Chapter Four – The Sith Academy
Aindri woke up on her first full day at the Academy to the sound of clattering as acolytes got up and prepared for the day ahead. Stretching out her limbs she got dressed and wandered into the refresher, splashing her face with cold water before inspecting her reflection in the mirror. Satisfied with her new attire, redder and vital areas reinforced with tough dark brown leather, she grabbed her warblade and headed down to breakfast, her roommates having already left.
It was still early enough that the Academy's dining hall was a little over half empty when Aindri entered, sweeping the room with her eyes, searching for but unable to find Tormi, though she could see her fellow roommates scattered amongst the tables. Shrugging she went to get breakfast and sat at a largely empty table, managing to place her try on the table without spilling her juice. Tearing off a piece off her bread roll, she chewed thoughtfully, watching those who were now her fellow acolyte's stream into the hall.
Categorising those passing her into hostile and non-hostile, she wondered whether anyone she had known from Ziost or Dromund Kass had come to the Academy but found to her disappointment, and somewhat of a relief, that there were none. Drawn away from people watching by a rattle, Aindri looked to see a male pureblood, a couple of inches taller with broad shoulders and a more overtly muscular physique, slide into the seat opposite her. A few loose strands of otherwise closely cropped black hair fell in front of his eyes and as he lounged back in his chair to look at her, his movements were smooth and confident, matching black tunic and pants allowing him easy freedom of movement.
"So, you're the new acolyte, whose Tremel added to Vemrin's group and for your trials to boot," The pureblood gave her an easy-going smile as he looked at warblade resting against the table leg, "And it seems the rumours that you've already completed your first were true. You should have seen Vemrin in training yesterday. He was, pissed. Barely been here a day and your already making waves."
Aindri arched an eyebrow at the pureblood who started on his own food before pausing and looking up at her, "And where are my manners. Venitas."
"My name is Venitas." The pureblood clarified upon her blank look and she replied, inclining her head in greeting.
"Aindri."
"Congratulations," Came Tormi's voice from behind her and she tipped her head back to see the Twi'lek walking past before sliding into the seat next to her, giving both of them chesire grin, "You managed to find the one half-decent pureblood to roam the academies halls."
"You give me too little credit Tormi," Venitas sighed, "I am the only decent pureblood."
"Fine," Tormi replied drawled, sipping at her mug of steaming caf, "You are the only decent pureblood. Which means to say you are a terrible one."
Aindri watched with amusement as the two interacted, which continued even as exited the dining hall for the archives, halls bustling with acolytes who were making their way to whatever lesson they had that morning. She drew more than one curious stare as they passed, a few pointing at her and whispering
"Well you are essentially skipping the whole academy. Most people are here for years before they're even considered to take the trials." Venitas explained and she learned that along with going straight into her trials she was also grouped with the senior acolytes for lessons. Both Tormi and Venitas were senior acolytes as they had been attending the academy for a few of years.
"My Overseers' Prithor," Venitas told her, their conversation moving onto Overseers and those currently searching for an apprentice, "Lord Medechas tasked him with looking for an apprentice and I was one of the lucky ones to get picked. Tormi's trials are being administered by Harkun for Lord Zash"
Tormi's face morphed into a scowl before her ever present smile once again appeared on her face, the change so quick Aindri thought she had imagined it, and raised an eyebrow at the Twi'lek.
"The xenocentric chauvinist?" Aindri asked, recalling what she had said in the tomb.
"Oh, I could call him any number of things. But not all of them are suitable for polite company." She replied, Venitas chuckling behind her as they walked through the archives' dark ornately carved doors.
Containing century's worth of Sith knowledge, the archives took up an entire wing of the Academy. Deeper in, was an open atrium where one could see the archives second floor ringed by a low balcony. Acolytes and the odd overseer pursued shelves full of holobooks, datapads, ancient tombs, worn stone tablets and holocrons, glowing faintly with crimson and violet hues. Individual desks and large tables equipped with chairs, some occupied others not, were placed strategically across the onyx floor. Corridors branched of the sides of the main room, leading to several teaching rooms.
