Chapter Text
ONE: Preliminary Findings
“Sir,” Cody announced from the edge of the landing pad. “The Guard has identified Lieutenant Edds.”
Quinlan jerked out of the poor Vision of faceless passersby and nondescript speeders. There wasn’t anything useful to see at the Senate building. Fox had not remained at the landing pad long enough. “Where?” He demanded. This other Clone might provide answers.
“Let’s not keep the Guard waiting,” Obi-Wan stepped back onto the open bay troop carrier. Those Troopers were from the 212th. Listening to Obi-Wan it was a way to ease the burden of the search from the Coruscant Guard. Quinlan let his gaze linger on the Shock Troopers holding back the curious Senators and aids. The Guard did not seem appreciative of the Jedi’s efforts.
The transport whisked them away into the thick traffic of the Undercity. Cody directed the pilot to hover at a walkway where Cody motioned for the unit to disembark. Two Clones remained at the railing and the transport left the vicinity. Quinlan wished he had ears on the communications happening in those helmets. The first he saw of where they were going was the Shock Troopers barring entry to an alley. They stepped aside as Cody approached.
Quinlan felt a cold rush speed down his spine the moment he stepped into the alleyway. The air felt heavy. He reached into the Echos, seeking the source of the dense cloud. Hooded figures ghosted through Quinlan’s Vision.
“Some locals reported an unresponsive man, claiming it was a drunk. Local police finally showed up. Didn’t recognize that he was a Clone, but his armor was found trashed further down.” The Lieutenant rattled off to some question from Obi-Wan. It cut through Quinlan’s concentration.
Behind another pair of Guards lay the broken body of a Clone.
Pushing past the Troopers, Quinlan knelt beside this Lieutenant Edds. The Clone lay crumpled among the discarded refuse. Burned through the black undersuit into his chest. It reminded Quinlan of the rare lightning strikes he had seen. He reached out and lightly placed two fingers on the raw blackened fractals expanding from the exposed pink tissue.
“Sir! The Medic said to wa—!”
Quinlan’s mind disappeared into the past, engulfing his entire awareness.
Lieutenant Edds backed into the alleyway, panting heavily. Clutched tightly in his right hand was a stun baton. If Quinlan had never seen it before, he would have mistaken it for a standard issue stun baton. However the red striping set it in a different quality. Living Weapon Fox.
Edds looked over his shoulder. Quinlan’s Vision didn’t show what the Clone noticed. Edds swiped at a black robed figure in desperation. Exhaustion. Clones were study fighters, so this struck Quinlan as terrifying. He pressed deeper into the Clone’s wound, absorbing the Force Echo, pleading for answers. How had this one perish? Where was Fox?
The fight blurred. The stun baton striking. Hands grabbing. Lightning crackling from all sides. Edd’s armor burnt quickly. His chest and back pieces dropped unceremoniously. Edds thudded heavily against a wall. A massive strike of electricity arced into the Clone’s chest.
“Quinlan!” Obi-Wan jostled Quinlan’s shoulder, breaking the trance. “I thought I lost you for a moment.”
“I didn’t see what I needed, Obi-Wan.” Quinlan snapped. He glared up at Obi-Wan. The other man’s blue eyes were soft and sorrowful. The Clones surrounding them were stiff, anxious, as if expecting Quinlan to attack. He pulled his hand away from Edds, gloved fingers sticky from the raw tissue. It was a minor inconvenience. Removing a handkerchief from a bag, Quinlan wiped away the fluid. “They were attacked,” he said, standing. “The attackers wore hoods and used lightning. They didn’t feel like the same soldiers we fought, but they did feel like Sith. Fox was a weapon at the time Edds was killed. I haven’t seen where Fox went, but the fact he is not here means the likelihood of him being taken is high.”
The air felt thicker with his report. The Coruscant Guard bristled with the need to find their Commander. Yet none of them were allowed to leave their posts. Quinlan turned away, stalking towards the brunt and broken armor. Obi-Wan would find the words to ease the Guard’s concerns or at least keep them from abandoning the planet to mount their own search. He picked up the scorched helmet and peered into the broken visor.
Edds and Fox had been cornered. Chased into this alleyway into a waiting ambush. How did this battle not get noticed by the populous? Were the inhabitants of Coruscant that dismissive of what happened around them? He would have to retrace the path once he was done with this scene. Quinlan sank his awareness into the Clone’s broken helmet.
Then he stared into the shadowy figures. Three or six. Quinlan had a difficult time identifying the number. They flickered and changed position as if none of them were real. The lightning flashed form several directions. Edds curled over in pain. Quinlan peered closer at the source. Two primary directions caught his attention. Force Wielders. Sith.
The hooded shadows kept the lightning focused on Edds, who managed to catch much of the lightning with the stun baton. Directing it back? The shadows did not react as the electricity arced through them, confirming to Quinlan those were Force created illusions. These were Edds’s memories.
A hand latched onto the stun baton, breaking Edds’s grip. A thick lightning strike arced from the stun baton into Edds, blinding the Vision. When the alleyway returned to Quinlan’s Sight, it was empty. The helmet stared at deteriorating walls of the Undercity. No sign of where the hooded Sith had taken Fox.
Quinlan sighed and gently placed the helmet into the hands of a Shock Trooper. “They put up a good fight against a pair of Stih Warriors.”
“Do you know where the Commander is, sir?” This Trooper did not have the same aggravating bite most of the Guard had towards Quinlan. Perhaps it was only because Quinlan was trying to help.
“Not yet.” Quinlan looked to the entrance of the alleyway where Obi-Wan and Cody waited. There were no more shadowy Echos to find there. The other direction held nothing of visual interest. Quinlan walked farther into the darken alley, stepping over trash. A hooded figure appeared in the corner of Quinlan’s Vision. It walked quickly away from the scene. This was the only lead Quinlan had. He pulled a tracker out of his pocket and activated it. “Get a read on this signal. I’m not sure where I’m heading.”
“I’ll join you.” Obi-wan said.
“No.” Quinlan shook his head, not looking back. “You need to find all the ships that left Coruscant in the suspected timeframe. I’m certain whoever took Fox is off world by now. I’m going to follow the trail, but I don’t know if I’ll get a ship name.”
“We will find him, Quinlan.” Obi-Wan’s concern rankled. “Cody, ask the Commanders if we may use their headquarters.”
Quinlan didn’t wait to hear more. He kept his Vision attuned to the shadowy hooded figures of the Sith and trotted down the alley.