whole in a way which the Jedi could only strive to be.

They were the ones who would usher the galaxy into the coming age. They were the embodiment of Snoke – to be where he could not. Each one personally trained. Each one a master. Men and women, humans and non-humans, young and old, the Heralds were a spectrum of diversity, which Snoke needed for the First Order.

And each of them true believers.

No, the Knights of Ren were not among this group. Have patience, reader, we will come to them in due time. Let us first speak of the Heralds – those the ignorant might call 'Sith.'

However, there may be a question you have – it was said that the First Order incorporated the remnants of the One Sith into their ranks. Is this where such refugees ended up, with so few in number?

This is unknown. There were few of the One Sith who remained, it is possible that each one ended up within the Heralds. Most believe this to be the case, yet I am skeptical that each one was worth enough to take the mantle. I cannot imagine Snoke would simply allow such individuals into one of the most important positions in his empire.

Yet I merely have an instinct, and the Order of Snoke does not see fit to clarify this.

Let the past be past.

The Order of Snoke lacks what most would consider a vibrant Sith structure within its ranks. Look at any other Order and what do you see? You see Force-users wielding lightsabers – not everyone of course, but many. Within Snoke, there are less than thirty at present who fit that criterion.

"So few!" I hear you cry. After all, how can an Order of the Sith Collective have so few members who can even qualify by the most basic of our standards?

Please, have your eyes glazed over without reading what I have written? Those who wielded the Force in such a manner were never numerous in the First Order, and it is foolish to expect that the Order of Snoke would disrespect their forebears so openly. As the First Order focused on the quality of their Heralds, so too does the Order of Snoke.

The Heralds of the Order of Snoke are few, but you would be forgiven for mistaking them for Masters in our Collective. Composed of species of all kinds, each Herald is more than capable of standing against the fiercest warrior of the Militant Order, the most powerful of the Jedi Sages, and the most devious of the Shadows.

One cannot speak of the Heralds without noting one of their most unique features – their lightsabers. They are unique in that they exclusively use the crossguard lightsaber hilt. It is rumored that this stems from the original leader of the Knights of Ren who had attempted to build a lightsaber using a cracked focusing crystal.

A cracked crystal will create a destabilized field, and the hilt will explode if not designed to vent the unstable energies. Thus, a crossguard style was chosen, the guard blades venting the excess plasma. You can see this for yourself by reviewing HoloNet footage of Jedi Battlemaster Shartan, for he still wields the unstable blade his ancestor took after killing the leader of the Knights of Ren. Have you ever seen such a violently chaotic blade? Few would be brave enough to wield such a weapon, but bravery is never in short supply amongst our kind.

These days, it is a symbol rather than a necessity, for each lightsaber used today carries a solid crystal bereft of imperfections. They are seen most visibly by the Heralds who serve on the Supreme Council or as religious leaders. They guide the people as a united voice in things both mundane and esoteric, and like their progenitors, they are the extension of the Supreme Leader.

It is a deep responsibility they bear, but they are not alone in that duty.

xxx

ON THE KNIGHTS OF REN

One cannot speak of the First Order without discussing the infamous Knights of Ren.

Yet what are they?

It was an enduring question that many even within the Jedi and Imperium did not know at first. Were they Snoke's equivalent of a Jedi Council? Simply a powerful Force-using team? The greatest generals of the First Order? Many theories abound, but it was soon realized what they truly were: the personal agents and assassins of the Supreme Leader.

The Knights are trained to complete any mission they are given, and are the first and last weapon against any threat to the First Order. And though they may be sent on so-called 'mundane' missions – though how one describes decimating entire criminal polities as 'mundane' is beyond me – they are most well-known for neutralizing other Force-users, most notably Jedi.

While anyone can be trained to dispatch a Force-user, the Knights focus almost exclusively on this task and you'd be hard-pressed to find greater assassins outside of the Baran Si or the Order of Darth Nihilus.

Their ability to dispatch fully trained Jedi is even more impressive considering the mundane means they use. Many associate the Knights with the distinctive crossguard lightsaber, but few amongst them actually wielded it, choosing instead to wield beskar-tipped mêlée weapons or high-powered slugthrowers that shoot specialized ammunition, including vong-tech anti-Force spore munitions. This leaves them vulnerable to conventional weaponry, but they make sure to compensate with personal shields and armored undersuits – to say nothing of their field training.

The history of the Knights of Ren is fairly opaque, though we know it began with a loyal acolyte of Supreme Leader Snoke, a kerestian named Beolo Ren. Beolo was a fearsome assassin long before he came to Snoke's attention, spending his time training followers and fulfilling contracts in the Outer Rim. Once he and his followers joined the First Order, and were subsequently indoctrinated, they specialized in targeting Force-users. Some of Beolo's original Knights were non-Force-sensitive, but this practice was gradually phased out as the scope of their responsibilities expanded and now all Knights of Ren are Force-users in some capacity.

The Knights never number more than a dozen, and they are never without a leader promoted from within their ranks. The Commander of the Knights of Ren is ceremonially adopted as the 'heir of the Ren' and bestowed the surname of 'Ren' – most will also change their given names at this time. Supreme Leader Nathis Ren once led the Knights of Ren, hence his surname.

I can sense your excitement as you read. Your curiosity. You're interested in joining this illustrious group, yes?

It won't be easy. Nothing worth achieving ever is. But there are no application forms or training centers. There is no way to ask to become a Knight of Ren. The Knights are chosen from the best of the best, those with decades of experience above and beyond the call of duty. Some are drawn from the Scarlet Legions or the Heralds, while others come from the Asha-Krataa. The only real prerequisite is that the initiate be Force-sensitive.

And know that the Order is always watching for new initiates.

Dossiers are kept and constantly updated and reviewed for possible additions to the Knights. The leadership of the Asha-Krataa, Praetorian Guard, Scarlet Legions, and the Knights of Ren themselves offer input on which candidates are worthy to join, but ultimately, it is the Supreme Leader's decision alone. Owing to the meritocratic nature of the First Order, the Supreme Leader cannot appoint new Knights who have not already been approved by those who review the dossiers.

When a candidate is chosen, they are given trials – usually in the form of dangerous and complex missions, often with a Knight of Ren acting as an invisible overseer. Should they survive their trials and impress their overseer, they will be welcomed into the Knights of Ren at a knighting ceremony officiated by the Supreme Leader themselves.

The newly minted Knight of Ren is then sent to Exegol for six months to two years of intense training – including specialized mêlée weapon training, though some forgo this in favor of long-range weaponry. During this period, they will still be called upon to partake in missions at the behest of the Supreme Leader, but they will be treated as additional trials rather than operations.

The Knights of Ren are the single most elite force in the Order of Snoke, bar none. Never forget that a handful of them nearly wiped out the entire Jedi High Council in a single operation – and they could do so again without hesitation.

xxx

ON THE TOTALITY OF SOCIETY

Think for a moment on society; on order. Ponder it, consider the various moving pieces. Consider the myriad of structures, classes, and stratification that takes place in every aspect of society.

Much of society is intrinsically designed to divide.

It is to separate.

I will speak nothing of the merits of such a construction; one can and will find many arguments in favor of such. I merely point out a fact, one which you can see throughout the galaxy. There are those who society will elevate and respect intrinsically – those who remain separate or above the masses.

I say this to highlight that there is little such division within the Order of Snoke.

Three systems and five habitable worlds in Wild Space near the Trade Union sector fall under the rule of the Order of Snoke. Billions call these worlds home, living in peace and security under the ever-watchful eye of the Supreme Leader, and carefully maintained by the Asha-Krataa.

It was the late-Supreme Leader's vision to see the Imperium reformed into a stable entity that would fear no rebellion or insurrection. A society united behind the ideals of strength, loyalty, and community. The galaxy wasn't ready for this radical reimagining of its cultural morals. The galaxy feared what the First Order offered, and performed unspeakable acts to purge it from the galaxy.

You perhaps scoff at this. For how could the Alliance and Imperium be threatened to such a degree? After all, the histories rarely speak of what happened after the death of the Supreme Leader.

There is a reason for this.

The citizens of the First Order would not let their dreams – their perfect society – be torn away, for they had found where they belonged. They rejected the lies of the Alliance and Empire. They would not assimilate; they would not return to the empty void their lives had been before.

And how did the Imperium and Alliance treat these people? Did they let them live in peace? Did they eject them from their territory? Did they seek to understand why the First Order appealed to these people?

Of course not.

Because, reader, one cannot allow dangerous ideas to spread. An intellectual contagion is to be suppressed at all costs.

The former citizens of the First Order were arrested, silenced, tortured, and killed. The Imperium committed genocide to end the ideas espoused by its citizens. They did it with no fanfare, and merely sold it to the people as 'crushing remaining remnants.' Millions disappeared or were sold out to Outer Rim groups.

The Alliance was no better. They thought themselves more humane as they locked up any who advocated for the beliefs of the First Order. No dissenting thought was allowed, for otherwise the people might wonder if there was an alternative.

There was a concerted effort to rid the galaxy of these ideals. It is why you are forgiven for thinking that the First Order was merely a reimagining of the Empire. An empire that now exists only on those few worlds.

You would be wrong.

It starts with what society is defined by.

The society of the First Order, and now carried on by the Order of Snoke, is one that is total in its purpose. There are no artificial lines of division, there are no 'civilians' or 'military' – that divide is purged. There are only shared values, struggles, beliefs, and goals. The state refined to a most beautiful end.

A society where each citizen is a public servant. A society where the most important virtue is not what society can do for you, but what you can do for your neighbor and government. A society that strives together, which is united on a primal, fundamental level that can only be achieved when the entirety of the citizenry is mobilized.

There is a deep understanding each citizen has within the Order. They have all experienced the same things, they have undergone the same trials, and that breeds empathy for one another. A citizen under the Order can take comfort in knowing that wherever they go, or whatever happens, they will have the support of a billion others.