Entering the room reserved for their lesson, Aindri could hear snippets of conversation from chattering acolytes and spotted Vemrin who scowled at her from across the room, ignoring his not so subtle growl. Beside her Tormi stumbled slightly, a pureblood bumping her shoulder as he pushed past, and she was silent as she glared daggers at his receding back. Aindri arched an eyebrow at the Twi'lek when she sensed a ripple of power in the force and through the door strode a rugged skinned Sith with dark brown hair.
"It's Lord Cestus," Venitas whispered to them, "I'd forgotten he was asked to teach whilst he was here."
"I thought he was came to Korriban for research?" Tormi whispered back and Venitas gave a small nod
"He did, I think he's going on a research trip tomorrow."
Silence descended as Cestus stepped onto a dais at the back of the room, many watching him with bated breath, wondering what kind of secrets and knowledge a Sith Lord would impart on them. He coolly regarded the acolytes before him and his answer to anticipation with an answer was not what they expected, "Meditation."
The acolytes let out a collective groan and Cestus glared at them, daring someone to speak up. Glancing at each other, Aindri shrugged and sunk down into a meditative position, closing her eyes as Venitas and Tormi did the same. Cestus cast a watchful eye over the acolytes who sat in various poses.
"Contrary to popular belief, Sith do meditate. But unlike the Jedi," Cestus spat, "We do not release our emotions into the force, rather we harness them, concentrate them into a finely-honed point…"
Cestus's voice grew distant as Aindri slowed her breath, submerging herself into the Force. Focusing on her emotions, Aindri allowed them to build upon on each other, honing them, as Cestus instructed, into a pure point of ruthless power. Turning her senses outward, she felt the presences of Cestus and the other acolytes, four standing out in particular. A strong immovable force, crackling electrical energy, simmering hatred, and deep-seated fear. Expanding her senses further she could feel whole of the academy and the Force signatures of numerous acolytes and Sith inhabiting the building. Letting go of her senses completely Aindri floated freely in the Force and the darkness permeating Korriban's entirety.
Aindri's eyes flickered open, her enhanced eyesight allowing her to trace the bumps and groves of the back walls rough surface. Two armoured legs appeared in front of her and she blinked before looking up to see Cestus standing over her, his arms crossed.
"Well, well, well, looks whose back," Cestus said slowly, "Any longer and I would become suspicious that you'd fallen asleep."
Looking around Aindri found that apart from her Tormi was the only one still meditating, tendrils of dark side energy coiling around her. Opening her eyes, the Twi'lek stretched languorously as if she had woken up from a long and much needed nap.
"Most, impressive acolyte." Cestus admitted grudgingly, looking her over with a small hint of interest, and Tormi smiled smugly at the other acolytes, the pureblood and Vemrin seething among them.
"Congratulations to those three of you who successfully achieved a meditative state," Aindri wondered who else had succeeded but a quick observation of her fellow acolytes made the answer obvious, a small smirk on Venitas's face.
"Especially since the rest of you didn't even stay focused for more than a few minutes." Cestus kept his voice controlled, but with her senses enhanced from submerging herself in the Force she could feel his building anger and frustration.
"But, my lord, they must have cheated. A former…" The pureblood stood objecting, Vemrin using it as an opportunity to add his own.
"That's right! There's no chance that someone who took shortcu…"
"Silence!" Vemrin and the pureblood flinched, as they watched in amusement.
"Neither of you have a right to whine," Cestus growled at them, before glaring at Vemrin, "Especially you acolyte, since you fell asleep within ten minutes of starting!" He shouted before rounding on the rest of them.
"I will not waste my time teaching such pathetic excuse for Sith. Don't return until you've had another good ten years of practice!" Cestus stormed from the room, muttering something unsavoury about womp rats and acolytes under his breath.
Cestus's presence fading from their senses, conversation broke out among the acolytes and Vemrin stalked towards her with a tight scowl.
