Hey all! I was actually planning on posting this on Epiphany, but fanfiction was having issues with uploading stuff that day... at least for me. Anyway, I thought this chapter was actually shorter than the last one until I uploaded it, lol, but oh well. I hope you guys enjoy, and see if you can find the hidden element in there! ;)
Suck-hiss.
Palpatine watched the boy as he slept before turning to look out the window. Skywalker was in bad shape after their confrontation, and the medical droid had placed a nonrebreather on him to ensure he was getting enough oxygen.
Suck-hiss.
He wasn't sure how much time it would take to rebuild the boy now that he had broken the barriers. Palpatine knew he didn't shatter Skywalker's mind; the last thing he needed was a witless broken man. He did need to build him back up, though.
Suck-hiss.
Palpatine had ensured Skywalker relived his memories of Darth Vader. Those would be the freshest in his mind, not any nonsense with the traitorous Imperials. It should just be a little hiccup in his memory.
The breathing stopped.
Startled, Palpatine whipped around to see the boy sitting up in the bed, the mask pulled off his face. Piercing blue eyes watched Palpatine, but seeing as the boy wasn't attacking, he probably didn't remember their fight at all.
Palpatine was going to speak, but the boy beat him to it, asking in a quiet voice, "What's going on?"
Gauging his reaction, Palpatine said, "You're temporarily a patient here. Do you know where you are?"
Skywalker's eyes narrowed, and his brow furrowed. The look he was giving Palpatine was reflecting confusion and disbelief, as if he knew where he was, but he didn't know why or how, and Palpatine's behavior was making him a little nervous.
"I'm on Imperial Center," he said after a pause. "But how did I get here? I was on my ship… and…"
The boy picked up the nonrebreather and stared at it for a moment before holding it up slightly and then looking at Palpatine pointedly.
"We don't know how that happened," Palpatine explained.
Skywalker raised an eyebrow. Before he could reply, though, Palpatine continued. "A group of traitorous Imperials are responsible for your hospitalization. They are your men, Lord Vader, from your own squadron. You must find them and eliminate them."
"Why don't I remember it?"
"Apparently whatever caused your body to heal from the suit disoriented your mind," Palpatine surmised smoothly. Handing him a data pad, Palpatine said, "This list contains all the names of the Imperials."
The boy looked over the list briefly, his eyes flickering between names. Palpatine watched him closely for a reaction, curious as to what was going through his mind. Skywalker was acting like he knew he was Vader, but as Darth Vader he had never been this at ease near Palpatine. With a smirk, Palpatine was pleased to see that his tampering with the boy's mind had worked after all, and his smile only widened when Vader showed no connection or concern for the Imperials who had taken care of him.
Rising, Vader took one last glance at the data pad and then went on one knee before Palpatine. "They will be eliminated, my Master."
Lt. Bhui was lost. Again.
Grumbling irritably, the lieutenant stormed around the ornate hallways, shuddering when he passed one in particular; an acquaintance of his, who was a security officer, had died in that hall… Force that young man had been terrifying.
Turning the corner, the lieutenant nearly grabbed his blaster and yelped to see the very same man staring at him.
Relax, Bhui told himself. He's got his head on straight now.
"Can I help you, lieutenant?" Vader raised an eyebrow.
The lieutenant cleared his throat, holding out a data chip he had been carrying. He was supposed to deliver it to another officer, but the actual recipient would have eventually been Vader, anyway. "Sir, here's a report for the progress of the search on Taris."
"Sum it up for me, lieutenant," Vader said as he took the chip.
"Well the summary is simple: no Imperials were found," the lieutenant reported. "Nor any family,"
"Have they searched the entire planet?"
"No, sir," Bhui shook his head. "They've just finished searching the capital; it is a large city, after all."
"Then tell them to call it off," Vader ordered calmly as he walked slowly to a window, watching the skyline. "If they haven't found them by this point then they've all managed to get off-world."
"Do you have any idea where they could have gone, sir?"
"If they learned anything from what happened to Chupa-Pau, they'll go to their families to get them to safety. Who's searching on Taris right now?"
"Death Squadron, sir,"
Darth Vader looked surprised to hear his own squadron was doing the work, but he shrugged it off quickly. "Have them meet me on Prakith. Get a fleet in the area to go to Nihoma."
"Nihoma, sir? None of the Imperials are from there."
"Don't trust their records, lieutenant," Vader smirked. "One of them is from there; I figured that out long before this situation started. Considering his family is royalty, they ought to be far easier to track down."
"Why not just send Death Squadron, then?"
"I'd much rather be with my fleet, and I need to find the leader of these traitors," Vader answered. "Prakith is the home planet of Capt. Mentzer. He'll be my prey. Now go."
