ME: Time to continue the adaptation of The Siege of Lothal and Season 2 as a whole.

A/N: Jhothal has less buildings than even Tarkintown if Empire Day is any indication and it seems like more of a fuel stop with a cantina attached than an actual settlement.

Jhothal was many things, but glamourous was not one of them, the Ithorian bartender reflected.

It lacked the factories of Capital City, the farms of Central City, or the street vendors of Kothal. Revolving around a refueling station, it had about as many inhabitants-by which Old Jho meant anyone who worked at Jhothal and thus lived there since one could not commute, either as a shopkeeper like him or as a fuel station attendant-as an apartment building floor. Life in Jhothal depending on outsider business and would end the moment ships stopped coming to refuel at the isolated outpost, though Jho was grateful that the Imperial occupation on Lothal mainly left the area unmolested.

Same can't be said for those poor bastards over in Tarkintown. Our great and magnanimous Governor does what he does best-crush whoever gets in his or our glorious Emperor's way.

An Imperial cadet in uniform entered the cantina. Though younger than the average Stormtrooper, junior academy cadets were still dangerous in that the indoctrination had already begun. Not to mention the fact they were actual members of the Imperial Military; if there was one thing Jho did not want to experience, it was being arrested by a boy still going through puberty.

But he thought he could recognized the geometric marking on this cadet's helmet. Once the cadet opened his helmet and exposed his face, Jho knew it was Zare Leonis; former Imperial loyalist turned rebel spy.

"You old enough to drink, Cadet? You look rather young," the bartender said.

It was just for security, of course. Regardless of the laws on the books, Zare had politely declined any free drinks from Jho. "Aren't you a little civilized for this joint? I thought Ithorians grew plants, not serve alcohol to riff-raff."

The older man would've smiled, but he was an Ithorian, not a Human or Near-Human. "Alright, my boy: Any intel you want me to transmit?"

Zare nodded. Jho looked into his brown eyes and realized the kid had witnessed something nobody his age should have. "Anything wrong, Zare?"

"Just the execution of Governor Pryce," he answered.

Jho shrugged. "Heard about it on the news; even the lies can tell you what you want to know sometimes. That weasel Alton Kastle said, 'Ex-Planetary Governor Arihnda Pryce was revealed to be a rebel turncoat aiding terrorist insurgents maurading Lothal. She attempted to frame Planetary Minister Maketh Tua for treason, but Pryce's crimes were discovered by an investigation led by Lieutenant Grand Moff Chad Vader and she was executed after a speedy but fair trial. As a reward for his efforts, Lieutenant Governor Vader has been awarded the title of Count of the Empire by His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Sheev Palpatine himself.'" The Ithorian shook his head. "Oh, then there was, 'All hail the Great Uniter.' Anyhow, good riddance to bad rubbish."

Zare grimaced. "Just be glad you didn't see it, Old Jho. They had a bunch of us assembled in a courtyard; cadets like me, troopers, walker drivers and bikers, even TIE pilots. It was all to witness her get her hands cut off, then her execution."

Jho patted his shoulder in sympathy, regretting his more cavalier response. "Sorry you had to see them cut off her hands, kid. That had to be worse than using her for target practice-you have my sympathy for us adults making all ya youngsters grow up too fast with stuff like this."

"It wasn't a firing squad."

"Wait, what?"

The Human teenager swallowed. "Count Vader put his lightsaber blade right through her skull, it left a smoking hole in her head."

Oh Force. While Pryce would probably be easier to clean up than Commandant Aresko and Taskmaster Grint-Jho had heard rumors that Tarkin had ordered an Inquisitor to decapitate them-it would be of little comfort to Zare.

"Fierfek; alright, what's the intel?"

Zare took a sip of water (Jho had provided a glass of it) before beginning. "We have at least three new divisions of Imperial troops on Lothal. The Five Hundred and First Legion, Blizzard Force, and finally the One Hundred and Fifth Division. The Five-Oh-First is the cream of the crop when it comes to the Stormtrooper Corps; they have the most clones, particularly of the Jango Fett template, and the only recruits allowed to join are the best of the infantry. Only the Storm Commandos are unquestionably better-unless you count units like the Royal Guard, of course. Blizzard Force is an armored unit led by Major General Rom Mohc, a Clone Wars vet and battle droid advocate. The One-Oh-Fifth is some CompFarce unit, but they're suicidally devoted to the Emperor.

