quot;Bring young Skywalker and his family to our new refuge, you must."

"Do we even have space to fit them?" Ventress asked, turning her attention to Remus and Aela.

"Yes." Remus nodded without hesitation. "We still have an extra tent. A few more passengers should be no problem at all. We should be able to find something that they can do back on Earth to give us all a hand."

"Agree with me, Master Nox has." Yoda cut in, ending the debate. "Welcome Skywalker's family, she will. Bring them if they wish. But force them, do not. Farewell, Master Kenobi. Look forward to seeing you soon, I do. May the Force, be with us all."

As Yoda's image rippled away, Obi-Wan handed the mirror back off to Remus. "Let me pack the few things that I have." He said, rising to his feet. "Then I will take you to Owen and Beru."

But even as he set about collecting his few meager possessions, he couldn't help but wonder just how in the name of the Force he was going to convince Owen and Beru to either give up Luke, or abandon everything they'd ever known. 'Force…why can't anything ever be simple?'

Sitting in the small dining room within the underground cavern like hut, Remus idly sipped on the blue milky drink that'd been given to him by their hosts as Obi-Wan tried to talk Owen and Beru Lars into leaving their farm. Sitting around the table with them were Quinlan, Asajj, Aela and Beru who was still holding onto little Luke.

"I understand and appreciate your concern, Master Jedi," Owen said as Obi-Wan tried once again to convince the two of them to leave with them. "But the simple fact of the matter is, Beru and I are moisture farmers. And we're happy here. Away from the Republic– or Empire as they are now called. We have no wish to get dragged into any wars. Present or future."

"I understand." Obi-Wan sighed regretfully. "And I'm sorry to have dragged the both of you into this mess. And I'm sorry to have to take Luke from you both."

"It's alright Master Jedi." Beru smiled sadly, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "We both knew the moment that you brought him to us that there would come a day when you would be taking him away once again. We just…didn't expect it to come so soon." Sniffing loudly, Beru carefully handed the still sleeping Luke over to Aela. "You'll take good care of him, won't you?"

"As if he were my own." Aela promised, holding onto the small child carefully.

Smiling, Beru reached behind her and grabbed a small miniature starship off of the shelf. "Here…this is his favorite toy."

"Thank you." Aela smiled as she carefully arranged the sleeping baby in her arms before taking the small toy and resting it against Luke's blanketed chest.

"If something should come up and you two feel that you are in danger please do not hesitate to contact me on the holo-frequency that I gave you." Obi-Wan said as he rose from the table, prompting the rest of them to follow suit.

"We will Master Kenobi." Owen smiled as he bowed the Jedi. "And we wish you luck, wherever it is that you're going."

Following the others out of the underground hut, Remus shielded his eyes against the unrelenting Tatooine sun as the group began their march towards the ship. "Merlin's saggy balls…did you have to park it so far away?" Aela growled lowly as she kept hold of Luke.

"If I landed any closer we'd be on top of the hut or worse in the canyon." Ventress shrugged, seemingly completely unbothered by the heat. "You know, for all of the amazing Force abilities you people have, it's still amazing that you've yet to figure out how to use the Force to ignore the elements around you."

Just as they were reaching the ramp leading into the ship, Obi-Wan stopped and turned around sharply. "What is it?" Quinlan asked as he, and Ventress, all froze up. "I sense…what is that?"

Before Remus could ask what they were talking about, he felt it. A bone chilling cold that went down to his bones despite the heat of the desert. "W– what? What is this…cold?"

A low whistling noise, audible to only Remus's sensitive ears, was the only warning they had before a small fighter craft of some sort flew over their heads heading straight for the farm hut less than a few hundred meters away. The next few seconds pass unbelievably slowly for Remus. Obi-Wan cried out and started running towards the hut with Quinlan yelling after him. His wand was less than half-way out into his palm before the fighter dropped something into the canyon-like home. The next thing he knew, Remus was flat on his back and a ball of fire was rising up from the canyon.

"Kenobi! Stop!" Shaking his head, Remus saw that Obi-Wan was still running right for the hut, even as the fighter was turning around.

Reaffirming his grip on his wand, Remus raised it up and shouted, "Protego maxima!"

The powerful shield spell slowly enveloped the ship and the surrounding area just as the fighter had made it back to them. The fighter opened fire with its blasters, but each shot was stopped dead by the shield Remus had created. "Shite! That fool has a death wish." Ventress growled.

