Once the last flicker of life had left Piett, Emperor Sheev Palpatine allowed himself to rise from his throne and stand before one of the large viewports that looked down on the moon below. The sun was just beginning to set over the forests of Endor and so, he thought mirthlessly, over Vader as well.

It was nothing personal, of course. He had long-awaited for the time that Vader would rise against him and after years and years of servitude to him, he was starting to think that Vader was nothing more than a spineless and gutless Rhodian hog. And now that he had finally found his backbone, Sidious couldn't help but feel a flicker of pride for the man. In true Sith values, it was time that Vader killed him.

But Sidious was not so easily done away with. Again, it was nothing personal, but he knew that there was no way that he could leave his Empire to a man like Vader. It just wouldn't do.

No, Vader was not worthy. That much was known. It was time for a new, stronger apprentice. One that Sidious would be proud to call his heir.

But first, there was still much to be done. The first of which was to find a suitable replacement for Piett, someone who was loyal to him and willing to put Vader in his place.

"Your Majesty," she said as soon as she shimmered into view, dropping respectfully to one knee as Sidious stared down at her. She was one of his most loyal and trusted Admirals in the entire Fleet and he knew that if anyone was capable of executing his will, it was her.

"Admiral Reimer," he said as he beckoned for her to rise, "I have a new job for you. One that is of the utmost importance."

"I am at your will," she said as she stood up, her arms going behind her back as she submitted herself to him. "Whatever it is, it shall be done, your Majesty."

"It would appear as though my apprentice, Darth Vader, and Admiral Piett have committed treason against me," he said as she nodded, not looking one bit surprised at this revelation. It was a well-known fact that Admiral Reimer and Vader bore no respect for each other, that much was evident. "They have been harboring the fugitive Skywalker on board the Executor in secret."

"What would you have me do?"

"You will prepare your Fleet," he said before adding; "I will rendezvous with you at your present location in the near future and we will take the Executor by surprise. Once this is done, you will be promoted, and the Executor will be yours at long last."

She nodded, the corners of her mouth turned upwards as she gave him an eager grin, "it will be done, your Majesty."

Twins, thought Vader mirthlessly as he stormed down the corridor, his cape billowing behind him as he made his way towards Luke's quarters. The thought of another child stolen from him was enough to set him in a foul mood as he pondered the possibility.

Perhaps I am reaching, he tried to rationalize. Perhaps I am seeing things that are not really there. Perhaps there was only one child and not two.

The Force churned as did Vader's empty stomach.

No, there are two. I know it. I can feel it. How could I miss something like this? How could I be so blind? Thought Vader as he tried to picture it. A boy with tanned skin and blonde hair, much like Luke and yet different. For some reason, Vader couldn't imagine it. All he saw when he tried to envision the other child was a reflection of himself.

A son. I have another son. Twins, thought Vader as he mulled over the new yet puzzling information. It made sense, and yet it didn't at the same time. What was he missing?

"So, you found out about Luke's twin," said a new yet familiar voice from somewhere to the left. "I thought it would be a while before you figured that one out, but look at you, Darth! You're catching on!"

Vader froze in his steps, his fist curled at his side. "Kenobi."

"Vader," greeted the blue apparition.

"Not only did you steal Luke from me, but you stole my other child as well," said Vader, his lips pulled back in a snarl.

"I didn't take anything away from you, Anakin. You did that all by yourself," said Kenobi pointedly.

"Stop calling me that," hissed Vader as he jabbed a finger in Kenobi's direction. "Anakin Skywalker is dead. You killed him."

"I did no such thing," replied Kenobi earnestly.

"Where did you take him?" demanded Vader. "To what planet did you and Organa spirit him off too?"

"I find it funny just how stupid you can be sometimes, Darth. You're so arrogant, you can't even see the truth. You only see what you want to see, don't you?"

"Is this some sick twisted game of yours?" asked Vader as Kenobi shook his head.

"You tell me," quipped Kenobi as Vader's fist curled even tighter.

"We are done here," said Vader as he turned to leave. He was done playing Kenobi's games and he would not let the blue apparition goad him on anymore.