That is a powerful thing. Something that the Empire, with all its power, could not understand.

Imagine the Rebel Alliance gaining a foothold in such a society? It would be impossible.

What is life like, you wonder, in such a society?

It is freedom. pure and simple. Freedom from want and from fear. Freedom from worry and despair. Every man and woman, youth and gray beard, each is free to live a true and fulfilling life. One that is filled with meaning.

In so much of the galaxy, we live in a society that is devoid of meaning.

Perhaps you hail from the Galactic Alliance where words like 'freedom' and 'individual rights' are bandied about like flotsam in an ocean swell. But do you see freedom when you look at your society? Do you see it beyond the suffocating corruption of money and influence? Do you see it amongst the impoverished or those kept in bondage?

And in the Imperium, where all are promised a means to 'ascendance' in a meritocracy where the worthy can rise. But you know the truth. The Officer Corps of the Imperium is no less corrupt than the Galactic Senate. A society where nepotism reigns supreme, where the old Imperial families still influence policy. You are only a servant.

No. You are not free. You are enslaved. To the rich owners. To the politicians and their self-serving laws. To cruel superiors. To the credit. To vapid entertainment, holovids, pornography, and drugs.

You live in a society where you mean nothing.

You live in a society where you will work, suffer, and die for a master you will never meet.

You live in a society where you dull this pain through empty pleasures.

But you know better.

You cannot ignore the void in your heart.

You cannot ignore that you will live a life of no consequence.

You cannot ignore that you are nothing.

So your soul screams for fulfillment.

Perhaps listen to it.

Snoke did. He saw the utter cruelty and depravity of galactic society. One which sought to strangle the average individual to the shackles of bureaucracy, repetition, and capital. One where beliefs were fluid, and shared values were alien. One that lacked a true core, one which lacked true purpose. Meaning.

That was what he offered the people.

Meaning.

He offered these people an opportunity to contribute to something greater than themselves. That there was more to life than pointless work. That the void they felt in their soul could be assuaged, it could be filled.

He extended a hand, and told them that he understood, and they were not alone.

Here is a controversial truth, reader, one that you may initially denounce and condemn.

People don't want freedom. They tell themselves they do. But they don't.

They just want their lives to mean something. They want to die, knowing they have purpose. That they are not just a number that will be forgotten or discarded. They want fulfillment of a kind that credits alone cannot provide. Money is corruptive for the mind and soul, and cannot fulfill the emotional and spiritual needs of the people.

Credits were banned in the First Order for this reason.

Radical, as I mentioned.

But if you walked among them, or even walk among their worlds now, you would hardly notice. They are happy, they are fulfilled.

Look closely, do you see fetters upon the people? Each person is sovereign, able to rise and fall within as true a meritocracy as I have ever seen. Listen to them, do you see people clamoring for freedom and liberty? Why should they, when they see how easily they can be discarded? How they are ultimately meaningless.

True freedom comes through surrender. Through understanding.

Understanding that you simply do not have the answers. That left alone, people will destroy themselves. That they will be taken advantage of and exploited. Understanding that they alone cannot responsibly be free.

And understand that this is okay.

And that understanding is liberating.

For no more do you have to worry in life. You do not have to worry about making enough money to support your family, for the Order provides. You do not need to become stressed over work or position, for you will be placed into a position you will love. You do not need to fear speaking the wrong thing, for the wrong thing will never materialize in your mind at all.

And you can relax, surrounded by friends and family, by a society that is truly united in a way that most would say is impossible. One where each arises through their own merit, and each according to their need. A society that is not corrupted by the whims of totalitarians, but surrounded and led by those who believe in the vision. Who believe in this society.

This is what the total societal absorption of the Order of Snoke provides.

Utopia.

xxx

ON COMMUNITY

What binds the Order of Snoke together, and the First Order that came before it?

Is it the structures and organizations which comprise it? The high commands, the fleets, the civil management divisions? I could speak about such in detail, documenting each purpose they serve and what they provide to the Order and their citizens. But you are not reading this to learn a glorified organizational chart, and mere structure alone cannot be what binds a society together.

Is it ideology? Religion? Belief in such is important, the effects I will not downplay. Yet ideology on its own is fickle, and isolated it can be broken down, discredited, and dies the first death in the history books and the final death as the last person forgets it. Ideology and faith alone cannot sustain a society. It is at best a connective tissue, a light adhesive that reinforces that which already sticks.

Think carefully, reader.

Are you done?

I will give you the answer: community.

You might be surprised; I doubt you expected to see 'community' as the factor that binds the Order of Snoke together when you first gazed upon this chapter. Be honest with yourself. It is understandable, it is not the first word I would have associated either – it is still true, nonetheless.

Think logically, reader. Think on how ideology, belief, and conviction often seem to fall flat in the face of a personal relationship. Friends can change minds better than any propaganda, and families have more intrinsic trust than any government can hope to have. Governments, movements, and organizations will pass and change, but your friends and family will always be right beside you.

But be honest – how many people have any support structures beyond this? How many have more than a few close friends? Family that live star systems away? How many people are lonely and isolated, lacking a connection to each other?

How well do you know your colleagues?

How well do you know your neighbors?

Do you know them at all?

No, no, perhaps a more poignant question is needed.

Would you die for your neighbor? Would they die for you?

Probably not, for neither they nor you have reason to. Or that is what you are taught to believe.

And this is the division that is exploited. So many in this galaxy lead isolated, empty lives. Community is found through faceless avatars and HoloNet chatrooms. Community is found in shared excitement of newly released entertainment. Community is a single year-end party that you attend just for the food.

This is not community. This is a twisted abomination, one which exists solely to destroy the soul and condemn the person to a meaningless life. One that will struggle to find affection, fulfillment, and love.

Allow me to paint a different picture.

Imagine, reader, if you will, a society where people live in small, cultured neighborhoods. Neighborhoods where the residents know each other by name, where they spend time together after their days of work and service. Where they regularly engage in conversation about topics both mundane and serious.

These communities celebrate each other's achievements, support each other in their failures, and consistently encourage and push each other to be better. Where their lives are lived in harmony, where they work, play, worship, celebrate, and live together. Fulfilled by each other's presence, united in vision and values.

This is what awaits those under the Order of Snoke.

I wonder, reader, if you have ever felt truly supported in your life. If you have experienced a failure, or trauma, and there was someone there for you. Who listened, who comforted, who looked upon your moment of weakness and offered empathy. If you have, you are luckier than many. For those in the Order, this is simply an expectation.

These communities center their lives not around work, money, superfluous entertainment, or hobby, but each other. Their lives are provided for, so they spend their time with what truly matters: each other. Loyalty to the state is all well and good, but Snoke understood that what matters is if there is a community which is bound by the values and beliefs of the state.

It is a harmonious loop that reinforces itself. The citizens will never betray the state, because they would be betraying their neighbor. They would be betraying the society they are so connected to. And these people, dear reader, are deeply connected to each other. Dozens turn out for birthdays and births. Weddings and funerals are an entire neighborhood affair where hundreds are invited. To see dozens of children playing in the parks while the parents chat politics off to the side is a common sight.

And this sense of community extends beyond their home. These citizens are welcomed wherever they go in the Order. Strangers are treated like family, and a traveler will never have to worry about having a place to stay as there will be no fewer than a dozen offers. You are, after all, a fellow citizen. You are part of society, and thus, you are family.

Do not think that the benevolent leaders and officials are any less bound to this community. Perhaps they may be treated with more respect or deference, but it is not out of fear or tradition, but because they are part of the community. Snoke regularly visited the worlds he ruled, and laid his hands on many. The Supreme Leaders that have followed work to maintain a similar connection to the communities they rule over.

None of them live in opulent houses and palaces. They live in simple dwellings no better than their people, with their partner if such is applicable, from which they then go to their daily work like everyone else.

And this community?

This is what the Alliance and Imperium truly feared.

Because they knew such a community could never be broken.

xxx

ON THE STORMTROOPERS

You will forgive me, reader, if my focus on this section is not necessarily on the Stormtroopers themselves. If you want an analysis of their gear, their weapons, or tactics, I fear you will have to go elsewhere. Such topics have little interest to me, as technology and equipment is fleeting and unimportant against what matters.

Yet here I am, focusing on them all the same. But I wish to use them to draw attention to a larger theme, one which flows throughout all of those who fought for Supreme Leader Snoke. The Stormtroopers were the standard warriors of the First Order. The numerous legions that fought, bled, and died. Mere infantry that were sent to win or die for their superiors.

To the galaxy, the Stormtroopers were just another army. A legacy of the Galactic Empire, one which was strikingly similar in most respects.

Let us pull back for a moment.

Appraise what an army is.

An army is a reflection of society. It is reflective of their intentions, their focus, their values, their morals, their discipline, and their power. If you wish to see the true face of society, look within their military and you will find the truth.

For galactic rule is not decided through peace and diplomacy, but through the threat of war.

Those who hold the guns decide the future.

For the Imperium, the army reflects the dedication to the state and the imperial system. For the Alliance, the army reflects the power and interests of the wealthy and the warmonger, who seek to build and manifest conflict for personal or ideological reasons as the rest of the citizenry is deprived of standing and wealth.

The war machine consumes all.

Perhaps it strikes as a more negative effect in the Alliance because they lie to their people. They tell them that they are a moral, grand, and just force in the galaxy. War is a last resort, something which they seek to avoid. Yet despite their words, their priorities show otherwise. The Alliance is not a militarized society, it is not ingrained into them. For the Imperium, this is not the case, and military service is expected and glorified.

But I digress.

The Stormtroopers.

What determines victory and defeat? If you were to pit two armies against each other, which one would emerge victorious? Let us discount numbers for now – assume both sides are equivalent in size. Would it come down to technology? Skill? Something else?

Break it down further.

