Hello people! I've been working a while on this chapter, haven't I? Sorry about that... But, hey, it's actually longer than the last one. It was supposed to be longer than this, but I decided to move Hoth into the next chapter. That will be a little strange... ESB in one chapter... Then Shadows of the Empire in a few. Maybe. I have to come up with a convincing way to kill Xizor off. Anyway, this chapter may start off a little dull. It's Padmé-centric for about seven straight pages. I was unsure of whether to keep some of it, but I ended up including the whole thing. Can you say OOC Sith Lords? I can. But, if any character that died in the Clone Wars is still alive and Ventress seems, I don't know, completely and totally out of character, I blame my lack of prequel knowledge. Yah. That's about it. So... Thank you thank you thank you for reading this story! I love working on it, and I'm glad that people enjoy reading it! So, thank you for your continued reading (to those returning) and I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

Padmé was staring at the ceiling of her and Anakin's room. It was sometime in the morning, and Padmé knew she should be getting ready to go to the day's Senate meeting, but she could not bring herself to get up. Padmé had stopped counting the days since Leia had joined the Alliance more than a year ago, but the pain she had felt when she still had been counting was still there, now fresh in her mind again. The reason why was because Anakin had brought home some messages from Leia and her friends. Leia's friends. Yes, that led Padmé to yet another train of thought: Luke. The twins knew each other, but had no clue that they were brother and sister. Padmé supposed it was for the better at the moment. If it was discovered by the Empire or the Republic that either of the two were part of the Rebellion, then they could be used to guarantee Padmé and Anakin's cooperation, especially if the children were prisoners of war.

What am I thinking? Padmé demanded inwardly. There's no virtue in losing myself in thoughts of "what if." Besides, I need to concentrate on the day ahead. The political head of the Empire is finally coming to speak before the Senate. The thought galvanized her to finally get herself out of bed and start to dress. As she put on her makeup, Padmé wondered why she had never gone off to visit the Rebel base. After all, the group of Senators orchestrating the group tried to send someone every few weeks or so. Maybe she would volunteer for the next time. But if she did go, then there was the possibility of running into Leia and having to say nothing as Leia introduced her brother to her mother. Reviewing that possibility, Padmé decided that it was better not to go to the Rebel base.

When she had finished, Padmé walked into the kitchen to find Anakin drinking a pitcher of coffee and reading the newspaper. From the look on his face, Padmé guessed that there was more bad news today. "More war propaganda?" she hazarded.

Anakin looked up from his reading. "A day doesn't go by where there isn't, these days," he replied, setting the paper down. "But that's not what's upsetting me." He tossed a datapad over to Padmé. "Leia's letter to us," he explained.

Padmé looked at the datapad in her hands. She wanted to read it, yet dreaded what it would say. Choosing to ignore it for the moment, she pressed on, knowing that wasn't what Anakin was stressed about. He was avoiding something; she could tell. "Ani... What's really wrong?" she asked, setting the datapad down on the table. "It has little to nothing to do with Leia, and you know it. Now, please tell me what is wrong?"

Anakin knew he was cornered, but still tried to weasel his way out of the question. "Work's been getting to me lately," he said and received a disbelieving look from Padmé. "...Fine. Aayla found the location of the base," Anakin admitted. "But that's not the half of it."

"You told me about finding the base last night, Anakin!" Padmé told him. "It's old news! I mean, pretty soon half of the galaxy---Wait. You don't mean the new base, do you?" she asked. "The one that the Imperials don't know about? The one they haven't found? Aayla knows where that one is?"

Anakin nodded. "Yes, but don't get upset about that. Only the Council knows all of the details. We've been feeding the Imps falsified data for months now, but this is the first time that we really need to keep this a secret. If we were found out... Think about how compromised the situation of the Jedi was during the Wars. I have no doubt it would be worse than that." Anakin glanced at the newspaper again. "I'm being sent out again."

The words barely registered. Padmé blinked. "Y-you can't possibly mean that, that the army's recommissioning you! Then you might end up fighting or killing L---"

"I know, Padmé," Anakin said quietly, looking down at the table. "The Council cannot do anything about it. I received the letter about it this morning. We'll be discussing this in the Council meeting the day after tomorrow since the letter calls us away from Coruscant."

"Away from Coruscant?" Padmé repeated. "To where? Wouldn't the Senate or the leaders of the military be on-planet? I thought that no one knew where the Rebellion was besides the Rebels and now the Jedi? ...Something doesn't seem right."

Anakin shook his head absentmindedly. "Nothing seems right anymore. First it was those dark Force-presences, then the sudden appearance of the Empire in the Senate. You know, Aaron and Celes' daughter went missing a few months ago. We only now figured out that the Sith were the ones responsible. Everything's going so wrong."

Padmé was starting to be affected by Anakin's depressing demeanor, but she was sure that she had heard him imply that the Sith had risen again. "The Sith? But I thought Palpatine was the last of them? Could he have trained any more in the meantime?"

"Padmé, they're no one we haven't dealt with before," Anakin commented. "In fact, Obi-Wan killed one, I killed another, and the last... well, he was dealt with. Mace is pretty sure that Ventress is back, too. He has a contact somewhere that swore he saw Ventress. It would explain the fourth presence that had been out there. I think we're going up against four Sith this time, though. We could probably take on one or two easily, but four Sith and a Dark Jedi? The odds seem stacked against us." Anakin took a large drink of coffee to try and settle his nerves. He sighed. "Angel, I don't think we can win this time. The last time we fought a Sith, three Jedi Masters were killed. You remember that. If the entire Council took on all of the Sith... We could probably eliminate Maul and Ventress, Dooku if we were lucky. Palpatine is another matter entirely, but the last... I'm one of the few that has any chance against him; he has perfected the murder of Jedi into an art form."

Padmé stared straight into Anakin's eyes. "You're the only one that knows about the last, aren't you?" she realized, and Anakin looked away. "Anakin, you have to tell them!" She sighed exasperatedly. "Did you discover the information about the last yesterday?"

Anakin's frown deepened. "No. I've known about the Sith for a long time. I only realized it was him yesterday when Adi, Obi-Wan, and I figured out what had happened to Celes' daughter. The Sith was the reason she was, for lack of a better word, kidnapped."

Padmé looked over at the counter where the datapad was sitting. "So the Rebellion's doomed, then. It won't be able to survive if the combined power of the Republic and Jedi join with the Empire and Sith. It's now a lost cause, I guess."

The comment drew some laughter (although bitter laughter) out of Anakin. "No, Padmé, you have it all wrong," he declared. "It's only a matter of time, like I said earlier. The Republic is going to die soon, and with it the Jedi will fall. The Rebellion has a fighting chance because then it will be a hopeless cause in league with the Jedi against an Empire only the corrupt will support." He smiled. "I guess this is destiny's way of telling us we aren't getting out of this whole mess that easily."

Padmé caught on to what Anakin was getting at. "You mean to say that this would have happened anyway, but it didn't because seventeen years ago we received an intervention from the future? Anakin, do you think this means that the Jedi will all be killed again? Is that really what is necessary for the Force to be balanced?"

"It's not going to happen if I have anything to say about it," Anakin replied. "Besides, I'm sure everything will turn out all right eventually." He glanced at his watch and stood up. "I'm sorry, Angel, but I do have to go to work now and report in. I'll see you in two days."

Padmé put on a smile. "Make sure you come back or I'll hunt you down and make you apologize," she warned, deciding to lighten the conversation up by the time it would finish. "I won't be as kind to whoever holds you up, though."

"I'm sure that's a warning that most would be scared off by," Anakin replied, grinning.

Padmé walked Anakin to the door. After she had kissed him goodbye, she watched his speeder go off into the distance. I'm alone now, she realized as she walked back into the kitchen. Leia isn't here for me to talk into staying a Senator or reassure that her father hasn't read her diary. Artoo has some job in the Rebellion, most likely acting as the astromech for Luke's X-wing. Threepio's with Leia. Obi-Wan's probably in the same situation as Anakin. Bail's on Alderaan. Garm's back on Corellia. Mon's with the Rebellion. And, to make it all worse, Jar Jar's back on Naboo. Padmé sighed while she took the carton of milk out of the refrigerator and set it on the counter. Next to it was the datapad. Padmé picked up the datapad and turned it on. Instead of reading Leia's letter, she found the main menu and the table of contents. There were around forty messages, as far as Padmé could tell. About a third were from Rogue Squadron, which she found rather funny. Anakin had a fan club. After deciding to read those letters later (Anakin wouldn't mind that much), Padmé opened Leia's letter again and started reading.

Padmé watched as the representative of the Empire stood to speak. He was, of course, with the Senator from Mustafar. It was really no surprise. Padmé had guessed that Pestage was one of the leaders of the Empire long before. The young man about to speak was either Pestage's superior or a political smokescreen meant to hide the true nature of the Empire. Or, Padmé mused, the young man was both. Looks could be deceiving.

The Chancellor spoke the formal introduction which was required. "The Senate recognizes Supreme Commander Loki Warender of the Imperial Coalition."

The one called Warender smiled. "My friends," he said in a completely benevolent tone. "For the past year, we, the Empire and Republic, have been fighting against a rancorous and baneful uprising which has already managed to murder millions in their efforts to split the Republic apart. As you know, this hateful conflict had ripped apart the fabric of what we believe in. They have eliminated the order of things and what the Republic treasures most: safety, security, and, most of all, justice and peace."

Padmé could not keep her jaw from dropping with his last statement. Safety, security, justice, and peace? What was this guy going on about? The Empire was the murder machine, not the Rebellion! The Rebels fought for peace and justice against the Sith. Padmé now had no doubt that the Sith Lords which Anakin had been so worried about were in league with the Empire. The "Supreme Commander" was proof enough of that. He had to either be a Sith himself or extremely deluded. If he was a Sith, then could he possibly be the Jedi-killer that Anakin had been referring to?

Warender continued. "As you know, the Jedi side with this illustrious legislative body in the matter of the current civil war that has the galaxy in a death grip. Again, they are going to take up arms against a corrupt foe which is only concerned about causing discord and splintering the Republic into so many pieces so that they can clean it all up and reshape the galaxy themselves. The only reason that they are better than the Separatists is that they have the decency to damn themselves by murdering our soldiers themselves instead of hiding behind infinitely replaceable battle droids."

Smiling grimly, Warender started to spew more slander about the Rebellion. "Imperial intelligence has indicated, however, that the Rebellion may in fact be working with the former Separatists. I am not going to pass any judgments based on that information, but who can say as to whether the Rebellion will cause yet another war which will cause the deaths of countless more? Only, this time, we shall lose a generation of young people and not replaceable clones." He shook his head, wearing an expression of what Padmé considered to be mock sympathy.

"However, that is not the greatest shame of this war. This war is different from the Clone Wars. This war could have been prevented, and prevented easily! 'Why?' you may ask. The reason why is that for some time, the Empire has suspected that someone in the Senate is the leader of this foolish and unscrupulous rebellion. I need not say whom has been accused of such action in the past, but I ask you why. Why did this horrible war start? Why did those Senators start this appalling uprising? And why was the Empire targeted?

