Chapter 43: Let the hunt begin

'Who are you?'

I found myself repeated mumbling that phrase to myself as I stared at the frozen image on the terminal's screen. I'd lost track of how long I'd been down here. That horrific, scarred face's grin seemed to mock me as it stared unblinking back at me through the camera lens when I paused the video.

I played the footage over and over again. Again and again, everything froze for a moment before dazed looks overcame everyone as they left without a word. The same look that I saw in my own eyes as I was left standing in place.

He had been there the whole time. Watching. But I didn't remember him. I never saw him.

"Who are you?"

It was clear that he was at least a Lord. The gleaming lightsaber on his belt was all the evidence I needed on that front. Given his apparent age, he might even be a Darth. But the accelerated aging brought about by Dark Side degradation combined with his extensive scarring made judging that iffy at best.

Either way, he was strong. It was easy to see what he had done, though the scale had been mind-boggling. There had been nearly six dozen acolytes of varying strength in the training hall at the time…and he had affected all of us with barely any effort.

It was a Mind Trick…but it was more than that. Not only had he convinced everyone to leave, he'd also altered their memories to give justifications for leaving.

Caleb had been convinced to take a break. A few others had been convinced that they needed to look something up in the Archives. Another had left to get a minor wound taken care of. Others left to go eat. Their minds had been influenced to believe that nothing odd had happened.

Witnesses had been disposed of. Cameras had been cut. Even the combat footage from the training droids had been wiped. The only one to see my little performance had been him. But why?

An assassination attempt was the first possible reason that came to mind. But the justification for it all hinged on one question.

"Who are you?"

I didn't recognize him from any of the Sith I knew of, which immediately had me on edge. Was he the mysterious backer that had gotten Castor access to the restricted parts of the Archives? Or was he unrelated to it all?

If the second…was it a test? And how had I garnered his interest?

I gnawed on my lips for a moment as I considered it.

If he was Castor's patron, then I needed to bring this to Iren. Renning had not been the most powerful Sith on Korriban. This Sith…was another thing entirely and I doubted the attacks would stop.

If this was a test…I needed more information. But on my own, that would be difficult. Mostly because there was a major roadblock: the Empire itself. One major downside to living under a totalitarian regime was that everything was watched.

Imperial Intelligence didn't just have their eyes turned outwards, after all. If my search turned up someone important, I'd risk getting some unwanted attention myself.

Considering that this guy had enough pull to wipe the databanks of the training droids…well, my chances didn't look good.

The other reason that I couldn't just run a facial recognition program that I didn't have such a program on hand nor was I skilled enough to write one from scratch. Also, Qiv's terminal was a closed system, so it didn't have outside connections other than direct lines to the droids.

I watched the video again, looking for anything I could use. On the third playthrough, I noticed something. I had to play it a few more time to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

There! I zoomed in to get a better look.

The moment where the Sith looked up at the camera, right after he'd caused everyone to stop. Right before he smiled, there was a slight widening of his eyes. It only lasted for a split-second, but it had been there. He'd been surprised.

He hadn't known the droid was there until that moment. And whatever trick he'd used to conceal himself didn't work on it.

That grin was one of challenge. I'd done something he hadn't been expecting and that had intrigued him. If he hadn't known about the cameras before…then he might be in some of the other footage.

Downloading the video to my datapad, I closed the window and opened another. Nothing came up.

I blinked. Brows furrowing, I clicked again. And again. And again.

There was clearly a file there, but it wasn't working. My first thought was that maybe it was something in the computer. Qiv, technopath he might be, literally built it out of scrap in the basement of the Sith academy, so it wasn't exactly a supercomputer.

So I tried a few of the others, only to get a similar result. That made worry start gnawing away at my gut.

It was when I tried to open the connection to the droids that I started to sweat. Each and every one of the forty some droids that had been serving as my surveillance network…weren't responding. My access from this terminal had been locked out, their controls severed.

There was no way to tell if the droids had been destroyed or if they were now stuck on their last commands. Without the terminal, I'd need to track each of them down to find out.

Before my eyes, the screen went blank pixel by pixel. On the blue surface that remained, words appeared.

