Star Wars: Rebels: World At War

Disclaimer: Star Wars Rebels and all Star Wars characters and Lore are not my property, as they are all owned by Lucasfilm and the Walt Disney Company.

A/N: The final chapter is here at long last. It also took longer than expected to write, but with multiple side plots to bring to a close alongside the main one, in retrospect I'm not so surprised.

Chapter 11: Darkened Horizon

The Supreme Overseer of the Great Dragon Society made his way down into the base behind Meridian Hall in silence, his concerns kept to himself. Never before had the liaison between the Society and the one they'd sworn their lives to visited one of their facilities in-person. Granted the current Speaker of the Great Dragon was still relatively new to his position, but he was just as in the know and dedicated to their shared master as any of his predecessors. When the doors to the conference room opened, Antiochus was greeted by the sight of two people already in their seats at the long rectangular table.

On the left was a woman he was familiar with, his first lieutenant, High Commandant Lorena Dray. The second was the same cloaked figure he'd received his orders to intervene on Ryloth from over holocall several days earlier. Sitting back with folded arms in the chair he'd selected from the row along the table, dressed in black boots with matching pants, robes, gloves, and hooded cape, the Speaker looked over at Antiochus, and the Supreme Overseer had to stifle a chill that went through him. He could sense the Speaker's eyes on him through the Force, hidden behind the white mask with two lines of red war paint above both eye holes, and an intricate silver inlay up the bridge of the nose. It was the mask of an ancient Dark Lord of the Sith, and when its wearer spoke in his nightmarish, almost seemingly disembodied voice, the leader of the Society had to catch himself before he reflexively stumbled back. A beat of sweat formed on the side of his forehead underneath his own mask.

"Your favored subordinate arrived ahead of you. Please," the Speaker gestured with one hand to some of the open chairs across the table from him next to Lorena, "take a seat. Our mutual superior, the one you call the Great Dragon, sends his regards, and per his instructions, we have a few things he wants us to discuss."

"Darth Novos… y-yes, my lord," the Supreme Overseer stuttered before collecting himself. As he stepped further into the room, the doors closed and were sealed through the Force behind him.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Outer Rim, the Starbird was barreling through hyperspace on its way to meet up with the Rebel fleet in a remote star system of desolate, scattered fuel mining colonies, one of which had a refinery run by a smaller company sympathetic to the Rebellion's cause. The crew of the Starbird had received word of the evacuation of Echo Base from Commander Sarusan back at the Rebel outpost on Destrillion, who in-turn had been informed by General Riekkan, the co-commander of Echo Base alongside Princess Leia. As such, the modified Mandalorian Kom'rk fighter/transport was redirected to the rendezvous point to rejoin the evacuees from Hoth.

Laying on his back in the bed inside the captain's quarters, Ezra Bridger, clad in a simple orange-red sleep shirt and baggy gray pants, was silently looking over the official report on the Battle of Hoth from Rebel command via datapad when he heard the swish of the automatic door as it opened. The young Jedi lowered the datapad in time to see his favorite young Mandalorian, clad in her loose gray tank top and form-fitting black night shorts, climb over the foot of the bed, and then over him as well. He set the device aside to grab hold on her sides and help her settle atop himself. Their eyes met and they stared at each other in silence for a long moment before the former street orphan from Lothal spoke up, causing the former outcast from Krownest to chuckle in response.

"You stink of paint," Ezra told her with a soft gaze and loving smile.

"Shut up," Sabine replied as her face broke into a similar expression, before lowering her lips to his for a kiss. He reciprocated gladly.

When they separated, she pulled back to lay her head gently against his chest, and he wrapped his arms in a snug, warm embrace around her back. She listened to the soothing rhythm of his heartbeat, slowly lulling her to sleep, and so much so that she almost missed his question.

"How's the patient?" It took a moment for Sabine to register his words. She'd spent a good couple hours in the ship's maintenance bay once they jumped to hyperspace.

"I finished patching up the damage he took to his chassis and ran a diagnostic on his internal systems. That dataspike, which took me a good while to wrench out of him, forced him into an involuntary shutdown and reboot of his power core. It seems the purpose was to erase all records of his time among those cultist sociopaths, and it succeeded, based on what I found," she paused for a moment to pull herself back up and meet his gaze before continuing, "Everything for at least two full years prior to him meeting us has been permanently dumped from his memory core. He will remain offline for several more hours, but once that's done he will return to full functionality. Or at least, his particular brand of functionality," she finished jokingly, and he chuckled in response. Then, his gaze cast downward, averting his eyes from her as his expression fell.

