Eyes of the Beholder
Competition Entry
Seer Raziel
Clan Odan-Urr
House Sunrider
Pin 11584
0615 hours
Kiast
“Subject seems somehow allergic to living among the rest of the Jedi,” Anton Veth, a young Devaronian male, muttered into his datapad. “His vessel, called the Taliahad after some supernatural creature in spacer lore, remains a half a kilometer from the Praxeum.”
Anton sipped at his caf and for the hundredth time that morning, swatted insects away from his face. His blind was well away and incredibly concealed, at the expense of so much nature. “Taliahad so named for some manner of water spirit of vengeance, this bears further research. Subject is currently engaging in a physical fitness routine, and quite frankly I believe he’s showing off. No living being should be able to accomplish the kind of mobility mid-pullup that he seems to enjoy practicing.”
Anton sighed, swatted at the bugs again, and grimaced at his cold caf before returning to his high powered telescope. “For a member of a blind species, the subject appears remarkably vain. At first I believed this was to impress the Togruta female living with him on the ship, but so far he appears to have no intimate interest in her. Instead, I can only hypothesize his rather intense exercise to maintain his holovid star physique is personal to him. Perhaps he should consider coloring his gray hair as well.”
0850 hours
Kiast
His sandwich was horrible. His fizz was warm. Really his entire meal was awful, and Anton blamed his surveillance subject. “I thought the subject was about to take off, but instead, he’s offloaded some kind of equipment. It appears to be an induction coil that he’s connected to his ship. That, in addition to several hammers and a small tank of what I believe is engine lubricant lead me to research what would require such things. I was led to an ancient and primitive fabrication technique called blacksmithing,”
“Oh, and here he is apparently instructing the female with him. That’s inefficient, henceforth she will be referred to as roommate, I can think of nothing better or more accurate giving the context available,” Anton leaned back into his seat and got in a good stretch, wishing he could have more of it but knowing full well he had work to do.
“It appears he is actually instructing the roommate in these techniques. The fool can’t even tell she’s too small and frail to hold the,” Anton sputtered, looked away from his telescope and then looked back. “No, scratch that, she seems perfectly capable of using the primitive hammers. That was sexist of me. Delete from no.”
“I was correct about the induction coil, and he’s using the magnetic field to heat the metal, and appears to be instructing the roommate in something with the work piece. I’ll have to get an audio bug planted sometime tonight.”
1220 hours
Kiast
“They’re finally breaking for a meal, thank the stars,” Anton sighed and got up from his seat again, this time to walk around a little and get a real stretch. “Begin personal observation log.”
The droid brain attached to his datapad chirped and chimed, indicating acquiescence to his command. “Subject, well, Raziel, he’s just awful. I can’t understand how the galaxy has let him slide for this long. He’s been holorecorded killing people in space stations and picking fights in more places than I will ever have time to research. Yes yes, he’s killed slavers, that’s fine, I don’t like slavers either, but at what point was he ever taught he could serve as a full tribunal and executioner?”
Anton opened another bottle of fizz, another warm bottle, sadly, and took a drink. “And he’s blind, the piece of Hutt slime is blind, but there he is working out like a model. What kind of vanity besets a man like that? He’s old, near to what some might call elderly. His upbringing had to have been stunted somehow or another to encourage such behavior.”
“And the girl? He’s living with a girl that looks a third his age if not younger. I don’t care if he’s not romantically involved with her, that’s just downright inappropriate if you ask me. Shame too, she’s rather attractive, and much closer in age to myself. No, that’s unprofessional. Delete last two sentences.”
The datapad chirped and Anton continued. “And I know he’s a Jedi or something. He’ll be out in about an hour or so and he’ll work with his laser sword or whatever it’s called. I respect his dedication even if I fail to understand why. There are a whole temple of Jedi just across the hill, is he trying to show off to them? Embarrass them or something? I’ve surveilled them too, and there are far more interesting looking fighters in the temple. Pause recording,”
Another grumbling sigh escaped from Anton, who took a few minutes to type out a personal missive on a smaller datapad while he continued to pace. It was then he screwed up his mouth in thought. “Run subroutine, access all data available on martial artists, specifically tied to Jedi. Download to ship’s proxy.”
It would take a while given the clandestine holonet uplink’s poor speed, but eventually Anton would have material to cross reference.
1405 hours
Kiast
If ever there was cause to hate his target, what Anton saw through his telescope would do it. “And here we go, out there with his laser sword, no, edit laser sword, replace with lightsaber,” Anton’s research had explained that much already. “I confess I don’t understand what it is I’m seeing. He’s functionally spinning it around his body like a gyroscope of some sort. If I had to guess he’s working some kind of close quarters techniques, as close to his body as it is.”