My stomach dropped as my sleep-addled brain finally put together what had happened.

I have stolen your eyes. Now, we shall discover if you can still see.

Let the hunt begin.

I bolted out of the room, pausing only to make sure I had the datapad in hand. This was now firmly out of my depth.

...

At night, the lights in the academy were shut off. While most of the inhabitants were in bed like reasonable people, there were some that preferred the dark, though the majority of those were content to leave each other alone.

Using Force Sight, I was able to easily navigate the halls, sticking to the shadows to slip by the ones looking for trouble.

Iren's office was empty and I couldn't detect his presence beyond the door. A glance at the datapad in my hand reminded me that it was ungodly late, well past three in the morning. Thankfully, his chambers were adjacent to the office. Rushing over, I quickly banged my hand against the metal, not bothering with the chime.

The Pureblood opened the door nearly immediately, shirtless and with his lightsaber in hand and ready, though it was not ignited. It was obvious that he had been startled from sleep. Nevertheless, he got his bearings quickly as he realized who I was.

"Acolyte?" Iren blinked, stepping back from his defensive stance. He didn't put his lightsaber away though, "What are you doing here?"

I glanced up and down the hallway. I didn't see or sense anything, but that hadn't stop him before.

Swallowing some saliva to wet my dry throat, I asked, "Do you have cameras in your office? Ones that can see the whole room?"

"What is this about?" He repeated.

I shook my head a little more quickly than I should, "Not yet. We need to be somewhere with cameras."

His yellow eyes bored into me as he mentally debated. In the pitch darkness, they almost glowed eerily.

The Overseer let out a quiet sigh, "Fine. But this had better not be a waste of my time."

Clipping his lightsaber to a loop on his pants, the Pureblood retrieved a robe from a hook beside the door, quickly pulling it on to cover his bare chest. It wasn't just to keep out the chill. Sith robes were made with armorweave, a material strong enough to resist blasterfire.

All the while, he didn't let his hands stray far from his lightsaber. I couldn't blame him.

At his office, he swiftly typed in the passcode. The door soon swished open quietly and the lights automatically turned on. Walking in at a pace that I thought was entirely too slow, he seated himself at his desk.

Though they were clenched around the datapad, I could still feel my fingers trembling. I closed and locked the door behind me.

Activating the console embedded in the desk, Iren brought up a display that showed a copy of the room we were seated in. I scanned the image feverishly. Only when there was no image of him in it did some of the tension leave my body.

The Overseer leaned back in his seat, steepling his fingers in front of his chest, "Now that we are here, what has caused this disturbance?"

"I-I," I gulped, cursing myself for the brief stammer. Clenching my jaw, I tried again, "I have a video of the incident a few days ago. The one I was in solitary for."

"While I will admit some curiosity about it and how you survived, would it not be more appropriate to discuss it in the morning?" Iren stated flatly, "Also, I recall that the cameras were all wiped."

The unspoken question hung in the air.

I shook my head again, "That doesn't matter! Not as much as what's on it. I think I might have found Castor's backer."

The unspoken question dropped like a rock in favor of the more pressing matter as all exhaustion fled from Iren's face, "Speak. What do you mean?"

"It's better to show you," I slid the datapad across the desk, video file cued up.

He glanced at me for a long moment before picking it up. As it played, I saw something I'd never thought I would see.

Iren blanched, the color draining out of the Overseer's face all at once. Swallowing nervously, he set the datapad back on the desk and clasped his hands once again.

For several minutes, neither of us spoke. He stared at the frozen screen of the datapad. I kept glancing at the monitor, half-expecting him to be there. To both my relief and panic, he wasn't.

Finally, the Pureblood broke the silence, "I see. You did well to bring this to me," His yellow eyes drifted up, "However, I hope your assumption is very wrong. For both our sakes."

"Is he someone important?" I dared to ask.

"Very," Iren answered shortly, but he didn't elaborate. Pushing his chair back, he stood up, "It seems I will have some holocalls to make in the morning," He paused to think.

"...As for you, I would suggest you find a reason to be out of the academy for several days. I hear the Second Platoon of the Korriban Regiment has been deployed out into the valley again."

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