Chapter 9 – Reunions

I'm back with a new chapter.

In this chapter, the sisters finally meet again after sixteen years.

Hope you enjoy.

;-

Republic base

Mina Bonteri walked through the Republic base with her friend and unofficial student Maris. Leia Organa was currently leading them to the intelligence center of the Rebel Alliance. The princess has done everything she needed to and now she was planning on fulfilling her promise to Mina.

Leia was going to help her get access to their intelligence, so she would be able to search through it for leads on her sister. The Force was starting to move around her, so she was confident about the fact that she would find something out. She had been right about the fact that the Rebels would be able to lead her into the right direction.

Once she had the information she needed, she would set out to find her sister and finally bring her back home. The mere thought filled her with joy and it gave her the strength and determination to see it through no matter what would happen.

;-

Outside of the Rebel Base

"This is proving to be even easier than I thought," Aeris thought with some dark glee. "Their defenses are pitiful, so many blind spots in their surveillance. How did no one find this place sooner?"

Now, so close to the base that she was standing on its lower outer wall, she could clearly sense Skywalker's presence close by. His escape on Kaal instantly flashed through her mind again and rage overtook her entire being once more. With a simple touch of the Force, she removed the vent next to her and crawled inside.

She quietly made her way through the bases vent system, honing in on Skywalker's presence in the Force. After a few minutes of sneaking, she found herself above a hangar of the base. There were but a few Rebel fighters in this particular one and a few Rebels walking around. But, at the other side of the hangar, she found her prize.

There stood the Millennium Falcon, a ton of crates and materials around it. The smuggler Han Solo was on the ground, yelling things at the Wookie who was on the busted up ship, attempting to make some repairs. Her target, Luke Skywalker, was sitting on one of the crates next to the ship with two droids at his side, some astromech and a protocol droid.

"I hope you enjoyed your break, Skywalker, it's all over now," she thought with dark glee. She wanted to leap down and rush towards him, deal a powerful and painful crippling blow, but her next observation made her pause. That Wookie had just managed to discover her tracking device. He obviously didn't know what it was.

A few thoughts crept through her mind that would make this situation even sweeter. She waited a few minutes while they figured out what it was and then jumped down from the vent, landing silently with the aid of the Force, about twenty meters behind Skywalker. Then, she let her presence be known in the Force.

;-

"No, check the power couplers Chewie," Han called to his Wookie companion. "There's got to be something wrong with those." Chewbacca growled something back to him. "I have no idea which one it could be, just check them all."

Luke watched slightly amused as the two argued back and forth. He wondered if the Falcon could ever be fully repaired. "Are you sure you don't want R2's help with the Falcon, Han?" he asked his friend.

R2-D2 gave a series of bleeps. "R2 says he could probably scan circuitry and detect which power couplers are failing, if any of them are, that is," C-3PO translated.

"No thanks, Kid," Han replied as he turned to them. "We fixed her up before and we can easily do so again." He looked back up at the ship when Chewbacca called to him. "Did you find anything?"

Chewbacca growled again as he removed something from the ship. "No, I don't know what that is," Han replied. "How am I supposed to tell what that is from here? Throw it over." Chewbacca did so and Han caught the strange device. "Now what is this supposed to be?" he asked himself.

Luke rolled his eyes. They had an amazing astromech here and a protocol droid that knew too many languages and talked too much. Those two would easily be able to figure it out. "Han, perhaps…" he began, but Han cut him off.

"Fine," he said as she walked up to R2. "See if you can figure out what it is." He handed the device to the astromech who took it with one of his extendable arms. As R2 started scanning it, Han walked back to the ship just in time to see some sparks fly. "Chewie! What are you doing!" he called to the Wookie.

Luke sighed and shook his head as the two of them got into one of their arguments again. When it came to fixing the Falcon, those two could bicker like an old married couple. Suddenly, something stirred inside him in the wrong way. There was something strange going on and it didn't feel right.

"Are you sure about that R2?" C-3PO asked in a startled tone. R2 gave a few affirmative bleeps. "Oh no! Master Luke! R2 says it's a tracking device!" the protocol droid cried out in alarm.

