Darth Vader has been away from Coruscant for many months. The presence of his Star Destroyer is a bane to the Rebel Alliance. Yet he had a far more important mission he had tasked himself with. He knew just as well as his predecessor that being the apprentice to Palpatine was a tenuous position. He himself had told Padme that he could overthrow the Emperor and they could rule the Galaxy. But as with all things, he also knew that he could take on his own apprentice. As the training of Starkiller continued, Melinoe was rising in prominence as the favored apprentice. In her meditations, she heard Palpatine call to her.

"You have called for me Master?"

"Yes Lady Melinoe. I have a new mission for you."

"What is it?"

"Lord Vader has been gone for some time and as I'm sure you are aware he has yet to return with the Rebel crew from Lothal."

"Lord Vader is a failure Master. He relies on the Inquisitors to do his work. They are as weak as they are stupid."

"Indeed, and I allowed him this indulgence. Even now I believe Lord Vader plots against me."

"I could track him down Master. I know how he thinks, he would not be able to escape me, and I could kill him for you."

"An interesting thought my young apprentice, but no. You will eliminate his Inquisitors. Then you will depart and find this Rebel crew. It is only you I can trust with this mission. Every task I have given you has been completed with skill and efficiency. Kill the rebels and bring the Jedi to me. Succeed and you will take Lord Vader's place at my side. Do not fail me, Darth Melinoe."

"I have never failed you Master. The rebels will die."

As the young Sith departs the throne room, she realizes that for the first time Palpatine has addressed her by the Sith title of Darth. The thought pleases her as she makes her way to the hangar bay. Across the Galaxy the Jedi on the Ghost are discussing their next moves.

"It's only a matter of time before Ahsoka is sent after us. She knows the ship, she knows the Rebellion. It may be time for us to part ways."

"We can't Andros. If we give up, if we stop fighting, the Empire will win."

"Andros may be right though Kanan. We fought two more Inquisitors recently. And they didn't have near the power of the Sith Lord."

"Remember your teachings Ezra. Fear and doubt are a pathway to the Dark Side. When Ahsoka comes, we will be ready for her."

"You know something I don't Kanan?"

"When she first joined us, Ahsoka told us of an old friend. He has battle experience, and has no apparent loyalty to the Empire."

"How can you be so sure?"

"From what she said, he was a soldier in the Grand Army."

"Then we can't trust him. It was the clones who turned on the Jedi with Order 66…"

"Maybe we can and maybe we can't Andros. But if he knew Ahsoka during the war, we have to at least give him the benefit of her trust, even if she's turned against us."

"Look, you're the Commander of this rebel cell Kanan. I'll follow your lead, but I have a bad feeling about this."

"You're not the only one."

Kanan shoots a quick glance at Ezra that speaks of nothing but disapproval. The young Jedi turns away almost as quickly as his Master calls to the bridge.

"Hera; set course for Jakku."

"Acknowledged, course laid in. Preparing for the jump to hyperspace."

When the Ghost arrived at Jakku, Hera set the ship down at the outskirts of the nearest settlement. Ahsoka's friend has a unique tracking signal that appeared in many locations on the desert planet. The most likely place was the small settlement, its' main population that of scavengers. Andros and Kanan left the ship to begin the search on their own; too many of the crew would be suspicious.

"So what's the best way to go about this? We can't utilize the Force, if we were to be detected…,"

"We try to blend in Kanan. We're not scavengers but we could pass for refugees on the planet. The population is sparsely located, and maybe just questioning these people will yield the desired results."

"Then we should split up. We'll cover more ground that way."

The two Jedi Knights go separate ways in search of their quarry. Both of them ask about retired soldiers but no can provide an answer. As the day turns to night, the mission is all but done when Andros receives a call from Kanan preparing to head back to the ship. As he is about to sign off, a gruff voice speaks up startling Andros. Normally nothing catches him off guard, but he never even heard the footsteps approaching.

"One more word and I'll kill you where you stand."

"There's no need, I'm unarmed. I'm just searching for someone."

"And you've found someone. Or rather he's found you. You've been going around this settlement asking questions."

"I have, but they are none of your concern. Let me go, and I'll forget this ever happened."

"Actually those questions are my concern if they can lead the Empire right to me. If you're an Imperial spy…,"

"I'm not with the Empire."

"I'll be the judge of that. Move."

Andros can feel the blaster pressed into his back. One wrong move and his assailant will no doubt fire. So he walks forward, letting this man think he has the upper hand, but still silently removes his lightsaber from his belt. When they are away from prying eyes, the trained Knight quickly ignites the blue blade blocking the three blaster bolts fired at him.

"You-you're a Jedi!"

"Keep it down; I don't want to have to use this for anything other than defense."

The man lowers his rifle and Andros deactivates his lightsaber. Neither of them is willing to trust the other yet, so they keep their weapons at their sides. A short stare down leads them nowhere, so the first to speak is the soldier.

"It's been a long time since I've seen any Jedi. Rumor had it you were all wiped out. Which begs the question, what are you doing on Jakku?"

"As I said, I'm looking for someone. He's someone a friend of mine knew back during the Clone Wars. And not all of us were wiped out."

"So you're looking for another Jedi like yourself."

"No, not a Jedi. A Clone trooper. She trusted him, gave me his coordinates."

"Why would you be looking for a Clone trooper? They were ordered to kill you all."

"You seem to have a lot of information for a scavenger."

"I never said I was a scavenger."

"Then who are you?"

