I'm going to pick up the pace with my publishing and do a new chapter every 3-4 days rather than every 5 days. It gives me enough time to go over and proofread everything and for people to catch up between chapters. I don't want to post a new chapter every day and lose the people who don't have the time to keep up.

Ahsoka and Sabine leave the planet, Ezra emerges from the World Between Worlds, The Fourth Sister follows her instincts and Hera visits Kanan's memorial.

"When we get back to the ship, it should be a simple case of trusting the force to guide us", Ahsoka explained as they stepped out of the cave and back into the blaring sunlight.

Sabine wasn't far behind her, unsure exactly how to fell about all of this. "Simple? Simple for you maybe."

"I got us here, didn't I?", Ahsoka grinned.

The Mandalorian grumbled under her breath, "Sometimes I think you enjoy this too much."

They started to walk across the empty expanse back to their ship. It was still as warm as before but Sabine felt much better on the way out than she had on the way in. They knew where Ezra had gone, or at least Ahsoka knew, and they were going to get there before he had a chance to run off again. To think it might only be hours before she could see that stupid loth-rat grin of his. She still hadn't decided where'd she'd slap him or hug him first, she guessed she'd just figure that part out later.

Her mind wandered as she thought about him and how close he was. She couldn't stop imagining the look he'd have on his face when he saw them for the first time or the torrent of worries, concerns and hugs he was going to get from Hera. Then it came to Jacen, that was going to be the big one. Ezra had no clue about Hera's pregnancy, none of them had back then, so it was going to be more than a surprise for him. The best kind of surprise of course. She'd filled Jacen's head with stories of Ezra and was looking forward to Jacen hounding Ezra with a million questions as soon as he met him. Lothal was waiting for him too. Just imagining how happy he'd be to see it safe and free, looking out over the beautiful plains from the balcony on their... his tower. Am I getting ahead of myself? Maybe a little bit.

She pulled her head out of the clouds and kept her mind in the here and now where it belonged. They were almost at the mouth of the canyon and out of the huge open space where the cave had been.

"So how far away is this beacon of yours telling us to go?", Sabine asked as they walked.

"It's hard to say. We'll know when we-"

Ahsoka cut herself off and her eyes shot up to the sky. Sabine looked as well and saw what the Togruta had already sensed. An Imperial shuttle was flying down from orbit towards their position. It was pretty far away, too far for Sabine to hear the engines, but it was moving quickly. They might not be spotted easily but it wouldn't be hard to pick out their red and white shuttle among the rusty orange of the terrain.

"We need to run, now!", Sabine broke into a sprint back towards the canyon they'd come down.

Ahsoka followed close behind, slipping her staff into the sling on her back to be ready for a fight. At the rate that shuttle was coming down, it'd be here in minutes and Sabine's most optimistic guesses still told her that the Empire would see their shuttle long before they reached it, let alone got off the ground and escaped. If the Empire found them or captured them now... Sabine grunted under her breath and pushed her body harder. They were not going to get caught now.

She started to hear the sound of the engines as they entered the canyon but the high walls made it impossible to see the shuttle. They just had to hope that they could stop the shuttle sending any warning up to the fleet. If they did it might well be game over.

They reached a fork in the canyon, "Which way? Which way?!", she yelled back to Ahsoka.

"Right!", Sabine followed her directions and went right, her mind too distracted to remember the way.

They ran for another minute or two, Ahsoka having to remind her more than once of which turning to take. It wasn't long before the shuttle engines quickly but noticeably quieted down. She knew what that meant; they'd landed. Sabine had to hope her and Ahsoka weren't too far away from their ship now.

Ahsoka was easily keeping pace with Sabine, "It's not far now, don't worry."

"Don't worry?", she answered breathlessly, "They're going to see our shuttle."

"They were going to catch on sooner or later, at least we know where Ezra is already."

"Yeah but so will the Inquisitor!",

"They don't have a head start this time, we're going to find him, Sabine. I promise."

They turned another corner in the canyon and Sabine stopped in her tracks. She could see their shuttle in front of her, exactly where they'd left it. Only now, a squad of eight stormtroopers was looking it over. They must have arrived only seconds before her and Ahsoka. Their shuttle had set down in a wide area of the canyon with two entry points into it. Sabine and Ahsoka had taken the canyon path that led towards the temple, whilst the Empire must have landed somewhere down the other path.

"Karabast", Sabine cursed under her breath and dived behind a rock nearby to avoid being seen. She watched the troopers carefully as they inspected the ship.

"What is this doing here?", one of the stormtroopers walked along the side of the shuttle and looked up at the cockpit.

"Looks like one of the old Republic shuttles", the squad leader knocked the door of the ship and waited for an answer. "Huh, guess no one is home."

Ahsoka crept up beside her and crouched down behind the rocks next to Sabine.