The lieutenant saluted and departed, leaving Vader to muse over the list and watch the last bit of light leave the sky as night fell upon Imperial Center.
The cockpit was filled with a tension so thick Moeema could barely breathe. The thought that Ryatsi was dead was gut wrenching enough, but to think that Anakin was completely powerless under Palpatine's control made her feel even sicker. A part of her was still angry with Kenobi and wanted to blame it on him, but this time she couldn't make herself do it. She could tell by his expression and behavior that he felt far worse than she did, and she wasn't going to put any more pressure or guilt on him. Her family was safe; it was time they get Marrax and made sure Obi-Wan's family could be safe too.
Thinking about retrieving Marrax made Moeema worry, too. The young man lived on Kuat, a heavily Imperial planet. Kuat was home to the navy's biggest shipyard aside from the one over Raxus Prime; there would be security everywhere. It would be a miracle if they found Marrax and his family still alive by the time they reached Kuat. She didn't know why Marrax wasn't answering the transmission from Kobayashi, but the scenario she just envisioned was a distinct possibility.
Kobayashi broke the silence when he asked Obi-Wan, "Are you sure Ryatsi's…?"
"Dead," Moeema finished for the man. "Just say it, Koby; it'll sink in better that way."
"But we can't be positive," Koby quickly stammered, nearly frantic. The loss over Dantooine had been rough enough, but they had gotten to know Ryatsi quite well and had been through so much with her. He couldn't quite register that she wasn't coming back.
Obi-Wan shook his head. "No, we cannot be one hundred percent sure, but I'm getting rather close. I could sense Anakin's rage before, but it's quieted all of a sudden. I can't sense him out at all."
Moeema didn't think it was possible for her to feel worse, but she somehow managed it. "What could that mean?"
"It most likely means Palpatine has him under his control,"
Kobayashi hissed out a word in Nihoman and turned sharply to face another direction. "Why do things only seem to get worse for us?!"
Moeema remembered another point, recalling the children with Padmé. "Obi-Wan… surely Palpatine won't find about the twins?"
"No," Obi-Wan immediately answered with confidence. "If there was one memory that I locked away more than any other, it was the one of Anakin finding out about his children. Believe me, Moeema; the only way Palpatine will find out about the twins is if Anakin purposefully searches out that memory, knowing what he's looking for, manages to remember it, and then tells Palpatine himself."
A wave of relief flooded through Moeema, temporarily relieving the pain that had been there just before. "Well at least that's something."
Obi-Wan didn't look relieved in the slightest, though. Moeema was going to ask why, but she figured it out quickly, particularly after Koby said, "That still doesn't solve how in the blazes we're going to get him out without him killing us. If he really is under Palpatine's control once more, won't he be out to get us now?"
The idea of Anakin coming to kill them left Moeema more nauseous and miserable than any other thought. Trying to change the subject, Moeema shook her head and said, "Let's just worry about one thing at a time, okay? We have to get to Marrax."
Obi-Wan immediately latched onto the new subject. "Yes, we do have to get Marrax. Where on Kuat does he live, Kobayashi?"
"He lives in a suburb just south of the main capital," Koby explained. "I believe it has its own spaceport, too."
"Every place on that planet has its own spaceport." Obi-Wan commented.
"Speaking of that, how are we going to get clearance codes to land?" Moeema asked. "I can see you guys getting by that on Hynah; my planet's in the Outer Rim and not very populated by the military, but this… this is practically suicide."
"At this rate we're going to die anyway," Koby muttered.
"Surely you two know some Imperial code that could get us through," Obi-Wan suggested. "If not we'll have to land outside of the more populated areas and try to make our way on foot. I have no secret passages or codes that will get us passed security. I can do a mind trick on the guards, but that's only if we're actually in the same area as them; I wouldn't boast my abilities to say I can do a mind trick over a transmission."
"Anakin could kill people over transmissions," Koby inserted, somewhat as a jab and somewhat as a joke. Moeema didn't know whether to laugh or throw him a funny look, but Obi-Wan's irritated expression could only garner amusement from her.
"Honestly," the Jedi grumbled before asking, "Did you normally make a habit of noting all of his unusual capabilities?"
"I'm just saying!" Koby argued, making Moeema laugh.
"All right, if you really want to get into this, then answer this question: was the transmission visual or just audio?"
"Visual," Kobayashi answered.
Obi-Wan gestured irritably. "Well then there's your answer. Using the Force is a matter of the mind, Kobayashi. It's far easier to imagine strangling someone if you can see them."
Moeema's laughter stopped abruptly. "Wait—if using the Force is just a matter of the mind, does that mean that all Anakin has to do is imagine killing us and… and…"
Obi-Wan watched her trip over her words and began to stroke his beard thoughtfully and nervously. "Not exactly… Anakin is a lot of things, but he's not all powerful. If he were to harm you like that it would take all of his energy and focus, and even then it probably wouldn't work. I highly doubt that's his or Palpatine's plan of attack."
