Royal Imperial Academy

"Jovan and I have a history. We arrived on Coruscant and graduated from the main Academy at the same time. We even took some of the same classes."

- Kallus

The Royal Imperial Academy also known as the Coruscant Imperial University was the main campus of the Galactic Empire's military training program on the planet Coruscant. In the years leading up to the Galactic Civil War, the Academy's head was Commandant Deenlark. Kallus and Jovan graduated from that Imperial Academy at the same time. Thane Kyrell and Ciena Ree both graduated prior to the Battle of Yavin.

History
The Royal Imperial Academy was established on Coruscant during the Age of the Empire to train Imperial cadets into officers in the Imperial Navy. Due to its relationship with the Imperial Navy, the Royal Imperial Academy was regarded as the most prestigious of the Empire's network of Imperial Academies. In the years leading up to the Battle of Yavin, Deenlark served as the Commandant of the Academy. One of his policies as Commandant was to to encourage cadets to put aside their local loyalties and redirect their allegiance to the Galactic Empire. While the Royal Imperial Academy mainly serviced the Navy, some of its cadets also went to work in the Imperial Security Bureau.

Curriculum and organization
The Royal Imperial Academy had a rigorous three-year program that was known for its intense competition and high washout rate. Imperial cadets were required to study science, mathematics, piloting, and physical training. Frequent tests were held to challenge the mental, physical, and emotional limits of the students. Due to the rigorous curriculum, classes were known to shrink to about half their original size each year of the three-year program. Ciena and Thane's class consisted of 8,000 students in its first year.

At the age of sixteen years, cadets were recruited from all over the galaxy including Alderaan, Coruscant, and the Outer Rim world of Jelucan. Prospective cadets from former Separatist worlds like Jelucan were personally handpicked by the Academy's instructors. All Imperial cadets at the Royal Academy wore a dark jacket, dark trousers, and black boots, which was intended to instill a sense of uniformity among the students. In addition, cadets wore a physical education uniform consisting of a gray shirt, black shorts, and regulation shoes. Senior cadets in the command and elite fighter tracks wore specialized uniforms denoting their assignments. Most of the Academy's faculty and students were humans.

The Royal Imperial Academy taught a wide range of different courses including target practice, physical combat, operating laser cannons, and flying speeder bikes and TIE fighters. Some known programs included Small Craft Flight, Core Worlds Classical Culture, and Destroyer-Level Craft Operations. The Academy had a class ranking system that was based on academic achievement. Points were awarded for academic achievement and deducted for misdemeanors like cheating; which was also punishable by expulsion. Due to its reputation for academic rigor, the Academy frowned upon activities like dating among cadet, sleeping in, and missing lectures.

The Academy was headed by a Commandant and had a large number of instructors including professors and Imperial officers. The Academy also had an Office of Student Outcomes, which was responsible for testing students to their limits. Student Outcomes sought to discourage factional loyalty among students and was known to sabotage students' assignments in order to create friction among students from the same homeworld. This was done to redirect their loyalty to the Galactic Empire.

Campus
The Royal Imperial Academy was located in the galactic capital Coruscant near the Museum of Multispecies Sciences and the Imperial Palace. It sported multiple lecture halls, residential rooms, workshops, hangar bays, and gyms for physical exercise and training. During Small Craft Flight, the surrounding area was cordoned off to allow students to ride through Reitgen Hoops on speeder bike.

Faculty and staff

 * Commandant Deenlark
 * Commander Harn
 * Driller MarDapp's uncle
 * Unidentified Core Worlds Classical Culture professor
 * Unidentified Destroyer-Level Craft Operations professor

Cadets and alumni

 * Jude Edivon
 * Ved Foslo
 * Gideon Hask
 * Kendy Idele
 * Jovan
 * Alexsandr Kallus
 * Thane Kyrell
 * Mitth'raw'nuruodo
 * Ciena Ree
 * Eli Vanto
 * Iden Versio
 * Nash Windrider

Behind the scenes
The Royal Imperial Academy was first mentioned in Martin Fisher's comic story "Kallus' Hunt", which was published on April 22, 2015 as part of Star Wars Rebels Magazine 4. The Academy later appeared in Claudia Gray's young adult novel Lost Stars, which debuted on September 4, 2015.

Appearances

 * Thrawn
 * Lost Stars
 * Lost Stars webcomic
 * Battlefront II: Inferno Squad
 * Battlefront II: Inferno Squad
 * Battlefront II: Inferno Squad