With the wide reach of the Galactic Empire, it was entirely conceivable that whatever planet Mara Jade found herself on for a mission, she would never have need to see again. She certainly hadn't given Lothal a second thought until she had received orders to return and had heard - entirely by accident, of course - that Darth Vader had been tasked with bringing the growing rebel problem under control where his Grand Inquisitor had been unable to do so. And where Vader went, there was a shadow in the form of a teenager that followed, though he might not be a shadow much longer in the way the name Natus had started to spread with every rumour imaginable attached to it. Darth Vader's son, and if Vader were Palpatine's heir apparent, Natus was Vader's with all that that entailed.

Rumours were often embellished in her experience. She hadn't spoken to Luke often in the last year that he'd spent on the Executioner with his father, but she knew him. Mara thought she probably knew him better than anyone else and half the things she heard from officers and stormtroopers that had no real idea who she was weren't even in the realm of possibility. Not that she would tell them that, or anyone for that matter. She knew Luke, but if he had any chance of thriving in the lot life had handed him, the galaxy had to see him as the son of the Empire's most dreaded enforcer.

Though it would be interesting to see how he'd changed. She imagined that this mission to Lothal would give her just that opportunity, even if it was a bit strange that with a Sith Lord and his son on planet that the Emperor's Hand had been ordered there as well.

It wasn't that knowing, sometimes bordering-on-mischievous smile that met her as the ramp unfolded from the Lambda class shuttle she'd landed in, but the face of a man dressed in black, the insignia on his uniform identifying him as a special agent in the ISB. It took her a fraction of a second longer than she would have liked to place him in her surprise to see him rather than Luke. Agent Alexsandr Kallus. He'd been the one to come in after she and Luke had left a year prior. The fact that he hadn't either been shunted off to the Outer Rim or simply Force-choked as soon as Vader had arrived meant he was at least competent at his job. Hard to believe if he hadn't cleared the planet yet.

"Jade," the ginger agent greeted, gaze locked and studying her. "I am -"

"Agent Kallus," she supplied, making her way down the ramp and shoving her surprise - because it certainly wasn't disappointment - firmly to the back of her mind. "I know who you are. I take it you have the details of my assignment?" All the Emperor had sent her with was the understanding that a list of rebel sympathizers had been cultivated on this planet. Most individuals were well connected and it would be difficult at best to bring them in, but there were other ways to make sure they stayed in line. Making an example of one of their cohorts often did the trick to pull the others back in their place without disrupting the delicate balance on an industrially important planet.

"I do. If you don't mind walking during the debrief, I'll get you set up."

They started towards the base itself. "Any reason they're sending ISB agents as errand boys?"

"Were you expecting someone else in particular?"

If he knew the answer to the question or just wanted her to think he did, Mara wasn't sure, but it was clear he wasn't going to give her any more information than she strictly needed. That was fine. If it became important she had her own ways of finding out. Not even the Imperial Security Bureau was beyond the reach of the Emperor's Hand.

She heard the barest snorts of amusement from him before he began speaking, handing her a small tablet. "Margon Visra is a socialite."

"I've spent some time here. She must be one of the few."

"She is. Old money, the Visra family owned a tremendous amount of land in Capital City and they still manage the leases on that land."

"And well compensated for it," Mara mused as she slid her finger along the touchscreen of the tablet. "Where did the intel come from?"

"Originally, an interrogation overseen directly by Lord Vader. You'll find the details available there."

The interrogation had named several people that had been marked as lower priority. Margon Visra was the one of interest to the Empire, if it did turn out that she was a rebel sympathizer. "You think she's funneling her family money to them?"

"That is the running theory," Kallus answered as he came to a stop at a door. "Private offices, for your convenience. You'll have access to the base—" he handed her a code cylinder — "and any support you need. We've limited the number of personnel that have been alerted to your presence, as instructed, but Lieutenant List will be available for anything else you may require."

Mara gave a brief nod of acknowledgment and reached for the control on the door. As the ISB agent turned to leave, her fingers hovered there. "Agent Kallus, there is something before you go. I understand Lord Vader is on planet."