“Oh, look, the female is clapping for him. Well done, you have a cheerleader,” Anton muttered. He set the telescope to holoproject and stepped away, needing a refresher break something horrible. Several bottles of fizz would do that to a fellow. “Well he’ll be at this until, if he remains consistent, sixteen hundred. It appears the roommate has returned to her crafting. I confess I don’t understand the draw to this. Only archaic and primitive things can be produced, and quite frankly, droids made to fabricate can do the job in a fraction of the time. If this were Mandalorian metal I could understand it, but if the Holonet is right, they would need a special furnace to work it.”
“I suppose it warrants further explanation, her working at hitting hot metal. The subject is repeatedly pausing his personal training with his lightsaber to offer what looks like quick instruction or advice, so it’s become clear that he’s more experienced in the craft. I’m not sure but it looks like she’s making some kind of small art piece. I suppose everyone has to start somewhere. Oh, pause recording.”
Anton grabbed his chirping commlink and thumbed it on. “Yes?”
The voice on the other end, tinny and distorted, still came through clearly as his boss. “Well Anton, what do you have for me?”
“Well, ma’am, I’m still watching. The subject seems to be a creature of habit, I’m afraid a lot of this will be redundant,”
“Doesn’t matter, habits are crucial to understand our subject. Was I correct in my initial assessment?”
Anton nodded subconsciously, despite her being light years away. “Yes ma’am, he’s definitely Miraluka. He removed the eye covering yesterday and there are no eyes there,”
“Then I’m glad we set you up as far away as we did. You should be well away from his line of sight. What about the female?”
“She’s pretty, no two ways about it, but I don’t think she’s a spouse. I’m calling her a roommate. She doesn’t appear to be any manner of threat.”
“As predicted. Anton, you’re doing wonderful work, keep it up.”
“Yes ma’am,” Anton said to already dead air. He flicked his commlink off and went back to his observations.
1830 hours
Kiast
“It’s dinnertime for them, so it’s dinnertime for me,” Anton quipped, and opened up another ration pack. “They’re cooking out, good for them.”
“The roommate is doing the cooking, and she apparently really knows her way around kitchen tools. My mother was a professional chef, so I can speak from some manner of experience to this.”
Anton nibbled at a protein square and hastily chewed his bite to continue logging. “Unsurprising, the subject looks like he’s balancing macronutrients. I know better than to try, but I really want to punch him in his vain face.”
“Edit last sentence,” Anton grumbled. His time in the camouflaged shelter was beginning to wear on him. “Sithspit!”
Anton grabbed the laser microphone and aimed it at Raziel’s camping chair. He’d gotten expansive about something.
Similarly staticky, this time from the laser mic, Raziel’s voice erupted from the speakers of the datapad. “So yeah, it was a long time ago, but I did some mercenary work for the Rebel Alliance. Nothing fancy and nothing high profile, I mostly guarded a couple of warehouses for a pittance wage,”
There was a pause, and in the telescope Anton could see the roommate speaking. He definitely had to get a bug planted. Given the weather, they’d spent most of their days outdoors, so he’d only really need to plant one.
“Oh, him? Hell no, I never met him, which was for the best. He showed up with another Jedi to Susevfi where my people originated,” Raziel paused again, and snickered. “Jensaarai, not Miraluka. Anyway he showed up, started a fight with some of the old guard. Lately the Jensaarai have been coming around to the idea of working with him.”
Another pause, shorter this time. “Yeah, probably I would. I like being here though if I’m being honest. Stuff is less galactically pressing but you’ve seen how busy they keep me.”
“I told you, tzugera, they’ve already said you’re welcome to a small room in the temple for when I get sent offworld and you’re not inclined to come with me.”
“Soo-gair-uh? I’ll look that up later,” Anton muttered.
“And I appreciate that but things get dangerous, and you’re not ready for that kind of violence,”
Another pause, and the telescope showed the displeased look on the roomate’s face well enough to explain the length of the pause. She had something to say.
“Okay, settle down. I didn’t say you weren’t capable, I said I don’t think you’re mentally ready. You’ve been out of the slave pens for what? A month, tops? You’ve got some stuff to work though that I’m in no way qualified to help with. Why do you think I brought you to the Jedi? They’re functionally worthless when it comes to action, but this kinda thing is where they shine.”
Things got quiet again, and Anton could see she’d stopped speaking, as had Raziel. “Personal note, he’s not a Jedi? And slave pen? I suppose she’s who the boss was talking about when she said he cut and shot his way out of a Tapani slave market with some of the people in tow. He must have had a connection to this one. Maybe, given his age and no known family, he’s looking to raise a daughter? This relationship is confusing.”
The red light on his datapad caused him to swear again, and he quickly swapped datachips before he ran out of storage. It was good timing too, Raziel was speaking again.