Men are not created equal, and technology alone is not sufficient for victory. Skill will triumph over equipment most of the time. If you were to pit a technologically superior soldier against a more skilled one, the skilled one will likely win. If you pit two skilled soldiers against each other, the one with the better technology will win. Factors compound atop each other, in a complex dejarik game.

But what happens when you place two soldiers against each other who are equivalent in every way? How then can you determine the winner?

Spirit.

This factor I find is oddly overlooked by many. Morale is one of the most important factors in war, yet too many see soldiers as droids rather than feeling and thinking creatures. If a soldier does not believe in the mission, then they will not fight as hard to see it through. If they do not believe in what they are purportedly defending or fighting for, then they will lack the will to truly succeed.

Soldiers in the Imperium and Alliance often see their work as a job. Something they do to provide for a family and get paid. It is a means to an end, perhaps they believe in some of it, but ultimately, it is a passive belief. Would they truly die for it? No one can say until they are in that position.

Now, take everything I have said on the culture and society of the Order of Snoke, and apply it to the Stormtroopers.

I imagine you can see where I am going with this.

I am uncertain if there has ever been an army that has been as loyal, steadfast, and passionate as the Stormtroopers of the Order of Snoke. With no true military/civilian divide, the Stormtroopers were as much a part of the community as any other profession. You may be surprised to learn there are no barracks on the worlds of the Order of Snoke.

Like everyone else, the Stormtroopers live in their community. They are not segregated to live away from the people they intend to protect for the sake of greater centralization. Sure, there are central commands, hangars, and your typical military installations – but the only place where you will find barracks is on the frontlines of war, where such become a necessity.

They are among the most driven of the citizens of the Order, the ones who will die before they let anything hurt those they care about. And the death of a Stormtrooper is not a mere statistic, but one which the entire community mourns. The Imperium and Alliance wondered how the First Order seemed to have an endless supply of Stormtroopers, as they knew it wasn't cloning.

No, it was not cloning. It was something more primal. It was a community that was lashing out. For every Stormtrooper that died, two more citizens enlisted with the intent to make sure this pain would not be perpetuated.

You can see how this spiraled, how the ranks of the Stormtroopers only swelled as the war progressed.

You can see why the Alliance and Imperium cracked down so harshly, because these communities innately rejected them. When they invaded their worlds, they found not just Stormtroopers, but communities from the young to the old that took up weapons to push out the invaders.

When there is no divide between the soldier and civilian, one can become the other easily.

Of course, I would be remiss if I did not mention the downsides of such a strong devotion to society and community, else you might believe this is an army far beyond any other. The First Order lost, despite the valiant efforts of the Stormtroopers, but the truth is that the First Order should not have been able to challenge two galactic powers as they did.

Perhaps they were doomed to fail from the start. Perhaps not.

But their community was something that was used against them. There was no Stormtrooper who turned traitor, or defected, but there were those who cracked. It was in understanding the fundamental weakness that the Imperium and Alliance began to turn the tide. When your brothers and sisters in arms are like family, then pain becomes an effective weapon.

Stormtroopers were taken alive in larger numbers, one or multiple were taken away to be threatened – where if they did not comply, it would be not them who suffered, but their friends or family. This proved highly effective on the Stormtroopers, and this was one reason so many became suicidal when cornered. They were not afraid to die, but they would rather die than be put in a position to choose between community and information.

Collective punishment was heavily employed by the Alliance and Imperium on the communities as well to keep them in check. Decimation tactics were utilized for rebellion or disobedience. Word of this soon spread, which was why almost all of the First Order fought to the death rather than surrender, for they knew only oppression awaited them.

Yet despite the drawbacks of such a connection, one cannot deny the vigor and devotion it gives to such an army. There is of course an argument to be had over the merits of such an army and whether or not they are superior, but I have said enough on this. You have enough to draw your own conclusions.

I would be most curious to know what those are.

xxx

ON THE REINFORCEMENT OF TRUTH

Life can be described as a journey to answer a question.

That question will change and shift as you progress through your life. It may be pragmatic or existential. It may be small or big. Having questions throughout life is a normal experience, and critical to finding one's place in the galaxy.

So many people will wander through life, listless and uncertain, not even knowing what questions to ask, let alone what the answers are. So they settle for something that at least tries to answer that question, they try to find what makes them happy, content, and fulfilled. It doesn't work, no matter how much they tell themselves it does, yet it is the best they think they can get.

So they endure it, and are exploited by those who promise the answers; those who promise lies.

The Order of Snoke prides itself on providing a solution to this issue. Unlike other governments, who would not indulge in answering such mundane and personal questions, they have a ministry which is devoted to providing the truth to its citizens. Where there is uncertainty, they provide clarity. Where there are questions, they provide answers. Where there is conflicting information, they identify the truth.

There is no mystery or uncertainty in the Order, proactive teams of researchers, analysts, and other experts are quick to inform the public of the truth. Citizens live their lives without having to worry about being confused by the complexities of the galaxy, because they trust that the authorities have figured out those questions for them.

Most importantly, this 'Ministry of Guidance' serves to ensure that the greatest threat to society is smothered.

Doubt.

The Order of Snoke relies on a fundamental acceptance of the society that has been created. It must be accepted that it is right, true, and essential to life. There can be no other alternatives, for such introduces risk and uncertainty to a carefully planned civilization. For most, this is not a worry, as why would they need to wonder, when all has been provided for them?

Others though, others sometimes wonder.

They ask questions.

They think in ways that are abnormal.

And they doubt the surety and truth of the Order.

Now do not mistake this, reader, such is hardly a crime. It is normal and natural to ask questions and challenge norms. For many governments, they see this as something to be destroyed and purged immediately, forgetting – in their foolishness – that such heavy-handed measures only entrench such doubts and transform them into certainties.

Why, others ask, would the response be so harsh if there wasn't a grain of truth to the doubt? Are those who rule so insecure that they cannot tolerate any dissent or questioning? This is especially problematic if the citizens are expecting the ability to speak their minds – be it an illusion or real, the result is the same.

For the Order, they do the opposite. They invite those with doubts to speak them, that there is nothing to fear from having questions and uncertainties. For doubts, as is taught, are like cancers or diseases that will only grow and fester with time. Honesty is best, and when you sit opposite a smiling individual, you know there is nothing to fear from speaking your mind.

They listen attentively, carefully noting down your points and concerns.

Then they answer your question.

And without fail, it is exactly what you need to hear. The answers they provide are, of course, perfectly reasonable and logical, and you can now see why things are the way they are. You feel relief wash over you, as you now know that nothing was wrong, it has just been a misunderstanding, or a misinterpretation.

Then you stand with a smile, thank them for their help, and you depart, now more firm in your convictions in your belief in the civilization and society of the Order of Snoke than ever before. And when you see another with doubts, you will reassure them that the Order makes no mistakes, and you will guide them to the same people who helped you.

A beautiful resolution, would you not say?

Pay no attention to the robed men who silently observe you across the one-way glass.

Pay no attention to the hand motions of the official sitting opposite you.

Don't worry about the drink they provide for you, it will help you relax.

Don't worry if you forget certain details that day. It's nothing, you can be assured of it.

Ah, it is beautiful, is it not? Such an elegant system.

One which does require certain sacrifices to maintain itself.

But they are sacrifices for the greater good.

For a perfect society.

Utopia.

Would you not agree?

Perhaps ponder that question, reader.

What would you do to achieve utopia?

xxx

ON FAITH

To seize the mind is to seize the people.

To seize the spirit is to seize the nation.

The Acolytes of the Beyond yet persist. The faith that spawned Supreme Leader Snoke permeated First Order society, as it now does the Order of Snoke. The religion exalts the past and heralds the future – an understanding that the winds of fate are guided by the dark side of the Force. The people are taught this truth and it cements their conviction in the righteousness of the Order of Snoke and the society they have built.

The Jedi – in their profound ignorance – would call them a 'Sith cult,' completely ignoring the lack of any Sith teachings or idolatry. Are they a cult? That label is born of suspicion and disdain more than academic categorization. The Acolytes of the Beyond are a religious order that espouses the virtues of strength in the dark side of the Force. They are an organic sect formed out of whole cloth without input from the Sith or their legends, they are the darkness in its most primal understanding.

Most would categorize the Acolytes of the Beyond as a 'state religion,' a concept which is quite amusing when taken into the context of what that means. There are no laws mandating worship, nor promotion of the faith. Yet there are shrines, congregations, and the Acolytes themselves.

Of their own volition, communities build statues and create art. They gather at shrines to participate in the worship. Before each meeting, administrators bow their heads in supplication to the Beyond. Stormtrooper legions perform prayers together, with officers bestowing the blessing of the Beyond upon them.

Calling it a 'state religion' implies that there is a division between religion and society. That there is a question on if there is anything else worth believing. That there would be those who don't believe.

No, this is no state religion.

It is something deeper.

In the Order, there are no nonbelievers. Belief contributes to the maintenance of the state, to do otherwise is to embrace anarchy. If the Asha-Krataa and the Ministry of Guidance guide the mind, the Acolytes guide the soul; maintainers of spirituality and keeping the faithful on the correct path.

So, what do they believe?

Despite its prominence in First Order history and modernity, very few of the faithful actually understand the scripture outside the Acolytes themselves. They hold secret knowledge and disseminate this knowledge to people who would otherwise misinterpret the holy words. Imagine if one blind to the Force attempted to divine its secrets? Some might succeed, as evidenced by Professor Gndaa's seminal work, "On the Unknown Force," but how many others would be led astray and completely misconstrue the truth?

Indeed, if not even those who use this power can understand its deepest complexities, what hope do those blind to it have?

So it is with the Corollary of Ochi, written in an ancient and forgotten tongue that only the Acolytes of the Beyond have managed to divine. It tells stories of ancient philosopher kings and queens, immune to disease and time, with intellect unrivaled, strength unchallenged, and vision unquestioned.

