"So," Anakin said, releasing from the handshake, "How are you planning to find these holocrons?"
"The collector that I've traced the sales to is named Kip Killian. I managed to get this." She held out a handheld projector and activated it. "Did it just before your ship got here. Had some time to kill, so I figured I would save us the work."
The projector lit up, and a small map of the city appeared above the Sister's palm. Killian's house was near the outskirts, close to some of the power plants that ran the city.
"It looks like a good place for an ambush," noted Anakin, not willing to add that she could ambush him just as easily as Killian could. No need to let her know he was still being cautious.
"It's not even legal. According to the feds, Killian's hidey-hole doesn't even exist. It's not registered in any system on the planet."
"Well, it explains why he's hiding out near the plants," he zoomed in on the projection. "He's probably managed to hijack the power lines and steal some of the energy." A thought occurred to him, and he turned to her suspiciously. "If Killian wasn't registered, how did you find it?"
"I worked your logic backward. You just said it, he's stealing power. I accessed the power grids and lined them up with the payments for the power bills. I found which line wasn't matching up, and eliminated the buildings he wasn't in. It was either this or an old government barrack from thirty years ago."
"And you're sure he's not in the barrack?"
The Sister laughed. "Trust me, the barrack is demolished. I don't know why it hasn't been sold and renovated already."
It was odd, and there was no way that the Sister could have done it legally, but it checked out. Anakin would have tried the same thing if he was on his own if he was being honest.
The Sister pressed a button, and the flickering map morphed into a compass, giving the direction and distance to Killian. The Sister and the Chosen One leaped off the edge of the building and began running around the edge of the city to the other side.
They could have run through the middle, but the Father knew what would happen if someone noticed the two of them running together, not fighting. With Anakin's luck, someone would snap a picture and load it to the HoloNet, and the next thing he would know he was getting arrested for fraternizing with the enemy. At least he could see Padmé and Ahsoka freely if he left the Order, though.
They stuck to the edge of town, avoiding the big buildings and the bright lights of the city. It was nice, getting to run without worrying about blaster fire or civilians that could get in the way. All he had to worry about was the wind in his face and the strength in his legs, propelling him forwards. Well, that, and the Togruta at his side.
He didn't trust the Sister, obviously. Only a fool would, especially when the situation seemed so innocent. A Dark user offering to help a Light one? Yeah, right.
Still, she didn't feel threatening to Anakin. He could normally tell when someone had ill intentions, and he wasn't picking up on anything from her. Not yet, anyway.
For the moment, he didn't think he needed to be afraid of her. While they were running, she wasn't going to attack him. If he was honest, it was nice not having to watch one side again. He could feel the Sister on his left and slightly in front of him since she knew where they were going. She would be watching his left, and he would watch her right. He hadn't had anyone to watch his back since...since Ahsoka left. Obi-Wan used to, but not recently with all of the chaos going on. They had distanced a little bit, and even when they had missions together they were normally split up, like on Xlenia. At least Rex and his men would always have his back.
The Sister looked down at her compass, then back up at the layout of the city in front of her. She pointed to the subway station in front of them. "Want to catch a train? It might be quicker."
"If you can hang on," he quipped, turning slightly.
"Don't worry about me, Skywalker," she scoffed. "I could drag you with me if I needed to."
Anakin snorted. "Hard pass."
The Sister laughed again, but this time, it wasn't the high, sickly cackle he was used to. It seemed...genuine.
They used the Force to jump from the restaurant to the subway station, and they ducked beneath the rim of the roof while they waited for the next train to leave the station. Crouching silently for a moment, trying to listen for a departure. A few seconds later, a female announcer reported: "10:40 to South Ridge Street, departing in one minute."
The Sister consulted the map. "The South Ridge station is a little less than a kilometer from Killian. That's our stop." She smiled and turned to the rails below them. "We just have to wait, now."
Anakin looked at her from the corner of his eye. "No need to act so excited."
"Easy for you to say. Do you know what's it's like to be isolated from civilization for nine months straight?"
Anakin felt his jaw drop. Just a little. "What?"
"During my training. Before the whole thing on Xlenia, I was cut off from all this." She waved her arm around, motioning to the hustle and bustle of daily life. "It gets boring after a while. Missions are the only exciting things that happen anymore. Unless you count the days Grievous starts demolishing equipment."
"Huh." Anakin was about to ask about that, it was sure to be a funny story, but the subway started to fire its engines and it pulled out of the station. Anakin and the Sister stepped back a few steps, then got a running start and jumped from the roof of the station. Anakin dove and rolled on the top of the subway to his feet, while the Inquisitor opted to flip in the air and land lightly on her toes. If anyone on the train heard them board, they didn't come to check it out.
Anakin was in front of the Inquisitor now, and he was taking all of the wind as the train picked up speed. He bent low and grasped the lip of the passenger car he was on, while the Sister held on to the handle to the emergency hatch on the roof, careful not to accidentally open it.
Once the subway was at full speed, it was impossible to hold a conversation. If they had tried, it would have been a shouting match more than anything else. Instead, they focused on keeping their balance as the rails led them into turns and through tunnels. Thankfully, the tunnels they went through had high ceilings, so they didn't have to improvise on their journey.
