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Almost everyone that had volunteered for evacuation was packed into the Millennium Falcon, which wasn't that tight of a squeeze to Luke's mild surprise. Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka were in their individual starfighters, and were going to be participating in the air battle. Part of Luke ached to be up among the stars with them, but if he was on the ground helping with the evacuations then he could keep a close eye on Jeza and make sure she didn't get hurt. Of course, first they had to get to the planet's surface. The Falcon was under heavy bombardment and Luke and Mara had already taken to the gun turrets in an attempt to ward off their attackers. Jeza was strapped in the lounge seats, no doubt clutching the hologram board in a death grip with all the rocking the ship was making; Leia, Han, and Chewbacca were all in the cockpit.

While Luke took aim at any ship that shot at the Falcon, he couldn't help but reflect how it had been so long since he'd taken part in an air battle; he was itching to get back in one. Of course, right now he was needed down on the ground. Occasionally he could catch glimpses of what Alderaan looked like, and his heart ached for Leia; the planet was taking some heavy damage, and the rising death toll could be felt strongly through the Force. It was distracting, and Luke felt a strong pull to get to the surface as soon as possible and start getting as many people out as he could.

"Get your head out of the clouds Kid; we're taking damage on your side!" Han's voice suddenly said over the intercom. Luke grit his teeth, turning the guns so that he could shoot down three of their more relentless pursuers.

"Sorry Han," he mumbled, bringing himself back to the job at hand of keeping the ships off of the Falcon. The rear deflector shields were being a little testy, so they had to take extra care not to get hit, especially when entering the atmosphere. Apparently, word had it that despite the fact that Judro was trying to burn the planet to a crisp, Judro also had men down on the surface that were sabotaging the escape attempts. Of course, Luke was under strict orders to avoid any confrontations, but he highly doubted that he was going to be able to avoid trouble as a whole considering all the dark presences he could sense down below. He was a Skywalker after all; if he wasn't looking for trouble, it was looking for him.

TIE Fighters flew past, opening fire on the Falcon; apparently Judro had a few Star Destroyers under his control. If it wasn't for the occasional X-Wing, Vulture Droid, and other ships that also were attacking them, Luke might just be able to convince himself he was fighting the Empire again. The turret spun around at Luke's command, shooting down two of the TIEs before Mara intervened and shot down the other two.

"Good shot Mara," he called, keeping his eyes glued on the battle outside. He had to be careful who he shot at, as apparently every time the Republic tried to mark their ships in some way, Judro marked some of his ships the same way and made the markings pointless. Luke had to go off of any familiar ships and anyone shooting at the Falcon or ships he knew was on the side of the Republic.

He was roughly jolted in his seat as the Falcon took another hit. They'd entered the planet's atmosphere, and the pit of dread in Luke's stomach was only getting worse. Fiery flashes lit up Alderaan's sky as bomb upon bomb and merciless laser blasts rained down on the planet. Trees and fields were on fire, animals ran wildly with nowhere truly to run. Luke unstrapped himself from the turret seat, climbing up the gun well and making his way to where he'd left Jeza, getting shaken off of his feet several times from the waves that were coming from the bombs. Luke grimaced; perhaps it would have been better for him to participate in the air battle than to be down here in the middle of the fiery bombings.

Luke managed to make it to the seat beside Jeza, grasping her shoulder gently. "Do you still have the blaster Anakin gave you?" he asked. Jeza gestured to her waist, where the weapon was sheathed in a holster that looked suspiciously like one of Han's.

"Got it, of course," she assured him.

"Now if it gets to dangerous, I'll send you back to the Falcon or somewhere the bombings aren't so bad, all right?" Luke said sternly.

"Father, I'll be fine," Jeza soothed him.

Luke shook his head. "I'm just telling you, just in case. Remember, when you come across someone you send them to the docks, and if they don't have a way off-planet then you send them to the Falcon specifically. Most of the time I think you might just have to point them in the right direction after you help and you can move along, but sometimes you will need to provide a way out for them. We'll take all that we can; just stick with me okay? I have a com so Han can tell me when we can't take any more people."

