In the capital dome of Lothal, Agent Kallus was pacing about Minister Tua's office. He wasn't excited to be there, but neither was she, and Kallus knew he was in a better position right now than her.

"Agent Kallus," she insisted, trying to hide her distress, "I've exhausted every resource to find information about the rebels, but there is nothing to be found! What more does Governor Tarkin expect?!?"

"He expects Lothal to be punished, Minister Tua," he repeated, quite tired of this conversation. Apparently, she hadn't understood this the first three times. "His own Star Destroyer was demolished by these rebels. He takes that somewhat personally."

She started listing off the new regulations, ticking them off on her fingers as she went. "Well, I've doubled patrols, set up checkpoints, established curfews. I honestly don't know what else to do."

"And that is the problem," a chilling voice suggested from the doorway. Tua looked up, not expecting to see visitors. More so, not expecting to see Darth Jadis. "You lack effort, Minister, when it comes to producing results."

Tua cowered as the Sith walked to her desk, her cloak trailing behind her. "Lady Jadis, with all due respect, you and Governor Tarkin are asking for miracles. If the rebels have left Lothal, then-"

"If the rebels have left, then we must draw them back," she finished, not wanting to hear another excuse. "And if they are here, we must draw them out. We will squeeze Lothal until someone reveals the whereabouts of these traitors."

To no one's surprise, she had another excuse for her. "I'm sorry, my Lady, I am merely a public official. I have no experience with such desperate tactics."

That was the wrong thing to say. Jadis had glanced over at Kallus, but at that protest, she snapped her head back in the minister's direction. Her glare was more than enough to shut her up, but Jadis wasn't about to let that comment slide. Even Kallus gave her a look. "Desperate?"

"Brutal," she quickly corrected, not making eye contact with her superior. "I have no experience with such brutal tactics."

"Don't try to pretend you meant that lightly," Jadis snarled, pulling back her cloak so the minister could see her lightsabers. "These 'tactics' are necessary to preventing the rebels from attacking the Empire further. If you feel that they are desperate, you can explain that to Governor Tarkin when you visit him."

Jadis let her words sink in, and turned to walk towards the exit. Behind her, Tua repeated, "Visit him?"

A nasty grin curled her lips, and she explained. "He expects you tomorrow, to account for your failure. I assure you, you will be plenty desperate then."

"But I...I'm needed here! I...I couldn't possibly get away!!"

Kallus followed Darth Jadis out of the office, and answered for the absent Sith. "Not to worry, Minister. Lady Jadis and I will manage in your absence."

He shut the door on her, pleased with his final word. He walked away, preparing to 'manage in her absence'. That was the reality of the Empire. If you could not meet the orders given to you, there was someone else in line who could. Of course, Kallus was a bit more valuable than that, and he didn't need to worry about being replaced. At least, that's what he told himself.

~

Aboard the Rebel cruiser, Commander Sato was debriefing with Phoenix squadron. "You and your crew have proven invaluable to our fleet, Captain Syndulla," he praised her. "The fuel acquired in your convoy attacks has helped us keep one step ahead of Imperial patrols."

"Thank you, Commander Sato," she replied, happy to be back in the thick of the Rebellion again instead of stranded out with no backup. "I'm just sorry our intel about shield generators being on that shipment was wrong."

Anakin, who was standing behind the captain and listening to the report, spoke up. "That's not your fault, Hera. I'll check our source and see if it was an us problem or a them problem. It won't happen twice."

Chopper, ever the droid, rolled in to interrupt their conversation. Having no context to what was being said, he just spat out his own report. Sato wasn't impressed. "What is the meaning of this?"

"An incoming transmission. Who from, Chop?" Kanan asked, but thought better of it a second later. "Ah, why don't you just play it?"

Excuse me? Hera thought, and was about to tell him off for breaching the meeting's security, but settled for an expectant clearing of her throat. Kanan just gave her an unimpressed look, and didn't amend his statement.

It took a lot of control to hide the smirk that Anakin felt coming. He had gotten used to these types of conversations ever since they had joined the fleet, but it still amused him. He personally had no problem with banter and under different circumstances, he might have done it himself. It was also insightful to see the less-than-patient side of Kanan. He had changed a lot in 15 years, and Anakin still had to force himself to remember that his name was no longer Caleb.

"Uh, Chop," Hera began, turning her back on the Jedi, "Cloak us with a one-way transmission."

He obliged, and showed the recording to the occupants of the room. Ezra recognized him immediately. "Hey, it's Old Joe!"

"I can't see you," Joe admitted, "but I can hear you, my friends. Time is short, and there's someone here desperate to speak with you. I told her I couldn't find you, but she wouldn't take no for an answer. She says she needs your help."