Through the Corollary, they believe that all life is slaved to the Force, swept up in the currents of a mighty river that only those strong in the dark side can arrest. It is apropos. It aligns with what the Sith have long-believed. For those of us who command the darkness, there is no fate but what we make for ourselves. But most cannot feel the Force as we do, and are powerless in its wake.

So the faith of the people binds them further to their leaders – and each other. The Order of Snoke is seen as a necessary secular structure to fully embrace the dictates of the Corollary, and thus, it receives the Acolytes' full support. The leader of the faith sits upon the Supreme Council, their voice equal to all others who guide the Order of Snoke into the future.

But why, you may ask, why would Snoke – or indeed the modern Order – bother with such a religion in the first place? Few see the Force as something religious, and indeed many Jedi and Sith are full adherents to a secular ideology because they view the Force as something akin to a natural law. The spirituality of the Force is something that has been lost in the wider galaxy, and it can boast no religious devotees beyond a few scattered cultures and peoples.

The answer is belief.

Building a society purely on secular foundations is one that introduces a risk for the greater state. If logic dictates action, if people respond purely to what they know and understand, they may find the answers that are given unsatisfactory.

Belief is the solution, for belief creates faith.

For certain, you can have faith in something without a religious context – yet the secular equivalent has the same pitfalls as a secular system, for once the answers are proven to be hollow, faith collapses. Yet by having something greater, something inherently unknowable, can faith maintain belief.

And belief instills devotion.

Devotion instills loyalty.

Too few people understand the power of belief and faith. The power of something intangible, but which can drive a nation and people to do things logical minds would dismiss. Look at the vong, whose religion drove them to put their bodies through utter torment for the appeasement of their gods. It is irrational, foolish, and self-destructive – yet their belief demands it, and so they do so without complaint or question.

The situation in the Order is slightly different, in that there are no gods per se, but the Acolytes and the leaders of the Order themselves take on the mantle. They are not divine, but are empowered by the supernatural and given the mandate.

Do you believe that these rituals and worship are just empty words given in supplication?

No, reader, belief is a very real – and powerful – thing.

It is something the Acolytes learned to harness long ago. To channel the utter belief of the people, their devotion to the faith into something tangible. Energy offered willingly. When their blood is offered, when they leave the worship feeling tired, this is not mere coincidence. Their belief empowers.

Are the blessings that the Acolytes bestow upon them false? Have there not been Stormtrooper Legions that have marched for days unending while blessed by an Acolyte to let them push through the storms? Have workers not received a rush of clarity and energy in their flagging spirits when an Acolyte's words reminded them why they serve the Order?

Of course, you can discern the mechanics behind these feats and miracles. Perhaps I am dispelling this illusion, but you are hardly someone to be solely enamored by faith.

Or are you?

I find such a questionable pursuit, but I cannot claim to know all. Perhaps there is something more to the beliefs of the Acolytes than I believe. But that is a choice, a decision that I cannot make for you, reader.

You must decide what you believe for yourself.

xxx

ON THE ASHA-KRATAA

Even amongst Sith worlds there is need for a secular authority. An apparatus that handles the everyday needs of billions. The civilian bureaucracy ensures the society itself is well-maintained. It ensures there is food, water and electricity. That every need – from infrastructure maintenance to resource extraction – is looked after in an efficient manner. That every citizen understands their place and understands their future.

If you have read this far, you might be forgiven for wondering how such a society was created with the seeming consent of everyone involved. That there is a missing element; that the utopia described is almost too perfect.

Everything works too well.

Everyone is too devoted.

Let us ask a more fundamental question.

How does one mold a society? Each nation has certain characteristics and organs that are universal to each. One of which is internal security and policing. Depending on the government type, such organs can range from lax to overbearing. Many in the decadent Core might see the worlds under Order of Snoke aegis as virtual prisons. From the outside looking in, many would look upon them with shock and horror. They would see a 'brainwashed and mindless people.'

With what you have read, would you really describe them in this way?

The people of these worlds would surely disagree. Go to any of the colonies and look around and what do you see? You see a microcosm of Supreme Leader Snoke's vision for the perfect society. Clean air and water. Pristine natural spaces. Ordered structures and an efficient society of people organized to their fullest potential. All things that have been discussed before.

And such people call these citizens insane and enslaved for believing in the system and the Order?

Perhaps you do?

Perhaps, despite all that has been said, the Order that has been created is a nightmare, one where thought, word, and deed is molded and crafted to serve the state? Perhaps you value your freedom, and see its absence here as abhorrent and intolerable?

Stop.

Ask yourself one question.

What gives you the right to impose your view on them?

How little respect you have for the divergent that you assume that these people want anything else. Do you believe they lie? That they do not believe? That they are unhappy? Can you not conceive of a society that diverges from your own ideals?

You are better than that.

Let us return to the colonies. I have described in detail what you will see, what you will expect, what you will receive.

What else do you see, or should I say, what do you not see? Ever-present police. There simply are none. How can this be? How can worlds holding millions of sapients operate without any sort of law enforcement? How does one maintain such unerring loyalty amongst the populace?

Ah, reader, here we come to dispel the illusion.

A necessary step, though I confess that I have enjoyed weaving this tale for you. No, but the truth here is important.

Would it surprise you to know that the Order of Snoke is, in fact, not quite as united as I have implied?

That its bonds of community are weaker than portrayed?

That the faith of the people can waver?

That sometimes people wish something more than a life of devotion to the state?

Even utopia is not free of flaws. It is not free of dissidents.

One might ask the question of why. After all, they are given everything they would need to prosper and thrive – from full state education to guaranteed state employment. Yet there are those who still rebel at the idea of society. Those who seek only anarchy – or so the internal propaganda goes. In truth, they may seek many things. A certain ideal of freedom, of choice. Perhaps adventure. It matters not, for they are a sickness, a cancer.

For them, the only cure is the 'Asha-Krataa.'

Those amongst you familiar with Old Sithese will recognize the term as 'victory over death.' It is rare to find such overt Sith imagery within the Order of Snoke, which should be the first clue about their origin. The Asha-Krataa were the brainchild of Darth Maladi, their conception based on the tenants of Sith Intelligence and Assassination – the agency she headed under Darth Krayt's leadership. She established a shadow organization to monitor Order of Snoke societies for disruptive elements.

Most believe that powerful Force-sensitives are sent to the Heralds. That only a few have been deemed powerful enough to become initiated into this order, for why else are there so few of them?

The truth is that the majority of such individuals enter the Asha-Krataa.

Each member is Force-sensitive without exception, and each specializes in telepathy. There is no dissent on these worlds because no seditious ideas can be hidden. What is the price of a perfect society? It is a world of hidden eyes and ears. Crime is negligible, to the point that there are no prisons. Can you imagine? You who read my words likely came from a place where crime was common in one way or another. Can you even imagine your home without crime?

The citizens of the Order of Snoke walk around without fear from their fellow citizens. The Asha-Krataa protect them from the cancers that promulgate elsewhere. Is it any wonder so many on the fringes of the Imperium chose Snoke over Draco? Sedition is a capital offense in the Imperium, and there is no greater sedition than secession. These people saw something beautiful in the regimented ways of the First Order and embraced it.

The brave men and women of the Asha-Krataa patrol the worlds under Order of Snoke control, rooting out subversive elements and maintaining societal purity at every level. They have sacrificed their lives in an attempt to improve the lives of their fellow citizens. They have no histories, they have no futures, they have no names. They exist only for the cause. Only to ensure the smooth leadership of the Supreme Leader.

Who are they? Would you recognize them? Some are conspicuous while others are hidden in plain sight.

You will not find them, for they know when you look.

Even if you did, do you think you would remember them?

They are administrators. They are Stormtroopers. They are mechanics. They are neighbors. They are family. They are everywhere, and yet they are also nowhere.

They will participate, they will sing, they will laugh, they will be as much a part of society as everything else in the Order. Yet they will also be listening, not merely to the words from your lips, but the thoughts from your mind. When necessary, they guide and nudge, they create and erase.

When faith wanes, they remove doubt.

When questions arise, they provide surety.

When grief overwhelms, they provide comfort.

When dissent festers, they purge it.

See, reader, you may view the Asha-Krataa as something to be feared. As agents and assassins. Perhaps that was what Darth Maladi intended, but she was a Sith with her mind stuck in the old ways. The Asha-Krataa have been elevated to something else. They never kill, for why would they do so when all the people need is guidance?

Why would they remove people when all they want is clarity?

Why would they punish when with a thought they can be returned to the proper path?

The Asha-Krataa are the soft blanket which covers the people within the Order. You need not fear the Asha-Krataa, and if you fear, that will fade from your mind eventually. Do not think of them as an outside force that enforces society in the desired state. No, they are not architects, they, along with the rest of the people, are servants in the grand design.

They are as essential an element to the people as community and faith, for both of those they maintain.

But the people do not know.

And if they wondered, they will be certain to forget soon enough.

Ask a citizen of the Order about the Asha-Krataa and they will be confused because they've never heard of them before. Spend enough time there yourself and you may find your own memories fading over time.

Ignorance is bliss in a true utopia.

xxx

ON RELATIONS BETWEEN THE SITH ORDERS

There is little to say that has not already been said as it relates to the Order of Snoke and their relations with the Order of Krayt. They remain staunch allies even within the Sith Collective, and there are no signs of fracturing or discontent. For the sake of brevity, I will not repeat myself on this matter. I will instead refer you to the chapter on the Order of Darth Krayt.

Beyond Krayt, Snoke has notably little interaction with the other Orders. Only two are of note: Jadus and Vitiate. The Order of Jadus is allowed to operate within Snoke territory, with the Orders sharing psychological expertise and training between Jadus-trained spies and the Asha-Krataa. This manifests in occasional joint operations to suppress certain problematic elements that arise in either's territory. As for the Order of Vitiate… that one is less clear. There is a definite respect between the leaders of each Order, but the reasons for this are unknown to outside observers.

