Private The Hound and the Jackal

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Irina Jesart

The War Room of the Obsidian Spire was quiet. It occupied the upper level of Gerwald Lechner’s residence, sealed away from the sound and motion of Jutrand below. The chamber was plain by design. Stone walls, polished metal, and a single holotable at the center. The stillness within belonged to a predator at rest.

The Dread Wolf stood before the display, arms folded across his chest. The projection above the table cast a faint glow across his armor, illuminating the border between Sith Space and the High Republic. Dozens of red markers drifted in steady rotation, each one representing an outpost or garrison of the Second Legion. The map shimmered where the frontier brushed against the borders of the High Republic and Sith space, a bright pocket of resistance pressing against the dark. One of those signals had gone silent. Another pulsed with irregular frequency.

The Lord Commander studied the pattern without expression. Patience had not always been his weapon. It was one now, but patience could not forgive treachery. Someone within his command had opened a door that should never have existed.

The precision of the act spoke of training.

The timing spoke of intent.

The door to the chamber opened. The sound was soft, but it cut through the still air.

“Irina,” His voice carried a quiet authority that needed no weight behind it. “You are late.”

He turned to meet her. The light from the projection caught the black and gold of his armor, tracing the faint lines of wear across its surface. His gaze fixed on her with steady focus.

“There has been a breach along the frontier,” he continued. “Intelligence concerning our deployments has reached High Republic scouts operating near Naboo. Their movements have become precise. Someone within the Second Legion made that possible.”

A gesture from the Sith Lord brought new data to the holotable. Lines of script from half-deleted reports and corrupted communication trails scrolled upward. Some remained unfinished as if their author had stopped mid-sentence.

“These are fragments of what they left behind. Enough to suggest intent, but not enough to name the traitor.”

Gerwald moved slowly around the table, the faint echo of his boots the only sound in the chamber.

“You will oversee the investigation. It must remain quiet. No command officers, no internal alerts. The guilty must continue to believe they are unseen.”

He came to rest beside her, lowering his voice. The Wolf did not tower over her as he did most women. She was tall. Gerwald was not sure if it was an advantage or a weakness. It simply was, he supposed.

“You will have access to the archives, convoy records, and communication logs from the last three rotations. Begin wherever your instincts lead. Do not assume loyalty. The guilty often wear discipline as armor.”

The projection flickered as the Lord Commander’s attention returned to the map. Naboo’s soft outline glowed in pale light near the edge of the field, a reminder of what once had been his home and what now stood as the High Republic’s capital.

“This is not a command,” his voice echoed. “Find the weakness and remove it. Bring me proof of who it was, or bring me silence instead.”

A motion of his hand ended the display. The light faded, returning the chamber to its natural state.

“The Legion survives because it adapts, and now it will learn who among it still deserves to serve.”

No further instruction followed. The silence that lingered was her invitation to begin.

 

[Irina Jesart]

Irina's only outward response to the accusation tossed at her as she crossed the threshold into the war room was a frown. Irina was never late, her precision and borderline obsessive need for efficiency meant that she was always early when there was a time set. But this had been a summons which meant that she had taken longer than he had liked to respond. She wasn't about to correct him, but she wouldn't apologise either. Her frown deepened as it flicked from his steady gaze to the holoprojector at his back.

Well at least she knew the source of his ire.

She moved to stand the other side of it, aware of his gaze on her before he began to explain the full extent of the problem. Irina drank it all in quietly, a quiet seething anger settling in her chest. Betrayal was unforgivable, it stirred the flame that burned within memories of the first day she lost control flickering in her minds eye. She blinked as he moved to stand beside her, the memories settling back into he dark recess of her mind her gaze shifting from the projection to her Master.

If the High Republic were moving against them, it was because they believed that the Emperor's disappearance left them weak. Yet the Empress was far from weak, she had been ruling long before the Emperor had disappeared. It would be a devastating miscalculation on their part.

When Gerwald fell silent, she turned to face him. "Three rotations is a lot of personnel to go through with a fine tooth comb, Master. The easiest way to root them out would be by laying a trap. Give the command officers different information regarding movements and see which the High Republic responds to. It will cost us a fight that would see the High Republic repelled to lick and think twice about trusting their informant. And it would narrow our search."