"I can tell you why the Empire was targeted. We were targeted because they are fighting against everything that we stand for. It is even said that the newly resurrected Sith threat has decided to cast its lot with the Rebellion. This rumor, while it is a rumor, does seem to have potential veracity to it since as of yet, there has been no record whatsoever of any Jedi joining the Rebellion. Is that a mere coincidence? Or is it the reason?"

Padmé was disappointed to bare witness to the murmuring that the accusation caused, but she was very frustrated at herself and outraged at what the Imperial was insinuating. She could stand up right now and declare that everything Warender had said was incorrect; not only incorrect, but that what he said was bald-faced lies and severe bending of the truth. If she said any of that, Padmé knew that she would dig her own grave in that everyone would know she was one of the Rebel leaders. She would be dooming the Jedi if she said that there were Jedi in the ranks of the Rebellion because they would be accused of siding with the Rebels. She would be betraying Bail and Garm and Mon. She would be destroying any chance of finally ridding the universe of the Sith. She would virtually be signing the death warrants of her family. So, Padmé stayed silent.

"Unfortunately," Warender continued. "I believe that, while the Republic has been doing a commendable job, we need to have a more stable leader. The Chancellor needs to be able to given more responsibilities over the war situation instead of acting as an unbiased mediator. Maybe during times of peace an impartial negotiator is more beneficial, but this, sadly, is not one of those times." Warender set his face in a mask of determination. "I have no doubts about the Chancellor's abilities to govern the Republic, but I do not think that he is the best man for the job of leading the armies of the Republic and Empire against this Rebel Alliance." He took a deep breath. "I move for a vote of no confidence against the Supreme Chancellor for the good of the Republic and outcome of the war."

Padmé sighed. So that was the plan. The Empire was using the same methods to gain control that Palpatine had caused her to use to bring him to power over three decades before. No doubt someone would suggest that Supreme Commander Loki Warender replace the current Chancellor as the leader of the Republic. It vaguely amazed Padmé that the rest of the Sith would allow someone as young as Warender to lead them and eventually lead the Empire. Maybe, however, he wouldn't be nominated. Maybe no one would support the vote of no confidence. Padmé doubted that, and her hopes were proven false as the Senator of Kuat seconded Warender's motion. She was extremely surprised that the Chancellor seemed to believe Warender's statement about his inability to lead the Republic. What was wrong with the Senate these days.

There was a short recess before the Senate started up again and people started being nominated for the job of Supreme Chancellor. Unsurprisingly, Warender was nominated and graciously accepted the nomination with humility. Padmé listened to the rest of the nominations and realized that Warender was the only one that was even capable of the job, as much as she hated to admit it. She gazed around the room. Very few people who had been Senators during the Clone Wars still held those jobs. They remembered the warning which had been made against the Empire, but they were too small a voice to combat the roar of approval for Warender and his Empire.

By the time the Senate was dismissed, the sun was starting to set. When Padmé finally arrived at home, it was dark outside. She opened the door and was a little depressed that all the lights were off; it reminded her that she was completely alone. Shutting the door behind her, Padmé set her briefcase and keys on the table near the door. Padmé felt like collapsing on the couch and just falling asleep, hoping that the past year had just been a bad dream and that she would wake up in the morning with Anakin next to her, snoring louder than a rancor, and at breakfast Leia would be complaining about the Senate again. Wishful thinking... Padmé thought. Better eat dinner.

In the kitchen, Padmé took one of the frozen Corellian pizzas out of the freezer and put it in the microwave. The newspaper Anakin had been reading was still on the kitchen table. The headline read "Rebels Attack Imperial Forces On Dubrillion." Padmé recognized the name of the planet from the latest mission that one of the X-wing squadrons had gone on. It had been a scouting mission for a supposed Imperial operations center, but it had been a trap. A land-based laser cannon had almost taken out some of the capital ships which had come as back up. She shook her head. The galaxy had certainly gone mad in the past year to confuse good and evil. The Republic's propaganda machines weren't helping.

The microwave dinged to signal that it was finished. Sitting down to eat, Padmé took the now-cooked pizza out and set it on the table next to the newspaper. She was about to start eating when the door bell rang. Who could that be? Padmé furrowed her eyebrows. It was near eleven o'clock. She stood back up and walked out of the kitchen into the living room and over to the entrance hallway. For some reason, Padmé found herself wanting to be holding a blaster. Maybe it was because she was home alone at eleven, or maybe it was the Force, she didn't know. Collecting herself, Padmé opened the door, not really sure what she was expecting to be there. The people standing there were the last people in the entire universe she expected. After all, said people was supposed to have been dead.

"Senator Amidala," Count Dooku said. "It certainly is nice to see you once again."

"But---but you're supposed to be---Anakin killed you!" Padmé managed to spit out.

"And Kenobi killed me," Maul mentioned. "But that is beside the point at the current moment." He was telling the truth. There was something else going on. Something else that had made two Dark Lords of the Sith dress in matching black suits and wear sunglasses.

"Why are you dressed like the Tanaabese Mafia?" Padmé asked, still in shock from seeing two dead people show up at her front door. They were even wearing holsters with old fashioned guns which fired bullets. The lightsabers were missing. "I'm not asleep, am I?"

Darth Maul cleared his throat. "We are here on behalf of our employers who wish you to remain silent about whatever information you know about the Empire which has been learned from any of the Jedi. Our employers do not wish to have you killed quite yet, hence why you are not dead at the moment. Then again, if we were allowed to kill you, we would think twice about it since Anakin Skywalker still hasn't had gone through an anger management course. Having him as a Sith is only useful to us if he doesn't want to kill us."

"No, you are awake," Dooku added. "Our employers also wish that you would stay silent about any of your theories about the Empire or its leader, Loki Warender."

"You mean that Sith Lord," Padmé stated.

"That's what you are not supposed to say," Maul stated. "Furthermore, due to your involvement with the Rebel Alliance, in other words, the fact that you're one of the leaders, we are to blackmail you in order to keep you silent about the Death Star and how the Empire is generally the aggressor in any and all conflicts. The blackmail was supposed to be some vague threat which was to be along the lines of killing your daughter, but to do that, the Empire would have to find the Rebel base with the Rebels still there."

"So, we are just threatening to kill you if you release any of that information to the populace, media, or the Senate," Dooku explained.

Padmé stared at the two. They were starting to get on her nerves. "First off, how the hell are you two alive? Second, I wasn't going to say anything anyway for certain reasons. Third, why the hell are you two threatening me like Mafia flunkies? It''s demented."

"We are not we are not at liberty to answer the first question and are glad to hear the statement, and the answer to the second question is that our employers decided to make us suffer by having us do this," Maul explained again. "Our employers are very sadistic."

Padmé stared at the two Dark Lords. "You know, I sincerely doubt this is actually happening. I'm probably asleep at the kitchen table, face down in pizza, and this is all a dream which was brought on by all the stuff going on in the Senate today."

Dooku and Maul exchanged glances, as if to say to each other, "Maybe it would be best not to tell her that she really is awake." They stayed silent as Padmé decided to keep ranting about how unfair the galaxy was being to her today. After about fifteen minutes, the Dark Lords decided to excuse themselves from the premises to avoid the ranting.

Convinced she had (oddly enough) scared off the Dark Lords, Padmé shut the door to the apartment and fell asleep on the couch, determined to shrug the evening off as just a dream when she awoke in the morning.

The next day, Padmé woke up twenty minutes prior to the first discussion of the day in the Senate. Needless to say, she was a tad rushed in getting ready for work. As a result, she ended up wearing some of her old army fatigues from back during the Naboo Blockade Crisis. After grabbing her briefcase and keys, Padmé flew out the door and was able to hail a cab in less than a minute. She had barely remembered to brush her teeth, much less eat breakfast, so she was hungry the entire way to the Senate. Her efforts did pay off when she arrived at the Senate building a minute prior to the start of the work day.

After settling down into her seat, Padmé took a look at the schedule for the day. The first item on the list was the election of the new Supreme Chancellor. The list had been narrowed down to two people: Loki Warender (No surprise there, she thought) and Senator Quèrque of Esirpretne, a little known system on the Outer Rim. There was a time for open discussion before the debates started, and Padmé remained silent about the true actions of the Empire, not because of her very demented dream the night before but because of the repercussions which would affect the Jedi and the Alliance. When the debates started she listened carefully and reluctantly had to admit that Warender did seem like the better man for the job. Maybe she shouldn't have turned down the nomination for her to run for the position the day before. If she had actually won, then maybe the laws made against the Rebellion could have been nullified. It was too late now.

Finally, the vote was called. Padmé didn't know who she should vote for. Warender knew what he was doing, but Quèrque was better for the well-being of the Republic. Then again, there was always the fill in answer which took the place of a third candidate. Who would she put there, though? She couldn't really say herself; that would be conceited. Padmé sighed and wrote down three names on three pieces of paper. After drawing one randomly, she wrote down that name on the blank provided and cast her vote. Knowing Mon's popularity in the Senate, she probably would be receiving a few percent herself.

It took less than half an hour for the votes to be counted. The soon to be former Supreme Chancellor of the Republic announced the results. "Commander Warender wins the election with fifty-one percent of the vote, followed by Senator Quèrque with twenty-four percent of the vote, then Senator Mothma with seven percent of the vote, Senator Organa with seven percent of the vote, and Senator Amidala with seven percent of the vote, and the remaining four percent was various other Senators."

Padmé was not surprised that Warender won. He probably had supporters of most of the planets that already supported the Empire and supplied them goods. Of course, that meant that the Empire was controlling the majority of the Senate. I wonder how long he will delay crowning himself Emperor? Padmé thought. I mean, Warender could probably get himself all of the powers Palpatine had given himself by the end of the year. All that really has to happen is that the current Rebel base is discovered.

Warender made his way to the center and started giving his acceptance speech. Padmé completely zoned out at that point and started wondering about whether she should walk out or not. Voting against the majority that the Empire controlled would be meaningless. She did have a duty to represent the people of Naboo, but everything seemed so hopeless now. The Empire was in control of the Senate. At least the Rebellion still lived. Padmé allowed herself a smile. She had been wrong. There was still some hope.

The Senate had let out early after all sorts of emergency powers were granted to Warender in order to combat the Rebel "threat." Padmé arrived at home at a reasonable hour and was about to go make herself dinner when, for the second day in a row, someone knocked on the door. Since Warender was now in control of the Senate, she was pretty sure that it was a secret police force belonging to the Empire. "I'll be right there!" Padmé called out. She went over to her desk in the office near her and Anakin's room and got out a notepad and pen. After writing a note to Anakin in case the person at the door was an Imperial agent, she went to answer the door. The people standing outside the door were of no surprise to her this time.

"Hello, Supreme Chancellor," Padmé greeted, smiling coldly. "For what reason do I have this honor?" she asked him, looking over the two guards he had with him for weapons.

Warender smirked. "You know exactly why I'm here, Senator Amidala. You're a member of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor to the Republic. I'm here to make sure that you are in fact detained. The Senate will be informed that you were sent on a mission so as to not arouse suspicion as to why you are missing. I'm only being this kind because you did turn down that nomination yesterday. I'm sure that if you hadn't that you would be Chancellor and not me. I owe you everything. Hence, the kindness."