As for the other Orders, they are relatively neutral – viewing Snoke as another Order in the Collective. An ally, but a distant one. That said, I would be remiss in ignoring those that are actively at odds with Snoke: Plagueis and Palpatine. At first glance, there would seem to be no reason for them to abhor one another. So why the animosity?

If you have paid attention, reader, you should be able to answer this for yourself.

Plagueis and Palpatine venerate the myth of the Galactic Empire and view Snoke and the First Order as upstarts attempting to build a warped and impure caricature of that glorious myth – which you may recall is the same justification for their animosity toward Krayt. Members of the Order of Snoke are just as willing to sneer at the old myth, pointing out – correctly at times – the gross inefficiency of the old Empire and the vanity of Emperor Palpatine. They view the First Order as a superior incarnation of not only the Galactic Empire of old, but the modern Fellan Imperium as well.

Whether this will move past barbed words in the future is an open debate. At the moment, the Orders are content to ignore each other and focus their energies against the Jedi – as it should be.

xxx

ON THE SUPREME COUNCIL

The Supreme Council is composed of the leaders of each branch in the Order's governing body. At the head of the Council is the Supreme Leader. The Supreme Leader is always drawn from the Supreme Council, elected by the others to serve for life as their Head of State and Commander in Chief.

You may have noticed I did not specify that they were 'drawn from the Force-users of the Council.' This is key, and something else wholly unique to the Order of Supreme Leader Snoke – the Supreme Leader can be Force-blind. That means that there can be a Force-blind member of the High Council of the Sith Collective. In fact, it has happened twice already, and in living memory. I remember the last, a man named Grier Sego. His presence was titanic and no one – save our Lady – could cow this man. I will repeat what I have said previously: never underestimate the Force-blind of Snoke.

Grier Sego was the predecessor of the current Supreme Leader, Nathis Ren. Nathis was Grier's chosen successor – while the Council chooses their own Supreme Leader, they have never rejected a chosen successor on the rare occasions one is picked.

I've spoken of the Council's makeup, but let us dive into the minutia of their responsibilities. The Council maintains the labyrinthian bureaucracy that dictates life within the Order of Snoke. They have the penultimate say on all military matters and deal with foreign diplomacy, generally when dealing with the Sith Collective or the Order of Darth Krayt.

Resolutions are passed and then approved or rejected by the Supreme Leader. For the most part, the Council deals with high-level issues, relying on planetary governors and sector moffs to handle political operations. It is the same with the conventional military elements, while the military Councilors are themselves generals, admirals, and the like, they rely on their subordinates to maintain military cohesion and discipline, and they in turn rely on the noncommissioned officers to do the same.

Such a system runs the risk of devolving into a corrupt and bloated instrument, but the ingrained meritocratic structure as well as internal investigative bodies prevents widespread graft. A commendable achievement that most militaries would be envious of, though for the Order of Snoke, with their relatively small armed force, it is a matter of pragmatic survivalism.

Now, given their importance to the Order, it is only right that we go into detail on who each of them are.

Feel free to rest your eyes, reader. Meditate and reflect, for I know this chapter has been long and draining. Do not worry, this part will still be here, and I suspect you will find these men and women most interesting.

xxx

ON TALALI PRYDE, ALLEGIANT GENERAL

The great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Allegiant General Enric Pryde, Talali is a shrewd and formidable woman. Brought up by a distinguished military family, she has risen through the ranks of the Order to claim what she and others of the Pryde clan view as their family's birthright.

Perhaps it is, but nothing in the Order of Snoke is ever handed out – Enric Pryde had dealt with the nepotism of the Imperium, and his hatred of it led to the codification of its criminalization. Everyone must prove themselves; it matters not if they have famous parents or they themselves are the famous one – they must be the best, and continue to be the best.

For a Pryde to be anything but the best would be an intolerable shame – the family has too much pride, if you'll pardon the pun. Talali was top of her class. She served with distinction as a Stormtrooper before transferring into the officer corps. Her leadership skills have revamped the military structure of the First Order Stormtrooper divisions – a greater emphasis on logistics has taken root since her ascension.

The core of these reforms began with an exhaustive investigation into the Third Imperial Civil War – the first that had taken place. While lessons had been taken by the First Order following their defeat, it was never conducted in the style of a true postmortem. Every battle, decision, leader, and unit was examined, appraised, and judged, all to create a picture of where and how the First Order had failed – and where they could improve.

One might think that several hundred years would mean that the Order would naturally course-correct, but you would be very wrong. The results of the report highlighted that many of the same flaws and inefficiencies remained in the Order of Snoke – something which Talali presented directly to Supreme Leader Sego. She, together with the Commander of the Knights of Ren at the time, Nathis, was charged with addressing these concerns.

It was during this period of years that both Talali and Nathis became enamored of each other and wed shortly before Nathis took control of the Order of Snoke. One can imagine their closeness was forged due to a shared vision for the Order, and their full belief in it. There is chatter amongst the people that they might attempt to create a dynasty that would alter the Order of Snoke irrevocably. Are they? Perhaps, perhaps not. If the meritocracy remains intact, what does it matter? Even a chosen heir can be a great figure second to none.

Since her ascension to Allegiant General, she has taken control of the Red Sun, flagship of the Order of Snoke, and successor to the Supremacy commanded by Snoke himself. She has also begun oversight of a second significant report. The first was learning the lessons of the past, and how to correct them.

This one will be to prepare for the war of the future – and how to win it.

xxx

ON RAZA NOED, GRAND MOFF OF THE FIRST ORDER

Holding the highest civil authority beneath the Supreme Leader himself, Grand Moff Raza Noed is a wily figure and a cunning political operator. It is a special person who can manage the many interests and priorities of the worlds of the Order of Snoke, and she in particular is able to do so without the need for a large staff which is endlessly delegated with minor tasks. There is, admittedly, a reason for this.

She was once a member of the Asha-Krataa before shifting toward a career in the Order's bureaucracy.

Her career in the Asha-Krataa was exemplary but without distinction – or so the official line goes. Transitions from the Asha-Krataa, for any reason, are rare, and this particular fact is not known to the rank and file within the bureaucracy itself – let alone to the common people. Of course it wouldn't, for they do not know the Asha-Krataa exists.

It is worth asking the question: why would such a woman be placed in such a high position? Why expand the influence of the Asha-Krataa even further if they are fulfilling their jobs to the letter?

I have little incentive to cover for the Order of Snoke or their esteemed leadership. I can only speculate, but there are two potential reasons for this. The first is because of actions she undertook when she transitioned from the Asha-Krataa to her first governorship.

Noed is primarily known for her actions as governor of Lothal, where she fully integrated the Asha-Krataa as an arm of the planetary government. Prior to this, the Asha-Krataa were more independently controlled through intermediaries of the Supreme Leader. Most leaders would not cede power to their subordinates, but the Order of Snoke is committed to its meritocracy, and its leaders are willing to experiment.

Or so the official line goes. An experiment. One that I truly doubt Noed implemented on her own initiative. Perhaps she conceptualized the idea, but she certainly received permission from former-Supreme Leader Sego. I suspect this was Sego's infamous foresight at work, as he gave her his blessing in the endeavor and watched Noed's progress closely.

When it was shown to be significantly more effective, he decreed that the Asha-Krataa as a whole would be integrated in similar manners across their territory. Why was this done? I suspect because the Asha-Krataa are integral to the continuance of the Order of Snoke – and Sego was preparing for the coming war, and the more integrated the Asha-Krataa are, the easier it will be to integrate the populations of conquered worlds into the Order.

That is one reason for her promotion. The second is more… ominous.

It perhaps indicates that control over the thoughts and minds of the population is not quite as strong as the Order would prefer. The elevation of one of the Asha-Krataa into a bureaucratic position implies that they are failing to necessarily keep the population on the correct path, and drastic measures are to be taken.

Noed is said to be innovative and iron-willed, but those traits alone are not enough to justify her transfer – let alone her elevation. No, no one ordinary is elevated to Grand Moff. Not unless they are exceptional in some way – and Noed is exceptional in that, no matter what the true reason for her elevation is, she is preparing to transition the Order of Snoke to a truly galactic civilization.

One wonders if her elevation came at the suggestion of Nathis or Talali – both of whom are looking to the inevitable war. Like the Third Imperial Civil War, there will be citizens who resist on conquered worlds, and the Order of Snoke will find themselves having to deal with them. With Noed at the helm, it is quite likely that when war comes, the civilians of conquered worlds will be far more easily pacified.

Regardless, the citizens of the Order of Snoke can enjoy the unprecedented prosperity and security that Noed has brought since her ascension – for it is not like they would be permitted to think anything else.

xxx

ON TOVA REN, COMMANDER OF THE KNIGHTS OF REN

There have been many Commanders of the Knights of Ren over the centuries. There have been assassins so secretive that they infiltrated the halls of Coruscant with none the wiser. There have been towering warriors, who have slain thousands in glorious combat, who have crushed Jedi under their heel and stood down armies. There have been strategists of utter brilliance that have turned sure defeats into triumphant conquests.

The Commanders are defined by the role they find themselves molded into, guided by the Supreme Leader, Asha-Krataa, and Acolytes of the Beyond. No Commander is ever the same, there are a thousand small nuances to each – even if they all wear the robes, and wield the crossguard saber.

Though even this is unique. It is true that each Commander has wielded the same hilt for centuries now – reforged after its theft by the Shartan dynasty – but it would be a mistake to believe there is no means of making it their own. The Commanders might not have forged the hilt, but they have made the journey to Exegol, and to the buried crystal caverns below. The color is never set, and is determined by the crystal forged by the Commander in question.

