Saria: (snoring in her bed).

SA: (stands over the prone figure) Exams are over! WAKE UP!

Zas: Hey! Let her sleep! She got straight A's again!

Tori: And if she continues to sleep, that means more chocolate chip cookies-

Saria: CHOCOLATE! COOKIES! (runs for the kitchen)

Tori: Well, we now know the magic word…

SA: Which one? Chocolate or cookies?

zzzzzzzzzz

The footage of the wreck of the Xux family home and the plate that had been found by Clara were confiscated immediately when the pair were taken into custody. Also taken were their datapads, credentials, and identification.

Binders were then placed on their wrists, too tightly in Ylenic's case, and he fought the urge to use the Force to loosen them as their three captors marched them to an Imperial transport. Not one word was spoken.

A glance towards Clara told Ylenic that she was nervous but resolved. She also knew only that this mission was an investigation of an accident, something that might help her cell leader.

Ylenic prayed silently to the Force that the interrogator would focus more on him due to being a non-human.

The transport that the three troopers took them to was a standard Imperial armored landspeeder. Ylenic and Clara were loaded into a hold that possessed a bench on either side of the space before the doors were shut and locked securely by the Imperials.

"What's going to happen?" Clara asked quietly.

Ylenic sighed, knowing the engineer wasn't ready for this.

The transport took off, throwing both off- balance since they still standing. Ylenic nudged the human to the bench behind her and she sat quickly.

"We'll be asked our intentions, likely be accused of a number of differing crimes. We've discussed this."

That discussion had been that they would maintain their cover story, and the evidence they had gathered at the scene would be from morbid curiosity of a burnt-out building near a school. Such a thing left standing could indicate a more notable need for assistance.

Clara sighed as Ylenic sat across from her. "Will they execute us?"

"Possibly," Ylenic admitted gently. "The Empire is sometimes unpredictable, but notably ruthless. At the very least, we'll be facing imprisonment and hard labor."

It truly was a sad thing, when beings on peaceful missions to bring aid to planets were subject to such punishments, especially if part of their mission was the investigation of what now in Ylenic's mind had been proven to be a horrible and brutal crime.

There was nothing to do in the hour that followed as the transport took the pair to the planetary detainment center, and neither spoke. Too much was on their minds, and any words exchanged would likely have led to them talking about the horrible state of the planet. The oppression was devastating to witness; even if the Imperials were acting on their 'best behavior,' troops marched through the streets and locals didn't dare to accept aid from anyone.

Finally, the transport settled and seconds later the door to the holding compartment was yanked open. Though Ylenic and Clara attempted to climb out peacefully, the two troopers manning the door were quick to grab their restrained arms and toss them to the ground.

"No resisting!" was barked at the pair by one of the men.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ylenic saw Clara wince as she attempted to straighten herself up and rolled her eyes at the comment of the stormtrooper. The third Imperial who stood before them narrowed his eyes.

"It's only natural to try to catch oneself when thrown," Ylenic sniped, drawing the attention of the trooper before him away from Clara. He earned a smack from the butt of one of the standard issue blast rifles for his comment.

"Smart comments only make you seem guiltier, alien," snarled the man that seemed to be in charge of the group.

Clara looked ready to object, but a quick look from Ylenic caused her to shut her mouth. Both took that moment to take in where they had been brought to instead.

The outpost/detainment center on Omwat didn't look like anything the locals would build. The permacrete building was all hard lines and grey tones. It stood in stark contrast with the environment, a harsh and ugly building that seemed to represent the dark crimes of the Empire.

Omwati were being led into the facility in small groups by armed guards, many looking like they had seen better days. There didn't seem to be any leaving, but the release stations could have been at another part of the facility.

Clara audibly swallowed beside him, and Ylenic wondered for a moment why they were not being escorted into the building. He didn't bother to ask what they were waiting for since the likelihood of an answer that wasn't in the form of a blow was remote.

A tense minute passed, then another. Two more transports set down and the occupants of the cabs would exit and force their prisoners to their knees after extracting them from the prisoner holds.

Clara spotted the first sign of trouble and gasped, drawing Ylenic's eye as well.

An officer with a long scar on his face, too deep to ever be fully healed by bacta, had joined a group. One of the prisoners looked to be pleading while the other was unmoving on the ground.

"They shot him!" Clara exhaled in shock. "They just shot him!"

"Ain't got time or resources to waste on those guilty of certain crimes," one of their guards growled, leering at Clara through the visor of his helmet. "Too bad sometimes."

