Anakin was dressed back in the armor and wasn't too thrilled at the thought. Padme had her arms wrapped around his torso as he held her in his arms. This was the part he hated most about the marriage, leaving Padme behind while he fought on the front lines. "I'm going to miss you, Padme."

"You better come back, Anakin," Padme whispered as she glanced up. "I don't want to lose you a second time."

"I promise, we'll be back before you know it and Fress and Ahsoka will have my memories moved into that clone," Anakin promised as Padme took a step back from him. He raised a hand and gently cupped her chin in his hand. She looked sad and he knew this was just as hard on her as it was on him when they had to part like this.

Padme reached up and unhooked the chain from around her neck and handed it to him. "I'm expecting to get this back when you complete your mission."

"You should hold onto it," Anakin took the chain and placed it back into her hand and clasped her hands closed. "We never know when our last day will be our last."

"Anakin," Padme whispered his name as she forced him to take the chain. "Please, just take it," she pleaded. "It's reassurance that you will be coming back."

Anakin took the chain and placed it in a pouch in his belt. He planned to give it to someone on the Alderaan Sunset to bring back in case he failed. Ahsoka had offered to go with the ground crew. Her experience would come in handy for Han and his group. Now Anakin knew the shield would be down on time. Leia planned to go too. "I love you, Padme."

"I love you, Anakin. I miss you already," Padme whispered as she hugged him again.

"No matter what happens, I will be with you, always," Anakin whispered as Padme finally let go as he turned around and walked up the ramp of the Falcon. Luke and Leia had said goodbye to Padme earlier. They had a mission to focus on.

Padme walked to the giant window and watched as the Falcon made a quick pass as Anakin flashed the lights before heading towards the Alderaan Sunset. Fress stepped in beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder as she glanced at the younger woman who gave her a supportive smile. "This is the part I always hated. When I stayed behind and Anakin left to fight on the front lines. Except this time it's more than just Anakin. It's our children as well."

"I have a feeling everything will be all right," Fress whispered. "Anakin knows what he's doing. They'll be back. He wants out of the armor, doesn't he?"

"He does," Padme agreed with a small smile. "I have a feeling they will be all right. That doesn't mean I won't miss them. How is Brice doing?" She was quick to change the subject as a Tauntaun ran down the hallway. "Was that a…"

"Brice is just fine," Fress answered with a small smile as the Tauntaun turned around and ran up to them. He started rubbing against Fress as she patted him on the back. "I see you found my ID changer."

The image disappeared as Brice grinned up at them. "It's fun watching people's reactions."

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Fress questioned with a small smile as Brice shook his head.

"Too much resting and not enough play time," Brice answered with a grin as a few guards rounded the corner with a rope in their hands.

"Pardon me General, did a Tauntaun happen to pass this way?" The guard questioned as Fress glanced down at Brice with a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. Brice pulled a fast one on the guards. Her son was so much like her at that age. Poor Jess was having a hard time coping with the fact of having two pranksters in the family.

"We left them on Hoth, are you sure you're not seeing things?" Fress questioned with a small grin as Padme hid a smirk behind her hand.

"Everyone said he came this way and you're saying you haven't seen him. Did you hide him?" The guard questioned as Fress shook her head.

"Maybe someone is pulling a prank on you, did you think of that?" Fress challenged as the guard scratched his head as he glanced down at Brice who was holding the ID changer in his hand.

"Can I see that, son?" The guard held out his hand as Brice handed the ID changer to the guard. He ran his thumb over the on switch as he turned into a Tauntaun.

"I told you we didn't have any onboard," the guard standing behind him said as the guard turned the ID changer off.

"I'm curious, what is a child of your age is doing with one of these?" The guard questioned.

"It belongs to my mom," Brice answered with a small smile.

"I use it on missions, but Brice asked to borrow it this morning," Fress explained as Padme nodded in agreement. "He's just having some fun, that's all."

The guard took out a comlink and spoke into it as he glanced at Fress with an apologetic expression. "Fey'lya wants to speak with Brice."

"Over this?" Fress questioned as the guard checked the ID changer. "Not without me present," she glanced at Padme as she smiled and nodded.

"Not without me either," Padme spoke causing the guard to give a frustrated sigh. "He's a ten year old having some harmless fun and nothing more."

"I know," the guard said as they started heading towards Fey'lya's office. "If it were up to me, I would just let it go. He's ten?"

Fress nodded as they started heading towards Fey'lya's office. "I just hope he doesn't yell at him for this."

