https://youtu.be/Ak0zy49qsHE

After quite some time doing their best to move around carts, sidestep people who had no intention of deviating from the direction they were heading in, and dissuading vendors who were particularly determined to ensnare passersby to purchase their wares, Sirius, Teri, Ezra and Zeb had reached their destination.

The Rusty Tankard, the neon sign above the door read.

Although Ezra was used to the hot summers months on Lothal, it didn't compare to the extreme heat of Rhea's triple sun even in the slightest. Walking into the significantly cooler, draftier air of the cantina Sirius and Teri had led them to was a welcome respite.

The place wasn't as dodgy as Ezra had expected it would be. It was relatively clean, and, despite the fact that the inside of the building was painted a dark brown, it was well lighted and not at all menacing. The light from little slots in the walls caught on bits of colored glass and shiny metal hanging from the ceiling, and the curtain they had passed through on their way in was made of wooden beads, feathers and long grass.

"The locals sure like color," he thought aloud.

Teri smiled. "That they do. Something about bright colors attracting friendly spirits, I think. There's a similar belief back home on Onderon."

Next, Ezra looked at the people hanging around the room. It seemed like there was at least one of every species he could name, and even a few he couldn't. And they were all talking, laughing, and drinking.

"Maddox likes to hang out at one of the tables there-ish," Sirius said, gesturing in one direction. "You'll find him, or at least you'll find Kilindi. I'm going to get a drink. Also, don't ask if she's pregnant. In the past couple of weeks, it's become the easiest way to piss her off."

"Wait, is she...?" Teri began, but Sirius was already gone.

Weaving around a very animated group of Zyggerians engaged in a game of sabacc, Teri headed for the far end of the place. But before he could get too far, a call cut through the din:

"Lux Bonteri, you old rascal!"

Lux turned towards the origin of the sound, his eyes lighting up as they found the tall figure of a visibly pregnant female Nautolan draped across one side of a booth. "Hi, Kilindi," he said, walking over.

Ezra nodded to Zeb, and together they followed him.

"I don't believe me eyes," she called as he reached her side. "What the hell took you so long? Haven't seen your sorry ass 'round here in moons!"

"Yeah, well, the meet-up's only in another few months."

"But that doesn't obligate you to stay away the rest of the time," the woman called Kilindi told him, her tone affectionately reproachful. "You should come visit us more often." Then she appeared to notice Ezra and Zeb standing a respectful few steps away. "So. Who are these guys?"

"Members of the Ghost crew – one of the rebel cells I work with. They're mostly active in the Lothal sector."

"Hi. I'm Ezra, and this is Zeb," Ezra said, smiling.

She smiled back, blinking her large eyes lazily. "Kilindi Maakato. What's your business here on Rhea? It's pretty far off the beaten trail, and as far as I know, you rebels like stay where the Imps are causing problems."

"We're getting some intel from Rex and the guys, and maybe some of the other groups of clones in the area if possible. And Maddox, if everything works out." Teri chuckled, sitting down next to her. "Speaking of Maddox, you seen him around anywhere?" he asked.

"Course I've seen him. I'm expecting his third kid, so I'd better hope he's around!" She patted the gentle swell of her belly contentedly for a moment, but then her eyes narrowed. "Why're you so adamant on finding him, anyways? Something gone down I should know about?"

Teri shook his head dismissively. "It's not important."

"It's important enough that you decide to come around before the meet-up when you never do that."

"Well, for one thing, you know we need Rex and Maddox and a few of the guys to help out with the Rebellion, and for another..." He sighed. "Well, there's just something I need to ask him."

"What is it, then?"

"He needs to hear it first."

But Ezra realized it was too late for that kind of talk – Kilindi's curiosity was piqued. "You're gonna have to go through me if you wanna know where he is."

Lux leant in a little, a devious smile on his face. "Well, then I guess I could just do it the hard way..."

"Oh no. Teri, don't do it," Kilindi warned him, guessing immediately what he was about to do. "He's gonna kill you before you can-- mmph!"

She was cut off when, much to Ezra's surprise, Teri kissed her full on the lips. It was becoming clearer with every day the Ghost crew spent with him that the informant had an impulsive streak he was in the practice of keeping under wraps.

"Too late," Teri said with a mischievous smirk as he pulled away.

"Get the kriff off me, ya blumin' creep!" she yelped, pushing him away. "You're ten years younger than me!"

But it was obvious to Ezra that there was a mirthful little smile hiding behind her glittering ebony eyes as she scolded him so.