Ylenic saw a blaster being pointed at the pleading figure, and even averting his eyes didn't spare him from the feel of a life being suddenly ended.

The officer left that group, heading to one next to their party. Ylenic could barely make out the words since beside him, Clara was mildly hyperventilating. He gently bumped her shoulder to get her attention, and paid the price as one of their guards slapped him upside his head with the butt of his rifle again.

The Caamasi Jedi was barely able to make out the officer nodding and the Stormtroopers forcing their prisoners to their feet before his attention was fixed on the officer that was headed towards them.

The man's face, though scarred, had a slightly honest look to it. But his eyes were still fierce and hard. Evidently, he thoroughly believed in immediate, harsh punishment for crimes that deserved it, as evidenced by the immediate executions they had witnessed.

Ylenic It'kla was more than mildly surprised when the officer noted both Clara's and his faces, but only reacted with curiosity and no disgust towards him. Not a believer in High Human Culture then.

"Lieutenant Commander Kost," the leader of the guards stated crisply as he snapped to attention. "We found these two dissenters in possession of evidence from a crime scene. We believe them to also have been spreading anti-Imperial sentiment-"

"We were on a peace mission offering educational equi-" Clara's outburst was cut short by the guard behind her brutally striking her in the back with his rifle.

Though the officer remained cold and unmoved externally, Ylenic felt the man's disapproval aimed towards the trooper who struck his companion.

"There was hardly the need for that," the Lieutenant Commander stated sharply, eyes focused on the offending trooper. "As for you Ms... Nidfan," the officer continued, glancing at the lead trooper's datapad for a name, "You'll have an opportunity to defend your actions after the charges stated against you are complete. Now, have you stated the charges?"

The lead trooper nodded his affirmation. "Yes sir."

"Then what of the proof?"

In response, the confiscated bomb plate and holo-recorder were produced. The officer glanced at the plate in disinterest before checking the recording on the holo-recorder. His eyes narrowed more than a bit.

"What of the second charge?"

The trooper seemed a bit perplexed for a long moment. "They went to a school and offered education material," he admitted after a moment.

Now the anger of the officer was focused on the trooper. "There have been six riots today all over the planet, and you're calling that sedition?! I should have the three of you locked up for a month for wasting time with this call! Claiming you have a pair of rebels!"

"They were in a crime scene!"

"Which one? I don't recall a riot in your quadrant today, or any reported bombs going off!"

The trooper was silent for a moment before replying, "It was a backlogged investigation."

"To the point that the bodies are in this state?" the officer demanded as he waved the holo-recorder, and for a long moment Ylenic felt hope that this might blow over. "This isn't backlogged, it was ignored! It should have been cleaned up long before this!"

"It was the one 'specialists' were being called in for!"

The officer still looked angry, but his focus shifted back to Ylenic and Clara. "Make no mistake, entering a crime scene is still a felony. Missionaries from Alderaan or not, you had no business entering that establishment."

"But it's right next to a school and we wanted to know why it hadn't been dealt with, especially with children so close," Clara argued. Her words may as well have been spoken to empty air for the reaction they got from Kost.

"Take them inside, have them processed, and punishment will be decided for their actions at a later time. Submit these," he waved the holo-recorder and bomb plate, "to the evidence locker. No interrogations until we finish dealing with these riots!"

zzzzzzzzzz

Viceroy Organa watched as his sisters and wife cooed and clucked over the newest addition to their family. The girl's dark features were particularly striking in the white and blue colors of the Organa house, and her eyes were wide as she was shown around the Royal Gardens.

Turning back to his console, he glanced at the numbers that were being sent to him from companies on how much it would cost to improve the shields on Alderaan. He was also trying to figure out how to explain the necessity of the expense to the democratic side of the government.

Perhaps as a non-violent means of keeping those Ylesian slavers away? That wouldn't explain the emergency planetary evacuation plan he wanted to suggest.

The discovery of Earth was truly becoming a nightmare. But it was one he believed he could live with, especially if the phenomenal amount of Force Sensitives on the planet meant that warnings of even worse happenings could be had.

But it could be turned to the favor of the Empire if it was discovered.

Moff Tarkin was unlikely to make use of such a thing. He was particularly outspoken in his belief that the Force and the ways of the Jedi were outdated. It was due to a number of his sanctions and suggestions that Midichlorian counts were no longer taken at birth. Organa had silently praised the man's suggestion due to the fact that he had unwittingly saved a large number of innocent lives, either from immediate euthanization or forced servitude to the Empire.

With a person of that mindset in charge of the fleet that would attempt to take the planet, the risk of discovery was low. It allowed other issues to be dealt with.