South Ridge Street was rushing towards them in minutes. As the station grew closer, Anakin looked over his shoulder at the Sister. "We better leave before someone starts asking questions." She nodded, and they leaped off the right side of the rail. Once they were on the ground, they looked around, trying to spot any random passerby, but they were alone.
"Which way?" Anakin asked, turning towards the Togruta. She pulled out her projector and pulled up the map, zooming in on Killian's lair.
"About seven blocks that way," she said, pointing away from the center of the city. "We take a right towards the power plant, and we should end up on top of it, more or less."
Anakin nodded, turning to look down the street she had pointed towards.
"It looks quiet," he concluded, "but we better take the high route, just in case anyone looks out a window."
"You said it, not me."
They scaled the building closest to them, Anakin first, then the Inquisitor. Anakin led the way, now that he had directions to follow. They stole silently down seven blocks, checking every so often to make sure they weren't being followed. Most of the civilians who lived out here were asleep already, which was convenient. No one saw them other than a stray cat.
Anakin almost didn't need the Sister to tell him when to turn. As he got closer, he could feel the holocrons calling to him, singing softly in his mind. She had been telling the truth, to some extent. There was definitely something here. He wondered briefly what Sith holocrons sounded like to those that could hear them through the Force.
He stopped at the building across from Killian's place, crouching on the edge of the roof. It looked pretty run-down and abandoned from the outside. Only someone with something to hide would live here.
The Sister stood bent down on one knee beside him. "I see two doors, a couple of windows, and I'm willing to bet there's at least another window around the back. The windows look blocked, though, and the doors are probably armed or locked at best. I wouldn't be surprised if this guy is hiding more than holocrons."
"If I had more time and some backup, I'd want to arrest him for more than stealing," Anakin remarked. "Stealing power the way he is counts as a crime in itself. See that?" He pointed to the lead piping behind the house, which led straight to the plant. "That all is old, probably outdated, but that stuff, peaking out from behind the post, that's been added recently. On Coruscant, that's fifteen years in jail, minimum."
The Sister shifted her gaze from the building to the piping he was referring to, and she winced from second-hand embarrassment. "It's not even that good of an installment. If you're going to put in the effort to pull something like that off, you might as well do a quality job."
"I don't think this guy cares about quality, or he would hide out somewhere a little less suspicious." He looked over his shoulder, glancing at the city. "If the feds got a load of this, he'd be out of there in a heartbeat. We can't expect any help from the government on this one."
"All the better," mused the Sister. "I'm tired of dealing with politicians anyways."
"I was referring to military support."
"Them too."
Anakin rolled his eyes. "We each take a door, then. We'll meet in the middle, see if we can find these things." He reached out into the Force momentarily. "Killian is still awake, though, so we need to find him first."
The Sister nodded. "Who takes what door?"
"I'll take the right, you've got the left."
They jumped down to the street and wasted no time walking to the building. Anakin watched the Sister as she disappeared around the corner of Killian's lair, mock-saluting him as she walked. He shook his head and approached his door.
The lock on the door was standard, and Anakin disabled it with ease. What was a bigger issue was the shocker he felt on the other side of the frame, embedded into the floor. This guy had a defibrillator for a doormat. Anakin could say what he wanted about his morals, but Kip Killian certainly was creative.
He pulled his lightsaber from his belt and ignited it. He melted through the ground and angled the blade underneath the doorframe, and he heard the fizz and pop of broken wires and circuit boards. The hum that could barely be heard from the shock-mat was gone.
He opened the door, and stepped in, and smiled satisfactorily. One trap down, many to go.
The next being Killian himself. Anakin's entry had not gone unnoticed.
He gripped his lightsaber at his side, thankful he had not bothered to put it back on his belt. He doubted that Killian was afraid to use that blaster he was holding.
"I suppose you think that was clever, Jedi." He snarled.
Anakin scowled. He could smell his beer breath from here. "Just a little," he shot back.
"I always knew that someone was gonna try ta kick me outta here, but I di'n think I was important 'nough for someone to send a Jedi. You come ta arrest me?"
Anakin raised his eyebrows, his disgust beginning to morph into amusement. This guy had downed one too many. "Actually, I didn't. You have something I'm looking for."
Killian cackled and spat. "Yeah, all you do-gooders deny it at first. Well, listen, you pile o' dung, I'm not going anywhere! Ya hear? I'm not moving! I got my whole stash in here, and I ain't giving it up because some saber-swingin' maniac says I can't stay!"
The 'saber-swingin' maniac' in question fought back the laughter that was building in his gut. Was the Sister seeing this? He hoped so.
"So you go-" he belched. "You go on back to you maaasters and tell 'em I ain't leaving!" He staggered and leaned on a nearby counter, stabling himself as he raised his gun at Anakin. He had to admit, he didn't feel very threatened. "I'm, Iiiii mean it! Imma ssshhhoot ya if yooouuu don't...if yooouu don-"
He was cut short by the Inquisitor, who had picked up a taser from one of the shelves behind Killian. He spasmed and fell to the ground, dropping the blaster next to a pile of discarded beer bottles. As he lost consciousness, he kept mumbling: "Imma shoot, Imma shoot you if you don' get outta my..." he trailed off into a snore, a very loud, obnoxious snore.
Anakin and the Sister took one look at each other before they burst out laughing, doubling over from wheezing so hard.