"What?" the young Mandalorian asked him softly, her own expression morphing into one of concern. She leaned forward again and kissed his cheek gently, causing his eyes to reflexively refocus on her own. "Tell me," she pressed in a whisper.

"What HK said, after meeting us formally for the first time on Boz Pity," the young Jedi began, hesitantly. Sabine picked up on this and nodded, silently and sympathetically urging him to continue, "He said I'm related to Revan, and I recalled what Mand'alor told me about the guy a few months ago. Then, back on Takodana before the cultists arrived, you said HK wasn't lying when we were running that scan on him with Katarn."

"Where are you going with this, Ezra?" Sabine inquired with an arched brow. He wasn't saying anything she didn't already know. There had to be more to it, given his obvious distress and the uncertain tone of his voice.

"Sabine…" Ezra sighed, deciding to ask her now before he lost his nerve, "what if it's true? What if I am descended from some ancient paragon of the Force who nearly destroyed your people? I mean, Clan Wren is my family now, too, and I know how much pride you take in honoring your heritage, and I- mmmph!" his eyes went wide as she cut him off, winding her arms around him and pulling him into a deep kiss. He was stunned by the sudden action, but he slowly relaxed and eased into it, kissing her back softly. When she separated, her eyes met his again. They were an odd mixture of incredulity and affection.

"Ezra…" she began explaining as they each caught their breath, "I only know Revan by the stories passed down by the clan historians generation to generation, and the records kept in databooks. I know you from in-person experience, as an ally, a friend, a boyfriend, and now my life-mate. So believe me when I tell you that there is no secondhand information in the entire galaxy that could change the way I feel about you. So please, stop talking about this and just hold me, you dork," she flashed him a warm grin, her amber eyes shining with affection and commitment to the reckless boy-turned-devoted, dutiful man she had come to love.

"Gladly," he returned the gesture, his deep blue eyes matching hers perfectly. He pulled her back to him for yet another kiss, wrapped in a warm, tender embrace. They could feel each other's hearts flutter madly in what felt like flawless unison.

At the same time back on Ryloth, from where he sat behind his desk inside his office back at the Imperial base in Lessu, the capital city of the Twi'lek homeworld, Colonel Kosh had just finished submitting his preliminary report on the outcome of the Ryloth campaign. With the Twi'lek resistance crushed and their allies routed, at long last the Empire could claim success on the occupation. The aging Imperial officer looked up as the door slid open and a single trooper with a datapad on hand walked straight up to his desk and stood at attention.

"Colonel, sir, the autopsy performed on Captain Slavin submitted for your viewing discretion, sir!"

"Very well," Kosh sighed, not willing to feign interest. "Hand it over," he instructed and took the datapad from the trooper. He decided to skim it rather than read the whole thing. "Ah yes, whoever fired the fatal shot was definitely in close range and had the intention to kill. No doubt they freed the prisoner as well."

"Eyewitness reports and security records that could be of use are nonexistent, sir, but the ISB has sent a message indicating they are ready to begin an investigation immediately," the trooper explained. The colonel, unsurprisingly, scoffed at the notion.

"I'm aware, and I've already told their sectoral office that the time and resources of their agents can be better spent elsewhere. Slavin was an incompetent fool; the Imperial Army is better off without him. Furthermore, the prisoner is no longer useful to us alive. The information our probes extracted from her proved to be everything we needed to achieve this historic victory. As far as I'm concerned, on both counts, we've lost nothing worth keeping."

"As you say, sir."

Said former prisoner was currently struggling to keep herself upright as she continued her long trek through the dry, barren wastes that stretched for hundreds of miles across the Tann Province. The nearest oasis was still a considerable distance away, and at this point, Numa was more worried about succumbing to exhaustion and dehydration than any injuries inflicted on her mind and body by her Imperial captors. It had been torture trying to keep up the pace under the hot sun, but now as twilight approached, freezing to death or becoming prey to a nocturnal predator became more pressing issues.

The familiar sound of repulsorlift engines came into focus, and though her vision had started to blur, once she turned around, the young woman could make out what appeared to be an Imperial gunship bearing down on her. In a mad dash, using what energy she had left, she quickly turned in a forlorn attempt to put more distance between herself and her pursuers. Dehydration was definitely taking its toll on her mind.

She didn't hear when Volker leapt out of the canopy on the gunship and activated his jetpack to close the distance between them. She didn't hear him calling out to her. She didn't feel him catch her as she stumbled and fell. What she did feel was the opened bottle pressed to her lips, and she drank down the liquid inside without thinking. It was water, precious, pristine, much-needed water.