"He is," Kallus answered slowly and she saw faint lines as he furrowed his brow in anticipation of what the request might be.

"I'd like to borrow his son for part of my investigation."

"His son?"

"Natus. Yes." Kallus looked ready to argue that particularly weighty request and Mara offered him a smile. "If Lord Vader protests, just remind him it's the Emperor's Hand making the request."

"Of course," Kallus said tightly and turned on heel, the sense of apprehension following him out.

Mara's smile grew just a little as she let herself into the office to read up on all the details intelligence hadn't dared to send out even over encrypted communications.

—

It was rare that Luke found himself answering to anyone but his father or the Emperor. It was typically others that had started answering to him. The 501st's loyalty was absolute, the Inquisitors carried out their orders sent down, and any additional military personnel jumped to do his father's bidding and, by extension, his own. The return to Lothal to clean up the Grand Inquisitor's mess should have put him in a place of command. And it did, mostly, with the exception of Grand Moff Tarkin.

The Grand Moff was exhausting. Every order he gave, every decision made, all seemed to be his own personal expression of what he thought was power. It would have been easy enough to ignore like any other officer squabbles if he hadn't thought that he had some sort of control over Luke himself. It was as if the man was personally offended by the fact that Luke had never been through the Imperial Academy and felt he should be reminded of what Tarkin thought was his place. And even though Luke could feel his father's irritation with the man, he'd been instructed not to directly counter him. Why, Luke couldn't fathom, but it was like a breath of fresh air the moment the old, dried up windbag left Lothal to handle business elsewhere.

The roar of the TIE engines shook the mountains as he dipped in the sky, not bothering to hide the smile as he tilted the fighter, barely scraping through a narrow pass. He hadn't flown in weeks and even though he hadn't broken through the planet's atmosphere, it still felt like freedom. No obnoxious Moff, no twitchy governor, and no ever-elusive rebels that he was relatively sure weren't even on the planet anymore. Just him and the controls under his fingertips and —

Return.

It was less of a word and more of a feeling conveyed with far more weight than was necessary over the bond that he shared with his father. The order slammed into him hard enough that he physically lurched back against his seat, having to move quickly to correct his fighter's control column and even the craft out.

Yes, Father, he returned, hoping that the disappointment didn't ring too loudly. If it did, it wasn't acknowledged. Whatever had cut his flight time short had his father distracted. Maybe they had found the rebels after all.

A few minutes and a quick flight over the plains later, Luke set his TIE down on the landing pad, his father and the ISB agent they had been working with already waiting for him there. There was something about the mood that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Luke popped the top of his fighter and used the Force to propel himself up, boot lightly touching the outer shell to give him the additional leverage he needed to clear it and jump to the ground below. He landed, Agent Kallus quirking an eyebrow at him, but his father wasn't so amused at the display.

"Your presence has been requested."

Luke rocked forward to follow as his father abruptly turned, stalking deeper into the hangar. The teen remained silent, waiting for him to continue, but was surprised when Kallus was the one that handed him a tablet. "The Emperor's Hand is on Lothal. She asked for you personally."

A title, not a name. Interesting. Despite not being able to keep the rebels at bay, Kallus had proven himself resourceful and clever, two qualities that had likely saved his life when Darth Vader himself had been sent to clean up the mess. Luke wondered if even he hadn't been able to uncover Mara's name or if he was merely being respectful of the place she held in Palpatine's inner court.

"You are dismissed," Vader said as his son skimmed the details of Mara's mission.

He waited until Kallus had turned, likely off to keep a careful eye on Minister Tua that Father seemed convinced would be the key to luring the rebels in. If the Force had revealed something to him, it hadn't to Luke. Maybe because he was needed somewhere else now. "Looks like Mara's going to be the final —"

"She does not need you for this. If it is sentiment or an attempt to flaunt the meager power she holds-"

"Not so meager," Luke countered and immediately felt his father's temper flare. He raised his hands, palms outward in mock surrender before glancing around to confirm they had space to speak. He lowered his voice anyway. Clearly his father's paranoia was at a height today. "Let's play the game. If you push back and she tells Palpatine—" not that it was very likely. Mara's pride had never been that easily wounded - "we come under more scrutiny. More scrutiny means more time with Tarkin…."

