Over a year had passed since Ania's time on Lothal. Lord Vader had told her nothing regarding the fate of the Rebels. Following her interrogation, Ania had been sent back to Centax 1. She had undergone extensive processing, which had done nothing to her, but she didn't let anyone know that. She continued to accept missions as they were given to her, though with more consciousness than she had had previously. Visions of Mortis and the Daughter still plagued her, however, and she could find no peace at night.

Ania blinked wearily and slid her blasters into their holsters. She had a meeting with Lord Vader this morning and was already behind schedule. She sprinted out the door, running towards the citadel where she would meet with her master. The door to the meeting room hissed open and Ania stepped inside. She quickly bowed before the Dark Lord. His breathing echoed through her skull, as it had throughout the night, in her dreams.

"Rise," Vader commanded.

Ania stood and awaited further instruction. She stared blankly out a large circular window. In the outer reaches of space, Coruscant was spinning slowly. Vader's breathing hissed in the silent room. "You completed your last assignment successfully," he said at last. Ania said nothing, but watched the planet rotate. Vader watched her.

Ania suddenly recollected herself and clamped a fist over her heart. "For the glory of my Emperor and master." Vader nodded approvingly.

"The Emperor has a new assignment for you now. It is rumored that a Jedi Master, Master Yoda, is still alive. He wants you to track down the Jedi and dispose of him," Vader directed.

Ania had returned to watching the planet. The one dark spot on the planet emerged suddenly. Ania felt the familiar chill creep into her bones and suck the warmth out of her body. "Master," she said in a sudden bold move, "what is that dark place on the planet?"

Vader surveyed the area silently. "Come," he ordered. With a swirl of black robes, he exited the room. Ania followed suit, the folds from her own black garb drifting behind her. Vader led her towards the Ravager and motioned for her to board. Ania did so and started up the engines as soon as she was on board.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"Go where you are led. I will show you that place," Vader said quietly.

Ania nodded and lifted off the planet surface. They glided through the air, quickly closing the distance between the moon and the planet. As they entered the planet's atmosphere, Ania expertly maneuvered the ship around the bustling airways. Vader directed her to a landing pad near the strange place. She landed and disembarked. Vader was already headed towards the base of the massive palace.

They were allowed access without question. The Emperor's guards were stationed at every door, window, and possible entrance. This is the Emperor's palace, Ania thought. She had never been to the palace before, and had been oblivious to its existence. Vader led her deeper into the palace and down into its lower levels. Gradually, no more guards were around. The muffled sound of voices drifted above them. Ania could tell they were deep underground.

"Where are we?" She asked hesitantly.

Vader waved a hand and the place lit up mysteriously. Old carvings and runes lined the walls of the strange temple. Ania reached out with the Force, then drew back with a hiss of alarm. "What happened here? The Force feels dead, almost," she said.

"This was the old Jedi Temple."

Ania's eyes opened wide. She had heard rumors that the Temple had been destroyed, but apparently not all of it had been. She looked around again, noting the fallen pillars and scorched, moldy carpets. She had never truly learned what had happened to the Jedi Order. It was something no one was permitted to speak of. Vader had never told her the story.

"I led the attack on this temple," Vader said, half to himself.

"What happened? I know the Jedi were exterminated, but how?" Ania ventured.

"You know about the Clone Wars. Now, I will tell you about the Emperor's plan." Vader led her further through the ancient and crumbling corridors. "My master saw that the Jedi were corrupt and that the Separatists were equally so. He sought to end that corruption. The Emperor dissolved the Republic and created the Galactic Empire. I was sent to deal with the Separatist leaders and then the Jedi Order."

Ania recalled what Ahsoka had told her about her suspicions of Vader. She kept Ahsoka's words to herself, however, knowing that Vader would question her. For some reason, she felt the need to keep Ahsoka's existence a secret from her master.

"I stormed the Temple with the very best of the Clones. We killed them all." Vader's voice remained unfeeling. "Many fought valiantly. Had they not been traitors to the Empire, they would have made good soldiers." Vader faced her. Ania stared into the black mask. "Most of your targets have been escaped Jedi or suspected Jedi."

The words stung like a slap. She had been killing...Jedi? They were like her? She looked at the carbon scarred walls and traced a finger down deep grooves in the wall. Only one weapon could have left this clean of a mark, she glanced at her master. A lightsaber. My master did this! Ania shuddered as they past some dusty remains and a few bones scattered on the floor.

"Were...were they not given burials?" She asked.

"No. They met the same fate as their beloved Temple. Ground into dust and built on top of."

Ania drew in a sharp breath. Even she was not so heartless! She always buried her targets, albeit where they wouldn't be found, but she still gave them some respect! "What did the Jedi do to be considered corrupt?"

"The Jedi Council sought to take over the Republic and murder the Emperor, then Chancellor."

"But that doesn't make any sense! The Jedi were keepers of the peace. Surely they," she cut off as an invisible force wrapped itself around her throat. She was lifted off the ground. Her master turned around, one hand clenched in a fist.

"That is traitorous talk! Never speak of that again! Perhaps I was wrong about you. Maybe you are not as stone hearted as we thought." Vader released her. Ania gasped for breath, clutching her lightsaber hilt feebly. Beneath some rubble, a small shimmer caught her eye.

Ania tilted her head and scooted closer, pausing to make sure Vader wasn't watching her. She reached her hand beneath the collapsed stone and touched a smooth square shaped object. Ania pulled the object towards her. At her touch, it began to glow faintly. She quickly slipped the object into a bag, not bothering to look at it. Vader turned around and began to head back the way they had come.

