The Dark Academy on Korriban

It was stupidly early, there were orientation exams today, and Jo'ren was already up and revising. Or so it might have looked to anyone finding him at a computer terminal at this early hour.

The truth was that there just weren't enough hours in the day, and he had information to find. After yesterday's success finding out about the Valley of the Dark Lords he sat down at the terminal and began his quest. Perhaps 2V would put in an appearance?

Okay: Battle of Korriban, The Valiant Light. Let's see what we can see.

Shaisha had similar ideas of cramming before this morning's tests. Particularly the title recommended by Lord Savas.

Spotting Jo'ren, she strolled over to her fellow Sith. "Hmm... good morning, Jo'ren," she spoke with a smile.

A pleased smile spread across his handsome face as Shaisha interrupted his research.

"Good morning, Shaisha. All the better for seeing you." He gestured to a seat at a computer terminal next to him, although the screens faced away from each other. "Revising? Or planning something fun?"

"The plan was to do a bit of the recommended reading Lord Savas spoke of," she took the offered seat and crossed one leg over the other. "... But I'm known to improvise and change plans when something more interesting appears."

2V-R6 approached, and said, “Greetings aspirants, how can I assist you this wonderful Imperial morning. Glory to the Emperor, but more importantly glory to you aspirants in your future exams.”

Recognizing Jo’ren the droid adds, “Should this unit prepare itself for imminent destruction, or chassis deformation, aspirant?”

Jo'ren tried but failed to keep his eyes off her as she sat with him. "Well, something more interesting just appeared in my line of sight, that's for sure. Did you enjoy the rest of your day after our little chat with Lord Savas?"

At which point good old 2V appeared, drawing a laugh from Jo'ren who patted him on the back.

"Not at all 2V, man, your sense of humour circuits must be working overtime. I found what I was looking for, so you're safe. Thanks for the tip."

He looked at the Droid and back at Shaisha. "Glory to us indeed." Returning his gaze to the droid he continued. "I'm looking for information about the Battle of Korriban. Ships lost, boarding actions, that sort of thing. Should that all be in the main database?"

"I'm interested in Darth Charon’s treatise on the Sith Code," she said simply to the droid. Droids were droids, not people.

The follow-up question of whether or not it should destroy itself earned a rather pointed look in Jo'ren's direction, but it seemed he had been teasing the droid before?

"Yesterday was fine enough, apart from a partycrasher in the cantina. Otherwise, can't complain too much. And you?"

"Party crasher? Huh, guess I missed all the fun. What happened?" He looked at her curiously. "Oh, and my day was fine thanks. Saw a few things, met a few people, got settled in."

2V-R6 replied, “I can handle those requests.”

The droid then turned to look for the requested data. It was dutiful and hopefully helpful, not that it was programmed to hope.

"A former-slave-turned-aspirant decided to show off some abilities she has no control over. Was quite the mess," she shook her head. "The Overseer showed up after the guilty party scampered away, and got annoyed that we didn't break any rules."

"Ugh, sounds like a great end to the first night. Any idea who this former slave / crazy powerful person is?" He smiled a little at the mention of the overseer. "Haven't run into the Overseer yet, that I recall anyway. Take it you're not a fan after all that?"

Jo'ren looked over at the information the droid was providing and ran his finger down the list of ships until he found what he was looking for. "Hey too-vee, can you pull up the file on this ship for me? Thanks."

"Layne's the name. Broody beast of a woman. Ugly too." Her nose wrinkled to punctuate her distaste. "The Overseer's one of the purebloods, like us. Not a fan of her, but I don't think the point is that I'm supposed to be, you know. Overseers are rarely out to win popularity contests with us acolytes."

As the text of Darth Charon showed up, she sighed silently. This looked sooooo boring.

"Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for her. Sounds like someone should..." He looked at her expression as the droid passed her the requested text. "Heh, you think they'll ask us about it? I'd be mad, but it would be pretty ironic if Lord Savas turned up to ask us about it in the exam."