"What do we do?", the Mandalorian whispered.

Ahsoka peered over the rock, "We have to get rid of them. We can't let them report to Thrawn."

Sabine drew her blasters from her hips and slowly peaked over her cover.

"We gonna blast it open?", another trooper tried the door.

The squad leader paused, "Hmm, better contact the Grand Admiral. Maybe he'll want to-"

A blaster bolt burned through his helmet and cut the squad leader off mid-sentence, sending him crumpling to the floor. Before the troopers knew what was happening, Sabine was sliding over the rock with both pistols firing as rapidly as she could manage. The stormtrooper by the shuttle's door took a handful of rounds and tumbled to the ground.

Ahsoka leapt up after her, drawing the attention of the entire squad. They certainly hadn't expected to face anything like her. The white blades ignited as she jumped at the nearest trooper, sliced up through his blaster and then across his mask in a single fluid motion.

The stormtroopers quickly descended into chaos, "Fall back! Get to the ship!" Despite their superiority in numbers, the troopers realised they were completely outmatched.

A trooper tried to run from the area and down the path the Empire had come in through, but Sabine caught him in the back as he went. Their numbers were narrowed down to four now, more than an easy fight. The remaining four were all grouped behind some rocks near the canyon entrance where the troopers had come in. Ahsoka and Sabine moved up, taking cover behind another large rock closer to their shuttle.

Sabine poked out to shoot at them but instantly dived back down as three of the troopers stood up and started manoeuvring out of cover.

"Ugh!", Sabine slammed her back against the rock, "I can't get a shot."

"They're moving out of cover, only three of them", Ahsoka watched them from the side as they moved away from the rocks and towards the shuttle.

Sabine peered out again and saw the fourth trooper, the one that had stayed hidden, get up and start to make a run for it down the canyon path.

"Ahsoka, cover me! I can't let them warn Thrawn!"

Ahsoka nodded and stepped out of cover with her lightsabers bared. She drew the attention of the three stormtroopers and their blasters too, letting Sabine jump out and give chase after the other trooper.

He was fast, Sabine had to give him that. Sabine haphazardly fired a few bolts towards the three stormtroopers as she went past to throw them off but their attention was still on Ahsoka. She ran after the escaping trooper, firing a few more shots at him as they ran up the canyon. The stormtrooper luckily dodged them but didn't risk firing back. Smart move, she thought as she pointed her blasters for another attack. Then, the trooper reached for his belt and his arm flung back, sending a small metal ball back behind him. Wait... is that a... Detonator!

Sabine had barely enough time to slow herself down and ran right over the grenade before it exploded just behind her. The force sent her flying a few more metres forward, face down onto the rough rock below. Her ears were ringing, her body ached and she could feel the iron taste of blood in her mouth. Her pistols had been knocked from her hands and she couldn't see them anywhere.

"Sabine!", Ahsoka's voice came from her wrist comm, "Sabine! I heard an explosion, are you alright?"

Her mind was still in a daze from the explosion.

Ahsoka's voice came again, more urgently, "Sabine! What happened?!"

She groaned and pressed the respond button, "Ugh, I'm... I'm fine. Grenade." She pushed herself onto her knees as the dust cleared.

"Did you stop him?!"

Sabine's eyes shot up to the trooper that she'd been chasing. She could see the Imperial shuttle further down the canyon and the trooper was still running for it. She looked desperately around for her blasters but couldn't see them anywhere.

"Oh, kriff it", she got to her feet and broke into a run towards the shuttle. She wasn't going to catch him before he got there but she might reach it before he could get a message through the transmitter or get the ship off the ground.

She ran as fast as her aching body would let her. The ringing in her ears was starting to stop but her back was killing her. The taste of blood had stopped a bit too, she must have bit her tongue in the fall. It didn't matter, she had to stop that trooper. But how? No blasters, no extra grenades. She'd have to go hand to hand. Or... He wouldn't mind, would he? Of course he won't.

As she approached the shuttle, her hand reached into her bag and fumbled around. There it is. Out of the bag, she grabbed Ezra's lightsaber hilt and held it in her hand. She hesitated for a moment, giving the weapon the reverence and significance it deserved, before igniting the shimmering emerald blade.

Sabine slowed down as she entered the shuttle, the lightsaber drawn up in a ready position as she walked. She saw the stormtrooper with his back to her, desperately tapping away at the communications relay in the cockpit.

"Hey", she called to get his attention, "Step away from the console. Now."

She stopped a few metres behind him and pointed the blade at the back of his head. The stormtrooper froze and Sabine stared at the back of his helmet for what felt like minutes.

"Step away and we won't have to hurt you", she honestly didn't think he would be stupid enough to try something now.