Gerwald Lechner

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Irina Jesart

The silence after her suggestion filled the War Room like a held breath. The faint hum of machinery kept time while the Dread Wolf weighed the words without hurry.

"You decide the course."

The statement landed without flourish. It was authority handed over, not permission begged for.

"The plan is sound. It forces a reaction and it narrows the field. Let the trap breathe. Let those who think themselves clever walk into it."

The Lord Commander moved to the holotable and traced the border where the Naboo systems met Sith space.

"Choose channels with care. Do not feed command officers an obvious lie. Bend a report by the smallest measure. Make the false movement credible enough to tempt but not so broad that it summons an overwhelming response."

A gloved hand hovered over the projection, then folded into a fist and relaxed.

"You will have access to the Spire's relays and to a handful of shadow operatives. Use my name if it sharpens fear, but remember what that name means to those who would exploit it. Fear must open doors. It must not burn the house behind them."

The light on the table dimmed.

"If you choose this path, commit to it fully. Doubt kills hunts. If certainty falters, do not act until it returns."

A final look passed over Irina, steady and measured.

"Begin when you are ready. The Second Legion moves on your signal."

 

[Irina Jesart]

Irina moved to rest her hands on the holotables edge, weighing his words carefully as her eyes scanned the outposts along the frontier. This wasn't just a mission, this was a test. Every step she took would be measured, every decision evaluated. She let the reality of it settle over her like a blanket, breathing with it before straightening and letting it fall away. She would not allow such knowledge to affect her decisions. This was just another mission.

His words regarding burning the house down brought a small smile to her lips as she cast him a sideways look. "Master, you wound me. Its been years since I burned a house down."

She shifted her focus back to the table as the light on it dimmed, her mind working furiously. "We need three viable targets, something they can't resist, but not something that would set us back if attacked." She paused thinking for a moment before moving her hand over the table and bringing it back to life. "A munitions depot, here." One of the light brightened, the others dimming in response. "There's a shipyard here, not a vital one, but still worth taking out if the shoe were on the other foot." Her fingers drummed on the holotables edge as she scanned the frontier for her final target. "Here, this outpost on Kinyen. If taken it would give them access the the trade route, allowing them to push further into our space."

She stepped back, assessing her options before nodding her head, turning to face Gerwald. "Dispatch the shadow operatives to each location, they can keep an ear to the ground for any unusual chatter when the reports go out."

Gerwald Lechner

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Irina Jesart

The faint smile did not pass unnoticed. The Dread Wolf let the moment breathe before answering, the shift in presence subtle rather than spoken. Her remark about the house drew a quiet sound from him, something shaped more by memory than humor.

"Years do not erase what you are capable of. Experience decides what you will do with it."

Her chosen locations glowed along the frontier. Three points of opportunity. Three points of controlled risk. The munitions depot with its predictable rotation. The small shipyard that mattered only to those who understood its use. The Kinyen outpost near a trade line that should never fall into the Republic's reach. Nothing dramatic. Nothing wasteful. Sensible choices for a trap.

"Good," the Lord Commander said, the word firm rather than warm. "They will notice these without any suspicion.”

He stood beside her, studying the table without touching it.

”You will draft three reports. Routine on the surface. A small timing change, a minor reroute, a maintenance request. Something that appears like the usual noise that passes through frontier command. If the lie looks deliberate, it fails.
A nearby relay marker brightened under his gaze.”

"I will distribute them through separate officers. It will look like ordinary movement along the line. If someone inside the Legion is watching, they will see only what you want them to see."

His attention shifted to the highlighted targets again. The decision ahead carried weight, not drama.

"The response will tell us everything. If the enemy moves on any of these positions, the source inside the Legion becomes clear. People reveal themselves in what they choose to act on. Nothing else matters."

He stepped away, leaving the holotable to her alone. The motion was simple, but the meaning unmistakable. The hunt now rested in her hands.

"Shadow teams are already moving. They will observe and remain silent. Their reports go to you. The next step is yours to decide."

