The shuttle shook as it entered the atmosphere of the red desert planet. In the passenger section the lights were dimmed, only the red on-flight lights casting their shady light on the faces of young men and women sitting on the uncomfortable metal seats. The transport was hit by a violent wind, shaking it roughly, causing people to clutch their seats even tighter and some even gasped with fear.
A green pair of eyes flew around in their sockets at the corner of the room, inspecting and evaluating everyone and everything. Two big young men who looked like brothers with their features like they were made of granite, their hair cut short and sturdy jaw lines. Both looked very uncertain of their surroundings, but seemed to draw strength from the presence of each other. Next up were a group of a short man and two women, all three seemed uncertain as well and were trying to hold a conversation of sort to ease their minds from the nerve cracking tension. And then there was this girl. A short woman sitting on the bench closest to the doorway leading out of the ship, she was light on her frame and had some freckles, yet her hair was abyssal black. Woman's sight was locked on the doorway, her lips pursed toghether softly, peacefully. Her pose was calm, no fear, nor confusion. She knew what was ahead. Well, to be completely honest, everyone here knew what was ahead, but what it exactly included, besides many of the people here dying, they did not know.
The inspector carried on his sight to the last passenger, and was slightly startled by what he saw. In the darkness, just opposite to his own seat, there was a male figure in grayish robes, head covered by a hood, but just as his sight rose to meet the hooded figure's face, this lifted face and looked back. The bright red eyes that glared at inspector were filled with passive annoyance and malice, detest. "Keep your eyes to yourself, dog. I don't need your slave-stink attaching itself to my form" the pureblood hissed before looking away again. As did the investigator.
A sith instructor with dark skin walked past him, causing man to lean back and look down as not to draw the attention of the warrior to himself. The sith stopped in front of the woman who looked up at him, her eyes not showing fear despite the presence of powerful figure. "We are landing soon. Here. Use it wisely acolyte. Good luck" the dark skinned man said, handing a small data-chip to pale female. Without a sound, she nodded, attaching the piece to her datapad, the screen lighting up briefly to reveal her olive colored eyes as she read the text which threw a blueish ligh on her face before she turned off the datapad, darkness enveloping her features again. They are picking favorites this soon? Inspector questioned himself, not enjoying this knowledge. He knew he had no allies among the sith, being a former slave who had been "freed" to attend this training program. He had no contacts, and it would be an uphill battle against those with better heritage.
The shuttle suddenly slowed down, starting it's landing phase as the vessel began slowly descending down to landing platform. Another sith, a male as well, but with pale skin, reddish brown hair, and very grim look on his face, stepped up and began talking: "Alright you scum, welcome to Korriban, the birthplace of the Sith. I am overseer Harkun, one the two instructors who are supposed to whip you rats into shape that you might one day be considered a sith. We will be landing in a minute and making our way to academy. However, unlike me and overseer Tremel here, you scum don't have the academy passes. And if I am lucky most of you will never have them to begin with. Without passes, the elevators and gates on Korriban will not operate for you, and thus you will go everywhere on foot. In this case, to academy" A cruel grin crossed his lips. A thing investigator would later on learn to hate. "But do not worry, we've arranged a passage for you. As the first test on becoming a sith, you will have the chance to prove you posses an intelligence and tenacity above that of a worm. There is an old tomb located between Academy and landing platform, you will navigate trough this tomb and find your way to other side. Just be mindful that the cool darkness of the tomb makes it popular place for Burrower Hatchlings to escape Korriban's burning hot sun at daytime". A grim silence fell in the room. It was well known that these "worms" were 1-3 meters long and had an apetite for anything and everything. They were usually hunted to extinction from planets in name of safety, but unsurprisingly Siths had let them be on Korriban as a lethal training method. "Don't we get anything to defend ourselves with!?" Someone asked with desperation in voice, a mistake that earned glare from both of the Siths. The dark skinned overseer, Tremel spoke out in turn with calm voice which lacked any compassion: "If you are worthy to become sith, you will come up with a way to deal with enemy. Anything is fair game in the tombs. Improvise a weapons, steal one, be creative. Most of you have no experience using Force efficiently. This will act as an excellent way to test you". Harkun carried on: "And if I hear one more question as pathetic as that, I guarantee the person will not make it out alive even from this shuttle!". For some reason, many glanced at the lightsaber hanging on Sith's belt at these words.