"Additionally, the Capital's under lockdown; a curfew's been established, checkpoints have been set up at all the exits, and patrols have been increased. This ironically makes things easier at the Imperial Complex, with the garrison being stretched thin and all. There are the additional soldiers that got sent in after Tarkin arrived, but I hear they've been kept in reserve so far. Perhaps the Empire thinks deploying all those men and women at once will make them look weak and the rebellion strong, but I'm worried regardless. On a side note, there's a maglev monorail network being constructed by the Imperials; probably to speed up cargo shipments and troop deployments. It could be part of that Five Year Plan for Lothal, or it could be just to deal with unrest.

"Last but not least, there seems to be Imperial battle droids being deployed. First of are these new TIE droids; they're armed with two cannons like the regular TIE/LN, but they can walk and land like Sep Vultures from the Clone Wars; they're actually kinda creepy. Second off are these Dark Troopers, humanoid infantry droids like the ones from the Clone Wars. Last but not least are these modified AT-PTs, an older walker design from before the Clone Wars. These walkers are now automated and got modified for anti-infantry duty."

"Thanks for the info, kid," Jho stated in gratitude. "I'll be sure to pass it on up the chain."

"Wait, one more thing." Zare took a deep breath before continuing. "My transfer to the Academy on Arkanis got cancelled, official line being that they need me here on Lothal. I doubt that that's the truth for obvious reasons."

"I'll pass it on, kid," the Ithorian assured. "You take care, may the Force be with you." Unlike most of his species, Jho wasn't a very spiritual man but decided to make an exception for once. First time for everything, right?

"And you, Jho."

*CUT TO IMPERIAL COMPLEX*

Unknown to either of the two rebels, their conversation was not private. A probe droid had discreetly monitored them, while an Imperial SIGINT satellite stood by to intercept the HoloNet transmission.

Lord Darth Vader, the apprentice of Emperor Sheev Palpatine, watched Cadet Zare Leonis as he exited the cantina.

"Sir," said the sniper of Delta Squad, Lance Corporal Sev (officially "IC-1207"), "Delta Oh-Seven here. I have a shot at the traitor, please advise. Over."

"Do not engage, soldier," Vader ordered. "I repeat, hold your fire. For now, we need Cadet Leonis alive. If you are receiving, acknowledge immediately."

The reply was immediate. "Sir, yes, sir."

High Inquisitor Jerec, the field commander for this mission, smiled in anticipation via his hologram (the Dark Lord of the Sith was glad he didn't have to share a room with the megalomaniac who wanted his position and was more like Tarkin than his Pau'an predecessor, to Vader's ire). "You need simply give the order, my lord, and I will personally lead the raid on that wretched hive."

"Wait, Jerec," he ordered; unlike Lady Offee, he did not deserve his title of 'Lord.' "The boy has to leave first in order to maximize the secrecy of this operation. Additionally, the Ithorian needs to make his call in order to bait the rebels."

Tarkin snorted. "I see no reason for us not to launch an assault on the rebel fleet that's been raiding our supply convoys with the help of the Lothal cell. We may not get another chance like this at extinguishing the fire before it burns down the entire galaxy."

Rear Admiral Thrawn, Vader's naval aide, shook his head. "We cannot jump the blaster, Governor. While it is all but certain we will intercept the transmission, pinpointing the rebel fleet is another matter. And even assuming we do so and dispatch a Battle Group of ISDs, what's stopping the rebels from jumping to another system while our ships are in hyperspace? And in the event of a successful ambush, the Jedi fugitives and their cell are likely to have left beforehand and will go to ground. We will have a greater chance of destroying the Rebellion entirely, Governor, if we kill two birds with one stone."

Tarkin gritted his teeth but focused on the Leonis boy, who was now about to leave the outpost-Vader refused to refer to anything with a population around the size of a Mandalorian clan as a settlement-after he retrieved his speeder bike. First, he removed the nozzle that was placed in it.

