Dominus Rising

A Darker Vision

Back after I’d completed work on Starterbook: Wolf and Blake, I had several brainstorm chats with then-line developer Herb. We fleshed out a lot of the ‘hidden’ actions of certain characters within the Word of Blake’s Manei Domini faction, especially that of my (at the time) newly created Opacus Venatori and their multi-layered leader, Berith.

Working with the Jihad timeline we were continually constructing at the time, we formulated a few key events that found their way into the background of later products.

In 2012, shortly before Herb was pushed out of the LD position, we’d begun work on fleshing out the storyline and important faction details that would lead to the 3250 setting we were devising. (Not anymore, mind: that entire idea and setting has since been scrapped, for various reasons I won’t rehash here.)

One of the major points I pushed hard for was the re-emergence of the Word of Blake as a primary foe going into the post-3250 era. That meant an evolution of sorts for the faction, so I sketched out my own thoughts on how that would come to pass.

Casting Light on Shadow

Now that I’m completely severed from the line – and that those story plans have been thoroughly trashed – there’s no harm in sharing what my thoughts and ideas were regarding this defunct bit of worldbuilding, including my perceived take on the fate of Berith, his merry band of villains, and the sinister Word of Blake.

(Note that some of the info here conflicts with later published product. Such is reality versus creative brainstorming.)

Enjoy.

Berith and the Exile: (Originally outlined in 2008; additional details added 2013.)

1. The OV suffers the loss of Portia Thomas during the battle on Gabriel’s moon; a few others are injured, but the unit survives nearly unscathed. (Berith does face down Church again, but to no clear winner. Instead, he uses the opportunity to lure out and kill Stryker, removing the traitor from the Word of Blake’s heart.)

2. Thomas’ loss is not made up during the unit’s subsequent redeployment to Glengarry (mentioned in Berith’s TRO75 notable); Marita takes it personally and begins to whisper her discontent. To her POV, the Opacus MD are getting better treatment and replenishment, while the Venatori “Frails” are getting the shaft. (This isn’t true, per se, but because of Kari’s bitterness, it becomes truth to her.) Her grumblings become more and more frequent.

3. Berith leads his Opacus and assassinates the Bounty Hunter. Shortly afterwards, Berith personally kills Chandresekhar Kurita, who had hired the BH to protect him. Berith commands Kendali to “finish them off,” giving her leave to hunt and kill the remaining members of the Hunter’s crew on the planet. With that command, Berith also orders Kendali to take up the BH’s mantle and to watch for an opportunity in the future to relieve Stone of his life. Kendali becomes the next Bounty Hunter and recruits three loyal Light of Mankind operatives as her team; these operatives voluntarily accept cybernetics and “ascend” into MD-hood. They hunt down and kill all surviving members of the previous Hunter.

4. In 3076, Marita fails in a mission for a critical second; an ambush meant to take out Berith fails only due to the sacrifice of Mi Tomitaki in her Malak, who intercepts the killing shot and dies from internal injuries and brain seizure. Later, as Berith analyzes the data, he notices Marita’s critical failure; coupled with her supposedly quiet whisperings and rumblings, he decides to fix the problem.

5. After long analysis, Berith concludes the Frails of his OV unit are no longer pure and corrupted just like the rest of humanity. (It had been his deep desire to ‘reclaim’ these six without subjecting them to MDism; his ‘social experiment’ has failed.) During a critical point in a battle on Isesaki, he orders his Opacus to execute the Venatori for their treachery to the MD order. Four of the five remaining Hunters die, caught between the Opacus and their enemies. Bryn Rivenschild is severely injured and, because of the extent of his injuries, is welcomed into the Manei Domini. He replaces Tomitaki’s slot within the Opacus. Not surprisingly, none of the Opacus question their leader.

6. Berith meets up with Avitue post-76, filling Kendali’s open slot with the Opacus.

7. At some point, Berith manages to meet with Apollyon for the last time on Gibson, reclaiming Appy’s key and receiving final orders to go into Exile, taking as many of the Filii as possible. He is given command of the remains of the 52^nd, which now numbers less than two Level IIs. After word of Apollyon’s death, Berith takes overall command of the Manei Domini and issues Code Omicron, signaling a massive withdrawal of all MD units from the Inner Sphere.

8. The Opacus is attacked by a hunter squad from the Fidelis on Caph; Achillius manages to lure the squad away from Berith and leads them on a long rabbit trail, which ultimately ends in his and his pursuer’s deaths.

9. Berith is joined by the remains of the 48^th, including Precentor Rimmon. The 48^th brings with them a battered Thera-class WarShip and survivors of the fighting in the Federation. The WarShip becomes a refugee vessel. At this time, however, Berith learns (discovers) of another pursuing Fidelis hunter squad. He gives orders for Avitue and Rimmon to head towards the Capellan hidden world. Berith then disbands his Opacus, giving orders to Rufus to act as the fleeing refugee’s Blakist spiritual advisor (a role he knows well). He also orders Cazer to melt into the population [somewhere where we can sow some chaos between the forming ROTS and Capellan or Marik worlds]. He then reassigns a few MD who are nearer to death (mortal wounds or growing psychosis) to himself and sets out to entrap and kill the Fidelis team.

10. Sometime in 3083-5, Berith manages to escape the clutches of several MD-hunter squads and finally return to the hidden world to carry out Apollyon’s final orders for the Order of Dominus. He brings with him a total of 2-3 more Level IIs of various MDs, most from the shattered 40^th.

11. Kendali, masquerading as the Bounty Hunter, almost manages to assassinate Devlin Stone, failing only due to a faulty detonator circuit. The ensuing blast fails to catch Stone before he finds cover; the Bounty Hunter is killed during her attempted escape, though she manages to wipe out the rest of Stone’s Fidelis bodyguard unit in a massive explosion.

12. Berith undergoes surgery and his VDNI is removed. He declares himself the Shadow Primus, with Avitue designated as Precentor Martial/ROM. The operation is mostly successful, though Berith suffers a stroke shortly after and is confined to a wheelchair. Out of respect for their new leader, all Domini have their VDNI and DNI implants removed as well; less than half of them remain in service as pilots.

13. Cazer manages to link up with several former LIC and ROM operatives now displaced from The Republic’s new intelligence services. The group forms the Curaitis Organization, designed to “watch the watchers.” Cazer slowly builds her own secret network, funneling information back to Berith and the hidden Domini.

14. In the mid-90s, the Word of Blake transfers most of its leadership and core functions to the Eryines. It still maintains a presence on the last remaining Hidden world, deep underground. The Eryines and its escort of WarShips moves periodically across the Periphery, mostly through systems that were charted by IE and classified as dead.

15. In 3101, Berith dies from another stroke. However, his Triple Core Processor remains active and is removed from his body. The TCP is attached to a mainframe and is revered as an oracle. The new Shadow Primus, Coraline, takes the Ascended name of Anahel and begins expanding the MD’s shadow network of intelligence through the Curaitis Organization and IE (through several dummy corporations and shell organizations). The Shadow Oracle, as Berith’s alternate AI comes to be known, now functions as a key advisor to the transformed leadership group. Over the decades, the Oracle’s AI is merged with that of the Eryines‘ internal network.

16. The transformed Word of Blake remains dormant and slowly evolves, preparing for an eventual emergence post-3250, after the Third League collapses with internal strife and violence, partially instigated by the shadow empire.