"What?" Han called out. "Are you saying that we were traced?"

Luke stood up in alarm. When he did, he suddenly felt like an icy spear had stabbed him in the back. The Force was crying alarm all around him now. He slowly turned around to look at the source of the disturbance in the Force, a sense of fear filling him. A short distance away from him, stood the Imperial agent that had nearly taken him down on Kaal, a dark grin visible underneath her hood.

"Skywalker," she said with fury in her voice. "This time, you won't escape me." With those words, she drew her two lightsabers, the orange blades appearing menacingly at her sides again.

On top of the Falcon, Chewbacca roared and pulled out his crossbow. He fired three rounds at the Imperial agent. She easily dodged the first two and reflected the third shot back at him, the reflected shot narrowly missed his head.

"Chewie!" Han called in alarm. "Why you…" he said as he aimed at the agent.

"Han, don't!" Luke quickly called to him. "Don't attack her. It's too dangerous."

"Then what do you want me to do? Let that crazy agent kill you?" Han asked in frustration.

"Han, I need you to think right now," Luke replied. "If this agent is here, the Empire could be right around the corner. I need you to contact Leia and warn everyone. This agent is completely focused on me right now. I'll try to hold her off while you call for help."

Han looked like he disagreed, but didn't voice his concern. "Be careful, Luke, this agent is really dangerous," he said and he moved back some distance so he could safely contact Leia.

"I'll watch myself," Luke replied as he started walking up to the agent. He could clearly sense her rage echoing through the Force. She wanted him dead and would likely not rest until he was. He drew on the Force like the other Jedi had taught him and prepared himself. He took a deep breath and drew his lightsaber.

"That's it," the agent taunted him. "Embrace what's coming to you. Fight me, give me everything you got. But no matter what you do, it will not work and you will suffer for everything you've done." She moved into a combat stance, ready to strike him.

Luke moved into a defense stance and readied himself for her attack. He looked at the agent, while he was unable to see the majority of her face, he could see her smirking at him. Without warning she charged at him, swinging both her sabers in a powerful attack. He barely managed to block the attack and was forced backwards a bit. "That's right, you're no match for me," she taunted him again. "Here I come," she said with rage as she unleashed a furious barrage of attacks.

;-

Republic base, intelligence center

Mina looked on in a mixture of annoyance and amusement as Leia argued with one of the intelligence officers. He obviously didn't like the fact that the princess of Alderaan wanted him to clear one terminal so they could search for their information. Leia, however, wouldn't have any of his excuses.

Mina zoned out a bit as the two argued a little. Something was stirring even more in the Force now. There was something going on close by, but she couldn't place it exactly. She wanted to investigate it further, but her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a comlink going off.

She looked over and saw Leia activate her comlink. "This is Leia, what is it?" she asked as she activated the transmission.

"Leia! This is Han," the voice of Han Solo sounded over the comlink. Mina could instantly tell that there was something wrong by the tone of his voice.

"Han, I'm sorry, but I'm a little occupied right now," Leia replied. She wanted to cut the transmission, but Han's next words made her pause.

"The Empire found us!" Han called out, to the great shock of everyone in the room.

"Are you sure?" Leia asked in shock. If true, it would be very bad for their cause. This base was not yet fully prepared to withstand a full invasion force.

"Yes, I'm sure," Han replied with some haste and annoyance in his voice. "That other Imperial agent from Kaal is here and she's trying to kill Luke! The rest of the Empire is probably moving in on us right now!"

"Contact Mon Mothma and the fleet! Tell them an Imperial agent infiltrated our base and that they need to prepare for an Imperial assault!" she ordered the rebels around her.

The news startled Mina greatly as well. An attack by the Empire now would greatly complicate her search for her sister. She focused on the Force to try and figure out just what was going on. She reached out to the hangar, where she knew Luke was at. She could clearly sense the dark presence of the agent there as well. As she focused on the presence, something stirred inside of her. "We need to get to Luke, fast," she told Leia.

Leia quickly nodded. "Han, we're coming over to you now," she informed him over the comlink.

"Make it fast!" Han replied. "I don't know how much longer Luke can last."

