As the Imperial shuttle carrying one captured Inquisitor, one Rebel informant with questionable motives and the crew of the Ghost exited hyperspace and made its way towards the small fleet of ships nearby, two fighters came up alongside it. Its pilots were wary of the sudden appearance of an Imperial ship, but they knew that the Empire wouldn't send just one of them if they had discovered their location.

The only other possibility was that it was carrying friends.

"Phoenix Home, this is Ghost away team," Hera said as she hit a few buttons on the ceiling panel, opening a line of communication between the stolen Imperial shuttle and the officers aboard the Rebel fleet's flagship. "Clearance code one-two-one-eight-one-five."

There was a moment of silence as they ran Hera's voice and code through the database, and the Twi'lek pilot and Kanan, who was acting as her copilot, raised their eyebrows. "Your clearance code checks out," came the eventual reply. "Welcome home, Ghost team."

Soon, they had docked with Phoenix Home and were making their way up to the bridge to give their report. Zeb had stayed behind to guard their prisoner, who was still out cold, and contained by several of the shields with the polarity inversed, which made a sort of temporary force field.

But before they could get too far, Chopper began to squawk and bleep agitatedly. Sabine listened for a moment, translating the droid's binary audio codes into Basic, then turned back towards the others. "Chopper said a transmitter activated on our shuttle moments ago!" she exclaimed.

Hera took off running immediately, but Ezra stopped next to her to ask: "What does that mean?"

"It means the Empire tracked us back to the fleet!" Kanan shot Teri a stare that was almost powerful enough to burn a hole through a sheet of metal. "How could you have been so stupid? They must have tracked the Sith woman here, or known about the shuttle! Probably both!"

"I... I didn't know!" Teri called back, but his defense sounded weak even to his own ears. He knew the consequences of his actions and was accepting them.

He and the others started after Hera, soon overtaking her and darting through the door onto the command deck. "Commander Sato!" the green Twi'lek called. "We need the fleet to jump out of here. Our shuttle was tracked."

The officer turned away from the young woman in a pilot's uniform he had been talking to, his face set in a grim expression. He opened his mouth to speak, but an operative at one of the consoles nearby began making a report on the readings he was getting from the scanners and beat him to it.

"Commander, scanning a ship entering our sector."

Hera looked back at Kanan, and they shared a look. Things were taking a turn for the worse, and, for now, there was nothing they could do.

-:-:-:-:-:-

As the transmitter hidden in Sorena's headband, which Vader had programmed to activate as soon as the ship carrying the Rebel operatives left hyperspace began transmitting information to his starfighter, Vader made the jump to lightspeed. The area where the Rebel fleet was hiding wasn't too far off the beaten trail, and the travel time was less than ten minutes from his location.

Of course, if they were anywhere near as efficient as they let on, by now, the Rebels would be alerted to the potential arrival of Imperial ships. But the presence of just one fighter would probably take them by surprise.

That and his skills as a pilot would be his greatest allies today.

He throttled the engine, upping its speed to close to its limit. The corvettes were moving into a defensive position, and his monitors were picking up on the signs in the lead cruiser that it was about to launch its fighters.

This was almost like a battle from back during the Clone Wars, except that he was on his own. No reinforcements would come for a while yet, but that was all part of his plan. And he knew that he could cause these pitiable fools more damage than they could ever imagine before Admiral Konstantine arrived.

Sure enough, a moment later, eight fighters burst forth from behind the defensive lines of the group of larger ships, racing forward to intercept him and protect the rest of the fleet.

They opened fire, but Vader darted out of the way of the incoming bolts, twisting and turning this way and that while still maintaining his forward trajectory.

When he finally returned fire, with the Dark Side of the Force guiding his hands on the two triggers, he gunned down two of the Rebel fighters in the first volley of shots. They each exploded into a multicolored cloud of tibanna gas, shrapnel and other particles that hadn't been burnt into oblivion by the blasts.

Vader made for one of the cruisers, hitting its dorsal canons and hyperdrive and engine generators with everything his ship had, but there was no effect. This particular ship had raised its shields in time to withstand his attack.

But it didn't matter. He knew the capabilities of his custom-made TIE fighter, and therefore exactly how long it would take him to pulverize the Rebel fleet.

He looped back around as the scattered fighters tried to follow him, turning the engines up to full power and making a run for the command ship.

Vader opened fire, and was rewarded with a series of explosions along the top of the engines. This ship was a little older than the others, and would have taken longer to recycle its battle shields once they had been inactive for a while. It was still a powerful ship, but this particular design flaw would be the downfall of whoever was in command of the fleet.

Pathetic. He'd expected more of a challenge from the Rebels that had been giving the Empire so much trouble lately.

He flew in a corkscrew formation back down towards another unsuspecting fighter, hitting it with everything his canons had. Its meager shields buckled and gave out under his barrage of blaster bolts, and a moment later the place where the ship had been was just empty space.

But two more came were on his tail. Making a split-second cut to the engines, he executed a tight flip so that he was facing the enemy fighters head-on. Four shots decimated the ship, the remains of its computer system rerouting power from half-destroyed circuits to the engines and sending it into a downward spiral.

But the second one that rushed to face him didn't take any hits. The pilot was nowhere near his match in skills, but they seemed to have figured out at least part of his plan of attack. That meant it was time to change it.

As Vader changed his flight patterns, much to his disconcertment, the pilot changed with him. But to do so, they were giving him access to a weak spot on their blue A-wing fighter that one wouldn't have on a TIE.

He had been given the opportunity and he took it. Although the enemy ship was only hit once, it was still sent spiraling out of control. Once the pilot regained their bearings, they wisely withdrew back to the cruisers to seek refuge there...

