For my players going into Arc 3: This post has a spoiler detail.
I haven’t worked an over-12-hour shift in a long while, but today was especially drawn-out for the mail route. This does mean I’m going to see a nice increase in the paycheck that will cover this week, but it also means I will have to explain my actions for today. The irony to it is that I did not take any rest stops while on the route, meaning I never stopped moving. But by the time it was around 3:30 PM, I was dragging myself along through 100-degree heat.
Maybe management will hear that explanation and stop haranguing me for my rest stops. Most likely they won’t, but it’ll be fun to explain that to them and watch them struggle to rationalize with the facts.
But I’m finally home, the kids were put to bed, and I have my notes up for writing. I might be tired but I also have been wanting to get my ideas down, so there’s a small pot of coffee brewing. As the players step into Arc 3, named “Wartime Diaries”, I wanted to explore the aspects of ground warfare within Star Wars. We’ve seen parts of it in several novels, and Rogue One did a great job at portraying it on the screen, but I wanted to reflect the background of The Empire Strikes Back in this Arc. In my writing, I went to one of my favorite Star Wars authors for inspiration: Timothy Zahn.
I knew I wanted an overall antagonist for the Arc, but I didn’t want the focus to be on just naval combat. I didn’t want to use a Grand Admiral. I knew the primary focus of the combat scenes would be on ground/personal combat, so I needed a type of military leader who was an equivalent of a Grand Admiral.
So, the Galactic Empire has a new rank: the Field Marshal.
Whereas the Grand Admirals were numbered 12 and in overall command of the Empires’ Fleets, the Field Marshals were numbered 7 and responsible for the tactics and uses of the vast Imperial Army. So far, there’s only one Field Marshal in the story: Field Marshal Erdan Tam.
Marshal Tam will be the ultimate antagonist of Arc 3. I haven’t decided yet if he will become personally involved in any interactions with the Field Group, but I’m looking forward to seeing the Group overcome his plans.
I’m off to write. Stay safe out there, readers.
-JB Swift
Swift's Corner 