With that, the three of them quickly made their way out of the intelligence center and followed Leia towards the hangar where Luke was. As they got closer to the hangar, the Force started echoing around Mina more and more. Drawing on the Force, she focused again on the Imperial agent. There was something about her, something familiar. A presence she hadn't felt since… Her eyes widened in shock "Could it be?" she thought hopefully.

They entered the hangar just in time to see Luke being Force pushed hard into a set of crates. The agent walked slowly up to him, two orange lightsabers waving around tauntingly in her hands. Mina didn't hesitate a moment and dashed forwards with the Force, landing between the two of them. The agent jumped back a few feet in in response to her sudden appearance.

Mina looked at the agent and studied her carefully. She was a Togruta, around her own age. She could tell that she had orange skin, the same color tone as her own. Despite the hood, she could also see a blue-white lekku, just like her own. The agent took a few steps backwards and a bit of reflected light from the ceiling shone on her face. Mina couldn't believe her eyes. It had been sixteen years, but she could recognize her immediately. "Aeris?" she asked in a slightly shaking voice.

"A Jedi," Aeris said darkly. She pointed one of her lightsabers at Mina. "Get in my way and you'll be the first to die."

Mina looked in shock at her sister. "Aeris, it's me!" she told her sister. "Don't you recognize me?" She looked at her sister in slight disbelief, not understanding the situation.

"All of you Jedi are the same. You'll all pay the price for what you've done," Aeris said as she moved her sabers, shifting closer to an attack position. "I'll have my revenge on all of you."

Mina stood there in shock. She just couldn't understand why this was happening. She could clearly sense her sister and the special bond they shared in the Force. "Why can't she sense it too? " she asked herself.

"Remember to be cautious Mina. Aeris is your sister, but it is very possible that she doesn't immediately remember or even recognize you under the Dark Side's influence. She could be very dangerous. You might have to face her in battle."

Her mother's words echoed through her mind, filling her with sadness. She could sense the rage in her sister, blinding her to everything around her. It was the one thing she hoped that she wouldn't have to do, but she would have to fight her sister to get through to her.

She quickly looked at Luke behind her. He was pretty beat up and would need to see a medic soon. "Maris," she called to her friend. "Take him and get him out of here." She pointed at Luke.

Maris nodded and moved to Luke. "Alright, but what about you?" she asked Mina with concern. She had lost her previous Master to a Sith assassin and this agent felt incredibly powerful. She didn't want to lose her new friend now, she wouldn't be able to handle that.

Mina smiled at her. "Don't worry, I'll be fine," she replied. Maris nodded again before picking up Luke and carrying him away, towards Leia and the others. She also saw a number of other Jedi, including Barriss Offee, running into the hangar. When they saw Aeris standing there, they all moved to draw their lightsabers. "Stay out of this, all of you!" Mina called to them, sending a small Force Push their way to show that she meant it. They looked a bit stunned, but Barriss signaled them to do so regardless. With that, Mina turned back to her sister.

Aeris just looked at the scene. "If you are that determined to get in my way, Jedi," she said darkly. "Then come and face me. It doesn't matter to me, you will all die in the end. Who goes first is off no consequence." She then moved and assumed her favored combat stance, ready to charge her new opponent.

Mina took a deep breath and drew deeply from the Force, using it to rid herself of her shock and sadness. Instead, she let determination take its place. Her journey was almost complete, she found her sister. Now, all that remained was saving her from the darkness that Vader and the Empire forced upon her. She drew her own lightsabers, the green blades igniting. She took her own favored combat stance which, she noticed with some amusement, was a mirrored version of her sisters current stance. She sensed the rage building in her sister again and braced herself for her attack.

Aeris noticed her opponents stance. "You dare mock me, Jedi?" she asked with rage. "You'll suffer for that!" Drawing on her rage, she charged. She unleashed the same powerful double slash against this Jedi that she used against Luke before.

Mina saw the attack coming and moved her own lightsabers. She blocked the powerful attack and entered a blade lock with her sister. "Aeris, stop this! Don't you recognize me?" she tried reaching out to her again, before this got out of hand.