"You may have fooled Cestus but not me," He growled, "You are nothing. I am the better Sith. Get in my way and you die."
Arching an eyebrow at his declaration she turned to Venitas and asked, "What was Cestus researching?"
Realising what she was doing, Venitas's eyes twinkled in amusement, tilting his head in thought for a moment before replying, "Not sure. He's been visiting a lot of the tombs outside of the Valley though."
"Acolytes are never sent to tombs outside the Valley of the Dark Lords," Said Tormi joining in the conversation, and sighed dreamily, "Oh the secrets they must hold."
Vemrin's rage built as he continued to be ignored and he opened his mouth to speak, only to clamp it shut again when the temperature dropped, and grey eyes bled to yellow.
Drawing on her emotions, Aindri regarded her supposed rival with a cold smile, the dark side flaring around her.
Everything grew deadly quiet, acolytes ceasing their conversations and turning their attention to the two red-headed acolyte standing metres away from Vemrin, pinning him with a deadly stare. An acolyte considered to be one of the strongest in the Academy and closest to being Sith.
Her voice was menacing yet held on emotion when she spoke, "You are the one who is nothing and I will, beat, you, down."
Satisfaction coursed through Aindri's veins at the fear filling Vemrin's eyes, however briefly, before it was replaced by rage. She didn't flinch as they locked gazes and he tried to stare her down. It was Vemrin who broke eye contact first growling, and she watched as he stomped from the room in a way which reminded Aindri of a child throwing a tantrum.
Aindri drew a deep calming breath, the palpable tension in the air dissipating as the dark side receded, her eyes reverting to their natural grey. Tormi giggled behind her and gave her a wink, sauntering over to the pureblood. Cocking her head, Aindri watched with a mixture of interest and amusement as Tormi leaned down to say something in his ear. Her voice, while too low to carry over to where they were standing, was loud enough that the acolytes near him laughed. His red skin grew darker and Tormi gave him one last smile before waltzing from the room. They were halfway down the hallway when they heard the purebloods roar of rage echoing down the corridor.
"Slow, isn't he?" Tormi snickered.
"He certainly is," Venitas chuckled before his voice turned teasing, "Now if I remember correctly we have lightsaber instruction."
"What fun." Tormi groaned and Aindri arched an eyebrow at her, glancing at Venitas who gave a fond shake of his head. It seemed this argument was a common one.
"Tormi you know Lightsaber combat is a vital skill for a Sith." Venitas admonished and the Twi'lek rolled her eyes.
"I prefer brain over brawn," She snorted, "Speaking off, I want to get something from the Archives. See you down there." Waving goodbye, Tormi walked deeper into the archives and they head to the dining hall for lunch.
Venitas had given her a brief explanation of the academies facilities, the archives, jails located in the bowls of the Academy, training rooms, rooms which could only be reserved for Sith Lords and their apprentices. Where they had lightsaber training was in none of those.
Exiting a gloomy corridor, Aindri's boots hit hard packed sand and she squinted, her eyes adjusting to glaring sunlight. They were standing in a massive open-air arena, practice dummies in various states of disrepair littering its floor. On a large stage, two older acolytes duelled furiously under the watchful gaze of an older man, lightsaber hanging on his hip, their overseer. She shivered slightly, the dark side making the planets' atmosphere cold despite Horuset beating down on them from above.
"It will be finished soon." Venitas mused and Aindri silently agreed, examining the left acolytes' heaving chest and slowing movements. A loud crack echoed across the arena and the exhausted acolytes' training saber, he had yet to earn the right to wield a warblade, clattered to the floor, as his wrist fractured. Though they couldn't hear him, the overseer was obviously unhappy, the injured acolyte limping off the stage with his hung in shame, resentment roiling underneath the surface. Aindri had no doubt it was that very resentment which kept him trudging across the sand. The overseer regarded them as they gathered around the stage, frowning briefly as his gaze on landed on her.
"I see we have a new face. Try to keep up, with the rest." She regarded him coolly but did not speak as doing so would only invite further barbs. She would prove herself through actions, as she always did.
