"You know about the other Shadow Academy, I presume." Taigikori propped himself on his desk, his fingers drumming the surface, as he stared back at Dacien. "The one founded in 23 ABY? I thought it had been destroyed."

"It was. My travels to find the holocron took me past where it had once been," Dacien said. "There's still a dark aura about the area where the battle station self-destructed, close to Yavin 4. It was there that I noticed a ship hovering around the area before it quickly departed. A ship that must have been holding something powerful."

"Go on."

Dacien gritted his teeth. "I decided to follow it," he continued. "Not just because I was curious, mind you. The power that I sensed on the ship worried me. I was able to lock onto it and detect its path. It didn't go too far - in fact, it finally landed in Alzar, in the Gordian Reach, Thanium sector."

The Headmaster arched an eyebrow. This intrigued him. Alzar was well-known for being a vulnerable planet, having suffered dearly during the Stenax Massacres and the reign of Warlord Zsinj. What someone would want to do with the survivors, especially after the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, was something to take note of. Taigikori moved to the portal overlooking the courtyard, his eyes locked on the ground far below.

"So?"

"I landed a safe distance away from an Alzarian village," Dacien said. "The man who stepped out of the vessel...I have never seen the likes of such before. I knew immediately that he was a Jedi. If I wasn't careful, he could sense me...but I was able to hear tidbits of what he said in his conversation to the Alzarians."

"What was he saying?"

"He was mostly asking random questions about the government of the Alzarians. Like he thought it was run by someone else." Dacien paused. "In fact, he claimed that we had taken over the planet."

The sky had begun to darken outside. Taigikori didn't move from his standing spot.

"The Jedi did ask one interesting question, though...he said he had searched for a 'Shadow Academy' and found it destroyed...and he wondered if it was ours. The Alzarians said no, that it had been controlled by the Second Imperium. ...So he asked, 'Where's the real Shadow Academy?'"

Taigikori felt the veins bulge in his forehead. Blood was beginning to pump its way up his neck and straight into his brain, a jolt of unprecedented adrenaline.

"Taigikori...he's looking for Lyspair."

There was a harsh silence at Dacien's proclamation. The Warlord stood still, awaiting the Headmaster's reply. He received a simpering smile and a curt nod, before Taigikori spoke again.

"Thank you, Bubba. This information is...useful, to say the very least." Taigikori beckoned toward the door. "You are dismissed."

When Dacien was gone, the Headmaster acted quickly. He jumped to the comm station and punched in a few keys, signaling a transmission to the lower levels of the Academy. Almost instantly, a small blue silhouette of the intern from before emerged.

"What do you need, Headmaster?"

"I need you to check on all ship activity of those heading in and out of the Academy," Taigikori said, his voice reduced to a harsh growl. "Any air traffic on Lyspair must be documented. My orders."

"Yes, sir," the intern said before his hologram fizzled into non-existence. Taigikori raised his head from the station, his heart still pounding like a drum.

"This better be taken care of."

He went to the wall and retrieved the Sith Lord's dagger with the wall. Its cold, harsh blade glared back at it, showing a muddled reflection of his sinister features.

"Now I have a sacrifice to make¦ and a Praetor to baptize in its blood."

---

His journey had taken him deep into the Outer Territories, a never-ending velvet cosmos. The hum of the engine beneath him relaxed him - the vast emptiness of space calmed him. No dark patrols. No security checkpoints. Just the endless vacuum untouched by the hands of the Dark Jedi.

33 ABY. It seemed so long ago in his still very short life. He had turned eight years old in 33 ABY. He had become a padawan to the New Jedi Order. But the years had passed so quickly and so brutally, and he had become hardened and headstrong for Skywalker's code. And during that time, the Brotherhood had only grown more powerful, recovering from its stint with Yuuzhan Vong and Jedi alike...

It had proven too much for him. But now, he had gone back. Back into the years where he was still a child newly learning the Force. He was no longer a youngling, but he would find each and every youngling in his path. He would turn them away from the dark side, before they became the intimidating, sinister Dark Jedi Masters that he knew them as in the foreboding years.

He maintained a firm grip on the ship's controls, his piloting skills never failing him. He had cast his long robe aside, his tunic bunched up against the chair as he leaned back. He was not a burly figure, but he was tall and big enough to take on several men at once. And the simple silver hilt on his belt did wonders in helping him in his fights, no matter how much he wished he did not need to ignite the blade and let it submit to its fiery dance.

He keyed in the coordinates so that he would jump into hyperspace once more, as the freighter lurched into the spiral of stars streaming past him like white ribbons. How tempting it was to take advantage of this new-found time. But Liu Van Dae would not succumb so quickly. He had a mission, and Antei was the X on his unfurled treasure map.

---

The young girl barely had time to scream. The dagger had moved too quickly for the strangled noise to erupt from her constricted throat, spraying red in its distorted dance across her flesh. The various tattoos she wore on her back and neck split open in a bloody work of art, veins snapped and severed as the steps she kneeled on began to dampen with her lifestream.

