I would like to express my appreciation for the hard work of HA Jarek La’an while serving as our Communications Officer (COMM). Many of our members have seen his presence across our various Discord servers. What they typically don’t see is the amount of work that goes into the role behind the scenes, tirelessly working to ensure our communication platforms are maintained in a civil manner and mediating interpersonal conflicts when they occur.

With HA La’an’s transition, we are currently seeking applicants for the position of COMM. Applicants should be familiar with the recently updated position description for the COMM (https://wiki.emperorshammer.org/Communications_Officer) which now has a greater level of detail regarding duties and responsibilities. (This refined position description goes along with an update to the EH Code of Conduct and Articles of War, to be published in the near future.)

The most successful applicants will:

• Have a history of a high level of presence on Emperor’s Hammer Discord servers.

• Have a demonstrated history of conduct that is consistent with the duties of the COMM, including possessing a high degree of interpersonal tact and the ability to effective communicate across multiple points of view and Subgroups.

• Have a strong knowledge of Emperor’s Hammer processes and procedures.

The COMM is a primary Emperor’s Hammer Command Staff (EH CS) position organized within the Internet Office. This is a fleet-wide leadership position, and to eliminate potential conflicts of interest the selectee will be prohibited from assuming other command roles within any Subgroup during their tenure. The COMM also maintains privileged-level access to Emperor’s Hammer systems, and as such is considered a position of trust. The prospective individual selected as COMM will be subject to verification of ID and suitability screening prior to final appointment.

Interested individuals should email applications directly to me no later than Monday, 26 May. Applicants are encouraged to explain why they are interested in the position, and how they would perform the duties and responsibilities of the position. I will reply to all applications to confirm receipt.

I'm also happy to respond to any questions about this vacancy announcement.

For months on end, WAR TheBlackxRanger has been a constant force in the Galaxy of Heroes corner of the Secret Order, pushing content, hyping the game, and making sure no one missed a beat. With over 7,500 Discord messages, nearly 3,500 focused just on Galaxy of Heroes, he's been more than active; he's been everywhere.
From taking over the Marquee Events, providing regular updates, to helping drive hype across the whole Order, his efforts made the game a shared experience. Behind the scenes, he helped the MAA’s office run smoothly as a Competition Planner, in-official Game Lead and major hand in shaping Territory War-Competitions; not to mention his key role in the Cluster of Fire-Support proposal.
As he now moves to the Rogues, we give a final, well-earned thank you. For everything you've done, for the game, the MAA, and the community, you’ve more than earned this.
The Emerald Dagger joins your collection. Wear it with pride, Warden, you’ve left your mark.

The time has come again for us to renew the Virtual Private Server... This happens every 3 years at about this time. This is a significant cost to absorb so that we can enjoy the speed and reliability our current website.

Last time this happened I asked for donations and several of you stepped up.

I am asking again.

If you wish to donate you can do it via Venmo or Paypal.

Venmo - @Bill-MacVicar
PayPal - 7144200944

I thank anyone willing to step up so that all can enjoy what we offer.

Please feel free to contact me on discord if you have any questions and I look forward to hearing from you.

ST Therj'en'nuruodo has been selected as Praetor to the Quaestor of House Palpatine.

The Praetor position exists (and may or may not be filled) for all levels of leadership, and acts as an assistant and second-in-command. They have all of the privileges of the primary position, and may stand in when the primary leader is unavailable.

Congratulations on your new role, and may the Force serve you well.

Since time immemorial, all members of the Secret Order that wish to achieve the rank of Stalker and subsequently Knight must complete two creative works: one detailing first the collection of lightsaber pieces (Creative Work #1), followed by one detailing the assembly of those pieces into a functional lightsaber (Creative Work #2). While many things are changing, this requirement will continue on into the next iteration of the Secret Order.

In order to provide better tracking and visibility on the completion of creative works, the Dark Council, in cooperation with the Training Office, is proud to announce the introduction of new Shadow Academy courses that will be used for the submission of both creative works moving forward.

• Secret Order Creative Work #1
• Secret Order Creative Work #2

Members may continue to contact the Herald directly and solicit feedback on any creative work they have completed or are considering before submitted through this form, but only creative works that have been submitted and graded through these new Imperial University courses will be considered during promotion evaluation going forward.

Please note that course completion has already been awarded to every active member of the Secret Order with a creative work on file with the Herald. If you have not received course completion, you are encouraged to resubmit your original creative work(s) through the above Imperial University course(s)s in order to receive credit and ensure that your creative work(s) have been properly archived.

Please direct any questions on this new process for submitting creative works to the Herald. Thank you!

Previously, the TOA exam has had a prerequisite membership time of one (1) month before members were allowed to take the exam.

This has been removed to allow new members to showcase their eagerness and willingness to participate in our office.

With Raise the Flag just around the corner, the Training Office could always use volunteer proctors to help keep the queue clear and running smoothly. When our monthly average exam submission hits anywhere between 30 or 40, Raise the Flag has seen that number climb to nearly 300 in a single month.