"If only you opened your eyes," called out Kenobi, "you would see the truth as plain as day, but the dark side has blinded you, just as it did me."

Vader glowered from under his mask but said nothing in reply as he continued to walk further down the corridor.

"Looking back, I understand now why you did what you did. You were tricked by Palpatine just like the rest of us, but you Anakin— you were the most vulnerable to his lies. He took advantage of your anger and your pain and he used it to gain your trust. He weeded himself into your life like a cancer and none of us were any the wiser."

Vader paused at that, the sound of Kenobi's pain enough to stop him in his tracks.

"And the worst part was I encouraged it. I thought that the Chancellor would make an appropriate role-model for you, especially when you were younger. I knew you wanted the approval and guidance of someone outside of the Order. Looking back now, it makes perfect sense how he was able to manipulate you the way that he did."

Vader closed his eyes.

"I failed you, Anakin. I failed you as your teacher. I failed you as a mentor. I failed you as a brother. And for that, I will never forgive myself."

"If it is consolation that you wish, you will not have it from me," replied Vader, his voice low as he looked back at the old Jedi from his shoulder. "I don't want your repentance. I only want the truth, Kenobi. That much you can afford me."

Silence. Just as Vader had suspected. He turned once again to leave, but Kenobi stopped him once again.

"Wait."

"I'm listening," replied Vader patiently as he turned to face his former master.

"You want the truth, fine. She was carrying twins. I made sure they were separated and hidden where you and the Emperor would never find them because I knew what would happen if he knew about them. He would ruin them, just like he ruined you."

Vader's lips curled into an unseen frown under his mask. Kenobi's words did hold a semblance of truth, but he didn't want to acknowledge it that perhaps— just maybe, Kenobi had made the right decision. He shuddered to think what his Master would've done if he had known about the twins.

But Vader would not admit that, least of all to Kenobi.

He tilted his head, a silent farewell passing between the former brothers before Vader, once again, walked away from his old Master and not once did he look back.

"You lied to me," said Vader upon entering Luke's assigned quarters onboard the Executor, uncaring of whether or not he was intruding on his son's privacy as he barged into the room.

Luke, who had been napping judging from the bad case of bed hair he was rocking, looked up at Vader groggily, sleep still in his eyes as he frowned in confusion. He sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"What are you talking about?" asked Luke as Vader came to stand next to his bed, his mechanical hands coming to rest on his hips as he narrowed his eyes.

"Don't play dumb with me, boy. Did you really think you could hide the truth from me?"

Luke's eyes narrowed, all semblance of grogginess leaving his face as he sat up even straighter, clearly more alert than before.

"And what truth would that be?" he asked, suspiciously.

"The identity of the Jedi," sneered Vader as Luke's eyes widened.

Luke swallowed, "you know?"

"I know that you purposefully withheld the knowledge of your twin from me," said Vader. "How long have you known about your brother?"

"Father I—" began Luke before stopping short; "hold on… What are you talking about? Brother?"

Luke looked genuinely confused and Vader could feel his son's surprise through the Force, which made him pause as he tilted his head.

Had Luke really not known?

"Your twin brother," continued Vader, slowly. "You knew of him, did you not?"

"Twin brother?" muttered Luke under his breath, the gears in his brain visibly turning before his eyes widened in realization.

"You know what I'm referring to then?" inquired Vader as Luke swallowed and then nodded.

Ah, so Luke had known.

"How could you keep this from me?" sneered Vader as he did his best to hide his feelings of betrayal from his son. He felt like a fool, and an utter and complete fool and Luke had played along, keeping secrets and lying to him just like Kenobi had. What other secrets was the boy keeping from him?

"Father, I—"

"How long have you known?" demanded Vader as he began to pace in the small room, agitated. It was taking almost all of his patience and restraint to keep from unleashing his anger into the Force and destroying everything in his path like when he had first learned of Luke's existence.

Luke swallowed, "I didn't know until recently."

Vader continued to pace.