"Heh, if that happens, lucky me, at least," she flashed a grin, "because I'm guessing you haven't read it yet?"

"Never thought I'd read something like this, though. Had this Code drilled into me from an early age, after all."

"Nuuuuuupe! I mean, I know the code. But Raths don't make our way in the world by reading old philosophy books." He thought about that a moment. "Well, most of us anyhow."

His eyes flicked up to hers.

"You nervous?"

"... I guess a little," she admitted, perhaps even with a hint of shyness. "Stakes have never been higher than they are now... and I hear some of the Lords and Darths might show up too."

"People like you and I, we have expectations to live up to."

"Yeah, would suck to fail when our favourite options for apprenticeship to are all watching." He didn't sound like he was too worried about the prospect of that happening. "Hey, worst case I can at least rely on my lightsaber skills." He said, his player being knowingly ironic.

"I'm just hoping they don't ask us to display some mastery of force powers." He winced a little. "Been so focused on my other talents I've let that slip. Going to fix it soon though..."

He started to call up the details on The Valiant Light and leaned back in his seat, lacing his fingers behind his head.

“Battle of Korriban,” 2V-R6 said as he returned holding a datapad, “I have collected all public data on this datapad. I have focused the data to ships that were lost, listing of Republic scum vessels is incomplete due to faulty record keeping of the corrupt Republic.”

The droid handed Jo’ren the requested data.

"Yeah..." her voice trailed off a little, indicating she was in a similar situation. "Not my strongest point either. I'm pretty decent with the lightsaber, if I say so myself, and I have a knack for a variety of tricks many Sith don't. I just hope I can show off my more unique skill-set at a later time if I can't today."

"Thanks 2V." He scanned the document looking for The Valiant Light.

"You know Shaisha, there are probably as many ways of becoming a Sith as there are Sith. Bet you can impress 'em with your skills, you just need to find the right way of going about it. Maybe if we put our heads together we can come up with a plan that gets us both noticed in the right places..."

There is not much information on the Valiant Light other than it was a Republic vessel, a Jedi research vessel doing a long term study on Korriban. It was reported lost with all hands during the battle but there is little else. Crashed somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere well in the deeper wastes, but there was never a firm accounting done by the Empire. Satellite images have been sketchy as that region is prone to sandstorms and massive crimson shifting dunes.

As they talked, Shaisha began the daunting task of reading Darth Charon's work on the Sith Code.

"Maybe... did you have anything particular in mind, perhaps?" She chuckled. "I don't think we could charm our way to the top, even if you are very handsome."

Jo'ren made a face as he thought about that. "Well, we could take a romantic trip into the Valley of the Dark Lords." He raised a hand. "I know, I know. That's what all the boys say, and then they're trying to take you out for a ride on their speeder, and you have to obliterate them with your force powers. Yawn." He threw her a winning smile. "I've got a better feel for the area and I think that what hasn't been found yet is way more interesting. If you like we could go and take a look. Split the winnings 50/50. Of course, I'd feel better going in if I had a working saber."

Looking over at 2V he said. "Could you get me the specs and layout of that type of research vessel please 2V?"

"How very romantic," she chuckled. "It's an idea that has merit, you know. Though I'd have to get some proper gear first too... a sword, or lightsaber even, for starters. Doubt I'd do much difference with a knife against the kind of stuff you can meet out there. Tuk'ata hides can be tough."

"Were you planning on it being a two-man job, or did you have others in mind?"

"Haha, I knew you'd want to come for a ride with me sooner or later.". He smiled, but it was warm and seemed genuine.

"I figure I can find a way to borrow a training saber at least, but something better would be ideal.". He thought about their various options. "Well, two means a larger share of anything we find. Then again it is the Valley of the Dark Lords*.". He shrugged. "For tech support, my man Gerry, no question. Khalim would be a good bet, and the Zabrak Xevine. Maybe wait and see how they do today, but any of them seem like good choices for slightly different tasks."


*OOC: For posterity, my autocorrect has decided that I mean to type the Bakery of the Dark Lords. Sounds tasty.