His father gave a soft snort. "Tarkin is nothing."

"They say he holds your leash," Luke answered, the phrase he'd heard tossed around when the troops thought he wasn't listening still making him bristle. "He's here to watch us. Mara's here to do her job, unless we make that difficult for her."

"You've missed her."

The denial danced on his tongue before he swallowed it, opting instead for the truth. "Of course I have. She's my friend."

"Sentiment then."

"A little."

"You'll be needed. Not at this moment, but soon."

"And I'll be here. Promise." He flashed his father a wide grin and he wondered if he rolled his eyes behind the lenses of his mask. It certainly felt like it.

"Go, my son, but return as soon as I call."

"Don't I always?"

—

Mara was deep in research when Luke arrived, and at first he wasn't sure she'd heard the door slide open. She had three different tablets and a console at her disposal, bent over and jotting down notes. Her hair was longer, the red-gold strands tied loosely back and those sharp green eyes darting from one screen to the next. Her face was a little thinner, cheekbones a little more defined, and she looked older than she had when they'd parted ways. He supposed they both did. Somehow a year had flashed past him at the speed of light, but as he stood in the doorway and watched her, Luke realized just how much he'd missed her.

"How likely is it that you'd be able to get a last second invite to a socialite's gala?" Mara asked without bothering to look up.

Luke blinked in surprise, the abrupt question throwing him for a second. He shook his head a little, intentionally resetting. "Well, no one on planet is going to tell Darth Vader's son no, but it's not like I make a habit of it." Or had ever done it, if he were honest. "Hi, by the way."

The pointed tease finally drew her gaze up and it traveled him up and down. "Hi," she echoed and stood. "I guess it's been a while. Are you taller?"

"A little. You're not."

Red eyebrows darted up. "Rude."

"Accurate," Luke answered, flashing her what he hoped was a charming grin. It was supposed to be at any rate. Under her studying gaze it just felt awkward and clumsy.

"Now you definitely owe me a favour," she answered, and her smile was easy. "If I've got you for a while?"

"Of course you've got me," he answered too quickly to actually think the words through. He cleared his throat. "We're, uh… Our assignment is to handle the rebels on Lothal, so technically, helping you is just an extent of that."

"Good to know." She locked eyes with him and he felt like he was frozen in place. "The socialite is Margon Visra. Seventeen years old, native to Lothal." She reached for one of the tablets she'd been reading on when he'd entered and a projection of a tan woman with short, dark hair and eyes as bright blue as the Great Western Sea on Coruscant. Luke hadn't met her, but he recognized her from the overview Kallus had provided him with.

"She's on a list that has been cultivated here. I don't see anything new. What brought you in?"

"General threat analysis. If she is financing a rebel cell, it has to be handled quickly and quietly. If her whole family is involved it's an even bigger problem."

"And you're thinking walking in with me is the way to handle it quietly? They know whose son I am. And it won't be like before where we just slip in and out. If we go in there with an invitation, everyone at that party will know as soon as we walk in."

"And all eyes will be on you."

"And you."

Mara flashed the same smile that she used to show off just before dragging him out of his bedroom window when they were kids off to have an adventure in the lower levels of Coruscant. "Who says I'm coming in with you?"

Luke frowned at that. "I'm the decoy?"

Her smile didn't fade, but it did soften ever so slightly. "Who else would I trust at my back?"

And just like that, the increasingly infamous Lord Natus found himself agreeing to be the decoy.