Aeris smirked at her opponent. "So, you got some skill," she said tauntingly, her sisters words falling on deaf ears. "Let's see what you're really made off." Aeris broke the blade lock and unleashed a quick thrust at Mina.

Mina blocked the thrust and swung her second saber rapidly, attempting to strike one of her sisters sabers out of her hand. Aeris saw the attempt and blocked it with her second saber. She then followed up with a fast barrage of attacks.

Aeris swung her sabers in a rapid flurry of slashes and stabs, seeking to critically harm her opponent. Mina moved with the same speed, blocking the rage-filled attacks and looking for an opportunity to parry her strikes and disarm her. She dodged a downward blow and quickly brought one of her lightsabers up to try and knock away one of her sisters lightsabers. This time Aeris dodged her attack and spun around rapidly, unleashing another strong double swipe.

With the Force, Mina jumped backwards and avoided her attack. Aeris immediately rushed after her, unleashing yet another chain of furious attacks. She slashed and stabbed at her opponent with a vicious rage. Mina moved with the same speed and rapidly blocked the rage filled attacks. The two of them moved with blinding speed, their lightsabers a continuous blur of green and orange, four streams of deadly energy moving wildly.

The crowd gathered in the hangar looked on in shock as the two traded blows. Luke in particular was shocked by what he saw. This agent had beaten him easily, but it was obvious to him that she was holding back against him. Her power was unlike anything he would have expected. He could sense a similar sense of worry from the other Jedi here. The fact that they were intimidated by her said more than enough to him.

Still, that girl Mina seemed to be able to match up to her, but something seemed odd to him about the situation. He could sense that she was sad about fighting this agent, but he had no idea why. He looked at Master Offee who was sitting next to him, looking him over. "Master Offee, what do you make of this situation?" he asked her.

Barriss looked at the two. "I don't know," she replied. "There's something strange going on here, but I can't place it." She turned back to Luke. "It's obvious what that agent is after, but Mina's actions are confusing me." She looked back to the two. The agent had just unleashed another strong attack and Mina attempted to disarm her again instead of returning with a powerful attack of her own. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens," she said as the fight intensified.

Mina jumped back to avoid another swipe of her sisters lightsabers. As long as her sister had her lightsabers in her hands, she would not be able to get through to her. Using the Force, she regretfully send several crates flying at her sister, hoping to stun her momentarily.

Aeris saw the crates flying her way and used the Force to blast them the other way. She looked angrily at her opponent. Drawing on the Force herself, she unleashed a power burst of Force Lightning, hoping to cripple her opponent and put an end to her.

The Force warned Mina of the incoming attack. She drew on the Force again and countered the vicious red lightning with her own green streams of Electric Judgement.

The two streams of lightning collided violently. Aeris was surprised for a second that her opponent had managed to counter her attack, but then drew on her rage to increase the power of her lightning. Mina increased the strength of her own lightning as well. Sparks started flying everywhere, damaging the floor and the crates around the impact point.

As their lightning clashed, Mina's worry started to increase. This was starting to get out of hand. Aeris' attacks were getting more violent. If this kept up, the others in the hangar could end up getting hurt. "I need to stop this now. But how can I do this without hurting my sister?" she thought with concern. An idea came to her mind that just might work. She took a deep breath and readier herself.

Drawing deeply from the Force, Mina sent both her bolt of lightning towards the floor, taking her sisters attack with it. The power of the combined blasts impacting the floor created a large crack in the floor and a large cloud of smoke covered the area between them. "Now!" Mina acted quickly and rushed at her sister.

Aeris grunted in frustration as the smoke obscured her vision. She called on the Force to locate her opponent. She gasped in shock as the Jedi came out of the smoke and tackled her. The force of the collision send all of their lightsabers flying out of their hands and clattering away over the ground. Aeris cried out in rage as the Jedi pinned her effectively to the floor.

Using the techniques their mother taught her and the Force, Mina pinned her sister to the ground. Her sister writhed in rage, trying to break free from her grip. "Aeris, please, snap out of it!" she tried reaching out to her sister again. "It's me, don't you recognize me?" she cried in sadness, tears forming in her eyes.