Clearly, she was wrong. The stormtrooper's hand shot forward to the communicator, "Grand Admiral, there's a Mandalori-ahhhh!"

She lunged forward and swung the lightsaber diagonally down his back, tearing through armour and putting an end to him. She brought the blade up again and slashed at the terminal to cut off any more communications.

"Oh, karabast", she looked at the console and sighed heavily.

The stormtrooper had sent a partial message, enough for Thrawn to know there were intruders here. Thrawn would even know one of the intruders was her, it wasn't likely that any other Mandalorians would come out this far. Still, at least Ahsoka's presence wasn't known to him. Having that surprise up their sleeves could help them out.

With a groan she turned around to leave the shuttle. She took a few seconds to deactivate the blade, simply admiring the familiar glow and simple design of the hilt. The noise was different to other lightsabers too, it was deeper than others she'd heard and she sort of liked it. Admittedly, it was far from the first time she'd used it since he'd been gone. Life on Lothal was quiet and that left her with plenty of free time, some of which she'd spent practising the forms that Ezra had taught her back on Atollon. Ezra's lightsaber meant a lot to her, not only was it his in the first place but it had saved her life, in his hands or her own, too many times to count.

By the time she'd finished musing on the weapon and slipped back into her bag, Ahsoka was already waiting outside.

"They got a message off but not much detail, no mention of you or anything."

Ahsoka scowled at the ground, "It's odd that the Empire came back a second time. There's no way they could have known we were down here."

"There'll be time for that later, we have to get to Ezra", Sabine charged past and kicked up a good pace back to their ship.

"Slow down, Sabine", Ahsoka called from behind, "You dropped these."

Sabine spun around to see Ahsoka holding up both of the Mandalorian's WESTAR pistols in her hand.

"Oh, thanks", Sabine took them both back and gave them a brief inspection, "Sorry, I'm getting ahead of my- oh, karabast."

Ahsoka raised an eyebrow, "Is something wrong?"

Sabine sighed and slid the blasters into her holsters, "Yeah, the paint job is all scratched."

The Togruta stared at her, "That's what you're worried about?"

"Hey", she put her hands on her hips, "Do you have any idea how much time I put into these?"

Ahsoka smiled and shook her head, "Tell me another time. Let's get back to the ship. We need to leave now if we want to get to Ezra."

Returning the damaged, ruined, blasters to her hips, Sabine led the way back. If they were lucky, they could slip out of the system before the Empire could send someone after them. Then, they only had to hope that they'd reach Ezra before that Inquisitor could.

The Fourth Sister was shaking by the time she reached her quarters. Not fear, she told herself, it's adrenaline.

The first thing was whatever just happened with Bridger. The boy just disappeared into a glowing hole in the wall as if it was some portal. How could the boy have known to do that? Even more importantly, what was that? She'd never heard of any of it so how Bridger had known was a complete mystery.

Secondly, that weird feeling that she'd had when she arrived back on the Chimaera. That was still there in the background but she hadn't had time to figure out what it actually was yet. It might have been calling her somewhere. It wasn't quite the same feeling that had brought here her in the first place, this one was less a constant drone that she suddenly tuned in to and more like a flare going off in the force and grabbing her attention.

Lastly and most importantly was that voice. As the portal that Bridger disappeared into exploded, the force overwhelmed her and with it came those two words. Find me. The voice was raspy and pained but it was there, like the words of a dying man that were strained and harsh. What did the voice belong to? How did it contact her? Why did it want her help? Where could it even be?

She couldn't go after Bridger the same way he left, it was pretty clear that whatever that was it wasn't going to help her anymore. The voice had also given her no real clues, only a vague instruction. The new sensation, the one she'd felt as she got back to the Chimaera, could be addressed. It a call in the force had drawn her here, maybe this was another that would lead her to where Bridger went or maybe even the source of that voice.

The Inquisitor knelt on the meditation stool in the centre of her room, just as she did to prepare for the call that drew her here. This was more intense than that and she simply had to clear her mind to listen to it. The last one felt like a subtle hum while this one was almost like an intense concentration of energy somewhere. She focused in on it more. It wasn't that far away. She didn't know what it was but she didn't doubt that this was something worth investigating.

A bit longer and she felt she had a good grasp of it, perhaps good enough to follow. A little more and... that was it. This feeling was new but it was similar to what she'd felt before. It was something different but it was calling her all the same. It was calling her and she knew she could follow it to the source.

She stood up and prepared to fetch her TIE fighter before she abruptly stopped. She didn't know what she was walking in to this time. True, she didn't know before but this was different. A niggling feeling told her that this voice was a much more important task than capturing Bridger. Furthermore, he had some explanations to give about what he did down there. Begrudgingly, she had to admit that maybe capturing Bridger was a better choice than killing him right now. If he had information that was being kept from her then she should have it, and if she was lucky she might get to inflict some pain to make him tell reveal it. Even then, she might inflict pain anyway.