"Spare me the pleasantries, Warender," Padmé requested. "I understand your reasons for keeping this a secret. Oh, and let me guess, in a year or two once your power has been cemented, I'll be quietly executed, and you will just say that I died in action. Then I'd be a martyr for the Imperial cause, and you will have executed a Rebel leader."

"You have me completely wrong, Amidala," Warender replied condescendingly. "I only wish for a stronger Republic. That's all that the Empire ever wanted."

"You mean a stronger Empire," Padmé retorted. "That so called 'space station' story you had your henchman Pestage spew was less than convincing. People will eventually learn the truth about the Death Star, and more star systems will slip through your fingers!"

"So sure of yourself and your pitiful Rebellion," Warender said disapprovingly, ignoring his former statement. "When the Republic learns of the Death Star's true power, it will be when there is a demonstration on a planet of it. I was thinking of making it Alderaan, but Naboo would do just as well. Of course, when that does happen, the Republic will be no more, and there will only be the Empire and a memory of the traitorous outlaws part of the short lived Rebel Alliance. Nothing more. Liberty will die to the sound of applause."

"Not if the Jedi can help it!" Padmé exclaimed. "They won't allow that to happen!"

"Then I shall rid myself of them in a similar fashion as to what has been done before," Warender told her. "All I have to do is go through with the current program. My emergency powers are more than enough to send the Jedi out on the front again. It will be supremely ironic that the two groups fighting for liberty and peace and justice will massacre each other."

Padmé glared at Warender. "You won't win. People will see through the lies. Oppression always breeds rebellion, Warender. You will only cause more war and death."

"That's the point. You know I'm one of the Sith. We thrive on fear and betrayal!" Warender laughed wickedly. "You of all people should know that!"

"Yes. I know that. And now I've allowed two Sith to come to power in the Senate."

"No, dear girl. Only one. I thought you might have recognized me, but apparently you hadn't." He laughed again. "How do you like my clone? I'm rather handsome now, no?"

Padmé stared at him in wide-eyed shock. "Palpatine! You---you're not old! How?"

"I told you already," Palpatine told her. "I'm in the body of a clone of me. I brought myself back to life. Interesting, isn't it? Being a Sith does have its benefits. Now, where is that angry husband of yours? Oh---he's away, isn't he? No matter. I'll just tell him about your 'mission' later. The next thing on my agenda is to find this reality's version of that damned Jedi that managed to talk your husband out of turning to the dark side and the annoying Princess of Alderaan who came up with the idea to find the ysalamir." Palpatine motioned for his guards to handcuff Padmé. "Then I'll find your... daughter, wasn't it?"

"Go to hell!" Padmé told him as the two guards handcuffed her and dragged her out of the apartment. "You'll never find them!"

"Ah, all three are with the Alliance, then?" Palpatine mused. "Oh well. I'll find them sooner or later. And about the hell comment. I've been there. It's actually very nice on the weekends but a pain every other day of the week. Especially Monday. Mondays are evil."

Adi and Aayla came out of hyperspace a few days later over the planet of Hoth. Somewhat confused, Aayla made sure that the coordinates were correct. "Why would they set up a base on a frozen ball of ice?" she wondered out loud.

"It seems to me that most of the Rebellion has a few screws loose," Adi commented. "Then again, according to that one testimony, the craziest of the Rebellion thought this planet should be stayed very far away from."

"True." Aayla started their decent, and after a few minutes, they received a call from the Rebel ground control, pretending that the base was a colony and demanding who they were. Aayla exchanged a glance with Adi and then responded. "Alliance Ground Control, this is Jedi Master Aayla Secura with Jedi Master Adi Gallia requesting permission to land."

For about a minute, all Aayla and Adi received for an answer was static. Finally, though, the ground control answered. "Permission granted, Masters Jedi. You're cleared to land at..." the Rebel listed a string of coordinates and cut off the transmission.

"That was easy," Adi commented. "I hadn't thought that they would allow us to land so easily. I'd have thought they would have demanded proof."

"Adi, they do have Corran and Kyle with them," Aayla pointed out. "They can sense a Master at least a mile away. You know how much trouble they avoid."

"Oh, right. I had almost forgotten about the last incident..." Adi said, smiling. "It's been too quiet at the Jedi Temple without those troublemakers. Callista has even gone as far as saying she misses Kyle's essays on the injustices of the grading scale."

"Teneniel and Allya have been much quieter, too. But I suppose that's because of Mara's disappearance as well as the others running off to join the Rebels," Allya added, somewhat melancholy. The two Jedi Masters were silent the rest of the way down to the planet. In the Rebel hangar bay, there was only enough room to set down the ship next to the most beat-up looking freighter that they had ever seen. "Sithspit! Look at that!"

Adi was gaping at the ship. "That poor, poor ship. How could anyone be so cruel to a Corellian freighter of that caliber? It's almost a sacrilege! If I find the pilot..."

Shutting the Last Crusade down, Aalya shook her head. "Remember, anger is for the Dark Side, and the Sith practice revenge. Besides, what if it's a Corellian pilot that owns the ship? And modifications actually do work? And well? Then it'll be all right, correct?"

Glaring at Aayla as they walked to the ramp of the ship, Adi retorted, "No. That's completely different, and you know it. Then he only deserves a swift kick in the a---"

Aayla had elbowed Adi in the side to stop her since they had reached the reception party. Smiling, she began to introduce them with the pre-planned speech, "Hello, we're Jedi Masters Aayla Secura and Adi Gallia. Our purpose here is to gather as much information as possible about the Rebel Alliance so that the Jedi Council can make a decision about whether you truly are a threat to the Republic. You do not have to disclose any confidential information, and the knowledge of the location of the base has not been spread farther in the Order than the Council."

"In other words," Adi said, "We're here to affirm our standpoint that you are and always have been in the right and that the Imps aren't finding out the location of this place from us under any circumstances whatsoever. Also, we brought some real food."

The leader of the group of Rebels shook his head. "I take it that this means you found the information that Rogue Squadron left?" Adi and Aayla nodded. "Figures," the man murmured under his breath before continuing. "In any case, I'm General Carlist Rieekan, and, on behalf of the Rebellion, welcome to Hoth Base. I hope you brought warm clothes because 'something' managed to create a power outage and we're going to be without heat for a few days. I apologize for the inconvenience."

Adi waved it off. "No problem whatsoever! We brought enough clothing and emergency blankets to warm a whole score of people. I'm afraid the Rogues must have exaggerated a bit about the cold, though. If this is how warm the hangar is, then the tunnels and rooms must be a decent temperature."

"About that..." started someone who was covered covered from head to toe in bright orange. "This is the warmest room in the entire base. Oh, and General? I've been charged to tell you that the Rogue/High Command Capture The Flag Game has begun again and that your side is losing already. Oh, and Luke's working on the whole heating problem with the engineers since he caught that cold the last time he got pelted with snow."

"And this is Ensign Derek Klivian," Rieekan introduced the orange pile of blankets. "He's a member of the infamous Rogue Squadron, whose leader has abandoned them to do something productive rather than something against Alliance directives."

"Luke always was a good kid," Aayla replied. "Except for when Corran and Kyle decided to include him in some half-baked scheme to... do stuff."

"Like the time Corran and Kyle decided to tape 'Kick-me' signs on the backs of all of the Council members for April Fools," Adi explained. "Then Anakin, the former master prankster, decided to join them in their efforts. He denied all involvement, of course."

There was a moment of awkward silence before Rieekan spoke up again. "So, what would you like to know about the Rebellion? General statistics? Our version of battles? Would you like to interview some of the soldiers?"

"The interview option sounds nice," Aayla decided. "You see, we're not supposed to tell anyone, but we're just looking for excuses to side with you, and this would probably the perfect chance to do so. If we could find some of the best people to interview, then---"

"I think I know just the people," Rieekan said, cutting her off. "Unfortunately..."

"Let me guess: they're completely and totally mad," Adi suggested. "Or, even worse, one of them is the owner of that poor, poor YT-1300."

"...Yes, one of them is Major Solo, and I completely agree. The Millennium Falcon may be the fastest ship in the fleet, but it's a crime as to how bad that ship looks." Rieekan shook his head. "Solo won't even give it a new paint job!"

"Disgraceful..." Adi shook her head, too, as they started off toward the barracks, following Ensign Klivian, who was heading back towards the snowball fight. On the way there, Adi counted fifteen snowballs hit General Rieekan and none hit Klivian. The only conclusion she could draw was that they were in "Rogue Territory." Eventually, they reached a pilot's break room in which the Rogues were hiding out in and plotting snowball tactics against the High Command. Rieekan opened the door and was showered with a flurry of thrown snowballs. One of the perpetrators came out of the room to investigate and saw the two Jedi Masters and Klivian. Adi decided immediately that he was Corellian.

"Who the hell are you?" the Corellian demanded of the Jedi Masters. He turned to Hobbie. "What the hell's going on? Corran suddenly split a few minutes ago, and Kyle's hiding in one of the storage lockers."

Aayla laughed. "A storage locker? Tsk, tsk, tsk. He's losing form. Kyle used to hide in the ceiling ducts to avoid trouble. Now he's merely locking himself in lockers?"

"Oh, you're Jedi then?" the Corellian asked, trying to be more polite. "That certainly does explain why all of the Jedi in training suddenly made themselves scarce. Are you coming to take them back? Or must we suffer more of Kyle and Corran?"

"Han, where's Luke?" Klivian queried. "Do you know which of the power generators the mechanics are having him work on? I was over near bunker theta when you guys called me back to tell Rieekan we'd started up the snowball fight again. Oh, and Senator Mothma said that we're approved for the scouting mission for our new base."

"Mon actually approved Rogue squadron to take on that mission?" Rieekan interjected. "After what happened last time! You took a vacation!"

Han looked around at their surroundings and he eventually finished with staring at Rieekan in the eye. "Can you seriously blame us for wanting to escape this frozen hell? What you wanted us to do could have as easily been done by a droid. Quite frankly, I think we're better off going to Naboo than staying on Hoth and all getting sick before returning to Citenik and spreading the illness to the rest of the Rebellion. If we're going to a semi-decent planet this time, then we won't leave the planet and there will be no problem."

"Major Solo, you do know that all of you have not been court-martialed since you got away with that little stunt on the technicality that you would have had permission to find a medical facility to have those two treated for whatever they caught. Since then, however, those two have fallen ill with that disease multiple times," Rieekan reprimanded him before turning to Adi and Aayla and introducing Solo. "And this is Major Solo, captain of the Millennium Falcon and unofficial member of Rogue Squadron. Now if you excuse me, I must be leaving. I don't wish to be pelted with snowballs for much longer, and I do have to report to Senators Mothma, Bel Ibis, and Organa."

"I am not part of that squad! I don't want to be connected with that crazy group! (No offense, Hobbie) They only drag me into their schemes!" Solo retorted. "They also get me to fly them everywhere! Well, at least the core group of insanity..."

"And Leia," Hobbie added. "Oh, and no offense taken. We, the Rogues, are nuts."

