They knew it was a trap. The Star Destroyer was still in the Suaren system. The Empire wanted it to be easy enough for when they went to rescue Kallus. The entire crew knew it. But it didn't matter. They were going in. Kanan learned that the ship that their friend was being held on was the same ship that Kiara had been rescued from. That meant they were going up against Moff Dume; their father. Kanan wanted to wait to tell her that in private.

Sabine listened as the others discussed the various ways that they could go in while trying to avoid detection. She knew that she had a bit of a surprise that none of them were expecting. "I think I have something that can help with that. And in a way, I guess we can thank Kallus because he's the one who got them."

"What are you talking about? Got what?" Kiara asked.

"That first night at Cantonica, when the two of you had to leave the table separately? Well, when he played that last hand while waiting for you to leave, he won." Sabine saw the look of confusion on the faces all around her but continued. "It was mostly credits but the game was really high-stakes. Anyway, when we got back to the base, he didn't exactly hand over all of his winnings to the leadership to buy the supplies that we went there to get the credits for."

Sabine motioned for the others to follow her toward the engine compartment and pulled aside a panel to reveal hibridium crystals. "He knew that you blew out half of your supply of the crystals when you went in to save Kanan and Hera at the depot the night before we met you. When Lando bet them, I don't think he was willing to walk away without them. It was supposed to be a surprise."

Kiara stared at the crystals for what felt like forever before she said, "So now, the Imperials won't see us coming."

"That's the idea. We could probably fly right into a hanger, and they won't even know."

"What about the sensor for when ships enter and exit the bay?" Kanan asked.

"Likely enough, they'll just assume that it's a glitch in the system. Especially if we are patient and don't leave the ship until after they'd determined just that."

Rex nodded his agreement. "We can fly into the private hanger, where the commanding officer's ship is docked. There will be less traffic there."

"Good idea. That way it will take them longer to figure out where we are heading, too, when we grab Kallus to leave. They'll just think that we will be going to the main hanger since that is where we went in the last time." Kanan then turned toward Rex, "The two of us will go in as troopers. We'll be transferring a prisoner to the detention block that Kallus is being held in."

"And I'll be the prisoner," Zeb said as he nodded his agreement with the plan.

"Wait a minute. I'm going in, too," Kiara spoke up and insisted.

"Too dangerous," Kanan shook his head. "The Empire will still be looking for you." He ran a hand over his head and smoothed his hair as he sighed. He hadn't wanted to tell her like this. "This is the Moff's ship. The same ship that we extracted you from."

"The same-" Kiara swallowed hard. That meant that Elios Dume was the one who had attacked the rebel base. She shook her head. "Even so-"

Sabine put a hand on her shoulder. "The best thing that you can do would be to stay safe. That way you'll be here for when they bring him back. We'll have the ship ready to both provide cover fire as well as take off as soon as they get aboard."

Kiara felt her breathing shallow, and could hear the buzzing of the ship's systems in her ears. She struggled to not allow the energy that wanted an outlet to rise up and short out one of those systems. She closed her eyes and reined in her emotions that were fueling that energy and only once she felt herself steadied, did she open them and nodded. She'd stay aboard, but she wasn't happy about it.


Kallus could barely see through the pain that he was in. He'd been electrocuted, drugged, beaten, and even shot several times. Now, it seemed as if the newest method of torture was to deny him rest. Anytime he started to pass out a trooper was stationed to hit him to keep him awake.

The Moff had left him for the time being. He knew that the man would return, though. He seemed to derive pleasure from seeing Kallus beaten before him. But he wanted more. He'd yet to break the former ISB Agent and doing so had become a challenge that he intended to rise to meet.

He didn't know how long he'd been on the ship. Everything blurred together. Still, at least the others had finally been put out of their misery. Misery that he couldn't help. If he had, he wouldn't have been responsible for just their deaths but that of many more as well. He hoped that they had understood that in their last moments.

"Alex."

Kallus moved his head up slightly. Great, now he's starting to hallucinate. Still, he'd much rather think about Kiara right now if these were his last moments. When his head began to tilt forward in exhaustion once more the trooper used the butt of his blaster rifle to strike him. This time, instead of jolting Kallus awake, he had been given the sweet release of unconsciousness.