Of course that would mean Thrawn's cooperation. Thrawn still wanted Bridger captured for his own pride. Now, however, the Fourth Sister needed him too. They had the same goal of capturing Bridger even if their reasons were different. She clenched her fists and sighed, she'd have to play his game for now. With a few curses under her breath, she stepped out of her quarters and headed to the bridge.

Thrawn stroked his chin and looked down at the holographic map on the table. Pellaeon watched him intently as his mind ticked away, with Commodore Faro beside him.

"Their landing site looks to be here", Thrawn pointed to a narrow canyon on the display, "Whilst their target would be this odd structure. I do not doubt that there is more there than meets the eye."

Pellaeon looked at the unassuming cluster of rocks in the centre of a large clearing on the map, "Something the Inquisitor doesn't want us to see."

Before any response could be made, the bridge doors slid open and a pair of boots marched hard on the floor. Pellaeon turned and saw the Inquisitor with a less than amused look on her face.

Thrawn quickly shut off the map, "Inquisitor. To what do we owe this interruption?"

The woman came to the table and rested both hands on the edge. The malice and anger Pellaeon was so used to seeing in her was gone and replaced with something that was almost civility.

"Grand Admiral, I believe I have a lead on Bridger's location", she kept her voice steady and her face calm.

Pellaeon and Faro both looked at each other suspiciously but Thrawn kept his eyes on the Inquisitor. "Is that so? After our last encounter, I'd have not thought you'd wish to cooperate on this matter."

Their meeting in the hangar less than an hour ago was still fresh. Her open disobedience, her ambiguity and even her odd actions. It didn't take a genius to know that something wasn't quite right here, and Pellaeon didn't like not having a clue what that was.

The Inquisitor shifted her gaze away. "I was perhaps... too hasty. I have come to...", she sighed, "I've come to accept that Bridger's capture might be more achievable than his immediate death."

Now that was unexpected. The Inquisitor's intention to kill Bridger against Thrawn's orders was well known, word of her open disobedience since she first caught whiff of the Jedi had spread throughout the whole fleet. Yet here she was, openly accepting that she was wrong. There was only one explanation for this: she's hiding something. He looked over at Thrawn, knowing that he must be thinking the same thing.

The Grand Admiral didn't let anything show, maybe the Inquisitor was still naive enough to think he hadn't noticed her odd behaviour and Thrawn wasn't going to shatter that illusion for her.

"I see. An interesting change of heart", the Chiss watched her with a passive expression, "Why, might I ask, have you changed your mind?"

She looked away again and adjusted her stance, "As long as I get to kill him later, I don't see why capturing him is a bad choice."

"Is that all?", Thrawn cocked his eyebrow.

Pellaeon could see her mutter something under her breath before she spoke, "I... also realise that I have not defeated Bridger on my own. Perhaps we do need to cooperate and I know you would only do so if I promise not to kill him."

Thrawn didn't comment on her reasoning. "What is this lead you speak of?"

"There's a... call in the force. It's what drew me to Bridger here in the first place and it's drawing me somewhere else now."

Pellaeon narrowed his eyes, "I thought you said Bridger wasn't on the planet."

She looked at Pellaeon from the corner of her eye, "I said he was here but that'd he'd left. I'm assuming the force is guiding me to where he is now."

Commodore Faro has the courage to question her too, "How could he have escaped to another planet without a ship?"

The Inquisitor sunk her head, "He must have found one. Pirates or smugglers maybe. It wouldn't be impossible for them to have been out here somewhere, he probably ditched the ship and took a ride with them."

"I don't agree, it sounds too unlikely", Pellaeon shook his head.

"Unlikely as it may be, Captain, I believe it might be our best lead", Thrawn surprisingly seemed to agree with her. "Bridger is not down there, I sincerely doubt that our Inquisitor would let that opportunity pass her by. By whatever means Bridger reached his next location is irrelevant next to the fact that he is actually there."

Pellaeon looked at him, stunned by his sudden desire to work with her, and the Commodore didn't seem much less surprised either.

Even the Inquisitor hesitated, "I- thank you, Grand Admiral. I'll go ahead in my ship, I'll let you know the route to follow as I go."

"No", Thrawn interrupted, "You shall not go alone. You will go ahead in an Imperial shuttle with a full compliment of stormtroopers."

"You don't trust me, Grand Admiral?", her voice held a small hint of anger that she couldn't quite hide.

"Given your previous actions I believe the precaution is warranted."

She looked him in the eye and shot a glance at Pellaeon and Faro before bowing her head, "As you say, Grand Admiral. I'll leave at once."

Without another word she turned on her heel and marched off the bridge. They watched her go in silence.

"Thoughts?", Thrawn asked after the door had slid closed.