"It's nice to meet you, Major Solo," Aayla said. "I'm Aayla Secura and this is Adi Gallia. We're both Jedi Masters and on the Jedi Council. We were wondering if you know of anyone who would like to be interviewed by us for a project that the Council is doing."

Solo and Hobbie stared at her and Adi. Solo was the one that found his voice first. "Wait a sec, does this have anything to do with the Council supposedly wanting to find excuses to prove the Empire wrong and join up with the Rebellion?"

"Was it Corran or Kyle that couldn't keep his mouth shut?" Adi asked, annoyed.

"Uh, it was Leia," Hobbie replied. "Apparently her mom has friends on the Council."

"Leia? You're friends with her?" Aayla asked, a little surprised, before slapping herself on the forehead. "Of course! I forgot! You went on the mission to Hoth together. And Solo, I think that you would be happy to know that Leia's parents were ...happy... that someone like you was taking care of their daughter. It's a long story, but they know you from somewhere, so don't go demanding how they would know that you're a good person."

"Who are her parents?" Klivian inquired. "I mean, we figured out that Bail's only her godfather after about half a year. She never talks much about either of her parents."

Aayla and Adi exchanged glances. "Well, she probably has a very good reason for not saying anything, and it isn't our place to tell what she doesn't want the entire Alliance to know about," Adi replied. Seeing the confused look on Klivian's face, she explained. "Thanks to your squadron's idea to leave that information back at your base on Citenik, we know that the Rogues can spread information like wildfire... Or, in this planet's case, snow."

"Oh, so you did get the information," Solo said. "I was wondering how you knew to come here to see the Rebellion. I guess this means Dack and Zev lost that bet."

"Solo? I have a question for you," Adi said. "Why do you keep your ship in such a disgraceful condition? It's looks almost like a ghost ship out of a horror holovid. You should be ashamed to be Corellian and keep that ship like it is."

"It makes point five past lightspeed."

"I stand corrected. But it does need a new paint job." Adi shook her head. "Anyway, would you---and Rogue Squadron, if you can convince them---participate in this survey we're trying to do? The faster it happens, the faster we can help you and quit the Empire."

Kyle walked out of the room before Han could answer. "I could convince some of the commandoes to help, too," he declared. "Oh, and Hobbie? Wes wants a progress report."

"I can't do everything, you know!" Hobbie exclaimed. "I haven't even been back for ten minutes, and he expects me to report what's going on with the snowball fight?" He walked back into the room, muttering about the injustices of the system.

"Katarn, I would like to inform you that most of your instructors actually miss you, but only two of the Jedi Masters would like to say good riddance," Aayla reported. "I'll leave you to guess which green 'troll' as to which I am referring and other permanent Council member. But, as of this moment, that is besides the point."

"The other part of our mission is concerning Mara," Adi explained. "She's been missing for some time, and as her teacher, I feel responsible for her disappearance. The question is whether you know if she's joined the Rebellion and neglected to inform us, or whether she did not join. Any information would be greatly appreciated."

"She's not part of the Rebellion," Kyle answered. "I haven't seen her since Corran and I left the Temple, and neither has any of the others. Leia and Luke would have said something. Han doesn't know her, but I think he'd say something if he saw her."

"Who are we talking about?" Han asked. "The name does sound familiar."

"Mara Jade. She's one of our friends who we thought was back on Coruscant. We did tell you that story about how I managed to get her to wear a dress in pink, no less, right? She's the girl that Luke likes, no matter how much he denies it," Kyle explained.

"Right. Now I remember. Wes told the story back on Naboo. I think that Chewie and I had almost gone to the same restaurant that you guys went to. I eventually talked Chewie into going to Dex's Diner since we didn't have all that much money at the time."

"Mara's missing? Since when?" Leia, who had been standing in the doorway, asked. "What happened?" She turned and saw Adi and Aayla. "This doesn't have anything to---"

"Don't worry, your parents didn't hire us to take you back to Coruscant. One of them is driving us to distraction, though," Adi said, smiling. "However... We haven't known where Mara is since Rogue Squadron and the 181st skirmished at Selttiks."

"But you have a theory," Leia pressed. "What is it? If she isn't here, then where---No. You can't possibly think that... She didn't seem the type to do that."

"We're not so sure she joined by her own free will," Aayla said. "In fact, your father believes that it's all a plot by the leader of the Empire. The rest of the information is classified at the moment. It would probably be better if you didn't know for the time being."

"So Palpatine is back, then," Kyle said. "We've always suspected that, you know."

"Mara never said anything about that dream she had right before I left?" Leia asked.

Aayla shook her head. "No, she did tell Obi-Wan and Anakin, but Anakin said that it was one of the dreams she'd had before. I've been starting to doubt what he said, but he probably has a good reason for not saying anything. He told us the important part, though."

"Which important part?" Leia asked, suddenly remembering a phrase Mara had spoken right after she had woken up from that dream which had to do with the Sith. If the Jedi Masters didn't know, then she would better not tell them about it.

Adi stared at Leia. "Just Palpatine's location and condition. Was there something more to the vision? Or was it just more of her nightmares about what would have been?"

"No, there was nothing else," Leia amended hurriedly. "I was just confused."

"Okay. Well, since you are here, would you like to participate in our survey?" Aayla asked cheerfully before frowning. "Oh Force, I sound like a holomarketer."

Anakin had had a bad week so far. Not only had Padmé been missing for the whole of said week since she was apparently off on some mission for the new Chancellor (Anakin didn't buy that explanation), but the Council had to meet the new Chancellor, too. They had been putting it off for the entire week since they had returned, but the time had finally come when they could put it off no longer. What was worse was that Adi was having trouble making sure the holotransmission did not betray her location and that of the Rebel base. Anakin took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair, waiting for the Chancellor to enter.

He didn't have to wait long since the Chancellor entered a few seconds later. To Anakin, the Chancellor looked eerily familiar, and the Chancellor's presence in the Force was all too familiar, but to Anakin's dismay, he couldn't quite put a finger on where he had felt it before. The Chancellor smiled sickeningly sweetly, and Anakin decided he felt like barfing. "Hello, it is an honor and a pleasure to meet all of you. I am Loki Warender, the newly elected Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, and in case you didn't know, I am also the military leader of the Empire," Warender introduced himself. Anakin narrowed his eyes. Dual alliances? Not likely. He's the Emperor's man through and through, Anakin decided.

As the new Chancellor began to drone on about how he was planning to utilize the Jedi in the new Galactic Civil War, Anakin zoned him out and started talking to Obi-Wan telepathically. /I don't trust him. There's something strange going on. /

/No there isn't, Anakin. You're being paranoid. The Empire may be under the command of the Sith, but unless he's the fourth that you were so disturbed by, then nothing is wrong for the time being,-/ Obi-Wan replied. /Besides, if this was one of the Sith, then---/

A thought struck Anakin. /Obi-Wan... What if he's Palpatine? There was a legend where a Sith transferred his spirit into the body of another. And don't pretend that you can't sense his presence either. It absolutely reeks of the Dark Side. /

/That may just be a residual effect from being around the Sith,-/ Obi-Wan pointed out.

Mace sent a warning glare their way. /Would you two be quiet? It's hard to listen to two conversations at once, and while I agree with you, Anakin, you should be paying attention to what the Chancellor is saying, not coming up with conspiracy theories. /

The two fell silent at that and went back to listening to the new Chancellor. "...I believe that the Republic will not be safe until this meaningless Rebellion has been crushed. If it means that the Republic has to be plunged back into war, then so be it. I am just glad that the Jedi have yet again chosen the correct side."

/Okay, that's just screaming maniacal laughter and want to take over the galaxy. Can you really not believe that this guy is a psychopath, Obi-Wan?-/

/Anakin, would you be quiet? You're imagining things! He doesn't even have that dark a presence, so where is the big evil aura coming from?-/

/Quiet, you two should be. Annoying, your incessant bickering is. Like an old married couple, you are. A joke about my age, Skywalker, you should not make. /

/Sorry, Master Yoda,-/ both Obi-Wan and Anakin apologized before yet again falling silent. Anakin almost fell asleep through all of the subtle evil speech making which was more likely to bore him to death than be of any use to him in the time to come. Then came a mildly interesting portion of the obviously well-rehearsed speech. "...and so I would like to report that the Empire's spy network has discovered which sector the Rebel base is in, and we are likely to launch an attack within the next four months. Unfortunately, we still have a long way to go in our search because of the multitude of uninhabited planets in the sector. It will take a week or more to travel to the base in addition to the planning time which would cause the four month time frame. I will make sure that you receive the information as soon as we have it. The Order's help in the matter would be greatly appreciated.

"Furthermore, I would like to address a certain matter which has come to my attention. I have received reports from various sources that there are Jedi in the ranks of the Rebellion. Is this true? I was under the impression that all of the Jedi were loyal to the Republic, so why would some be with the Rebellion? Or are my reports incorrect?"

Anakin hid a grin with his hand and replied as deadpan as he possibly could. "No, they're correct. Some of the older Padawans decided that it was necessary to join the Rebellion to defend the Republic. They think that the Empire is trying to take over." Anakin thought about ending it there, but the rest of the Council would be a little angry, so he continued. "It's a preposterous idea, but they thought it was correct. However, a few Padawans joined the Empire. It's a horrific thought that they might meet each other in battle."

The Chancellor nodded gravely. "I fear this war may tear many families apart. It may be even more disastrous than the Clone Wars, but we can only hope it will not be so. Hopefully, these rebellious teenagers you speak of will figure out that the Rebellion will only spell doom for the Republic and come back and join the correct side."

/Nice save, Anakin/ Aaron thought. /I don't know if many of us could have bluffed our way through that one./ He paused. /I'm starting to think you're right about this guy, though. /

/I told you there was something weird about him. Besides, do you see how sure he is of himself? Almost as if he didn't care if the Rebellion was defeated just yet, but that it would be more important to tarnish its name before he annihilated it. /

/If one of us admits we think Warender's a Dark Lord, will you stay quiet?-/ Mace demanded. /It's starting to get rather annoying, and we need to be searching for problems with what he's saying so we have some legal standing to ignore his orders. /

/You think so, too? Wow. This must be one of the few things we actually agree about... Okay. I'll stay silent for a while,-/ Anakin decided and started to pay close attention.

"...I hope that the Jedi will join the great majority; that would be for the good of the Republic. Then the Rebellion will be crushed. It is a wonderful thing to hope for," Warender said. He looked at his watch. "Well, I must be away. It is time for one of my appointments with a group of Senators. If you'll excuse me..."

Yoda nodded. "Most enlightening, our conversation was. Look forward to the next, we all shall," he said. The Chancellor bowed a few degrees and walked out the door. Once he was gone, Yoda looked around the room. "Say wrong, what did he?"

"That euphemism at the end was a little obvious," Depa commented. "Even for a Sith Lord, it was obvious." She only received confused stares. "That phrase he used, 'join the great majority' is a euphemism for dying. Yes, it is less obvious than 'kick the bucket,' but it means the same thing, nonetheless. He wants us, and the Republic, dead."

