A trip to the archives was not exactly Anakin's preferred way to spend time, but obviously inevitable. "Hey Anakin, where are you going?"
Kyle, one of the few fellow Padawans he would actually call a friend, ran to catch up to him.
"The library. My new Master is taking me on a mission, and makes me dig up some information for it. Couldn't think of anything more boring!"
"Sounds like he doesn't give you much of a choice tho. I'll come with you! So, who is that new master of yours? I've never heard of him before. What corner of the galaxy did the council drag him out of?"
"I don't know, but I have an idea. Since we're going to the library anyway, maybe we can search in the temple registries. Find out who he is"
"I thought as Padawan we don't have access to the registries?"
"That is true, but that doesn't mean I don't know how to get into them..."
"Anakin...not again! You remember what happened the last time we got caught? We were translating texts about sindukan crop rotations for three months!"
"Then this time we won't get caught!"
The two boys accessed a data terminal in a more hidden corner of the archives and Anakin started manipulating the screen. He had quickly sliced his way into the data bank and started his search, trying different ways of spelling, nothing showed up. "That's weird! There must be something" He tried a few more tricks until a result popped up. "Hold on..there is something...but it's classified"
"I thought the registries as a whole are ciphered? Why does your Master have a classified file?"
"There's different levels of restriction from what I see. Some more confidential than others. Gimme a second..."
"Anakin, I have a bad feeling about this. We'll so get into trouble!"
Kyle started fidgeting, but Anakin was in his world. It was forbidden, it was interesting, this was fun! He hacked into the deeper levels past the digital seal. A few lines of code later, a picture of Kenshin now showed up on the screen – not a recent one, he had short hair on that one, but the frown and the piercing eyes were unmistakably the same. The boys read the brief description next to it that listed nothing but the most rough information - birth year, species, rank and function within the order.
Anakin was stunned. "He's 23 and has the rank of master?"
Kyle opened, then closed his mouth again. "That's not what's blowing my mind! You know what specialist investigator actually means, right?"
Anakin shook his head
"Damn, dude, the guy is a friggin' shadow! That explains why we've never seen him here at the temple. The corner they dragged him out of probably really was a wild place force knows where in the galaxy. I've heard some savage stories about them. It's those guys they send after Sith artefacts and whatnot!" Kyle explained.
Just like Kyle, Anakin had only ever heard rumours. Shadows were something in between investigators and what one would have called a full blown assassin, had the Jedi deployed assassins like the Sith did. They were very few far and in between, exceptionally skilled, and usually had special force powers. Thus they were used for the most difficult and dangerous of missions regular Jedi knights would not be a match for. The more conservative members of the Order strongly disapproved of them, since they were constantly exposed to the threats and lures of the dark side. Most of them were, as far as Anakin had heard, …..special. Solitary, reclusive and often creepy, intimidating individuals. It was very, very rare that one ever took on a Padawan. Maybe his new master was more interesting than he thought.
Anakin whispered to Kyle "But how does he already have the rank of master!? His profile here says he is 23, means just 6 years older than us! Look, here, it says he was knighted at the age of 16, and attained the rank of master at 20. I thought Windu had been the youngest master in the order ever, obtaining the rank at the age of 28."
„You should look up information about Vanquor, not about me!"
Anakin and Kyle swirled around and froze, faced with the very subject of their conversation. Anakin scanned his Master's face, but he didn't look irritated. Actually, he seemed rather amused.
„This would also be less off limits than snooping around in registries you don't even have the rights of access to. At least your slicing skills seem to be on top of their game, and a lot greater than your sense of respecting rules"
„Master Kano" Kyle uttered, visibly intimidated.
"What the..….how long have you been there?" Anakin's face turned red in embarrassment
"Anakin!" Kyle kicked against Anakin's shin.
"Oh, I don't know, I've been enjoying the show for a while! Since you're already here, why don't you come and help me finish preparing our mission. And remind me to have Madame Nu erase that file – force knows who else hacks into those registries"
"Don't worry, Master, nobody's as good at slicing as I am"
"That's what you think" The young Master was already walking away, not even waiting for Anakin to reply.
"Good luck, bro" Kyle whispered as Anakin followed his Master, giving his friend a tormented look.