"Where has he been all of these years?" asked Vader as he thought of all the places that Kenobi and Organa could have kept the boy. He obviously hadn't been raised on Tatooine as Luke had, their presence within the Force far too strong to have been kept on the same planet.

"Naboo," replied Luke, quickly. "He was kept on Naboo, our mother's home world."

Vader froze at that, the gears in his mind working furiously as he turned to face Luke.

It made perfect sense. Both Tatooine and Naboo were two planets that Vader had sworn never to willingly step foot on ever again and with Organa's connections on the planet— well, Vader could see how a young Force-sensitive boy could be kept in hiding there.

But there was something else that Luke had said that had caught Vader's attention.

"You know about your mother?" asked Vader, softly. He had never made any mention to Luke about Padmè and Luke had never asked or made any mention of her until now.

Luke nodded, "Anakin told me about her— our mother, I mean."

"Anakin?" inquired Vader, his voice still soft.

Luke nodded, albeit awkwardly, as if the name had unintentionally slipped out as Vader closed his eyes.

She had named their other son after him, probably because she didn't know what else to name him. It was fitting, he supposed. After all, he no longer used the name anyway. There was a moment of silence as Vader did his best to hold back the flood of emotions that racked throughout his body as he thought of Padmè and their twin children while Luke looked on, quietly.

Once Vader had composed himself, he turned to face Luke once again.

"We will speak more on this later," he said, sternly as he stalked towards the door.

"Where are you going?" asked Luke as he rose to his feet and began to chase after Vader.

"To find my son," sneered Vader as Luke's eyes widened.

"You gave me your word!" argued Luke as Vader rounded on the boy, his lips pulled back into an unseen snarl.

"And you lied to me!" he yelled, his baritone voice loud and full of hurt. Vader was actually glad at that moment that his mask concealed his true voice. "You deliberately kept information from me. Do you honestly think that I would be willing to uphold our arrangement now that I know the truth?"

"What are you going to do once you find him?" fired back Luke, hotly. "Cut off his hand and keep him prisoner here? Hidden away from your Master like you have hidden me away?"

"If I must," replied Vader, leaving no room for further discussion as he stormed out into the corridor, Luke hot on his trail.

"You don't even know where he is," said Luke as Vader shook his head.

"Neither do you, but now I am left to wonder if you were lying then too," retorted Vader as Luke shook his head.

"No," he replied. "I don't know where he and Leia are. We kinda got separated after you attacked us," remarked Luke, snidely.

"Not to worry," said Vader. "I have many connections in the Outer Rim."

Luke's eyes widened, "you're going to put a bounty on them, aren't you?"

"If that is what I must do," replied Vader, the thought of using Fett reminded him all too much of Bespin, but now was not the time to be thinking of such things. He needed to find his son and the incorrigible Princess and fast before the Emperor found out about his true motives.

"At least let me come with you," pleaded Luke as Vader weighed his options. He could take Luke with him, or he could leave him behind, but Vader didn't trust Luke enough to do that. That only left him with one option.

"Very well," replied Vader as he tilted his head. "You may come with me, but you will not interfere with my search and you will be honest with me from now on, or I will find other arrangements for you."

Carbon freezing, in particular, came to mind.

"When do we leave?" asked Luke. He didn't sound at all thrilled to be accompanying Vader, but there was no way that the boy would allow him to go without him.

"Soon," replied Vader as he stalked down the hall, his cape billowing behind him as he left Luke in his wake.

Very soon, but first, he had business to attend too first.

Vader watched as Fett's face rippled into view. He knew the Bounty Hunter was reliable, he had done well with tracking down the Millennium Falcon and so Vader trusted him to do this one thing for him. Boba Fett was, after all, one of the most sought-after Bounty Hunters in the entire galaxy.

"Lord Vader," nodded Fett, his helmet dipping in a show of respect, "the only reason you would be contacting me is for another Bounty."

"You presume correctly," replied Vader as he placed his hands behind his back. "I am, once again, in need of your services, for which I will pay handsomely."

"Who's the target?" asked Fett, clearly ready to talk business.