"Well that's a relief," Koby laughed nervously. "As for codes, I—"
"I know a few," Moeema interrupted. "I'm a lieutenant commander, after all; I have a few tricks up my sleeve."
"Will they tip anybody off?"
"No... at least not initially. It'll give us enough time to get in and wander a bit."
Koby clapped his hands, some relief finally shining on his pale face. "Thank the Force for small favors, then! How long until we reach Kuat?"
"Kuat is a core world," Obi-Wan noted, making Moeema remember just how suicidal this plan was. "We'll have to do some maneuvering to ensure we don't run into well traveled Imperial routes. It ought to take us about eleven hours."
When he had received the call from the lieutenant he had been surprised. He hadn't expected to hear from any of the others ever again; they were on the run, after all. Then the lieutenant had sent out a coded message saying that Yoala was the safe haven to take one's families.
But for the love of heaven… did those bloody natives have to keep pestering him with questions?!
Ton sighed irritably as he waved away another local, saying, "No, I don't know what happened to whatever you call him."
His fiancée gave an amused smirk. "So this is what you meant by an interesting population,"
He didn't say anything. Instead he finally allowed one calmer looking native come close to him in order to ask a question. "You, come here—yes, you—where are the others?"
The native blinked her ruby red eyes as she translated his question in her head before pointing in another direction. Ton guided his fiancée to the city they had been led to the last time they were on Yoala. The other Imperials quickly came into view, alongside Vader's wife and… were those children hers?
"Captain!" Lt. Tunrott shouted, noticing the man. The other Imperials caught sight of him as well.
Ton was going through a mental checklist in his mind as he took note of who was there. It seemed the only people missing were Mothezsh, Norhek, Beillane, Chupa-Pau, and Kenobi.
It was odd seeing all of his Imperials in the same area again. When they had left on Taris he had been certain he would never see them. He had been certain he would be hiding in a hole somewhere with his fiancée until heaven knows what would happen and allow him to live his life once more with some dignity.
Honestly, he hadn't even expected to survive the manhunt against him.
Even more bizarre than seeing all of them together, however, was seeing their families there… and seeing the Yoalans having mock fights with each other. What were they doing?
"Did I miss something?" Ton asked Lt Cdr. Tade.
The woman smiled in partial amusement and exasperation. "The hasty explanation made to the Yoalans was that Anakin had been taken by a 'dark messenger' and we had to get him back. The Yoalans are training for a battle."
"Battle?" Ton gaped at the woman. "Are they mad?! Those backwards creatures wouldn't last two seconds against an Imperial force!"
"On Imperial territory, you are right," Tade nodded. "However, we're not taking them to any battle. They're training to defend this world, just in case any Imperials get a scent of our trail."
Ton looked at the locals once more and then raised an eyebrow as he overheard a conversation between Amidala and the two children with her.
"Are we getting ready to rescue Daddy?" the girl asked.
"Of course we are!" the boy answered before Amidala could say anything. "That's why those funny looking people are getting ready to fight! They have spears like the Tuskens!"
"They're not going to a battle," Amidala quickly explained. "They're just being ready. Those bad people who took your father may want to hurt any one of us too. I told you that on the flight here, remember?"
The two nodded and then the boy shouted excitedly. "That means we should get ready too!"
The girl yelped in agreement and the two ran over to the warriors, fighting over which spear they would use while Amidala ran after them in exasperation.
Ton motioned to them, making Tade look. "They're his…?"
"Yes, they're his children," the lieutenant commander answered. "It shocked us too. They're very sweet and earnest, though; they remind me of Little One."
Something in Ton snapped, and he glared at her. "Don't mention that infernal name."
Apparently he made the wrong statement, for Tade's eyes flashed. "Captain, I understand you're upset about everything occurring, but you're not the only one."
Ton held his temper in check, and so he changed the subject. "Why did Beillane call us here? So we could hide all together?"
"No,"
Ton and Lt Cdr. Tade both turned to see Ress approaching them. He saluted both. "I know the generals well enough to know that Gen. Kenobi won't let this stand. He and Gen. Skywalker probably made a plan to lull the emperor into a false sense of victory before they attacked… before we attacked."
"Is this attack a theory of yours or do you know this to be true?" Ton asked.
Ress smirked. "You should know, sir, that when you run with Gen. Skywalker, you're always bound to attack at some point."
Prakith was a small world with a very wild terrain. Most of it was uninhabitable for differing reasons, such as broiling temperatures that even made Tatooine seem balmy. Prakith had a very close orbit to its local star, and only the equator area was not subjected to the extreme range in temperatures the planet experienced due to the proximity. Even then, the few civilized areas were encapsulated in domes that dimmed and brightened to adjust the amount of sunlight. The population was extremely small on the planet, and so it was easily searchable. It was also extremely easy to detect when people came and went.