So now let us ask – what defines Tova Ren?

Faith.

It is atypical, but certainly not something to judge – especially considering her history. Imagine a young twi'lek child living as a slave under a hutt overlord. She was merely a girl at the time, and her gift had only just begun to manifest, and her parents feared she would be taken away, so they did everything they could to protect her – and get her to safety.

Fate would ordain that one of the Order's spies learned of the girl, and approached the parents with an offer – they did not know if they could trust the mysterious stranger, but they handed the girl over, and she was brought to the Order of Snoke. Within this society she was raised, and she was told of her past, where she had come from.

This was what committed her to the faith of the Acolytes. For what were the chances that the right person would just so happen to come to her nameless world and rescue her from the horror that was fated for her? She does not seem to follow the conventional belief of the Acolytes, rather, she elevates the Force itself rather than the dark side alone. Yet she is too committed for anyone to really interfere with her evangelizing.

Her power in the Force only grew as she was taught to harness it, and she demonstrated a particular talent for healing – becoming one of the foremost innovators in the field. When she was ready, the Acolytes of the Beyond welcomed her into their ranks with open arms. Together with her peers, she has developed new rituals and blessings that endow protection and healing upon others. She has ministered all across the Snoke territory, and her face is more known to the public than any Commander of the Knights of Ren before her.

There are none who are more committed than Tova Ren to the Order of Snoke, and the idealistic vision of it. She can often be found, not in isolated meditation or in dueling arenas, but within the community. Healing the sick, instructing children, singing in the choirs, and preaching to the people. She is more than a leader, she is a fixture in the wider community of the Order of Snoke, beloved in a way that few beyond the Supreme Leader ever achieve.

Let me not downplay her own martial capabilities, however. She may not be a deadly assassin on par with Beolo, a duelist who can match Kylo, or have the omnipotent dominance of Rey – but I doubt there have been any who have had her sheer charisma. Tova can inspire others in ways the Commanders never have before, and with her own powers, ensure that neither she nor her people will ever fall.

Do you remember the world where she came from? She returned there – along with the full military might of the Order. The hutt master, along with the slavers were executed in a grand ceremony, by the emerald blade of her weapon. And she found her parents alive, staring in awe at what their daughter had become.

She was happy they were alive, for she could show them the correct path, and introduce them to her perfect society and community. For reasons unknown, it is said they resisted this at first, but gradually – over time – she personally made them see the light, so to speak. Today, they are proud citizens of the Order of Snoke – and they are proud of their daughter, whose name is spoken throughout it.

xxx

ON FONNA VE, EMBODIMENT OF THE VISION

Allow me to paint a picture, dear reader. Imagine you work in the labyrinthine bureaucracy of the Galactic Alliance. You 'push paper' day in and day out. You came into this with wide-eyed ambition and idealism – you wanted to help people in a meaningful way. Yet after all this time, you see only waste and hardship.

You see a system designed to help people be subverted into a mechanism of harm and graft. You see the truth in the system and you are powerless to stop it or confront it. Your coworkers have given up. Your superiors are complicit. Your leaders are only interested in their own power.

You are a dead thing, molded by dead power, surrounded by dead men.

Yet you do not want to die.

You cling to a sliver of your soul.

Then, one day, you snap. You leave everything behind and flee to the Outer Rim – the one place free from the red tape and corruption. Things are simpler out there, but also more brutal in a way. And it is in this rugged corner of the galaxy that you find hope in something new. Something better.

That was the case for Fonna Ve.

She saw the waste and misery the system produced and felt powerless against it. As an iktotchi, she could glimpse the truth behind the honeyed words of her superiors – lies laid bare as she touched their thoughts. She felt the hopelessness and dreariness from her colleagues. She felt the despair of the people.

Imagine Coruscant, reader. Do you truly believe that the majority of its people are happy?

Now imagine that their minds were exposed to you, and you could sense the despair of trillions of minds at once. There is a reason that iktotchi require special training to block out other minds before they visit any world with a large urban population – otherwise most iktotchi kill themselves after only months.

She fled this misery, and found the Order of Snoke in her travels.

Imagine the culture-shock of leaving the ineffective Galactic Alliance and seeing with your own eyes the efficiency and equity on display in any Order of Snoke city – some of you will have an easier time imaging than others, I suspect. She found a society that functioned. A bureaucracy that uplifted people. She found purpose.

No, more than purpose, she found a society that she knew was happy.

And she wanted to play a part in ensuring they were happy – forever.

Once acclimated to this society, Ve joined the Asha-Krataa and began her meteoric career as one of society's most essential caretakers. The Asha-Krataa has prospered as a result. Seven years ago, Fonna Ve was elevated to the top leadership position and since then, the organization has only expanded. Truly, only one who has seen the worst in the galaxy could foster something so pure.

For so long, she had seen only misery, stagnation, and abuse be heaped upon the people. Their minds cluttered by scattered and half-formed thoughts. They were plagued by doubts, uncertainties, and a thousand small miseries. With a wave of her hand, she has erased all such – for that gets in the way of happiness.

The Asha-Krataa had always brought such as a secondary mission, but under Ve, she has made it their primary one. One day, unhappiness, misery, and dreariness will be expunged from civilized languages, for they serve no purpose.

Ve shall make the people of the Order of Snoke content and happy.

Forever.

xxx

ON HRO, MINISTER OF TRUTH

The spiritual successor of General Hux, Minister Hro is – regrettably – a man without a voice. Born to poor farmers on Altora, Hro was born with a genetic condition that rendered him deaf. In a more well-to-do family, he might have received a mechanical implant or even gene-therapy. Instead, he was forced to watch a world with no sound, destined to be forgotten to the annals of history.

So how does he lead the Ministry of Guidance? This esteemed institution that refines and disseminates some of the finest propaganda in the galaxy? The one which is essential to the continued existence of the Order of Snoke?

Sheer, indomitable will.

Despite his condition, his family was able to overcome. His parents learned Imperial Standard Sign-Language and taught it to him before teaching him to read. A curious child, he spent hours each night after his daily chores poring over the HoloNet for information on history and culture. He was most fascinated by the spoken word and the ability to move the masses. He downloaded and memorized dozens of transcribed proclamations and speeches from General Hux as well as other orators.

His inability to do the same was frustrating, until he realized that the spoken word was not the only weapon in a propagandist's armory.

Social media and memes, fads and trends, politics and religion. Anything and everything could be altered and adapted to serve the state or an individual. How quickly law-abiding civilians could turn to a bloodthirsty mob. How stone-cold atheists could become fanatical cult followers. How people could forget the truth when bombarded with lies. These observations fascinated him, as it dawned on him that it mattered not if one side had more people, money, or weapons – it meant nothing if they could not secure the minds of those who used or followed them.

It formed the foundation for his philosophy that would eventually lead him to the Order of Snoke – and the position he now holds.

His parents scrapped and scraped until they could afford to send him off-world to Revyia, to join the Tyia Academy of Arts. When he arrived, in his best clothes, he was beset by the jibes of other students who ridiculed his rustic garb and disability. He hated them, but turned that hate into focus and set about trouncing these well-bred and well-dressed Imperials.

And he did.

He was top of his class, time and again.

But the ridicule continued, though he did not take such abuse lying down, no, he did not ignore the jibes, instead he observed the snobbish elite students. He watched them. He noted their patterns and mindsets. He gathered information – and turned that information against them. With carefully shared fabrications, through proxy accounts, he retaliated through rumors and the word.

A word said or mentioned to the right person set the gossip train alight. Private messages under pseudonyms to administrators or friends of those who tried to ruin him. Slight accusations, ones of embezzlement, more serious ones, such as rape or murder. It was a careful fabrication of truth and lies, and the result was that they became tainted.

Because he understood that truth was not necessarily what was real. Truth was what it was perceived to be.

Accusations were thrown around of course, between various families, friends of them, and for a brief time the entire university was embroiled in scandal. And no one suspected the rustic mute boy who simply watched the chaos, fanning the flames when necessary, but largely letting the fire he had started burn on its own.

And yet, it wasn't enough. Others, far less deserving, were still given preferential treatment. In the Fellan Imperium, it is often who you are or who you know that determines success. It embittered young Hro, who knew the limits of what he could do – and one thing he could never change was his class. To the elite, he would always be lesser.

Despite this, he graduated with honors and received doctorates in xenopsychology and xenosociology, but found little interest in his résumé within Imperium society. The experience with the true face of the Imperium – the nepotism and elitism – disillusioned him. His belief in the necessity of empire was stronger than ever, yet he only saw flaws in the Imperium.

He resigned himself to his fate and turned back to the HoloNet – his perpetual companion and the only place he felt he could exert control and reside within without judgment – trying to seek out something better. There were a number of societies he held some fondness for. From the Mandalorians, to Shartan's Militant Order, he looked but found them wanting. While it was taboo in the Imperium, and he kept it to himself, he also held an admiration for the First Order, especially the more he learned. Their meritocracy appealed to him, and he lamented that he had been born too late, as in this empire perfected, perhaps he could succeed.

Alas, Snoke was dead and the First Order defeated.

Or so he thought.

Eventually, his activities on various political chatrooms and forums came to the attention of the Ministry of Guidance. The Recruiters took an interest in young Hro and reached out to him to determine if he would be a worthy addition to the Order of Snoke. After months of back-and-forth conversations and hidden tests, Hro was offered a job at one of the Order's shell companies in Imperial Space and placed in the social media department to work on political articles.

His fervent enthusiasm and hardline First Order leanings made him an essential asset. Within a year, he was working directly with the Ministry of Guidance.

His efforts to expand the First Order political movement on the HoloNet helped fast track him into managerial positions, eventually ending with his ascension to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Guidance. Finally, he had found a place where his talents were fully realized, and he is now one of the most devoted to its idealist vision.