A final pause, measured and quiet.

"Give the order when you're ready, Irina."

 

[Irina Jesart]

Irina scanned the holotable once more. the only thing she didn't like about her plan was that she was not in the thick of it. she would be trusting the word and reports of others, which she would do explicitly, but somehow, being this far away from the frontier when it was under scrutiny felt...wrong. she wanted to feel the shift in the force, to hear it when the traitor revealed itself.

They could dispatch from Jutrand fast enough to respond to the attack and apprehend the traitor, but it didn't sit right. Her hands moved over the holotable, bringing up the garrison on Vondarc, scanning the reports as if she was looking for something.

"I'll have the reports done within the hour, and then I would like to go to Vondarc. Its been a minute since they've had an inspection and its a good enough guise to bring us closer to the hunt." she paused, looking over her should at him. "Assuming you are coming with me, Master?"

Gerwald Lechner

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Irina Jesart
Gerwald watched her work through the table’s displays, the intent behind her search written more in posture than in words. Vondarc’s garrison flickered to life under her hand. The choice made sense. Close to the frontier. Close to the hunt. Close enough for the traitor’s ripple in the Force to reach them the moment it broke the surface.

When she spoke, his attention shifted fully to her.

“The reports come first,” the Dread Wolf said, voice low and even. “After that, we move.”

He stepped closer to the holotable, expanding the Vondarc readout with a simple motion. Patrol routes. Relay towers. A foothold near the line.

Her question hung in the room for only a moment.

“Yes, I am coming.”

Nothing more needed to be added. The decision was made.

He turned from the table and left the projection to her control once more. The message was clear. Her hunt would begin here, but the next step belonged to both of them.

“Finish what you need to finish,” he said as he started toward the exit. “I will be ready.”

 

[Irina Jesart]

Dark eyes ringed by fire watched him leave, a sigh slipping past her lips as she turned back to the holotable. He was a stoic man on the best of days, but when there was trouble on their doorstep? He seemed worse. Irina couldn;t recall the last time she saw him smile. Not that her Master's happiness was any of her business. Her duty was to serve, and to learn, to follow his teachings and become what she was meant to become. Still, it would have been nice, to see him smile.

She took another breath, shifting her focus back to the holotable and bringing up the three locations once more, setting to work, scouring recent reports and movements surrounding all three so she could fashion her own in similar regards.

Irina was true to her word regarding the creation of the reports, the subtle twists in the report were enough that someone without malicious intent would pass over them without concern. She read them three times to be sure they were correct before securing them on a data pad for Gerwald to check and send on with his signature. Even with her thoroughness she left the War Room within the hour, heading for her own quarters to pack.

A satchel slung over her shoulder, she knocked on Gerwald's door, scanning the datapad one final time while she waited for him to answer. He could read them on the way to the ship.

Gerwald Lechner

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Irina Jesart

The holocall lingered for a heartbeat longer than expected. The door to Gerwald’s quarters had opened at his word, but Irina’s presence at the threshold came just soon enough for her to witness something that was not meant for her to see.

Naedira’s image flickered in soft blue light, her voice fading into the last few words of whatever reassurance she had offered. Gerwald stood still before the projection, tension eased from his shoulders in a way rare for him. His expression, which was usually carved from stone, had softened. A quiet warmth sat in his eyes, something he held close and only ever given to one person.

“Until I return,” he said to his mate, the words were low and steady in a tone he never used in the War Room.

The projection dissolved. The Dread Wolf let the weight of the moment settle. A breath left him, not weary, just honest. It was something private that had no place on a battlefield or in front of a student. By the time he turned toward the door, the mask of command had already begun to fall back into place.

“Irina,” he said while acknowledging her with a brief nod as he moved to meet her at the threshold.

The datapad was offered. His gaze shifted to the reports without comment on what she might have seen. He showed no embarrassment, nor did deny it. Gerwald simply returned to his purpose as he reviewed her work with the same efficient precision he applied to any threat along the frontier.

The reading did not take long. Her subtle alterations she had woven into each report were logical and controlled. None of the alterations drew attention or spoke to any intention. They were suitable bait for the eyes that should not be watching.

