Honestly, she wished he'd just let it go already.

Glancing sideways, she knew that wouldn't happen, though. It wasn't in his nature.

As soon as he opened his mouth, she knew she was right. Figures.

"I don't think I trust this Sandstorm," Obi-Wan said, as Padme began prepping the ship to drop out of hyperspace. Padme rolled her eyes. Ever since she'd met back up with Obi-Wan at the rendezvous point and departed from a now ruined Ryloth, he kept hinting at this very thing. "There are so few Jedi left. You'd think he'd want to meet me."

"Like I said, every time he's had a valid excuse not to." Well. Maybe this time was pushing it. He could have stayed with her until the people were all completely safe. He could have followed her to the rendezvous location to meet Obi-Wan and Rex and the rest of their team. But, the look in his eyes when he'd left her...it still gave her chills just thinking about it. Something was up.

Something big.

She just hoped it was something good. "I'm sure you'll get to meet him soon, Obi-Wan, and then you two can go off on a Jedi playdate." She shot her friend a coy smirk.

Unamused, he just grumbled, " . Very funny," under his breath, causing her grin to grow wider.

Ribbing Obi-Wan was far too easy and so much fun! No wonder Anakin and Ahsoka had always persisted in pushing his buttons, she couldn't help thinking wryly. Force knew they all needed some levity in these dark times...and Obi-Wan took the bait, hook, line, and sinker...Like always.

With a pull of a lever, the ship shuddered out of hyperspace, and Gandle Ott filled the view port of her ship. Home. Inwardly, she breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed lately that she was always out on missions, ever since Sola and her family had come to live with them, actually. The last time she'd gone home, she'd sworn Luke and Leia had grown a few inches. They also seemed to be learning more new words every day, which with their older cousins, Ryoo and Pooja to play with now, wasn't that surprising. Soon enough, she'd come home to find they were teenagers, or worse, adults. If she wasn't careful, she could very well miss out on their entire childhood, dammit. It wasn't something she wanted, of course, even with her duty to eradicating the Empire, but...after all, someone had to do it. She just hoped her children would understand her sacrifice for their sake and the galaxy's sake. Someday.

"It's not that I want a playdate." Obi-Wan said, exasperated. "I just want to give us any advantage we can get at bringing down Vader and the Emperor."

"And he is giving us an advantage, Obi-Wan. All those people on Ryloth…most of them would be dead, if it weren't for him." She kept reminding him of this, but even now, Obi-Wan didn't appear to be convinced. He stroked his auburn beard thoughtfully as he peered silently down at the planet below them. "Look, next time I'll attempt to convince him to…" she began, but a flashing light on the control panel interrupted her, blinking bright red.

Padme's heart began to sink into her stomach at the sight of it. Priority transmission on her encrypted channel. Mon Mothma. It had to be.

So much for seeing her children again soon.

Kriff!

"Are you going to answer that, or shall I?" Obi-Wan asked dryly, when she made no move to answer. She scowled, and before he could tease her further, she reached out and flipped the switch.

Sure enough, Mon Mothma's image appeared, a troubled frown maring her normally serene features. "Nightblade." Mon greeted. Even on a secure channel, she wouldn't risk using Padme's real name. "Have you returned home yet?"

Having changed out of the garb of Nightblade, Padme had to force herself to keep the irritation off of her face. She adored Mon, had been close friends with her in the senate and now as her assassin, but she loved her children more. She was starting to get irritable at being kept from her family for too long. "We're orbiting the planet now," Obi-Wan replied for her when it became apparent that she was still struggling not to sound like an angry gundark. "Is there something wrong?"

For a brief moment, Padme irrationally thought that perhaps something had happened with the children. But, then, if that had happened, Obi-Wan would have sensed it the moment they dropped out of hyperspace. Besides, Yoda or her mother or Sola wouldn't contact the Rebellion. Too risky. Still, Mon hesitated in response to Obi-Wan's question, indicating that while her children were still safe and sound on the planet below, something else was urgent enough to require contact so soon after a mission.

Perhaps this was the 'something big' she was anticipating.