Since taking control, the mission has become altered to align with the intentions of the Supreme Leader to prepare for their proper return to the galaxy – as well as keeping order at home. Cooperation has deepened with the Asha-Krataa, and doctrine has been slightly tweaked to enhance loyalty and patriotism to the community and state.

But Hro also knows the galaxy. He knows it better than most in the Order of Snoke, and he knows that there are trillions who are crying out for something to fill the voids in their hearts and minds.

The underlying philosophies of Snoke are seeing a resurgence throughout the galaxy, carefully encouraged by Hro's efforts to prime the galaxy for their return. Just as the First Order emerged as a political movement, so too will it resurge in a similar way.

His efforts have already born fruit. Sympathetic political movements have been seen in the Galactic Alliance as well as the Techno Union, there are even rumors that breakaway factions in Mandalorian Space ascribe to First Order philosophy. More curiously, such philosophies have found purchase in many labor movements and outlying planets.

Hro knows that the machine that keeps the status quo intact will soon break – and when it does, the Order of Snoke will be there to provide the people what they have always wanted.

xxx

ON KOLTRU, GRAND ADMIRAL OF THE FIRST ORDER

You might have seen a picture of this man – perhaps the bounty posters that appeared a decade ago in the Outer Rim – and done a double-take at his near-tar-black skin and bulbous green eyes. After all, who amongst you can envision one of the Migrant Fleet's most decorated captains defecting to a nominally Sith organization? Well, I would submit this as further evidence that the Order of Snoke is not Sith – and see how they benefit from this.

Grand Admiral Koltru was a captain in the Migrant Fleet, commanding the heavy-carrier Xashii for ten years – serving with distinction in the War Fleet. There was no one more loyal to the Migrant Fleet of Dac than Koltru. So how did he come to join the Order of Snoke? Dear reader, it is a tale of tragedy and triumph.

While Koltru and those beneath him would never hesitate to lay waste to alien worlds and peoples, it is another thing entirely when your own flesh and blood are singled out for judgment.

Koltru had no children of his own, instead waiting for his sister to produce nieces and nephews he could dote upon endlessly. His family wanted for nothing and enjoyed everything the Fleet had to offer, but it still wasn't enough. One day, his sister and brother-in-law were successful, and she laid a clutch of viable eggs. The future nieces and nephews of Koltru were placed in an artificial crèche – as is the custom – and cared for by schools of moappa who tend the eggs and ensure the enclosure's systems are fully functional.

Yet fate would decree that no happiness was to come to their lives, as the ship containing the crèche was attacked by a number of well-armed pirate vessels. The pirates were decimated of course, but not before they damaged the ship – along with the crèche. That alone could be fixed, were it not for a subsequent attack by the Migrant Fleet Underground who judged it as the best time to strike.

The crèche was sabotaged. An increase in heat killed dozens of eggs before life could be experienced. All in an effort to kill the moappa tenders, who the Underground judged as the greatest threat. Nearly all of his sister's eggs were killed, along with many others. The reprisal was swift and harsh – the perpetrators had been caught and punished, but it did not change the fact that the crèche had been decimated.

Only one of his sister's eggs survived – but it had been damaged. When Uwu hatched, she was disfigured and lame. Koltru, knowing the laws surrounding eugenics in the Fleet, used his political capital to protect the child from any government interference. She would be healed, he promised, and her deficiencies would be corrected. The High Admiralty was displeased, but they respected him enough to not interfere as the child grew.

Despite the ostracism she received from her peers, Uwu's life was a happy one. That all changed when – on a field trip – she left the 'protective' field of ysalamiri influence and felt the thrum of the Force in her blood.

It terrified her.

To feel the Force amongst the Dacian peoples is to be an enemy of the state – worthy only of death or enslavement. Given her disabilities, Uwu was destined for the airlock. She kept it secret until she returned to her family and confided in her uncle. In an instant, everything Koltru believed in was called into question because of this child he loved more than any other.

The details of their harrowing escape are not relevant. Koltru took Uwu and her mother and fled the Migrant Fleet – stealing what they could on the way out. From there, they fled from port to port, always one step ahead of the bounty hunters that chased them. And what did they find out in the galaxy? Harsh brutality and prejudice – as expected. But they also found warmth and charity, from aliens no less – quite unexpected. What they saw clashed with the omnipresent propaganda of the Migrant Fleet, only further disillusioning them.

It was in one of these ports that they encountered a disguised recruiter for the Order of Snoke. They offered a new opportunity to these political refugees. Skepticism abounded, but they had little else to cling to – so they accepted. The world they entered was vast and new and familiar in ways while radically different in others. Koltru was enamored by the efficiency he saw in the Order's meritocracy, and of the future Uwu might have in a place that did not discriminate against the infirm or alien.

Koltru offered his services to the navy, as well as certain schematics he had purloined in his escape. The blueprints for the Xashii laid the foundation for the Toleraratis-class assault-carrier that serves as the backbone of every fleet in the Order of Snoke. That contribution alone would be enough to cement his legacy in the Order, and yet it wasn't enough for him to offer stolen goods and information. No. Koltru wanted to contribute himself to this great endeavor.

There is no handholding in the Order of Snoke. An accomplished naval officer who defects to the Order must go through the entire program from the beginning. So it was for Captain Koltru, who was 'demoted' to ensign and forced to climb the ladder of military leadership. What normally takes ten years took him two – at no point was he ever given preferential treatment. The day he became admiral was the day the Order welcomed one of the most gifted military minds into the fold.

When he was elevated to grand admiral and took his seat on the Supreme Council, the galaxy trembled. What once would have led the heathen vessels of the Migrant Fleet to victory, now leads the Order of Snoke in opposition. Black of night and light of stars will determine the future, and Grand Admiral Koltru will bring victory to those who have tasted defeat.

xxx

ON ESYYK, THE SCARLET TORRENT

What does it mean to be Commandant of the Scarlet Legions?

It is not a position that is easily attained, for there are certain aspects to it that are not easily apparent. What you might not have realized, reader, is that the Commandant is always one of the most powerful Force-users in the entire Order of Snoke. They receive additional training and development not normally given to the rest of the Scarlet Legions.

However, to be Commandant is to be in a balancing act.

One must be able to lead the Scarlet Legions with skill and authority, and one also must be an utter terror on the battlefield. When the Commandant takes the field, it should herald the absolute twilight of the conflict. Historically, Commandants were the first into battle, and the last of the survivors.

To be an effective Commandant is to harness the full range of your emotions. Fury, anger, hatred, duty, each of these are drawn upon and used to devastating effect. There are Legionaries who employ this, but this does have the effect of compromising their judgment. One cannot be emotional, and also be expected to impartially lead a department of thousands.

Nonetheless, that is what the Commandant is expected to do.

Enter Esyyk.

He is an atypical recruit. A wookiee, he inherently stands out from the crowd – though in battle, there are few others you would want at your side. Esyyk grew up in the original First Order under Snoke, and when his Force-sensitivity was discovered, there were many who coveted him. Though most believed he belonged in the Scarlet Legions – so that was where he went.

To the surprise of none, he proved to be exceptionally dangerous in the Legion, and there were almost none who could stand up against the sheer power and fury this wookiee brought to bear. However, there were many who believed he was just another savage weapon to be turned loose on an enemy.

Surprisingly though, despite the utter brutality Esyyk rained down upon the enemies of the Legion, he retained a keen strategic mind. His superiors were curious, and took a closer look. As it turned out, he had developed a means of ensuring that his rage did not become toxic to him.

He knew nothing of wookiee tradition or culture beyond their language – how could he when he grew up in the Order? So instead, he developed other means. Like many in the Order, he is strongly religious, and regularly attends the services performed by the Acolytes. He has calming hobbies including artwork, where he channels his remaining emotions into pieces that are a window into the furnace of his heart – depicting gory battlefields, enemies torn limb from limb, and the burning of planets.

This is how he tempers the furnace. It impressed his superiors, who began elevating him – watching carefully if this could be maintained. More and more was asked of him, more and more he was expected to give. More and more he needed to draw out power from the furnace. And yet still he succeeded in never losing himself.

No one else has so perfectly embodied the duality of Fire and Ice.

It is no surprise that he was eventually elevated to Commandant of the Scarlet Legions, a man who in the heat of battle is a torrent of fury and power that not even Jedi can stand against – yet when he strategizes, he becomes coldly focused and allows his tactical mind to work. If you think that you only need fear one part of him, you are gravely mistaken.

I suspect there would be many in the Alliance and Empire who will regret their inability to kill this particular soldier. Esyyk has seen the First Order at its height, and has stuck with it since its fall. He has centuries of experience and leadership now, and he has not grown dull with age – and he has never stopped preparing for the Order's return. There are those who will impose expectations on him, but I would caution against that.

To define Esyyk by one aspect or another is to misunderstand who he is. He is the furnace, and he is the blizzard. You cannot have one without the other.

And should you be unfortunate enough to face either his body or mind, you will come to find this out for yourself.

xxx

ON REM LEZAR, EYES OF THE BEYOND

A zeltron man of insurmountable faith and destiny, Rem Lezar has been a fixture of the Order's religious society since becoming the head of the Acolytes of the Beyond thirty years ago – teaching entire generations of the faithful. Shrewd in political dealings yet empathetic and caring to those most in need, Lezar is a complex figure.

Raised within the Acolytes of the Beyond since birth, one would expect a rigid and dogmatic individual, one who brooks no dissent. This is true, in certain things – the Corollary of Ochi is undeniable truth in his sermons and any faithful who question are heretics – and yet there is a warmth within this man that permeates any who interact with him.

Under his direction, the Acolytes of the Beyond have expanded philanthropic policies aimed at alleviating the suffering and deprivation of the Order's most downtrodden. Any outsider would look at this with confusion. Why would a 'dark side cult' – as they would so sneeringly say – help the unfortunate? Why indeed. It seems to go against the very nature of the dark side and of the teachings of the Sith. But do not forget, the Acolytes are not Sith. And the Order of Snoke does not abandon anyone who can benefit the meritocracy.