“Well done,” the Lord Commander said as he handed the pad back. The edge of softness she had caught a moment earlier had vanished, and was replaced by the quiet authority she knew. “These will pass without any question.”

His travel gear rested near the door, already prepared. The shift in his stance made it clear the decision to leave had been waiting only on her arrival.

“We depart now,” Gerwald said.

The Dread Wolf stepped past her into the corridor with the calm certainty of someone who had already begun the hunt.

The shuttle held a steady hum as it cut through hyperspace. Soft lights marked the narrow cabin, leaving most of the interior in shadow. Gerwald had taken the seat near the forward bulkhead, the black underlayers of his armor stood stark against the cold metal around him. The silence between him and his apprentice was not strained. It was the quiet held before movement, the calm that waited for the next strike.

Outside the viewport the swirl of hyperspace stretched in endless motion. Within the cabin nothing moved except the small rise and fall of breath and the faint flicker of indicator lights along the consoles.

A tone sounded from the cockpit. The pilot’s voice carried through the intercom with a respectful calm. “Lord Commander, we are dropping out of hyperspace. Arrival at Vondarc Station in three minutes.”

Gerwald rose as the stars snapped back into clarity. The shift from hyperspace to realspace brought a low tremor through the deck, a familiar sensation that settled into his spine like a memory. He hated it. Gerwald preferred to remain on solid ground with grass and soil. Vondarc hung in the distance, a dark world with a single band of light where the station rotated in orbit.

He stood near the forward viewport for a moment, taking in the line of garrison ships and patrol craft that marked the edge of the frontier. The region felt quiet, almost too quiet. The kind of quiet that suggested the tension along the border of Sith space and Republic space could snap at any moment.

Gerwald motioned for Irina to join him.

“Vondarc Station is prepared for inspection,” the pilot called back. “Docking clearance granted.”

Gerwald’s gaze remained fixed on the station as it grew in the viewport. The surface was unremarkable at a distance, but the Dread Wolf read it as easily as a wound. Discipline along the line appeared tight. No ships were out of formation. There were no delays in their movement. All seemed to function as they were supposed to. It was predictable, deceptively so.

Order often concealed a break.

“Once we dock, you set the pace,” Gerwald said, voice quiet and steady. “You begin the inspection. I will watch the room while you speak. Their reactions will tell us more than their words.”

The shuttle angled toward the station’s docking arm, lights guiding them inward. The hull vibrated with the soft impact of the magnetic seal locking into place.

Gerwald turned toward her with a measured incline of his head. “Stay alert. Do well, and maybe I will arrange for Aerik to make another visit from Droumund Kaas. His mother misses him.”

The hatch was released. Cold air from the station moved through the cabin.

The hunt continued.

 

[Irina Jesart]

The moment Irina stepped over the threshold and recognised Gerwald was taking a personal call she stayed where she was, her eyes downcast. This was not meant for her to see, or hear. And yet, she listened all the same, the softness in his voice making her glance up. She didn’t think she’d ever seen him relaxed in this way before. He had always moved like there was weight resting on his shoulders, which, as a Dark Councillor, she imagined there was, yet the woman he spoke to seemed to lift it from him.

This had to be Aerik’s mother.

Before she could sneak a good look, the image faded, and Irina had the good sense to find interest in the floor again until her name was spoken. All the softness was gone, only the hard edge of her Master and the Commander of the Second Legion remained. Whatever questions she might have had, disappeared as he took the datapad, she stood a little taller, giving a small smile at his compliments of her work.

As if there was any doubt.

She followed him as he left the room, keeping pace with his stride as they made their way to the hanger.

---

Conversation was not necessary, the quiet of the shuttle was for preparation. She took the time to centre herself, keeping her focus on the task at hand and letting thought of anything else fall away. She needed her focus, she needed to be on point. Distractions were not an option. As the swirl of hyperspace slipped away and stars once more filled the viewport, she shifted her gaze back to her Master, staying seated until he motioned for her to come forward.

