On a darker than usual day,
The lecture hall filled with first-years carrying that particular exhaustion that came from weeks of Academy conditioning—physical training pushing bodies to limits, theoretical instruction cramming knowledge into their resistant minds, social dynamics creating stress that no combat preparation addressed.
An expert history teacher, Ms Jessica as she liked to be called, stood at the podium, her presence commanding attention despite the collective fatigue.
"Today we'll be discussing the Republic structure," She announced. "Real structure. Not the usual propaganda version civilians receive and not the simplified hierarchy you learned in your preliminary education."
He activated projections showing the Republic's territorial map—Central at heart, outposts radiating outward like defensive constellation, vast darkness beyond suggesting territories the Republic didn't control.