"You're worried, aren't you?" Padme questioned as Fress nodded. "Don't worry, I won't allow Fey'lya to go too hard on Brice. It's a harmless prank."

"He may see it as wasting the guard's time," Fress pointed out. Or put two and two together about the ID changer, she silently added to herself. "Brice has had it rough these past few months. I don't want anyone to upset him further."

"I understand," Padme agreed as she gently patted Fress's shoulder. "I won't let him take anything out on Brice. No matter how hard he tries."

As Fress entered Fey'lya's office, the Bothan looked surprised that both Padme and her were there. Brice looked unsure about things as Padme patted him reassuringly on the shoulder. Brice sat down in the chair in front of Fey'lya's desk as the guard handed him the ID changer.

"Who owns the ID changer?" Fey'lya questioned as he watched all three carefully.

"It's mine," Fress answered honestly. "I've used it on missions when scouting out Imperial strong holds," she explained with a frown.

"I see," Fey'lya handed the ID changer over to Fress with a frown. "I can't have my guards chasing after a ten year old pretending to be a Tauntaun. Please keep this out of his reach in the future, General," he turned his attention to Brice who was looking down at his hands. "As for you, what do you have to say?"

"I'm sorry," Brice answered honestly as he glanced up. "I was just having a little fun."

Fey'lya nodded in appreciation as he turned his attention to Padme and Fress. "I suspect the reason you two are here is to make sure I don't go too hard on Brice. Am I close?" Fey'lya questioned as Fress and Padme both nodded in agreement. "I suspect after treating General Skywalker the way I have. It will be a long time before you trust me again. To be realistic, he's only ten and I understand that."

Fress nodded again as she placed her hands onto Brice's shoulders. "Is that all or do you have anything else to add?"

"I'll let this off with a warning," Fey'lya commented with a frown. "Next prank will be met with cleaning my fresher."

"Seems fair," Fress agreed with a small smile. She'll have to teach Brice not to get caught in the future.

"You may go," Fey'lya dismissed as they turned back towards the door. "One more thing, general," Fress stopped and turned around with a frown. "I was too harsh in my judgment on Anakin. I see that now. He helped the Bothan's to put something right. I am grateful for it. It will take more then one good deed for me to be able to trust him again."

"It's a start," Fress spoke with a small smile as Fey'lya nodded in agreement. "Thank you for not yelling at Brice. He's had it difficult for two months before we got him back."

"He's ten, betrayed and sold into slavery by family is the worst thing that could happen to a child of his age. I figure yelling at him would not be the correct way to go," Fey'lya explained as he stood. "I may have been hard on Anakin. That doesn't mean I'm hard on everyone."

"Thank you," Fress said before she turned back to the door and walked out of his office. She placed her arm around Brice's shoulders as they headed back to their cabin. "How are you feeling?"

"Not quite as sore and happy to be back with you and dad," Brice answered with a smile. "Can we raid the fridge in the kitchen?"

"Sounds like someone is hungry. Let's go to the mess hall and see what we can find," Fress suggested as she picked up her comlink and called Jess to meet them down there.

Leia approached where Anakin was standing looking out the window. He hadn't said much to anyone since they left Home One. It was possible he was depressed over the fact he had to leave Padme's side again. She placed her hand onto his forearm as he glanced at her. "You okay? You've been silent since we left Home One."

Anakin didn't say a word as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders as she leaned into him. "I miss your mother," he answered after two minutes of silence. "It's hard on her when I had to leave for the front lines and I didn't find it very easy either. Now it's not just me rushing into danger. It's with you and Luke. I always hated it," he paused for a second as Leia glanced up at him with a concerned expression. "I never liked leaving your mothers sides, at times it would be months before I saw her again. As I got older and our marriage began to strain. I was ready to leave it all behind me. I wanted to leave the Jedi but Padme didn't want to leave the Senate."

Leia had a feeling this was part of it, she knew he wasn't too thrilled about putting the armor back on. He didn't have a choice. They needed to destroy the Death Star. "I know you weren't too thrilled to put the armor back on. Thank you for doing this."

'You're welcome," Anakin returned as Luke stepped to his other side. He wrapped an arm around Luke causing her to smile. He wrapped his arms around her and Luke every chance he got.

They stood there silently staring out the window. It was a comfortable silence Leia realized with a small smile. She had a feeling they were going to be a solid family at some point. They still had the issues of the past to work out first. She knew one day they would get there and be able to leave the past behind them.