"You certainly are strong, having made it this far, but you've already suffered more than enough, miss," the Imperial special forces commander told her earnestly, and she wasn't sure if she heard him right.

Exhaustion finally set in where dehydration did not.

Numa groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. It took a moment to register where she was; a plain, empty room with the exception of the worn, single person futon and blanket she'd been tucked into. The morning sun shone through a hole in the ceiling and the wall across from her, indicating she had been out for the full night. Pulling herself up, she noticed a small bandage in her right elbow pit that had not been there before; she also had received an IV treatment while unconscious. It certainly explained why she no longer felt weak or lightheaded from thirst.

It wasn't long before the young woman realized she'd been dropped off inside an abandoned homestead, slowly succumbing to the elements in its derelict state. Finding the doorway outside a couple rooms over, her eyes widened in surprise. It was a Clone Wars-era Old Republic military speeder bike, stripped of its weapons and transponder deactivated, though she couldn't tell for the latter just yet. A decommissioned, outdated, single rider vehicle the Empire wouldn't miss. Behind the seat was a large supply pack strapped to the frame of the bike. Numa felt her stunned expression widen as she discovered it was filled with rations, multiple canteens filled with water, a short-range comm unit, a small medical kit, a portable solar-powered lamp/heater, and a spare power cell for the bike.

Despite all of that, however, the most striking detail of this discovery to the reinvigorated survivor was the Imperial insignia firmly printed on the front of the supply pack.

Hours later, the Starbird dropped out of hyperspace in sight of the Rebel fleet, currently orbiting the remote mining colony of Peragus III. Millennia ago, thanks to a fatal mistake that blasted half of the nearby Peragus II into an asteroid field, it was discovered the unrefined compounds in Peragian fuel explode at high temperatures. For obvious reasons, the larger, more successful mining corporations and shipping firms based closer to the Core Worlds mostly chose to ignore this Outer Rim system, even as safer methods of extracting and refining the compounds were discovered. Still, the abundance of Peragian fuel made it readily available once refined, making it a cost-effective if marginally risky option for the local sector. As a result, a handful of smaller mining companies found limited but steady success over the coming centuries and millennia, with a handful of notable, unfortunately explosive exceptions.

One of these mining firms had staked out the entirety of Peragus III, and found what their management believed to be a worthwhile business arrangement and political allies in the Alliance to Restore the Republic, also known as the Rebellion. So, when the preemptive evacuation plans Echo Base were initially drawn up, the rendezvous point for much-needed refueling was already decided.

After passing the Nebulon-B medical frigate known as the Redemption, the Starbird received clearance to dock at the port side airlock on the Resolution, another Nebulon-B frigate currently functioning as the flagship of the Rebel fleet and the temporary headquarters of the Rebellion. The Ghost was already docked at the opposite starboard airlock. While AP-5 took Dawn to her mother's quarters and HK-47 opted to stay on the Starbird, both Ezra and Sabine were summoned together to the bridge. They arrived just as General Hera Syndulla was finishing a discussion regarding the fleet's next move with the recently-promoted Admiral Gilas Ackbar.

Any relief the young couple felt at the sight of their female mentor and pseudo-mother figure vanished when she turned to face them. Her expression was solemn, grave, immediately letting the Jedi and Mandalorian know something was wrong.

"Hera…?" Sabine asked warily, concern evident in her voice. She quickly took off her helmet and tucked it under her arm.

"Where's Kanan?" Ezra inquired in a similar manner.

When Hera visibly flinched and squeezed her watering green eyes shut, refusing to cry in front of the other personnel on duty at their stations, Ezra's own blue orbs widened in realization. His jaw fell open in a disbelieving gasp, and tears quickly formed and threatened to fall. At his side, Sabine shook her head in disbelief as her own eyes widened, and she choked back a sob. She wiped her eyes, and Ezra pulled her into a tight embrace. She latched her own arms around him with equal intensity, burying her face into his shoulder and dropping her helmet in the process, not giving a damn about breaching protocol with him. Before she could refuse, Ezra reached out and pulled Hera in with them as well. Hesitating for only a moment, she wrapped both arms around them, still fighting the urge to break down right then and there. Simultaneously, from where he sat in the command chair at the other side of the bridge near the viewscreen, Admiral Ackbar lowered his head in respect, sympathetic to their pain. It wasn't long before the rest of the command staff on the bridge joined him, mirroring his motions from where they stood or sat. Indeed, war always takes too much from too many.

