Disclaimer: See chapter one

Sorry that it took so long. All my time I have I'm studying for my finals and I have lot of work to do, but it doesn't mean I won't update of course!!! Thanks for all the review, it means a lot to me, but keep them coming!!!

Thank you JediKnight !!!!

So on with the story, Hadrian will say goodbye to Padmé and then together with Obi-Wan they will find some clues like the title says.

Have fun!!

Chapter five: Searching for clues

A small bus sped toward the massive freighter docks of Coruscant's industrial area. The spaceport was bustling with activity. Transports of various sizes moved supplies and passengers as giant floating cranes lift cargo out of the starships. The bus stopped before a huge, intergalactic freighter starship. It was parked in the shadow of an overhang. Anakin and Padmé, dressed in Outland peasant outfits, got up and headed for the door where Captain Typho, Dormé, Obi-Wan and Hadrian were waiting to hand them their luggage. Hadrian looked around while Typho addressed the former queen.

"Be safe, Milady."

"Thank you, Captain. Take good care of Dormé… The threat's on you two now." Padmé said eyeing her friend in the face. She was quiet worried about it.

"He'll be safe with me." Dormé said smiling, eyeing the Captain mischievously. Padmé smiled along. They laughed and the Senator embraced her faithful handmaiden. Dormé started to weep.

"You will be fine." Padmé said, rubbing her friend shoulder.

"It's not me, Milady. I worry about you. What if they realized you've left the Capital?"

Padmé looked at Anakin with a smile. "Than my Jedi protector will have to prove how good he is." Dormé and Padmé smiled. Anakin frowned as Obi-Wan pulled him aside. Hadrian stood nearby, watching this with laughter in his eyes.

"Anakin, Don't do anything without first consulting either myself or the Council." Obi-Wan said seriously.

"Yes, Master." Anakin scolded. Hadrian smiled.

"Be careful, my friend. Padmé can be more then a handful." Hadrian replied. Anakin nodded.

"I will. Thanks."

Obi-Wan turned to Padmé. "I will" Hadrian elbowed him and mocked a cough next to him. Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "We will get to the bottom of this plot quickly, Milady. You'll be back here in no time."

Padmé smiled. "I will be most grateful for your speed, Master Jedi… Hadrian."

"Time to go." Anakin said, picking up the luggage.

"I know." She said sadly. She gave one last looked at Hadrian. He nodded her goodbye. He will surely miss her… again. Padmé gave Dormé a last huge. Then, two peasants exited the speeder bus, where Artoo was waiting for them. Obi-Wan didn't let his Padawan go without a last word.

"Anakin. May the Force be with you."

"May the Force be with you, Master… Hadrian."

Hadrian nodded and smiled. He watched them headed off toward the giant Star freighter. The dark haired Jedi watched his love walking side by side with Anakin. He still could hear some of their conversations.

"Suddenly, I'm afraid…"

"This is my fist assignment on my own. I am too." Anakin looked back at the droid who was following them. "But don't worry. We've got Artoo with us." They laughed. Hadrian sighed. He wished that he could go with her instead of Anakin. Obi-Wan and Captain Typho watched them too disappear into the vastness of the spaceport with Artoo trundling along behind them.

"I hope he doesn't try anything foolish." The Jedi said seriously.

Typho laughed. "I'd be more concerned about her doing something, then him." Hadrian smiled too. The two Jedi said their farewell to Typho and Dormé. Hadrian pulled his hood up and they disappeared in the opposite direction. In the distance they heard the freighter slowly take off from the huge docks area of Coruscant. It soon moved into the crowded skies. Obi-Wan turned too looked at his companion.

"I'll get this analyzed first." He hold up the dart. "Maybe the analysis droid can come up with something."

Hadrian nodded. "I'll get us some supplies for or journey."

"Good. Wait for me at the entrance of the Temple."

Hadrian agreed. Together they headed toward the Jedi Temple. In the Main hallway they split up. Hadrian went to the livings quarters to get some supplies, the usual basis of medicine, food and liquids. While doing these things, Hadrian thought about what his Master had said. Somehow he did feel something off. He felt it before when he was just only a child when Sensei Akira told him to control his gift. Has it something to do with that? Hadrian frowned. Maybe his Sensei knew something. God, did he wish he could see his old Master again.

Hadrian clipped his capsules onto his belt, checked his lightsaber (he still had the one when he came here), but took a second just in case something went wrong. He straightened his cloak and exited his quarters. He made a minute stop at Obi-Wan's and Anakin's quarters to get some equipment for this Jedi companion. Hadrian almost laughed when he entered the room. On one side it was neat and clean, but when you entered Anakin's area it was filled with spare parts and junk. Hadrian took the necessary things and left the room.