"Because he was also insinuating that 'the great majority' would be including the Republic?" Mace asked. "That seems a little ungrounded. However, I have no doubt that he does mean harm to the Rebellion and the Jedi. If you noticed, he avoided the subject of any Jedi joining the ranks of the Empire. I think it might have been on purpose in order to smooth over the remark. That may go towards proof of the involvement of the Sith."

"He may also not have noticed or had been concentrating on the subject of the Jedi in the ranks of the Rebellion," Obi-Wan pointed out. "Also, as to the 'great majority' comment, he might have not known that the phrase was a euphemism for dying."

"And Gammoreans may fly," Anakin replied. "Seriously, was there any doubt whatsoever with us as to whether the Empire was evil? We knew about the Death Star, and we're almost positive that there are four Sith leading them. Quite frankly, I say that Warender is actually Palpatine. He certainly acts like the conceited megalomaniac."

"Argue, we should not," Yoda declared. "Agreed that we should be with the Rebellion, it has been. Find the true identity of the Chancellor, we shall, but at hand, more important matters are. If to fight alongside the Rebellion, the Jedi are, then find a suitable place to hide the younglings, we should. Let them be caught up in the war, we shall not."

"We also need a base of operations," Adi commented from Hoth. "We cannot travel with the Rebellion; that would only endanger all of us more. The Council and the Jedi need a place far enough away from the Core and still a suitable distance from the Rebel base."

"Anywhere but Myrkr," Aaron said. "We cannot go there. It would be the first place that the Sith would look, and if there was a smuggler exodus from the planet, then the Empire would most certainly know where we would be."

"What about Honoghr?" Plo suggested. "The Noghri would probably be ecstatic to have Anakin with them for an indefinite period of time, and we, by virtue of being his coworkers, would probably be treated pretty well, too."

Anakin stared at Plo. "No. We are not going there under any condition. I'd just as soon suggest that we go hide on Tatooine, and you know how much I love that planet."

"If worst came to worst, we could always camp out on Korriban," Aayla suggested sarcastically. "Then we'd all go crazy or to the Dark Side within a week or less, guaranteed."

"Dagobah it is," Yoda decided. "A nice planet, Dagobah is. Cook for you all, I will. As to the younglings, the youngest to Honoghr, we shall send. The younger Padawans to Ithor, we shall send. Outposts for the normal Jedi there shall be on Dathomir, Bakura, maybe Barab 1, Kashyyyk, and Myrkr. No complaints should you have."

"I hope Dagobah is warmer than Hoth," Adi said. "If it's not, then I'm going to Myrkr."

"I've heard it's lovely there in the summer," Aayla added. "Dathomir, too."

"I'm allergic to Dathomir. It's a genetic thing with people from Corellia. See? Even Solo's allergic!" Adi pointed and looked off screen. "He won the planet in a card game!"

"Regardless of who has won any planet in a card game, we do need to devise a plan to evacuate all of the Jedi," Mace pointed out. "One option would be to send all of the Jedi off on missions to various places as covers, but their real orders would be to take some of the children to their assigned planets and go to their specified base of operations."

"We should have at least five Jedi Masters with each group of children," Depa suggested. "A few Jedi Knights should be stationed with them as well. They would be able to hide their presence in the Force from the Sith, but would be able to sufficiently defend the children. Also, maybe we should send some of the youngest children back to their parents or relatives for the duration of this situation. The Archives would have to be shut down to prevent any data loss, tampering, or slicing."

"Jocasta won't be very happy about having to leave the Archives unprotected," Plo noted. "However, I think that Depa's ideas are for the better. We need to make sure that the Empire cannot track us, any of our peers, or the children. If the Empire found them..."

"That's an unhappy thought which we will hopefully not have to deal with," Obi-Wan reassured him. "We should start the exodus as soon as possible, but it has to be done slowly so as not to arouse suspicion, especially with the increase in Senators 'going on missions' from the Supreme Chancellor. It makes you think that there's a secret police."

"We need to keep up appearances, and do whatever the Chancellor says," Anakin continued drearily. "Within reason, of course. We shouldn't follow an order to, say, jump off a cliff or one which purposefully incriminate the Jedi of sedition and treason."

"Not that we aren't guilty of doing that," Aayla added. "We're being treasonous to a Republic which is being controlled by the Empire. That isn't the same as treason to just the Republic. We're going to help the Rebel Alliance, whose goal is to save the Republic."

"The Republic is dead. Long live the Empire. May God have mercy on our souls..."

"Stop being so melodramatic, Anakin," Adi said. "It's unbecoming of a Jedi Master."

Anakin sighed. It was his third week working with Warender, and he was already fed up with the job. He had been since day one after working for a few minutes. If Anakin didn't know better, he could swear that Warender was using him as a personal secretary. The worst part of the job was that whenever a Senator or important diplomat was coming to meet with Warender, Anakin would have to page the Chancellor and wait for the lazy bum (or sadistic psychopath) to come out and put both the Jedi and politician out of their misery. It was disquieting to have to wait in an office with years old magazines while one of the best known heroes of the Clone Wars stared at you and everything else in the room like he wanted to kill something. Anakin was trying to perfect the glare again. It hadn't been in use since the Wars, and he needed some sort of facial expression to wear whenever Palpatine and the other Sith Lords showed themselves again. Alas, he could only practice and wait.

The first appointments of the day had been with various Senators, Bail included. Bail had been a little confused as to why Anakin was glaring at everything, but had soon been enlightened by the rankled Jedi in Ancient Alderaanian interspersed with profane Huttese. Later on, at lunch, Anakin had been mocked by the rest of the secretary community for reasons unknown. In Anakin's opinion, it was because he had chosen to make a war zone out of his plate and food, complete with little bits of carrot to symbolize certain politicians and Dark Lords. The other secretaries didn't know that bit about the carrots, but they had been laughing at him also because he was wearing the new uniform for the Naval Corps. It was the single ugliest piece of clothing on the planet, and Anakin knew it. In fact, that was the reason he had chosen the particular piece of revolting fabric. The others didn't know how light they had been let off. He could have shown up to work in a suit and cape and decided to hang from the ceiling like a mynock for the entire day. That would show Warender.

Currently, Anakin was supposed to be filing paperwork. Instead, he was playing an ancient hologame which was only 2D and black and white. As far as he knew, it was entitled Pong. Even though the graphics were primitive, to say the least, it was strangely addicting. He had been playing the game since lunch had ended. Sometime after lunch, Jar Jar had had an appointment with Warender, and Anakin had talked to the Gungan for a while. It really passed the time: he played ten games of Pong during the conversation. Anakin finally had understood why Padmé liked having Jar Jar with her during Senate debates. It took three more games of Pong after Jar Jar was called into Warender's office for another person to arrive for an appointment. The man was definitely not human, but obviously an Imperial lackey. Anakin was less surprised than bored by this new player's appearance.

"Nice day, isn't it?" Anakin asked the stranger, starting a new game of Pong and scoring a point against his computerized opponent. He vaguely wondered if Pong was based off of table tennis, the bane of his gym experiences. It was worse than dodge ball.

"Yes," the other replied. "What game are you playing?" he inquired, rather curious.

"Pong. It's addicting. I should be filing paperwork right now, but I'm being spiteful and not doing that to annoy Warender, whom I happen to think is a---Never mind."

"What do you think Warender is?" the man asked. "An inquiring mind wants to know."

"Many things, among them are certain words which only a Corellian space pirate could get away with saying in this humble hall," Anakin replied deadpan. That was his new tone of voice that he had been perfecting in order to annoy the Sith.

"What is a Jedi like you doing in a place like this?" Mr. Glow-in-the-dark Eyes asked.

"Playing Pong on a computer while talking to some guy who wants to see a Dark Lord of the Sith. It's actually very simple once you understand the fact that I'm not paranoid and that no one would believe me even if I told them about that. Well, maybe not you."

The Imperial smiled and straightened slightly. "What do you mean?" he queried.

Anakin stared boredly at the man. "You know exactly what I mean. We both hate his freaking guts. You're silently plotting his fall, and I'm making his social life hell while wasting electricity playing Pong. I'm getting the Sith hell out of here as soon as possible."

"I am plotting to destroy him? Right. I can understand you doing that, but me? That is doubtful," the Imperial replied. "Now, why would you, a decorated Jedi war hero, be here?"

"Trust me, I didn't expect to be here acting as Palpatine's personal secretary. In fact, I had hoped that the Emperor had stayed dead, but, alas, he just couldn't stay six feet under like a normal, civilized being." Anakin smiled slightly. "Unlike you, of course."

The Imperial's smile never faltered. "Warender is unlike me in that I would stay dead or that I'm a civilized being? I am almost positive you did not mean the staying dead part, but as your temperament is legendary, I was not completely sure of that."

Anakin shook his head, grinning. "You're right. I meant that you're normal and civilized, but staying deceased does apply to most beings in the universe. You know, you're one of the most agreeable people to have come through this office in the past three weeks."

"You happen to be one of the most agreeable of Warender's employees," the white-uniformed Imperial replied. "Most of my colleagues seem to have some sort of attitude problem. Some are overly obsequious, and it irritates the rest of us to no end. There are also some with anger management problems, something I have been told you also have problems with." Anakin shrugged, and the Imperial continued, "We have been having some staffing concerns over them. Our ranks are increasingly driven by how many words can be said to those coworkers before they lose patience and have the cause of irritation ...removed. I am sure you understand what I mean by that. The rest of the problems I have with any of my associates come from their incurable arrogance."

"Sounds like an exciting work environment," Anakin commented. "There's danger in my job---my normal job---but the Jedi tend only to have enemies outside our ranks, not within. When do you think the next attack on the Rebels will take place?"

The Imperial seemed thoughtful, and Anakin decided that the Imperial was actually going to answer. "I think we will still be another month to another three months. You see, Mr. Skywalker, we---the Empire---still has not pinpointed the location of the Rebel Base. To do all of the logistics to the smallest degree of error, I and the other Admirals, as well as the generals, need to know where the base is to plan the amount of rations, fuel, and ships needed for the assault. Say the Rebels were at Hoth. We would have different calculations for rations and fuel than if the base was at Dantooine. The size of the Rebel forces would determine the number of ships we would need, and that would change all of the calculations. It's all very complicated, but you probably understand what I am talking about, given your record during the Clone Wars," the Imperial explained. "I actually wonder if we are going about the destruction of the Alliance in the proper manner sometimes.

"You must understand, I think about it very rarely. You see, the leaders of the Rebellion are Corellian, Alderaanian, and Chandrilan. Alderaanians are not warlike people, and it is evident that one of the leaders is such since the Chandrilan and Corellian are balanced by that leader. The Chandrilan people love to debate, and the Corellian people will argue about anything, hence how I drew the conclusion about the third of the leaders. The Corellian influence was evident in the fighting styles of the Rebel fighters. Most seem to have a complete disregard for the odds (a well known Corellian attribute), but the commanders hold back a bit since they have to pay a little more attention. The Rebellion also has a Mon Calamarian admiral, but I haven't been in an engagement with him yet."

Anakin blinked. "Why would the home worlds of the leaders, both military and political, be all that important? Does it shape their strategies that much?" he asked. A thought struck him shortly thereafter. "Or does an analysis reveal to you their weaknesses?"