Rising smoothly she stepped up beside him, her eyes flicking between him and the station as they approached. Wondering what he could see that she couldn’t. In time, she would learn that much she did know. As the magnetic lock slid into place she shifted her feet ready to depart when his last words made her snap her head round so fast to look at him she felt in scream in protest.

Her eyes were wide with surprise, her mouth open in shock. Was he joking? No, she couldn’t recall a time when he had ever joked. She snapped her mouth shut, folding her surprise back behind her mask as she shuffled her feet, clearing her throat. “I’m not entirely sure how I am supposed to respond to that, Master.”

She took a breath, exhaling heavily. It's not like she had been any good at hiding her interest in Aerik, but to choose here and now to bring it up? He was seeking to set her off kilter, to see how well she was able to handle such a distraction, she was certain.

Bastard.

She stepped through the hatch, letting the chill of the station cool the heat in her cheeks as she crossed the docking arm into the station itself.

Gerwald Lechner

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Irina Jesart

Gerwald waited until the surprise had passed from her posture. He did not fill the space immediately, nor did he press the moment further than it needed to go. What mattered was not the reaction itself, but the recovery. Once she had found her footing again, his voice carried across the docking arm with the same steadiness it always had.

"You are not required to respond.“

The statement held no edge beyond expectation. It was not correction or comfort. It was the standard by which everything else would be measured.

He stepped away from the shuttle and onto the station proper, pace unhurried, confidence unquestioned. The environment reacted as it always did. Officers along the arm straightened. Conversations lowered. Awareness sharpened. Vondarc Station had not expected an inspection, and that alone made it useful.

"Distraction will occur. What matters is whether it alters your decisions. Control is not the absence of feeling. It is the refusal to let feeling dictate action."

No pause followed the words. No glance back to check her expression. If the lesson did not land, it would reveal itself soon enough without commentary.

The main corridor opened ahead, wide enough to accommodate the flow of personnel now adjusting to their presence. Gerwald's attention moved across the space with practiced ease. Posture. Timing. The way eyes tracked him and then shifted away. None of it required comment, but all of it was noted.

"What you witnessed before departure has no bearing here," he said as they passed beneath the station's internal lighting. "It does not change the task. It does not alter the expectations placed on you. Leave it where it belongs."

The words were not dismissive. They were boundary setting, delivered without defensiveness or explanation.

They approached the command center, and the atmosphere tightened further as recognition spread. Senior officers would already be preparing their reports, rehearsing answers, and attempting to anticipate what questions might be asked. That instinct alone created errors.

"You will lead the inspection," Gerwald said as the doors parted. "Treat it as routine. Ask what you would normally ask. Request what you would normally request. The moment you signal intent beyond that, you lose the advantage."

He slowed just enough to fall half a step behind her as they entered, establishing the hierarchy without announcing it. His presence remained close, deliberate, and observant.

"Listen carefully. What they volunteer will matter less than what they avoid."

The command center settled into a strained quiet as attention focused on them. Gerwald's gaze moved once across the room, then returned to Irina, signaling that the space now belonged to her.

 

[Irina Jesart]

Gerwald confirmed her suspicion as he joined her in the station and they fell into a unhurried pace, his presence sending waves through the station, his gaze watching it all unfold as Irina in turn watched him taking note of his words. She turned her gaze when he was finished, tracking the shifting presonell instead, only giving him a brief glance when he spoke of the tail end of the conversation she had overheard before they left.

"I didn't for a moment think that it did." She replied curtly. "I'm not so ill educated that I don't understand what is and isn't mine to know or see. Sometimes, I wonder if you forget where I came from, Master."

She let the comment lie, her focus shifting as it should, away from Aerik and his mother and settling instead on the task at hand as the dre newr the command centre, he issued his final advice. Listen for what wasn't said, read between the lines. She nodded, indicating she had heard as they stepped over the threshold into a tense command center all eyes settled forst upon Gerwald and then upon her as he without words indicated that she would be leading.

She did not pause, her stride crossing into the centre of the room, where the stations Commander stood to attention. "Congratulations Commander," she said dryly as she approached. "You've been selected for a surpise inspection. You have five minutes to get our men ready. Enough time for us to walk down the meet them while you provide your personal report on the stations state of repair."