With small bump, the shuttle made it's touchdown, the ramp sliding down and door opening, letting the dry, hot air into the ship. Without a word, grey robed pureblood stood up, making his way out of the shuttle with confidence. It was quite clear he knew what he was doing. Getting up as well, the rest of the group began flooding out, investigator being the last one. Looking around the hall made of rock and metal panels, the red skinned zabrak male let his fingers scratch his small horns located on his forehead and sides of his head. "This will be interesting.." he muttered, painfully aware of the slim chances he had to make it trough this. And the dark brown slave's tattoos marking his face for what he'd been did not make it easier. But now, he had a chance to become something else. And the former slave intended to grasp this chance with both hands. He'd leave behind th life of a slave and become a master. He'd become a Sith!
"Hey, sorry for bothering but..". Cutting his thoughts, he turned around, facing a girl, one the group of three he'd seen on the shuttle. The other girl and boy were there as well, just behind this one that seemed to have most guts and act as spokesman. "Hi, I am Anna. You seem to be alone so we thought you might wanna come with us?" girl asked, giving him a small smile as token of sincerity. "We have better chances surviving, working together". She smiled again, hoping to ease the suspicion and recruit this alien to their group. She had recognized the slave tattoos, and a quick guess had led her to conclusion that since this zabrak was former slave, he must be in good condition, strong. Zabrak were sturdy race, backing a high tolerance for pain and punishment. And with background of slave, this man must have been used to really harsh treatment. And he was clearly alone. If she and the others could team up with this alien, they all might make it to the academy alive. "Ah.. hello Anna, I am Nishikiy" red skinned alien answered, bowing his head in slight greeting, a habit from his time as slave. This very same idea played out in Nishikiy's head as well. Sounded like a plan. "Your offer is very kind. I would gladly...". The dark haired woman passed by, interrupting his trail of thought, and setting up a new plan in it's stead. His eyes narrowing slightly, the poison green eyes followed the petite figure as she made her way past the group without a word, disappearing in the hallway leading outdoors.
That datapad had something in it, zabrak thought silently, making his decision. To become sith, he'd need to gamble. He'd need to be bold, and independent, set himself past others to stand a chance. It was unlike what he'd been used to since birth, but then again, he had never truly felt "natural" in his actions. Now, facing oppotunity that most likely would end up killing him, he chose to act different. Turning to look at polite girl and her group, he gave her a small apologizing smile. "Ah, I am sorry but I think you wouldn't benefit from my presence. I am no fighter, and I am planning on simply outrunning the worms. You could not keep up". There was disappointment on girl's face at the loss of potential ally, but somehow she also seemed to appreciate his honesty. Nodding, she bid her farewell. "Ah.. Ok then, well, thanks for saying it. Someone else might had just used us as bait and ran away. I hope to see you again Nishi.. I don't know how your name is pronounced you know? Bye" she gave an embarrassed chuckle before turning to return to her group. "Don't worry about it. And I hope to see you guys in the academy as well, good luck" zabrak called after her, shaking his head slightly in amusement. He made a mental note about that "bait"-technique for future. He'd need to work on his mindset to become sith. Looking out for those around him and being polite... They did not exactly fit into the world he'd enter soon. Or at least he'd never heard of any "Darth Compassionate". Shrugging these thoughts off his mind, he turned to the door, beginning jogging forward towards the light that shone from outside.
The moment he got out of building, the dry, hot wind hit his features. Narrowing his eyes to cover them from flying sand, Nishikiy looked down from the platform he was standing at. The bridge-like stairs led down into canyon, and he could see couple of the acolytes slowly walking trough the dust and sand covered canyon towards the dark entrance of a tomb. It was made of great granite, a large doorway which must have once been sealed with just as large stone door. Ages ago. Hundreds if not thousands of acolytes had walked into the tomb, and zabrak could not help but wonder how many had stayed to inhabit the tomb alongside it's original residents. Spotting the girl he'd seen before now approaching the entrance, he took up running again. Unlike humans, zabraks were natural on dry and hot planets and their natural physique allowed jogging without spending very much energy. If I am right, that woman might very well be my ticket to academy, Nishikiy thought silently. Stopping to the door for a moment, woman took her time to look around, glancing at the databad once more, and then entered the tomb.
Few minutes later, Nishikiy reached gates as well. Stopping his run, he slowed down to a jog, then walk, stopping just by the entrance. The cool darkness greeted him from the inside, inviting him in with most uncomfortable manner. Shaking head with grim amusement, he taunted himself. "Well I always did wonder how bad it would had been to work at the spice mines...". Bracing for whatever might lurk inside, without weapon, just like everyone before him, he stepped into the darkness.