Well at least it wasn't a huge wait. Oh, and there's a new poll on my profile about publishing stories if you'd like to have your input heard. :) Enjoy the chapter!

Marrax groaned as he tried to stand, his legs trembling badly. He was trying to catch up to the others who had already rushed outside due to the blaster fire, but his body wasn't cooperating.

The turbolift doors opened once more to reveal more of his friends, but the look he saw on Rowan's face made him worried. He was going to ask what was wrong, but they rushed by without saying a word.

Catching sight of Padmé coming, Marrax shouted, "What happened up there?"

Padmé looked at him, her eyes bitter and sad. Marrax shuddered and suddenly didn't want to know.

"Come on," she said as she passed him.

"I'm coming," Marrax panted, stumbling to follow her outside.

When he approached the doorway, Marrax caught sight of stormtroopers emerging from an alleyway. They were backing away from something or someone. Soon after, Obi-Wan, Moeema, Carh'la, and Jan also appeared out of the alley, firing or deflecting bolts. The Imperials who had just exited the apartment building shot the remaining troops down.

As Rowan ran over to Jan, who was holding her bloody left shoulder, Marrax noticed that there were more troops coming. They were beginning to outnumber the others, and so Marrax searched wildly for a blaster to use.

Instead, his eyes fell on the fire alarm.

Looking quickly back at the battle beginning to erupt, Marrax ran over to the alarm and activated it. He then slinked outside, trying to stay out of sight; it wouldn't do him or his friends a lot of good if he attempted to fight the stormtroopers without a blaster.

As the alarm blared, people began coming out of the building in waves, and the stormtroopers ceased fire once Marrax and the others blended into the crowd. One trooper thought he could still fire off a shot, and the moment he did, the crowd panicked, running in all directions in the cold winter night.

Cursing, Marrax flattened himself against the wall to avoid being trampled like last time. He barely caught sight of the others rushing into the nearest alley, and he tried desperately to reach them, but his legs gave out as someone rammed into him.

"We lost Ooke and Marrax in the crowd," Kerrick reported angrily.

"You have to get out of the city," Obi-Wan said. "I'll stay to get the others."

"What about Anakin and Ryatsi?" Padmé asked.

Obi-Wan paused. "I'll let you know about them as well."

"Obi-Wan, what aren't you telling us?" Moeema asked.

"This isn't the time to be talking about this," Obi-Wan muttered, shaking his head. He looked at them firmly. "Just go; I'll get the others."

"But what are we going to do?" Zhymmia questioned, sounding worried. "They're targeting our families!"

"I have to get home," Kerrick quickly interjected.

"I'm not letting them lay their hands on my family!" Moeema firmly said.

Ton held up his hands to silence them, but there wasn't much silence since the screaming mob was just a few steps away from them.

"We need to get out of the city first," Ton instructed his officers. Out of the entire group, he looked the calmest, earning him some respect from Padmé. "We'll leave to the west of the city. Ress has his comlink, Kenobi; contact us when you get the others and leave the city boundaries. Then we'll worry about getting off-world to get our families out of danger."

Padmé immediately worriedly thought of the twins, but no one knew who their real parents were, let alone that their parents were alive and in the middle of this mess.

Ton held his blaster steady and led the way out of the alley, going away from the mob while Obi-Wan remained, scanning the scene.

Ryatsi moaned, her hand on her gut after being kicked and then trampled. There was chaos in the med-wing after the power had gone out, and Anakin had managed to escape. The ship was on high alert, but it was difficult trying to find him when there was no power whatsoever. From the emergency siren, Ryatsi knew that they also had no life support.

Grabbing a comlink, Ryatsi risked putting in the frequency for Ress; if any of the others down on the planet would have his or her comlink, it would be Ress.

Ryatsi heard the channel open, but Ress didn't say a word. Instead, she whispered, "Ress? It's Ryatsi."

"Dr. Tunbaoth, where are you?" Ress asked immediately.

"I'm aboard the emperor's flagship," Ryatsi responded gloomily. "Anakin's with me."

"What?" The voice that exclaimed didn't belong to Ress; it belonged to Padmé. "You're on the flagship?"

Rytasi sighed. "Yes,"

Stunned silence was the reply.

Ryatsi continued before the others could say anything else. "It's… it's mostly okay; Anakin doesn't… he…"

Ryatsi paused. Nothing about the situation was okay… and how could she explain that Anakin had lost his memory again? How could she say that to his wife? He didn't know her face anymore; he didn't know her.

He didn't know any of them.

Ryatsi felt sick, and she shook her head. "Just get out of there, okay? Palpatine's not going to be too preoccupied with you guys now. I'll look after Anakin. Go."