...But not before Vader picked up on a tiny flicker in the Force around the ship. The pilot, although they – and based on the nature of the presence he believed it was a she – were hiding their ability to feel the Force very well, it was impossible to hide oneself away from the scrutiny of a Sith Lord such as himself forever.

The last few fighters were far behind him now, and he knew that the time was right to go in for the kill. Making a final break for the flagship of the poor excuse for a fleet, he took out the hyperdrive and shield generators with less than a dozen strategically fired bolts.

And yet... Oh, this was interesting. A small cargo freighter docked on the far side of the command ship was moving to engage him. But it wasn't just any ship: it was the Ghost, and without a doubt carrying the group that had blown up Governor Tarkin's Star Destroyer and had fought him and his forces a few hours before.

There was no doubt about it. He recognized the stoic and determined presence of the elder of the two Jedi, and the brighter, more hopeful one of the trainee. He could also sense...

Sorena. She was there, on that ship.

Then that is my main target.

It was time for a change of tactics: he flew away from the wrecked remains of the Rebel fleet and began another attack run well in range of the approaching cargo ship. Unable to pass that up, it gave chase, firing upon him. But, not about to let them get the upper hand, he swooped smoothly out of the way.

The two remaining undamaged A-wings formed up behind the Ghost, joining in the 'pursuit'. But then, Vader felt something different in the Force. A carefully camouflaged presence that was both familiar and not... like a fleeting memory he couldn't quite hold onto long enough to place it.

Then, a moment later, it reached out to him, probing the Force around him carefully without moving on to him. The Force wielder he couldn't recognize was worried about what they would find if they looked deeper alone, so they came back with the help of the Jedi to focus their power on him.

A smile curled his lips beneath the helmet. To find out more about the thoughts, emotions and allegiances of another through the Force, one had to leave oneself vulnerable to be searched back. Vader sent a concussive blast through the still-feeble link between the two of them through the Force, both scanning the other Force-user back and hopefully shaking them.

But then his eyes widened. "Lux Bonteri!" he hissed, his grip tightening around the TIE fighter controls. "So. He has come out of hiding at last."

But it was possible that this unforeseen development would have serious consequences on Sorena's mission. If she didn't find a way to kill Bonteri – and she had plenty of motivations to carry out that particular course of action – then it was more than probable that their old feelings for one another would be... rekindled.

This was something he could not allow.

Angrily, he sent the TIE racing towards the lead ship, but broke off his attack when he realized that he could cause more damage if he waited patiently. He couldn't let his hatred get the better of him; he had to let it fuel him, not distract him.

With this in mind, he sent his ship flying back so that he was the one chasing the Ghost instead of the other way around. He gunned down one of the two fighters alongside it, and managed to land some hits on the ship itself.

Then, his ship's scanners picked up on three Star Destroyers as they came out of hyperspace and began their approach. A moment later, his communicator crackled to life.

"Lord Vader, we have entered the system and await your orders," came the voice of Admiral Konstantine.

"Move your destroyers to block their escape," he commanded. "Hold your fire. I want these rebels alive."

Suddenly, the Ghost stopped firing back at him in hopes of staying his attacks, instead diverting all power to its engines and deflector shields. The three Star Destroyers formed up to prevent them from getting away, their tractor beams powering up.

And still the ship continued on, despite the number of shots he fired at their rear side How much of an imbecile was this pilot? Did they really expect their engines would be able to withstand the strength of an Imperial-grade tractor beam?

But then, just as everything was about to fall into place, the ship was gone. The Ghost made the jump to hyperspace a split-second before the tractor beam came online, leaving him, unable to brake in time, to be caught instead.

He hit the dashboard with his fist in fury, the powerful alloys making up the prosthetic creating a slight dent in the metal below the glowing buttons and screens.

The rest of the Rebel fleet had jumped away, and the Ghost was gone. Someone on those Star Destroyers was going to have to answer for this failed attempt to capture the Rebels.

He could only hope that Sorena wouldn't be made to pay for his lack of vision. Had the pilot flying the Ghost not outwitted him, she would be safely back on the Star Destroyer with the Admiral, and the Rebels would be in custody awaiting execution. She had risked her life for nothing.

According to one of his screens, her tracking beacon had been disabled. Unless she found a way to get a message out, or at least something that the Empire would be able to trace, she was on her own amongst enemies...

With the only person that had a chance of turning her back to the path she had left behind years before: that of the Light Side of the Force.

*Okay, this chapter is a perfect example for how much I love you guys. I risked my LIFE staying up two and a half hours after my enforced bedtime and an hour after when I actually go to bed writing on the laptop, so I hope it was worth it. I'm writing this author's note on my phone right now just so I can get it posted early today.

This is my way to celebrate reaching 1K FOLLOWERS!!!! I CANT BELIEVE THAT IT HAPPENED BUT IT DID, AND I AM GOING CRAZY RIGHT NOW ALDODIWNBRMELSKFNSLFKDJDSHKSL

Okay, crazy time over. ANYWAYS, I'm very happy with the way this chapter turned out, because although it wasn't very deep like I most enjoy writing them, but the action sequence was good. I also thought it would be interesting to have it from Vader's point of view, especially now that Sorena is putting her life on the line for this mission. And besides, the Rebels' POV for this sequence has been overwatched and overly documented by the fanbase, and as awesome as that is, I wanted to switch things up a little.

But don't worry, we'll get back to Teri and the crew of the Ghost in the next chapter for the aftermath of the battle. And now that the Vader vs Phoenix Squadron sequence is past, I can finally write The Meeting...

Also, Kate, betcha can't guess who that pilot was ;)

I'll do my best to post something again soon. SOTE, SAtJ and TISS are next on the list of updates. 

May the Force be with you,

Sharron