Suddenly, a side door to the cantina was pushed open so forcefully that it was almost ripped clean off its hinges. A hush fell over the entire cantina, as everyone stopped what they were doing to turn to look.

"WHO THE HELL IS KISSING MY WIFE?!" the newcomer, a red-and-black-skinned Zabrak, bellowed.

"Hello there, Maddox!" Teri called cheerfully, waving him over.

"That... is Maddox?" Ezra asked incredulously. Force, the man's ten times more impressive in person than I imagined... I really hope Teri knows what he's doing!

The red Zabrak fixated the rebel informant with a murderous glare, silently berating him for what he'd just done, and Teri shrugged innocently. "Well, I knew it'd draw you out into the open."

Maddox shook his head, crossing his arms over his muscular chest, bared of everything but two blaster holsters. "You truly are an asshole, you know that?"

Lux raised his glass in the tall Zabrak's direction in a mocking salute. "I learned from the best," he said with a sly little smile, and a few people around the bar laughed.

(But not loudly enough to draw attention to himself or herself in specific – everyone there clearly knew just how dangerous of an enemy Maddox was to make.)

Maddox rolled his eyes as Teri knocked back the glass's amber contents, having nothing to say to such a comeback. But he still wasn't about to let it pass. Before anyone could react, he grabbed Teri around the shoulders, shoving him down to ruffle his dark hair.

"Ga-ack!" Teri choked out, struggling to free himself from a laughing Maddox's hold.

"And yet you've somehow managed to better the instruction, Teri. Congratulations on that." The Zab smirked. "You know, the only reason I'm letting you off this easy is because I don't completely hate your guts," he said, releasing his prisoner at last.

Teri coughed a few times as his airways returned to normal, massaging his throat. "That almost sounded like a compliment," he told him, his voice a little hoarse. He reached up to flatten a few rogue tufts of his hair.

"Don't let it go to your head." Maddox cuffed him gently on the side of his head to underline his statement. "So what is it you're looking for around these parts, anyways? It's still three months away from our annual meet-up."

"The Rebellion needs allies," the dark-haired man said. "And there are other things, too... things that can't really be spoken of here. Can I talk to you privately for a second?"

Maddox nodded. Kissing Kilindi tenderly on the cheek, he stood up and led Lux into the back room.

The moment the two men were gone, the slender Nautolan leaned forwards over the table slightly. "Well then, that about settles it. I know Teri a lot better than he thinks I do, and there's only one person he would be so skittish talking about," she said. "Ezra, Zeb, tell me everything you know from him about Ahsoka Tano."

-:-:-:-:-:-

"So what's this about?" Maddox asked when they were settled on some of the crates taking up the majority of the storage room, crossing his arms.

Lux sighed. Saying he didn't want to tell the imposing Warrior what he had just discovered about Ahsoka was a serious understatement – he knew that if he didn't say break it to him right, Maddox could very well react badly. And he could be every bit as dangerous as one of the Sith Lords of old if he wanted to.

He hunched himself over, making himself as small as possible. "It's... it's about Norolan Plains," he began softly.

Maddox's eyes widened. He knew exactly what Teri was talking about without him having to say anything more than that. "What? But you said she–"

"I know what I said back then; what I've been saying for over a decade." Lux met Maddox's eyes, hoping to convey just how serious and how certain he was about this. "But this is now, and things have changed."

"Where is she?" Maddox asked, gripping Lux's shoulders. "Where's Conni? Is she here? Can I see her?"

The fact that his first instinct was to call her by the name he had known her by while working with her on the Saberdart made what Lux was about to say all the more painful.

"Like I said, things are different now. She..." Lux sighed, giving up on trying to sugarcoat his words. "Ahsoka turned, Maddox. She was working with the Empire as an Inquisitor all those years we thought she was dead. And she... she tried to kill me..."

"You represent a key part of her past in the Light Side of the Force; it's only natural she would want that gone," Maddox told him. But tone in which he spoke was as if his thoughts were elsewhere: absentminded and almost sad. It was something the red Zabrak did most of the time when talking about topics he found sensitive – he separated his knowledge of things from the way he felt about them, often giving automated explanations while he meditated on his emotions.

"Wow, thanks."

Maddox shook his horned head, coming back to the conversation at hand. "No. I mean it. When you're on that path, you're taught to distance yourself from everything you care about to seek power for yourself. If one of the people closest to you shows up, that principle blows everything out of proportion so you think that they're standing in your way... And I think you can picture what happens next."

"I didn't think it was so deeply ingrained..."

"She was probably made to blame you for something; correlating your face and whatever memories she has of you with an event that would have scarred her deeply. Like..."