Aeris looked up at her captor with fury in her eyes. "I'll remember this!" she thought enraged. "I won't forgive you for this! I'll remember your face! I will… your face…" Shock overtook and replaced her rage as she looked up at her own face staring back at her. "No, wait…" She ceased her struggling and studied the face in front of her. She saw an orange skin, the same color of her own. She saw an blue-white lekku, in the same pattern of her own. The facial markings of her also were a close match to her own, except for the ones below her eyes. "What is going on here?" Looking at this girl brought back a memory in her mind.

;-

A little Togrutan girl walked into the living room up to an older Togrutan woman sitting there. "Does this look nice, mommy?" she asked with a smile.

The woman looked at her and smiled. "You look adorable, Aeris," she replied. "You both look great today," she said as she looked between her and the other young Togrutan girl in the room.

The other girl laughed happily and moved towards her. "You look great, Aeris," she told her sister with a big smile.

"You do too, Mina," Aeris replied happily.

Their mother laughed a bit as well and moved to her daughters. She kneeled in front of them and placed a hand on one shoulder of each sister. "Alright girls, your father will be home soon. Let's get ready and give him a nice surprise," she said with a smile.

"Okay!" both sisters replied excitedly.

;-

Aeris looked up at the Togruta in front of her. A strange feeling came to her through the Force. A very familiar presence, something she hadn't felt in many years. "It can't be… can it?" she thought as she stared at the girl. "Mina?" she asked softly.

Mina smiled the instant she heard her sister say her name. She got up and pulled her sister into a hug. "I found you! I finally found you!" she said happily, tears of joy streaming down her face as she hugged her sister tightly for the first time in sixteen years.

The sudden revelation stunned Aeris completely. For years, she had thought that she was alone, that her entire family had been killed. And now suddenly her sister was here, still alive. "My sister…" she replied as she returned the hug, tears filling her eyes as well. "My sister!" She had not ever felt happiness like this before.

For a short time the sisters just stood there hugging each other. Mina was overjoyed that she finally had her sister back, while Aeris was still in a sense of disbelief. The Force swirled around her, letting her know that it was not a trick, her sister was still alive and she was here. It filled her with great joy.

"Okay, just what the hell is going on?" A voice asked, startling the sisters. They parted ways and saw the entire group of Rebels and Jedi looking at them. Mina also saw that Maris was beyond confused with this situation.

Mina took hold of her sisters hand and they moved closer to the group. "She's who I was searching for," she said, her voice still shaking with happiness. "This is my twin sister, Aeris." She looked at her sister, still smiling.

Hearing that shocked and confused the entire group. "Your sister is an Imperial agent?" Leia asked in shock. "W-what is going on? How is that even possible?" It was difficult to comprehend for her. Mina had saved her life, but her sister was an Imperial agent that had tried to kill Luke twice now.

"Shut it, Rebel scum!" Aeris replied angrily. "Mina, why are you with them?" she asked her sister. "Don't you know what they've done? What his father and those damn Jedi did?" she said as she pointed at Luke.

"What are you even talking about?" Luke asked. "I've never even met you or your sister before."

"Don't you lie to me!" Aeris replied. Her voice was shaking with anger again.

"Aeris, please, calm down," Mina told her sister. "I think you don't know what really happened."

"I know exactly what happened. Lord Vader told me all about it!" she replied. "Your father betrayed and murdered our parents!" she said as she pointed at Luke.

"Like I said, I have no idea what you're talking about," Luke said with a hint of anger. "Vader is the one who is the traitor. He betrayed and murdered my father."

Mina turned to look at him. "Wait, what did you just say?" she asked in confusion. "Does he not know?" she thought as she looked at the Jedi. "You didn't tell him?" she asked them. The Jedi there showed no response, but Barriss Offee looked down to the floor.

Luke saw her reaction as well. "What is she talking about? What don't I know?" he asked confused.

Aeris was getting confused now as well. How could her sister not know what happened? "Mina, what are you saying?" she asked. She had no idea what her sister was talking about.

Mina took a deep breath and looked between Luke and her sister. "Anakin Skywalker fell to the Dark Side and became Darth Vader," she told them.