"No, this isn't about me, this is about you. There is a rumor that a Clone trooper settled on this planet. I can help you find him, for a price. What's his name?"

"Don't know his name, only his call sign. CT-7567. That's all my friend gave me."

"CT-75…,"

"7567, you know him don't you?"

"I should say so, he's me. But I haven't gone by CT-7567 in a long time. Call me Rex. Now, this friend of yours, who is she?"

"Someone who fought by your side in the war. A promising Padawan, once expelled from the Order…,"

"Wait, not here. Imperial spies are everywhere. I got a place where we can talk freely, but I warn you if this is some sort of trick, or a trap, my men and I will kill you."

"Then lead the way."

Rex sets off with Andros right behind him. The walk to his hideout would be a short one but they took a lot of twists and turns so no one following them would learn the direct route back. When they arrived, they were both met with blaster rifles aimed and ready to fire.

"Bout time you got back Rex, but bringing someone here is a big mistake. He could be an Imperial."

"He's not. He's a Jedi."

"A Jedi you say? We should turn him over to the Empire, maybe then they'll stop hunting us."

"We're not turning him over. It wasn't the Jedi that betrayed The Republic. You know that as well as I do Wolffe. Someone sent him here to find me; he deserves the chance to explain himself. If I don't like what he has to say, I'll kill him myself."

"Okay, straight to the point. Rex, I was given your coordinates by a former Jedi Padawan. You fought by her side in the Clone Wars. Now she needs your help."

"I fought side by side with a lot of Jedi during the wars. You're going to have to be more specific."

"Her name is Ahsoka Tano. She's a friend of mine."

"Anyone can say they were friends with Commander Tano. I'm still not convinced. If you're friends with her, she would have spoken of you. What's your name?"

"Andros Garfull, I trained with Ahsoka. I was there when she was apprenticed to Anakin."

"And Commander Tano needs my help? She did get in quite a lot of scrapes in her youth. What kind of trouble is she in now?"

"She's turned."

"Turned to what?"

"To the Dark Side; Wolffe. And I'm going to save her."

Rex doesn't know what to say to that. He knew Ahsoka well, he had lost his blaster and she put one of her lightsabers in his hand so he could protect himself. While he is silent, he knows he owes it to her to try and help. Only Wolffe has other ideas.

"You can't be seriously considering this; Rex? How do we know this Jedi is even telling the truth? This isn't our fight."

"No, it's not your fight Wolffe. But I believe him. And if Commander Tano is in trouble or has turned to the Dark Side of the Force, this is my responsibility. She saved my life, I owe her the same."

"You said we weren't soldiers anymore. So far the Empire hasn't found us, you're really going to jeopardize all of that now?"

"You don't want to go, then don't. I'm going. Andros, I'm with you on this."

Andros calls Kanan to bring the Ghost to pick them up. As he and Rex depart with the other three clone troopers, Wolffe feels betrayed. He has his own reasons for hating the Empire, but even those don't outweigh the reward of credits for turning in a Jedi. Little did he know than when he contacted the Empire, he would be speaking to Lady Melinoe personally. Her shuttle was preparing to leave Coruscant on her mission to apprehend the rebels.

"Lady Melinoe!"

"What is it Commander?"

"Milady, we have just received a communication from an outpost on the desert planet of Jakku. The Rebel crew and the Jedi were spotted on the planet."

"Jakku is in the Outer Rim. They were fools to think they could hide from me there. Who sent the message?"

"A former Clone commander of the Grand Army. He says he is willing to turn over the Jedi."

"A Clone commander? Interesting that he is alive after all these years. Ready my shuttle. I will meet with him."

"Milady, he is still in communication. He says he will only speak to you."

Melinoe moves to her quarters to speak to the clone. When she activates the holo-communicator, a weathered face appears before her. He strikes her as familiar, but the name of this trooper escapes her memory.

"You are the man who has information on the Jedi and Rebel Crew?"

"Yes Milady."

"Identify yourself."

"During the Clone wars I was known as CC-3636. My name became Commander Wolffe."

"I remember you Commander. We were told you removed your control chip so as not to betray the Jedi. Why would you do so now? I hope for your sake that this is not a deception."

"I have no intention of deceiving you, Milady. My only wish is to see the last remaining Jedi brought to justice for betraying the Republic."

"That is all?"

"No, I have heard there was a substantial reward for revealing the whereabouts of this Rebel cell and their Jedi protectors."\

"The reward, of course. Name your price."

"Just to be left alone Milady. A life without war or death."

"You are a Clone trooper, certainly a strange request coming from someone bred for only one thing."

"But do we not all tire of war at some point? I'll turn the Jedi over, but I want the Empire to leave me alone."

"I shall see what Emperor Palpatine can arrange. My shuttle is preparing for the journey. For the time being you will stall the Rebels from leaving."

"How would I do that?"

"Did they mention a time of departure?"

"The Jedi did say they needed supplies."

"Good, help them acquire their supplies, and provide me your tracking signal. Know that if they escape before I arrive, you will suffer their fate."

"Of course Milady, but…,"

Melinoe ended the conversation before Wolffe could finish. In her earliest teachings of the Sith code, she learned that her Master had developed a set of consequences for those who betrayed the Grand Army. When she arrived Commander Wolffe would be taken in to custody and then reprogrammed to be loyal to the Empire. Perhaps even Palpatine would let her be the one to break him. If so, she would make sure he became the commander in charge of her own personal storm-trooper unit. But she also had more sinister plans in mind, and all rested on the apprehension of the Jedi and Rebel crew.