The Imperial Admiral smiled again. "You're brighter than the newspapers make you out to be. And, yes to your questions. I am proficient in a certain type of psychological analysis of their people and sometimes the subject reveals to be how they are most likely to shape their strategies and movements as well as to revealing the fatal flaw of the culture."

"That's absolutely amazing... Do you lead most of the battles?" Anakin asked, genuinely amazed and curious. "I mean that it would be a complete waste to keep you on the sidelines. You would probably be able to defeat the Alliance more quickly than Pa---Warender could ever accomplish. Heck, any of the other Imperials I've met, too."

The admiral shook his head. "No. I do not. It is a matter of secrecy. If the Rebellion knew of my existence, then they could try to hire assassins to kill me. It would be highly unlikely that they would succeed, but the rest feel as if it is too much of a risk. Quite frankly, I feel that I am at less risk than one of my esteemed colleagues who have respiratory problems. I should be more specific: the one who coughs constantly."

Anakin wasn't quite sure that he heard the admiral correctly. "Wait, you mean General Grievous is somehow alive again? And he still hasn't gotten the coughing thing fixed?"

"No, he has still not had the 'coughing thing' fixed," the admiral replied, amused by Anakin's choice of words. "Believe it or not, I counted one hundred and thirty-seven coughs made by Grievous in the duration of a single meeting on how to crush the Rebel base."

"You're speaking of Citenik, correct?" Anakin asked. "I wouldn't think that you would have a meeting that long about how to destroy the Rebels at their current base."

The admiral grimaced. "My thoughts exactly. We spent a good few hours debating about who would lead the attack on a base we have not even located yet. If it had not happened to me, I would have thought that the mere idea was inconceivable."

Anakin nodded in agreement and was about to reply, but he noticed that Jar Jar's appointment was almost over according to the little light-up message board on the corner of his desk. "It's almost time for you to have your meeting with Chancellor Warender..."

The admiral checked his watch. "So it is. I expected him to be a little longer with Representative Binks, though." Standing up, the admiral turned back to Anakin. "It has been a pleasure to meet you, Jedi Master Skywalker. Our conversation was more intelligent than some that I have had in the recent past and very much more entertaining."

Anakin absentmindedly closed the application for Pong on his computer and stood up. "Likewise. I hope we meet again under better circumstances, Admiral...?"

The blue-black haired alien with bluish skin and glowing red eyes smiled enigmatically once more. "Grand Admiral, actually. I apologize for not introducing myself sooner. I am Mitth'raw'nuruodo, but you may call me Thrawn."

Anakin grinned. "Until next time, Thrawn." The Grand Admiral nodded and walked into the office which was currently being withdrawn from by Jar Jar, who had paused at the door to watch Thrawn enter the office before continuing on his way, which happened to be talking to Anakin for a while again. "What was that all about, Jar Jar?"

"Meesa not so sure," Jar Jar replied, his confusion evident in his tone of voice. "Do yousa know whereabouts Padmé's been lately? Meesa okiedokie wid replacen her in da Senate for a while, but id ain't like Padmé ta take off widout tellen anybodies."

Anakin grimaced. "I know. It's so weird. She did leave a letter to me, and it was in her handwriting, so I knew it was her. It wasn't scripted either, but there does seem to be something strange going on. I might just be being paranoid, though. You know me."

Jar Jar nodded sagely. "Meesa agree completely. Dere's definitely sometin wrong hereabouts. However, mebbe 'tis sometin ta do wid de Chancellor? Hesa all right, but sometin's not quite right 'boud'im. Den dere's dat Admiral guy. Hesa ain't as strange as some of da other peoples that have been hangen 'round da Chancellor, but dere are some weirdoes. Well, not so weird looken, but weird acten. Very, very weird acten."

"I understand Jar Jar." Anakin sighed. "Where could Padmé have gone off to? She would never have accepted an actual mission from the current Chancellor."

"Mebbe shesa not really on a mission. Mebbe sometin bombad's goen down at da Senate. Recently, more and more Senators have gone missen. Well, besides de normal ones dat go every so often, but dey's been going off more and more recently." Jar Jar suddenly searched his pockets and brought out a piece of paper. "Dis is for yous. Padmé wrote id right before shesa went home from work da night before she went missen. Shesa told meesa ta give dis ta yous if shesa went missen for more than a short while. Meesa figured dat dis has been enough time between da day she left ta now."

Anakin took the piece of paper and smiled at the Gungan. "Thank you, Jar Jar... Keep safe, all right? The Republic's starting to get more dangerous to everyone."

"Meesa will stay outta trouble as best as meesa can," Jar Jar replied and nodded before walking off to go to wherever he was supposed to be at that moment.

Once Jar Jar was gone, Anakin sat down back at his desk, which he suspected was soon to be absent of him forever, and opened the letter from Padmé. He took a deep breath and started to read. "Ani, Warender was elected today. I'm sure you probably already know that if you're reading this letter, though. You were right. The Sith are alive. Maul and Dooku came around to the apartment last night and threatened me. Maul would make a good Mafia flunkey, but that is besides the point. I should have accepted the nomination for Chancellor; we wouldn't be in this mess if I had. I know that. Later tonight, I'll write the letter you've probably already read. I'll have said something ridiculous about how I just went on a Senate sanctioned mission and not to worry, but by the time you're reading this, I'll be glad I wrote this. Seriously, Anakin, I'm probably in some secret prison at the moment, and I would not want you to not come after me. Don't rush, though. Help the Rebellion first. I know you'll probably come rushing off to save me, but you have no clue where I am. I suspect Warender is one of the Sith, so beware of him until it's obvious who's side everyone is on. After that... all bets are off. Give 'em hell & don't forget to save me. I'll haunt you from the grave if you don't. Regardless, I love you, and I'll be waiting. ---Padmé"

On Mustafar, Darth Vader wondered why Palpatine had insisted that they keep the base of operations on the fiery planet. In his mind, Palpatine was just being sadistic, as usual. It was bad enough that Vader had to walk around the facility he remembered dueling Obi-Wan on, but having Mara Jade follow him around was over the top. Sure, she was a different person, but Jade still happened to annoy the hell out of him. Luckily for everyone at the base, things were going to change very soon. Jade was supposed to be sent off on a mission, which would make Vader, and the rest of the base by default, a little less angry.

While stomping without purpose around the facility, Vader looked at the memo that had been sent to all of the Sith and Ventress. Speaking of Ventress, Vader hated her, too. That was only natural, though, since they had been on different sides of a war at one point. The memo, on the other hand, was the schedule of the day. Thrawn had recently arrived at Mustafar after his trip to Coruscant and had brought back the concept of the memo, which had been Palpatine's idea, apparently. Thrawn seemed to hate the evil messages as much as Vader did. Regardless, the memo to the Sith had multiple events planned: interrogate the prisoners, have a "bonding session" with either the normal soldiers or each other (the Sith had chosen the latter after much deliberation and retching at the very idea of bonding), collectively give the Emperor's Hand a mission, and attend the strategy meeting.

Vader had been assigned to interrogate the newest prisoner. She was apparently a Senator, and that brought back bad memories, hence the storming around the complex. He only had about a quarter of an hour left to do the interrogation, but Vader had long decided to take the consequences rather than emotionally scar himself any more than he needed to. Speaking of emotionally scarring people, Vader made a mental reminder to plan how to improve the events at Bespin. The next assignment of the day was less than amusing. The idea of sitting in a room with two Dark Lords, a Dark Jedi, and a hologram of a Dark Lord (please let Palpatine have something better to do) for at least an hour was disturbing to say the least. Sending Jade off to Hoth would be very nice, though. At least, Vader hoped that Jade would be sent to Hoth or any other of the extreme weather planets except for Mustafar. He smiled at the thought that he knew that Hoth was the location of the Rebel base but neglected to tell anyone. It was more fun that way. Vader had the sneaking suspicion that Thrawn actually did know, but wasn't saying anything. It didn't matter.

Suddenly, Vader stopped. He narrowed his eyes as he realized that he had subconsciously walked to the prison area. Not only that, but he had stopped right outside the cell of the Senator he was supposed to be interrogating. According to the reports that the Intelligence operatives had given him, said Senator had responded to none of the conventional techniques used to acquire information. Vader idly entertained the thought of the Senator being Princess Leia, but dismissed it more quickly than it had come to mind. The Princess was definitely on Hoth like the rest of the Rebels. Finally giving up, he walked over to the door and typed in the code to unlock the door. It slid open, and once he saw whom he was supposed to be interrogating, Vader shut the door again. It just had to be her, didn't it? Vader had almost forgotten that not only was she alive, but he was alive, and Anakin had never turned to the Dark Side. Wanting be be absolutely sure he wasn't hallucinating, Vader opened and shut the door again. No, she was still there. Staring at him like he was insane, too. But who wouldn't think that he was completely mad in this situation?

Collecting himself, Vader once again opened the door, but he managed to walk inside this time. For his efforts, he was greeted with the sarcastic voice of the Senator from Naboo. "Sure took you long enough. What was with the door? Having technical difficulty?"

It's someone else who sounds and looks exactly like her, Vader tried to convince himself. It didn't work. Oh, come off it. Pretend she's Princess Leia. No, that makes it worse. "Senator Amidala. It's a pleasure to meet you," he said on autopilot. "We will now discuss the location of the Rebel base. I'm sure that you know of it; you're one of their leaders."

The Senator snorted. "Always quick to suppose things, aren't you Imperials? What are you supposed to be? A badly thought-out plan on how to scare me into telling?" she demanded. Sarcasm had always been her defense mechanism. Still was, apparently.

Vader paused. How wrong she was. "No. I am a Dark Lord of the Sith. I'm here because the Imperial agents were too inept to extract any information out of you." Pretend she's Princess---No! It makes it worse, dammit! "Now, the location of the Rebel base?"

"This is the interrogation?" the Senator demanded. "I expected something a little better. You are a pretty pathetic interrogator, Dark Lord or not. Can you not get it through your head that I am never going to tell the location?" The Senator was glaring at Vader.

Unsure of what to do, Vader decided to just tell what he considered a ghost from the past come back to haunt him the truth. "I actually know the location of the base. Not from any information acquired from you, by the way, but just because I know it. They are on Hoth."

The Senator's eyes widened. "Wh-what? How---but that's---Wait. Why haven't you told any of the other Imperials if you knew about the base? The Rebellion would have---"

"Spite. That's why." You're lying, Vader. You're being delusional. "Others know of the location. We just do not feel inclined to tell our superior of the information. When the base is moved off of Mustafar, then we might tell Palpatine, but not before." Vader decided to add more. "And don't worry about your son. He'll get off of Hoth in one piece."

Padmé stared at him. "How do you know about---" She stopped as soon as she realized whom she was really talking to. "So that's why Anakin was so rattled... and that's why you know about Hoth!" She paused again. "And why you were messing with the door. That makes all too much sense now," Padmé reflected.

Vader twitched. "I'm leaving." Great. I'm jealous of myself. This is definitely a new low which is soon to get lower at Dark Lords Anonymous... Vader opened the door and was about to leave when Padmé---I'm jealous of myself! DAMMIT!---spoke.