"But—"

"Just go!" Ryatsi nearly yelled. "Don't you realize you'll be lucky to get out alive?"

Before the others could reply, Ryatsi cut the connection.

"How could they have—?"

"Why did she—?"

"What's going on?"

"We've got to get up there!"

Ton shook his head and said, "Enough,"

The others grew quiet and looked at him, some desperately, some angrily. "We can't go up there after them; that's suicide."

"Oh, so we just abandon him?" Amidala snapped. "I'm not losing Anakin to that bastard again!"

Ton raised an eyebrow at her and she took a deep breath, looking down and apologizing. When she returned her gaze to him, there were tears in her eyes. "We can't leave him there,"

Ton sighed. "We don't have a choice; what good will it do him or any of us if we try to storm the emperor's flagship? We'll just get ourselves killed."

Tade looked angry at the situation, but she grunted in agreement. "The captain's right; there's nothing we can do."

Ton looked over his officers. Lt Cdr. Tade and Lt Cdr. Norhek both looked furious, though Norhek looked more terrified for Vader than anything. Beillane, Sanus, and Kenzee looked frantic while Lt. Reukli and Lt Cdr. Chelcu, though nervous and agitated, were mostly centered.

Then there was Ens. Hu.

Hu's expression confused Ton more than anything. The man stood stiff as a board with his arms folded and a brooding look upon his face. He didn't appear surprised by the news at all; in fact, he had seemed this angry the entire time. He had remained quiet since the transmission, sulking in a dark corner and staring off at the city. Ress sat beside him, wringing his hands, but otherwise showing no reaction to what was happening.

"Ens. Hu, is there something you wish to share?" Ton asked sharply.

In all of Ton's time with Hu, during and before the escapade with Vader began, Ens. Hu had been quiet and timid. As Hu had grown used to Vader and had to become a surrogate parental figure, he grew braver, but this wasn't bravery; this was rage. Ton wanted to know what was so wrong that it made someone as mild as Hu look so livid.

Ens. Hu looked at Ton moodily, but he didn't say a word.

Movement from some brush just behind them caught everyone's attention, and they all turned to see Gen. Kenobi arrive alongside Lt. Tunrott. The two were half-dragging Ens. Mothezsh along with them.

Ress and Tade immediately assisted Kenobi and Tunrott as they lowered the half-conscious ensign to the ground.

"What happened to him?"

Kenobi sighed, checking Mothezsh. "He got knocked to the ground in the mob; I'm pretty certain he's sustained a head injury."

"Great; that's all we need," Hu muttered darkly.

"Ens. Hu, what is the matter with you?" Ton snapped.

"Ask him," Hu pointed to Kenobi accusingly. "He'll be able to tell everyone why Anakin's up on the flagship with Ryatsi."

Everyone paused from their work and directed their attention to Kenobi, who sighed heavily.

"You knew they were there?" Amidala looked at Kenobi in astonishment and anger.

"Yes, I did," Kenobi replied. "Anakin thought it was the best idea."

"He gave himself up? Is he insane?" Chelcu shouted.

"You let him?" Norhek barked.

"Why would he do that?" Kenzee asked no one in particular.

"Is he trying to fight the emperor?" Beillane offered.

Kenobi shook his head. "No… although I'm sure he would have preferred it. Anakin was convinced that Palpatine wouldn't stop hunting us until he was found, so he deemed it necessary to turn himself in. However, he didn't want Palpatine to find anything that could incriminate you all, so he… he wanted his memory wiped."

Ton was speechless. So was the rest of the group. Vader had lost his memory?

"Apparently his plan is working, too," Kenobi continued. "Since Ooke and I heard the stormtroopers receiving orders that the fleet was departing. They were going to leave us to the garrison on the planet until Death Squadron arrives."

No one said a word.

Kenobi spread his hands. "I know none of you probably wishes to see me alive let alone listen to me, but I strongly advise that you leave after the fleet has departed. Palpatine's order to kill your families still stands, and it will be impossible to stay hidden once Death Squadron arrives. You have to find your families and get them into hiding."

Ton listened to the silence that served as the group's reply. It was then that he belatedly realized the sounds of the TIE fighters had long since died away.

"They've left," he muttered, catching everyone's attention.

Kenobi looked to the sky as well, his face expressing more worry than Amidala's and Norhek's faces combined.

"I'm sorry,"

Ryatsi sighed as she slowly pushed the sedative out of the syringe and into the IV she had given to Anakin. He sat on the bed tiredly, watching her every move.