Taking his eyes off of the fighter, Remus saw that Obi-Wan had reached the hut and was now using the Force to try and subdue the flames as he ran in. "Remus, how long while this shield of yours hold?" Quinlan asked as the fighter made another pass at them.

"Against that ship? A few hours or so." Remus grunted as he got up and immediately put a hand against his side. 'A broken rib at least…probably more.'

"Good," Quinlan nodded before turning to them. "I'm going for Kenobi. You three get inside and get the ship ready to depart now."

"I'm coming with you." Remus grunted as he got to his feet. "No arguments. I can get the two of you back and inside the ship with that pilot being none the wiser. So let's move."

Not even bothering to see if Quinlan was going to take his suggestion or not, Remus waited until the fighter passed overhead again before running as fast as his legs could carry him between the ship and the hut.

Inside the hut, the flames that Kenobi hadn't been able to subdue spread rapidly through the numerous electronics and pipes lining the house. Waving his wand, Remus sent a powerful extinguishing charm which spread through the house like a wave while suffocating all the fires within. Holding a hand to his side, he and Quinlan marched down into the hut while shouting for Kenobi, Beru and Owen.

A short flight of stairs down and they found the three of them. Beru was dead, her chest crushed by a large piece of iron. Owen was alive, if only barely. A large piece of pipe impaled through his gut while Kenobi knelt by his side holding onto his hand. "…guess it's…too late to say…we've rec–re considered? Eh Kenobi." Owen coughed as a small stream of blood flowed out from the corner of his mouth.

Kneeling down next to the man, Remus waved his wand over him while casting a diagnostics spell. What he saw…wasn't pretty. One of his lungs was collapsed. His liver, stomach, diaphragm and large intestine where all ruptured by the pipe in his gut. In short…there was nothing that he could do for him.

"I'm sorry." Kenobi said, his voice thick with remorse as he closed his eyes. "If I had never come…"

"You…don't know that…" Owen coughed again. "I've heard…stories…the Empire goes after…families. We're…Skywalker's family. We always wondered if…if they would come…"

"Is there anything that you can do to help him Remus?" Quinlan asked coming up behind them.

"Help?" Owen laughed before coughing up even more blood. "I– I might just be a farmer. But I know…what a pipe through the– the gut means. There is no…no helping me now."

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Remus leaned in closer to the dying man. "If you wish…I can make it quick and painless."

Owen looked up at him, and Remus could've sworn that he saw a measure of gratefulness in his eyes. "Please…Master Jedi. End it. Now."

Nodding, Remus placed the tip of his wand against the man's heart and motioned for Obi-Wan to let go. "Avada Kedavra."

A green light pulsed from the end of his wand and into Owen's chest. "May you find peace in what awaits beyond." Remus said solemnly as he closed the man's eyes.

Turning back around, Obi-Wan was staring at him with a mixture of awe, confusion, anger and suspicion. Just as he was about to say something, the hut was rocked as the fighter more than likely made another pass at them. "We'll explain everything later Kenobi!" Quinlan yelled, ending whatever Obi-Wan had been about to say. "Remus, can you get us out of here and onto the ship."

"Yes." He said placing a hand on both Quinlan's and Obi-Wan's shoulders, the latter whom pulled back slightly, but not out fully out of his reach. "Just a fair warning, but this is going to be extremely-" a crack filled the air as the three of them disappeared, only to reappear in the small hold of the Howling Wind. "Unpleasant."

Quinlan managed to stay on his feet, if only barely. But Obi-Wan fell right onto his face while holding onto his gut. "What…what was that?" He gasped. "It felt…it felt like we were traveling through the Force and…and are we back in the ship?"

Ignoring Obi-Wan for the moment, Remus hurried along towards the cockpit, where both Asajj and Aela were frantically trying to get the ship up and running. "What's wrong?"

"Just about fucking everything!" Asajj growled as she leapt out of her seat and shoulder her way past him, making him wince as his ribs painfully reminded him of his previous injury.

"One of the engines was slightly damaged during the first attack." Aela answered him as Quinlan and Obi-Wan made their way into the cockpit. "We're trying to fix it, but it's not going well."

Overhead, the four watched as the fighter make another pass, unleashing a barrage of blaster bolts against the shield. "How much longer can this…shield hold for?" Obi-Wan asked looking over at him.