When the Shadow Chaser dropped out of hyperspace Kiara made sure that they did so with the planet of the system that the Star Destroyer was orbiting around would be between them and it. Once out of hyperspace she activated the cloak. Ideally, they would have had time to test it and make sure that it wouldn't fail them before having to use it on a mission. But this was anything but an ideal situation.

Once the cloak was activated, she then moved to head toward the Star Destroyer and plotted a course to take them into the private hanger of the Moff. Her father's private hanger. The man who wanted to turn her over to the emperor. The man who now had Alexsandr.

Her hands wanted to shake so badly as she maneuvered her ship into the hanger. There was plenty of room since the hanger was also big enough for any important dignitaries to leave their ships when they arrived. When the landing procedures were completed, she sat back in her chair and Zeb reached over from the navigator's chair and put a comforting hand on her arm. Kiara nodded at him and turned to face the others.

Now, they waited. They needed to let the officers in the control room investigate and conclude that they'd just had a minor glitch in their system. Nothing to wake their superiors to inform them about.

While they waited Kanan encouraged her to use her time to meditate. Reluctantly, she agreed. Her nerves were on high-alert and when that happened, she could be hazardous to her ship's systems. And she didn't need to risk that while they were on a mission of mercy to retrieve Alexsandr. She headed to her cabin to try to calm herself.

Sabine took over the ship's controls and monitored to let the others know when it appeared that the coast was clear. The loading ramp was on the opposite side of the ship that was facing the viewing screen up in the control room. She hoped that would prevent anyone from noticing too easily as the ramp was lowered to let Chopper and the men out of the ship. She would remain ready for when they began their return. Until then, she'd stay in the cockpit with Tac.

In her cabin, Kiara had a difficult time finding her calm. She couldn't clear her mind so instead she muttered Alex's name; almost as if it was a mantra.

"Alex."

She focused on him. Reached out and tried to find him. When she allowed the force to flow through her she was able to sense him. He was in immense pain and so very tired.

Kiara wanted to scream in frustration at the pain she felt radiating from the man whom she'd only recently realized that she loved. And she knew who had done this to him. She felt anger rise up in her as she thought about what Elios had done to Alexsandr.

Before she realized what she was doing she started to change her focus. She'd never wanted to know where her father was. Hadn't wanted to use the force to reach out and sense him but now, now she did.


Kanan and Rex slipped out of the ship in their borrowed stormtrooper uniforms with Zeb in tow. His restraints were deactivated so he could fight at a moment's notice. The only downfall to this plan was that he couldn't take his bow rifle. That meant that the only weapon he'd have if needed were his own bare hands until he could liberate a blaster from a bucket head.

Kanan lead the team, including Chopper, out of the hanger before anyone from the Control Room could casually look out below them. Once in a hidden alcove he had the droid hook up to a computer terminal so that he could look for Kallus as well as how to get to him. When he found the man, he warbled and beeped. He also informed the team that the rest of the survivors had been executed already.

Zeb closed his eyes as he took in the news. Intellectually, he had known that the survivors would be killed quickly since they wouldn't be valuable to the Empire but it didn't make it easier to hear it confirmed. After all of these years of war, death could shake him to the core when he heard that good people had faced that last enemy.

"Let's go." Captain Rex said as he took charge. He was a soldier first and foremost and right now they had a mission to complete. He nodded to Chopper and he led the way toward the detention block where Kallus was being held.

"Remember," Kanan whispered as they finally reached the door that led to the detention block. "Kallus told me last time that any weapons' fire will set off an alarm, so we need to be careful."

"Just be ready, then," Rex told the Jedi.

"I don't mind busting a few heads together," Zeb said as he lowered his voice in anger. "Now, let's go get Kallus out of there."

Kanan took a breath to prepare himself then nodded towards Rex to tell him he was ready. The clone then activated the door. The officers looked up at the troopers delivering a large purple alien that they'd never actually seen before. No doubt a rebel who had been seized on the surface of Suaren along with the others. The lead officer stepped forward since he hadn't been notified of a transfer.