Ryatsi didn't know how it had happened, but Anakin had vanished from the entire ship's scope until he suddenly was escorted back to the med-wing by the Red Guard. Ryatsi didn't even dare think what had happened, but whatever it was, it had left Anakin very subdued.

Anakin's eyes held no more fear. Instead, they held dread and a mournful acceptance. Ryatsi could have sworn those eyes held more understanding of their situation than even what she knew, but he didn't say a word. He just stared at her.

And somehow that made Ryatsi feel as if she were doing something very wrong in taking part of this whole mess.

Why did they have to turn themselves in to the emperor? They could have run; they could have gotten out.

"And for what?" she muttered under her breath as she watched Anakin slowly fall asleep.

If they had gotten away, would the emperor's fleet have chased them? Of course it would have. They would have been running all their lives. Still, Ryatsi didn't see how this was helping their plight much, either.

Sighing heavily once more, Ryatsi sat on Anakin's bed and watched him sleep. They were returning to Imperial Center now. The thought of it made her sick with terror. How long could she keep taking care of Anakin before the emperor decided he no longer needed a babysitter? They had kept Anakin hidden from the emperor for a reason; everyone in the entire Empire knew that Palpatine was no paternal figure. He would maul Anakin into shape if he had to.

The door to the medical wing opened to reveal the foolish doctor from the earlier incident. Ryatsi immediately stiffened, ready for anything.

The doctor walked cautiously towards Anakin's bed, but when he realized Anakin had been sedated, he relaxed. Ryatsi did not.

"Do you need something?" she asked curtly. "I've got the situation under control here, thanks."

The doctor, Dr. Navirtsy, sighed. "Look… I'm sorry for not listening to you, but I have my orders. You should know that you don't disobey orders when they're given directly from the emperor. He wants results."

"Did you get your results?" Ryatsi asked smartly.

"No," the doctor replied. "But I can get them now."

Ryatsi stood. "No,"

Dr. Navirtsy shook his head. "How did you survive in Death Squadron? I never knew Lord Vader to be lenient."

"You worked with him?" Ryatsi asked, stunned at the concept.

"A few years ago," the doctor nodded. "I worked with him and the 501st on a mission; he, just like the emperor, was more concerned with results than with bedside manner."

"You're not much of a doctor, are you?" Ryatsi said, disgusted. "You're so concerned with orders that you've forgotten you're treating people, not prisoners or soldiers or test subjects. They're people."

"They'll be dead people—and so will I—if my orders are not followed."

"Look what following your orders got you." Ryatsi motioned around the wrecked room.

"I simply misjudged," Dr. Navirtsy replied. "I should have listened to you when you said he would panic. Nevertheless, the tests must be done. Now that he is sedated, it's the perfect opportunity."

"You won't lay a finger on him, I promise you that," Ryatsi glared at the doctor defensively.

Dr. Navirtsy looked at her seriously. "Dr. Tunbaoth, if you do not step aside, I cannot guarantee that you will be able to tend to Lord Vader in the future."

Ryatsi felt her stomach churn, and she knew she was trapped. Balling her fists in frustration, she stormed aside so the doctor could do his work.

"You're disgusting," she snapped as he drew blood from Anakin's IV.

"I'm simply doing my orders." He replied.

The sun sat heavily on the horizon as it lazily drifted higher into the sky. A cold winter wind blew through the city, chilling its inhabitants to the bone. The area seemed calmer than it had been a few hours ago, but there was still damage to be repaired. Rescue teams were busy running around the city to treat victims of panicked or angry mobs and stampedes, and stormtroopers scoured the streets as best as their minimal numbers would allow.

In the southern side of Taris City, two paramedics rushed to the aid of yet another victim of one of the many stampedes from the previous night.

"Honestly, and I was having a great time at the Ria Dance, too," one paramedic grumbled irritably as he kneeled beside his patient. "Blasted Empire,"

"Be careful what you say, Jon," his partner whispered quickly as he grabbed the patient's wrist to get a pulse. "Those troopers are all over the place, and we don't know what or who they're looking for,"

Jon grumbled under his breath before checking the pupils of his patient. As he flashed the light into the patient's eyes, some movement in his peripheral vision caught his attention, and he immediately sat straight to see if there was another victim. Instead, he caught sight of a group of people sneaking through an alley. He would have returned his attention to his patient if he hadn't noticed that the group was armed and one of the members was nearly being dragged.

As his partner was treating the patient, Jon immediately stood and held his hands in the air before calling to get the group's attention. Making sure his hands were noticeably in the air so they wouldn't be provoked, he said, "I'm a paramedic. Is your friend hurt?"