Gerwald Lechner

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Irina Jesart

Gerwald did not slow when she answered him. The reply landed and was accepted without resistance. There was no need to contest it. There was also no reason to let it linger.

"I remember where you came from," his voice carried evenly as the corridor opened toward the command center. "I remember how that situation unfolded. I also remember who contacted me when it became clear it would not resolve on its own. My son made that call."

The statement was factual. It carried neither weight nor warmth beyond what was inherent to the truth. If Irina ever questioned why Gerwald seemed to keep her away from Aerik for the past few years, she had her answer now.

"That choice mattered. It is why you were removed from that position instead of being destroyed by it. It is also why I expect you to understand what belongs in the past and what belongs in the present."

The subject ended there. No pause followed. No space was offered for response. The moment passed and did not return.

The command center doors parted and the atmosphere inside shifted immediately. Attention fixed on him first by habit, then adjusted as Irina stepped forward without hesitation. Gerwald moved one pace behind her and stopped, allowing the balance of authority to settle without being announced.

Her approach was direct. That was noted. No hesitation meant no invitation for delay. The station commander reacted quickly, issuing orders with practiced urgency. Too practiced. Gerwald did not intervene. His attention moved outward instead.

Eyes were tracked. Posture was noted. The order in which officers responded mattered more than the speed. Some moved immediately. Others waited to see who else would act first. A few glanced toward him before returning their focus to her. That distinction narrowed the field.

The inspection cover held. No resistance. No questions. That absence carried meaning of its own.

Gerwald remained still as the room reorganized around her authority. The pressure of his presence was enough to keep the reactions honest without forcing them. He watched how she occupied the space, how she allowed silence to do the work rather than filling it.

"Let it unfold," his voice carried just far enough to reach her. "They will show you what they value without being asked."

After that, there was no further guidance. The inspection was in motion. The station had begun to respond, and the hunt had moved from theory into practice.

 

[Irina Jesart]

Irina felt the rebuke like it was an efficiently delivered strike to her gut. All these years... a mix of emotion flickered through her. Shame was first, anger had controlled her that day and she had dragged Aerik- no, she had not dragged Aerik. He had come, despite her giving him the opportunity to stay behind, to let her write her ruin alone. But he had been the one thinking ahead, it had been his call to secure some semblance of safety for their actions. She had been a loose canon, a danger for him to be around.

And Gerwald had known that.

Sadness and anger followed next. More at herself than at her Master. How had she now seen this? She had assumed it was the academy, and then him becoming apprentice to Darth Prazutis that had kept them apart. Not Gerwald. Her eyes slid to him, but the tone in his words told her the conversation was over, and that they would not discuss it again.

Now was not the time to contemplate it, whatever she felt was irrelevant, she had a mission to complete. The Commander handed her a data pad, but Irina did not look at it immediately her focus instead on him, watching the micro expressions, the slight muscle twitch at his temple, the downturn of his mouth as he spoke about recent repairs and upgrades to the station and it security system. What had provoked such a desire to improve things?

Heeding Gerwald's quiet guidance Irina didn't press, letting him talk as he guided them through the station. Irina stopped studying him and instead shifted her gaze to the station and its personnel, fire ringed eyes looking for anything that was out of place. Or too perfectly in place.

Gerwald Lechner

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Irina Jesart

Gerwald noted the change in her before it settled. The way her shoulders squared a fraction too late. The delay before her focus returned where it belonged. The reckoning had landed harder than she expected, but it did not slow her. That, at least, was intact.

The commander began his report. Gerwald accepted the datapad without looking down at it, allowing the man to continue uninterrupted. The explanation flowed easily. Too easily. Recent repairs. Security upgrades. Revised patrol cycles. All of it sounded prepared, as if the words had been waiting for an audience rather than summoned by circumstance.

They moved through the station at an unhurried pace. Gerwald let the commander set it. People revealed more when they believed they were guiding the narrative. His attention drifted across the corridors, the work bays, the control rooms that opened briefly before sealing again. The station was clean. Efficient. Purposeful. That in itself raised questions.