She died with her face turned away from her killer, who lifted the knife from her destroyed vertebrate but did not move to clean the blade that has once been held by one of the Sith Lords of old. The blood of a whore, and a sinner, was difficult to remove from the altar he stood upon, his robes hanging loosely about his ankles as his eyes blazed in the dim lighting of the enclosed space. When the girl slumped forward and lay in her own decay, Taigikori Aybara Dupar raised his head to face the one kneeling in front of the steps, the one who had witnessed the sacrifice.

The Headmaster lifted his bloodied hand. His fingers unfurled from his sweaty palm, and as the knowledge of the Vault flowed from him, he remembered what he had learned. From the time of his own initiation, under Aabsdu, he had grown worthy of the wisdom of the universe. All knowledge of Sith, Obelisk, and Krath alike was open to him.

Tave jen' garthaz ne azinimas.

The Quaestor before him he had never expected to be here. But she had proven herself, not just as a warrior and a general, but also as one worthy of the same knowledge.

Tave jen' garthaz ne kiekis.

She was beginning to become perceptible to the dark energy flooding her senses. It was as if a dark smoke seeped through her pores, yet with each pulse and breath she saw more.

Tave jen' garthaz ne raiskus.

If this were enlightenment, then all the better for the strive for infinite perfection, something the Obelisk had desired all along.

Tave jen' garthaz j'us nemoka!

Taigikori let his hand drop. The woman before him looked no different, but the aura now about her was more terrifying than before. Her eyes appeared to dilate, then shine in the darkness of the chamber. The Headmaster grinned. The dark side within him grew hot like a black flame.

"Ronovi Tavisaen Tarentae...Praetor to the Academy. Arise, and serve me well."

A lot of stuff has happened over the last month. We've seen a new Praetor take up their place at my side, the new Vendetta hits the Brotherhood on October 1st, houses can become Clans again after the New Year...all in all, stuff worth mentioning. This report, is one I'm particularly proud in, because we've never had so much content release, at least in recent days.

Good stuff first. This report, I'm releasing 3 courses, and 2 new Dark Side Degrees. First up, is the new course penned by the winner of The "Write" Stuff competition. Mandalorian Studies is now available through the Shadow Academy, under the Department of Philosophy. Locke wrote this, and I was thoroughly impressed with it.

The next two courses have been on the map for over a year, and they're finally here. Combat Tactics I and Combat Tactics II are now available through the Department of Combat Tactics.

With the release of the above, we're now able to offer the Dark Maven Combat (DMG) degree. Also on the note of Combat, the Dark Savant Tactics and Combat is now available as well. For the Savant, the practical requirement is to earn 100 Clusters of Fire, counting starting from when you earned your first Maven for the degree (either Flight or Combat). For example, if I earned my Flight Maven two years ago, and I've earned 100 CFs since then, that counts for the 100.

Another topic I want to hit on is the DB Release Form. This is an excellent tool, signing your rights to all official work over to the Brotherhood. This gives the DB leadership peace of mind, knowing someone can't go off on a temper tantrum down the line and revoke our privileges to use any material they've created for us. I'm encouraging all SA Staff members and SA course writers to sign this, and send it into Kir. However, this is something I think everyone should do. It's a show of good faith, and something I personally believe in. My Praetor and I have already sent our signed forms into Kir and Muz. The form is at the bottom of the following wiki page.

DB Release Form

The "Write" Stuff was a huge hit, below are the winners, though I'm abstaining from using the course titles as we're using some of them for future courses. Locke and Jade placed first and second respectfully, snagging themselves 1st level Crescents for their efforts. For this month's competition, I'm reopening Blast from the Past, which two exams will be released. These are great, because they can be used for electives for future degrees you're planning on earning. It's also nice to try and pass every course we have to offer, or "offered".

Projects! Ronovi is heading all Shadow Academy fictional projects, including the prologue of what you read above. The storyline is something I came up with awhile back, and have been waiting to release it for a long time. You all won't be disappointed. The Grind Path is chugging along, as well as at least two more courses slated for release in my next report. (And one will be released in the next week or, a prelude to a much larger DB project) We're on a roll with all these exam releases, and I'm proud that they're being put out during my reign as Headmaster. It makes a guy smile.

The recruitment cards should be ready for release in the next couple of months, which I think will be a huge asset to have, at everyone's finger tips.

My apologies for having this report out a few days late. Work is killing me, as well as trying to get my own business off the ground. I'm extremely looking forward to being able to grade events in the upcoming Vendetta, which so far is looking amazing. Here are some fancy pictures taken at Celebration 5 from Aabsdu, which we're extremely thankful for and glad he enjoyed himself.

Summary: -Mandalorian Studies released -Combat Tactics I and II released -Combat Maven released -Savant Tactics and Combat released -Aabs gets a MDL -Ronovi new P:HM

His Excellency, Taigikori Aybara Dupar Headmaster of the Brotherhood