Shadows of Tomorrow

Chapter 77 - The Road Home

Author's Note: In which Marr plans! :D

~ Amina Gila

"Dad!" Vizma launches herself into his arms the moment he enters the shuttle.

"Are you alright?" he asks, pulling her close as they take off. His mind still feels almost detached, far away, hyper focused on the lone presence leaving in a TIE fighter, but he's still present enough to notice the slight damage to his daughter's armor.

"I'm fine," she assures.

"What happened?" Kanan asks.

"Did you fight Vader?" Ezra queries.

"We talked," Ahsoka replies, settling across from the others.

The other three exchange glances. "What happened?" Kanan prompts.

Marr pauses, considering his words. He doesn't know how much they should really say. If anyone hears that Vader was questioning loyalties... "Do not tell anyone else about this," warns Marr, finally, "There is... a lot more of Anakin left in him than I feared, but we need to stop Sidious as soon as possible."

"Why is he staying with the Empire?" Vizma demands.

"I wish I knew the answer," Marr answers, staring out the viewport, "But he seems... too afraid to leave. I can't say why."

"When we first sensed him...." Ezra begins after a pause, "I felt hatred and anger, but fear was the strongest."

He can only imagine why, and he's never wanted revenge on Sidious more in his life. Maul was hardly a pleasant teacher, and the way he talked about Sidious... It was obvious he was much worse to him. A heavy silence hangs in the air. Vizma is frowning, and Kanan seems... very conflicted. "I know Sidious is a far from pleasant master," Marr declares, finally.

"Then why wouldn't he want to get away from him as soon as he could?" Vizma objects.

"It's not that simple. Not when you're trapped in the situation," he replies, "If he left, Sidious would keep looking for him, and I can't imagine what he would do to him if he found him."

Silence hangs heavily over them again, and he can clearly feel Ahsoka's raging emotions. He reaches over, laying a hand on her arm. She reaches up, taking his hand instead. He doesn't know how to feel about any of this anymore, but he knows he already misses Anakin terribly again, even more than he did before. He's pretty sure the same is true for Ahsoka.

"What are we going to do now?" Kanan inquires.

"Keep fighting like we have been," Marr answers, "But... if it came down to it, we might have help. Maybe. I don't know."

"But the Inquisitors are going to keep coming," Ezra objects.

"We're back to where we started before coming here," Kanan agrees.

"Then why don't we take the fight to them for a change," Marr declares, crossing his arms.

Vizma brightens. "Where do we start?"

"We have to take out Sidious, so we need to prepare for that," he replies, thinking through everything he's been considering all this time, "And the only way to do that is to go to him."

"Go to Coruscant?" Ahsoka asks incredulously.

"Yes, but not yet. We need to spread out their forces thinly across the galaxy. We need to make things difficult for them."

"We don't have enough resources for that," Kanan points out.

"Hondo could help!" Ezra offers.

"I'll let you handle it, then. We need all the help we can get," Marr replies, "And... I know where else to go to find more." They'll need far more than this, he thinks, but it's a start.