—

Mara risked a glance at him from the back of their behicle as they zipped through Lothal's Capital City. Luke had changed a great deal in the last year. It wasn't just that he'd gotten a little taller, finally growing into the black robes he favoured a bit better, or that his hair had darkened with as much time as he'd spent away from direct sunlight. It wasn't even the confidence in which he held himself now with his chin tilted, back straight, and shoulders squared like he'd just graduated from the Imperial Academy. It was all of that, but even more, it was his presence in the Force. It was… hard to pin down. Heavier wasn't the right word for it. Weightier, maybe. And sharper, like a weapon ready to be wielded with terrifying precision. Not that she should really be surprised. The Emperor had sent Luke off with her to gain some basic skills in the field, but she wasn't the one that would prepare him to be a Sith. Vader would put him through the fires for that one, and it wasn't surprising that some of the innocence that had somehow remained a dominant force in him for so long had been burned out as his father prepared him for that. It wasn't surprising, but it was a little sad, despite Mara not knowing exactly why.

"What?"

The question startled Mara out of her thoughts and she found a familiar set of blue eyes watching her now. How strange it would be when they finally turned Sith-gold. "Just thinking."

"Staring," he chuckled, tilting his head in amusement. "Have I changed that much?"

"Yes."

A little of his confidence wavered at her bluntness. "But in a good way, right?"

Mara shrugged. "Just different." She felt his disappointment rather than saw it, and she found herself smiling just a little as she nudged his boot with her heeled shoe. "You saying I haven't changed at all?"

"A lot, but in a good way."

"How so?"

If she didn't know better, she would have thought that she saw the faintest hints of red on his cheeks. He recovered quickly and nodded towards the front of their escort vehicle. "We're going to let you out, circle, and then Jom'll let me out down the street. I'd ask if you needed a good way in, but…"

"I can climb in a dress," Mara promised with a smirk. "Just make sure Visra's attention is on you."

"I don't think that'll be a problem."

There was something about the way he said it that brought more questions than answers, but they'd have to be saved for later. "See you on the other side," she promised and stepped out of the vehicle, slipping easily around another to use the lineup to block her path from any curious security that had been hired for the party. She took in the sights between the vehicles, from the security postings - three visible where guests were exiting their vehicles and another two at the door - to the guests dolled up in their finery, many looking as if they had come from off world, and finally to the house itself that towered over any other she'd seen on Lothal. The Visra family has done exceedingly well under Imperial rule, both for themselves and as a mediator between the Empire and the locals. If Margon was, in fact, funneling their family money to rebels and it got out, it could prove a massive disruption on the planet.

Mara rounded the corner to where all of the intel she'd been able to scrape together in such a limited time had indicated would be her best point of entry. And there it was: a nice hole in security that gave her access to a second story balcony that she should have no trouble reaching with a little help from the Force.

She was halfway to the wall when she felt a prickle of warning followed immediately by a voice. "May we help you find something?"

Apparently her intel hadn't been entirely thorough. A security patrol moved towards her, an air of distrust hanging off of him. Mara drew in a steadying breath as he approached her. "I don't need help. You may go."

"This is a restricted area."

Well, so much for that trick. Time for Plan B. "I just got turned around. Could you point me in the direction of the front door?"

"I'll need to see your invite."

"My escort has that."

"Then let's see if we can find him."

The last argument danced on Mara's tongue, but from the look the security guard was giving her, he was well past any excuse she could muster, no matter how good it was. She'd just have to find another way in. She was nothing if not adaptable.

—

Luke had Jom drop him off at the back of the line so that, perhaps, he wouldn't draw too much attention until he made it to the door. There were some familiar faces littered amongst Lothal's party-goers, including a few high ranking Imperial elites. Interesting. He wondered if that was part of Visra's cover. She wouldn't be the first rebel sympathizer to hide in plain sight and think she was safer for it. They always found them, though. They were always uncovered.

He let his eyes flutter closer for just a moment and reached out through the Force, letting his senses explore the feelings that surrounded him. Arrogance. Pride. Anxiety. Anger. Tampered down frustration.

Wait.

Blue eyes popped back open just in time to see Mara being escorted by a guard. The last one was definitely her. He let his gaze drift back around to the door where Margon Visra had appeared and had spotted him. Strange. There was more excitement rolling off her than he would have expected, though apprehension was tangled up with it. She flashed a pretty smile and bowed a little. "My Lord Natus, such an honour to have you here."

"I appreciate that last minute accommodation," he answered and she beamed at the praise.