Reports had flooded in that Ton Mentzer had been seen arriving in his hometown, and many of the locals had acknowledged it. They stated he had gone to see his fiancée and the two had quickly departed afterwards. They had just missed him.
Stupid, moronic, Palpatine.
Vader sighed as he looked out of the window on his ship. He wasn't on the Executor because he had been informed that it was destroyed, irritating and upsetting him greatly. He had liked that ship; she had been an impressive and majestic piece of workmanship. How anybody could destroy such a creation was beyond him.
That depressing news aside, he was still seething at Palpatine. The man gave him a ridiculous mission after messing it up completely. Palpatine had a great many talents, but it seemed that something made him slip up on this one issue; if the emperor had wanted Vader to search for these Imperials, he should have immediately sent fleets scouring their homeworlds the instant they were discovered on Taris. He shouldn't have waited; the man had gloated on Taris, thinking he had ensnared them all, but they slipped between his grimy fingers and now they were vanishing.
Well, his best bet was still on Nihoma. Lt. Kobayashi Beillane had falsified his Imperial record in order to avoid any association with the royal family on Nihoma, but Vader was no fool. He could tell the man was lying, and it didn't take too much investigating to put the pieces together.
Walking to a communication station, Vader put in the frequency for the capital ship of the fleet sent to Nihoma. It had been a good twelve hours since he had left Imperial Center; the fleet sent to Nihoma must have been searching the planet for at least eight of those twelve hours.
When the view screen came to life, the man answering was the officer of the deck. Vader quickly requested to speak to the admiral, to which the officer shifted uncomfortably.
"My lord, the admiral is dead," the man answered. "He was killed on the planet."
Vader raised an eyebrow. "He was what? What happened? Are there Rebels there, or was it the lieutenant?"
"Neither, sir; it was the locals,"
"The locals?" Vader furrowed his brow. "What in the blazes was that man doing there? I told him to find the traitor, not start a war."
"Well, sir, what happened was—"
"Never mind what happened," Vader interrupted, waving a dismissive hand. "I care not what happens to fools who get themselves into more trouble than they can handle. Has there been any sign of Beillane?"
"No, sir,"
"That's all I need to know. Any leads?"
"No, sir,"
Vader sighed irritably. "Very well, then. Keep me informed if that changes."
Cutting the connection, Vader was bombarded with similar negative reports. However, he did get one interesting lead. The locals on Prakith, being so squished together in small populations, noticed that the captain had apparently switched some flight plans at the last minute. He had originally been chartering a pre-determined flight with his fiancée when he suddenly decided to spend most of his money and buy a ragged ship that would probably only last him one or two trips. Why he made this new decision was unknown to the locals, but the man he had been talking to about it had stated the captain had gotten a bizarre transmission just before changing his mind.
"They must be collaborating," Vader surmised as he gave his report to the emperor via hologram. "I don't know what they wish to gain from it, though; any attack by such a small band of people is futile, and they have their families with them. The Rebels wouldn't accept them, I should think, particularly after what happened on Dantooine."
Pausing, Vader looked up at the Sith Lord. "How is it I don't remember Dantooine? I should have some recollection of an attack on the Rebel base itself."
"Whatever healed you physically erased some of your memories of small incidents," Palpatine replied smoothly. Vader didn't know why, but just looking at the man made him feel a million different emotions. He felt strangely attached to the Sith, as if he were the only tether Vader had to sanity, but at the same time, he despised the sight of him… and was afraid of him. He didn't understand the bizarre mixture, but seeing as he was Palpatine's faithful servant, he wasn't going to let it get in his way of his missions.
"I don't really have a lot of leads to go on," Vader stated, some annoyance leaking into his tone. "If this hunt had begun sooner, perhaps while the Imperials were still on Taris—"
"You will observe the progress of the search from Imperial Center from now on," Palpatine interrupted, sounding just a tad distracted.
"Master, I would be of more use to you and the search if I was out actively investigating," Vader argued in a calm tone as his emotions began to bubble. Why was Palpatine calling him back? He hadn't failed him just because the emperor was foolish enough to let the trail go cold.
"You will return to Imperial Center," the emperor emphasized. "Immediately,"
Biting back a retort, Vader bowed his head. "Yes, Master,"
Known as one of the great jewels of the galaxy, Kuat was a very rich, luxurious, illustrious, and populated planet. Its main product was its starship production, and as the Empire was its biggest customer, the planet had an Imperial presence almost as strong as Coruscant itself. The most striking physical feature of the planet was its shipyards, which were orbiting side by side to form a giant ring around the planet.