Jeza nodded solemnly. "Yes Father."

Apparently Han had already found a place to land, because Luke could feel the Falcon preparing to touch down, already getting to his feet. "Come on; we're going to have to be quick, because the planet's under some heavy fire. Every second is going to count."

Jeza unstrapped herself, taking Luke's hand as he helped her to her feet. Mara appeared from the gun well, gesturing for them to hurry up. "It looks pretty bad out there; I don't know how many people we're going to be able to help, but I don't think we're going to have much time to help."

Luke grimaced, following her to the ramp. Leia joined them from the cockpit. "How bad is bad?"

Mara spared Leia a glance. "Extremely."

The ramp lowered, and they could hear Han's hurried footsteps as he shouted back to Chewbacca. "Just stay there Chewie, and keep her ready to get us out of here in a heartbeat!"

The moment the ramp opened, the sounds of screams and loud impacts could be heard at a deafening intensity, and Luke flinched. They were all in for a nightmare...and he wasn't so sure he should have let Jeza come in the first place. All of them had experience war to some degree, some of them had experienced the worst parts of war; Jeza had never been touched by war except when Luke had gone through her village. Now here he was dragging her right into the middle of a planet being turned into an uninhabitable rock. As they descended the ramp, Luke instinctively reached out and gave his sister a strong, one armed hug.

She'd already seen Alderaan ruthlessly attacked once. This had to be mortifying for her; Luke could vaguely sense the feelings she was burying and shoving into the Force faster than he could identify them, and he knew this was affecting her. Leia squeezed his hand affectionately before they reached the end of the landing ramp and immediately they separated. Han and Leia went to the left, while Jeza, Luke, R2, and Mara went to the right. Jeza immediately latched onto Luke, her hand bunching up the back of Luke's shirt—the same one he wore on the Second Death Star since it allowed him to move quickly and effectively.

There was screaming people everywhere pushing to get to the spaceships in the spaceport and intense heat all around. Luke grabbed Mara's hand so they wouldn't get separated, keeping tabs on both Jeza and Mara through the Force as he pushed his way against the crowd. Occasionally he saw someone fall, and would reach out to catch them either physically or with the Force so they wouldn't get trampled to death. The panic was thick in the air with mass hysteria and confusion.

"Mara, I'm going to go with Jeza and R2 to start sweeping buildings for anyone still inside; do you want to go further on to help anyone that might be trapped closer to the carnage?" Luke shouted over all the voices around him.

Mara nodded, albeit a little reluctantly. "I can do that; stay safe Luke," she shouted back. In the next moment, she'd taken off, racing through the crowd towards the raging fires that were still a decent ways into the distance. Looking up at the sky, bombs could be seen falling even at a great distance. Fighters wove in the sky, shooting at the bombs before they could reach the surface in an attempt to minimize the damage being done to the planet, but they couldn't stop every bomb from dropping, and wildfires were spreading swiftly, of that Luke was positive from what he'd seen in the gun turret.

They were halfway through a tunnel that was less packed than the others when a bomb landed disturbingly close to them. "Down!" Luke shouted, taking Jeza down to the ground with him and covering her with his own body as debris rained down on them. R2 whirred in alarm just behind them, though at least the noise from the droid let Luke know R2 was still with them. Dust and rubble fell on Luke's back, but he stayed where he was lying until the trembling calmed and he pulled Jeza back to her feet with him and continued on.

Never once did he mention that somewhere on this burning planet, he could sense Judro waiting for him; he simply braced himself for whenever that confrontation happened.

Up in the sky, Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka took part in stopping the bombs before they could reach the surface. Down below them, they could see the spots where the fields and forests had caught fire and was spreading rapidly. Republic cruisers were confronting Judro's cruisers, attacking them relentlessly in an attempt to draw their fire away from Alderaan.