"She's hiding something", Pellaeon knew that much was obvious.

"She could just be trying to get us away from this planet. You said yourself you believed that there was something she didn't want us to see", Faro suggested. The Commodore had only been told in passing about even on the surface but she did an admirable job of piecing it together for herself.

Thrawn clasped his hands behind his back, "You're both correct. She has something to hide on this planet for one and something else she is also keeping a secret. The only reason she would accept Bridger's survival is because she can use him for her own ends."

"And what would those be?", Pellaeon asked.

The Grand Admiral's red eyes looked away, "I do not know, Captain. Though I believe we may start to find answers at wherever the Inquisitor is planning to lead us."

They were interrupted by the beeping of a incoming message.

"From the surface, sir", an officer called from the side.

Thrawn nodded, "Put it through."

The hologram of a stormtrooper appeared above the table, crouched over a terminal. "Grand Admiral, there's a Mandalori-ahhhh!" The stormtrooper's message cut out after only a second in a flash of green light.

The whole bridge ground to a halt to watch and a few of the staff started to whisper among themselves.

"Play it again", Thrawn ordered.

The message repeated, "Grand Admiral, there's a Mandalori-ahhhh!" This time, Thrawn paused the recording right before it cut out. Clear as day, through the stormtrooper's chest, was the glowing blade of a lightsaber.

"Bridger's allies are here", Thrawn announced.

Faro leaned forward, "How could they be here? That's impossible. And where could they have found a lightsaber?"

"Calm yourself", Thrawn raised his hand. "You forget that Bridger relinquished his weapon before coming to the Chimaera above Lothal. The weapon is in the hands of his friends."

Thrawn played the message again but cut it off earlier, "Grand Admiral, there's a Mandalori-"

"Mandalorian?", Pellaeon finished the last word of the stormtrooper's message.

Thrawn nodded, "Indeed. No doubt it is the Jedi's compatriot, Sabine Wren. The Jedi and the Mandalorian were close friends during their time together and displayed a strong connection with each other. It makes sense not only that she'd be among those who would endeavour to find him but also that she is in possession of the Jedi's weapon. There is a significance to the lightsaber that even I am aware of, only those who one trusts completely should be entrusted with its safe-keeping."

Faro sighed, "That still doesn't answer how they found this place so quickly. They couldn't have tracked us, could they?"

The Chiss paused and might have been searching for an explanation. Hmph, odd. You'd think he'd already have an explanation for how they did this. "Hmm. It is possible that they have the means of tracking our ships. If they entered this system undetected, it is possible they intercepted us after their incursion aboard the Invictus and found the opportunity to track us."

Pellaeon ran his hand along his chin, "Or Bridger found some way to contact them. Perhaps with the Inquisitor's ship?"

"Potentially", Thrawn's eyes locked onto the stormtrooper and the lightsaber blade burning through his chest. "Commodore, prepare the fleet for departure, I wish to be ready as soon as the Fourth Sister begins to communicate our route."

"Sir?", Faro didn't move to follow his orders, "Aren't we going to deal with the intruders? How do we know we won't lead them to Bridger again?"

"Consider: either Bridger signalled them personally or they followed our fleet. If the former is true then they will leave and find Bridger as soon as they can, reaching him ahead of us and thereby retrieving him, meaning that time is of the essence. If the latter is true then they have no further route to Bridger and are therefore not a threat if we can get there ahead of them. Either way, it is our best course of action to leave immediately and pursue Bridger before he slips through our grasp."

The Commodore chewed it over, "At once, Grand Admiral."

"I understand your concern, Commodore", Thrawn gestured to her as she left to attend to her orders.

"I don't like this, Grand Admiral", Pellaeon said quietly, not wanting to make an open show of his uncertainty. "It's bad enough with the Inquisitor, but with Bridger's allies here too? Something is going on."

Thrawn stepped over and kept his voice low, "Calm yourself, Captain. Events are under control."

The Captain waited and thought it over again. He was missing something obvious here, something blatant. They all were. How did the Fourth Sister know where to find Bridger? How did he escape? How are his allies here already? And Thrawn... Pellaeon looked at him again. He was clam and measured as always despite the sudden appearance of the intruders and the Fourth Sister's odd behaviour.

"Captain?", Thrawn asked after a few seconds.

Pellaeon snapped back into reality, realising he'd been staring blankly away for a few seconds. "I-I'll return to the Myrmidon and make sure we're ready."

"Be patient, Captain. Things will become clear soon", Thrawn kept his voice low and his face serious. The Chiss watched him for a few seconds before turning around and walking further up the bridge.

Pellaeon watched him go before taking his own leave back to the Myrmidon. Things weren't right and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to figure out just what was going on out here.

