Dolomir Merchant Officers Academy

The Dolomir Merchant Officers Academy was an institution created to train the officer of commercial space vessels. It was a that orbited the planet Dolomir in the Mezlag sector.

Academy life
The Academy was well-reputed through both the Tetrarchy of Mezlagob and the Golden Empire for producing the best-qualified junior officers of commercial fleets. Its training period was roughly sixteen standard months (which was still under a local year at Dolomir itself). Students (who were given the title "cadets") were only admitted with a post-secondary degree; if the degree itself was not in engineering, physics, or something else closely related to space travel, students needed at least substantial coursework in such disciplines. Admission to the academy was fiercely competitive; of the beings who took the entrance exam every year, only a tiny fraction of those who passed were admitted.

In order to introduce cadets to shipboard life, all classes were conducted aboard the space station or on training vessels; from the time cadets entered the Academy until the time they either graduated or quit (as numerous cadets did every year, unable to handle the academic pressure), they never set foot on a planet. In addition to the routines of ship life and discipline, cadets also exhaustive studied ship navigation, astrogation, mechanics, engineering, physics, and the customs laws of the Tetrarchy (and later the Empire), as well as notable local laws on major trade hubs.

Upon graduation (which took place on the surface of Dolomir), nearly all cadets could look forward to quick hiring at the shipping companies of their choice.

History
The Academy was created within a century of Dolomir's admission to the Tetrarchy of Mezlagob, coinciding with the influx of scientists and astrocartographers to the planet. The brain gain of astroscientists and veteran ship officers allowed the Academy to come together quickly after it was initially proposed. It was originally open only to Doloy, but as its reputation grew throughout the Tetrarchy, it opened its doors to all Tetrachy citizens (although not subjects).

When the Golden Empire captured Dolomir toward the end of the Great Liberation, it left the Academy intact, and even hired some Academy graduates to work in Royally owned shipping. The Academy carried on until the Nightmare War; when the Reawakened sacked the planet of Dolomir, their fleet shot the Dolomir Merchant Officers Academy out of orbit. It burned to ash in the atmosphere while plunged toward the surface. A few students managed to get to the surface in s, but like most of the native Doloy, they were hunted down and killed by Skavik invaders.

One of Rensi Shal-Shatir's first acts as Consul of Dolomir after the war was to announce that the Academy would be rebuilt. Funding came in from the Royal government, alumni, and even major shipping companies eager to get more highly qualified officers, and construction began on the new Academy in early 150 ABY.