If you want to help, consider taking the exam and becoming a part of an office that is ever-evolving and coming up with new ideas!

Somehow the MAA forgot to announce the most notable changes to the gaming submissions.
There are no Cluster of Fires anymore and with that there are no victory conditions to qualify for when sending in screenshots to record gaming activity. From May 2025 all PvP and PvE Submissions that are a win count.
You are not required to place in the top 50% anymore, just win and earn EXP points. Win with fellow SO Agents and get even more points.
Your already awarded Clusters of Fire remain on your profiles, but you won't get any new ones from submitted Matches through the Google Form.

Darth Surgo sat in his ceremonial robes, seething in anger and hatred, red electric sparking around him, smelling of ozone. He had been called back to the Dark Hall on Eos, to take care of the headquarters of the Secret Order - and his flight had been delayed by over an hour. His coffee was cold and bitter, his luggage was probably lost, and the temperature inside the flight hangar was a little bit too high for wearing the thick, velvet, golden robes of the Grand Master. It was a nightmare, and he still had to fly across the galaxy to get home.

To the agents of the Secret Order: it has been an honor leading you for the last two years, but my time as Grand Master is at an end. I spent nearly twenty years aspiring to this position and never imagined it would be passed to me, but now have personal ventures that I must continue onwards with, and I want to make sure that the organization moves forward. I am incredibly proud of the progress we’ve made in transitioning to the Secret Order: adopting new game systems, reinstating the Herald, producing the Path system, reorganizing the Dark Council, and more; but it’s time for someone else to take the lead who can put more time and energy into the organization.

XO Kamjin will temporarily take the position as Grand Master while we select a new one. Expect to hear from him soon. I’ll be around as Praetor to the GM until the new one makes the wise decision to kick me out. Thank you all for your trust, sincerity, and feedback while we’ve transitioned to the Secret Order.

May the Force serve you well.

After a short break, the gaming submissions are reopened again. But different.

• From here on out the MAA invites you to send your completed games to the following Google Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfJK8gTizE0tT6drW8-1a6O8kSYm6DHoWRqbCWmUO9niJ34-A/viewform
• The previous method of sending in Emails is no longer allowed.
• On the form you are asked to select the game you are playing, your own SO name, as well as any SO names of your teammates (please fill out the exact SO Name).
• You can submit up to 10 Screenshots at the same time. If you play a game like Star Wars Squadrons with a custom lobby, please send your setup everytime you change it. The Screenshots will be processed by the MAA Office and the resulting EXP will be exported to your MHE sheets for processing by your House Quaestors.
• Screenshots are to be submitted within 72 hours, but you are allowed to send any screenshot you accumulated since May the 1st (Grace Period: May 1st to May 4th 72 hours from the posting of this update).

As announced in #eos-development forum on our discord, competition submissions are reopened as well:

• Crescents are strictly placement awards. that means if you participate in a competitions, where all participants would rank on the same tier, they will all get the participation award (EXP) and no crescents (e.g. Quartz - Crescents)
• If you run a competitions, we generally will give you the EXP reward for running the comp, not for placing in it. If you wish to participate in a competition you run yourself, you can do that, but you can't place.
• MAA-Inbox: you can drop the links of your competitions in there
• If you run a competition; the MAA team needs you to sent a small list into the MAA-Inbox, where all the Participants are listed and which award went to who

INQ Honsou and INQ Khaz Bibble have been working on the Path System for years - a complete overhaul to how the Secret Order will recognize activity, providing more flexible ways to take part in activities, promoting art and fiction, and generating an entire roleplaying system. With the launch of this system, I am pleased to award them the rank of Adept. (Or rather, Grand Inquisitor, soon.)

With the new Path System Drop, all Gaming and new Competitions Submissions are temporarily suspended until May 5th 2025,
Reason for this are the Changes to Competition Guidelines & Awards, as well as how the Gaming Submission will be processed moving forward.
Information on how the MAA will proceed, will be provided over the course of the next days in the discord and at the end of the suspension with another News Post.

Locke Setzer has been working as the Quaestor of House Palpatine for nearly a year, keeping things running, providing feedback, and making sure that the entire House has been enforcing the will of the Emperor. For his extensive work in tracking his House members and working towards the will of the Emperor, it is my pleasure to award him the Diamond Sword.

Khaz Bibble has spent their significant abilities and talent by overseeing all of the art and fiction produced by the Secret Order for the last year and a half. They were an incredibly important member of the Dark Council that provided an immeasurable level of importance to what we were creating, and in doing so, have earned the highest level of reward - the Golden Lightsaber.

Despite being a person of significant talent, Khaz Bibble has retired and has decided to farm, as Sith do sometimes. (They're not gone forever, just stepping back.) Locke Setzer will be taking up Khaz's previous position as Herald, working on promoting and reviewing fiction and art for the Secret Order. With this, Locke shall be promoted to the rank of Inquisitor. To take Locke's place, Sam Arsio will become the new Quaestor of House Palpatine.

Congratulations to all involved, and we thank Khaz for their service!