"...Vader? ...For not saying anything about... Well, you know. Just... Thank you."

He left the room, and after the door had slammed shut and automatically locked itself, the shell of a man who had once been Anakin Skywalker replied, "You're welcome."

Twenty minutes or so later, Vader had regained his composure and devil may care attitude and was sitting in a room with Maul, Dooku and Ventress. Palpatine had been unable to make the appointment because his secretary had suddenly quit. Vader had momentarily wonder what poor idiot would even take a job as secretary to Palpatine before remembering the job he had been employed in for the first few weeks of his time in the suit. The room was currently silent as the grave, except for Vader's breathing. It seemed to annoy the rest of the occupants of the room, and Vader was pretty sure Ventress was on the edge of taking a lightsaber to him. "So. Now what do we do?"

Maul looked on the floor and spotted a piece of paper. "Look what I found!" he exclaimed and handed the sheet over to Dooku. "I think it's another memo."

Dooku groaned after he read it. "Worse: it's a checklist of what we're supposed to be talking about. How much more evil can a person get?"

Ventress was about to answer, but Vader wanted to keep the annoyance factor down and told her, "That was a rhetorical question. Therefore, don't answer it."

Ventress glared at Vader and turned back to Dooku. "So, what's the first thing on the list? Are we really supposed to be---" She shuddered. "---bonding? Or can we just talk about random things, Jedi we've murdered, the general state of the universe?"

Dooku read the first line again, but this time out loud. "It says, 'Describe a normal day and comment/laugh at whatever each person says.' I should point out that we are supposed give the constructive comments to each other and not laugh at each other. That was for the soldiers, should they have participated in this form of torture. Oh, and we are going to have to do this in reverse alphabetical order, according to the sheet."

Ventress glared at the floor. "I'm supposed to go first? Great. So I'm supposed to describe a normal day? Fine. This day is normal enough, so I'll describe this one. I woke up a couple of hours ago when the air-raid siren went off like it usually does when anyone comes near here, including our own craft. We need to get that fixed. After that, I walked around my quarters for a few minutes before finding the stupid 'Memo of the Day' and ripping it into pieces after reading it. I realized soon after that if I didn't follow the stupid orders, Palpatine would be pissed, so I taped it back together and went about my work. The interrogation today was fruitless, as usual, and this is stupid, like I thought it would be. If everything follows the general norm, then assigning the Hands to their missions will be doubly dull like the strategy meeting we have after that. After our dinner of half-rotting rations, I'll probably go back to my quarters and fall asleep immediately." She turned to Vader. "If I'm not mistaken, it happens to be your turn now."

Vader stared back at Ventress. "We're supposed to comment. And I agree with the idiocy of the memos---and this little get together." Maul and Dooku nodded in agreement. "I feel that's enough commenting. Time for my turn." Vader paused a moment and decided to use the Battle of Hoth as his example day. "When the rest of whatever ship I happen to be on starts functioning, I'm generally on the bridge staring out of the viewports, waiting for someone to mess up or discover something. Sometimes, the crewmen are intelligent and find the location of the Rebel base, but that sometimes generally coincides with one of the officers acting like an idiot. On that same day, say that we mounted an assault on the Rebel base. The officer that was acting like an idiot before completely ruins our element of surprise, so I kill him and promote the captain of the ship. The captain was a lot more interesting, anyhow. So, as the battle is starting to wind down and the Rebels are retreating, I decide to take a little tour of the Rebel base. Solo and Organa almost run into me multiple times, but they manage to escape in Solo's scrap heap of a ship. Luckily, Solo and his Wookie managed to mess up the hyperdrive so they couldn't escape. They, instead, went through an asteroid field. I, of course, had to follow them. A captain of a normal Star Destroyer manages to lose them and comes to apologize to me. I accept his apology but kill him anyway. At that point, I realize that the one that I was looking for was not on the ship, but somewhere else. Palpatine talks to me about said person, and I formulate a plan to capture not only one of the most annoying leaders of the Alliance but one of the last Jedi."

"Wow. We really get rid of all of the Jedi?" Maul asked. "That's completely awesome! Wait, is the Organa you were talking about Princess Leia? And who's Solo?"

Vader sighed. Maybe he shouldn't have talked about Hoth. "Yes, Princess Leia Organa. She's rather annoying in most circumstances. Solo is her smuggler friend. He's the one that vaped my TIE fighter escorts in the Battle of Yavin."

"You have little patience," Ventress decided, grinning maliciously. "So little, in fact, that I am reminded of a certain Jedi Knight. You probably have never fought him, but---"

"I defeated Anakin Skywalker with ease," Vader cut her off. "He was erased like the rest of the Jedi that I massacred at the Temple. Ghosts, however, are another matter."

"I wonder if Kenobi was furious at you for murdering Skywalker?" Dooku essayed.

Unwelcome memories came flooding back, and Vader glared at him, not that Dooku could see him glaring. "Of course he was. How do you think I ended up in this suit?"

"I thought it was a fashion statement," Maul commented. "Like how all super heroes wear colorful tights, all Sith have to wear funky black outfits. Take Dooku's for example."

Dooku glared at Maul for that comment. "He defeated you that badly?" Dooku asked Vader. "What did he do that could have possibly forced you to wear that?"

"It was Palpatine's idea, I'll have you know," Vader replied. "I fought Kenobi here, on Mustafar. He cut off my left arm and both of my legs, then left me to die in the lava alone."

"Ouch. That has got to have hurt," Maul said. "All Kenobi did to me was impale me. He must have been really, really angry at you to have done something like that. What did you do to Skywalker that would have merited his reaction?"

"I twisted his soul and created a monster who didn't deserve to live," Vader replied. From a certain point of view, of course. "Skywalker was still alive during the attack on the Jedi Temple and partially on Mustafar. He died there, never to come back to life."

There was a moment where no one said anything before Maul started talking. "It's my turn now, right?" No one responded, so Maul supposed that it was. "I don't really have any normal days. It's basically, wake up, eat, be evil, eat some more, be evil again, eat for a third time, and go to sleep. I don't really have a dark, shady past. You all fell to the Dark Side; I was raised in it. Palpatine was really evil, but that's really about it."

"How entertaining," Dooku murmured sarcastically. "My day is about the same as a combination of the rest of yours, excluding the sarcasm, angst, and general stupidity."

"I thought you were friends with Tarkin at one point?" Vader suggested. "I would call that general stupidity." He looked at the clock which was obviously not showing the correct time. "Look at the time, we're almost late for assigning the Emperor's Hands meaningless tasks. It's about time for us to leave this, right?" Vader said, trying to get the point across.

Ventress looked at Vader like he was insane, then caught on to the scheme. "Right," Ventress added woodenly. "It is time for us to go. We do not want to be late."

Dooku realized what they were doing. "Yes, of course. I am sure the Emperor would be most displeased if we were not to assign the assassins their highly important jobs."

Maul was still a little confused. "I don't get it. What's going on? I thought we had another hour or so of this still to do. Is my wrist-chrono wrong?"

Vader was starting to be very annoyed by the Sith and was on the verge of wishing that Maul had just stayed dead. "I think it might be. We wouldn't want to miss any more of this Sith to Sith bonding sh---stuff, but it's just time to go. You understand, right?"

Maul finally understood. "Oh. It's 'time to go.' Got it. You guys wouldn't mind if I went past the snack machine on the way to the room where the Emperor's Hands are waiting."

Vader stared at him. "Do I look like I care? Seriously, Maul. We are rather indifferent."

Maul walked out of the room, following the other Sith. "Neat. I think I'm going get the Flavor Twists and a Pepsi today instead of the normal Twix and Snickers bars."

Mara was less than amused at the current situation. She was stuck being the Emperor's Hand in this reality as well. As if it hadn't been bad enough in the other one! Was she never going to be left alone by the evil idiots? She sighed and just tried to ignore the other Hands. If anything, they were more annoying than the Dark Lords, excluding Vader. He was just depressing. No one was annoying around him, so that was why Mara had decided to stalk him for the past week or so. He probably thought that she was on assignment from Palpatine to do that, but no, it was just for the sake of Mara's mental health.

The Sith came into the room about an hour early, but no one really cared. The sooner they got this over with, the better. A bonus was that they might actually get some free time to themselves. Mara was amused by the fact that the one who was all tattooed, Maul, was snacking on some of the food from the vending machine. Ventress, the creepy woman from the Clone Wars, seemed somewhat annoyed by the fact, and Dooku was just choosing to ignore his predecessor. Vader seemed to have no emotion, yet again. They started handing out mission assignments to the other hands with a sort of monotony and boredom Mara had only expected out of computer help hotline people.

After about twenty minutes, Mara was the only one still left in the room. She stood up and stretched then demanded, "So what am I supposed to be doing?"

Vader looked at the sheet with all of the assignments on it. "You're supposed to either reward or kill the being that killed Grand Moff Tarkin. If the being is a Rebel, which we all know to be true, you are supposed to execute him or her. If said being is a Rebel and human or acceptably humanoid but would be willing to join the Empire, let said being join and give said being a medal. If said being is part of the Empire, give them a medal."

Mara stared at Vader. "Are you serious? You know that the guy who destroyed the Death Star wouldn't join the Empire for ruling the Empire. And you say I have to kill him?"

Vader seemed to be taken aback by the comment. Mara guessed that he was thinking about how Mara could have known the particular secret that she was sure he would be willing to take to the grave with him than tell the other Dark Lords. Finally, Vader answered her question. "Yes, then you are supposed to kill him, but I would like you to know that these are not my orders. Am I correct in guessing that you know what sort of an asset the pilot would be to the Empire, should he be turned to the Dark Side?"

Mara felt like laughing. Vader was trying to avoid being direct with his questions to a point where she felt like just telling him that yes, she knew who he was and what Luke meant to him, but Mara couldn't well say that in the presence of two more Dark Lords and Ventress. With a completely straight face, Mara replied. "Yes, Lord Vader. I understand." Time to mess with him. "Maybe we should tell Palpatine about this potential."

Vader had figured out that Mara was now trying to annoy him on purpose. "Maybe you should go through with the assassination, then, and try to take care of some of the Rebel leaders while you are at it. A Jedi Master or two would also be nice."

Mara restrained herself from glaring. "I would think that it would be best to try and capture the Rebel alive, then let Palpatine decide his fate. What do you think?"

If Mara had x-ray vision, she would have known that she was correct in thinking that Vader was glaring at her. "That is acceptable," Vader replied, angry at Mara's insolence.

"The pilot is Force-sensitive?" Ventress realized. "You can't possibly think that he's powerful enough to merit a discussion between any one of us and Palpatine."

"If I am correct in my thinking, he just might be," Dooku said. "Vader, is this pilot the man that you were going to capture Princess Organa and that Solo fellow to try and lure him to someplace where you could capture him and take him to the Emperor?"

Vader seemed to regret telling Dooku about that. "Yes, he is one and the same."

"So that was why you let Tarkin and the Death Star get blown up!" Maul exclaimed.

