"Captain." Vader said as he approached a group of men standing by the shuttle that they had come down in.

"Yes, my lord?" The captain responded, all of the men turning to face him.

"Where is Moff Mors?" Vader asked.

"I… I am unsure, my lord." The captain began.

"I heard that she attended the banquet." A woman who was standing next to the captain chimed in. Vader frowned- Senator Amidala had not mentioned seeing Mors at the banquet. And while she had no reason to disclose the information, he would have figured that she would have mentioned it if he saw her.

"I am asking for her current whereabouts." Vader replied, his tone clipped. But the mask distorted his voice, and it didn't carry across. "The emperor has placed her in charge of this system, and as such, she should be available."

"Perhaps you should ask Senator Taa?" The captain suggested. "We can work on getting you in to contact as well, my lord." The captain added on quickly. Truthfully, Vader didn't think that the senator would know either, or pay attention. But he was sure that something else was amiss here. If the emperor had assigned her to this planet to prevent the very reason that he and Senator Amidala where here, then where was she? Disposed of by rebels?

No, that wouldn't make sense. She was a Moff, and if she was killed by rebels, then the news would have reached him as soon as possible.

Something else was wrong.

"I will speak to Senator Taa." Vader said, rolling his eyes- grateful for the mask. And then he turned and walked away quickly, his cloak billowing out behind him as he left.

Vader moved through the halls of the capitol building, reflecting on everything that had transpired. It was true that they had brought Senator Taa with them to Ryloth the first time- as it was his planet. But Moff Mors had been absent when he and the emperor landed, instead meeting them once they had reached the capital city.

The same meeting that had been delayed due to a rebel attack.

Vader's frown grew.

And when there was the tour of the city with himself and Senator Amidala, Moff Mors was again absent.

His pace quickened as he walked towards the lift, the doors shutting behind him.

The ride up to Senator Taa's office was so slow it was almost painful. Vader figured that perhaps they could move some of their funding for throwing large banquets over to fixing their buildings. But he doubted that a slow lift was very high on their priority list.

Finally, the lift stopped, and the doors opened. Vader stepped out quickly, each step echoing across the empty corridor.

"Where is Moff Mors?" Vader demanded as the door to Taa's office opened. The man jumped slightly at his desk, his lekku curling slightly towards himself.

"Moff Mors?" He repeated.

"Yes, the imperial officer in charge of this system." Vader snapped, his patience wearing thin.

"Today is her day off." Taa replied sheepishly. "She never is avaible on Benduday."

"Never?" Vader replied, exasperated.

"Never." Taa whispered back.

"Well, then where is she going?" Vader asks.

"I…" Taa stopped speaking. Vader walked over towards his desk and leaned over him.

"You will tell me." He growled. But the senator looked back up at him, before turning to face the floor.

Vader had enough. He brought his hand up, curling his fingers together and watching with the usual sense of satisfaction and disgust that mingled together as he chocked someone.

"I will not repeat myself, Senator." Vader said over the sound of Taa gagging and gasping for air. He uncurled his fingers and watched as the senator fell forward onto his desk, gasping and coughing.

"Well?" Vader asked. Taa squeezed his eyes shut, his lekku curling even further inward.

"She's-"Taa began, but gasped for air again. "She's at the market on the far side of the city."

Vader was silent, but now, Taa looked up at him.

"It is held in an old warehouse by one of the ports." He continued.

Vader turned away from the senator and walked out without another word.

But while his first instinct told him to go and immediately hunt down Moff Mors, he wanted to know more about what she was doing. Why she was at this market, and what this market sold. So, he found himself back in his quarters, researching more about the city.

The part of the city where the market was the poorest part of the city. He sighed, but this time there was no mask to hide it. The outer layers of his armor had also been removed as well, and Vader stretched his arms out, wincing slightly at the soreness in his shoulders from holding up the weight of the suit. His arms dropped back down to his side as he continued to stare at the map and read more about the space port.

