The Dark Academy on Korriban

Captain Harad helped his soldiers drag off three bodies and pile them on the ground from the transport speeder. A true sith, a human, and a twi’lek hit the dusty stone floor with a wet sound. Their bodies mangled from predators and perhaps a fall in some cases.

They were about the age of his own children which brought a frown and a sigh of relief that neither had any Force talent so they could avoid this madness. This would make six corpses in total, he hoped there would be no more for the day.

Shaisha had made it, but she knew others had not, and part of her was curious to know if she knew any of those who had failed.

The heat of Korriban's sun reflecting off of the red sands had little effect on her, as she had grown accustomed to that heat during her past visits to the Academy. She paused in her stride as she looked at the three bodies on the ground.

"... Disappointing," she sighed a little.

Harad turned to the small sith and nodded in agreement, his daughter was taller and human but she was probably the same age. He said in a comforting tone, “It is the way of things here, lass. It’s good that the majority made it back in one piece.”

He turned and looked at her, “Still a waste to lose so many so young, but I don’t question the Sith.”

"Mhm," she nodded. Not that she grieved their loss, as they proved too weak to manage the trek, but still... it was disappointing that they had failed.

"It is the way of things. Korriban does not allow much room for weakness. A shame, as they probably could have been of use in some other capacity than attempting to become something beyond their reach."

He nodded and gestured for a soldier to start taking the corpses away. He frowned for a moment and then said, “Korriban is a hard place, I have been in some tough Theaters but well, this is a bloody tough place.”

He looked off and then decided to change the subject, “I was here when the planet was liberated, right over there he gestured where the admin building was that was our staging ground. We deployed seven thousand shock troopers that day.”

"Is that so?" she looked somewhat impressed with the old soldier now. "Who was your commander that day?"

“I served directly under Colonel Baskin, we were part of the invasion force serving under Darth Marr. Shot a Jedi in the back day, proudest day of my young life, well until my children,” he said with a serious tone.

Another speeder pulled up and Gerald hopped off with a dejected sigh. This was not how a Sith gets things done. He looked even more embarrassed seeing another student there.

He thanked the Imperial soldiers and then opened his data pad.

"With all good reason, Captain. To fell a corrupt Jedi is a proud moment for any servant of the Empire," she nodded approvingly.

Her attention was drawn to the speeder arriving, and the fact that the student arriving with it was still walking and breathing. "We got a live one, it seems."

The Captain nodded quietly.

Gerald raised his eyes to meet hers and then offered an awkward smile, “Hi, umm… yeah I thought I had it. Until I got ambushed and then I just kind of scrambled up into a cave, well more like an alcove. Korriban is unforgiving. Reading about it does not prepare one for the reality.”

He wiped his brow and then added, “It’s so hot.”

"Still, you survived," she offered in a dry chuckle. "Live and learn from your mistakes, no? Now that you are here, you can at least get the practical hands-on experience with the Sith's homeworld, rather than just reading some codex entry."

He sheepishly tapped the data pad closing the codex entry and said, “Yeah, you’re right. Gerald Hin, I’m from Dromund Kaas, first time on Korriban. Obviously.”

Gerald then added, “It’s an honor to meet you, fellow aspirant.”

"Shaisha Vreysk, also from Dromund Kaas. Though I've been here on Korriban a few times already." She smiled in return, though hers seemed to have that predatory quality common among the Sith.

"Nothing wrong with being cautious in your first days here... but I guess you've learned now that there might've been strength in numbers this morning?"

Gerald laughed freely at her response and said in agreement, “Yeah I probably should have teamed up with others but I wanted to show that I had what it takes to be Sith. A Sith is never scared right? Cowardice is for the weak. I wanted to show I was strong.”

“Well it was a good lesson.”

“I visited Dromund Kas city on many occasions but we lived in a smaller town, Oros.” Oros was a farming town that provided a great deal of foodstuffs for Dromund Kaas and the system.

"Ah. And for a moment, I even thought you might have been one of the Imperial Nobles I may or may not have passed by at some party. At least that saves me the embarressement of not recognizing you," she grinned. "I've never been to Oros... apart from Korriban, it's usually been the big cities for me."

“Me? A noble? You’re joking right?” he said a bit shocked at her words.

“I guess that means you are nobility? I mean I figured… being a sith and all, I mean like from Korriban not that you are from… I mean yeah not a Sith… but a sith… that gets confusing, fast.”

"Sometimes it does, yes," she chuckled. "Technically, I'm not born into a noble family, but I've been in the care of the Torsin noble family for most of my life. My mother was an Imperial guard who died in service, and my father's work kept him too occupied to look after a child, so he entrusted me to their care."

Captain Harad had turned his attention to his soldiers but heard the brief story of the sith’s home life. He had been away from home for months now but he made sure to stay in touch, he wasn’t sure how Sith did their households but that didn’t seem like a positive home life to him.

All the same he remained stoic as it was not his place to comment.

Gerald replied questioningly, “Like the Minister of War, Torsin?”

Shaisha nodded. "The very same. His son is also here, to become Sith."

That caused the young Imperial to gulp in astonishment. If a man like that had a son here and she was here… these were all important people, what luck would he have? He decided to leave that for later and said, “Wow, that’s impressive. I am not even sure what to say to that.”

Kristal appeared on the training grounds with intent. She had been waiting for this moment but it was unclear why. Stepping past the familiar faces until she was near where the bodies had been laid out. Taking a moment to attempt to identify them, but it was to little surprise that none truly drew up recognition with her. Even if she had seen them in a passing moment the only ones she cared for were safe, and most of that was by her own hand.

Kristal was cool, perhaps even cold to some, in the disconnect she held as she simply looked down to where the bodies lay. Betraying none of her thoughts to any onlookers she stood there for the moment.

"There's not much to say. He is a capable person, but I wouldn't be too intimidated by it. There have been plenty of high ranking nobles' sons and daughters on Korriban who have failed, and then there are those with less illustrious backgrounds who have succeeded," Shaisha offered as perhaps as some sort of consolation, giving a shrug of her shoulders.

Noticing Kristal, she gave her friend a nod, but decided against interrupting her thoughts. She knew Kristal could have her moments, and if this was one of those 'soldier'-type of moments, she didn't want to ruin it for her.

“Well I thank you for the kind words, I am glad there are some pleasant folks here. I knew Sith were dangerous but I never really realized how dark things could get. I guess that is what it takes to be the chosen of the Emperor,” he said proudly.