"I received Rex's report on Ryloth." She began, as though hunting for the right words. Padme's frown deepened, irritation forgotten. It wasn't like Mon to be at a loss for words. "Vader was there?" it was phrased as a question. A desire for confirmation. But, why? Rex could be trusted. It wasn't like Vader hadn't bombarded a planet before.

"Yes." Padme replied curtly. "He didn't come to meet me though." Something that still troubled her, truthfully.

A pregnant pause. "And...did anything seem…off about his movements?" Clearly, Mon was being careful not to offend Padme, for obvious reasons. Still...the fact that Mon had picked up on the same thing Padme had…

"As a matter of fact, there was something strange, yes." She replied carefully. "Starting off bombing rural areas instead of the capital doesn't make any logical sense. I thought maybe he was ordered by the Emperor to do that, but...that doesn't make any sense either, knowing him." She scowled as she always did, hating that she'd been so damn blind to the evil snake her 'old friend' Palpatine had turned out to be. "But, then having reinforcements show up at the last moment...that also makes no logical sense either. Not to mention...he should have sensed me on planet. Yet...he didn't try and do anything to apprehend me, which is highly unusual, all things considered." She didn't have to mention why. Mon was well aware, as was Bail.

Mon digested this information with a silent nod, her eyebrows furrowing, her lips pursed. It wasn't often Padme saw such an expression from her dear friend, even now in these dire times. "I'm afraid the mystery continues with a rather…confusing revelation, Nightblade." She finally said, and it looked like she was reaching over to her console for something.

Confusing? How about cryptic?

Padme and Obi-Wan glanced at one another in obvious bewilderment. This couldn't be good. If Vader was behaving strangely...perhaps he was about to become an even greater threat than they all had anticipated. "I'm almost afraid to ask." Obi-Wan murmured, stroking his beard again, his eyes narrowed on Mon's expression.

"I...it might actually be a good development," Mon said slowly, though she didn't sound entirely convinced. She was still fiddling with something off screen. "We received a transmission from the Rebel cell your newfound Jedi friend, Sandstorm, is a part of. High priority, extremely encrypted. It was delivered with a simple message: For my eyes only...or Nightblade's."

Padme frowned. Sandstorm? But...no, he had her comm. Why bother going through an official channel like this? He hadn't done so before. Then again, other than knowing she needed him, she didn't know that much else about him. Perhaps he thought it was better to contact her through a more formal method this time? "Since they didn't know your contact information, they sent it on to me." Another pregnant pause as Mon seemed to struggle with the right words to say again. "It's rather…Well. See for yourself."

Mon must have flipped a switch on her console, because she cut out...and was immediately replaced by the imposing black masked figure of Darth Vader himself. Damn!

It was such a shock, that for a millisecond Padme thought he'd somehow spliced into their direct feed. Her hand automatically went to her lightsaber...and paused as Vader began to speak. "Greetings, Senator Mothma and Nightblade. I trust that both of you have the good sense to keep this message out of the hands of lesser rebels who would blab about the contents with little intimidation."

Padme's hand left her blade. A recording. This was a recording. She shook her head in annoyance. Even in the recording, the man's arrogance was obvious. She might have seethed over it, if she wasn't trying to figure out how in the hell he'd managed to get this message through to them-or better yet, why.

Especially without Sidious finding it and tracking it.

Vader continued, his voice rumbling through the vocorecorder in his mask, sounding nothing like the man who was inside the infernal suit. "I come to you with a truce, not as Darth Vader, the second in command to the Empire, the apprentice of a Sith Lord, but as…" a pause, and a tilt of his helmeted head, indicating to Padme that he was considering his words. The gesture was so familiar that her throat tightened. "As simply Vader. A man with considerable resources to bring down the Emperor...and transfer power back to the Senate to do with as they please."

"WHAT?!" Padme gasped in utter shock, and Obi-Wan reached over and placed a calming hand on her shoulder, though when she looked over to him to gauge his reaction, Obi-Wan was just as grim...and perhaps even just as startled by this turn of events as she was.

Vader continued. "I...have my reasons for this offer, reasons I will not bother to explain at this time."