Ezra tumbled onto the ground with a thud. He didn't take quite as long to recover from this portal jump, it was his second one that day and he was almost getting used to it. Rubbing his head, he stood up and looked around.

Yet again, he was in a large cavern but this one was much taller and much less rugged. It was less a cavern and more a room. The portal must have been in the wall behind him but it was too faded and grimy to see much detail. The room was a simple rectangle with short walls behind him and on the far side, with long featureless walls of stonework along either side. The portal seemed to be the room's only real feature and there was just a simple doorway on the opposite wall. The darkness made it hard to see much detail but there were simple patterns carved into the walls.

The most noticeable feature, however, was the dark purple mist that coved the ground. It obscured everything and seemed to cling on to everything it touched, flowing unnaturally across the ground as far as he could see.

"What is this place", he asked no one in particular as he stepped away from the portal.

Ezra slowly walked down the room, unable to see anything of interest. As he walked, he took the useless broken blaster that the Inquisitor had cut in half and dropped it to the ground. It was dead weight, no point lugging it around. He reached the doorway on the far side and found it held up by two ancient looking pillars. They were almost crumbling and it was a miracle they hadn't collapsed and brought the doorway down with it. He stepped through quickly, half scared that the movement would cause the old stone to fall down on top of him.

The doorway led him into a larger room, this one was much wider and much taller. In the centre of the room, raise on a platform of steps, was what looked like an altar. Ezra approached curiously and saw a smashed purple object lying atop it. It looked like some sort of orb had been set on the altar but it had been smashed and the top third of it lay shatter and broken on the floor and altar. The mist almost poured out of it. Best he could tell, whatever this mist was, it had been in this... orb.

Then, Ezra saw what was lying on the other side at the foot of the altar. A body.

Ezra stepped around the altar and crouched down to the body. He was no stranger to bodies but this was something else entirely. What happened here? The body was almost charred, all blackened and shrivelled. It must have been here for centuries, millennia even, just lying here. The whole body looked... wrong. It hadn't rotted away like it should have, the skin still clung to the corpse even if it was blackened and scarred. Ezra could even make out features on the face, including the frightening scream that the face was contorted into.

He stepped back from the gruesome sight and looked around. On the far side of the room to where he'd come in, there was another doorway and it looked like there were some stairs leading up. Hopefully, they led out of this twisted place. Ezra looked again at the altar and the desecrated body before heading to the doorway. The strange mist still lingered above the floor, coming up to Ezra's knees. He squinted his eyes to see where he was going and then stopped a few steps later. Another body lay on the floor in-front of him. Off to his side, there was another. Looking again, there were probably two or three more around him.

"Well this isn't creepy...", Ezra muttered to himself and knelt down to another body. It had the same strange look as the one at the altar. "What happened to you? What could have done this?"

Ezra looked back at the altar and the strange orb on top of it. That maybe? It was the only answer that seemed to present itself.

Leaving the unfortunate bodies where they lay, Ezra made his way to the stairs. The mist stuck to everything and a few more bodies were strewn about in horrible positions up the steps. A few of them had things trapped in their hands but it was too misty and dark for Ezra to see what they were. He covered the final few steps and looked out at the landscape.

Ezra went wide-eyed as he cleared the stairs, "Oh no..."

The stairs led to a hill that looked out over his surroundings. Ezra couldn't tell if it was nighttime or if this world was naturally the same horrible shade as the mist that ensnared the whole area.. In the distance he could see pillars and buildings, all poking out from the fog. On the slopes of the small hill and on the ground below, he could see even more bodies. There were a number of them kneeling and Ezra didn't want to think about how many were lying just under the miasma. It was disturbingly similar to what they'd seen at Malachor. The ancient structures, the unnatural darkness, the fields of corpses and maybe even the involvement of strange force-related weapons. It had to be something powerful to have caused this kind of destruction for so many people.

Ezra noticed that most of the structures were still relatively intact. The ravages of time had crumbled and worn a few but they were all still standing. Whatever transpired here didn't result in the destruction of the buildings in this place, only the people around it.

There was open space in front of him, lined on the sides with a few small buildings and structures. It looked almost like a street, leading up to the place he'd just come out of. There were more bodies here; a few slumped against walls, a few kneeling down with arms raised against... something, others lying flat. Ezra went up to one that was sitting against a wall and took a closer look. It was defiled like all the others with its blackened skin and horrible contortions but as he looked he found something different: a hole. A single circular hole was burnt through the body's chest. Ezra knew exactly what type of weapon left wounds like that. Only lightsabers were that precise.

Lightsaber wounds, ancient ruins, strange weapons wiping out whole battlefields? It was more like Malachor than he first thought.

