Week 7, Day 2
The halls of the Sith academy were filled with the typical noise which made the Falleen feel strangely nostalgic. Though he didn’t miss a single second of the harsh days as a future Sith in the academy. As he walked his eyes caught sight of various acolytes and their teachers, a group of younger acolytes were being made to spar. One of the fighters went down hard, as they took a training lightsaber to the gut which definitely left a nice bruise. An instructor ran up to the downed boy and began to scream at him, reprimanding him for failure. At the sight of the hit Zes cringed as he recalled similar blows he’d receive in mock duels during his academy days. He practically felt his skin shiver from where there had once been welts and marks from fights. He definitely didn’t miss that part of the acolyte life.
Zes was clad in his Sith robes, a stylish black outfit dotted with red stripes and markings. His lengthy braided hair was tied in a long ponytail and swayed gently with each step. Both of his lightsaber hilts were tucked tightly along his belt, unlikely to see usage while he was in the academy. As he strolled he felt eyes upon him, some from students and others from the instructors. Though none spoke out to him, he could tell they glanced at him. He presumed some of the looks were due to him being a graduated Sith while others were due to him simply being a Falleen. His people were not a common sight in the galaxy, particularly in the Sith ranks.
The assassin had come to the academy to meet with Master Qolshuz, undoubtedly to get ribbed out for his recent failures. Though how much both of the failed missions were his fault was in the air, at least the latest one involving the Republic ship raid had spun far out of his control. The woman they had ‘freed’ from the Jedi ship, Selene, was in the academy on this day. Perhaps he’d seek her out later on, if not simply to observe what she was doing now that she was in the Empire. The powerful force user intrigued him, as she likely did for many in the Empire. The dark side blanketed Korriban in its warm embrace, he was certain that Selene would flourish here and see the beauty of the Empire. His next thought came to Tishombra, the fiery redheaded Sith apprentice who had an ‘interesting’ forced partnership with during the Harvest Moon operation. Perhaps she was here as well.
The Fallen rounded a corner, passing by more Sith young and old as he walked. It was pleasing to see the academy operating at such an efficient level. They were practically flourishing with new blood, though how many would survive or more aptly thrive the academic process was an entirely different matter.
Dashara examined her fingers. They still stung from her slicing attempts on her room’s locked door and left slight redness on the tips. She hissed then tried to shake some feeling back into them. It would come in time, she knew. Until then, she had to suffer. Her green eyes studied each student as they began to file into the numerous rooms, either to study on their own or through the various Overseers.
She caught sight of one. An older male, stern and wrinkled by the years. His yellowing eyes harshly scanned down each hallway as he began to herd the remaining students into a classroom, she truly doubted they were the right ones. As he drew nearer, she quickly detoured from her original direction and ducked down an isolated hallway.
“Fuck...fuck..” She muttered under her breath, feeling the older man seem to detect her. It was times like this she wished she didn’t have the lavender coloring to her skin. Blending into a crowd was nearly impossible in certain situations.
With a hasty and well practiced grace, she managed duck into an empty classroom. She closed the door just before the Overseer spotted it. Dashara held her breath while she pushed tightly against the nearby wall. Her heart pounded in rhythm to the steps moving briskly across the marble floor. Gradually the sounds began to fade indicating she had eluded trouble for now. Cautiously, she began to open the door and peered outside.
As Zes continued his walk down the hallway he watched as a group of young students were led into a classroom by an overseer. The Sith smirked at the sight of the children being herded inside, likely to be given lessons on warfare, the Force or the Sith way of life if he were to guess. He could recall being the only green skinned child, a solitary alien in those classes amongst purebloods and humans. It often put him on the end of bullying and taunts, which he learned to first ignore then draw inspiration from. His eyes caught sight of a woman in the uniform of an acolyte, especially noticeable by her light purple complexion and her beauty.
He made direct eye contact with the peeking woman, as she popped out halfway from the room down the hallway he walked. The expression on her face indicated stress, a high level. She seemed to be up to mischief, judging by the peeking. It was not really his business as he was not part of the academy in any capacity. Still, her alluring eyes caught his own, as did her flame red hair. It seemed that stunning redheads were the theme of his recent days when it came to females.
“Are we up to no good, young Sith?” Zes asked semi seriously, a slight smirk peeking onto his dark green lips as he asked the question.
Hairs on the back of Dashara’s neck rose, her eyes snapped into Zes’ direction. In a short few moments, her vision absorbed and committed his image to memory. On any other day, she would’ve admired his features like most younger men of various races. Falleen rarely cared to stop into Little SlugLand, but she had encountered a rare few. Mostly pleasant experiences. Which would he be, she asked the question without any proper answer.