The members of the group looked at each other uncertainly. Then a young woman walked into the light, revealing a beautiful face, luscious long dark brown hair, and intelligent brown eyes. She must have been from the dance since she was dressed in the black garments of one of the mourning.

"Our friend has some sort of head injury," she said.

The other members of the group still appeared to be uncertain from their body language, seeing as they kept looking at each other and shifting, gripping their blasters firmly. Jon remained where he was, keeping his hands in the air. "I can treat him if you bring him over here. Is that okay?"

Some whispers were heard in the alley as some sort of debate began. Jon's partner warily whispered, "Be careful; they seem pretty sketchy,"

"Yeah, I know," Jon muttered, still not moving. "How's the other patient?"

"He's got some broken ribs and he's not breathing very well; it might be a pneumothorax,"

"Did you get him on oxygen, Roy?"

"The oxygen's back by the speeder. I don't know if your fidgety friends will let me move now that they've set their eyes on us."

Jon clenched his teeth and then took a deep breath, bracing himself. "Now, look; my partner here needs to help this man behind us, but he has to go back to our speeder to do so. He's just going to get some supplies for our patient, and they might be useful for your friend, too. He's going to go now, so don't shoot him."

Jon paused and then whispered, "Any time now, Roy,"

He heard his partner shift and stand, slowly walking back to the speeder. One member of the group moved, making Jon's hair stand up, but the member walked into the light unarmed. He was older than the woman and looked as if he had aged years in a short period of time. "We're bringing him out now."

Two other people appeared, half-carrying a third man. The man was the youngest Jon had seen so far, and he had a bad bruise on his head. As soon as the young man was brought out of the alley, Jon walked forward and helped the other two carry him closer to the first patient.

Changing his gloves, Jon asked, "Can you tell me how this happened?"

"He was caught up in the mob. He must have been knocked over and kicked quite a bit before we got to him." One man drawled in a heavily accented voice.

Suddenly, a crisp Coruscanti accent came from the alley, snapping, "We should be going."

As Jon examined the young man, he said to whoever was protesting, "Look, your buddy here could be seriously hurt. He should go to a hospital."

"No," they all immediately said.

Jon looked at them, his eyebrows raised.

Sighing in frustration, one man muttered, "I knew this was a bad idea."

As Jon watched the group, he noticed a cylindrical bulge in one of the men's robes. As the freezing winter wind blew the billowing robes, Jon caught sight of a glint of metal. His brow furrowed as he tried to piece the images together and then he quickly realized what he had just seen.

The man noticed Jon staring at him and asked in a calm voice, "Is something the matter?"

Jon quickly returned his gaze to his patient. "No. How old is this man?"

"He'll be twenty-nine in about a month," a black-haired, small-eyed, pale man answered quickly.

Examining the injury and checking the pupils, Jon sighed. "This guy got off lucky. It looks like he's just got a concussion. Mind you, I'm saying it looks like a small concussion; it could be worse. I advise you get him to a hospital as soon as you can. Ambulances are swamped right now, so we can only take one patient on the squad speeder with us."

"Take the other guy," one of the members answered immediately.

Jon nodded mutely. He knew why they were hiding.

Roy had apparently finished his work on the other patient and called Jon for assistance to load the patient onto a stretcher. Jon pulled out a syringe and held it up to the others. "This ought to help your friend here regain consciousness. Don't make him exert himself; he needs plenty of rest, lots of fluids, and little stress if that's at all possible. Oh, and… if you follow me I might be able to give you guys a lift."

The woman raised an eyebrow in a query, but Jon said nothing else as he helped Roy load the first patient onto a stretcher. As they did so, Roy whispered, "I hope you know what you're doing, Jonny."

"Me too," Jon answered before facing the people once more. "Follow me."

The group hesitated once more, but Jon continued to walk away from them as their friend stirred and groaned from the injection. After seeing their friend recovering, the group began to follow Jon cautiously.

Jon led them to his fellow crew members' fire tanker, which stood empty as it had long since been abandoned by its crew who were busy with a rescue operation close by. Jon motioned to the vehicle. "I can fly this tanker over to the nearest spaceport. There was a call for some emergency assistance."

The others looked at him confusedly before realizing he was offering them a ride to freedom.

"Well we shouldn't leave them waiting, then," one of them answered.

Jon nodded and hopped into the pilot's seat as the others quickly boarded. Shooting one last glance at Roy and the squad speeder, Jon activated the engine and sped along his way.

"Why is he giving us a lift?" Ooke asked. "Does he know who we are?"

"If he does he would have called the authorities by now," Shiine commented.

