Black Sword Protocol

1. Grand Admiral Topheth holds the highest position within the Black Sword Fleet and may change the protocols at any time and without notice. All members including officers must follow Black Sword Fleet protocol.
2. Only ranking officers, with the backing of their subgroup commanders, can contact and negotiate with third parties regarding Black Sword Fleet business in an official capacity. ALL inquiries that are made on the Black Sword Fleet's behalf must have the backing of the Central Committee through a vote session. While any member may contact third parties for personal or minor business, only those mentioned earlier may conduct business officially for the Black Sword Fleet. All official actions must be reviewed and approved by the Central committee in writing.
3. To create order and prevent time-wasting excess email and delay, all Black Sword Fleet members shall follow the chain of command when making general inquiries. There is a specific command structure to be utilized when asking general questions, making comments, submitting and distributing Black Sword Fleet related materials. All members must contact their immediate superior official first, and then proceed up the chain of command if appropriate. Members will receive day-to-day information through their superior officers and subgroup communication tools (i.e. in-game mailing, voice-over-ip servers, IRC channels, email, Fleet sanctioned websites, and the official message boards). Important or urgent messages will be posted directly on the Black Sword Fleet website with a follow up post on the Force Elite Soldier's web site.
4. To become an official Black Sword Fleet member, all new applicants looking to join the Fleet will be required to have a user profile account with the Force Elite Soldiers, the parent organization of the Black Sword Fleet. An access code will be provided by your training officer from your subgroup of choice. Once you sign up for a recruit-level account you will need to contact that same training officer to mark approval on your account, granting you access as a member. There is a four (4) week evaluation process in which the recruit must be active and follow all protocols and regulations. At any time a recruit may be removed during that process for any wrong doing or discrepancy in their application.
5. No member of the Black Sword Fleet may be a member of another Star Wars Galaxies organization that participates as an independent in-game entity or guild (i.e. you cannot have one (1) character in the Fleet and one (1) in another). Members may join multiple subgroups within the Fleet. Unless given exclusive permission from your subgroup commander, all characters must be tagged with a Fleet guild or all characters will be removed.
6. To maintain the status of "Active Member" within the Black Sword Fleet, a member is expected to have an active subscription to Star Wars Galaxies or another Fleet sanctioned game, regularly communicate with superior officers, and play a Fleet sanctioned game an average of four (4) hours a week unless special circumstances prevent that. If a member does not perform these functions over a one (1) month period, the member will be given the status of "Absent With Out Leave" (AWOL) and be removed from the active roster of their subgroup. When a member returns from an inactive state, they may petition their superior officer for immediate reinstatement. If the member maintained a subgroup leadership position they will need to petition the Central Committee for reinstatement.
7. Positions of leadership within the Black Sword Fleet are critical to the on-line experience of all members. All members who feel qualified may submit a voluntary application for and assumption of such duties. By applying for a leadership position, the member understands and acknowledges the tremendous dedicated, full commitment to their members and the Fleet, and serious responsibilities involved in such a decision, and are aware that if they cannot perform these duties they will be demoted to the rank and/or position they were before they submitted such an application. Volunteer officers manage, maintain and grow the Fleet through their self-sacrifice and hard work.

Code of Conduct

• Any actions that insult or bring disgrace to our club will result in the immediate termination of your membership. These actions may be defined by your division commanders, officers, or the Force Elite Soldier's Viceroy at any time.
• Hacking or other similar behavior is not allowed.**
• Try to keep the obscenities and lewdness to a minimum. This is a loose rule and not often in need of enforcing, but if you are warned to tone down your behavior by an officer, do so.
• Do not impersonate any member of the Force Elite Soldiers including the Black Sword Fleet. Impersonating can be as simple as changing your name to include a rank that you do not hold or changing your nickname to another person's known nickname.
• Do not openly disobey a superior. If your superior gives an order or makes a decision reguarding their division or its members, they will not be contradicted in public. If you disagree with the action, speak to them in private or consult your division commander. Keep the issue between those directly involved. Do not involve other members.
• Do not insult, flame or purposefully bother another member of this club.
• Avoid the use of derogatory words and political or religious references. We have many members of various backgrounds. Offensive behavior is not tolerated and inappropriate conduct will be commented on when necessary.
• Sabotage is not allowed. Any action that attempts to halt or impede an officer's work or duty is forbidden.

** Classified exceptions