He took the turbolift to get on the ground level and there he waited for Obi-Wan to show up. It didn't take long. Soon the Jedi arrived, but wasn't too happy.

"And?"

"The analysis droid couldn't find anything." Obi-Wan said. "They say; that the markings couldn't be identified. It is not known in any culture, probably self-made by some warrior."

Hadrian looked thoughtful. "You're sure? May I see the dart."

Obi-Wan handed him the little bullet. Hadrian took a closer look and turned the thing around in his fingers. Then he indicated some points to his friend.

"See these markings." Obi-Wan nodded. "That's our clue. The droids only looked for symbols, not the cuts which are more important."

"Since when did you become an ammunition specialist?" Obi-Wan asked smiling. Hadrian shrugged and gave back the dart.

"I followed my feelings, like my Master taught me… Do you know someone who can enlighten us?"

Obi-Wan nodded.

They walked down the street. It was a pretty tough part of town. Old buildings, warehouses, beat up speeders and transporter rigs thundered past. Above, the old elevated monospeed with occasional "shiny freighters" hissing through. Hadrian and Obi-Wan came to a kind of alien diner. On the streamed-up windows it said "DEX'S DINER" in alien lettering. They went inside. A waitress droid was carrying plates of half-eaten food. There was a counter with stools and a line of booths along the wall by the window. A number of customers were eating; tough-looking workers, freighter drivers, etc. The waitress droid looked up as the Jedi came in. To Hadrian it looked like an American motel bar.

"Can I help you?" The droid asked, coming to a stop.

"We're looking for Dexter." The waitress droid approached Obi-Wan. She looked menacing.

"Waddya want him for?"

"He's not in trouble. It's personal." Obi-Wan kept his cool. There was a brief pause. Then the droid went to the open serving hatch behind the counter. Hadrian was quiet nervous. But he trusted his friend.

"Someone to see ya, honey." She lowered her voice. "Jedi, by the looks of them." Stream billowed out from the kitchen hatch behind the counter as a huge head poked through.

"Obi-Wan." It said cheerfully. Hadrian let out a breath not knowing he was holding one.

"Hey, Dex." Obi-Wan replied with a grin of his own.

"Take a seat! Be right with ya!"

Hadrian and Obi-Wan seated themselves in a booth. The waitress droid rolled on.

"Want a cup of ardees?" She asked.

"Oh yes, thank you." Obi-Wan said. Hadrian nodded along. He can use a drink now. The waitress droid moved off as the door to the counter opened and Dexter Jettster appeared. He was a big- bald and sweaty, old and alien. Not someone to tangle with; he arrived, beaming hugely.

"Hey, ol'buddy!"

"Hey Dex." The huge alien grabbed the Jedi in a hug. Hadrian smiled from his seat and waited. Dexter eased himself into the seat opposite his friend and Hadrian. He could just make it. Obi-Wan introduced Hadrian and they politely greeted.

"So, my friend. What can I do for ya?"

Obi-Wan placed the dart on the table between them. "Can you tell me what this is?" Dex's eyes widened. He put down his mug.

Dex replied softly. "Well, whaddya know…" He picked up the dart delicately between his puffy fingers and peered at it. "I ain't seen one of these since I was prospecting on Subterrel beyond the Outer Rim."

"Can you tell us where it came from?"

Dexter grinned. He put the dart back down between them. "This baby belongs to them cloners. What you got here is a Kamino saberdart."

Obi-wan looked pensive. "Kamino Saberdart? … I wonder why it didn't show up in our analysis archive?" He looked sideways to Hadrian. Maybe the boy was right. Dex looked right back.

"It's these funny little cuts on the side give it away... Those analysis droids you've got over there only focus on symbols, you know. I should think you Jedi would have more respect for the difference between knowledge," here he grinned, "… and wisdom."

"Well, Dex, if droids could think, we wouldn't be here, would we?" Obi-Wan laughed. "Kamino... doesn't sound familiar. Is it part of the Republic?"

"No, it's beyond the Outer Rim. I'd say about twelve parsecs outside the Rishi Maze, toward the south. It should be easy to find, even for those droids in your archive. These Kaminoans keep to themselves. They're cloners. Damned good ones, too." Dex replied. Obi-Wan picked up the dart, holding it midway between them.

"Cloners? Are they friendly." He asked his friend.

"It depends." The alien said grinning. Hadrian smiled in his mug.