"Hmph. Five laps around the arena," Most let out a groan and he snapped, "Now!"
Jumping to attention the acolytes set off at a steady jog and she stayed in the middle of the pack, so that by the third lap when weaker acolytes fell behind she was one of those who pulled ahead. By the fifth lap her lungs were burning slightly and reaching the final stretch she drew on the pain in her muscles to fuel her strength, putting on a final burst of speed. Aindri was the first to finish and began stretching out her muscles, Vemrin glaring at her as he came to stop, the overseer watching their exchange with cold interest as he waited for the other acolytes to finish the course. Venitas easily finished within the top ten, whilst Tormi finished sixteenth, her pureblood adversary only seconds ahead of her.
"Let's see if any of you pathetic lot have improved since last time." He growled when the last acolyte staggered slightly to a halt and pointed each of them to a training dummy, assigning hers last.
"So, you're Tremel's supposed hotshot; let me be clear," He leaned forward, intruding into her personal space, "Why you were brought to the Academy early I don't care. Until I see your skills for myself, you are nothing." He turned on his heel and walked off, shouting at a pair of acolytes on the other side of the arena.
"He doesn't like me much." She observed and Vemrin chuckled.
"Most of overseers don't like any of us. Especially Rance. Unfortunately for you he does like Vemrin."
"Off course." She muttered under her breath as she took up Shii-Cho's opening stance, her mind wandering as she worked through the forms katas, falling into the familiar rhythm.
"Uncle you promised to teach me the advanced skills!" I shout, clenching and unclenching my fists around the training sabers hilt, not caring if I sounded like a spoiled child. I'd already trained in and near mastered lightsaber combats first three forms – everybody said my growth rate was astounding – and he had promised to teach me the others. I was ready.
"Because I said you do you brat."
"Why?" I asked through gritted teeth, trying to remain calm and not doing a very good job at it. Uncle let out a sigh and eased himself out his starting stance before turning to me and began correcting my form.
"Because before learning the advance forms you need to master the basics." He replied.
Distantly she heard Rance order them to switch stance and she flowed from a disarming slash to execute a lunge, stabbing through the dummies chest area.
"But I've already mastered the basics!" I shouted venomously, growing even more annoyed when he laughed.
"It is always good to return to them." I dropped my guard and scowled at him, continuing do so even as he was regarding me thoughtfully.
"Alright how about this then? Continue practicing and if, in a week, you can defeat me in a duel using Shii-Cho, and only Shii-Cho, then I'll begin teaching you the advance forms." The scowl disappeared from my face as my anger was replaced with excitement.
"Really?" Uncle smiled and nodded. With a goal to work towards I looked at my training saber with renewed determination and took Form I's starting stance, now fully focused on my training.
Aindri blinked away the memory when she heard Rance calling them to a halt, and she glanced up to a darkening sky, hours flying by whilst acolytes bashed away at the dummies.
"Seems some of you aren't useless after all." Rance grunted, giving her a subtle nod of approval when he caught her eye before doing the same with Vemrin, much to her annoyance.
Rance dismissed them and she followed tired acolytes eagerly leaving the arena, overtaking Tormi whose breathing was somewhat heavy due to exertion. They joined the flow of acolytes in bustling hallways, some conversing in low tones, others keeping their heads down and trying to slip unseen through the crowd.
Later at dinner, Aindri piled her plate high with food and sat at an empty table, Venitas lowering himself into the seat opposite her. Biting into a piece of Nerf stake, she searched the dining hall for Tormi, spying her across the dining hall strolling towards them.
"Where have you been?" Asked Venitas as the Twi'lek as she slumped down next to her.
"Archives," Tormi replied grumpily, "But I couldn't find the texts I was looking for."
"If you couldn't find them, then the Archives don't have it," Venitas said calmly, sending Aindri a smirk, "Considering she knows very inch of it."
"They might be in one of the tombs," Tormi mused, a trace of hope working its way into her voice, "Cestus is meant to be investigating the Sith King Dathka Graush's tomb in Golg Valley tomorrow though. You think Cestus will take me with him?"