Luke reached up and locked the S-foils on his X-wing into attack position. "This is Rogue Leader, lock S-foils into attack position."

Luke heard acknowledgements over the com signal as he heard his father's voice break the com silence.

"Rogue Leader, this is Alderaan Sunset, target is coming out of hyperspace now, coming in at ten o clock," Anakin signaled him as Luke craned his neck to the side noticing the ripples of a ship coming out of hyperspace.

"Acknowledged Sunset, jam there transmission so they can't signal for help," Luke spoke as he yanked on the stick turning the fighter towards their target. "All right Rogues, disable their engines and hyperspace drive only."

"You got it boss," Wedge answered as he and Tycho fell behind Luke as they closed the distance to the Imperial Shuttle.

A few seconds later two cannons appeared and started to fire as Luke dodged the blasts. "Take evasive maneuvers. This thing has teeth."

"Watch it, Rogue Two, you're close to getting fried," Luke heard Tycho speak over the coms.

Luke swung his fighter around, as time seemed to slow. The blaster bolts looked like they were coming at him in slow motion as he dodged to the left then to the right targeting the canons. His blaster bolts hit directly on target. The shuttle turned hard to port giving Luke a clear shot at the engines. He released two more blaster bolts hitting the engines dead on. They sparked as the ship floated in space.

"Nice shooting Rogue Leader," Wedge spoke over the com causing him to give a tight smile.

In two minutes it was all over. "Rogue Leader to Sunset, the target's engines have been disabled. Lock the tractor beam on the ship."

"Acknowledged Rogue Leader, good job, come on home," Anakin said as Luke relayed the orders to his squadron.

Luke led the squadron back on board after the shuttle had been taken aboard. He settled his X-wing onto the metal deck as he spotted his father leading guards to the shuttle. He climbed down the ladder as the ramp on the shuttle lowered. The guards raised their blasters as the pilot and six guards walked down with their hands up in the air.

Luke approached Anakin's side as he ordered two guards to escort the men down to the detention level. "I want this shuttle up and running within the hour," Anakin commanded as he heard acknowledgements. "I trust you kept damage to a minimal, commander?"

"I have father," Luke answered with a small smile. "The cannons are shot as well."

"That was a bit of surprise and a setback," Anakin explained as he turned his attention to Luke. "We will use this shuttle instead of my personal one. If they have a different shuttle show up instead of this one, it will spark suspicion. It appears Thrawn is taking no chances."

"General, you better come look at this," a Lieutenant shouted as Anakin and Luke walked up the ramp.

"What is it, Lieutenant?" Anakin questioned as the Lieutenant showed him a tracking beacon. "Blast it."

Luke glanced at Anakin with a raised brow. He heard Fress, Rex, and Ahsoka mutter this same fraise making him wonder if the words blast it was used frequently during the clone wars. "Now what?"

"I have an idea," Anakin answered as he took the tracking beacon off. "It should throw their backup off the trail for a while but we better move fast. I need a pilot. Any pilot will do."

Anakin smirked as he watched his personal shuttle take off into hyperspace after all. What else could they do, especially after discovering that tracking beacon on the target shuttle. That would buy them some time until the other shuttle was repaired, but not much. He had the fleet moved to the outskirts of the system, if he was correct. A star destroyer should be making a drop out of hyperspace very soon.

An hour passed by as the Avenger dropped out of hyperspace most likely tracking the other shuttle. They must know the shuttle is in enemy hands by now. It should make it a little more difficult to land the team. He worked with Han on a cover up story about what happened and why they were late.

Long Range communicators were tracking the Star Destroyer as it entered hyperspace again leading them away from Endor. They were running out of time but it definitely put the Avenger off track for a while. "General Skywalker to maintenance, how are the repairs coming?"

"We're done General, the Fist is ready for flight," the mechanic answered.

"Good work, we'll be down there in a minute," Anakin responded as he turned on his heel and glanced at Wedge. "Captain, you have the bridge."

"Yes general," Wedge answered.

Anakin hugged Leia as Ahsoka and Han finished getting the crew onboard the ship. He pulled back as she looked up at him with a smile. "Come back safe."

"I will, father, don't worry," Leia reassured with a smile. "We'll get that shield down in time. Just make sure you're ready to move when we do and come back in one piece."

"I promise," Anakin said as Leia turned around to head up to the shuttle. "Leia," Leia turned towards him. "May the Force be with you."