No, tell me, you stupid Nerf Herder! Padme inwardly screamed at the recording, her mind reeling with what Vader was saying. But, he just continued speaking, knocking her even further for a loop.

"What you need to know is this-in seventy- two standard hours, I will assassinate the Emperor. The details of how and where are not important, but at the time I expect his death, a pre-recorded message will broadcast across all Imperial channels across the galaxy, announcing the Emperor's death, my succession, and my immediate resignation, and the official shift of power back to the Senate. All crimes and bounties against you or your rebellion will be lifted. I would suggest you have a representative in the Senate ready to act in your stead until it is safe for you to return to Coruscant." Meaning, obviously, Vader knew there were senators loyal to the Rebellion still serving in the Senate. A sobering, but not surprising thought...or at least, not as shocking as the rest of what he was saying was.

To say her mind was blown, would be a vast understatement. But, as she continued to stare at the recording, she realized Vader's bombshells weren't quite done yet.

"After that, I will return to my ship, the Executor and will retreat. I will not tell you where, or when, or why. What matters is that I wish to be left alone, as do the majority of my crew. I am sure, of course, that you doubt the validity of my claims. You would be unwise to do so. As a gesture of my good faith, I have included with this transmission the location of the Emperor's secret weapon. It is known as the Death Star. It's capabilities are unlike anything this galaxy has ever seen. I have provided the extensive engineering plans for this monstrosity, along with its current location-I am sure that you will deduce its immense threat to the galaxy upon further inspection of the plans.

By the Force! Surely, this couldn't be happening! Why offer this? It wasn't like him to offer something for nothing. Surely, apart from being left alone, he'd want something in exchange.

Padme grimaced when Vader continued speaking. And, she wasn't surprised at what he had to say this time.

"The only thing I request in return is this..." Another pause, and another tilt of that helmeted head. "I...I wish to meet with Nightblade one last time. There is much I would say to her that is best said in private." An irritated sigh. "I will release her whenever she wishes. She may even bring…Kenobi if she so wishes for protection, though she need fear nothing from me." The distaste was obvious in his voice. He'd practically strangled on Obi-Wan's name. "I have included the coordinates where my ship will be in seventy-two hours. Admiral Piett, my second in command, will be standing by to receive you, if I am not yet back by the time you arrive. I can assure you, he will treat you as very important guests on my ship. No harm will come to you in his or my care."

He straightened just a bit and then finished. "I will leave you two to debate the validity of this message. With or without your help, the Emperor will be no more in seventy-two hours. You have that long to decide what to do with my offer and the information I have presented you with. Take care to come to the right decision." With that ominous warning, the transmission cut off and Mon Mothma appeared again, looking grimmer than ever.

Both Padme and Obi-Wan simply stared.

"It's got to be a plot to overthrow his master," Obi-Wan finally said, though he didn't exactly sound sure. It sounded more like a desperate plea for some sense of normalcy. Sith overthrew their masters and took on new apprentices. Everyone knew this.

"It doesn't make sense to drag us into it though." Mon calmly replied. "It's possible he could decide to lure us in with this and wipe us out when he has us where he wants us...but that's not Vader's style."

"You're right," Obi-Wan agreed, his expression becoming more and more sullen. "Vader is much too brash for that. But...still possible. We can't fully rule that out." A pause. "What of this Death Star?"

Mon's expression darkened. "We've already gone over the plans Vader sent us. It's...a planet killer. Not in the traditional sense, like wiping out resources. When complete, in one shot it would completely blow a planet into stardust."

Holy Force….

Padme suddenly couldn't breathe. Mon was continuing, her voice sounding like it was under water due to the ringing in Padme's ears. She kept running over everything that had happened between her and Vader recently. Her family's sudden return...him letting her go, not once, but twice…the recording going through Sandstorm's Rebel Cell…

She went numb.

"...spies are already sent. Initial reports confirm Vader's words to be true...it's highly guarded, but the station is still in early development. We could destroy it…"

"Where are the coordinates for his ship." Padme's voice was deadly quiet. Mon and Obi-Wan stopped and stared at her, looking at her like she'd gone crazy.