It supplied water that's probably all been converted to hydrogen by now for the fuel cells. One does not even need a dedicated station to refuel a repulsorcraft, just a lake and a container for getting the water. Amazing how something so simple can be used to power something so advanced.

Vader watched as Leonis left Jhothal on his speeder bike, which he recognized as a demilitarized Biker Advanced Recon Command (BARC) model. Sold off as surplus (the only ones made by Aratech anymore had been redesigned to comply with regulations) after the Clone Wars, they were popular on the civilian market for their speed and overall performance.

The conversation between Jho and the rebel fleet was a one-way visual transmission (evidently the leaders of the insurgency were smart, even for ones foolish enough to try and bring down the Empire). It turned out that the rebels had already learned of the additional troops sent to Lothal because of an unknown (at the moment) source. The Ithorian informant suggested that mass production of the Dark Troopers would likely occur (apparently the rebels were unaware that the Arc Hammer was a mobile factory in addition to a warship), warned them of the intensified security measures, and pleaded for help.

"I may be fine," Jho said, "but the others aren't. Lothal needs you guys more than ever."

"We'll get back as soon as we can, Jho." The voice analysis identified the teenage boy speaking as Ezra Bridger, the Padawan of the Jedi duo.

Jedi? Don't be naive, Caleb Dume was only Jedi Master Depa Billaba's apprentice when Order 66 was issued. How can he train this foolish child into a Jedi?

"Transmission's ended, sir," the female technician reported.

Vader nodded his thanks. "Alright, Inquisitor," he told Jerec. "The bait has been offered and seemingly accepted, move in."

"Your wish is my command, Lord Vader."

Then shut up.

The Miraluka could follow orders when necessary, though. The two MAAT gunships, equipped with passive stealth technology and photoreactive panels (the latter of which was less advanced than cloaking but less expensive and easier to produce), soon were landing just outside the outpost.

"Delta Leader," Tarkin ordered, "have your squad RV with Inquisitor Jerec outside the target building. Lance Corporal Sev, maintain an overwatch; I'm ordering the probe droid to cover you."

"Yes, sir," were the simultaneous replies.

The platoon of ISB Stormtroopers following Jerec were drawn from a unit under Kallus's command, the 14th Infantry Brigade. Vader thought that no conventional infantry unit could best his 501st, but the 14th came close (ironic considering the unit originated as a Spaarti clone unit of the GAR and was notorious for poor performance compared to Kaminoan-bred clones); they were far superior to the average cannon fodder units assigned to Lothal.

Thrawn tapped at a keyboard, and soon the helmet cams of all of Delta Squad (save Sev) were on three vidscreens.

"Lieutenant Brek," Jerec ordered, "have your men set up a secure perimeter. No one gets in or out until I say so. Delta, with me. Lord Vader wants the target alive, so set to stun."

The Imperial soldiers carried out their orders flawlessly. It was over in less than a minute.

ME: A/N: Lieutenant Brek is an actual Legends character; specifically, ISB Agent Jeffren Brek.

The 14th Infantry Brigade similarly is from Legends, specifically the Karen Traviss novel Republic Commando: Order 66. It was her attempt to explain the incompetence of the Stormtroopers compared to GAR clones.

The automated AT-PTs are a reference to the ED-209 robots from RoboCop, although they're closer to the remake ones because *spoilers ahead* they're not some joke and actually are realistically threatening.

I figured a maglev monorail network would be appropriate for Lothal given its industrialization.

"All hail the Great Uniter" is a reference to Kuvira from the Legend of Korra. I figured Palpatine could use the title since he "reunited the Galaxy." Oh, and indulges in conquering of independent powers like the Hapans and the Ssi-Ruuvi to distract the masses and increase his power.

I gave Chad the title of "Count" to give him a short title (rather than "Lieutenant Grand Moff" or "Lieutenant Governor") while not making him a Baron like either Fel or Rudor.

Attentive viewers will notice Sev is a Lance Corporal rather than, say, a PFC like in the U.S. Army. Apart from the USMC (ironically, the Army used to have Lance Corporals), Singapore, Britain, Australia and New Zealand all have the rank in their militaries. I figured it would fit a Storm Commando better than "Private First Class," so that's why I chose it as a rank for the Imperial Army.