Kanan didn't waste time. He used the force to lift the men and thrust them up against the wall. Zeb rushed forward and punched each of them while Kanan held them. Meanwhile, Rex told Chopper to interface with the ship's computer to find out exactly which cell Kallus was in. When Chopper found it, he warbled and told the men.

Rex led the way toward the cell while Kanan covered them since his lightsaber wouldn't activate the weapons' alarm. He stood near the door to take anyone by surprise if they came in while they were there. Zeb followed the clone once he was sure that the buckets wouldn't wake up again any time soon. When Rex used the borrowed code cylinder to open the cell, he wasn't expecting to see another trooper standing next to the captured man strapped to an interrogation table. Zeb lunged at the trooper and knocked him out before the trooper could sound the alarm.

When Zeb stood back up from where he'd taken the trooper down, he turned and took in the sight of Kallus on the interrogation table. "Is he even alive?"

Rex stepped forward and tried to find a pulse. He was about to give up when he found it. It was very weak, but it was still there. "He won't be for long if we don't get him out of here."

Both men worked together to remove the straps that held the unconscious man to the table. With them undone, Zeb lifted his friend up onto his shoulder and took the blaster from the trooper that he'd knocked out after coming into the cell. He moved him as gingerly as he could since he didn't want to inflict any more pain on his friend. He could only hope that he'd remain unconscious during the escape since at least then he wouldn't feel his injuries or the pain that they sent through him.

The extraction team then prepared for their return to their ship. They knew that the moment that they stepped out into the corridor that they would quickly come face to face with troopers who would then trigger an alarm so they mentally prepared before they ran out. It didn't take long to run into that first set of troopers on a routine patrol of the night watch. That meant that they could expect more shortly.

"Chop, go on ahead and find a way to close the blast doors to give us a clear path to the hanger," Kanan ordered the droid as he deflected several blaster bolts.

Chopper gave an affirmative before he rolled on ahead of the team. He could go much faster since the troopers didn't see him as a threat with his Imperial paint job. He found a computer access port near the hanger and slowly began to close the blast doors not to just the private hanger but for the main hanger, as well, to make the Imperials believe that they were heading there. He then sent out a message to the ship that they were on their way back.

Sabine left Tac in the cockpit to be ready for the ship to take off as soon she gave the word. She was concerned that Kiara never returned from her cabin, but she couldn't go check on her just now. Sabine stood ready at the ramp and waited for the cue to lower it with her blaster in hand. When the astromech droid saw the team running in behind him he told the Mandalorian that they were there and rolled up the loading ramp once it was lowered while speaking animatedly.

Kanan continued to deflect blaster bolts as both Zeb and Rex returned fire as they raced toward the cloaked ship. They could only see it was there thanks to the ramp being lowered so that they could go inside. Zeb was told to go first since he had Kallus while the other two men covered him. He nodded and made his way to the Shadow Chaser. He dodged blaster fire as he raced rapidly up the loading ramp.

When Zeb went by, Sabine had been busy providing cover fire for the other men, but she saw the Lasat carry the injured man out of the corner of her eye. She'd gasped upon seeing Kallus for the first time before she turned back to her job at hand. She continued to blast troopers as Kanan and Rex joined her on the loading ramp. When they were aboard Sabine called for Tac.

"Now. Get us out of here."

"Of course," Tac responded as the loading ramp was raised. The ship then began its ascent as Rex made it to the cockpit and took the controls with Sabine at his side. They then prepared to leave; hopefully undetected.

Meanwhile, Zeb had taken Kallus to his cabin and left him with Kanan as he went in search of the med-kit. Not that it would have anything that would come close to helping the man lying in the bunk. He needed a full bacta submersion. Likely several days' worth.

Kanan did his best to determine the extent of the man's injuries with the use of the force. When he extended his senses, though, he raised his head in alarm.

"No."

Kanan left Kallus's side and raced over to the cabin across the corridor. He pressed the access panel and sensed that Kiara was still where he'd left her earlier. He'd wanted her to meditate to focus her abilities and center herself. He'd hoped that it would help to keep her mind occupied during the rescue. But now... Kanan swallowed hard. Now he could sense a very dark energy surrounding her and flowing through her.

"Kiara!"