While others in the Collective may see poverty as weakness, the Order of Snoke sees it as a societal ill – one which hampers a citizen's ability to contribute to the state. Through the Acolytes of the Beyond, formerly useless citizens are offered an opportunity to stand on their own two feet proudly in service of the state.

Rem Lezar pushed this policy after spending time in the slums on the outskirts of Kijimiko City. A blight and failure of an otherwise outstanding system. He organized the local chapter of the Acolytes and began recruiting locals into the faith. His most prominent outreach was to local children, offering a glimmer of hope in an otherwise desolate upbringing.

With the success of his doctrine in the Order of Snoke, under the charge of the Supreme Leader, he has begun the process of expanding outward.

The beliefs espoused by the Corollary of Ochi are spreading out into the galaxy, most notably in the Outer Rim, but they have found some purchase in surprising places – it is rumored that there are Jedi who have begun taking an interest, as well as Imperial Knights. Just as Hro is to prepare the galaxy for the political ramifications of the Order of Snoke, Rem Lezar is to prepare for the spiritual ramifications.

And there have been many seeds sown across the galaxy.

To understand his success is to understand his abilities – Rem Lezar is a 'Dream-Weaver.' He can influence and manipulate the dreams of others, most-especially children, to guide them on the path of the faithful. There are many places he takes them. In particular, he enjoys taking them to places which no longer exist – having been lost to natural disaster, terrorist attack, or even simple construction dismantlement. Similar in many ways to full-immersion virtual reality, but with the benefit of being completely real – after all, reality is mere perception, and nothing is more true than a dream.

There is nothing more beautiful than the smile of a child who has felt the touch of Rem Lezar.

xxx

ON NATHIS REN, SUPREME LEADER OF THE FIRST ORDER, AND COUNCILOR OF THE ORDER OF SUPREME LEADER SNOKE

In the beginning, Nathis was but one of many in the Order's military machine. His aptitude for combat and his strong connection to the Force led him to join the Scarlet Legions right after secondary school – where he received two doctorates, one in military strategy and another in applied xenopsychology. His career was initially unremarkable, as he spent two years on garrison duties before an opportunity arose for him to join the officer corps.

Yet the meritocracy paid off, and over the next decade, Nathis rose through the ranks of the Scarlet Legions before finally achieving the position of Field Commander – one of the most important positions in the Legion. He worked closely with Commandant Esyyk during this time and the two men formed a strong respect for one another that continues to this day. At the time, there was discussion of moving him directly into a leadership position, perhaps even Commandant – if Esyyk were of a mind to step down, that is.

However, fate intervened as it so often does for men and women of destiny, and Nathis was approached by the Knights of Ren. Now, they did not identify themselves as such – the recruitment process is very opaque, so as to avoid encouraging the candidate to perform better than they normally would – instead, Nathis was given tasks and missions that made sense in the context of his position, but also encouraged him to operate alone. And following these tests, he suddenly found himself in a different arena – that of management and politics.

There was a reason Nathis had gained attention from above – and it wasn't solely due to his own skills and power, which were strong enough that the Heralds were demanding he be transferred to them, fearing that he was wasted potential otherwise. This would have happened – were it not for a direct refusal by Supreme Leader Grier Sego.

And one simply did not ever defy the Supreme Leader – especially not Sego.

The reason for this interest stemmed from conversations Nathis was having with others in his unit, as well as with his superiors. He was constantly looking for ways to refine, improve, and look forward. He did not trust the other Sith Orders, and knew that one day there would be a conflict, and he feared that the Order of Snoke was insufficiently prepared to face the Collective – let alone the rest of the galaxy.

There are no secrets or hidden motives in the Order of Snoke, and the Asha-Krataa relayed this back, expecting to be directed to provide some course correction. However, instead of being offended, Sego was impressed at the man's foresight and perception. From that point on, he took a direct interest in Nathis – because he was one of the few who was willing to challenge in a constructive way.

And in the Order of Snoke, men who challenge are either corrected or marked for greatness. The tests to initiate him into the Knights of Ren were passed, and he was who Sego thought he was. Despite little traditional training in the ways of the Force, Nathis proved more than capable of holding his own against the previous Commander – using unorthodox strategies learned in the Scarlet Legions. To this day, even though he bears a crimson lightsaber, he fights in armor reminiscent of the Scarlet Legions, and will often eschew his saber for the blasters he used for years, guided by the power of the Force.

His induction into the Knights of Ren was followed by a personal meeting with Supreme Leader Sego.

Let there be something understood about Grier Sego – he is a man indomitable, and there are few who embody the ideal of leader more than he. You will never find someone, even outside of the Order of Snoke, who does not respect the man. With impeccable posture and restrained fashion taste, Sego was a unique man in many ways, not least of which for being a nikto – the only non-human Supreme Leader in history – and one blind to the Force.

And despite this, for years he sat on the High Council of the Sith Collective. Not once did he act ill-at-ease, nor did any of the others disparage him. Doubts about such a man were quashed when Darth Timoris attempted to test him – and found him immune to the terror she so casually inflicted. Her aura – which taints the air and has made hardened soldiers weep before her – was endured in stoic silence by Sego.

There are few who have the true respect of Darth Timoris. Grier Sego is one of those people.

He also disliked the Sith. Still dislikes, to this day. This is not a secret. He supports the alliance as a means of convenience, to a greater end, but he views the Order of Snoke as fundamentally different to the rest of the Collective, both organizationally and philosophically. He also sees many of the Orders as unprepared for the responsibilities of ruling a galaxy, whereas the Order of Snoke has a functioning society that currently spans worlds.

Yet he is old, and many were expecting him to abdicate – but he was holding out for the right person. He knew his most consequential decision would be his successor, for they would lead the Order of Snoke to war, and they would succeed or fail. To Sego, he needed someone who knew who the enemies were – and what would be necessary to achieve victory.

Ah, a moment, am I surprising you, reader? That I am speaking so casually of things that seem to be secrets?

Please, it is no secret. We all know that the Collective will end with our victory over the Jedi. It is no great offense that others realize this as well. Put it out of your mind. We are Sith, and there is not enough room in the galaxy for all of us to succeed.

Let us return to the newly knighted Nathis, and his meeting with the Supreme Leader. Sego laid out everything plainly and clearly to the young Knight, and stated his intent to step down in the near-future to pave the way for the person who would lead the Order of Snoke to victory. That person, he said, was Nathis.

Nathis was shocked at this, of course, but took it in stride, and one did not question the Supreme Leader in this way – because it confirmed to him that what he'd believed was true. He did not question, but committed himself to assuming this role. For five years Nathis was groomed by Sego to assume his role.

He grew in importance and power. He became Commander of the Knights of Ren for a time – taking the surname 'Ren' as every Commander had before him. He was among the few who knew the true power of the Order of Snoke – and the vision and mission that drove it. In his own mind, his own vision for how he was going to rule was taking shape – encouraged by the Supreme Leader himself, who wanted him to have such thoughts.

Then, when Sego was satisfied, he stepped down and nominated Nathis Ren to become Supreme Leader of the First Order, and Councilor of the Order of Snoke. Nathis was well-known to the others on the Supreme Council, allowing him to be confirmed almost the same day.

In his inauguration, Nathis stood before millions of the Stormtrooper legions, and millions more citizens who turned out to attend, along with many more listening throughout the worlds of the Order of Snoke. His speech was a herald of things to come – he performed the expected customs, he told his story, he praised Sego, but throughout all of it was an undercurrent; a thread of what he was planning.

The First Order was going to war – and it would be soon.

Once in power, Supreme Leader Nathis Ren wasted little time in undertaking the monumental task of preparing the Order of Snoke properly for this endeavor. He elevated those who shared his vision, altered department missions as needed, and started to influence the galaxy once more. The Fellan Imperium, Galactic Alliance, Sith Collective, Mandalorian Union, all of the galaxy has fallen in his sights, and he is directing the Order of Snoke to prepare for each of them.

The details remain unknown, of course, but I suspect they will be comprehensive, and draw upon the vast talent in the Order of Snoke. Grier Sego still acts as an advisor, and Nathis continues to rely on his advice frequently – but no longer hangs on each word as he initially did.

This shall be his own vision for his people – and he is the harbinger of their victory.

xxx

ON OFFERINGS

I believe that is sufficient.

I commend you, reader, for making it to the end of this particular chapter. I apologize for the length, but I assume that if you have access to these words, you are not one who is intimidated by pages of detail and philosophy. Nonetheless, I acknowledge this was longer than even I am used to – but it was necessary.

The Order of Snoke, or the First Order – whichever you prefer – is unlike anything else in our Sith Collective. A Sith Order that is not Sith. One which elevates the Force-blind so highly. One which has an established society, government, and territory. It is unique, and sadly overlooked by many, even within the Collective.

I hope that I have dispelled this particular illusion.

This is what the Order of Snoke offers to the galaxy – and to you – a political philosophy. It is a government of structure and order. To join the Order of Snoke is to be a part of something greater than yourself. To affect billions within their corner of the galaxy. Those of you reading this might ask: 'what can the Order of Snoke offer me?'

They can offer you much, reader. I cannot anticipate the minds and hearts of each person who will read these words, but I would be surprised if after reading what is offered there isn't at least one amongst you who feels it call to you. Perhaps you have a void in your soul that cannot be filled. Perhaps you desire a true community. Perhaps you wish to enter a society free of prejudice and favoritism.

However, I would contest this is the wrong question to ask, for to join the Order of Snoke is to make a sacrifice. A sacrifice of individual ambition for the greater whole. Asking what can be done for you is, perhaps, not in the best form.

I humbly suggest, dear reader, that you ask instead, what you can offer the Order of Snoke.