"Return to Centax 1. I must speak with the Emperor. You are to begin your mission immediately." Vader left her back in the main palace. She found her way out and onto her ship.

As the boarding ramp sealed behind her, Ania flung her bag down and looked inside. She gasped and quickly closed the bag. She jumped to her feet and used the Force to locate the bugs within her ship. She had always known they were there, but she hadn't needed to remove them before now. She quickly ripped the devices out of their hiding spots and crushed them. She flung them out the airlock as the ship's autopilot took them to the upper atmosphere.

Satisfied that there was no way someone could be watching her, Ania drew the cube out of her bag. "A Jedi Holocron!" She breathed excitedly. "How did this even survive?" She gazed at it thoughtfully. "I wonder if I could open it." Despite her doubts, Ania crossed her legs and fell into a meditative trance. Slowly, one corner of the Holocron twisted, then another, and another, until all of the pieces broke off and floated in the air around the Holocron. Ania kept her eyes closed, letting the Force replay the scene in her mind.

Young children ran, terrified, through the once pristine halls. Behind them, the sound of blasters rang out. Flames already billowed in some areas of the Temple and bodies littered the floor. Masters beside their Padawans, hands limp and lightsabers discarded. In the middle of a hallway, a brave Knight tried to defend the younglings against a warrior wielding a blue lightsaber.

As the Knight fell, the warrior's face was revealed. A scar marked his right eye and damp brown locks hung in his face. He wore black leather and one arm was covered with a glove. The warrior's eyes turned towards the younglings, giving her a full view. They were yellow and red, Sith eyes. As she watched, horrified, the man struck down youngling after youngling. Clones ran past, blasters smoking from all of the shots they had fired.

A young twi'lek girl came running past the warrior. She used the Force to push the glass out of a window and leaped, plummeting thousands of feet down to the city below. Ania didn't know if she had survived or not. She turned back as she heard the warrior cry out.

"In the name of the Emperor!" He shouted and plunged his lightsaber through another Jedi.

Ania stifled a scream as the vision came to an end. The Holocron fell to the floor, the corners fused to it once again. She covered her mouth with her hands. The carnage she had just witnessed, she had never seen anything like it! She had done terrible things in her 17 years, but nothing compared to that! "Was that warrior Anakin Skywalker? Was Ahsoka right?" She whispered. She looked up, seeing Centax 1 up ahead. There was only one way to find out for herself. Ania gritted her teeth and braced herself. She needed to pay a visit to the hangar workers. She had to find out for herself if it was true.

She landed swiftly, not bothering to power down the ship. If Ion confirmed her suspicions, she would be leaving, permanently. Ania swiftly disembarked and searched for the old clone. He was no where to be found. Ania approached the hangar operator and tapped him on the shoulder.

The gray clad man turned and stared at her with uncaring eyes. "What do you need?"

"Can you tell me where to find Ion?" She asked.

"That old lump of scraps? He's probably down in the sleeping quarters." The operator turned away, clearly unwilling to talk more.

Ania rolled her eyes and jumped into the nearest lift. She selected the lowest level, where most of the sleeping quarters were. Who knew which side of the massive citadel Ion stayed in. It could take hours to find him! Ania tapped her foot impatiently and exhaled in relief when the lift finally hissed open. She raced down the halls, searching in all the open rooms. Ion was no where to be found.

Ania stopped running to catch her breath. She leaned against the wall, growling with frustration. Why did he have to disappear now of all times? She had searched almost all of the rooms she could get into and he was nowhere! She made her way back up to her chambers. There was no use milling around when Ion couldn't be found.

Ania slipped into her room silently, letting the motion censored lights flick on. She glanced around casually. Her eyes landed on a data tablet laying on the floor underneath a table. Ania grabbed the tablet, instantly suspicious. She activated it and instantly, a video recording popped up. Ania sat down and began to play the recording.

Much to her surprise, Ion's face appeared! "Commander Tano, I'm not sure how much time I have. They could be here any minute. I saw you leave with Darth Vader. I know where you were headed and I guessed what you were about to learn." Ion's face warped a tiny bit, as the data loaded and continued playing.

"You may want to know why the Jedi Temple is beneath the Emperor's palace. I can tell you, quickly. Order 66." Ion's brown gaze turned to steel and his voice filled with hatred. "You know about the chips that were imbedded in our heads, but you don't know what they were for. The Emperor and whomever had the Kaminoans create us, downloaded several secret orders into the chips. The chips also made us obey the orders without hesitation."

"Some clones found out about the chips before Order 66 was set into motion, but none of us would believe them." Ion shuddered and closed his eyes. Ania noted how old he seemed. "I regret to say this, but I myself didn't believe them. When the order came through, I blindly followed it and killed many innocent Jedi."

"After the Purge, I removed my chip and cursed myself for not seeing it sooner. As to the question I know you're dying to ask, yes. Your master himself led the attack on the Jedi Temple. He killed thousands of Jedi and so did I." There was a hiss in the background of the video and stormtroopers appeared behind Ion. Ion whirled around in the recording.

"You are under arrest," one of the stormtroopers declared.

Ania held her breath. Ion turned back to the recording and whispered, "By the light of Lothal's moons." Ania saw him reach to stop the recording and just then, a blaster rang out. Ion's body slumped forward and the recording ended, pausing as the tablet had fallen mid flight.

Ania guessed the stormtroopers had removed the body and kicked the tablet away. There was no doubt in her mind now. Vader was a monster and Ion's video had just proved that. She looked out the window towards the capital planet. She had to get off of Centax 1 and under the Imperial Radar. She was done being a mercenary and she was done serving monsters.