The Shedal Academy

The School (The Academy, or one of the many other names it is known by) is a training facility for the Regency based on the relatively remote outpost of Shedal. However, it is not a very well-known operation. To the general populace, it is the thing of myth and legend. A story parents tell misbehaving children (“If you don’t behave, we’ll send you to the Academy”). To the aristocracy and upper echelons of the militia, however, it is known as the finest training grounds for infiltration and assassination operatives.

New students start at a young age: all below ten. Most students are sent there by their families. Many gain greater standing or at least good money for giving up their children this way. The Academy, however, has not been above procuring new students from time to time...particularly from planets and settlements that are not falling into line with the Regency appropriately. This does mean it has a higher percentage of near-human and even alien attendance than other aspects of the Regency.

However, as all graduates are indentured servants this has never been viewed as a problem.

There are two primary training programs within the School: infil and ops. More colloquially: spies and assassins. Some operatives do study both, but many focus on one or the other. The training takes years and most do not ‘graduate’ until their mid- to late-twenties. However, when they do it is with a full education and all of the tools necessary (subsidized by the Regency and funded by the buyers) for their job. This can be anything from weaponry to cybernetic enhancements to (smaller) ships.

The training facility on Shedal is a well-kept secret within the Regency. Tucked away in a heavily forested region, the remote location both keeps it out of the public eye and provides a rich training ground for the students. The nearby town is populated by the School’s staff and their families… but is also frequently used as a test bed for students.

Those who graduate are either sent on to positions within the Regency’s militia directly or purchased by members of the aristocracy as servants. Each operative is sold with a collar; the controller of which can only be used by their handler (owner) and can be keyed for various things. It can be turned off near entirely (though still acts as a tracking beacon), limit them to working in-system, on-planet, or even keep them within range of the remote itself. The collar can be made to look like anything and often appears just as another piece of jewelry. It cannot be removed except by the School themselves. When an operative moves outside of the range prescribed, they begin suffering headaches that increase in severity to become debilitating (the time period allowing for, say, a ranging operative to return home when summoned).

It is rare that operatives are given their freedom, but most that perform well are given a long leash.

Graduates:
Sian