"Probably not." Venitas commented as he bit into his food.
"Damn, damn, damn, damn." Tormi moaned rolling across the table and Aindri quickly picked up her trays before the Twi'lek could knock them from the table.
"Lessons too hard for you slave?" A shadow fell over the table and Aindri turned her head, to see the pureblood looking down on Tormi who had fallen still.
"Ah Ffon, how nice to see you so soon." Tormi drawled pushing herself upwards to stand and tapped her lip with a slender finger, "Hard, you say? More like useless, the archives don't even have the proper texts."
Pausing, Tormi cocked her hip and smiled at the pureblood slyly, "Ah but given you're…'privileged' upbringing, I'm sure that mummy and daddy gave you everything and so," Tormi entered his personal space, hands held loosely at her sides, but Aindri could see sparks dancing between her fingertips.
"When your own strength is finally tested, you'll be on the floor, bleeding, dying, and I'll be standing over you laughing." Twisting, Tormi sauntered away leaving Ffon there speechless, skinning darkening and nearby acolytes snickering. Aindri lips quirked upwards and she pushed away from the table, just brushing past his shoulder as she passed him.
"Well, at least we won't at a loss for entertainment. Tormi's as interesting as ever." Venitas chuckled as they exited the dining hall.
"How long has she been here?" Aindri asked curiously.
"Three years, give or take. We arrived at the same time. Overseer Harkun wasn't particularly happy she was placed under his supervision. What with her being both an alien and a former slave."
"Elitist?" She guessed, remembering Tormi's words.
"Through and through." Venitas confirmed, "He delayed her trials for as long as possible but Zash finally ordered him to get a move on. She's only been able to do her first recently though since she had been sent to do off training offworld for a few months."
Aindri hummed before bidding him goodnight and slipped away to one of the private training chambers littering this level, trusting that most would be empty at this hour. Pressing the key of one of the small doors lining the corridor, it slid open with a near silent hiss. Rather than hard packed sand, the chambers' floor was made of flexisteel to cushion impacts and training blade hits, though under artificial yellow lighting she could see scratch and scorch marks littering the surface.
Rolling her shoulders, Aindri unsheathed her blade and approached the chambers centre, once again adopting Shii-Cho's initial stance. Slowly, she worked her through its sweeping motions and perpendicular parries before moving onto the tighter more accurate movements of Makashi and beyond. Finishing the katas, she switched to mock-combat, taking her warblade through a series of manoeuvres, striking at imaginary enemies.
Every feint, every dodge, every block is a trap to the unwary.
She stepped, pivoted, took a new angle for attack, her boots stepping lightly as she flowed between the forms. Occasionally her flow faltered, a misplaced foot here, awkward positioning as she tried to connect manoeuvres there. But she continued until she was somewhat satisfied, movements refining with every strike. Pausing in her movements, Aindri removed her right hand from the warblades hilt and twisted to check her chrono. Seeing the time, she had been in the chamber for almost two hours, she lowered her blade deactivating it as she relaxed her stance. Sheathing it in one fluid motion, she wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve and headed for her dorm, once busy hallways now quiet, nightfall seeming to have strengthened the shadows perpetually clinging to their edges.
Those she roomed with were still awake and Tormi gave her a lazy wave from where she laid on her bed, reading a something on her datapad when she entered. Preparing for bed after taking a shower to wash away the days sweat, Aindri thought back on her first day at the academy. The allies she had made in Venitas and Tormi, their presences in the Force, Vemrin and the Twi'leks own rival Ffon. Her face remained neutral even as she inwardly frowned, if Venitas was correct – and there was no reason he should not be – news of her arrival had already become a source of gossip. Gossip of which she had no doubt, had already reached the ears of whoever Tremel was playing. But, she could do nothing about it tonight. Connecting her datapad to the academies mainframe, she brought up the Imperial HoloNet, catching up on the recent news and checking to see if her uncle had sent any messages before falling into a dreamless sleep.