Chapter Text
+++
Blaring sirens went off. The sound was deafening in the small space of the control room. It took uncomfortable long before someone managed to switch them off.
"Security breach on level 3, Sir," a voice called out into the tense silence.
A vicious smirk tugged on his lips. Vader turned around to regard the administrator, whose arrogant swagger, that he had displayed all day during the inspection, had evaporated in an instant."It would seem that your control over this facility leaves things to be desired, after all," he said, pleased how the man flinched at his words.
"I-, we-, my lord, I assure you that-" the administrator scrambled, before he found a modicum of equilibrium again. He rounded on his subordinates, frozen in anticipation of Vader’s infamous wrath unfolding. "What is going on? Get me a status report immediately."
His snapped order broke the spell and sent the others in the control room scurry to find the source of the alarm.
"Sir, several security doors fail to deliver any signal," an officer called out. “It must be an escape attempt.”
The administrator tightened his fists. "Not that blasted boy again. He can’t have gotten far. Find him. Now!”
Vader approached the terminal, where the officer was rapidly switching through the footage of various security cams in search for the perpetrator, the administrator breathing done the man’s neck.
“Who is it?” Vader demanded, truly enjoying grilling the pompous man.
“He's nothing but trouble,” the administrator vented instantly, his face increasingly red. “It’s some self-taught Outer Rim bumpkin. Developed something to improve fuel efficiency. It escapes me how such a yokel has come to the attention of anyone, but one of our head developers somehow thought he’s brilliant and suggested that drat boywould make a good addition to our 'War Mantle' project.Ever since he was recruited, he has refused to cooperate, sabotaged tools and machinery and-”
“Don’t you have your methods to make unwilling laborers compliant, administrator?” Vader interrupted the man’s rant. The administrator’s face was turning slowly turning an ugly shade of red.
“He’s hard to get a handle on. An orphan, no known family that we could take into custody and he was unimpressed by any bribes or threats we tried. All he wants is to get back to his run-down miserable farm. He’s tried to escape at least once a week. And of late he’s taken to stirring up the others as well. With your permission, I would suggest terminating him. It would serve as a good example for the others.”
“If you can’t get him to work than clearly your management of the situation is lacking.”
“We have doubled security since he was brought here. But I am not running a prison, Lord Vader. There is only so much I can do!”
The officer zoomed into a still frame and bent closer to the screen. "I'm afraid it’s the boy, Sir. It’s Skywalker." He picked up a comlink, entering the frequency to alert the patrols. “All units, he’s in sector Esk, bearing north-east, I repeat-“
But Vader was no longer listening anymore. Transfixed he stared at the small image of a young man in the still frame. He was dressed in a mechanics overalls and crouched into the corner section of what seemed to be some sort of canal system.
Skywalker.
Surely that was a coincidence, it had to be.
Yet when he reached for the Force to seek answers, it whispered to him like it hadn’t in many years. He bent a little closer to the screen, ignoring the officer cringing away from him.
“Get me his file.”
+++