"T-that's not true. It can't be," Luke replied in shock.

Mina nodded. "I'm afraid it is," she said as she shook her head. She looked back at Aeris. Her sister was also in disbelief. "It was Vader that betrayed our parents. He raided our home with an army of Stormtroopers. I managed to hide from them, but when I came out of hiding again, you were gone."

Aeris stood in shock as her mind processed her sister's words. "N-no… That…It can't…I…" she stuttered out. "H-he said…"

"Vader's been lying to you for years," Mina told her sister. "He used the Dark Side to mess with your head so he could feed you lies and use you."

Aeris wanted to say it wasn't true, that it was all a lie, but she couldn't. There was a feeling in the Force that told her it was true. She hadn't felt such a thing in years, but she knew that it was true. What her sister said wasn't the lie, it was her life that had been a complete lie. She sank to her knees, no longer able to stand and sobbed silently as her body shook.

Mina quickly kneeled down next to her sister and pulled her into a hug. "Don't cry, Aeris," she said as she rubbed her back. "I'm here with you now. We're together again. Everything will be alright now." She send her sister positive feelings through their bond, trying to support her as best as she could.

In her shattered state of mind, Aeris was shocked to suddenly sense the feelings her sister send to her. For the first time in sixteen years, she remembered the bond they once shared, that they still shared. She drew deeply on the warmth and strength she felt coming from her sister, feeling it burn away the darkness and the pain.

"It'll all be fine now, Aeris," Mina whispered. "We're together again and I'll help you recover from this. Nothing will ever be able to separate us again. I promise."

For several minutes the sisters just sat there hugging each other. Aeris' mind was still in a state of shock, but she could cope with the support from her sister. Now that she remembered their bond, she could feel her sister's strength enhancing her own. After she had finally calmed somewhat, they separated and Mina helped her stand up again. But before either sister could say anything, Han Solo broke the silence.

"Hate to break up the reunion, but when is the Empire going to attack us?" he asked with some frustration. "Vader knows where we are now, doesn't he?"

Aeris was a bit surprised by his question. Then her mind clicked and recalled what she was supposed to do before. "I was supposed to contact him when I found you, but I forgot. I was too obsessed with killing you," she replied as she looked at Luke. "I've been such a fool…" she said softly as she looked down.

"So, the Empire doesn't know where our base is?" Leia asked gently, before Han could say something stupid. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the two girls. Aeris shook her head. "Thank the Force, that's a relief. Contact the fleet, tell them we're not in danger," Leia told a few others in the hangar.

Luke walked up to them as well, albeit a little bit shakily. "What are you going to do now?" he asked the sisters. Despite the fact that one of them had just tried to kill him twice, he couldn't bring himself to be angry at her. She'd been living a false live for years, trapped in the lies of a traitor. A traitor that was his father. He had no idea how to feel about this news.

"I think we'll both rest for a little while. I have a feeling that we both need it," Mina replied with a small smile. She looked at her sister again. "After that, we'll go away somewhere, where the Empire can't find us and I'm going to help you recover." For now, she would keep the fact that their mother still lived a secret. She hoped that the surprise of learning it for herself would help her sister more. Aeris nodded and smiled back at her. "Come on, I want to introduce you to someone."

She and Aeris walked up to Maris, who was still watching the whole scene take place. "Aeris, this is Maris Brood. I met her while I was looking for you and she came with me. I've helped her out as well and we became good friends," she introduced the Zabrak. "Maris, this is my sister Aeris, who I've been searching for all this time."

"It's nice to meet you," Maris replied. "I'm glad that you found her and that you're alright. I was really worried there," she told Mina.

"It's good to meet you as well," Aeris replied softly, not sure of what else to say. She was still somewhat reeling from the fact that her life had been a lie and that she had just tried to kill her own sister.

Mina smiled at Maris. "There's no need to be worried anymore, Maris," she said happily. "Everything's going to be fine now." With that, the three of them headed back to the temporary quarters Mina and Maris had gotten at the Rebel base.