Kuat City, the capital, was known as the city of balconies. Its tall elegant skyscrapers were connected by these balconies, and they were so large that they created different levels and districts of the cities. All of the levels were accessible to everyone, but the price tag of everything in the area increased the higher one went.
The city held twelve different space ports, all of which were shaped like towering semicircular gates around the perimeter of the city and within different suburbs. Balconies on these enormous gates were the landing pads for each individual ship.
"Still no luck reaching Koby?" Moeema asked as Obi-Wan grudgingly piloted the ship.
Kobayashi sighed and shook his head. "No. I'm starting to fear the worst might have happened."
"What about Rowan?" Moeema mentioned. "Have you heard nothing from him either?"
"Nothing," Kobayashi confirmed. "Did we just risk our lives for nothing?"
"Not if there's any chance Marrax is still here," Obi-Wan answered as he maneuvered the ship to one of the landing pads. "As for Rowan… he probably hasn't been captured, but… I highly doubt we'll be seeing him after what happened on Taris."
"I can't imagine what it's like to lose a son," Moeema shook her head. "I can't even bear the thought of losing my children."
"You don't think he'll do something stupid and, well, take matters into his own hands?" Kobayashi asked nervously.
"Well, Kobayashi, you seem to know everyone rather well," Obi-Wan turned to face the man after landing the ship. "What do you think?"
"He's never struck me as irrational," the lieutenant replied. "Then again, I've never seen him pushed passed the breaking point, either."
"I don't know," Moeema sighed. "But we're not here for Rowan, so let's stop worrying about him for the time being. Where could Marrax be?"
"Honestly Capt. Mentzer had the most distance to cover traveling from Taris," Obi-Wan said thoughtfully, stroking his beard. "Marrax should have arrived on Kuat at least two days ago at this point. That gives him quite a head start on us."
"Are you sure he didn't just receive the message I sent and headed off to Yoala?" Kobayashi questioned.
Moeema shook her head. "We would have heard from the others that he arrived; he'd be there by now."
"Does Marrax have a lot of family to move?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Not nearly as many people as, say, Moeema, Ooke, or Kerrick," Kobayashi said. "And they're all accounted for,"
"Kuat is a large and heavily Imperial city," Moeema stated. "It's possible it's just taken Marrax this long to infiltrate the place and get home."
"That could be a possibility. Where does he live in this suburb?"
"Well this landing gate is within the correct suburb. I believe his neighborhood area is over there," Kobayashi pointed to the general area as they disembarked the ship. Wind began to whip them harshly due to the altitude, and Obi-Wan had to squint to see where the man was pointing. It was an area bereft of skyscrapers since those dominated the central part of the city. A maglev train could be seen going through the area.
Pointing to the train, Obi-Wan said, "That'll probably be the best way for us to get there."
"How long will those codes you sent keep the Imperial off our tail?" Kobayashi asked Moeema.
"A couple of hours, nothing more," Moeema replied. "They'll just glance over it for now, but when they start looking closer they'll realize that the codes I used are military grade, while the shuttle isn't. When they see the discrepancy, then they'll get suspicious."
"It wasn't a code used by Death Squadron, was it?"
"No, just typical shuttle codes,"
Obi-Wan cleared his throat. "Right, then; we'd better be going."
As the three traversed through the city to reach the maglev, Obi-Wan stretched out his senses. He had been around the Imperials long enough to recognize their signatures in the Force if they were nearby. Moeema's and Kobayashi's distinctive signatures rang in his mind like clear bells, but he sensed no one else familiar. However, there were also twenty million people in that one city alone, so it was natural for Obi-Wan to not be able to pinpoint Marrax unless the young man was rather close.
Obi-Wan temporarily let his mind wander to Anakin's situation as they boarded a maglev heading to the area in question. He knew by now that if Ryatsi hadn't fixed the problem then she was most certainly dead. Guilt stabbed at him; he had put her into that situation. Anakin had made no mention of a caretaker while he was in Palpatine's clutches. The telepathic conversation the two had had included none of the other Imperials in the plan. However, Obi-Wan had thought it best; Anakin was completely vulnerable with no memories, and a few mental blocks and well placed persuasions and reminders would not be enough to keep his curiosity and strong mental powers at bay.
Really, it was entirely Obi-Wan's fault Ryatsi was involved in the problem.
She had stumbled in just as he was finishing hiding Anakin's memories. He hadn't wanted to deal with any of the Imperials at the time because he knew there would be mass hysteria the moment they found out, and it was rather difficult for Anakin to be captured by stormtroopers if all of his caretakers were fighting tooth and nail to keep him out of danger. Dread had been the first thing to fill Obi-Wan when Ryatsi had shown up, then, but he quickly realized that it was probably for the best; Anakin did need someone to keep him safe while he was once again amnesiac.