"I'm still trying to understand what Judro hopes to gain from this attack," Ahsoka said over their communications.

"Fear," Anakin said instantly. "He doesn't want the people to stop fearing him, so he's destroying an entire peaceful planet...Tarkin had generally the same idea when he destroyed Alderaan during the Empire."

"Does anyone know what happened to Tarkin after the merge?" Ahsoka asked.

Anakin grimaced. "He disappeared. We don't know where he went but...I have my suspicions. Some of these attacks, like this one, have Tarkin's stench all over it."

"I would have thought the man had died by now," Ahsoka grumbled.

"Hey, he's not that much older than I am," Obi-Wan griped.

"Starboard!" Anakin suddenly interrupted, angling his fighter to take out a bomb that had just entered the atmosphere. He opened fire, scoring a direct hit. The three all angled their ships in the opposite direction, rushing to outrun the massive fireball.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said quietly once they were safe again. "I don't think there's much we can do. The fires down below are already spreading faster than they can be put out."

"We'll do what we can," Anakin answered, his gaze scanning the ground below. His children were somewhere down there, as well as their loved ones. He'd managed to locate Luke, which led to him locating Mara and Jeza, and he could sense Leia, which meant Han as well. Galen and Juno were probably on the other side of the planet, helping with evacuation on that side.

He could also sense numerous dark presences, both in the air and on the ground. It wouldn't be long before Anakin's group in the sky and the groups on the ground were met with opposition.

"Incoming fighters; they're coming up behind us," Obi-Wan suddenly said. Anakin sighed.

"Things are about to get interesting..." he muttered, his fingers flexing as he gripped the controls a little tighter and spun his fighter around. He was in need of a good dogfight.

Luke and Jeza were halfway through a tall hotel when the bomb hit.

The entire building shook, and the windows shattered all around with the intense fiery wave that caused Luke to check himself to make sure he wasn't burned.

"Jeza!" he hollered, and the girl stuck her head out of a room three doors behind him.

"I'm fine, just a little cut from some of the glass, but fine!" she called back to reassure him.

"These blasts are getting closer and closer," Luke mumbled to himself, moving onto the next room. They'd already cleared out so many people Luke had lost count, but so far he hadn't received any contact from Han telling him that the Falcon was full; that was good, it meant they could get more people out.

A high pitched shrieking from the street below drew Luke's attention, and he made his way to the window to see the building next door on fire. A woman was being dragged away on the street down below.

"My baby! My boy! Please, no, I can't leave him, I've already lost one child, I will not lose another!" she shrieked, fighting to get back to the building. Luke looked sharply back at the flaming building, judging the distance to the roof.

"Jeza," he shouted back into the building. "I'm going next door! Have R2 do one last scan and then meet me at the entrance if there's no one else!"

He heard her faint reply moments before he gathered himself to jump, drawing on the Force to be sure that he wouldn't hurt himself. In the next moment, he was falling through the air towards the flaming building's roof. He landed, crouching, on both feet with a thud and a grunt, bracing his hands on the roof to gather himself and keep from falling flat on his face. Stretching out with the Force, Luke tried to see if he could sense the boy inside as he pulled out his lightsaber and cut a hole in the roof; there wasn't a door into the building from the roof, so he had to make one.

Luke stepped back as the chunk of the ceiling fell in, and a wave of heat seared his face. Taking a deep breath of fresh air, he jumped down into the flaming building. He was almost immediately crushed by a flaming beam, and would have been had the Force not given him a warning halfway through his fall and allowed him to twist out of the way. Flames cracked everywhere, eating up the walls and along the carpet. He stretched his Force senses further, trying to find a sign of the missing boy.

"Anyone here?" he shouted, coughing as he accidentally inhaled some of the smoke.

