Ancient monuments made of cracked stone stood tall, the unblinking faces they depicted staring down into sand filled valleys. Tombs filled out those valleys, some built into the side of the large mountains and others descending into the darkness of the underground. And, in the distance, a metal structure larger than any other in view, blocked off the valley.

The Sith Academy.

Hot winds pelted Erin's unprotected face, the grains of sand that rode them invading the corners of his eyes.

He was no stranger to harsh planets, but less than a minute here and he already knew he fucking hated it. That’s Korriban for you; a hospitable planet wouldn’t be a proper place to train Sith.

Clangs filled the air as other soon to be acolytes stepped off the transport ship that brought them here and onto the metal grates of the landing platform.

A hand landed on his shoulder.

“I wouldn’t rub them if I were you.” One of them had stopped. A short haired redhead that wore a friendly smile. “I know it’s tempting but wait until we get our hands on some water. That’ll do you better.”

Erin, his hands halfway up to his face, stopped the reach for his burning eyes. “Not your first time in a desert, I take it?” He asked.

"Worked on Tatooine for awhile. You either learn to deal with all the sand or miss your quotas." Her smile fell for a moment, the almost brand like burns marring her right cheek, indicative of a harsh past. Those memories were still fresh for her. Despite the cruel implication, the smile fully returned as she extended a hand. "I'm Kory."

Her hands, he noted, were rough and full of clauses as he took it. A mirror to his own.

“Erin.” He introduced himself.

"Well Erin, its nice to meet you. I was a bit worried there wouldn't be any friendly faces around. The others are a bit..." He followed her gaze. Those who passed them ranged from pale and noodle legged to scarred and angry. The ones who locked eyes with them glared or looked away. A conversation with any of them would be short lived, if possible at all.

Only two outliers existed.

A red-skinned man, dressed in black hooded robes instead of the basic gray pants and shirt provided to them, stood tall, arms crossed as he analyzed their surroundings. It was if they didn’t exist to him.

A pureblooded Sith in the flesh. What an honor.

Kory shook her head and looked back to him. "Anyways, I hope that you don't mind sticking together? I've heard that the trials can be brutal and, well you know what they say, everything’s easier with friends."

Yes, indeed. Only two outliers existed. Kory might be far more composed and able to put up a brave front in this situation but her shaky blue-green eyes betrayed the truth. Her fear and anxiety matched the others, her bottom lip slightly curled inwards as she bit down on it and awaited his answer.

Erin supposed she must’ve recognized him as the outlier he was. Desperate for some assurance in this bleak situation, she determined him to be more approachable than the pureblood and was throwing her lot in with him.

A risky decision.

“Good idea, friend.” Erin said, returning her friendly smile with a much smaller one. A subtle sigh slipped out and her shoulders lowered, some tension draining from her.

“Cease your foolishness and get over here, slaves!” A sharp yell brought all that tension right back, Kory stiffening. Wide eyed, she led the way further along the platform where the others gathered.

A pale man awaited them, an ugly scowl in place. His clothing, black in color with armored shoulder pads and markings over his chest, denoted him as an overseer.

“Apologies, sir.” Kory said with a deep bow, Erin silently mimicking the action.

The man’s scowl worsened.

“You gutter trash will refer to me as overseer Harkun. I was unfortunate enough to be the one tasked with facilitating your trials.” The man turned and walked into the metal structure connecting the landing pad to the rest of the planet. Unsure glances were cast between them but another glare from Harkun was all the motivation they needed to fall in line behind him.

“Your task is simple. You will each make your way through the ancient tomb of Ajunta Pall and to the academy. I don’t expect any of you to survive, in fact I look forward to hearing of your failures from anyone lucky enough to witness them.” A cruel smile settled across his lips as he stopped beside a table of inactive vibroblades and electro-staffs. “These are all the resources that have been wasted upon you fools. Make no mistake, no matter how well equipped you are, trash will always be trash. I suggest you all remember that.”