Obi-Wan was about to speak, but he thought better of it. They were still furious with him, and it was a miracle they hadn't shot him yet.

The fire tanker they were riding flew through the city with its sirens blazing. Obi-Wan had to admit it was the most noticeable and yet safest way to get out of the city alive; it was a miracle that they had found a sympathetic firefighter paramedic.

"What are we going to do when we get to the spaceport?" Zhymmia asked worriedly.

"We should split up," Capt. Mentzer immediately answered. "A group as large as us is too noticeable, and as Kenobi said, we need to get our families to safety. That is our first priority."

"What about Anakin?" Zhymmia argued.

"What if we don't have family?" Numel queried.

Before Mentzer could reply, Obi-Wan explained, "I believe the point the captain is trying to make is that we have to split up, no matter what."

His comment garnered a glare from everyone, showing that his input was not welcome. Sighing, Obi-Wan somewhat regretted saying anything at all, but the point had to be made.

The sirens wailed before growing silent as the tanker reached its destination. The paramedic driving hopped out and ran to the nearest authority figure, asking how he could help. Since he wasn't paying the group an iota of attention, they took it as their cue to leave.

Capt. Mentzer led his Imperials to a directory, where they saw that all the flights were being delayed due to the Imperial presence. However, they had little other choice or hope for getting offworld, and so they each selected flights that either got them to their home-worlds or as close as possible. This left Obi-Wan and Padmé standing side by side, staring at nothing in particular, and not knowing what to say to each other.

Obi-Wan could sense Padmé's fury at Obi-Wan and Anakin's actions. She was angry at Anakin for his idea, and she was surprised that Obi-Wan had gone along with it. Obi-Wan himself was rather surprised he had gone along with it.

Groaning internally, Obi-Wan felt like he had just blundered seriously once more. What was it about him and Anakin that didn't seem to work? Whenever Anakin brushed him off or tried to convince him of something, he either listened when he shouldn't have or ignored him when he shouldn't have.

Not for the first time, Obi-Wan dearly wished Qui-Gon was still alive.

As Obi-Wan and Padmé stood in silence, the Imperials looked at each other awkwardly and in terror. They had to separate, and they didn't know if they were going to see each other again. Some exchanged hugs; others gripped forearms and smiled grimly. The captain said "good luck" to his officers and departed, not looking back. As he locked eye contact with Obi-Wan, he gave a nod before continuing on his way.

"Where will you go?" Obi-Wan asked Padmé.

"To Alderaan," Padmé answered. "I'm going to find Leia."

Obi-Wan nodded, not saying anything. He had expected that answer, but he still wasn't sure if it was the right one. Nevertheless, he knew arguing would be pointless. To his surprise, Padmé was conversational and considerate enough to ask, "And you?"

"I…" Obi-Wan paused. He didn't know where he would go. Should he go to Coruscant and try to rescue Anakin? At this point that seemed nearly suicidal. No, no… attacking Coruscant right now would be too premature. Anakin was safe so long as he was amnesiac.

But…

"Padmé…" Obi-Wan faced her. "Did you tell Anakin about the twins?"

Padmé turned to look Obi-Wan in the eye. "Yes. Why? He won't remember it now."

Her words were laced with stinging poison, but Obi-Wan shrugged the pain aside for the moment. Anakin had learned of the twins. He wouldn't remember it, that was true, and Obi-Wan had put quite a few barriers in place to ensure that any mention of Padmé wouldn't be remembered unless brought out purposefully, but if those memories somehow came back at any point…

"I have to go back to Tatooine," Obi-Wan said quickly. "Your children's safety is very precarious right now."

"What do you mean?" Padmé immediately demanded.

"It's true that Anakin won't remember you telling him about the twins," Obi-Wan explained. "But you see, I didn't rid Anakin of his memories; I simply stored them away, if you will. He will remember, Padmé; the question is only when. Anakin is safe so long as he doesn't remember… and unfortunately that won't last. His safety, however, is also tied to your children's safety. If Anakin remembers about the twins and Palpatine realizes it…"

Padmé stared at him in horror. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"What difference would that have made?" Obi-Wan argued gently. "Go to Alderaan, Padmé. Get Leia, and get her out of there any way you can."

Padmé watched Obi-Wan for a few seconds more before turning and hastily making her way to the directory where the Imperials were now dispersing. Some threw glances in her direction, but they had to leave in a hurry. It was a rushed and unceremonious end to the group who had taken care of Anakin for over a month.

Obi-Wan dearly hoped that it wouldn't be the last time they saw each other.

If you can guess who the paramedics are based off of you can choose whichever Imperial's family you get to see first. :) Please review.