From there, it seemed reasonable to guess what some of these bodies had been clutching in their hands. He looked at the ground around this body and, sure enough, a dusty old lightsaber hilt was lying only a few inches from its grasp. Ezra picked it up, watching as the mist oddly stuck to it for a moment before dissipating and then tried to activate it. It took a few seconds before the blade sputtered to life. Red, the colour of the Sith. The single red blade quickly cut out with a sizzle. It wasn't surprising, this weapon had been lying here for countless years.

He dropped the useless hilt onto the ground and stood up to explore again.

As he walked, he started to think out loud. "Master Yoda said there was something ancient and powerful out here. The planet that the other temple was on was also destroyed and then the force called me to this portal." He stopped and looked around at the destruction around him, "Makes sense to me that whatever is out here had to do with this too. People fought here, people with lightsabers, and they all died... Something horrible must have-"

Ezra turned quickly back to the ruin he'd come out of. What was that? A twinge in the force just flared up behind him, back in the same direction as the portal. For a moment he thought he was sensing someone coming through but that was impossible, no one could have done that. It had to be something else but he didn't have a clue what that would be.

The strange new feeling faded a bit after a few seconds but it was still there. This place is strange, it's probably just a side effect of whatever happened here. Figuring out what happened here was what mattered now. He shrugged off the odd feeling and continued to look around, hoping to find something that might start to explain all of this.

Hera brought the two-seated speeder to a gentle stop at the entrance to the garden. Jacen looked around at the city, he'd never been to this part of it before, but Hera could tell his abilities were letting him feel her own anxieties. She stayed in the pilot's seat for a moment and looked at the garden entrance. It looked nothing like the fuel depot that it used to be. The tanks and huge walls had been torn down and a small white wall stretched around the site.

"Mom? Why are we here?", Jacen asked innocently from the passenger seat.

She reached a tender hand to the side of his face, "This is a very special place, dear. Come on, it's past time you visit."

His bright blue eyes didn't seem to understand but he listened to his mother. She undid the safety harness, no way was she letting him get in the speeder without wearing it, and lifted him out of the chair. She opened the door and put him safely down as she got out of the speeder.

"What is it?", Jacen stared up at the walls and over to the small entrance.

Hera smiled thinly, "Somewhere special." She took his hand and led him into the entrance.

The garden filled all of the grounds that were previously part of the fuel depot. The whole place was awash with bright colours, with greens, reds, blues, yellows and the sweet aroma of a hundred different plants. A path went around the perimeter of the garden and four smaller, evenly-placed paths led in from the outer edge to the centre. In the middle, where all the paths joined, was a small plaque placed there in memory of the person this garden was built for: Kanan Jarrus, Jedi Knight.

She led Jacen by the hand through the entrance and up along on of the centre paths. There were many people here, locals and tourists all sharing in the beautiful corner of Capital City. Couples walked hand in hand, lone observers sat to take in the view and parents walked with their children around the gorgeous patches of flora. Jacen was instantly taken by some of the plants on their right and dragged his mother over to see them.

"Those ones, those ones!", he pointed eagerly with a smile.

Even here, he could still bring a smile to her face, "What about those ones, dear?"

"Auntie Bean paints those. They're her favourite", Jacen leaned onto the small fence that separated the path from the flowers.

The ones he'd picked out were tall stemmed flowers in a brilliant sapphire blue. Hera had seen the painting of them herself, one of many plants from here that Sabine had put to canvas. Hera knew Sabine came here every now and again to paint and, seeing this place in person again, she understood why. Sapphire blue, she thought to herself, I wonder why they're her favourite... She smiled to herself as Jacen continued to look at them in awe.

Then the boy turned back to her with pleading eyes, "When's Auntie Bean coming home? I miss her."

"You and me both, dear", she ran a hand over his hair. "She'll be home soon, don't worry."

Jacen kept his hands on the fence and drooped his head, "Why'd she have to go?"

Hera stared at the blue flowers, "Something very important. I promise that when she's home, you'll be glad she went."

She let him stand there for a while and get it out of his system, it wasn't the first time he'd asked about her and it definitely wasn't going to be the last.

"Come on", she gently pulled his hand back into her own, "There's something I have to show you."

Her son obeyed and tore himself away from the pretty sights he loved so much. Hera turned to the centre of the garden and the plaque that stood embedded in a stone plinth there. Jacen looked in wonder the people they passed but Hera's eyes stayed on the plaque as they walked. When they finally reached the central clearing, she stopped Jacen and knelt down to be eye level with him.

His bright blue eyes were worried, after all he could probably sense her own emotions. She brushed a wayward strand of hair from his face and forced a smile, "Jacen, dear, do you remember what we told you about your dad?"

The boy hid his face from her for a few seconds, "Uh, he's my dad... and..."

She laughed quietly, "Well done, dear."

"Auntie Bean said he was a hero", his tiny nose scrunched up, "And then you said he isn't here anymore."

