=Theed Plasma Refinery Complex=

"Magic? Are you paying attention?"

Nelson nudged Vin with his elbow as they walked, taking another lap around a yet another level in the power generation facility. It was familiar to Vin. He'd patrolled it many times before, often with Nelson. Nelson was practically smitten with the place; he'd point to each structure they passed, noting, "Those catwalks are where Qui-Gon Jinn and Darth Maul dueled," or "Obi-Wan Kenobi got stuck behind this very laser gate," or (this was quite possibly the one Vin had heard the most), "Did you know that at the bottom of this shaft, they never found Maul's body?" (Nelson would add conspiratorially, "either half.")

Vin sighed. "Yeah, I'm paying attention. Look, Nels, shouldn't we be out in the city more? We're dressed like civs, even." Vin tugged at his civilian attire- the dark brown shirt was only half a shade lighter than his skin, adding to the feeling of nakedness he already felt from being on duty with no uniform.

"Maybe, but if you want to catch a Sith, you should think like a Sith."

Vin shuddered. Thinking like a Sith? That sounded awfully… questionable. "Do you really think this guy is stupid enough to make the same mistakes Darth Maul did? This is a terrible place for a showdown. Nobody's even here."

Nelson sniffed. "Well. If I were a Sith lord trying to cause chaos, I'd take out the power station first. Plunge the city into darkness and all."

Sith acolyte, Vin corrected in his head. But he held his tongue. They were unlikely to find the guy anyway; best to let Nelson have a little fun.

After they had left the palace, they had returned to the security station in the main hangar to change clothes. Nelson had thought it would be prudent to double-check the entire facility themselves: the hangar (joined to the proximal power station for easy access to starfighter fuel) , the power generator, and the seemingly-bottomless pit of the plasma refinery.

Yes, Vin was paying attention, but he was very bored. Patrolling was something he'd grown quite tired of. He began to fiddle with the goggles on his head- since he'd had to forego the helmet he was used to, he brought along some less-conspicuous goggles that looked as though they might belong to a mechanic or pilot.

The goggles fit snugly on Vin's face when he pulled them down, digging into his long nose slightly. He flipped through the different specs- infrared was always cool in here.

"Nels, what do you think this guy wants, anyway?" he asked as he flicked the goggles' infrared feed on and off.

"Not sure," said Nelson. "But it can't be something nice."

"What did Maul want?" Vin dared ask, readying for a potentially long-winded explanation.

"He came to intercept the Jedi who were here ten years ago," Nelson explained. He passed a key card over a lock pad to allow them to check another restricted area. "A lot of that story is classified information. And the Trade Federation, I'm sure, released loads of other stories so people would get confused."

"Yeah, I'm confused."

"Well, when we catch him, we won't have to find out his plans the hard way."

Vin shrugged. "I hope you're right."

"I'm always right."

Vin, still playing with his goggles, turned on the spectrometer and looked around. In the corner of his field of vision, a transparent graph bloomed noninvasively, spiking and flattening with every object he looked at. That could be used to identify something's molecular composition. Vin was no chemist and hadn't had much schooling, but his time among the stars and in the Guard academy had taught him how to use such a device well.

And then something caught his eye. He slowed, tracking his head slowly side to side to try to get the same reading he'd just seen.

He halted once he had the subject fixed in his sight. "Hey, Nels, wait a second."

"Vin?" Nelson stopped and looked over his shoulder at his young ward.

"I think… I think I found something weird."

"What's that?"

"You wanna take a look at this?" Vin pulled the goggles off his face and passed them to Nelson.

"Whatcha got?" Nelson settled them over his own eyes. "What are you doing with the spectrometer on?"

"Look … over there." Vin took Nelson's shoulders and steered him in the direction he'd just been looking. "Doesn't that….?" He trailed off.

"Doesn't what?"

"It looks like baradium."

"Baradium?" Nelson repeated.

"Yeah. Look at the graph. That second spike followed by a dip… that little curve after that. That's a pretty telling signature."

Nelson took the goggles off his head and handed them back to Vin. "Are you sure?"

"Look, I'm no lab rat, okay?" said Vin, snatching the goggles back and putting them on again. "But before I came to Naboo, when I was on the lam, I had to learn all about baradium, and how to get it past detectors. I'm certain it's baradium."

"Baradium, like… The stuff they use in thermal detonators?"

"Yeah."

"Let's go check it out," said Nelson, charging his blaster and making his way in the direction Vin indicated.