Shadows of Tomorrow

Chapter 12 - Landing at Point Rain

"You know, this speeder sounds like it's about to give up the ghost," Theseus remarks in a failed attempt to lighten the atmosphere as the speeder he and Anakin are riding on races through the underworld of Coruscant.

"That was the point, you know," Anakin replies, "We're trying not to stick out, so they won't see us coming." He has a point. It's been a week since the murder, and they finally managed to find a lead. Whatever it takes, they're going to find the killer. No matter what. Theseus won't let him escape. Between nearby security recordings – or rather the pathetic excuse thereof – they'd been able to use the Temple records to track down the person.

The speeder weaves its way in between endless buildings, further into the underworld until they finally come to a stop outside a very run-down building.

"We're here. Don't do anything... irrational?" Anakin cautions. "I know this is hard but try to stay calm."

"I will," he promises. He can handle this like a Jedi should. He has to.

They get off the speeder, heading into the building. There's a bunch of people lounging around in the large main room, and it reminds Theseus very much of when he was sneaking around in the pirate's compound on Florum. They look like the exact same kind of people, except they're various species this time. Really, he can understand how people like this can hide in large numbers far away on Florum, but right here on Coruscant? No wonder so many people – Vraz included – see the Republic as falling.

The memory of his friend sends a fresh stab of pain and anger through him. He draws in a deep breath, trying to keep himself under control. They're finally about to arrest the person who did it. He can't afford to do anything stupid.

"Go to the back entrance to block off the escape route," Anakin instructs him in a low voice as he scans over the group. Theseus nods, crossing the room doing his best to remain inconspicuous. No one pays him much attention as he shuffles through the crowd.

As he positions himself by the door, he spots the person who did it, who they were able to identify from footage and Temple records. All he wants to do, in that moment, is run him through with a lightsaber. All sense of reasoning is starting to evaporate, and he should probably be a lot more concerned than he is that he's already thinking like that.

He glances around the room for a moment to make sure there's no other escape routes aside from the entrance, and it's that moment that he's distracted in which all chaos breaks loose. The next thing he knows, blaster bolts are flying everywhere as Anakin deflects them. Apparently, the murderer actually thinks he'll be able to get away and a bunch of people are foolish enough to assist him instead of staying out of Jedi affairs.

He feels the danger in the Force but doesn't have time to react before someone tackles him from behind, knocking his lightsaber from his hands as they fall to the floor. "You're foolish to come here, Jedi," hisses the person as he punches him in the face. Theseus promptly returns the favor before knocking the man off him. The man catches his arm before he can get up, throwing him hard into the wall, racing out the door before Theseus has a chance to stop him – not that he would have tried if the man hadn't attacked him in the first place.

Pushing back the aching in his head, Theseus looks up in time to see Vraz's killer running for the door which he's no longer guarding, and he'll never be able to get up fast enough to block him. Anakin is fighting off multiple people at the moment and will never have time to reach him first.

A sudden, blinding rage grips him. That man dares to try and escape after what he did? He doesn't even deserve to live. Theseus is hardly thinking – no, he's not thinking at all – when he yanks out the custom blaster he brought with him and shoots at the escaping gangster.