Hera breathed in shakily, "Well... it's time you know why."

"Why he isn't here?", he asked his mother.

She glanced at the plaque and then back at him, "No. Why he's a hero."

Hera swallowed hard and stood up, leading him gently by the hand to the plaque. She could see the words etched into it clear as day.

In memory of Kanan Jarrus

Friend, Father, Brother, Jedi, Hero

Who gave his life here so all of Lothal might be free

She kept Jacen close at hand and led him to the plaque.

"Mom?", he looked innocently up at her.

Hera didn't know how best to do this. How do you even make a child that small process something like this?

"Here", she lifted him up to her chest so he could see the plaque. Of course, he was far too young to be able to read it yet but she wanted him to see. "Your dad was a very special person. He helped a lot of people and did a lot of good things." Her voice started to crack as she spoke, "He always put everyone else first. Me, Auntie Bean, Uncle Zeb..."

Jacen buried his head into her shoulder, "But he's gone now."

It wasn't a question. It was strange about people just understood what things meant. No one ever has to be taught what death means, people just know.

Hera didn't want to think about where she was standing right now. That fuel tank had stood exactly where they were at that moment. "He is. That's why they made this place, all for him. All of Lothal wanted something to remember him by."

There was nothing she could say to him to make it right. She knew this pain all too well, her own mother passed when she was barely a teenager. When it happened to her, she struggled to accept that life could be that cruel to you when you were still so young. Yet Jacen had lost out even more than her. Hera might not have had her mother as long as she wanted but she had memories of her to treasure. They might be few and not all of them might be pleasant, but she knew her face, she knew her voice and she still remembered being held in her arms. Jacen didn't have that. He had no memories of his own of Kanan. Jacen could walk past his father in the street or hear him on a recording and not even know who he was and that broke her heart more than anything. Nothing about it was fair or right but there was nothing that could be done to change that.

Just because it couldn't be changed, that didn't mean the pain couldn't be eased. Jacen didn't have memories of his own so the people who did know Kanan owed it to him to share them. Whether that was her, Sabine, Zeb, Ezra or the rest of Lothal, Jacen deserved to know who his father was. She already regretted not bringing him to this memorial sooner, even if he didn't understand where he was or what it was for, but she wasn't going to make a mistake like that again. She wasn't going to try and shield him from his father's legacy because of her own emotions.

"Momma... will I be like dad? Like... a hero?"

"You will, dear", Hera planted a small kiss on his forehead, "I promise."

Ahsoka and Sabine's section is simple enough and doesn't have much to be commented on. Sabine had to use Ezra's lightsaber at some point, even if it was only briefly like here. Also, Sabine remembers how she practiced the lightsaber forms while alone on Lothal. That would honestly make her one of the most talented lightsaber users in the galaxy right now... and therefore a pretty reliable teacher for others. As for Thrawn and the others, they can quite easily tell that the Inquisitor is up to something but there's not enough evidence for them to say what yet. Her cooperation is unusual and they all know it, now it's a case of finding out exactly what she's hiding. However, she isn't the only person in this story with secrets...

I do have a clear idea of what happened on the planet where Ezra is but not all of it is stuff that Ezra is going to know and some of it does need to be kept under wraps for now. Maybe in the future, in the very distant future, I'll give a proper account of what happened here and why things are like they are. For now, everything you need to know will be contained in the story. Also, that feeling Ezra gets at the end is the 'beacon' Ahsoka sent through last chapter, in case anyone was wondering. Jacen and Hera's first moments in the garden are happy, and that's the way it deserved to be. Hera sees the other people enjoying the place and admires how beautiful it is while Jacen goes off to look at the flowers. This place is something good first and foremost, a place for Kanan to live on. There's grief there too but the first thing that Kanan's memory should do is bring happiness to them both, not sadness.

I talked quite a bit about Kanan and Hera's mother too, and what Hera and Jacen have to remember them by. Coming to terms with Kanan's death and Jacen's memories of him, or lack thereof, is an important thing for Hera to do for herself and will be for Jacen when he grows up, espeically if he ends up walking the path of the Jedi. I also wanted to link Jacen's loss of Kanan with Hera's own experience of losing her mother, a fact that wasn't given much attention in the show. Losing a parent is something that anyone, especially a child, carries with them for their entire life and both Jacen and Hera suffered through it in their own way. When it comes to writing about more serious topics like this, different people have different ways of approaching it. There's no 'right' way to approach it and no single way that works for everyone. I know my stance on it and all that I'll say is that, in the words of Captain Rex, "experience outranks everything."

A few people have mentioned that they're eager for the search for Ezra to draw to a close. That time is coming very, very soon.

Next time: Ezra makes an odd discovery, Thrawn heads to the new planet, the Fourth Sister closes in, and Ahsoka and Sabine join the fray.