“Maybe.” Dash smirked, letting her fear and anxiety release from her. She was the master of her emotions, not the other way around.
“At least, if skipping class is counted as being bad.” She lied with the practice she earned while facing numerous criminals, clients and more.
Not a true expert, but she had enough skill to make it believable. Cautiously she stepped farther out into the hallway and cast a glance around.
“Maybe? Well I’m no overseer, I’m not going to report you or reprimand you, especially for skipping class. Its redundant type teaching at a certain level, embrace the dark side, use the force as a weapon, become powerful and use it to dominate the weak,” Zes replied, speaking to the gist of the most basic Sith teachings. “Though, I wonder why you’d be peeking out of a room like you were instead of wandering the halls or slacking off somewhere.”
He stated firmly, then took another step towards the redhead, looking her over wordlessly. Then he added another inquiry, off topic from the skipping of classes. “You’re a Zeltron aren’t you, by the way, or at least partly. I can tell by the lavender skin and that distinct red hair.”
“This place is easy to get bored in. Not much fun and very limited ways to relieve stress, so exploring seems like a better option.” Dashara answered casually as she shrugged, her lips still holding onto the smile.
“Good guess, but in this case the red hair is from my human side. Speaking of unique creatures, I have only met a few Falleen in my time. Mostly pleasant experiences, I’m happy to say.”
“My people are rare to find off our homeplanet, but those that do go offworld and explore are the more adventurous and daring kind. My world is the jewel of the galaxy, peaceful and gorgeous, many Falleen simply do not want to leave it.” He interjected, then let her continue as he spoke with a cockiness when it came to his homeworld. Zes had not been back there in a very long time.
She paused, placing her finger to her lips while her other hand held her elbow. Since you’re not an Overseer, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be off on a mission or something?” Dash vague recalled Apprentice Konaal’s training vids on the subject as she bullshitted her way through it in a vague way.
“It can be boring here, indeed. Once can find fun though depending on what they desire. The Sith life becomes much more interesting once one is out, unless they burn out,” The assassin stated plainly, then smirked flirtatiously at the half Zeltron. “Would be a shame if one like you didn’t make it. Zeltrons are a lot of fun, in many ways.”
Her smile didn’t waiver, at least on her face. A small tension budded in her jawline before it faded away.
“I can confidently say that this type of environment isn’t new to me. As for seeing the fun, it’s a lot harder when you have no one to show it.” She flirted back, shamelessly enjoying his attention.
“My business is my business, young Sith. Perhaps I just got back from killing a whole bunch of Jedi, or conquering a planet,” He stated with a laugh, refusing to diverge on the actual details of his most recent mission. “You do say? Walk with me They won’t yell at you if you’re with me. I bet I’m the highlight of your mundane little day anyway. I can be quite fun.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it. Lead the way.” Dash folded her hands in front of her and walked with a posture that didn’t suit her upbring on the Nar Shaddaa streets. An element trained and beaten into her from her escort days.
Her feet kept in pace with his when they walked. “Since you won’t tell me why you’re here, can you tell me more about yourself? I won’t poke, I promise.”
“Daring to ask a mysterious Sith like me for such information. I could be the kind that kicks orphans and tortures for fun,” Zes said with another laugh as they walked alongside each other. “My name is Zes, I serve the Empire in intelligence, as an assassin and spy mainly. I’ve been across the galaxy wherever I am asked to go to serve my masters. I’ve broken into heavily guarded compounds, blew up Republic bases and killed politicians as well as numerous Jedi. Before that I was a noble on my homeworld, a Sith visited the world and took me to this academy as a teenager. Since that day I’ve been a Sith.”
“What about you, my pretty Sith. What's your name? How did you end up here? Zeltrons aren’t exactly common in the Sith ranks.” The Falleen asked as he turned the questions on her, curious about the young woman. He still had to make his way to his master, but some chat would help to kill the boredom of his walk. As well as possibly lead to more ‘fun’ down the line.
"I found life is way more fun with an adrenaline rush." She ignored the little voice in her head screaming at her stupidity. Her stubbornness won out as she tucked her anxiety away and focused on the lie she had to fabricate.
Dashara knew she had to fake it well and forced her to tread a lie very close to the truth. Her feet continued to walk while she considered her words carefully, turning them over in her head before finally airing them out to dry.
"I was found on Teya VI by an Inquisitor, who informed me about imperial law. Naturally I didn't understand and was somewhat resistant. Before that I enjoyed a life of freedom among a kind hearted group who traveled a lot."
There were plenty of gaps in her simple and brief explanation. On top of that, she had managed to smoothly avoid giving her name. Dashara wondered if he would inquire about it again or simple move on.