“Tzugera, I’m sorry. I’m a Defender, it’s right in the name. I can’t help it sometimes. All I can do is make sure you’re prepared. Mentally, physically, and emotionally.”
“Yeah, it’s fine. It’s also late. How about you go try and sleep. Lucretia is warming up to you. She’s a cuddlemonster when she’s comfortable with someone.”
The roommate got up, leaving Raziel alone. “Lucretia,” Anton mumbled. “Probably a pet. If he was flying solo before this, I can only assume he’d want some kind of company, and cuddlemonster? Probably mammalian, but I could only guess.”
“Subject just stood up and is walking away from their outdoor setup. Oh, here he goes with the lightsaber again, he must be irritated.”
It was several long minutes of observation, with Raziel working through some rather hostile training techniques. Anton killed the laser mic since his subject was so far from anything he could target, and just kept watching.
“He has moments where I can sympathize with him, and then he goes and does this. If he’s not a Jedi, and probably not a Sith, I don’t know what he is. I don’t see the other Jedi working through this kind of combative training. All I know is, the more I watch, the more I’m glad I’m so far away, and the more I don’t want to upset him.”
0045 hours
Kiast
It wasn’t the noise that woke Anton up, it was the silence. He’d grown so accustomed to the local fauna and their night noises that when they went quiet, his sleep was interrupted. It was fifty fifty as to whether that was a good thing or not. On the plus side, he was aware of his situation, on the minus, however, he was aware of his situation.
The icy blue blade cut easily through the camouflaged shelter, leaving a good sized hole in the side. A hole big enough for Anton’s subject to enter, and enter he did, in only boots and pants, showing the physique that Anton had snarkily commented on more than once. In person, it made him much more terrifying.
“Don’t even bother with that blaster,” Raziel said, holding a hand out towards where Anton was reaching. It sailed across the small shelter and found itself in Raziel’s grasp. “Why are you hounding me?”
Anton probably would have kept sputtering in terror, except Raziel had doused his lightsaber, leaving them both in the dark. “Paycheck, alright?” Anton squeaked, only slightly calmed by the energy blade being put away. “This is my job.”
Anton’s vision was suddenly ruined when the glowlamp suddenly switched on, causing him to squint and blink. “Professional surveillance? Be glad you didn’t bring a rifle, I might have confused you for a sniper.”
“No, just observation, I swear!” Anton fired back, backing up against the shelter wall while still sitting on his cot, and not succeeding at either task all that well. “I was supposed to observe and report.”
“Okay, I’ll bite, me or the girl?”
“You. There’s no interest in her, or the other Jedi here. Just you.”
Raziel smirked even as he cleared the energy clip from Anton’s pistol, cycled the charge out, and tossed them both to the side. “Okay, I can live with that. Who’s paying you?”
“Abaricus Insurance Consolidated. You’ve hit a few of our clients, we’re doing fraud investigation.” Anton answered honestly. In the Core, he’d have plenty of legal right to what he was doing, but this far into the Outer Rim? No such luck.
“Insurance investigator? You’re surveilling me for insurance?” Raziel laughed, a deep booming laugh that filled the whole shelter. “You could have introduced yourself!”
“Not our policy,” Anton retorted, not sure if he should be more scared, or less. “Just observation, before the actual investigators show up.”
“Alright, listen kid. Tomorrow morning, you come by my ship for breakfast, sit down and actually ask me what you want to know, and I’ll tell you every bit of it, on the record. I’m getting tired of feeling watched, and we’ve got Kiveth eggs that’ll go bad if they don’t all get eaten soon. Am I clear?”
Anton nodded, not sure if that gesture even mattered to a Miraluka, before remembering his words. “Yeah, yeah sure. Breakfast tomorrow.”
“Don’t be late,” Raziel said, and left through the hole he’d made. “Oh, sorry about your camper.”
“It’s, I guess it’s fine,” Anton said, and sat there for several long minutes before getting up. First to use the refresher again, because Raziel had nearly scared it out of him already, and then finally to his small table.
“Observation report. The subject defies explanation. He defies it in every sense of the word. If I don’t show up at the home office within a week, I’ve been killed, that simple. This opportunity for interview though, I can’t pass it up. The subject detected me, and invited me to breakfast. I’m going.”
0315 hours
Coronet City, Corellia
Veela Mentez closed her own datapad following the end of Anton’s transmission. He didn’t need to know she’d heard everything, it wasn’t in his pay grade.
Near silently, she rose to her feet and cinched the belt to her Ottegan silk robe closed before walking to her own refresher. It was going to be an early day in the office, no reason to waste time sleeping when she could be bathing and putting her makeup on.
He’d said Defender, she’d heard that clearly. That meant Jensaarai. The warrior had just become a priority.