Pulling out his wand, Remus made a quick jab to connect his mind to the shield. What he found was…shocking. The shield was failing. Rapidly. 'Just what in Merlin's name is this pilot hitting us with? This shield can stand up to a barrage of spells for several hours without a problem. And even though I created it on short notice…it should've been able to hold an hour or more. But now…now it looks like it might survive another few minutes if we're lucky.'

"Not much longer." Remus growled as he closed his eyes and started channeling his magic into the shield to try and reinforce it. "A few passes at best. Aela…I need you to bring up the runic cluster onboard."

"On it." Aela nodded as she vaulted out of her seat and towards the back of the ship.

Next to him he felt, rather than saw, Obi-Wan lean forward and look out the viewport.

"Quinlan…help them as best you can." He said pulling back and making for the exit. "I'll try and buy us some time."

"What kind of bantha shit are you going on about now Kenobi?" Quinlan growled.

"I know who's piloting that fighter." Obi-Wan sighed. "And before you say anything, this isn't some self-sacrificing act. I'll buy us some time by going out there and stalling him. While I'm doing that, you four get this ship airborne and then come and pick me up."

"One problem in that plan." Remus grunted as he felt the shield pull on his magic again. "How do you know that this guy won't simply blast you away from the safety of his ship?"

"Don't worry about that." Obi-Wan responded as he walked out of the cockpit. "He'll want to kill me in person. Not from behind the controls of a fighter."

After walking a hundred or so meters from the ship, Obi-Wan looked up and watched as the fighter went to make another pass, only to sharply veer off and speed towards him. It took everything in his power to keep himself calm as the fighter passed him over and his fears were confirmed as he felt an all too familiar presence from within.

'So it is him.' He thought as the fighter turned around and sped towards him, only to come to an abrupt stop before touching down softly a short distance in front of him. 'But why is he here? Does he know about Luke? Unlikely. Only a three of us knew about the birth of the twins and we had the droids' minds wiped. No. He can't know. But I guess it doesn't really matter how he came to be here. All that matters is that he is here. And I have to do everything I can to keep him from getting to the ship.'

Closing his eyes, he sunk down to his knees and sought the peace and serenity of the Force even as he heard a pair of heavy boots impact the hardened sand before him. "So you are here. Obi-Wan."

"As are you, my fallen Padawan."

Opening his eyes, he stared first at a pair of black boots before looking upwards towards the helmet the hid his old friend's face. The respirator that was keeping his lungs functioning let out several deep breaths as the two just sat and stood there staring at one another. "Anakin Skywalker is dead. Whatever was left of him was destroyed on Mustafar." His fallen friend breathed. "I am Darth Vader."

"It matters not what you call yourself. Changing your name will not change who you are." Shaking his head, Obi-Wan let out a long sigh. "Tell me Anakin. Was it worth it? Was all of the pain and suffering you've inflicted upon yourself and others worth it? Your brothers and sisters in the Jedi Order slaughtered without mercy. Losing Padme and your chil-"

Obi-Wan had only a brief warning from the Force to move before he rolled backwards and onto his feet just as a red lightsaber slashed at the ground where he'd been sitting. "Do. Not. Speak. Her. Name." Vader growled and despite the unrelenting heat of Tatooine, Obi-Wan felt a chill down to his bones as the dark side of the Force radiated off of Vader. "You turned her against me!"

"As I said on Mustafar Anakin, you did that yourself." Obi-Wan replied coldly. "You are the one who turned to the dark side. You are the one who led the attack on the Jedi Temple and slaughtered younglings. And you are the one who nearly choked her to dea-."

Again, Vader slashed out at him forcing him to side step while using the Force to push himself just far enough away so to be out of the range of his lightsaber. "Your anger has unbalanced you Anakin." Obi-Wan sighed as he calmly folded his hands into the arms of his robes. "Have you forgotten everything that I taught you?"

"I told you," Vader growled. "There is no Anakin Skywalker anymore. Skywalker was weak. Pathetic. He lacked the strength to do what was needed. Now…he is gone. And soon all traces or memories of him will be gone as well."

Eyes widening, Obi-Wan risked a glance towards the ship. "That is why you've come then isn't it? To end all ties that you once had in the galaxy."

"Yes." Vader answered simply. "The slave owner Watto, he died pathetically begging for his life as I squeezed the life out of him. And those two…they had ties to Skywalker's mother. They failed to protect her…so they have more than earned their fate as well."

'Two? So…he doesn't know about Luke then. Thank the Force for small favors.' "They were innocents Anakin." Obi-Wan said, his hand moving inside the sleeves of his robes. "Have you really fallen so low that you feel nothing at killing innocents?"