;-

The following day

Mina was in the main cafeteria of the Rebel base with her sister Aeris and Maris. They currently were enjoying lunch. Later that day, they would depart the base and head to a destination that only Mina currently knew.

In the morning, Mina had spoked some more with a few Rebel leaders, including Leia Organa, about their whole situation. Leia had been very understanding and pushed the others to help them. Mina had told them that they would be fine, but Leia felt she still owed a debt for Mina rescuing her life. In the end, they settled on giving them enough fuel and supplies to last for a while. Also, Leia would travel with them for a while, along with Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, their two droids and Master Barriss Offee. They would travel to the destination Mina would give them later and see them off safely.

Leia and the others were in the cafeteria as well, discussing a number of issues they were still working on. Aeris was silently watching them a bit. Mina was still a little worried about her sister. She could easily sense the distress in her mind, her sister was still suffering. Fortunately, their bond had already grown a lot stronger again, so she would be able to support her sister at any time.

Aeris watched Leia and the other Rebels talk about a number of issues. She still had difficulty processing everything. A part of her mind was still telling her that the people in front of her were her enemies, but she now knew that to be a lie. Vader had been the one to murder her parents and kidnap her, then he fed her with lies and used her.

She looked down a bit and blinked away a tear. Overnight, thanks to her sister's bright presence, several older memories that had hidden away by the Dark Side had come back to her. She had seen some of the happy times they both spend with their parent and things like that, but it had ended with the memory of Vader taking her away. She had believed the Rebels and the Jedi to have been her worst enemies for years, but in reality, Vader and his Empire were the ones she should hate.

She looked up again as she overheard some Rebels talking about the destruction of the Death Star and how proud they were of it. "Don't they know?" she asked herself. "Of course not, how could they possibly know about it?"

"What? Are you upset we blew that ton of scrap to pieces?" One of the Rebels asked when he saw Aeris looking at them. A lot of them weren't exactly convinced about this whole 'two sisters reuniting again' story. The others around them all looked at her as well.

Aeris looked down again. "Should I tell them?" she asked herself. "It would be treason to the Empire, but they have been lying and betraying me since… ever…" It was almost causing her a headache now.

Mina looked at her sister with concern, she could sense the conflict building in her. "Aeris? Are you alright?" she asked worriedly.

A short moment later, Aeris looked back at the Rebels again. "There's two more," she told them.

Her words shocked the Rebels present. "Two more? Two more what?" Leia asked in shock. "Not… two more Death Stars, right?" The fear in her voice was obvious. Her home planet was destroyed by one after all.

Aeris nodded. "Yes, there's two more," she replied. She continued when she saw the looks on everyone's faces. "The prototype Death Star is still at the secret research center where it was developed. It's not operational, it was taken apart partially so its parts could be used in other weapon research. Weapons that are supposed to be even deadlier." She paused a short moment. "Construction of a new Death Star has also begun. It's designed to be far larger and more powerful than the one you destroyed. I believe it should be operational in about ten months, but they might devote even more resources to it in order to speed up the construction."

An eerie moment of silent hung in the cafeteria. The danger of the Death Star was not over yet. "Do you know where they are?" Luke asked after a moment.

Aeris shook her head. "No, there was no point for me to know that," she replied.

"I see, in any case, thank you for telling us," Leia said with shock in her voice. She turned to the other Rebels in the room. "Inform Mon Mothma and the others about this. We need to start looking for this new Death Star immediately. Destroying it before the construction is complete is imperative."

Leia looked back at Aeris. Her sister Mina now had her arm around her, comforting her. She didn't need to be a Jedi to see the struggle inside her. "I'm sorry to have to ask you this, I know it must be hard for you, but is there anything else you can tell us about the Empire that we could use for our cause?" she asked gently. She felt sorry for the girl, but she would be able to help them out greatly now.

Aeris looked at her briefly before looking down. She was silent for a little while, before she reached into her pocket and threw some things on the table. "Take whatever you want, they can all go to hell for all I care," she said with a tremble of anger in her voice. "You can take whatever you want from my ship as well. I won't be needing it anymore."