Harkun turned to leave, unsurprisingly gesturing for the hooded pureblood to follow after him. That one would either be exempted or given a different trial entirely.

“Bastard.” Kory muttered once they were out of earshot.

“He won’t be the only one to look down on slaves.” Erin said. The Sith might’ve started rounding up every force sensitive they could get their hands on in order to bolster their numbers in preparation for the inevitable, but very few were happy to link arms with those they considered beneath them.

“Former slaves. We’re all free now.” Kory corrected. Debatable. It was more of a change in management; if any of them refused to participate in this trial death was all that awaited them. A swift one if they were lucky. “You’d think they’d at least put us with someone who wanted us here. It’s not like any of us asked to be snatched up for this. That bastard didn’t even give us any directions to this tomb.”

Whether or not she had a point was entirely irrelevant. In this place, fairness was a luxury and like any luxury, those at the bottom of the barrel best forget about ever partaking in it.

The weak would die. The capable would survive. The strong would live.

They watched as a few of the others ran up to the table to swipe a weapon, their eyes darting amongst each other. It seemed their shared roots in slavery did nothing to promote trust.

Once the area around the table cleared up they walked up to secure their own weapons.

None of them could complain about variety. The vibroblades ranged from standard swords to short swords and long wider ones meant to be wielded with two hands. The staffs came in various sizes so no matter their height or weight there’d be one for them. Erin picked one of the longer vibroswords and waved it around. Balanced and freshly made too, no chips or scratches marking their metallic length.

“Any idea what you’ll bring?” Kory asked while giving a dual sided electrostaff some test swings. It’d be a lie to say she looked experienced but it was clear this wasn’t the first time she’s made such motions. Picking up on his look, she sheepishly smiled. “Dealt with a few pests from time to time back on Tatooine. Who would’ve thought swinging around a stick would come in handy here, right?”

Erin nodded as he activated the vibrosword. A faint buzz filled air, the blade vibrating with energy. He deactivated it, picked up a second, and after putting on a provided leather harness, slipped them on his back. “These will do fine.”

While they equipped themselves both took notice of the only other person still picking out a weapon. Well, they weren’t picking a weapon per say. Rather than restricting themselves to a single one they were grabbing a weapon from each type and clipping to their form. Erin held back a snort. A small crimson skinned twi’lek weighed down by armaments she had no business carrying was certainly a first.

“Uhhh, I don’t think it’s a good idea take all that with you.” Kory said to twi'lek. Her reward for showing concern to the little scarred alien? A furious glare and low snarl. This time the snort did escape Erin. The glare shifted to him and he smiled at the woman.

“I suggest you take her advice. The objective of this trial is survival. Bog yourself down with all that weight and you’ll find yourself cornered within the tomb we’ll be making our way through.” He said.

Their advice went unheeded. After loading herself on all she could manage, the short twi’lek followed after the few brave enough to venture out and locate the tomb they’d been tasked with traversing.

“I guess we should get a move on too.” Kory said.

Erin allowed her to lead the way.

His own overseer instructed him to meet someone in the very same Tomb this trial was taking place. These slaves were just a convenient cover for him sneak in unnoticed.

From top to bottom, his attendance at the Sith Academy veered far from the conventional and if all went according to plan, none would be the wiser.

----------------------------------------

K’lor’slugs.

At a distance they could be mistaken for overgrown worms. The sharp legs that lined their bodies and their circular maws, filled with jagged rows of teeth, did away with that misconception. An infestation of the ravenous creatures was a problem, both planetside and aboard starships they managed to nest within.

A swing sliced through the arms looking to skewer him. A stab from his other blade pierced the upright underbelly and ran through its mouth. Erin pulled the faintly glowing vibroswords, the gaping wounds left behind on the creature causing it to slump over into the sand.

They didn’t compare to a lightsaber but vibroblades had their uses.

Around him, in the valley of sand preceding the massive tomb ahead, others fought the creatures as well. The K’lor’slugs on Korriban were especially aggressive, fearless attacking loners and groups alike. As former slaves few had any real combat experience, struggling to defend against vicious stabs and desperate lunges.