The maglev came to a halt and Kobayashi indicated it was their stop. Shaking his head subtly to rid it of its dark thoughts, Obi-Wan followed the Nihoman man as he led the way through different shopping areas and into a neighborhood. Motioning ahead, Kobayashi whispered, "That's Marrax's house, I believe,"
Moeema glanced at Kobayashi in mild surprise. "How is it you know all of this? I swear you're a stalker."
"Marrax told me the address and said what his house looked like a while ago," Kobayashi said indignantly.
"And did you tell him what your house looked like?"
Kobayashi flushed. "I had to make one up. It was before anybody knew about Nihoma."
While the two continued to chat, Obi-Wan once again felt out in the Force for Marrax. He was surprised to find that not only was Marrax missing from the home, but the house was completely empty. What was worse, Obi-Wan began to sense danger looming in the back of his mind.
Putting a hand on the other two's shoulders, Obi-Wan made them pause. "Something's not right,"
"What?"
Obi-Wan quickly pulled them between two other houses where they could still watch Marrax's home. Immediately after doing so, a squad of stormtroopers appeared out of nowhere and broke the door down, running into the house.
"No!" Moeema hissed. "We have to—"
"Marrax isn't there," Obi-Wan immediately said. "But he's near – I can feel it."
Indeed Marrax was near, and panicked too. He could sense the young man's fear; it was heavy in the air, like a physical trail that Obi-Wan could follow. Leading the other two, Obi-Wan went to a different neighborhood where he saw one of the homes stick out to him. The lights were all off though it was the early evening, and a curtain in one of the large windows was continually rustling as if someone was peeking through it.
"There," he whispered pointing out the house to the other two.
"He's in there?"
"Yes,"
Kobayashi took a deep breath. "I'll get him. You two keep a lookout."
As Kobayashi crossed the street hurriedly, Moeema and Obi-Wan began to scan the area for stormtrooper activity. The silence was unnerving, and the two jumped anytime they heard the slightest noise.
Finally, Moeema decided to talk. "Kenobi… about… about Taris…"
"You were upset," Obi-Wan immediately assured her that he understood. This really wasn't the time for them to be arguing anyway. "It's perfectly understandable."
"On Taris it was understandable," Moeema acknowledged. "But not on Hynah; I'm sorry."
Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, surprised.
"I just get…" Moeema trailed off, unsure how to describe herself.
"Defensive," Obi-Wan offered. "You're a mother, Moeema. It's a natural behavior for you to be protective of those who are unable to protect themselves."
At that, Moeema began to look terrified, her eyes glistening. "You don't really think—I mean—Ryatsi…"
"I thought you had accepted that back on the ship," Obi-Wan noted.
"I had for Koby's sake," Moeema shook her head. "But I just… Obi-Wan, be honest with me. Is it extremely likely that Anakin has returned to being Palpatine's servant? What will Palpatine make him do? Do you have a plan?"
Obi-Wan let out a very heavy sigh. "I really do believe Palpatine has managed to access his memories… probably force them to the surface. In doing so against Anakin's will he might have compromised any mental barriers Anakin has against the man."
Moeema looked horrified. "So he's just a broken mess?"
"No," Obi-Wan shook his head, and he felt his stomach knot at what he was saying. "He was broken temporarily so Palpatine could rebuild him. He's probably more loyal to the man now than he ever was. He might make Anakin actually come after us... or he may hide him from us, depending on his confidence that we might succeed."
Any reaction from Moeema was interrupted when Kobayashi started waving madly to them from the front door. The two rushed across the street, entering the abode.
Marrax was indeed there as Obi-Wan had sensed. His pregnant wife was also there, as well as two older adults who could only be his parents due to the uncanny resemblance.
"Why didn't you reply to Koby's message?" Moeema asked Marrax urgently.
"I destroyed by comlink the moment I got off Taris," Marrax answered. "I didn't want to take any chances."
"How are you still in the city, then? You should have gotten out of here by now!"
"I had to get my parents!" Marrax explained. "They live pretty far out from here,"
"We can enjoy the full explanation later," Obi-Wan interrupted. "There are stormtroopers coming up the street; we have to leave now."
"Will we be able to get back to our ship?" Kobayashi questioned nervously as they were ushered out the back by the owners of the home, who were friends to Marrax.
Moeema checked her chrono. "I doubt it. It's been an hour and a half since we arrived. By the time we get back to our ship they'll probably already be there."
"Then what are we going to do?" Kobayashi's voice began to rise in panic.
"Guys, guys," Marrax held up his hands to calm them. "This is Kuat. There are millions of ships that we can use… and I know just the one to take."
Kobayashi groaned as he pinched his nose. "Did we have to take the garbage ship?"
Marrax helped his wife into the copilot's seat while the others were forced to sit in the back with the trash. "Nobody cares about a dump ship."