"They were a nuisance. Nothing more." Vader countered back. "And now they are dead. Just as my Master wished."

"You truly have fallen far, my old Padawan." Obi-Wan sighed as he grabbed hold of the lightsaber in his sleeve and brought it out into the open. "Then I shall do what I must on my oath as a Jedi to protect innocents of the galaxy."

"You couldn't kill me on Mustafar." Vader growled while pointing his lightsaber at him. "And I have grown far far stronger since then. You will stand no chance against me now."

Arching an eyebrow, Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber. "Are you telling me this in an attempt to make me run Anakin?"

"No." Vader shot back, and he could've sworn he heard a slight twinge of amusement in his voice. "I merely wish to cause you as much despair as possible before I end your pathetic existence."

Obi-Wan nearly faltered at hearing the malicious in his voice. "I couldn't kill you on Mustafar because Anakin Skywalker was my Padawan. My friend. My brother." Taking a breath, he held up his lightsaber before his face. "Darth Vader is none of those things. And I will do what I must to ensure the safety of innocents."

"You will try. And you will fail."

Obi-Wan just barely managed to get his lightsaber up into a high block as Vader's red blade descended upon him almost faster than the eye could see. Side stepping and pushing Vader's blade off to his side, Obi-Wan settled into a traditional Soresu stance while waiting to see what Vader would do next.

Vader hesitated only a moment before once again pressing his attack. And when he did it was all Obi-Wan could do to keep up with him. Anakin had been a master at both versions of Form V when he'd been a Jedi, but usually preferred Shien. But Vader…Vader seemed to prefer Djem So. His attacks were brutally strong and more than once Obi-Wan felt his guard faltering under sheer tenacity of Vader's attacks. Back and forth the two traded blows, but as the fight progressed Obi-Wan found himself constantly on his back foot as he tried to keep himself from being overwhelmed.

Obi-Wan circled his blade hoping to break their deadlock, and ended up on the receiving end of Vader's boot right into his gut. Before he could recover, he felt his throat being constricted painfully as he was lifted up off the ground. "You skills have dulled Obi-Wan." Vader taunted him while he tried desperately to use the Force to break the hold Vader had on him. "You time spent on this rock has defeated y-"

Vader quickly turned sideways as he brought his lightsaber around to clash against the green blade that was coming right for his head. The distraction was enough that Obi-Wan was able to break through what was holding him in place and he collapsed onto the ground while taking in several desperate breaths. "Well damn. I thought I'd be able to take your head before you even noticed."

Vader remained silent as he stared at the Quinlan Vos who'd somehow managed to launch an attack without either of them even noticing. 'I didn't even feel his presence. How did he do that?'

"Master Quinlan Vos." Vader intoned, pushing Vos blade off to the side with his own. "You masked your presence from me to try and get in a killing blow from behind. Not very Jedi of you."

"Eh, what can I say? I'm not necessarily the stereotypical Jedi type." Vos shrugged with a grin.

"Obviously." Vader responded lowly as he carefully stepped off to the side while keeping his lightsaber in front of him. "You should have never turned your back on the dark side Vos. You don't understand the power you forsook."

"Oh, I know all too well Vader– or whatever the fuck you're calling yourself now." Vos shot back without any humor. "Perhaps in time, you too will realize the price you pay for falling uncontrollably into the cesspool that is the Dark Side."

"And yet, I still sense the dark side within you Vos." Vader said back.

"Of course," Vos nodded. "I said 'falling uncontrollably' idiot. There is such a thing known as moderation. But…I'm afraid our time here is at an end. Kenobi. Duck."

Obi-Wan had just the briefest warnings from the Force before he felt a burning heat sail over his head, singeing the hairs on the back on his neck. When he looked up again, it was to the sight of perhaps the strangest thing he had ever seen. It was some sort of canine made entirely of flame that was attacking Vader.

Vader slashed his lightsaber through the creature, cleaving it in two. But then to everyone's amazement, the canine reformed and renewed its attack against Vader. Just as Obi-Wan was regaining his feet, some sort of avian creature made of flames flew past him towards Vader, followed quickly by another four legged creature.

Abandoning his lightsaber, Vader relied solely on the Force to try and repel the creatures. He was able to keep the three of them back. But when a fourth, a snake creature, slithered into the fray, Obi-Wan could clearly see that Vader was starting to struggle.