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Plenty would meet their end without stepping foot in the tomb.

Kory, not far from him, utilized wide swings to keep a pair of slugs at bay. The electrified attacks were weakening them but she was wasting too much energy. Beneath this blazing sun where sand slowed their steps, an endurance match would only lower her chances of survival.

Kory back stepped away from slashes from one of the slugs and with a particularly harsh swing of her staff, slammed it into the sand, the creature seizing up from the lethal shocks. Erin walked over and finished it off with a stab. The other slug took advantage of the heavy swing and lunged at Kory before she could reposition for another swing, taking them both to the ground. The staff was all that kept the thing from chomping her head off. He ran a sword through its back, careful to keep the blade from sinking through completely.

Kory shoved the corpse off her with a huff, taking deep long breaths as she laid in the sand. Once she regained her breath, she sat up while wiping away saliva the creature left on her face. “Are K’lor’slugs suppose to grow that big?”

“It’s a big world. I doubt that’s the worse thing waiting for us on this planet.” Erin said. He offered her a hand.

“Fuck…” She muttered. After one more deep breath she took his hand and gave him a small smile. “Thanks for the help.”

Blood curdling screams tore through the air.

The defense of the bigger groups had began to fail them, the relentless K’lor’slugs dismantling them. The fortunate had their heads torn off in a single bite after being pinned down or sneaked up on by slugs who burrowed through the sand. Others were shredded by their jagged teeth and sharp limbs, unable to do anything other than scream out as they were ripped into.

From the corner of his eye, Erin watched Kory’s grip tightened around her staff. Her gaze jumped to the distant tomb then back to the others.

Her fellow former slaves.

“Should we-“ She began.

“Screw this!” One of the group’s number yelled. They shoved one of their unsuspecting allies towards the slug lunging for them. It turned their victim to a blood mess in seconds, the traitor rushing past and sprinting towards the tomb’s entrance.

Pathetic but not unexpected or unreasonable. They might’ve been brought here because they were force sensitive, but what were a bunch of slaves who didn’t even know what that meant supposed to do?

This whole process was nonsensical.

That betrayal triggered a domino effect, the rough but loosely united defense devolving into people using each other as distractions and fleeing the moment they got the chance. Few actually made it to the tomb, chased down or taken off guard by slugs bursting out from beneath the sand.

“We should go.” Kory said quietly, heading towards the tomb. He followed.

A metal gate, ripped open and covered in sand marked the tomb’s entrance. The fallen bodies of Imperial troopers decorated the entranceway, slumped against emptied metal crates and the tomb’s ancient stone walls. Missing limbs, the burn marks of blaster fire, melted armor and bone.

K’lor’slugs only played a part in these troopers’ deaths.

Kory kneeled down beside one of the troopers, face scrunched up and a frown in place. She tried to pay as little attention to their states and picked one of the few blasters left in the room.

A black rifle with a silver trigger; the exact model number alluded him but Erin recognized it as the standard issue blaster provided to majority of troopers.

After fumbling around with it she aimed at a nearby wall and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. She tried again and again, going as far as to shake it in between attempts.

“Never used a blaster before, I take it?” Erin asked, lips quirked upwards.

“No, but I’ve seen others use them. Am I doing something wrong?”

“Not exactly. The gas chamber is likely empty and if I had to guess, the power pack is dry as well.” He explained. Like vibroblades, blasters didn’t compare to a lightsaber, but they had plenty of uses. Someone trying to run from you? A blaster would put a quick end to that.

“I guess it was too much to hope we’d get lucky.” After a disappointed sigh, Kory tentatively adjusted the body and took the blaster’s sling for herself, strapping it to her back. “Maybe we’ll come across canisters and power packs?”

“Maybe.” He agreed and followed her lead, strapping one of the blasters around his chest.

Maybe she would survive all of this; keeping a level head and being resourceful was its own sort of strength. Had the other trainees not panicked and ran they would’ve stopped to grab one of the weapons.