Mothma had almost gone berserk when she had heard of the prophecy from the Earth people. Confronting several of them had gotten few answers and no hard dates, but apparently, they knew that the Death Star would be completed and Bail's own daughter would be captured and tortured to try to find a rebel base to test it on. She would not break until Tarkin threatened Alderaan, and would then give a fake location. Tarkin would still destroy Alderaan and make her watch as it happened.

But it could be destroyed. Even when completed, someone had made a flaw in the Death Star that could be exploited to destroy it.

Knowing all of this, Bail Organa wasn't certain how he was going to manage to keep a level head if he ever saw Moff Tarkin again. Just the suggestion of it made his blood boil.

Sighing, he glanced at a list that Mothma had sent him a mere day ago: a list of mercenaries that taught self-defense skills.

Leia had already lived through several kidnapping attempts, Winter witnessing them as well. His new niece, Mariel, was likely to see a number of things as well in the next few years and was going to need extensive tutoring before she would be able to attend school, and it seemed increasingly likely that they should send the child to an off-world school.

Self-defense lessons for each of them wouldn't be a bad thing.

zzzzzzzzzz

Tarkin coldly regarded the blue and green planet that hovered in space before him, the faint glimmer of shields now covered thirty-one locations on the planet, mostly large cities that would have been excellent collection centers for the slave force.

It didn't matter, scans indicated there were plenty of the primitives outside of the shield, many organized into what seemed like fighting units. The first prisoners would be from the military class then, if the planet had such a thing. It would make dealing with the rest easier.

The fleet had fanned out across the planet, getting into position to begin the assault and plan their landing areas. The initial landing points planned on by several of his captains had to be moved due to shields, but all were reporting that they were now in position and ready to begin.

Unsurprisingly, the 501st, with Vader back on his flagship, had been the first in position.

The captains in charge of the various ships were now on the comm line, awaiting his command. He didn't smile, despite appreciating the excited tension, especially of the pompous Admiral Ozzel.

"Commence with the ground attack," he ordered after a long minute.

zzzzzzzzzz

The alien ships, despite being enormous, had disappeared in the distance so quickly that it was mind-boggling. It had taken much longer to get everyone loaded back on the bus so that they could get moving again.

The Medical division as well as the main part of the Supply Corps and Communications had been ordered to hold back as the main part of the division had begun to mobilize.

"Jackson Division," a voice over the radio squawked. "Alien ships have been sighted, Charleston has confirmed that the ship is holding just two miles east of them, over the ocean."

That call had been made three hours previous, and the final divisions were finally moving.

On the other side of the road, a large number of cars had begun to flood the interstate, heading in the opposite direction. The traffic was immense and quickly became so backed up, that people began to abandon their cars. Several had been smart and were on bicycles, but they were being stopped by people trying to take the bikes.

No one attempted to jump the barrier to join the buses and trucks of the military, and from the relative safety of her seat, Tara watched the chaos.

Several of the Westboro kids had jumped off the bus to join the wave of evacuating humanity, but most of them remained seated on the bus, advised that the nearest shelter was too far away to walk. One of those that remained was the girl that Tara had slowly become familiar with, though she still hadn't caught what her name was yet.

"Davis division has begun to set up a perimeter outside of the city, all units from northern Georgia and South Carolina shall converge there."

The radio had continued to issue orders and Tara had listened to them carefully, exchanging notes with Andrew.

"They still haven't mentioned anywhere else," Tara stated blandly in a quiet voice.

"And only the one ship," Andrew added as he glanced at the rest of the very quiet bus. "How many bases are there?"

"There are dozens in the US alone," Tara replied. "Every one of them must have been mobilized to train troops."

"And then some." Andrew glanced out the window, they all did as a loud shrieking sound ripped through the air and people on the other side of the road screamed and ran or ducked and rolled under the cover of vehicles.

Not seeing anything, Tara shoved the window down and craned her neck in order to see…

"Don't look!" she ordered the Westboro girl who had settled in the seat behind her as she retracted her head back into the cabin of the bus. Andrew was already looking through the windshield at the small ships that sliced through the air above the interstate.

"Ties…" he murmured as blood drained from his face. He snatched the unopened road map from its holder next to the driver's seat as Kevin continued to stare in horror at the small squad.

"Why shouldn't I look?!" the Westboro girl demanded as she leaned down to watch the fighters streak towards the horizon.

"They're not alone. You can look at those, just not up."

