A/n

Thank you to rtt for following!

Lania couldn't deal with sensing the Jedi in pain and had to move farther away in the ship. The panic within subsided and the world was moving at a normal pace once again.

She received news from a trooper that the Sovereign was plotting a course to Mustafar. She had taken this as that her Master couldn't break the Jedi; from what she'd learned about Mustafar it was worse than Nur, a death sentence to any Jedi.

Lania decided that a nap was in order. She hoped that when she awoke her tired and confused mind would be able to think clearly.

Lania was glued to the spot rendered immobile. Her only sight was the towering walls of a dirtied alleyway, cords were strung across the two buildings interwoven like spiderwebs.

Two shadowed objects obstructed her vision and her body was gently lifted up. Before she could discern what was going on a steady ring disturbed her dream. Lania couldn't tell where it was coming from — then she was ripped from her slumber only to be greeted by the obnoxious blaring of klaxon alarms.

Lania snapped upright and threw herself off her bed, pausing to let the black spots fade from her eyes. Once she was no longer seeing spots, she raced into the hallway to see stormtroopers hurrying down the hall. She grabbed hold of one of them and asked, "What is going on?"

"The prisoner's escaped!" Her eyes widened slightly as a cold feeling numbed her.

The Jedi escaped.

Lania maneuvered through the bustling ship and toward the detention level where she discovered the Jedi's cell was indeed empty. She wandered back into the hallway at a loss and tried to sense the general direction of where the Jedi was. Her eyes closed and she tried to ignore the fear gnawing its way deeper in her mind. It was a demon within that confirmed what she already knew; after this it was certain she was going back to Nur.

As she allowed herself to connect deeper with the Force a distressed presence bonded with her mind. Their consciousnesses intertwined for a moment and Lania witnessed flashes of what the other was seeing: a fight in the reactor room, the Inquisitor was there and the man whose eyes she was looking through was the Jedi. She felt his controlled anger, he suffered a loss yet the grief powered him.

Lania blinked slowly, her body feeling as if she was awakening from a heavy slumber. When she came to her senses the vision was over and she knew where she had to go, she just hoped that she wasn't too late. She sprinted through the halls and arrived at the door, her hand slapped on the keypad and she burst into the room, lightsaber activated, to see — the Inquisitor at the mercy of the Jedi. Time began to move by achingly slow each second laced with anticipation. She could throw her weapon and possibly distract the Jedi, yet should she? If her Master fell into the fiery hell that awaited below wouldn't it be guaranteed she would not be going back to Nur?

Her arm lowered hesitantly and in the distance Lania saw the incline of her Master's head as he looked in her direction. She froze, her facial features setting into stone. She waited to hear the thunderous rage of his voice booming in her mind commanding her to help him. Surprisingly there was nothing, only a silence that rang in her ears.

Then her Master let go and was engulfed in flames.

She felt the loss through the Force, a great absence that relieved enormous pressure on her mind. Relief hit her. Her knees felt weak and she rested against the wall as she tried to accept the fact that the terrifying man who had suffocated her life by ruling it with a vice-like grip, the man who had made her who she was, was truly dead.

It was frightening although.

Her Master had instilled in her that she needed him to survive, that she needed him to teach her how to use her powers properly — how to utilize them to become stronger. She was now without a teacher, and a little voice in the back of her mind asked herself if she was going to be alright; if she could survive alone.

Lania looked up sharply at the sound of the ignition of a lightsaber. The Padawan was cautiously approaching her, his weapon at the ready.

"Ezra let's go!" Kanan shouted.

"But–" The boy faltered, turning back toward his master.

An explosion rocked the room and Kanan's voice grew impatient. "Now — Ezra!" The Jedi's eyes met Lania's and they lingered on her for a moment. "She won't follow us." Kanan and Ezra sequentially left the room. Lania took another moment to gather her bearings then she ran off in the direction of the escape pods.

She launched a pod safely into space, maneuvering it far enough away to avoid the blast when the Sovereign eventually exploded. Through the viewport Lania was able to see a handful of other pods, it was likely that an Imperial ship would come to survey the wreckage and pick up any survivors. Past the numerous escape pods her eyes saw the starlight glinting off the hull of a ship as it used its sublight thrusters to fly through space.

It was the rebels escaping. The space around them blurred as they jumped to hyperspace.

Lania undid the belts binding her to the seat and moved to sit further in the pod. Soon the Empire would arrive. She wondered fleetingly if she would ever be free from their clutches. It would likely never happen, yet now she was safe. She allowed herself to relax, still keeping a loose hold around the grip of her lightsaber despite being alone in a container floating in space.

It was a few hours before another Star Destroyer came. Lania's guard went up the moment she sensed an Inquisitor on board. The Eighth Brother collected Lania's lightsaber and placed her in a detention cell for the trip to wherever they were going. Lania was told nothing.

She glared at the cuffs that encased her wrists. This was not the welcome she expected. Either something else was going on or perhaps the Inquisitor informed another of his plans to return her to Nur.

A few days later later the Eighth Brother and an escort of stormtroopers opened her cell door to lead her outside the ship.