They walked down the stony slope and into the Tomb’s depths.

Artificial lights took over for natural sunlight and sand grew less plentiful, most gathered between the crevices of the ground. They stepped into a massive central chamber. The lights that lit it up were held up by cracked stone fashioned to resemble kneeling humanoids. The same went for the support pillars that kept the place from collapsing.

If Ajunta Pall fashioned this tomb himself than he really wanted people to remember that others served him. If someone built it to honor him, it went without saying that they held some deep respect or fear of the first Dark Lord of The Sith. Probably both.

Mercy didn’t earn one the title Dark Lord.

The inside of the tomb was no safer than the entrance.

A pair of K’lor’slugs charged them barely a minute in. He cut his down with relative easy. Kory managed to shock hers to death, fairing far better in a one on one battle.

Left, right. Both directions led to wide stony halls guarded by slugs. Other prospective acolytes battled or ran past those slugs, no one daring to form a team after that debacle on the surface.

Which way led to the academy?

Erin noticed an odd trio of deep scratch marks along the wall down the path to the right. Further down that hall, a woman awaited, turning the corner the moment they made eye contact.

He knew where he needed to go.

“There goes that twi’lek.” Kory pointed down the left path to the petite red skinned woman from before. At some port or another she’d abandoned all those weapons she brought, fending off a group of those slugs with a vibrosword like his own. Alone, she couldn’t do much else other than roll and throw herself away from their attacks.

Normally he’d assume any initiate in her situation would be dead to rights, but he felt something in her that the others lacked. If Kory and the others were subtle ripples in the force, that twi’lek was a bubbling geyser fit to burst.

If those things kept hounding her, Erin was sure he’d see something interesting.

“Come on!” Unfortunately, Kory mustered up her courage and activated her electrostaff as she rushed to join the fight. He followed, pulling both of his swords out with a spin.

He dragged two blades through the mid-section of one of the K'lor’slugs leaping towards the twi’lek, steaming dark green blood filling the air as it fell apart. By the time it’s bisected corpse hit the ground, he’d kicked off towards two more, cutting through them with a spin, their rough skin no different than butter to the vibrating weapons.

Kory managed to catch her first by surprise, a heavy downward smack to its head instantly dropping it. The others recognized her as bigger threat than the twi’lek and focused their assault on Kory. She took to the defensive, unable to dispatch another.

Luckily for her, that twi’lek had been severely underestimated. She pounced on the opening, attacking the slugs from behind. She swung her vibrosword with such raw anger that each slash cut deep despite her small build.

Between the three of them the K’lor’slugs were killed quickly.

“That went better than I expected.” Kory admitted, looking around at the bloody mess he left behind with no help. She wanted to ask about his skills; the furrowing of her brow said as much. She shelved it for later and focused on the twi’lek, friendly smile making a return. “Are you alright?”

“What do you want?” The twi’lek growled.

Kory’s smile became strained. “We just wanted to help you.”

“I didn’t ask for your help.”

Kory’s smile dropped completely. “Hey, drop the attitude. We’re not the ones you need to be so angry with me.” She said. “Or do you really want to go through this place by yourself?”

“You want to team up? Do I look like an idiot to you?” The twi’lek scoffed “I’m not going to let any of you people use me as a distraction.”

“You’re not wrong to be paranoid but do we look like we need a distraction?” Kory pointed at the K’lor’slugs cut down by his hand. “You saw him fight. Do you think he needs to use either of us as a decoy to get out of here?”

She was using him to make a point. He respected the shrewdness; Kory wasn’t as naïve as he first thought.

The twi’lek shifted her dark purple eyes to him, glare even sharper. “Why haven’t you?”

“Why haven’t I headed to the academy?” Erin clarified. He crossed his arms and cupped his chin, pondering what he should say. Or at least to make it look that way. “I suppose I’ve taken a liking to Kory.” The glare on him didn’t waver. Kory herself raised a brow, not convinced either. Surely a mundane reason like that wasn’t that far fetched? He’d seen plenty of people do stupider things due to attraction. Half-truth it was. “I did quite the bit of fighting in an arena before coming here. One person can only do so much on their own. A good team was the best way to ensure victory.”