"You can't be seriously thinking of going!" Obi-Wan stated, disbelief and horror written all over his expression. "It could be a trap."

She could have told him to search his feelings. Even without the Force, she was certain it wasn't. Something…instinctual told her this. Something that she thought had died alongside her husband two years before. She doubted Obi-Wan would appreciate it though, so she went for logic. "It was his only request in response. Besides...he knows where we are. If he wanted, he could come here himself and do whatever he pleased. But...he asked us to come to him instead." She turned to the Jedi beside her, glaring with determination. "Besides. If it is a trap, Yoda will get Luke and Leia to safety. And my family. Our hope….our hope for the galaxy will continue on." She didn't even want to think of that possibility...but she somehow knew it wouldn't happen.

And now she knew why…though she didn't fully understand it, and it made her body both recoil in disgust...and her heart soar with something she hadn't felt in far too long.

A tiny, microscopic shred of…hope.

That was all she needed.

"I thought you might say that." Mon sighed. "I've transmitted the codes to you, but...please. Come back safely. I'm asking not as your commander, but as your friend."

Padme nodded. Already she was pulling the coordinates up and plugging them into the navcomputer terminal. She didn't care if she got there early. She needed to go. She needed to see him. She needed to find out why. She didn't notice Obi-Wan cut the call with Mon Mothma. She barely heard Obi-Wan grumble that he thought this was a bad idea. She didn't care about any of that as she turned the ship around and jumped back into hyperspace.

She needed to find out, from his own lips, one thing:

Why had he become Sandstorm?


He was taking an awful chance, a risk that could be catastrophic if not carried out to the most exact detail. He'd planned diligently, thought of everything. At least, he thought he had.

This had better work.

Thirty minutes. He had exactly thirty minutes to reach the temporary throne room on the Emperor's flagship and thus, thirty minutes to run his blade through the putrid despot's chest. At the end of that thirty minutes, his prerecorded holovid message to the entire Empire would automatically broadcast on all known channels. Boba Fett had been tasked with splicing into the Imperial Communications Center on Coruscant to embed the message and set it up to go. He'd received confirmation from Fett that it was done just ten minutes prior.

Now, as he finished landing his personal Lambda-class T-4a shuttle in the hangar bay of the Emperor's flagship, he was already planning five steps ahead, even as he lowered the ramp and emerged, black cape billowing around him, to find that squads of Stormtroopers had lined up at attention on either side of the walkway to greet him. Ignoring the lot of them, Vader strode forward with firm purposeful steps, belying the swirling maelstrom that were the thoughts within his mind.

Part I: Get to the Emperor. Stab him. Get back on his private shuttle with his life and limbs intact.

Part II: Return to the Executor. Speak with his wife, hopefully privately.

Part III: Go into exile with his ship and his crew. Possibly in the Unknown Regions. That part he was still working out.

He wasn't exactly happy about the last part of this course of action. But, it was the only viable solution he could think of. After everything he'd done across the galaxy in blind service to Sidious' wretched villainy, even killing the Emperor himself wouldn't erase his crimes. Probably. The rebels were too forgiving for their own good, of course, but he was a harsher judge than they tended to be. All that mattered now was that he attempt to give his wife and children back the life they deserved on Naboo, not hiding terror stricken on some backwater hovel of a planet at the far edge of known space. Their safety, security, and happiness were paramount to him.

Even if it meant he wasn't - couldn't - be with them ever again.

A nervous captain stood at the bottom of the ramp, giving a brisk bow of respect as Vader stomped down the ramp. As if Vader would start murdering men on his master's ship. Not that he hadn't done so before, but each time he had, he'd earned the ire of his master, especially when it interfered with his master's plans.

He ignored the twinge of regret as he briskly walked past the man, not even deigning to acknowledge him. He had to focus. It would take twenty minutes to get to where he was to meet the Emperor. He couldn't afford to waste time on pleasantries with lowly soldiers.