He didn't hear a response, but he did feel a flicker in the Force. Steeling his resolve, Luke powered through the flames as fast as he could to avoid being burned, following the subtle prompts in the Force as he navigated through the top floor. He took note of every way down out of the building, grimacing when he saw that every exit he spotted was blocked, on fire, or collapsed. He'd have to get out from the roof again, hopefully carrying a passenger this time.

A warning sang through the Force, sending Luke lunging forwards to avoid a chunk of a nearby wall from crushing him. Panting, both from exertion and all the smoke he'd inhaled, Luke pushed himself to his hands and knees. Looking up and noting he was in the last room, Luke finally spotted his target. A small brunette boy, no older than seven, stood, covered in ash and several burns, by the window, staring transfixed by the image outside of his world on fire. That last bomb had landed too close, and their time in this part of Alderaan was officially up. Luke sent out a silent prayer that Mara was all right and then pushed forward to the boy. With the practiced ease of being a father for over five years, Luke kneeled beside the boy, gently placing a hand on each of the boy's shoulders.

"Hey...my names Luke, I'm going to get you out of here...what's your name?" Luke asked soothingly, resisting the urge to just snatch the kid up and run. That wouldn't work out so well no matter how much danger they were in; the boy had to want to go with him. The boy turned his blank expression to Luke, looking almost like he didn't even realize what was going on. Great, the boy was in shock. "I'm going to take you to your mother, but you're going to have to trust me; what's your name?"

"Zane," the boy mumbled, turning away from the window. Luke reached down and picked the boy up, sending soothing waves to him through the Force and letting out a sigh of relief when the boy hooked his arms around Luke's neck and allowed Luke to pick him up.

"All right Zane...I'm going to get you out of here and to your mother, all right?" The boy nodded in response, and Luke started weaving through the fiery building. Sweat dripped into his eyes and he was starting to feel a little too lightheaded. Hoping to continue to distract the boy from their dire situation, Luke continued his questions. "What's your mother's name?"

"Aama," the boy whispered, clutching Luke tighter when Luke had to swing around to avoid a flaming beam.

"I have a daughter myself; she's right next door helping people get out of the hotel," Luke said conversationally, clutching Zane as close to him as he could before he jumped through the flames that were blocking the doorway he needed to go through, shielding Zane with his own body. The Force guided him on where to step where the floor wouldn't cave, as there were already several chunks missing from the floor. "We're almost there, okay? When we get down to the street you can help me find your mother, I don't think she knows I came in here for you," Luke told the boy, locking his gaze on the hole in the ceiling just ahead.

"Okay..." Zane answered quietly. Luke came to a stop just below the hole.

"All right Zane, I need you to hold on tight for this, we're almost safe, I promise," Luke said soothingly, tightening his grip on the boy as he coiled himself to jump, propelling himself upwards with the Force so that he could make it through the hole. Zane clutched Luke in a death-grip as Luke powered up through the air, jostled just slightly when Luke landed on the roof. The air was much clearer outside of the building, but smoke was still all around and gathering in ferocity; the clock was ticking.

Luke cast his gaze around at the flaming buildings all around and down at the street below, where he could see Aama's friends that had been trying to drag her away had ditched her and left her to lie mournfully on the ground; she must have tried to get into the building and failed. Zane turned his head, spotting his mother down on the ground.

"Mom!" the little boy yelled, and Aama's head jerked up, zeroing in on her little boy held tightly in a strangers arms.

"Zane!" she shrieked, but Luke wasn't paying attention anymore. The Force was screaming at him about an incoming danger, and Luke set Zane down, reaching for his lightsaber.

"Stay right there, I'll get you down in a moment," Luke promised, unhooking his lightsaber from his waist and spinning around just in time to see a scantily clad woman land on the roof from one of the nearby buildings. She stood up, crimson lightsaber ablaze as she gave Luke a rather eerie grin.

"Well, well, well, look who came to join in on the fun," the woman purred, a hand on her hip. "I'm going to enjoy this, Skywalker."

