One year ago
20 days, it was 20 days ago class 5423 came under attack while conducting a routine training mission, fighting valiantly, the members of said class jumped into the motherships fighters and engaged the as-of-yet unknown hostiles. The result; at least 25 confirmed kills, and one loss.
Shas'Saal Julius, a former Tracian officer, sacrificed himself to protect another member of the unit. However, despite efforts made by the Water Caste personnel on the mothership, the young soldier died from massive blood loss.
It was for this reason that the entire class had been flown down to Tauun, the capitol world of the empire, from the surface it was a mostly empty lush temperate planet, but underneath the crust, a massive underground, planet sprawling city laid. Sitting in one of the academy's orcas, it too made in the same material as everything else, Fio'tak. Just like the academy itself, the ships of the navy, and almost anything not camouflaged; it was colored in the same white with black details, apparently the native colour of this interesting, alien material.
Touching down the hatch of the drop-ship opened, revealing several men, nay, creatures standing outside, waiting for the students to exit. The creatures stood heads taller than a normal tau(2.5m), clad in armour darker then the night. The mere presence of these men chilled the students to the bone for some reason they could not explain, even slaine felt how a chill went down his spine. But who were the men clad in black armour, no one knew, except wiking. They where told as stories to children, the Magistratus Protecrate. The guardians of the Imperial Palace, the emperor, and the Hall of Servants. Few in the empire did not know about the Hall of Servants, resting place for the biggest heroes in the empire, to be placed here is to be acknowledged as the highest to strive for.
Outside the orcas the students found himself standing on the courtyard of a massive castle from the building it was clear this was no new construction, a feeling that was only affirmed when the students saw that no other buildings were visible from the edges, to all intents and purposes, this was a underground island, surrounded by a steep void. Looking at the assembled students, one of the massive suits of armour spoke, in a voice much lighter then one would expect from such a huge creature "Shas'saals, you are the remnants of......"
And so the speech came to a end, 15 minutes after it started, and was wiking in a state of shock, Julius, formerly a Shas'Saal. have been post-mortem promoted to the rank of Shas'La, a fully fledged member of the fire caste. further yet, he was given a imperial name, with 2 words even, something few even in the empire have; Shas'La Ko'vash Lar'shi, translated to Worthy Cause and Hero. To make this even more of a tale, is that Julius also where to be put to rest in the Hall of Servants. To give this honor to a foreigner is unheard off, even more so such a young one, as each burial in the Hall demands a personal order from the emperor himself.
With the ceremony, in true imperial style rather spartan, over, the students were given 30 minutes to reflect, then they boarded the Ocra and started the journey back to the academy, to continue the training, on the path to become fully fledged Warriors of the fire caste
Wiking
Present day
Day 1, Year 2[from his perspective]
Darkness, a single red light. wiking, together with both his own class, and the new non-imperials class where sitting in a dark compartment of a small transport ship. Reminiscent of how the other 2nd year students arrived exactly 1 year ago, sitting in a cramped compartment, about to enter a new and alien world. But after 1 year, they were accustomed to most the empire had to offer. A small thud indicated that the ship had landed in the academy's hangar. Then, silence.
5 seconds passed, then 10, then, finally the pilot spoke "We have arrived at the academy, when the ramp exists, leave the ship and wait for your officers to arrive."
With the final word spoken over PA, the ramp on the left of the students opened along the entire compartment, revealing the glossy black hangar, with the white detailing. the opposite from the rest of the academy, and the empire in general.
Rising from his chair, blinking as his eyes quickly adapted to the new light, wiking walked down to the ramp and stopped around 3 meters from it, Wiking looked at the others whom exited, his arms behind his back in his usual 'idle' position. Some new faces, some old from last year. Wiking, was wearing his uniform, but not the Mk44, as they were forced to leave them on the academy before the 2 week long leave.
Wikings eyes searched for a special individual, a neko, Anne was her nickname. the tall light-blue tau's eyes wandered over the collection of Shas'Saals, Even if he tried his best to not make it to obvious