"A Jedi," began Vader, "the same one from Ben'we. I'm sure you've heard of him by now."

"The Jedi fugitive the Empire is hunting," said Fett. "The one who was responsible for the destruction of the Ord facility."

"Yes, that one," said Vader before adding; "he escaped the Imperial attack on the Rebel fleet with the Princess of Alderaan. I have it on good authority that they are both alive and in the Outer Rim."

"There's already a Bounty on his head," said Fett. "Fifty thousand standard galactic credits, if I'm not mistaken. Dead or alive."

"I want him alive," replied Vader, firmly. "And I'm willing to pay more than fifty thousand credits to ensure that."

"How much?" pressed Fett as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Seventy," replied Vader as Fett considered it, "payment will be wired to you as soon as you deliver him to me."

"What about the Princess?" asked Fett before adding; "how much do you want for her?"

Vader couldn't help but sneer under his mask at the thought of the Rebel Princess and her precious little Alliance. He could sense Luke's love for her, as innocent in nature as it was. His son cared deeply about her and it was clear that he didn't want her to die, but Vader had no need for the Rebel Princess.

"Do with her what you wish," replied Vader as the name Leia danced around the corners of his mind. Had his either of his children been a girl, he would've given them that name. It was a name that had haunted him for years; the name of a little girl who was and never would be born. He knew it was absurd to hate someone because of their name, but that name belonged to someone that only existed in the fragments of Vader's imagination. It didn't belong to some annoying Princess who never knew when to quit. "Kill her if you must. I have no need for her."

Fett considered his words for a few moments before nodding, "I'm sure I could find an appropriate arrangement for her."

"I will pay when he is in my custody," replied Vader before adding; "not a moment sooner. Do we have a deal or not?"

"I believe we do, Lord Vader," replied Jabba. "A bounty will be put out on your Jedi fugitive and not a hair on his head will be touched. You have my word."

"Good, we're done here," said Vader as he severed the connection and left the room to start preparations for his and Luke's departure to the Outer Rim territories. They would need to leave sooner rather than later if everything was to go as planned. He and Luke would look for Anakin and the Princess, hopefully finding them before the Emperor caught wind of what they were up too. With persuasion, he could convince both of his sons to join him in the fight against the Emperor and then they could rule together, the three of them, just as it was meant to be.

His comm went off, bringing him out of his thoughts as he looked down. He opened it up, one of the bridge officer's faces appearing before him.

"Speak," he commanded as she bowed her head.

"Lord Vader, I'm afraid I have bad news. It's Admiral Piett—"

Vader froze, "what about him?"

She blinked once and then twice, her lips pulled tight into a frown, one that made Vader uneasy.

"He's dead, Sir."

Vader stared down at the body of the late Admiral, his arms pulled across his chest as he listened to the Chief Medical Officer talk, not really hearing all that the man had to say. All he knew at that moment was the Admiral Firmus Piett was dead.

"What was the cause of death?" he asked, his eyes never leaving the guileless blue eyes of the dead Admiral, who only hours earlier had been alive and well.

"Brain aneurysm," replied the Doctor, dully. "It was genetic. His father died of the same affliction according to his medical records."

"I see," replied Vader as he turned to the Doctor. "Does he have any living relatives?"

"Yes, uh—" he fumbled through the records, "one nephew on Axxila. Shall I release the body to him?"

"Yes, see to it," replied Vader before adding; "also see to it that he is given a proper military funeral with full honors."

The Doctor nodded, "of course, Milord. I will see to it."

"We will hold a memorial service for the crew when I return from the Outer Rim," said Vader as he closed his eyes. He could already feel a headache coming on as he turned to address Lieutenant Albrecht, who had been standing silently off the side as the Doctor lifted up the white sheet and covered Piett's face with it. "Until then, I am placing a gag order on both of you. On pain of death, neither on you is to speak of the Admiral's passing until the Emperor is informed. Is that clear?"

Both the Lieutenant and the Doctor glanced at each other uneasily before they both nodded in understanding.

