8 July 2009

Headmaster Report #27

Victory II-class Star Destroyer _Paladin

Orbit of Antei

Three months after the retaking of Antei...._

The calm of the new flagship was at first unnoticeable. He had been used to hearing the roar of the Arcanum's massive ion engines as they drifted through the unknown. The floor itself would hum at times, if he really put his mind in a state of awareness. Now there was nothing of the Arcanum left. Its crew, commander, and technology had all been replaced. The Headmaster stared out of the wide holo-window at the planet below. The price of Antei's recapture was a high one.

His eyes made their way westward, across stars and other Brotherhood vessels until he rested on a small orb to the distance. Lyspair. He could feel it pulling him almost through the ship’s hull, he subconsciously put all of his weight into heals as if he half expected to be jettisoned into the vast space between the ship and the small moon. He shook his head as he pressed a button on his wrist communicator.

"Praetor, join me on the bridge if you will." His eyes never left the moon.

He was jarred out of his quiet trance when a familiar presence came up beside him. Aabsdu nodded and pointed out towards the starboard side of the ship. There, hovering around fifty meters off the Paladin's wake were two vessels.

"Let me introduce to you the modified Assassin-class Corellia Corvette Pyralis, and the Vindicator Atrum Vorago," Aabsdu said with pride as he looked upon the Shadow Academy's new mobile defenses.

"They are impressive. They will make a fine addition to the Azura and Vespera... and of course, our latest gift from the Grand Master," Taigikori took a step back, looking around at the Paladin’s structure.

"There is still have one last thing to accomplish," Aabsdu coldly stated.

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News

--I fell behind on reminding people about the Shadow Academy's June competition, so I've decided to leave it open through July 18, for my next report. Basically, read the fictional update in my last report, found here and write a short fiction detailing what happens. The winning submission is be featured in my next report. Submissions should be around one or two pages and sent to sacompetitions[at]gmail[dot]com while details for the event can be found here.

--What is the lightsaber? A weapon? A tool? Currently in the Shadow Academy, our course Lightsaber Studies seeks to teach the basics of lightsaber hilts, parts, and forms of combat, but a lightsaber doesn't stop there. It is for this reason that today marks the official release of Advanced Lightsaber Studies, written by none other than Grand Master Muz. As expected, it is advanced, and goes into more of the finer details of a lightsaber. The exam is also more practical, and requires understanding of the weapon rather than a simple knowledge of its parts. Still, a very cool course. Notes can be found in the Important Links section.

--As many of you pointed out during the Great Jedi War, dark side degrees require electives, but only a few of the electives are still active in the Shadow Academy. Indeed, electives were conceived as a way to use courses no longer offered, but that doesn't mean we're going to leave the newer members with no rope to hang on. One of the things I started as Headmaster was Blast from the Past Week, one week every six months when an old course would be reopened for members to take, and then use however they wanted. Well, security problems and then the GJW delayed our third running, but from July 12 through July 18, ESET will officially be reopened. Keep in mind this is an old course, and much of it is probably out of date (hence why it was removed), but nonetheless you can pass it to use in degrees. Link is below.

--I've mentioned this before, but we still get emails on it occasionally, so I wanted to reiterate it here. Along with all the new coding changes Arion implemented, one of them was a change in how the database handles course retakes. Now, you do not have to ask us to delete your old score first, just retake it, and the database will automatically replace the score. Note, however, that if your retake is lower, it still gets replaced, and we won't reverse it. That's the risk you take.

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Projects

--In my next report I will be going over the details of a major restructuring of the Shadow Academy staff, specifically in relation to Eclectic Pedagogues, but until then just know that there will be less of us, and faster grading times. As always, let Taig and I know if your exam sits for more than five days. There's also discussion going on about new developments in how the Shadow Academy (and Brotherhood as a whole) handles new recruits, but that's in very early stages, so it's all speculation.

--Back at the beginning of the summer we took Ground Weapons offline so that we could start work on a more in-depth combat course, and we are nearing completion of Combat Tactics, which will include weapons, vehicles, droids, and other stuff. With Advanced Lightsaber Studies, Combat Tactics will also mark the release of a new Combat degree, so watch for that. We've also got another clan history course, a writing course, and a new DJBWiki course that are nearing completion, so stay tuned for news on all of that.

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Important Links

--SA Website

--SA Degree Requirements

--SA Forums

--Advanced Lightsaber Studies

--ESET Notes

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Summary

• Submit to Reclamation of Lyspair competition!

• Advanced Lightsaber Studies released!

• Blast from the Past: ESET runs through July 18!

• Want Change? It's coming...

Dark Side Adept Aabsdu di Plagia Dupar

Headmaster of the Brotherhood