Luke and the others looked with interest at the datacrystals and encryption disks, before he looked back at Aeris. "Yeah, about that, how did you manage to get in here?" he asked. "We have a blockade up around the planet, as well as watch posts and patrols around the base."

"A stealth ship easily slips by that blockade," Aeris replied indifferently. "And there are plenty of blind spots in your base's security. Slipping by them was easy. If I could slip by like that, any of those other disciples could do the same."

Barriss Offee, who had been silent so far, was a bit disturbed by that information. "There are more Imperial agents trained in the Dark Side?" she asked worriedly.

Aeris looked at her. "There are quite a few others trained in the Dark Side, all working eagerly for the Emperor," she replied. "However, they are nowhere near my level. Even him, with his limited training, should be able to best them," she said as she pointed at Luke.

Barriss nodded. "Alright, I'll be sure to discuss this with the others. Thank you," she replied.

"Thank you for telling us all of this," Leia told Aeris with a warm smile. "I know it must be painful for you right now. You just take it easy for a little while, we can look at your ship later and then prepare to get you both to where you need to go."

Aeris nodded slightly and turned back to her sister. Mina gave her a comforting smile. "Come on, let's take a break," she said. Aeris smiled as well and the two of them left the cafeteria.

;-

A few hours later

Aeris walked into her ship for what would be the last time. She had just led the Rebels and her sister to the cave she had hidden it in. They gave her a moment to get the few personal she had. After that, they would look through the files of her ship and take whatever intel they could find.

After what her sister had told her, they could take whatever they wanted in order to take down the Empire. The truth that had been hidden from her was painful, but she would overcome it. She had her sister with her now, she wouldn't be alone anymore.

Looking around, she figured that the Rebels would be able to find a lot that they could use in their fight. With the position she had in the Empire, she knew of a lot of secret operations and other intelligence that many others in the Imperial army didn't know about. A great deal of that information was in the database in her ships systems and on several datapads she had onboard. She had given Leia Organa everything she needed to access all of the files and how to decrypt them and other Imperial codes as well. With that, they could do a lot of damage. That thought made her feel a little better.

A few minutes later she had the few personal items that she had already packed up in the suitcase that her sister had gotten her. She also had her customized sniper rifle in its case, it was lying next to the suitcase. Her sister had told her that they would go somewhere the Empire would probably never find them, so she probably wouldn't need it. But if the Empire did manage to find them, she would make them pay.

She walked over to the nearby desk to pick up the last of her possessions. She paused as she looked at the old picture of her mother, the only one she had. Pain and sadness overtook her once again as she processed the harsh reality that she had been serving the monster that had killed her mother all those years ago. "I'm sorry mom, I've been such a fool," she thought somberly. She knew that her pain was echoing through the Force, because she could sense her sister boarding the ship too.

Mina walked up to her sister and hugged her from behind. She saw the picture her sister was staring at. "Don't worry, Aeris," she said comfortingly. "Everything will be better soon, I promise." They stood there for a minute or so before they parted. The sisters shared a smile and Aeris carefully packed the picture in the suitcase. They each took a portion of her luggage and made their way out of the ship. Aeris paused a moment at the top of the ramp, letting the reality of the situation sink her. The false life she had lived before was now over, she would be starting a new life with her sister.

The two sisters walked up to Leia Organa and the other Rebels that were there. "Feel free to take whatever you can find now," Aeris told the group. "Just make sure to get rid of the ship afterwards. Knowing what Mina told me, Vader likely has some way to track it down. He probably wanted to be sure he would be able to get rid of me should I ever find out the truth. When I don't report in after several days, they'll probably send someone to track it down."

Leia nodded. "Don't worry, we'll make sure to get rid of it," she replied. "We'll make it seem like you were attacked and crashed because of it. The Empire will likely think that you were killed. They won't be coming after you."

Aeris and Mina both nodded their gratitude before heading back to the Rebel base, to load up the luggage and prepare for their flight later that day.

;-

That's the end of this chapter.

The sisters are back together again and in the next chapter, Mina will have a wonderful surprise for her Aeris.

I will write the epilogue for this chapter first, so I can finish this story. I might make a (one shot) sequel for it one day, but I will focus on my other stories first.

Until next time.