For several seconds Vader stared at Piett's motionless body, shielded by the white sheet as the two men watched on in silence. The Admiral's death was… Untimely, to say the least. It put a wrench in his plans, making him consider whether leaving for the Outer Rim at this time would be wise. There was no one to leave in Piett's place, at least no one that Vader trusted. He very well couldn't leave the Executor, at least not yet. Not until there was adequate leadership to keep his crew in order while he was gone, as well as enforce the gag rule that Vader had put in place.

He closed his eyes in defeat as he realized that his journey to the Outer Rim to search for his other son with Luke would have to be put on hold.

At least, for now.

Rex stared at the holo-image of his once friend and Commander as he took another swig of his Corellian ale. It burned all the way down, but he either didn't feel it or he didn't care as Lando took a seat next to him.

"Chewie says the repairs on the ship won't be done for at least another week," said Lando as Artoo rolled up to the both of them before nudging Rex's leg. He sighed as he reached down and patted the Astromech's dome, but not even the Droid could do much to lift the former Clone Trooper's despondent mood. Ever since he, Lando, Chewie, Artoo, and Threepio had escaped, he had been in a foul mood, oftentimes finding himself alone with nothing more than a bottle for company. It had gotten worse ever since they had landed on Tatooine to make repairs to the Falcon.

Rex took another swig as he remained quiet.

There wasn't much that the old Clone Trooper could say, not that he even wanted too. He was still trying to get over the fact that his General was a traitor, to both the Jedi and the Republic. It was hard to wrap his mind around and even harder to accept, and now he was left to wonder if he had missed the signs or if he had willfully ignored them.

At first, Rex didn't want to believe that it was true, but then he had seen the pain in Luke's eyes. The very same eyes that had belonged to his father and he knew. Even with Vader's invisible grip on his throat, he had resigned himself to the harsh truth that his General truly was gone, replaced by something more machine than man. After coming to that realization, Rex almost wished that Vader had killed him. Instead, he had left behind in that corridor, unconscious for Chewie to find.

And now, even after having time to process everything, Rex couldn't help but wonder why.

"And I've managed to get into contact with a few guys from the Rebel Fleet," continued Lando, "they're all scattered. Mon Mothma is still alive. Rieekan and Dodonna too. No word about Ackbar though."

"Luke and Leia?" asked Rex as Lando shook his head.

"I don't know," he replied truthfully. "No word from either. If Vader really does have Luke with him, then he'll be on the Executor. Might be on Vader's palace on Mustafar, I don't know. As for Anakin and Leia…"

Rex couldn't help but flinch at the sound of Anakin's name as he took another sip in hopes that the alcohol would somehow dull the pain of betrayal. Not that it did him any good.

"The Princess is smart," said Lando before adding; "I have no doubt she's alive. I don't know about Anakin though. He seems like a smart kid, but I just don't know."

"He's alive," said Rex after a few moments of contemplative silence.

"You sound certain."

Rex nodded as he stared at the bottom of his drink, "trust me. I know."

He could feel in his old bones that Anakin Skywalker was alive. His General had more lives than a damn cat after all.

"We should regroup with whoever we can," said Rex as he pocketed his holo-projector, choosing to focus on the present rather than the past. "Find the others as soon as possible and hit the Empire where it counts."

"Easier said than done," muttered Lando under his breath. "The entire Rebel Fleet is in shams and we have no idea where Anakin and Leia even are. And not to mention Vader has Luke. I mean, who knows what he's probably doing to Skywalker right now."

Lando looked away as Rex sighed, "probably nothing worse than what he did to Solo."

Rex had heard what had transpired on Bespin and what had happened to Captain Solo. Vader hadn't spared anyone, choosing to inflict pain upon his own children and Han. It was a miracle that any of them had made it out alive, albeit not unscathed.

Lando grimaced, "speaking of Han…"

Rex cleared his throat as he gave Lando a sideways glance. He knew what was going on in the man's head, but he also knew that there was just no feasible way that it could ever happen, at least not in the state of disarray that they were in. "I know what you're about to say. You want us to go rescue him now that we're here."

