Star Wars: Balance of the Force (Anakin Skywalker Redemption)

12 - Grand Inquisitor

The distress signal came from Naboo.

Of course, there was such a thing as a coincidence, but as this search for the Rebels became more and more...familiar, Vader had long since ruled out such instances.

Instead of dispatching anyone else, Vader went himself to Naboo, homing in on the signal until he landed on a small farmstead. Stepping outside, he frowned down at the mushy earth beneath his black boots.

The hills around Padmé's house had only become marshy like that during the wet season, at all other times they were firm and lush. He recalled their first real date, her yellow dress and...

He pushed the thoughts from his mind, instead reaching out with the Force. He could feel the bodies of the Stormtroopers discarded around them, the various pieces that were left giving an indication as to what had happened to them.

Still, they hadn't sent out the signal. Vader continued searching until... Inside the house.

As Vader made his way inside, he saw hints of previous inhabitants, who had obviously left in a hurry. There were little coats and shoes, small suitcases.

Using the Force, he pulled on one of the large woollen cowls, the hood of which included two very large points. Togruta. And he was beginning to suspect which one.

The Grand Inquisitor lay asleep on the low couch in the room, his legs bandaged crudely around two slashes. So, they had let him live.

He continued his search of the house, finding a few bedrooms which had been slept in. Vader stopped in the room where the smallest shoes and a set of toys could be found. Children. Ahsoka was travelling with children.

Vader picked up the little model of an old Jedi Starfighter, painted with blue streaks, similar to the ones the clone troopers of the 501st wore. There were small sticks too, ones that had been wrapped with cloth at the ends, as if a handmade lightsaber.

Perhaps it would have been sweet if it weren't highly illegal. Nonetheless, it helped him, he now had confirmation that there were at least two Force sensitive children travelling with Ahsoka and her group of rebels.

Returning to the living space, Vader woke the Inquisitor with the Force.

'Oh thank...' he froze as he saw who had come to his rescue. Despite his pain the Inquisitor fell to his knees before Vader, 'My Lord, I am so sorry to have troubled you with this–'

'Ahsoka Tano was here,' Vader said. 'Who were her companions?'

The Inquisitor looked up at Vader then, and Vader felt the strange conflict occurring within him.

Then, the Grand Inquisitor closed his eyes and began, 'Yes, she was here. She was with the Mirialan Jedi, and two children. A boy and a girl.'

'Their names.'

'They didn't give them to me,' the Grand Inquisitor said, and Vader began to turn away. How had his Inquisitors become so incompetent? 'But I have a theory.'

Vader stopped then, 'Then explain it quickly.'

'Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano were spotted together and at various places throughout the galaxy, obviously working together. We have no information on the Rebel Leader, only that they are referred to as 'Fulcrum'. However, there have been other communications, many of which refer to a 'Mother'. Perhaps the Mother of the Rebellion? That is what we all thought, but what if she is literally a mother. The mother of the two children that Tano was protecting.'

'What makes her so important?' Vader couldn't care less about the Rebellion or its leaders. His only concern was dragging their dead bodies before the Emperor.

The Inquisitor sucked in a breath, steeling himself, 'Kenobi and Tano have an important connection. Anakin Skywalker. He was rumoured to be close to the Senator of Naboo. Padmé Amidala.'

Vader stilled.

'She gave birth to twins shortly before the dawn of the Empire,' the Grand Inquisitor said. 'The connections are too coincidental.'

Confused, Vader wondered why the Inquisitor was telling him this. Why not go to the Emperor? Unless he knew...more than he let on.

Vader listed his head and the Inquisitor continued, 'Seeing as the Emperor was always so interested in Kenobi and Tano, I can only guess that these children must also be of importance to him. Perhaps he knew that the Jedi had found the twins, perhaps he wanted them for himself.'

Vader didn't miss the warning. The Emperor would want the children for himself if he found out about them, but Vader was no longer listening. The children of Anakin Skywalker. Alive. Here. He thought back to the toy starship, had their hands been the ones to touch it?

Alive.

Luke and Leia.

But if that were true then...

Then the Emperor had lied to him.

He had allowed Vader to believe that his family, the people he loved most in the galaxy, had been brutally murdered. Mutilated bodies once again flashed in his mind, hurt beyond the point of recognition. While he was too devastated to truly look, his anguish too great to get close.

His children.

And if they were alive, then the vision he'd had of the woman with Obi-Wan... Was Padmé alive too?

Where were they now? Were they safe? Were his Inquisitors hunting them down?

Then his thoughts soured.

What did they know about him? About Darth Vader? Did his children fear what he had become? What had Obi-Wan and Padmé told them? Ahsoka?

If they had turned his children against him, there would be nothing that could save them.

'My Lord?' the Grand Inquisitor said, likely feeling the rage that arose in Vader.

'Call off the Inquisitors,' Vader gritted out. 'You will assist Thrawn in his patrols of the Outer Rim Colonies.'

'And you?' the Inquisitor bowed his head.

'I will finish this search myself.'

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