Instantly, half the heads on the bus were being shoved out of windows to stare in mounting horror as people outside also began to scream and point. Andrew dropped the map he had been unfolding and followed suit.

"Holy Mary Mother of God!"

Gliding slowly in a wedge formation were several more ships, a small armada, heading in the same direction that the first Star Destroyer had gone. What Tara didn't see in that moment was the various points on the ships that began to glow.

It was a hair-raising moment in the seconds before the ship fired, then the first of the blasts were fired, red streaks tearing through the air towards a distant city.

It was still daylight, but Tara could have sworn she saw the glow as the lasers struck the ground and flinched, her hands trembling in reaction.

"We're moving!" the driver shouted as the bus began to move towards the direction of the touchdown points of the blasts.

Seconds later, Tara felt the someone settle on the seat next to her. Glancing over, she saw the Westboro girl, who was staring hard at the horizon.

"The end of days come to smite soldiers…" the girl murmured.

"Davis unit is reporting that the invaders are firing a laser curtain, shielding a portion of the coastline in Charleston!" a new voice called over the radio. "Advance units are arriving."

"They're landing," Andrew stated quietly before he settled the now open road map across the laps of Tara and the Westboro Girl. "If we have to run, head north if you can to the Francis Marion National Forest. They won't be able to follow through the trees."

"I haven't camped since I was ten!" Tara protested. "I don't know anything about survival aside from 'don't eat what you don't know' and be wary of everything!"

"Doubt you'll need to, there's bound to be some hardcore wilderness survival people there. Tell them you're a doctor and they'll keep you around until you run into more soldiers."

"What ab-"

"Hey, Em," another voice called, and the three glanced back to see a boy, also from the Westboro group, heading towards them. "Why are you sitting up here?"

The girl glanced down at the map for a moment before responding. "Trying to figure out what these guys know. Why was it so important that other locations or ships weren't discussed?"

Tara was uncertain what the girl meant for a moment until she remembered what she and Andrew had been discussing before their most recent scare.

"Nothing is being said about other locations, so we don't know where else the invaders are attacking," Tara illuminated.

"It makes you focus on what is happening in the here and now," Andrew added on. "Try to prevent the troops from getting distracted. For example, how many people would be distracted if a city like New York or Chicago was attacked using those lasers?"

They all glanced out now at the continued criss-cross of lasers that blasted overhead.

"Ms. Roper was right! We should have stayed with our parents!" the boy practically shouted. "Now, we're headed straight for the gates of hell with these sinners!" He turned and stomped towards the back of the bus, earning more than a few nasty looks. "God hates fags and soldiers and now we're with them!"

"Fag, noun, a tiring or unwelcome task. Verb, to work hard," someone shouted after the kid and Tara felt a dry chuckle push past her lips. Andrew also had a faintly humored look.

The girl, "Em," on the other hand, remained seated as she stared ahead at the road that would be taking them to Charleston. Tara glanced at the map also, seeing they'd likely be exiting I-95 on I-26, the same road they'd been on when leaving Columbia.

"Emily," the girl suddenly stated. "My name's Emily."

"Andrew, Anesthesiology," Andrew replied.

"Tara, Surgery," Tara stated as Emily's eyes glanced towards her. "If you're willing to work hard, I'm certain we'll be able to keep you close. You might even learn some medical skills."

"Yes! Come fagging with us!" Andrew declared loudly in a dramatic voice.

The tension wasn't broken, but a few people lost the fight to keep from smirking or grinning, though he still received more than a few flat stares.

"Hey, didn't we just hear that 'fag' actually meant to work hard?" he defended, doing his best to look affronted.

Emily finally did lose a brief smile.

Then everyone on the bus stopped cold, chills running along the spines of everyone present. Something had just… Arrived.

zzzzzzzzzz

Darth Vader felt as though his senses were in overdrive as he stared at the landmass below from the bridge of his ship. He could barely breathe, especially as they passed through the atmosphere and his senses only further confirmed what he had been feeling.

This planet and the Force! There were more points than he could count! He felt them now with clarity, the Force singing of LIFE!

The balance was also unsettling, some of the points, the Force Sensitive, that he felt were definitely Light, but some were Dark as well. Most were Grey though, in more shades than he could possibly identify.

He didn't dare to leave the Star Destroyer despite his initial plan to fly with his troops. He wouldn't be able to focus, in the midst of this.

Closing his eyes behind his mask, Vader opened his senses as far as he could, drinking in the Force and the presences he felt. An army, all he would need to finally topple his Master lay on the planet below.

And despite the pain it gave him, Vader grinned when he felt their shock and horror as they in turn felt him.