"When I heard that you'd reached out, I immediately—"

Mara approached from behind, cutting her off. "Natus, could you please explain to this imbecile that we were invited."

Luke's gaze turned cold as he fixed it on the security guard. "She is my guest," he said sharply.

"For the Empire's sake, let her alone," Visra half-squeaked. She turned back to Luke and Mara, the groveling reminding Luke of an Imperial officer that knew his moments were numbered. "My deepest apologies, Lord Natus. Mistress…."

"Kavra Cee," Mara provided and looped her arm through Luke's.

"A pleasure and an honour to welcome you both into my home tonight. Please."

The pair moved past her and into the house, and Luke could practically feel Visra's gaze following him. "I take it things didn't go as planned?" he murmured so only Mara could hear.

"There's always a Plan B. What do you think of our hostess?"

"A bit eager to please, but if that's because she loves or hates the Empire, I'm not sure."

"That is what we're here to find out."

Luke risked more than a sideways look at her as she let go of his arm, her gaze sweeping the crowd.

"You weren't wrong about people knowing who you are. I would have thought you'd keep a lower profile than that."

"We've been on Lothal for a few weeks. Word spreads." He glanced out, but instead of instantly turning back to their own conversations as most did when they realized they had Vader's son's attention, eyes remained locked. Just not on him. "You know they're looking at you, right?"

"Only because I walked in with you," she answered casually.

"Not just that."

She turned her full attention on him. "Oh yeah? Do tell, flyboy."

Luke felt what had to be an absurdly goofy grin take hold without permission and on impulse he extended a hand.

She took it, letting him draw her close and never breaking eye contact. "You know we're here to work, right?" she asked very quietly.

"And what better way to inconspicuously move around the room?"

"Do you even know how to dance?"

"I trust you to lead me."

She flashed him a grin of her own and Luke wondered if she'd always been that pretty or if it was a result of the dress and the heels and the atmosphere. No. He'd noticed it while she'd been pouring over her research. It was just Mara.

While she let him lead her to the center of the large room, once they were there she subtly took the lead. No one else would have noticed how she directed his hands and how he followed her trained steps in a dance that let them both have enough leeway to look beyond the other. Even so, she still hadn't broken eye contact.

"Can you keep a secret?" she asked softly.

"You know I can."

She snorted a laugh. "Do I?"

"For you, I'll take it to the grave," he swore.

She seemed to weigh that for a moment before murmuring a confession so quiet he almost missed it. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," Luke answered without hesitation. "I —"

It's time.

The order over the bond slammed into him as hard - perhaps harder - than it had that morning. It caused him to stumble under the weight and Mara reached a hand to steady him, her expression worried. He let his mouth drop open, prepared to explain when the first order was followed by a now that left no room to argue. "I have to go. I'm sorry. I thought —"

An emotion he couldn't quite place flickered across her expression before a careful mask of indifference was set into place. "Lord Vader calls," she answered, her hand dropping from his arm. "As he does."

"I have a duty," he tried, but she wasn't buying the explanation.

"You got me in. That's all I really needed from you."

The words dug deep and he had the strangest feeling they were meant to. "I am sorry."

Something behind him drew her attention away and he risked a glance. Visra stood halfway into the hall, her back to the party, and she didn't look happy with whoever she was speaking to just out of the line of sight. She huffed, and stepped fully into the hall, pulling more of Mara's attention.

Another sharp tug on the bond provided Luke with a strong reminder that his presence had been demanded. "I'll be back as soon as I can," he promised, but Mara was already on her way.

With a huff of frustration he started for the exit. There was no time to waste. For either of them.

—

Much to her frustration, Luke hadn't been wrong about eyes being on her. The moment he was gone there was a man to her left offering her a drink and another to her right asking her name. If she's been irked at the way he'd bailed so instantly at Vader's beck and call before, this only intensified it.

Which did absolutely nothing, Mara reminded herself. Vader might be playing games, but Luke was doing what he did: trying to find a way to please both parties. It wasn't his fault that his father was playing games. Luke had gotten her in and only time would tell if Vader continued to drag him where he wasn't needed just to help ease his own paranoia. For now, it was time she found a way to her answers.