Lania paused on the ramp to squint at the bright sun rays that descended from above the circular hangar deck roof; she still had no idea what planet she was on. With each step further into the unknown a tingling sensation grew stronger in the back of her mind. It was the Force warning her of something. Her eyes narrowed and she tried again to get a grasp of her surroundings which had begun to look vaguely familiar. It wasn't until she saw Agent Kallus that Lania realized with a start that she was back in the Imperial Complex on Lothal.

She halted, careening her head back to face the man who stood silently in a connecting hallway. His gaze wasn't focused on her yet something behind her. The tingling in her head sparked up and Lania's stomach rolled from the abrupt nerves. A stormtrooper gripped her chin and forced her to turn as she simultaneously heard the infamous sound which caused her blood to run cold.

A robotic breathing.

"I will take it from here."

Darth Vader was standing before Lania. She'd heard of the wild tales of the monster which was the Emperor's apprentice but she had never seen the man himself. He stood before her and his very presence was exceedingly more intimidating than her Master's, Vader instilled a fear distinct to the Inquisitor's. Distinct in the way that she knew Vader would kill her if he didn't like what he heard and not send her back to Nur.

"Follow me." Vader stated and began walking down the hall. Without question Lania obeyed, only slowing enough to sneak a glance in the direction of Kallus; finding with annoyance that he was gone, the man likely only stayed to see Darth Vader.

Vader led her to a spacious office with a wall of windows overlooking Capital City. "Tell me, how did your Master die?"

She recalled her last image of the Inquisitor: his eyes staring hauntingly at her as he released himself into the inferno. Lania attempted for her words to sound strong. "He killed himself, I don't know the specifics."

Vader slowly turned toward Lania. "And where were you when this happened?"

Lania's mouth drifted open dumbly. She caught her mistake too late and in seconds Vader had her suspended in the air, his Force-choke suffocating her. Her hands clawed at an invisible grip that gradually tightened around her neck. She coughed, spitting out the little air that she held within her lungs.

Vader marched forward. When he spoke his words held a knife edge to them, "I received regular updates on your irregular behavior from your Master, I know that you're still holding on to a shard of whatever light you have left."

"No I–" Lania tried to protest yet the hold around her throat tightened to its utmost and she could not breathe at all. Her legs began to thrash wildly, her nails clawed at her throat as her body begged to inhale a breath of air.

"Do not think you can lie in my presence. I won't hesitate to snap your neck rather than waste valuable resources on a child who's loyalty doesn't belong to the Empire." Vader's tone was acidic. The pressure being applied to Lania's neck was immense and she thought for a horrifying moment he was going to do as he said and snap her neck; yet seconds later the Force-choke was gone and she was on the floor gasping for air.

Hot tears coated her eyes. She crawled to Vader's feet, her body shaking from the fear, trying to hold back her sobs and to catch her breath. "Please — please Lord Vader, I pledge my life to the Empire, I will never never betray you or the Emperor." She clenched her jaw, her head falling hard and hitting the floor beneath as tears spilled from her eyes. She didn't want to die, now that her Master was gone, now that the threat of Nur was gone. "Please."

Vader was unnervingly quiet above Lania and she thought for a moment he was about to strike her down. "I will allow you a second chance. You'll pursue the Jedi in your Master's absence." His words caused relief to wash over her. The feeling evaporated when she remembered Vader was still in the room, yet it appeared the conversation was over for he promptly left.

Lania collapsed fully onto the floor. A sliver of sun rested on her face, the light drawing her to outside. As she sat up, clouds obscured the ray and she was left in darkness once more.

4 ʙʙʏ

Lania and the Fifth Brother had begrudgingly been assigned partners to each other by Lord Vader. Vader told the Brother to keep an eye on the inexperienced Inquisitor — meaning her. Together they began to hunt the Jedi and after a surge of electricity they arrived at an old Republic medical station.

Lania walked toward the ramp while the Fifth Brother landed the shuttle. Once he was done he moved to stand beside her while they waited for the ramp to lower. She drew her saber and entered the dimly lit hangar bay, her eyes surveying the area. The Brother broke off and entered a hallway, keeping his lightsaber deactivated for stealth.

Lania entered a dark corridor; her gaze attentive and mind trying to reach out beyond the darkness and sense if there was anything there. Her feet slowed to a stop as she felt something. It was faint and moving fast. With determination she began moving in the estimated direction of where she thought the feeling was coming from.

She continued in the darkness until she heard the sound of a fight. When she rounded the corner she was able to see two lightsabers — one red, one blue — clashing against another, the blue losing the battle.

She ignited her own and decided to join in the fight which was quickly over. The lightsaber wielder who Lania identified as Ezra Bridger was lying unconscious on the floor. She looked up to the Fifth Brother who smirked.

He said, "Now there's bait to lure the others in."

Her focused gaze flickered back down to the boy. She wondered who else was with Ezra, if it was his Master, Kanan. She would find out soon enough although because the plan to capture the Padawan's friends was already set in motion.

A/n

Part one is done! Thank you to everyone who's followed/favorited and read this, it meant a lot. If you could drop a review and tell me how you liked it that'd be awesome :)

I don't know when part two will be up. I'm thinking the length will be shorter than this.

See you at pt 2!