It seemed like a typical place where he would be able to find smugglers and pirates. But why a high-ranking officer such as Mors was there, he had no idea. Vader looked away from the map, and down at his helmet on the table next to it.

If he wanted to learn more information about this place, and about what Senator Amidala was saying, he needed to investigate this himself. But if he showed up as Vader, the masked enforcer of the empire, then he would be easily recognizable.

He left the helmet on the table, and instead went towards where he kept his spare clothes.

Vader inspected himself in the mirror. It wasn't like he owned a large variety of clothing, and most of it was black and sleepwear. But he did have an imperial officer uniform that had been given to him during the first days of the empire, before his master had decided to keep him in the suit for all his appearances. Now, he was grateful that he had it. But it was strange to see himself in it. His hair was longer than the regulation cut for human males, and he had to be sure that he carefully stuffed his curls under the cap to make sure none of them slipped out. He was thinner than he thought he was- but that could have been due to seeing himself without the armor.

He didn't think about it that much as he turned to leave his quarters.

Vader kept his head held low, and no one paid any attention to him. The monotony of the imperial uniforms allowed for him to blend in without any issues. He had carefully hidden his lightsaber within the inner fold of his top, close to his heart.

It was heavy, but it was a reminder.

He had no issues getting a speeder either. A trooper had seen him approaching where they had been keeping the speeders parked and offered to get him one before Vader had to say anything at all.

Which lead him to another problem. His voice.

No one that was alive, except for his master, knew what his real voice sounded like. But now, without the mask and the suit, anyone who he spoke to would know that voice.

It was a voice he tried to forget. It was too soft. Too emotional. Too human.

The trooper waved him over to a speeder, and Vader sped off without a word.

As he drove through the city, he watched as it slowly seemed to decay in front of him. Houses appeared to be more and more rundown until he was looking at shacks that were barley holding together. Or he was looking at rows and rows of abandoned homes, people wandering the streets between them in what was probably a drug induced haze.

He sighed. Things were much worse here than he thought.

But ahead, he could see the warehouse, and behind that was the space port. He parked in the shadow of an abandoned building, before hopping out of the speeder and making his way over.

But he didn't make it to the building before he stopped. He could feel the fear, the suffering, the sorrow, of hundreds of lifeforms inside. Hear whispers of their thoughts, as they considered how little value their lives had left. Hear them talk about how the chains were too heavy, or how they didn't want to be whipped again.

He thought he had left those things behind. The fire in his chest grew until it was white hot. He didn't have to go inside to know what was there.

It was a slave market. Moff Mors was a slaver.

And then, he remembered his master's words, about building a better place that didn't need to rely on something so cruel as slavery.

But his master was cruel. And here were the slaves.

Vader stood in front of the building, the kyber crystal in his saber thumping along with his heartbeat.

He raised his hand, but then hesitated and lowered it.

He could kill everyone in there. Spare the slaves from more suffering and kill those who made them suffer. But the slaves…

The slaves.

A tear rolled down his cheek, and he pulled his saber out from beneath his clothes.

"I had a dream where I came back, and I freed all of the slaves."

Anakin ignited the blade and walked inside of the building.

The slavers in there didn't stand a chance. He used the force to pull their blasters out of their hands. Used the force to crush their bodies. Used the force to propel himself forward, his blade swinging towards more and more slavers. He cut them all down. His blade seemed to scream with his heart as he sliced through a human woman. Vader looked down at her head as it lolled and hit the toe of his boot.

It was Moff Mors.

More slavers approached him, but they were no match. He deflected their shots, ran his saber through their hearts, and cast them aside as he saw fit.

Then, he was the only one standing. The air smelled of burning flesh, and the room was quiet aside from the muffled sobs of the slaves. The pleas for them to spare him.

Vader raised his hand again. He waved it, and the locks on the chains of the slaves clicked. Their chains fell to the ground. And they ran. They ran away, parents hugging their children and sobbing. No one looked at him.

And he didn't look at them either.