She ducked away and left the two men with their drinks and their dull questions, the fresher her excuse. She slipped back into the hall that Visra had disappeared into and found it empty. A quick glance in either direction showed the house staff in and out of the kitchen at one end and a set of circular stairs at the other. If the layout of the house was accurate, office spaces would be the next floor up and the bedrooms the floor above that. The key was not getting spotted heading up the stairs.

A server left the kitchen, hands full and focus on the party on the other side of the hallway. Mara slipped a finger through the back thong of her heel, sliding it off and repeating the movement on the second so that she could move quickly and quietly as soon as it was time. Her gaze was fixed on the movement beyond the wide door and into the kitchen, and she let the Force guide her. As soon as the feeling struck she rocked forward. Every step was quick, light, and intentional as she darted down the hall in the opposite direction of the kitchen and took the stairs up, not slowing until she reached the first turn and was out of sight of any would-be curious staff.

As she made it to the top of the stairs, she could hear muffled voices from down the hall. She followed the sound, hedging close to the far wall as she drew closer.

"…think that they can come onto our planet and take our factories," a low, rough voice was saying.

"Our people," a woman answered, but it didn't sound like Visra.

Mara reached into the folds of her dress to a hidden pocket, pulling a device out and clicking it on.

"We've let them. Fifteen years we've let them."

A projection of Rough Voice's face appeared from her device, showing off sharp, thin features and a hard line to his mouth. Dark hair was slicked back and he couldn't have been much older than Mara. With his face appeared a name: Tob Gaman.

"I'm not sure let is the right word."

The device recalculated, this time producing a woman who wore a headscarf over dark hair and equally dark, piercing eyes. Seyda Cors.

"It is if we do nothing about it. Then we're no better than those people downstairs. I still can't believe Visra brought us here of all places with that crowd."

Visra. Now she was getting somewhere.

There was a sound from the opposite side of the room like a door had slid open and shuffling followed. "Your sister finally release you or has she turned us over to the authorities?" Gaman demanded.

There was a low chuckle from their newly arrived companion that was decidedly not Margon Visra. "My sister wouldn't want to risk her reputation."

Mara looked down as the device worked through its calculations to fit the voice with a file. A new face popped up: young and smug, with eyes just as blue as Margon's. Doman Visra, her brother. Well that was an interesting turn of events. It looked like the Empire had suspected the wrong Visra sibling.

"If he'd come here tonight…." Cors said, almost too softly for Mara to pick up on.

"But he didn't," Doman Visra answered. "And by the meet next week, we'll have all of our security in place."

So there was someone else involved. Perhaps the rebel they were funding. If so, Doman was no longer the one to make an example of. Mara could be patient if it meant unraveling an entire cell. It was going to be a busy week.

—-

The sharp demand on his attention had quieted, which likely meant his father was distracted. Luke took every shortcut he knew between Visra's house and the shipyard where he was supposed to be at that very moment. By the time he arrived the battle with the rebels was in full swing and his father was crossing lightsabers with two of them. The Master must have been the one that the Grand Inquisitor had failed to keep.

Luke ran along the catwalk, his own lightsaber igniting in his hand as he leapt from it, using the Force to soften the landing in front of the startled Padawan that looked like he was coming to his Master's rescue. The boy - Ezra Bridger, according to Kallus' files - blinked owlishly at him. His jaw dropped as if he were going to ask a question, but Luke didn't give him time. Instead he swung hard, the aggressive move barely giving his new opponent time to bring his own lightsaber up to clumsily parry.

Bridger stumbled back, but found his balance and came at Luke again. He was either brave or foolish. Which one didn't really matter now that Father had found them. It was time for the would-be Jedi to figure that out. Luke sidestepped the blue lightsaber as it cut up to his left, bobbed to avoid another cut, and finally reached his hand out. The humming blade was inches away from his palm and Bridger gawked at him as Luke used the Force to direct the blade to go wide, his free hand flashing outward. Bridger gave a sharp yell as his boots lifted off the ground and he hung there, suspended in the air, and Luke flashed a triumphant grin. He turned back towards his father's battle, wanting to show that albeit a little late, he was pulling his weight in this assignment, but he didn't get the chance.