Irina’s focus shifted, and he felt it. The way her awareness expanded beyond him and anchored to the space around them. The fire in her gaze was no longer turned inward. That mattered more than whatever thoughts still pressed at the edges of her control.

“Continue,” he said quietly when the commander hesitated near a junction, unsure which direction would be most impressive.

The tour resumed. Personnel straightened as they passed. Some did so with reflex. Others with calculation. Gerwald watched which officers tracked Irina instead of him, which ones waited for her reactions before adjusting their own behavior. Authority, when tested, always created tells.

The security upgrades were thorough. Too thorough for a station that had not yet been tested. Redundancy layered atop redundancy. Additional monitoring points where none had been required before. Someone had anticipated scrutiny, or feared something specific enough to prepare for it.

Gerwald said nothing about it. Observation came first. Conclusions came later.

At the next checkpoint, he slowed just enough to allow Irina to draw even with him. The movement was subtle, intentional.

<< “Do not look for mistakes,” >> his thoughts found hers. << “Look for intention. Order built from fear leaves a different trace than order built from necessity.” >>

The commander continued talking, unaware of the shift. Gerwald’s attention returned to the station at large, to the cadence of footsteps, the spacing of guards, the way eyes lingered a moment too long on sealed doors.

Whatever had prompted these improvements had not come from routine audits. Something had pressed this station to prepare. Something close enough to be felt.

The inspection continued. The hunt narrowed.

 

[Irina Jesart]

It all felt too practiced, too perfect. Irina was careful to keep the frown from her face that threatened to pull as the tour went on, keeping her expression impassive, almost bored. Her attention shifted from the station itself to the personnel they passed looking for behaviour that moved with intent instead of out of reflex. People who picked how to behave rather than behaved out of instinct ingrained through training.

She felt Gerwald's mind brush against hers his thoughts making her smile briefly. Not because he was right, but because she already was looking in the way he suggested <<"Like unnecessary security upgrades on an untested station?">> she replied, taking note of the route they were taking around the station, the way he had paused to consider whish way was best. He wasn't just showing them the most impressive parts, he was steering them clear of areas.

She lifted the datapad in her hand, tapping at it like she was taking notes and brought up the stations schematics, marking the route they had taken so far on it, highlighting the area's that the path avoided. Before swiping it to the pad in Gerwald's hand. <<"What are the hiding?">>

Gerwald Lechner

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Irina Jesart

Golden eyes dropped to the information as it slid onto the screen of the datapad the Dread Wolf held in his hand. The glance was brief and easily missed by those watching, no more than a flicker of attention before his gaze returned forward. Gerwald allowed himself a faint smile at the ease with which Irina answered his telepathy with her own. There had been no hesitation, no need to search for him in the Force. Five years together had made her the longest of his students to remain, and the familiarity showed in moments like this. Of all those he had mentored, this one seemed to want what Gerwald offered more than any before. Not power alone, not proximity, but understanding.

Except.

The thought surfaced and was dismissed just as quickly. He was no longer that man, and she had made that clear the last time they had stood face to face. The memory still carried heat with it. Her words had not been cruel, but they had been final. The look on her face when she realized what the Dread Wolf had become capable of had lingered longer than he cared to admit. Horror, not at him alone, but at what he had accepted without flinching. Gerwald had embraced the darkness he had once sworn to help Palm-Imer escape. Whatever bond they had shared had not shattered cleanly. It had torn, leaving something damaged behind. Whether it could ever be repaired was no longer a question he allowed himself to dwell on.

His attention returned to the present. To Irina.

The smile faded without effort. He studied her with the same measured consideration he applied to every asset under his command, but there was something else there as well, something quieter. Perhaps the Wolf was collecting students in an attempt to fill a space that would never truly be filled. If so, it was not something he would ever acknowledge aloud. His life had moved on, whether he approved of the direction or not. Irina had come into his care through circumstance rather than design, but she had remained by choice. That distinction mattered. More importantly, she was excelling.

Her question reached him without sound.

Gerwald gave a single nod, acknowledgment without ceremony.