"Norolan Plains," they finished at the same time.

"She thought I..." Lux put his head in his hands, covering his eyes for a moment. "She thought I abandoned her," he whispered.

Maddox put a hand on his shoulder. "But you didn't. And you just need to make her see that. She can't stay mad forever."

Lux shook his head doubtfully. "You don't know that."

"I know that Kili was mad for a good long while when I tried to betray her on my Master's orders back in the day. But after I met up with her a few years later and explained how I had no real choice, we managed to set our differences aside." Maddox's earnest golden eyes bored into his. "Same thing applies here."

"But Kili wasn't a Sith Inquisitor that had been angry at me for eleven years."

Maddox tapped him on the side of the head. "Hey now, I'm the pessimist, you're the crazy dreamer! Stop trying to steal my job!"

Against the odds, Lux chuckled. "Okay."

But he couldn't help but notice that Maddox's attempts to make the best of the situation seemed a little too positive for the normally unsmiling Zabrak; just a little too forced. Ahsoka had been a close friend of his for a long time, and Lux knew that Maddox was probably feeling the loss just as much as he was.

But then, Maddox tensed, his presence in the Force stretching out to touch a disturbance Lux couldn't feel. "Kilindi's just about to start yelling for me to get my ass back to our table," he said. "We should go."

Lux nodded and made for the door. As the pair walked back into the cantina, he couldn't help but notice that it was very still again, as it was when many people were holding their breath before a big confrontation.

Hardly a second later, he found himself staring down the beam of searing blue plasma that was Kanan Jarrus' lightsaber.

"You pfassking Sith-spawn lover!" he roared, his normally nonchalant and vaguely irritated expression warped into a picture of pure fury. "You betrayed us!"

Lux's eyes widened. He suddenly wanted to take a step back, but he didn't dare move. "Kanan, what are you even talking about? I'd never betray y–"

"Save it for someone who actually gives a kriff what you say." Kanan's eyes were darker than Lux had ever thought possible, and so, so angry. The Force around him was pulsating with an energy that was bordering on the Dark Side.

"Kanan! Stop this, now!" Hera ordered, darting out from behind him and making a grab for the saber.

But he pushed her away before she could get too close. He did so gently enough to show that he had no intention of hurting her, but with enough Force to make it clear he was not to be approached by anyone. "Hera, no. I want to know why the hell anyone who calls himself a friend to the Rebellion and people who want to do some good for the galaxy is friends with Darth Maul."

*A secret identity to the man known only as Maddox Jagannath to the Ghost crew has been revealed. Kanan has made his opinions on the matter clear, but what will the others think? Do Sorena and Lux even know who he is, and did they know back when Sorena was simply Ahsoka? And what further will Ezra learn about the mysterious Ahsoka Tano if he continues to ask questions? Because after all, as inquisitive as he is, it's only a matter of time before something explosive comes to light...

DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUNNNNN!!!!!!!!!

Sooooo, there you have it. The big reveal... MADDOX IS DARTH MAUL *gasp* 0.0

Hope you liked this chapter, where we finally got to meet the much-alluded-to Maddox Jagannath! I'm going to do my best to expand his character, with a little help from Storm-Shadows7, who's been a big part of the development of this part of the story. We'll also see some backstory for Kilindi and Sirius (though I think you can all guess who he is now...)

It was a quicker update than usual, I know, but that was because I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the scene I had written took up the majority of the chapter as it was, so very little additional writing had to be done. If I hadn't been so busy today it would have been up practically as soon as I sat down.

I love it when that happens :D

And yes, Lux is showing a bit of an impulsive streak... He's going to find that the more he builds up his walls as he tries to deal with the fact that Sorena, whom he loved and loves still, wants to kill him, that this will emerge more and more. He's out of balance, but I think we all know what will even everything out again, or rather WHO... ;)

{But FEAR NOT, MY CHILDREN. The Luxsoka is coming veeeerrrryyyy soon hehehe...}

And Kanan is being a butthole. Which is nothing new, but still... He's surrounded by a bunch of new elements and parties he thinks are against him when it's not as simple as that... He likes being in control of his surroundings, or being familiar with what sort of circumstances he has to deal with. Usually, it's on missions to cause trouble for the Empire and help people or the crew, but everything about Rhea is throwing a wrench in all that. 

Which is a rather interesting thing to write about, actually.

Anyways, I do believe I've rambled on for quite long enough, so I'll stop here. Whatever I have to update will hopefully be done soon. (And those of you who've been asking for SOTE, I promise I'll get to that when I finish a few other things.)

May the Force be with you,

Sharron