Luke ignited his green blade, sensing Zane's awe behind him. "Just back away now, while you still have your life," he threatened, stepping protectively in front of Zane.

"Tempting," the woman said in a mocking tone. "But no."

With that, she attacked, crimson lightsaber slashing through the air towards Luke, who countered her blade with a well-practiced ease, batting it aside and adding in his own advance. She blocked his attack, and Luke felt her draw on the Force in preparation of an attack, prompting him to respond first with a Force Blast, throwing the woman all the way back to the other end of the roof. Luke tossed his lightsaber after the woman in the hopes to score a hit on her while she was still disoriented. She managed to deflect the spinning weapon though, and Luke called his lightsaber back into his hand, rushing forward to engage the woman again before she could regain her bearings. Their blades locked again, and Luke grit his teeth, pushing against the lock that they were in. He broke the lock, backing up a step and sending a blast of lightning her way; strangely, the lightning was green and appeared more as sparks than lightning bolts. The woman dropped to the ground with a scream, convulsing and twitching on the ceiling. Luke shook his head, stepping away.

"You lose," he muttered, turning his back on her. To his surprise, the woman laughed; weakly, but she still laughed.

"No matter...I was just a distraction," she said with a wicked tone. Luke spun around to confront her again, but his reply was cut short by the intense pain he suddenly felt just above his abdomen. He fell to his knees with a shocked, strangled cry of pain, his hand flying to the spot he could feel the heat of a lightsaber; but the wound wasn't his. He was sensing someone else's pain; someone nearby and close to him, someone—

Luke moved without thinking; the woman had come bearing down on him with her lightsaber suddenly, and Luke ran her through with his lightsaber moments before she would have dealt a fatal blow on his kneeling form. Deactivating his lightsaber and hooking it back to his belt, Luke spun to face the hotel.

"JEZA!" he bellowed.

Some small part of his brain whispered a reminder of his rescue, and he rushed back to Zane; the poor boy looked petrified, but Luke was too erratic to try and calm him down. "Hold on," he instructed the young boy firmly, pulling Zane back into his arms before he launched himself back into the hotel with the Force, landing on his back so Zane wouldn't get hurt from the rough landing. Luke rolled to his feet, rushing into the hall without even noticing that Zane was keeping close to his side.

"Jeza!" Luke shouted again, feeling an icy cold dread start to spread through him. Please, please, please answer me...

Down at the end of the hall, a familiar black robed figure emerged limping from one of the rooms, and Judro's masked face turned to spare Luke a parting glance. His golden eyes glinted maliciously, and he gave Luke a small, two fingered salute before he jumped out of the window to the ground below. Luke powered forward, the world going by in a blur as he rushed into the room Judro had just left.

"Jeza! Jeza!" Luke called frantically, skidding to a halt at the doorway. Blaster marks scorched the walls, and the source of the scorch marks lay forgotten on the floor. A sad whirring came from a closet that was barred hastily from the outside, and the owner of the discarded blaster lay prone on the floor just a meter from the shattered floor-to-ceiling window. A strangled cry forced its way past Luke's lips, and he ran to the gray skinned twi'lek's side, gathering the young girl up into his arms with a desperate fervor. "Force, no, Jeza, please, say something..." Luke pled, his trembling hand skimming over the charred lightsaber wound right above her abdomen. He cupped the back of her neck in his hand, probing through the Force for something—anything—that would give him a sign of life. Jeza's eyes cracked open, and her lips parted weakly.

"Father...?" she whispered in question. Tears sprang to Luke's eyes and he brought his hand up to gently stroke her cheek.

"I'm here Jeza, I've got you, you're safe now, all right? You're going to be...going to be fine," Luke choked out. He hardly even realized he was echoing a scene from long ago, when his father had been in a similar position.

Jeza reached up, slowly grazing three of her fingers across Luke's lips and causing a sob to break out of him. "It's all...right...Father. I'm not...afraid...It'll be...okay..."