There was barely a warning of danger before the explosion ripped through the night air, sending Luke heels over head tumbling across the shipyard. He landed hard, the heat from the explosion burning patches of his black robes. His gaze swept outward, finding the Jedi ushering Bridger towards their stolen ship as fast as he could. A cold fear settled deep in the pit of his stomach as Luke's gaze settled on the fallen walkers that were piled exactly where Vader had stood before. "Father!"

Blaster fire pinged off of the permacrete at his feet as he raced towards the debris, the stormtroopers that had been there as backup scattered uselessly as the rebels made their way towards the ship. The walkers shifted and Luke reached out to help give them a pull, his father unfolding from the pocket of protection he had created for himself. The blast bolts shifted and the Sith Lord's lightsaber flashed to life, throwing one bolt back at the Mandelorian girl who had fired.

Luke started to bolt for the escaping shuttle, but his father's black gloved hand clamped down on his shoulder. There were no words, but the command was clear: he wasn't to pursue. Something told Luke that he wouldn't be cleared to leave to help Mara either. Whatever she'd uncovered at the Visra mansion, she was on her own for now. This wasn't the end of his father's plan.

—-

Hera Syndulla felt like she was running on autopilot after their near-fatal escape. They had come to Lothal to risk the rescue of Minister Tua in return for a list of sympathizers to the rebellion. People that were living every day at risk of the Empire deciding they were more trouble alive than dead and eliminating the problem.

Just like they'd eliminated Minister Tua.

"It's not your fault," Ahsoka said softly from the projection as the cockpit doors opened behind Hera, Kanan dropping heavily into the shuttle's copilot chair. "Is everyone on your team okay?"

"A little banged up, but we made it out mostly in one piece."

"Considering we were up against two Sith Lords, we got away easy," Kanan grumbled, rubbing at his shoulder where the masked Sith's blade had caught his shoulder guard.

"Siths?" Ahsoka echoed.

"Yeah, you know the -"

"I know what they are," Ahsoka cut him off, her brow furrowing as she leaned in towards the camera a little, her worry clear in the projection. "But there were two? The Master and the Apprentice?"

"I guess," Kanan answered with a shrug he clearly regretted. He groaned and motioned at a surprisingly quiet Chopper who was there to make sure their communication remained encrypted. "Hey, Chop? You get an image of those two?"

Chopper chirped his affirmative and Hera watched Ashoka's face as Chopper pulled the image of the masked Sith and the blond teen that had come into the fight late.

"We've caught some rumours of him," Ahsoka said and motioned to the masked Sith. "They call him Darth Vader, but he's not the Master. He's the Apprentice. Who's the boy? Do you have a clearer angle?"

"He was fast," Hera murmured, but Chopper had what Ahsoka was looking for. He pulled it up and sharpened the image so they could all see the teen's face.

"He called Vader father," Kanan offered.

When Hera looked back, Ahsoka looked like she'd seen a ghost. "Are you sure?" she managed. "You heard him call Vader father?"

"Yeah. Why?"

The Fulcrum agent blinked hard, resetting herself. "Get to your contact and send coordinates. I'm coming to you."

The transmission cut before they had time to argue.

TBC

Notes: Any Rebels fans reading this story? :D

While I love our Ghost crew and the infamous Agent Kallus to death, I've absurdly excited to get to introduce Ahsoka to the storyline. I became a huge fan of hers and Anakin's relationship after watching The Clone Wars within the last year (yes yes, I know... late to the game) and I knew it was going to have a huge impact on this story once I started writing it. Hopefully it'll give me enough of them to push back the determined plot bunnies I've had nipping at my ankles for a ROTS AU in which Anakin, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan become the first wave of the rebellion after Order 66... all the stories I don't have time for lol

Next Time: Ahsoka looks for answers while both Vader and Mara's assignments are thrown into chaos when Luke goes missing.