The captain rushed to keep up. "My Lord," He attempted to greet him, already out of breath. Vader rolled his eyes behind his mask. The Emperor's personal ship was so rarely used, its crew rarely got off Coruscant, making them rather lazy. If it weren't for the Red Guard, the Emperor might have had more assassination attempts on his ship. "The Emperor welcomes you. He bids you to head to your quarters onboard where he will summon…"

"I will hear my instructions from the Emperor himself, Captain," Vader cut him off, not bothering to slow down. If he timed it just right, he might get to the Emperor's mobile throne room in seventeen minutes rather than twenty. Thank the Force the Emperor's super star destroyer hadn't been commissioned for him yet, or it would have taken him longer. "You are dismissed, Captain. I know my way from here."

The captain hesitated, but wisely slowed to a stop. Vader could feel his eyes on his back as he entered the turbolift and entered his clearance code for the floor containing the Emperor's suite.

As soon as the turbolift's doors swished shut, Vader again checked his mental shields to make sure they were still intact. As he knew, they were as thick as durasteel. They had been ever since he'd come up with this insane plan. Even so, he knew there was still a small chance the Emperor would sense a disturbance in the Force. His master was too wily, too prone to seeing the future to completely miss his apprentice's deception. But, perhaps he could take Sidious by surprise.

Then again, the senior Sith Lord left Coruscant so rarely, it was a miracle he'd contacted Vader to demand he meet up with him over the Hosnian System. It would be easier to kill him away from Coruscant. At least here, Vader had a chance to kill him and escape with his life.

The chances of that happening on Coruscant were next to nil.

The turbolift stopped, the doors swishing open to reveal a hallway flanked with Red Guards leading up to double doors that contained the Emperor's throne room.

Red Guards. Those would be Vader's greatest adversaries getting out. Even though none of them were Force sensitive, they were deadly with their pikes, trained to counter would-be Force-sensitive assassins. Vader had never really paid them much heed before now. But then, he'd never considered murdering the Emperor before either, so he'd had no need to fear them. Even now, he wasn't afraid of them, but he was apprehensive about the coming fight. He tried not to imagine the guard's eyes following him from behind their red helmets as he passed by.

He reached the doors, and with a wave of his wrist, they swished open to reveal the darkened throne room. Up on the dais, the Emperor's throne was turned away, turned towards the viewport and the planet Hosnian Prime below. "Lord Vader," Sidious greeted in that horribly fake pleasant voice of his. "I'm surprised I don't see the Executor in orbit nearby, my friend. You came alone?"

"Yes, my Master." Ten minutes. He had ten minutes. He continued his measured pace towards the throne as the doors swished closed behind him.

Something suddenly prickled in the Force. A warning. He paused mid step, stretching out with his senses, looking for anything amiss. To his knowledge, there was nothing. There was no one else in the room. They were alone. Perhaps it was a warning for the fight that would surely break out the moment the Red Guards outside discovered that he'd murdered their Emperor.

The Emperor's throne turned on its axis until the hooded, shriveled figure of his master was before him. He tried to suppress a shudder of disgust. How in the kriff had he been fooled by this thing? How in the hell could he have allowed himself to be sucked into servitude to such a reprobate bug of a man? A man who had planned, plotted, and ultimately ruined the lives of billions, if not trillions, of beings across the entire galaxy for the sake of his own personal quest for ultimate power and self glory. Vader had to squelch a rising tide of nausea as he stared at the hideously revolting bastard son of a dug lounging on the dais before him. In his own mind, Vader fluently cursed him in Huttese.

"You always did like flying yourself," Sidious mused as Vader continued his approach. Those yellow eyes narrowed slightly when Vader didn't stop to bow before him. "Are you quite alright, my old friend?"

Friend? What a joke. A bad one. When had Vader ever been Sidious' friend? Oh, Sidious had once been his friend, or so he'd once believed, but Vader had never been his master's friend. Far, far from it. Behind the mask, his thoughts and feelings shielded, Vader's lip curled in a malevolent sneer. No, he was done. No longer would he be a slave of the Sith. No longer would he be a slave of the Jedi.

It was time to end this farce. Now.