"No, no it's not okay," Luke said with a shake of his head. "I promised Jeza, I s-swore I'd protect you."

"Father..."

"I shouldn't have left you by yourself, I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, I failed you," Luke cried, tears streaming freely from his eyes. "You can't...you can't..." he couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Father, please," Jeza said softly, her voice flickering. "Just promise me...you won't let Judro...or whoever's...behind this...win."

"Don't do this to me," Luke croaked. "Please, just...just hold on, you'll be fine, you'll be okay, everything..."

"Promise me."

Luke squeezed his eyes shut, shaking. "I promise," he whispered, his voice cracking. He opened his eyes again when he felt Jeza's hand lie carefully on his cheek.

"I...I love you...Father," she whispered, her hand was sliding off of his cheek, and he grasped her hand like his life depended on it, holding her hand to his cheek and savoring the feeling. "You...t-took c-care of me...were...everything for me..."

"I love you too Jeza," he told her, and his heart broke at the smile that spread across her face at his words, her midnight blue orbs sparkling just a little brighter for a moment.

"I...I'm proud to...have been...your...daughter..." she whispered, eyelids drooping shut.

"And I'm proud to have been your father," Luke told her. She didn't reply. Instead, she went slack in his arms, her last breath trickling past her lips that were still slightly curled in a peaceful smile.

Something in Luke broke at the sight, and he pulled Jeza as tightly to himself as he could, rocking back and forth as he sobbed, clutching her so tightly it was like he believed he could somehow hold onto her and keep her with him. His grief swelled, growing with every second and every tear.

Perhaps I'll pay that little twi'lek girl of yours a visit...

Cleanse yourself; take care of Jeza...

I was just a distraction...

I love you Father...

I will destroy you...

I'm proud to have been your daughter...

I will take every last thing you hold dear away from you...

Promise me...

Starting with her...

His breathing labored, Luke raised his head up to stare out at the world on fire all around him, tears smearing his ash-covered face as he let loose a scream of grief and fury full of the Force that rivaled that of his father's years ago in another time.

"JUDRO!"

Just a few buildings away, Mara Jade stopped in her tracks at the overpowering wave of pure anguish and rage that washed over her, sending her sprawling in the middle of the street as the single-word scream ripped through her mind.

Luke, she immediately thought, and as soon as she was capable she was up on her feet and running.

Up in the air, three starfighters suddenly plummeted before their pilots regained enough of themselves to keep in the air. Anakin was the last to recover, feeling the agony so strongly it crippled him for several long moments. He gasped as he came back to himself, shaking violently from the intense emotions he'd just had forced upon him.

"Luke," he wheezed out loud. The other two remained in grim silence at the revelation.

What just happened?

Han almost went into a full blown panic when Leia suddenly collapsed from where she'd been climbing a wall to get into a blocked building just a few moments prior, barely managing to catch her before she could fall to her death. Han felt as if ice had just been dumped down his back, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

Leia's face was scrunched up in pain for several long moments as she held to Han in a death grip, not even bothering to try and get a foothold on the building again.

"Leia!" Han exclaimed in alarm. What was wrong with her?

"Something's wrong with him Han," she suddenly cried out, her face streaked with unexplainable tears. "Something's wrong with Luke!"

Over on the other side of the planet, Galen Marek could feel the same intense wave just as strongly, and had sunk to his knee, gripping his head in obvious pain and gasping from shock. Juno, alarmed and confused as to what was happening, took up a position in front of him to protect him from the dark sider that had been advancing on him when the wave hit him. It took Galen several seconds to re-gather himself, looking around as if he was seeing the burning planet anew. Dread settled firmly in his gut, fear centered entirely around Luke—wherever his freshly returned friend may be.

Already safely escaping the planet in the starfighter he'd arrived in, Judro closed his eyes and basked in Luke Skywalker's pain and fury, a sinister smile playing across his face underneath the mask.

I'll be waiting for you Eius...now...you'll come to me.