<< "Find a way to ask. Be discreet or be direct. Decide what you think will yield the best answer." >>

The datapad remained steady in his hand as the station continued to unfold around them, personnel moving just quickly enough to appear efficient. The hunt pressed forward, and Gerwald watched it take shape with the patience of someone who knew the moment of revelation would come soon enough.

 

[Irina Jesart]

Irina did not see the smile, her focus was on the hunt, calculating outcomes predicting possibilities, her eyes contastnaly scanning their surrounds, notig every turn the took, marking areas that had been avoided as they moved through the station, the words from the Commander a little more than a faint buzz. its not that she had stopped listening to him, just that she was only listening now for key words and phrases.

Her gaze flicked to him only when his instruction reached her, her eyes thoughtful for a moment as she pondered her choices. Direct would yield faster results, but could alert the Commander to the suggestion tat they may be looking for something in particular. Discreet meant playing a game she loathed. Luck would have it, the station Commander paused at another junction, in front of them a new terminal rested.

"I assume these terminals are part of this security upgrade. I imagine such a huge overhaul will have required the servers to be expanded."

"Naturally." his reply was smooth, without thought.

"I'd like to see them." There it was, a brief flicker of his composure, eyes widening briefly. Irina remained impassive patiently waiting for him to make his call.

"Certainly, after we have seen-"

"No." she said lightly with a smile "Now." Her tone left no room for discussion, yet his eyes moved from her to Gerwald and that did more than annoy her. She took a small breath and stepped forward once, a simple move that set her just ahead of Gerwald and closer to the Commander reminding him of who was running this investigation. "Lead on, Commander." she instructed quietly.

Gerwald Lechner

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Irina Jesart

Gerwald watched the exchange unfold without intervening.

Irina had shifted fully into the hunt now. The change was subtle but unmistakable. Her attention no longer scattered across possibilities. It narrowed. Calculations replaced curiosity. The station became a board rather than a place, each corridor a vector, each pause a variable. He noted how her focus cut through the commander's explanation, filtering it down to cadence and choice of language rather than content. That was correct. People said little of value once they believed they were being heard.

The pause at the terminal mattered.

Gerwald felt it before it showed. The commander had stopped because the route had ended, not because the tour had planned to linger there. The explanation that followed was smooth, practiced enough to pass casual scrutiny. The response to her question came too quickly.

The request to see the servers landed cleanly. The moment of hesitation that followed did not.

Gerwald kept his expression neutral as the commander attempted to redirect. The refusal came from Irina without hesitation, delivered with just enough lightness to disguise the authority beneath it. When the commander's eyes flicked toward him, Gerwald did nothing to receive them. No nod. No acknowledgment. The absence was deliberate.

Irina stepped forward.

The shift in positioning was small, but it changed the room. The commander registered it immediately. The hierarchy corrected itself without a word needing to be spoken. Gerwald allowed that correction to stand. She had asserted control without spectacle. That was the lesson.

He remained where he was, half a step back, watching the commander's shoulders tighten as he turned toward the secured corridor. The choice had been made for him. Not by force, but by pressure applied at the right moment.

The hunter had found their first fracture.

 

[Irina Jesart]

As the commander turned, the tension in him unmistakable Irina allowed herself to feel a little triumphant. She was closing in on the trail, it was a small thing, truly, they still had a ways to go to catch the traitor and while they worked here, her reports floated through the system like bait on a hook. If she was successful she will have proved herself and while she had abruptly shoved the idea that Gerwald was using Aerik as a reward for her...it would have been nice to see him.

The commander didn't speak, his well rehearsed tour had gone awry and he was struggling to find his footing again. Irina did nothing to help him, her eyes scanning their surroundings as they passed through a secure door. The shift in personnel was different here, surprise came before hurried salutes. Irina noted one double back on them selves, his insignia marking him as a lieutenant, once they'd passed taking a different corridor than they had originally planned, no doubt going to warn ahead.

Good, fear bred mistakes.

They were no longer looking for things too perfectly in place, they were looking for the fractures in the lie that had been presented to them. Her awareness stretched in the force, no longer simply watching and listening, but feeling her way along the corridor, through the passing personnel and beyond it, hunting for the next fracture in more than what was before her eyes.

Gerwald Lechner