A spark of realization entered Kory’s eyes and she gave a small somber smile. The twi’lek kept up her glare though it lessen in intensity.

It wasn’t a lie but the implied context was; he’d been a willing participant in that arena, not a slave forced to fight for the amusement of others.

“Fine, but if either of you think about betraying me-“ A distant scream cut off the twi'lek.

Stumbling from further down the left path, an initiate ran towards them clutching a profusely bleeding shoulder. Several K’lor’slugs skittered closely behind, prepared to pick his bones dry if he slowed.

“H-Help me!” The man yelled as he approached.

A glob of dark green liquid enveloped him. His yells for help became screams of agony as he fell to the ground, clawing at his steaming skin. The liquid bubbled and smoked, burning into the ground as it dripped off the slowly dissolving man. Eyes, skin, flesh.

The man had been reduced to bones in second.

Behind the group of k’lor’slugs, a massive one, easily standing taller than their combined heights, followed. Green acid dripped from its monstrous maw.

That thing would be able to swallow them in one gulp and that was if it decided not to melt them down first.

Now this might be a little interesting.

“Handle the little ones and avoid any acid.” Erin ordered. He ran forward, cutting through two of the smaller slugs that tried to attack him while others focused on Kory and that twi’lek.

The overgrown slug swung the lower half of its body but he jumped onto it. He sliced away at it while running towards its maw. The cuts were shallow. Its hardened outside was tougher than its smaller counterparts, not offering immunity to the vibroswords but lessening their effectiveness.

It's head reared back.

Erin threw himself off the slug and into a roll, a thick glob of that dark green acid splattering the floor beside him. It sunk deep, the floor crumbling away to reveal a dimly lit level beneath it.

So there was a floor beneath this one.

Erin switched strategies, keeping his distance and only closing it to deliver shallow cuts to keep attention on him as he circled it. All the while he dodged the acidic spit.

The ground beneath him and the giant slug shook; his plan had swiftly become reality.

Integrity melted away, the floor crumbled away, Erin and the giant slug falling to the level below. He landed on his feet vibroblades at the ready. The creature crashed into the ground but the impact hardly phased it, the thing rising up to loom over him.

He was disappointed it fell for such a simple tactic. No matter how big a slug got, it was still just a slug he supposed.

“Are you alright?!” Kory’s voice called from above.

“Go on without me! We’ll see each other at the academy!” He yelled back, focused on the approaching beast. Aside from some bones the room they were in was empty.

The perfect place to get rid of this disappointment once he was alone.

It shot at him and he rolled aside. It hit the wall, shaking dust and rocks free from above. It tried several more times and he never retaliated.

Only when the presences above grew fleeting and he was truly left alone with this mindlessly creature did he attack.

Erin deactivated his vibroswords and returned them to his harness. The k’lor’slug reared back, prepared to launch forward. It never got the chance.

He raised a hand and light blue electricity sparked out from his hand, hitting the creature. A woeful wail left it and it’s body uncoiled, wildly thrashing about. Invasive and hungry, the lightning struck at every piece of flesh it could find, forcing their way into the shallow cuts he left behind and frying the thing from the inside out with ease.

Erin smirked as the thing collapsed, blackened bits of exposed flesh smoking.

There was no point in giving something he could run circles around without the force a fair fight -he’d get no fun out of it- but at least it was good for something. He rarely had reason to use force lightning and those few moments always felt so, so, so, euphoric.

No word better encapsulated the powerful highs that came with its use.

Force at his beck and call, Erin leap through the hole that thing had created and landed on the upper level with a flip.

He didn’t sense anyone around. No one not being cut down by nearby k’lor’slugs that is.

Erin strolled down the right pathway where he had seen that woman. Curiosity sated and his place cemented among the former slaves, he had his own trial to focus on.