"May the Force be with you, father," Leia returned with a smile as Anakin watched her disappear up the ramp and into the ship. The ramp rose up as the engines flared to life. He turned his attention to Luke who was standing beside the Falcon. "Is the Falcon prepped and ready to go?"

"All charged up and ready for a trip to the inner core. Hopefully the ship doesn't decide to play with its old tricks as Han puts it," Luke answered reassuringly.

"That doesn't sound very reassuring," Anakin muttered under his breath as they walked towards the bridge. Luke followed closely behind him. "Is Artoo aboard?"

"He is," Luke answered with a small smile. "Father," Anakin turned his attention to Luke with a frown. "I'm glad you're on our side again."

"Me too," Anakin agreed honestly as they walked onto the bridge. He looked towards the large window as he spotted the shuttle heading towards the jump vector. He just hoped they swallowed the story. The tracking beacon would've alerted the Imps that something was wrong. It was a good thing it was armed.

"General, we have a incoming transmission from Home One," the communications officer spoke up causing Anakin to turn in their direction.

"Bring it up on the screen," Anakin commanded as he turned his attention to the screen as Ackbar appeared. "What is it, Admiral?"

"Word has just reached us, Palpatine is aboard the Death Star. If we take the Death Star out with him on it," Ackbar explained as Anakin felt shocked. Palpatine was a fool if this was true. Maybe they didn't need to fight him in the end after all.

"It's a set trap," Anakin felt some frustration well up in him. They were expecting them to make this move. "Admiral, we're going to need every available fighter and war ship."

"I'm working on it, they will be coming to the Executor's aide by night fall. We will continue on with the original plan," Ackbar explained. "Good luck General."

"If we have not left to take out the Death Star by tonight, have them meet up with the Executor at the rendezvous point. Thank you, Admiral," Anakin glanced at Luke as he looked worried. He had a feeling Palpatine planned to allow their crew to land on the forest moon. It was almost time to spring the trap.

"It would make things easier if Palpatine stays on board as we blow up the Death Star," Luke pointed out with a tight smile.

"We can only hope, son. Captain Berax, it's time to rendezvous with the Executor. Get us into hyperspace," Anakin commanded with a small smile of his own. Maybe this was their chance to make a move and take out two birds with one stone. He had a feeling it was not going to be that easy.

Leia placed a hand onto Han's shoulder as she caught him staring at the Falcon. "You know Anakin is a good pilot, right?"

"I know, it's where Luke got his skills from," Han agreed as he shook his head. "I have this feeling I'm not going to see her again."

"Come on, General. We have to move. Time is running out," Leia spoke softly as Han looked at the controls.

"Right, it's time to find out what this shuttle can do and hope they swallow the story Anakin and I came up with. If it gets questioned on what happened to this shipment and why it's late," Han muttered under his breath as he brought the engines on line. "Chewie, it's time to go."

Chewie howled in agreement as Han lifted the shuttle off the deck of Alderaan Sunset.

Admiral Thrawn stood on his chosen flagship, the Chimaera. It appears the most recent shipment had been highjacked and changed course an hour ago. If it were Vader attempting to take out the Death Star as Palpatine had predicted, then the shipment-changing course would not make sense. They would attempt to highjack the ship and bring it to Endor attempting to land a team on the moon to destroy the generator. Why would the ship change course? Unless it was a decoy to buy them sometime sending them on a wild chase.

If they disabled the ship and damaged it, it would take time to repair it. It was a new prototype and the Empire didn't want to lose track of it. They hid a tracking beacon on it to make sure the ship stayed on course and on time and had the Avenger trail behind it in case something did happen. If Vader discovered the tracking beacon and knew this was a different ship then the ones he had onboard the Executor, he could see the man putting them off the trail. "Communications, call back the Avenger. They're on a wild chase. The ship they are chasing is not the prototype."

"How can you be sure, Admiral?" The communication officer questioned causing Thrawn to frown.

"Vader must know by now I've taken over his spot. If I remember correctly about his game plans he would use a decoy to buy himself some time if they damaged the prototype and had a team fix the ship. They plan to send in a ground crew to take out the generator surrounding the Death Star," Thrawn explained patiently. "I suspect they're chasing Vader's personal shuttle off the Executor."

"Yes Admiral," the communication's officer spoke as he called the Avenger relaying Thrawn's orders.

"Captain, as soon as the shuttle shows up, alert me immediately. I will be in my personal chambers, the bridge is yours." Thrawn ordered as he walked off the bridge. It was time to figure out how Vader planned this out. He needed a quiet place to think.

Thanks for reading :)