"No, that's just because Tarkin was annoying," Mara replied. "Seriously, a loss of that battle station, blight on the universe as it was, was well worth the elimination of Tarkin. And, as you can see from my new assignment, Palpatine was very happy with the results."

"Do you ever shut up?" Ventress hissed at Mara. "If it's not a sarcastic remark, it's a condescending comment to one of your superiors. I don't understand why Palpatine even bothers with you. You're probably just here to liven up the scenery."

Now it was Vader's turn to retrain himself from laughing. Mara shot a glare at him before turning the full force of the glare onto Ventress. "No, I'm here because I'm a good pilot, obsessive about ship maintenance, a deadly shot, and well versed in the art of sabotage. Oh, and I could probably take you down pretty---no, very easily."

Ventress glared at Mara before storming out of the room. Dooku walked out after her to try and attempt to calm her down a little bit, just enough so that Ventress wouldn't try to kill Mara the next time the two were in a room together. That left Maul, Vader, and Mara in the room. It was a rather tense atmosphere, only broken by Maul's munching sounds and Vader's breathing. After about a minute, Maul announced, "I'm going to lunch," and left.

"So... How's life?" Mara asked. Vader just stared at her. "Fine, be that way. I'm leaving." She was halfway to the door when she stopped. "Oh, two things: 1. Where are Luke and the others? 2. Do you want me to smuggle Senator Amidala off planet?"

Vader stared at Mara and decided he was never going to understand that girl in any reality before answering, "Hoth, and yes, take her as far away as possible."

"It'll be my pleasure," Mara replied, grinned, and ran off to follow the orders.

"Hoth, the frozen planet believed to be the original location of the lowest level of hell, Corellian or Sith. It has the largest sheet of solid ice on it in the entire galaxy, to the knowledge of most in this sad, sad colony. Although it is like living in a meat freezer, there are some fringe benefits to the occupation of this patch of ice we live underneath: there is wonderful packing snow galore. So, to you, traveler, welcome to your worst nightmare."

Mara groaned. "Spare me the theatrics, Janson. I'm only looking for a clearance to land and drop off one of you leaders who, if you didn't know, has been a captive of the Empire for the past two months. I mean the Rebellion no harm. You on the other hand..."

"Uh..." Janson was probably checking the scanners and wondering if she was telling the truth. That, or he wasn't supposed to be answering calls from unidentified ships. "Well, Senator Or---uh, the Senator says you're cleared to land at---" Coordinates were listed. "---and, um, I'm supposed to ask who might you be? It's a security thing."

So the prankster didn't remember her. That means that there would probably be no run ins with anyone she actually knew. Mara sighed in relief and answered, "I'm a double agent. You don't need to know my name, only that I'm helping you and have not given my higher-ups the location of the base. If I had, you would be fleeing from an armada, not me."

"Er... Senator? Is that an acceptable reply, or should I press for more information?"

Organa was probably staring at Janson with his patience waning. "No. That it enough about her identity," Mara heard Organa say over the comm. "However... Pilot? Who exactly do you have with you? When you say one of the leaders, who do you mean?"

Mara smiled a bit. It was clear enough in his voice that Organa was hoping that she had brought Amidala back with her. "I mean your friend from that nice planet with the crazy amphibious creatures, one of which is considered annoying to certain Jedi Masters."

Organa obviously understood the meaning of her words; Mara could hear stifled laughter. "Thank you, then, pilot. It is very much appreciated that you are risking your superior's wrath to do this for us. I'm sure a certain Jedi Master will be happy as well."

Mara grinned. "I'm glad to hear that, Senator. I would have had the Senator on my end speak to you, but she has been pacing around the ship for the past few hours, so I locked her out of the cockpit." Her grin faltered. "Unfortunately, I also bring some bad news. My main mission here is to capture or kill a certain member of the Alliance. I do not want to do that. It---my reasons for it are complicated." Sorta. "Regardless, I would appreciate it if I could speak to ...Major Solo about it. I will report that my mission was unsuccessful, but I do not want to speak to the person I was supposed to capture. Is this unacceptable?"

There was a pause on the other end. Mara supposed that Organa was a little confused by the request. Janson, on the other hand, had been strangely silent. When the reply came, and Mara guessed that Organa had left the comm to Janson so he could meet Amidala in person and, hopefully, search for Solo. "Uh, the Senator just sorta went off just now. He said that what you said was acceptable. Can I ask you a question?"

Mara was suspicious now. Did he finally recognize her? "What's the question?"

"Have you at any time seen a girl about seventeen, eighteen-ish while you've been with the Imperials? It's just that a friend of some of ours went missing a while back, and..."

"Pardon?" Mara was stunned. They actually cared? "That's sort of vague," Mara continued, as steadily as she could make her voice. "I mean, anything else?"

Janson realized that he was being a little vague. "Well, she's about five foot seven, I think. Fire-red hair, deep green eyes. Sarcastic as hell, short tempered?"

"Yes, I've seen her. She isn't too happy to be working for the Empire," Mara told him. It was all essentially true. She had seen herself, and she wasn't happy working for the Empire. "In fact, she angered a Dark Jedi and a Dark Lord of the Sith a few days ago."

"What!" Janson exclaimed. "Are you serious? What happened?"

"She insulted Ventress and annoyed a certain Dark Lord to no end, something I must say she is starting to perfect," Mara replied as she started to actually land the ship in the hangar of the Rebel base. "Oh, and if you would like to know, Darth Maul is a fan of Pepsi." With that, she cut the transmission and opened the door to the cockpit. Amidala was staring at her, with a skeptical look. "He has snacking issues," she explained.

"Maul was the one with the black and red tattoos, correct?" Amidala asked. "He was the one that killed Qui-Gon Jinn during the Trade Federation Blockade of Naboo?"

Mara nodded as she opened the hatch to the outside and lowered the ramp. "Yes. He has the strangest things to say, though. Sometimes I think he's part of the Mafia."

Amidala grinned and shook her head. "That would not surprise me in the least."

"I take it he tried his thespian skills out on you when he and probably Dooku were sent to you apartment to threaten you into saying nothing about Palpatine?" Mara guessed.

Amidala nodded. "Miss, I thank you for bringing me here. I don't know if I could have survived all that much longer. If one of the other Sith had decided to interrogate me..."

"Vader wouldn't have let them, Senator," Mara replied. "He's already lost you once. He wouldn't have let anyone take you away again. That, and I have the feeling that he's actually jealous of himself, which I know sounds weird, but he doesn't want his other self to go through the loss that he had suffered." Seeing Amidala's expression, Mara realized that Amidala had already figured out whom Vader's identity was. "But you know that."

"He's never been good with loss," Amidala agreed. "Regardless, thank you for taking me out of that hell hole. Or, was that really part of your mission?"

"Number two ordered me to do it, so voila, here you are," Mara answered and gestured to the surrounding, freezing area. "...I guess Janson wasn't kidding," she commented as Organa came over to meet them. A unkempt-looking Corellian was following the esteemed Senator. Mara could only guess that he was Solo.

"Bail! I thought that I'd never see you again!" Amidala announced, ignoring Solo.

"We thought you had been executed," Bail told her. "Once the others started disappearing in the Senate... well, we had feared the worst. The Jedi are finally going to ignore the Empire's plans for them and join the Rebellion, though."

A smile lit up Amidala's face. "That's wonderful! When did this happen? I'm sorry I'm not all that up to date on politics, but I haven't heard much of the news since I was captured."
"They sent us a report today by way of Jedi Master Adi Gallia," Organa replied. Mara hoped that her teacher had left before she had come. "Master Gallia has not yet left, though, so you would still be able to get information about the current state of the galaxy from her. I have to admit we are a little behind on the news as well."

Amidala and Organa continued to talk, and Mara went over to talk to Solo. "You're Major Solo, correct?" she asked. "I have a small request for you."

Solo gave one of his best lopsided grins. "Yeah? And what might that be? Senator Organa was a little sketchy about what he wanted me here for. Wes didn't help, either."

Mara sighed. "Janson... He's a pain, sometimes. Anyway, I need you to tell Skywalker that the Empire's after him, all right? I was sent here to kill him---"

"No surprise there," Solo commented. "He did destroy the Death Star, after all."

She glared at Solo. "Don't interrupt. As I was saying, I was sent here to kill him or to take him back to the Imperial base. The Sith want to try and turn him to the Dark Side. When the Emperor finds out, they will be hell to pay, I assure you, but until then, he's almost safe."

Solo still had a grin plastered on his face. Mara was starting to believe that Solo knew who she was. It would make sense. Corran would have had to mentioned her at least once or twice. "And you didn't want to tell this to him yourself because...?"

Mara was starting to get irritated by Solo. The fact that she was blushing didn't help, either. "I have my reasons, Solo. Don't push it. I am one of the Emperor's hand-picked assassins, in case you didn't know. I deal in death, so don't make me add you to the dead."

"Touchy, aren't we?" Solo replied. "All right. I'll tell Kid. It isn't really anything new, besides the Sith wanting to add him to their ranks. I personally think that's a little weird."

"They work in strange and mysterious ways. Demented ones, too," Mara explained. "Regardless... I must admit that I owe you one for doing this for me. Just don't say that it---"

"Was you? Never. I don't want another assassin breathing down my neck." Solo started to walk off, but he turned around about halfway and waved. "See you later, Jade."

Mara smiled a little and nodded before boarding the ship she was using so she could go somewhere else to try and throw off the true location of the Rebel base from the people she was supposed to be serving. She could wait for her chance to strike back at the Empire, but for now she would play the obedient servant. While she received clearance to leave the planet, Mara decided that if Vader could wait to get his vengeance on Palpatine for as long as he did, she could certainly wait a few months or years. After all, as the saying goes, she thought cooly, Revenge is a dish best served cold...

Yeah, I couldn't help not saying that... So... Thanks to all the people who've either favorited this story or decided to watch it. 'Tis very appreciated. I would name names, but it's just gotten too hard to keep track of with people unfavoriting it and then someone else favoriting it again. Plus, I don't think it's changed in the past two chapters, so this does just as well. Anyway... Reviews!

SuperBlond: Yes, but Jell-O is one of the awesomes. Unfortunately, the medicine is prescription only. With good reason, as you could probably tell. Vader's going to have even more problems with everything, and Anakin hasn't even seen his other self in person yet... Those poor guys... Oh, and Anakin had more screen time! Yaye! But Luke and the Rogues didn't have as much... Doesn't matter. They'll be back with a vengeance next chapter. I didn't get to include my Rebels section of this chapter because it would seem odd if I only had that part. It's a better ending at the moment. Thanks for reviewing!

JadeAlmasy: Yes. I can't believe I wrote the chapter that funny, either. Must have been the medication... Thanks for reviewing!

Niraha Skywalker: Vader and Anakin rock. I'm glad you liked the part with Sola in it. I was sort of worried that I hadn't done her justice, but i apparently had nothing to worry about. Thanks for reviewing!

Jas-TheMaddTexan: Thanks! Oh, and about the Rebellion vs. Revolution thing, I actually thought about this, and I concluded that they called themselves the Rebellion because they hadn't actually won the war yet, so they couldn't call themselves a revolution since nothing had been changed. That's my take on it, at least. Thank very much for reviewing!