All the while, in the very heart of the Core Worlds on the Imperial capital planet of Coruscant, within the dark, shuttered halls of the Imperial Palace, the doors to the throne room slid open. Instantly, inside the dimly-lit interior of the inner chamber lined with the familiar Imperials Guards cloaked in red, a mechanical breathing echoed throughout. Darth Vader stepped into the throne room, his cape flowing behind him, his cybernetic breathing drowning out the sound of his footsteps and becoming the only thing breaking the otherwise still silence of the chamber. At the foot of the throne, the once fabled Chosen One formerly of the Jedi Order kneeled before his master, and the latter greeted him.

"Lord Vader, punctual as always. You may rise," Emperor Sheev Palpatine, supreme ruler of the Galactic Emperor and, as far as the surviving Jedi knew, the Dark Lord of the Sith welcomed his first lieutenant and gestured for him to stand. The broken and scarred man formerly known as Anakin Skywalker obeyed.

"You summoned me, my master?" Darth Vader inquired respectfully once he returned to his feet.

"Indeed I did, and I extended an invitation to another who will be joining us shortly. Ah yes, here he comes now," Darth Sidious sensed the approach of the Grand Inquisitor, the replacement for Dunkel Nachtgeist after the latter fell at the Battle of Hutta over two and half years prior. The doors to the throne room slid open once again, revealing a man in a familiar set of chrome-plated armor and black cape, but now he was enshrouded in a matching black cloak as well. His own footsteps joined the breathing of his cybernetic superior in breaking the silence of the room as he entered, coming to a halt beside the latter and kneeling at the foot of the throne as well.

"Grand Inquisitor Starkiller, welcome. You may rise as well," Palpatine extended further greetings to the head of the Imperial Inquisition.

"As you will, my emperor," the former favored pupil of Nachtgeist obeyed.

"Guards, you are dismissed," the Galactic Emperor ordered everyone else out of the throne room, and once they were gone and the doors sealed behind them, he began elaborating, "There has been another disturbance in the Force, but this one is not from the vaunted Jedi or their so-called 'last hope', the son of Skywalker. No, this disturbance was of the Dark Side."

"I felt it too, my master," Vader affirmed.

"As did I, your excellency," Starkiller echoed the acknowledgement.

"Then you both understand the significance of this unforeseen development," Palpatine continued, "If the confidential reports coming in from Ryloth are to be believed, either an individual or a group with at least some knowledge of the secrets of the ancient Sith Lords has revealed itself, and attacked both the meddlesome Rebellion and our Imperial forces. Simply put, what we have here is an unknown, and I don't like unknowns."

"What would you have us do, master?" Vader inquired, secretly not wanting his pursuit of Skywalker to suffer an unnecessary detour.

"For now, Lord Vader, there is nothing I require of you in this matter. I merely need you to be aware of and await further instruction on the situation. Your present duties shall remain first priority for now. But as for you, Grand Inquisitor…" Palpatine shifted his gaze squarely on Starkiller, who immediately bowed in respect before inquiring further himself.

"What must I do, my emperor?"

"Dispatch your best Inquisitors to investigate this matter. You will report their findings back to me directly, and make certain they are reminded of the consequences of failure. We will unravel this unknown, and deal with it by any means necessary."

A/N: And there you have it, everyone. The final battle for Ryloth has drawn to a close, and while the Imperials can successfully claim another victory, the Galactic Civil War rages on. The climactic battle at Endor looms ahead, but now the threat of the enigmatic Great Dragon Society has been revealed, and while they may have covered their tracks on Takodana and Ryloth, one can bet with Kanan gone, Ezra will not let that keep him from seeking answers.

The first chapter of "Star Wars: Rebels: Truth in Legends," is already in progress, and as with every addition to this ongoing series, it will pick up where this story leaves off. As the mystery of the Great Dragon Society and those they serve slowly continues to unravel, Ezra will have to come to terms with his own hallowed and bloodsoaked legacy, as well as some of the darkest secrets of the Force. Not everything is always as it seems.

More secrets will be revealed, more battles will be fought, and of course as always, more Sabezra and Kanera abound! ;)

In addition, I have a different addition to this series in the works, though still not as far along as "Truth in Legends" in terms of development. I'm currently finalizing concepts for a prequel story set before Season 1 of Rebels, predominantly staring some familiar faces and favorites like Ahsoka. "Star Wars: Rebels: Before the Spark" is the current working title, so please feel free to keep an eye out for news on that if interested.

As always, a most sincere thank you to every last one of you for your support and feedback. Once again, all of you help make this possible, and my gratitude is immeasurable. And of course, Wikked Grin, a remarkably talented writer in his own right, retains my utmost gratitude for his ongoing tenure as my beta reader.

Until our next journey in this saga, may the Force be with us all. :)