"No time for gawking Kenobi." Vos shouted nearly in his ear as his old friend grabbed him by the shoulder and began forcibly pulling him towards away from Vader, who was now fighting against all four flame creatures while a fifth, a bird, flew towards them. "I'm not sure just what he's doing. But I don't think he can keep this up for long."

Turning towards the ship, he saw that Remus was standing on the loading ramp with his stick, wand, in hand. He felt the briefest surges of the Force and another four legged creature made of flame came to life from the tip of his wand and ran towards the other animals. "Move!" Remus grunted, the stress of what he was doing written clear across his face as the two of them reached the loading ramp. "I can't hold this up for much longer."

Deciding that questions could be left for another time, Obi-Wan let Vos guide him into the small ship before leading him to the even smaller bridge before dropping him down into one of the seats. Dropping down in the seat next to Ventress, Vos immediately took to the controls of the ship. "Remus is holding him off for the moment. But we need to leave now."

"I know," Ventress growled as she activated one last control. "Remus! Get your ass in here or we'll be leaving you to get your ass handed to you!"

"I'm in." Remus's voice echoed back. "Get us out of here! That won't hold him for long."

Leaning back in his seat, Obi-Wan rubbed at his neck as the small craft lifted up off the ground and shot off towards the sky and away from his fallen Padawan.

Standing amongst the scorched ruined land, Vader stared up at the sky. He'd been so close to having his vengeance. But once again Obi-Wan Kenobi managed to elude him. 'But not for long.' He thought as he continued to stare up in the direction the ship had flown off in. 'There is a ship in orbit. They have nowhere to go. Soon I will have my vengeance. And I will extract whatever secrets that strange Jedi has.'

It'd been his Master who'd ordered him to come to this waste of a planet. There were still traces of Anakin Skywalker within him. Traces that were preventing him from reaching his full potential with the Dark side. So on his Master's command, he'd come to put an end to those traces.

Killing the slave owner Watto had been…pathetically easy. The little flying womp rat had tried to beg for his life, offering him credits, slaves or whatever else he might want. But all of his pleas fell on deaf ears as Vader choked the life out of him.

After Watto's death, he set out on his own to put a quick end to Owen and Beru Lars. But as he was flying he…felt a disturbance in the Force. A presence that he hadn't felt in a long time. A presence that filled him with rage. His old Master was on Tatooine. So after bombing the farm he'd been ready to order his men to hunt down the wayward Jedi…when out of nowhere his old Master came out to meet him. He could've easily have blasted the Jedi from his fighter, but that would've been too impersonal. He wanted Kenobi to suffer like he had suffered. So he landed his craft and fought him: Jedi to Sith.

Their brief fight had been, in a word…disappointing. Obviously Kenobi had been neglecting his training while in isolation. The only reason that Kenobi even managed to survive had been because of the interference of Master Vos and that other strange Force user. It was a sound tactic on their part, one that Vader wouldn't let happen again. Vos distracted him while that other man used some sort of strange Force technique to create living creatures made of fire.

By the time he'd actually managed to subdue the flames that'd surrounded him; Kenobi, Vos and the mysterious Force user were all gone. And he was left standing there to ponder what had just happened.

Strange Force techniques were not a new thing for Vader. The witches of Dathomir possessed Force abilities unlike any ever seen. But the witches were all gone now. Wiped out by Count Dooku and his pet Grievous during the Clone Wars. It was highly unlikely that the witches taught their abilities to an outsider, let alone a male outsider. But perhaps there was another sect of Force users out in the galaxy that had abilities similar to the witches. But then the question became, how did the Jedi find them in the first place? And when? Or perhaps…perhaps the mysterious Force presence that brought him to his knees during the Purge was part of this sect of strange Force users.

The more he thought about it, the more that line of thought made the most sense. It would explain how they managed to stay out of his Master's vision for so long. And how they've managed to hide from them as well. If this were true…then capturing that this mysterious Force user that was traveling with Skywalker's old Master was now a top priority. Once he got his hands on him, he would extract everything the man knew of the mysterious Force user that had interrupted the purge. And once he learned everything he could, he would overthrow his Master and bring true order to the galaxy as its Emperor.

A low beeping ended Vader's thoughts as he reached down and retrieved the holocomm attached to his belt. "Commander." He said levelly as the image of the commander of the destroyer he'd confiscated appeared before him. "Report."

The commander's hologram fidgeted slightly. "My Lord…I regret to inform you we were unable to detain the ship before it managed to flee the system. I apologize my Lord and take full responsibility."