"This will never get us to Yoala," Obi-Wan noted. The Jedi was right; the ship wasn't designed for hyperspace travel or anything of the sort.
"We don't need this ship to get to Yoala," Marrax shook his head. "We need this ship to get to the ship that will get us to Yoala."
All of them stared at Marrax. "Huh?"
Rolling his eyes, Marrax began to seal the back as he explained. "Look, this truck goes up to the shipyards so it can bring the junk down here to be processed. If we can make it to the shipyards, that's half the battle! From there we could steal an employee's ship and we're home free!"
"Why an employee's ship?" Moeema asked. "There ought to be ships that have just been completed that we could take."
"True, but they'll all have tracking devices on them to prevent stealing," Marrax answered before closing the last door, leaving them in darkness.
"Does this thing pump oxygen in here?" Kobayashi asked to no one in particular.
"More importantly, is it air tight so we won't start feeling the effects of space once we're out of the atmosphere? Or will we just roast on the way out?" Moeema noted.
Sighing, Obi-Wan could be heard thumping his head against the wall in exasperation. "I hope Marrax has thought this through or this will be a very quick and painful trip."
The engines fired to life, and the noise was a low loud groan, causing everyone to jump. Was this what it was like to be smuggled? Kobayashi certainly didn't like it. The closest he had ever come to smuggling himself somewhere was when he first ran away from Nihoma, and even then he just paid his way off; as a prince he obviously had plenty of money to throw around anyway… at least until it ran out while he was gone.
Kobayashi tried to tell Moeema something, but he couldn't hear himself over the din. After that he just opted to cover his ears and pray that he wouldn't start suffocating.
The air began to become stale and Kobayashi began to sweat, his body trembling. Just as it seemed like it was never going to end, however, the ship shuddered drastically, causing everyone to fly around the small container, bumping into each other. The engines whined and then grew silent, and the sound of Marrax fiddling with the compartment door could be heard. Claustrophobia was starting to get the best of Kobayashi, who began to tap incessantly on the compartment door as he panted, "Get us out!"
Light flooded the small area, blinding everyone, as the compartment door opened. Marrax watched them apologetically. "Sorry…"
"Let's just go," Obi-Wan whispered hoarsely as everyone stumbled onto the ground.
"How bad is the security?" Moeema asked breathlessly as she leaned heavily against the wall.
"It isn't too heavy around the employee docks, which is exactly why stealing one of those ships will be the easiest," Marrax responded. "I wish Ooke or Numel were here, though; I'm not very good at hotwiring a vehicle."
His wife rolled her eyes. "It's a good thing I am, then."
Marrax jumped. "What?"
"Honestly, Marrax, you really were drunk that night,"
Kobayashi raised an eyebrow, but for once he kept his curiosity in check. That sounded like an interesting story… but now wasn't the time.
The group kept a lookout while Marrax's wife crept over to a vehicle that would suit their needs. Finding one not too far from where they were hiding, she pulled a small device out in order to break into the cockpit without setting the alarm off.
Moeema raised her eyebrows. "Your wife seems to have many talents."
Marrax blushed. "Yes, well…"
"Interesting history?"
Growing defensive, Marrax hissed, "She wasn't a criminal! In fact, she's a private investigator!"
"All right, all right, no need to get testy…"
"She's in!" Kobayashi said to get their attention. Marrax's wife sat in the cockpit, frantically waving them over.
The group ran, crouching low to avoid anyone else's notice. Obi-Wan would occasionally make them weave between ships as someone would walk through the area, but they finally managed to reach the ship. Marrax's wife had already fired up the engines and had the ship humming and ready to go as soon as they were aboard.
"This ship isn't that big," Kobayashi noted as they entered and the landing ramp closed. There didn't seem to be enough room for everyone, and they were all squished shoulder to shoulder as they shoved by each other to get to the cockpit.
Marrax's wife had apparently heard his comment, because she said, "I didn't pick this thing for size; I picked her for speed. Unless you guys happen to have access codes for any hyper lanes, we're going to have to bust through this place pretty quickly to avoid getting caught."
"Will they follow us?"
"They'll try, but this thing doesn't have a tracker on her. We'll be clear."
Marrax smirked excitedly. "Then punch it! Let's get out of here!"
The ship sprang to life at his wife's touch, and they immediately exited the shipyard. The communication area lit up and began to beep as someone asked for access codes.
"Now would be a good time to enter those coordinates for Yoala," Marrax's wife prompted urgently.
"Uh, right!" Kobayashi and Marrax both dove for the navigations and ran into each other as they frantically attempted to enter the coordinates. Obi-Wan, however, seemed perfectly calm and said something to the pregnant woman.
Smiling in return, she punched the activation sequence for the hyperdrive and they shot into hyperspace.