"Jabba's palace is less than four kilometers from here," said Lando as Rex shook his head. "This is probably the closest we'll ever be to him in the near future. If we don't get him back now—"

"It's suicide and you know it," replied Rex, the ache in his joints reminding him that he wasn't as young as he once was. "There's no way that the two of us could pull it off."

"Three," replied Lando. "Unless you're forgetting Chewie. Five if you're willing to count Artoo and Threepio. Artoo could help us. You know how resourceful that little Droid is."

Artoo beeped as he nudged Rex's leg again as Lando leaned in as close as the barstool would allow, his gaze never leaving Rex as he whispered under his breath. "We need him, whether you like it or not. We can't just leave him to spend eternity as a piece of wall art."

"What are you proposing? We storm Jabba's palace and rescue him?" asked Rex, incredulity lacing his tone.

"Why not?" asked Lando as Rex shook his head, moving to stand as he threw a few credits down on the table for the server girl. "The three of us could work together and we could sneak into the palace and—"

"No," said Rex. "No way. It's too dangerous."

"He's my friend," said Lando, pleading. "I can't leave him behind."

"You did it before," said Rex pointedly as Lando swallowed and looked away, guilt in his dark eyes.

"Look, old man. Chewie and I have already discussed this and we're doing it," said Lando before adding; "either you can help us, or you can stay on the ship with Threepio. You decide."

Rex sighed, "well, when you put it that way…"

Lando grinned as he gripped Rex's shoulder, "that's the spirit."

Rex rolled his eyes, "I still have a bad feeling about this."

They made to leave, Rex looking around at the sleezy, squalid Cantina and its patrons when something stopped him cold in his tracks.

"What is it?" asked Lando, sensing the former Clone Troopers shock and uneasiness. He looked over at where Rex was staring to see a man seated in one of the far booths in the corner, clearly drunk and enjoying himself as a young pleasure slave gave him a lap dance, a lazy laid back smile on his lips as he held her tight around the waist.

"That man," muttered Rex under his breath, "his name is Owain."

"You know him?" asked Lando as he stared at the sordid scene.

"Yeah," Rex cleared his throat. "I do. He's an intelligence officer for the Alliance. I recruited him a few months ago from a Cell in the Outer Rim to the intelligence department."

"Well, what's he doing here then?" asked Lando as Rex shook his head.

"I don't know," said Rex as he strode back to the bar and waved at the female bartender for her attention. "Excuse me, Miss. Do you know that guy over there?" he said as he pointed towards Owain, watching as she bit her lip nervously.

"I'm not sure," she replied truthfully before adding; "he came in here yesterday with a load of Imperial Credits. Hasn't left since."

"Imperial Credits?" asked Lando suspiciously as she nodded.

"Well, standard galactic credits if that's what you want to call them. Out in these parts we just call them Imperial Credits. He came in with about fifty thousand. Why? Are you two Bounty Hunters or something?"

Realization dawned on Rex, and it felt like a punch to the gut. He gave her a thin, tight smile. "Thank you, Miss. That's all we needed to know."

He slid her a few more credits for her troubles as she snatched them up. "If you guys are, just do me a solid favor and don't cause a scene. We already have enough trouble round' here as it is, don't need more."

With that, she turned back to her work, leaving Lando and Rex to do as they pleased as they glanced at each other.

"I think we now know who our spy was," said Lando under his breath as Rex nodded.

"I think so too," he replied.

AN: So I watched the Rise of Skywalker over Christmas break and then I decided that since I had the time, I was going to write the next chapter and get it posted before my next set of classes begin. The next chapter will get back to Anakin and Leia and their story thread. Don't worry, Han won't be frozen in carbonite forever. I have it all planned out ;)

On a side note, I should probably tell you guys that we're now entering the endgame here. I'm not sure how many more chapters there will be to this story, but I can tell you it probably won't be a lot since I'm trying to get this story wrapped up. I can't believe that I started this in 2017 and it's now 2020.

And speaking of2020... Happy New Year!

Thanks once again to Khalthar for being my second eyes to this story.