"On what, Dex?"

"On how good your manners are… and how big your pocketbook is." They laughed.

"It's a shame how the universe works nowadays. Power and greed, that's all the people think about." Hadrian said, putting his mug down.

"Right you are, Laddie. Right you are."

The main entrance at the base of the huge Temple was bustling with activity. All sorts of Jedi were coming and going. Obi-Wan and Hadrian scrolled in, in all peace. A bronze bust of Count Dooku stood among a line of other busts of Jedi in the Archive Room. Hadrian stood in front of it studying the striking features of the chiseled face. On the wall, lighted computer panels seem to stretch into infinity. Farther along the room in the background, five Jedi were seated at tables, studying archive material.

After Hadrian studied the bust for a few moments before Madame Jocasta Nu, the Jedi Archivist was standing next to him. She was an elderly, frail-looking human Jedi. Tough as old booted and smart as a whip. She was looking at him.

"Did you call for assistance?" She asked.

Hadrian was distracted in thought until he heard her. "Yes… yes, I did."

"He has a powerful face, doesn't he? He was one of the most brilliant Jedi I have had the privilege of knowing."

"I never understood why he quit. Only twenty Jedi have ever left the Order." Hadrian asked. Personally, he never understood the man. But he knew his actions.

The woman sighed. "The Lost Twenty… Count Dooku was the most recent and most painful. No one likes to talk about it. His leaving was a great loss to the Order."

"What happened?"

"Well, Count Dooku was always a bit out of step with the decisions of the Council… much like yourself." He replied. Hadrian blushed. The word traveled fast around here.

"Really?" He asked innocent. Jocasta Nu gazed at the bust.

"He was always striving to become a more powerful Jedi. He wanted to be the best. With a lightsaber, in the old style of fencing, he had no match. His knowledge of the Force was... unique. In the end, I think he left because he lost faith in the Republic. He believed that
politics were corrupt, and he felt the Jedi betrayed themselves by serving the politicians. He always had very high expectations of government. He disappeared for nine or ten years, then just showed up recently as the head of the separatist movement." She explained.

"It's very interesting." Hadrian frowned. "I'm not sure I completely understand." That cleared some things up. Hadrian couldn't understand people like that. Why do they want more power to prove themselves worthy?

"Well, I'm sure you didn't call me over here for a history lesson? Are you having a problem, Padawan Phoenix?"

Hadrian smiled. "We did. Master Kenobi has the question."

Hadrian took her to the Jedi who was watching the screen of endless star systems. Nu approached him.

"You called?"

Obi-Wan looked up and nodded. "Yes. I'm trying to find a planet system called Kamino. It doesn't seem to show up on any of the archive chart."

She looked pondering. "Kamino? It's not a system I'm familiar with… let me see." Nu leaned over Obi-Wan's shoulder, looking at the screen. She looked back at him.

"Are you sure you have the right coordinates?"

Obi-Wan nodded. "According to my information, it should be in this quadrant somewhere… just south of the Rishi Maze." Nu tapped the keyboard and frowned.

"No coordinates? It sound like the sort of direction you'd get from a street tout… some old miner or Furbog trader.

The Jedi smiled. "All three, actually." Hadrian grinned too.

"Are you sure it exist?" she asked them. Hadrian nodded.

"Absolutely."

"Let me do a gravitational scan." The Jedi studied the star map hologram. There was nothing to look at actually.

"There are some inconsistencies here. Maybe the planet you're seeking was destroyed."

"Wouldn't that be on record?" Obi-Wan asked.

"It ought to be, unless it was very recent." She shook her head. "I hate to say it, but it looks like the system you're searching for doesn't exist."

"That's impossible… perhaps the archives are incomplete."

Jocasta Nu looked horrified. The archives were her sanctuary, her home. "The archives are comprehensive and totally secure, my young Jedi. One thing you may be absolutely sure
of - if an item does not appear in our records, it does not exist!"

Obi-Wan stared at her, then looked back at the map. Nu noticed a young boy approaching. She turned from the two Jedi and left with the youngster.

"Now, that was helpful." Hadrian replied. Obi-Wan didn't answer. The boy sighed. "Maybe it's been erased from the main data bank."

"Impossible, Hadrian. No one has that license." Obi-Wan downloaded it on his memory ball and stood up. "Come. Let us see your Master. Maybe he can help us."

Hadrian nodded.

I know it was a short chapter, but give me some review and I'll be forever happy!! They are like fuel for my writing soul. Anyway, the next chapter will be for next week, but stay tuned.

Cheerio

Jessie