"We didn't put the coordinates in!" Kobayashi quickly shouted, panicked.
"I did," Obi-Wan explained. "Relax; we're on our way now."
Kobayashi was happily relieved, and everyone else seemed to listen to Obi-Wan's advice. However, Marrax suddenly seemed to remember something, and a sudden sadness overcame him as he looked at Koby.
Getting a little unnerved at the sudden attention, Kobayashi finally asked, "What's the matter, Marrax?"
Marrax looked away. "Nothing; it's just… I'm sorry about what happened on Nihoma."
Kobayashi's blood froze. "What about Nihoma?"
Marrax's look of surprise and pity only made it worse. "You don't know?"
"If I did would I be asking?" Kobayashi snapped. His tone caught Obi-Wan and Moeema's attention while Marrax's family talked to each other.
"It's… oh Force, Koby, I don't know how to tell you…"
"Then just spit it out,"
Marrax looked away, unable to see Kobayashi's face while speaking. "The Imperials went to Nihoma, probably so they could find you. They—"
"But my record states I'm from Pedd 4!" Kobayashi interrupted frantically. "How—why would they go to Nihoma to find me? They know we left Nihoma when the fleet was evacuated!"
Turning desperately to Obi-Wan, Kobayashi said, "It couldn't have been—it wasn't Anakin, was it?"
Obi-Wan looked away.
"Koby…" Kobayashi heard Marrax's voice hesitantly pipe in, and he turned to look at him. "The Imperials went straight to the royal family. They interrogated the king and queen, and… and…"
Kobayashi shook his head in horror and disbelief. "No… no… no…"
Marrax's expression was bleak. "Koby, I'm so so sorry,"
"Surely they didn't get away with that!" Moeema yelled, enraged. "Wouldn't the Nihoman people do something if their monarchs were k—"
"They did," Marrax hastily interrupted before she could say the word that Kobayashi couldn't bear to hear. "The people went berserk. Rumor has it they even sent nooks against the Imperials. Supposedly the crown prince showed up leading the revolt. They killed the man responsible for what happened to the king and queen."
"So they fought them off?"
Marrax grew silent.
Kobayashi looked at him pleadingly. "Tell me, Marrax,"
There was a long pause before Marrax said, "The Imperials pulled back and commenced and orbital bombardment of the city. I don't know if your brother made it out."
Kobayashi stood there, stunned speechless. He felt his knees shaking and he knew they wouldn't be able to hold him up much longer, but he couldn't find anything to grapple, so he half collapsed against the wall, sliding to the floor. He stared blankly ahead. His brain wouldn't register it. He couldn't register it.
"I don't believe it," Moeema muttered. "What are we going to do now?"
"Now," Obi-Wan said, staring determinedly at them. "Now we plan our counterstrike."
Palpatine glanced over at Darth Vader after dismissing an aide. The young man was standing in profile to Palpatine, glancing out of the enormous windows. His eyes were glazed as he was lost in thought. What he was thinking about even Palpatine didn't know, but he doubted it was anything he needed to worry about. Vader was completely under his control, even if the man was annoyed over losing the traitors. Palpatine could tell he was also annoyed at being called back as if he had done something wrong, but the true reason for his return was known only to Palpatine himself.
All of the traitorous Imperials who had kept Vader a secret had gone missing. Their families were gone as well. For them to be able to vanish so easily without any trail was hard to believe, but it also meant that they all had a destination where they could hide. That led to the conclusion that they all had either planned out where they would hide before the incident ever started, which, while possible, was highly unlikely, or they all had a meeting point. And if they were meeting, they had to be meeting for a reason.
They were planning on getting Vader back.
No, Darth Vader wasn't recalled because he had failed Palpatine. He was recalled because Palpatine wanted to keep him close. He didn't want the traitors to have any opportunity to get to the man.
Vader shifted slightly, and he broke his eye contact with the skyline. He began to walk away, unaware of Palpatine's scrutiny. As he walked, he heard a mouse droid beep and he paused, staring at it. The droid held out a data pad for Vader to take, and after the man received it and examined it, Palpatine asked, "What is it?"
"News from Kuat," Vader replied, returning his attention to the mouse droid. "There's no sign of Ens. Mothezsh, but apparently a trash hauler and a shipyard employee's ship were stolen. The hauler was found right by the docking area where the employee's vehicle was."
"The garrison there must have just missed him." Palpatine said silkily, his anger rising at the continual failure of his men.
As Palpatine once more brooded on how the traitors might try to recapture Vader, the mouse droid left the hall, and Darth Vader, who had never taken his eyes off of it, silently followed it, departing.
And the end is near!
Oh, by the way, has anybody been having trouble receiving notifications from fanfiction? I haven't gotten notified by them for anything in eons... oh, well. Anyway, please review! :)