Quick as Force-lightning, Vader called his lightsaber from his belt to his hand, igniting it in a swift motion, the red blade humming angrily to life with the familiar snap-hiss, as he used the Force to throw it as hard as possible at his intended target - piercing straight into his master's chest, embedding the blade completely into and then through the wretched scoundrel's body.

Sidious' gold eyes flared furiously, his mouth opening in a scream…but no sound came out. No sound save a gurgling noise of the dying and the hum of his lightsaber, as he called it back into his outstretched hand. As soon as it was removed from his chest, Sidious toppled forward from his chair face-first onto the floor.

Dead.

Vader paused, waiting, stretching out with the Force. The figure before him was certainly dead. He'd felt the thing's life force slip away into the Force itself.

And yet…

Something was amiss. There was still so much darkness, so much power, still floating through the room, throughout the entire galaxy. Sidious' Force signature still blazed in the Force - despite his dead carcass lying prone before him. That shouldn't be. It was most...odd, to say the least. And, most unexpected. It was as if killing the Emperor hadn't done much of anything at all…

There was another flash of warning from the Force, and Vader felt the hair on the back of his neck rise with the intensity of it. It practically pulsed all around him.

I've got a bad feeling about this.

Harsh, familiar laughter suddenly echoed behind him, and Vader whirled, igniting his blade once more. There, flickering to life on the holoscreens lining the wall, was the image of Lord Sidious. "So close," Sidious chided mockingly, "So close, and yet so far. You still have much to learn, my young apprentice." The title was uttered with such derision, as the old man glared at him through the screen.

Vader stood there, frozen, tentatively reaching out with the Force to prod the situation. The man behind him had definitely been Sidious. He'd felt it. And yet…The holo image seemed very much alive. A recording, perhaps? No. That wasn't right…

Sidious inclined his head to the body on the floor. "An experimental clone, I'm afraid. It's a shame. It took so long for me to figure out a clone that didn't go insane the moment they woke up. Force-sensitive clones are quite tricky, after all."

Kriff. Kriff kriff kriff kriff kriff….

"You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" Sidious spat, turning his glowing yellow eyes back on Vader. "I knew when taking you on as my apprentice that I would need to be extra cautious around you. You are, after all, extremely powerful in the Force. So, when you started acting strangely, I began to search the Force, and it revealed to me that this might be a distinct possibility. I had hoped it wasn't true. It seems, for once, I was wrong."

Vader continued to stretch out with his feelings to the other people on the ship, searching. If he was still on the ship, he might be able to track him down and kill him then. But…no. Dammit! Sidious wasn't there. Worse, he realized with a start, the Red Guards had vanished from the hallway.

Force, he had a very bad feeling about this…

"Such a pity. I'm afraid, Lord Vader, your usefulness to me has been irrevocably compromised. I can't very well have an apprentice who is actively plotting my assassination, after all. And, I can tell you're still quite determined to end my life." He sighed dramatically, as if merely disappointed in a wayward student. "I suppose it can't be helped. But, don't worry. I'll be sure to give your final regards to your fleet." He paused, "That is, if they survive."

Vader tensed, realizing what the Emperor was implying. Kriffing hells! Sidious knew were the Executor was. Whether by a spy overlooked in his ranks, or by some kind of tracking device he'd missed hidden onboard his flagship, it didn't damn well matter. The Emperor knew where his ship was.

And, if the timing was right...Padme would now be on that ship!

Force, NO!

"Wait…!" He screamed in futility, just as the smug image of the smirking Emperor suddenly cut off, disconnecting the transmission.

Right as multiple explosions rocked the ship.


And I return from a long hiatus with a bombshell of a chapter! Yes! It's been a super busy summer. I've traveled, worked a lot, and I finished the first draft of a personal novel I'm working on. While I am moving into the editing stages of it, I'll be working on fanfic again during breaks at work (when I get them). Hopefully, this means more updates. The next chapter is...ahem. Explosive, so I'm hoping to get that out sooner rather than later.

Review! While we aren't at a climax, we are at a turning point in the story. Hold on to your butts!

Love,

Sarah