Anakin couldn't help but notice that he seemed a bit on edge as he spoke, but he only looked on as Kanan took initiative. "We're always ready to help someone in need."

Old Joe didn't look convinced. "Yeah, well, this one's different." He moved out of the shot, and Minister Tua took his place, arms crossed and chin low.

"Minister Tua?" Hera exclaimed, not impressed. She turned to the rest of her team, who seemed to be on the same page. Sabine had her hands on her hips, and Zeb looked ready to turn off the transmission right there and then.

"Oh, we can't trust her," Zeb grumbled. "She's an Imperial."

"Please!" she said, before anyone else could protest. "I beg you, listen to my request,"

Kanan wasn't having it. "End transmission now, Chop," he ordered, but Hera stepped in.

"Wait! Minister, what do you want?"

She looked away from the camera, but explained nonetheless. "My life is in danger. I need you to give me safe passage off Lothal."

Zeb looked about as willing to do that as he was to scoop rancor dung. "You're not really considering this?" he asked Hera, who told him to be quiet.

"I assure you, my intentions are sincere," she insisted. "To prove it, I will trade secret Imperial information."

Sabine looked at Ezra, before questioning her again. "You're defecting from the Empire?"

After a moment's hesitation, she nodded. "Yes, I am."

Ezra chimed in. "She's telling the truth, I can sense her fear."

"Yeah, but of what?" Kanan wondered, and Anakin was on the same page. She had broken eye contact right as she said 'yes', and Anakin had a feeling about this that he didn't like.

Hera kept going, though. If intel was on the line, it was worth a shot. "So what have you got to trade?"

"A list of rebel sympathizers on Lothal, and other nearby systems." Again, she looked away as she spoke.

"How come these sympathizers have not been arrested?" Sato asked.

Tua had an answer ready. "Some of them have powerful friends in the Senate. Imperial commando watches them, but can do nothing. I know you need allies. Get me off Lothal, and I will give you the list."

That much was true, Anakin knew. Padmé had talked before about certain demographics that she and her legislative allies had been protecting. Surely, Bail Organa and other leaders in the Imperial Senate were doing the same. He looked over, and saw that Hera was seriously thinking about it. She motioned to Kanan, who sighed. "We shouldn't even consider this."

"It's obviously a trap," Sabine reasoned, glaring at Tua's hologram.

"There's something else," the Minister went on. "I've discovered the true reason the Empire came to Lothal."

"We know that one," Hera informed her. "The Empire has a factory and they're stripping the planet's resources to fuel it."

Tua shook her head, speaking low. "No. There is another reason known only to a few, and ordered by the Emperor himself."

Tyrannus? Anakin wondered, but didn't say aloud. He didn't know how much anyone else knew, but he was skeptical of anything considering the Sith.

Everyone began debating in low voices about whether or not to trust her, but Ezra approached Chopper and spoke to the others. "We have to do this."

"I agree," Kanan voted, turning to Hera. Anakin kept quiet, reminding himself that he wasn't a general here. It was hard to fight his old commanding tendencies from the Clone War, but he was getting better at it.

"All right, if Commander Sato approves the mission," Hera decided, and all eyes went to him.

He nodded. "I believe it could be worth the risk."

"Minister," Ezra said, "we'll get you out. Send us your coordinates."

"Thank you," she told him, relieved. The call disconnected. Ezra walked through the adults in the room, and Anakin watched him leave.

Hera looked to the others, raising an eyebrow slightly. "Well, I guess we're on our way back to Lothal."

Kanan walked away, submitting. "I guess we are." Hera went after him, and Anakin watched them leave.

This wasn't the first time he had exhibited this kind of behavior. Anakin had noticed a certain resistance to the rigid structure of the Rebellion, which was admittedly very reminicant of how the Republic militia had run. Most of the commanding officers and soldiers were Republic Clone Wars veterans that had been forced to retire after the dissolving of the Republic Senate. Kanan didn't seem to appreciate it very much.

Did he blame him? No, not really. Every once in a while, Anakin got skeptical of the system too. The difference was that Anakin was in a position to ask about it and voice his concerns. Kanan was being a little more stubborn about the issue.

Since he wasn't going on the mission and he didn't have his own, Anakin opted to stick around and watch. The white flag from Tua was a surprise, as sincere as it seemed. He was more interested in the bit about Tyrannus, though. What did the most politically powerful person in the galaxy want with an Outer Rim system? There wasn't a huge pot of wealth there, other than the fuel resources as Hera had mentioned.

No, Tyrannus wouldn't care about that. Anakin was interested to see what Tua would have to say once she arrived, but a sinister feeling crept into his gut. Suddenly, he wasn't sure how certain he was about the Ghost crew's mission.