Alongside the crew of the Ghost, Lux crept down the alleyways leading towards the rendezvous with Minister Tua. Every now and then, he hit the button on his comlink, sending a request for a status report to his operative staying with his old BTL Y-wing starfighter from during the Clone Wars out on the plains.

Thus far, he had received nothing but the all-clear signal, but that didn't mean he worried any less. Especially with what Ezra had said about feeling 'cold' as they had come out of hyperspace over Lothal. That was never a good sign.

"Hmph. We'll need a distraction," Hera said, looking out at the guards separating them from their destination from behind his shoulder.

Lux's grey eyes met hers, and with a nod, the three of them went back to where the others were standing. He opened his mouth to propose a plan, but Kanan beat him to the punch with a completely different one.

"Well, I'm gonna go make a few friends. When Tua arrives, I'll keep them busy while you all drop into the hangar from above."

"Make a few friends?" Hera repeated, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

He smiled. "It'll be fun!"

"Fun?" she echoed.

"Don't worry, General Hera," he said with a mocking salute and clapping her on the shoulder, "just be ready to move."

Lux then watched, incredulous, as Kanan ran up to one of the Storm Troopers on duty and began chatting with him as if under some drunken illusion that they were old friends from the Imperial Academy.

And consecutively knocked him out and dragged him off around a nearby corner. When he reemerged, he was wearing the man's armor.

Lux gaped, wide-eyed. "Of all the things..."

Sabine turned towards Hera, grinning. "Kanan's gone bucket-head!"

The green-skinned Twi'lek woman shook her head and crossed her arms. "I don't believe it."

"Hey, I'm kind of jealous," Ezra said. "I only have the helmet!"

And so, Lux and the three crewmembers climbed up onto the rooftop to wait, in apprehensive silence, for Kanan's signal. The sudden arrival of Agent Kallus of the ISB didn't help matters much.

Kanan wasn't going to be able to cause a distraction that would suit their needs anymore – there was just too much security. Lux realized that just as Sabine drew her blasters and vaulted herself off the roof and onto the ground below, firing round after round at the Storm Troopers guarding the shuttle.

He chuckled. Leave it to a Mando to make a pretty laser show, he thought.

Then, he jumped down after Ezra and Hera, using the Force to guide his fall just a tiny bit to the right so that he landed on top of a pile of crates. Then, he pulled up a scarf around the lower half of his face (it wouldn't do at all to have his features plastered all over the Imperial wanted list) and threw himself down at Agent Kallus.

The ISB agent was sent flying backwards. But even as he lay winded on the ground, his aim was still good enough to force Lux back behind the crates.

"Minister, get to the shuttle!" Ezra ordered the frightened woman cowering beside him. "We'll be right behind you."

"Right," she said shakily, her reaction to his words slightly delayed. Of course, she carried no weapon that she could defend herself with or use to help them out. Lux highly doubted that she had even been in a real combat situation before.

But it was then that Lux noticed that there was a slightly yellow sheen to her brown eyes, turning them a sort of amber color. And the fingers on her right hand were clenched around a small metal object he hadn't seen before.

But the eyes... He had seen that before.

"Ezra!" he yelled, but it was too late: Minister Tua had already made a break for the shuttle. The dark-haired boy, along with Hera and Kanan, was a few steps behind her. None of them were aware that they were running blindly into a trap.

The 'defector' stopped as soon as she was up the ramp and inside the transport. She showed them her hand and the detonator it was holding. "For the glory of the Empire," she whispered, a dreamy smile on her face.

Then she pushed the button.

The four of them were thrown backwards, and Lux had to roll dizzily to the side, his ears ringing, to avoid a piece of smoldering shrapnel. But none of them had been badly wounded, and they all sat up a few moments later.

The inside of the shuttle had been totally consumed by the fire of the multiple charges that had clearly been hidden inside earlier. There was no sign of Maketh Tua – her proximity to the blasts had most likely incinerated her. If there was anything left of her body, then it was buried in the rubble, thankfully far from view.

"Minister Tua," Ezra whispered. For now, he was too caught up in her sudden demise to wonder at the fact that she had betrayed them.

"You did this!" came the enraged voice of Agent Kallus, and their heads turned from the burning wreckage to face him.

"Time to go," Lux said quietly, and they were up and running again.

He was about to follow them, when he noticed something. The smoke stopped Kallus from getting a clear shot at him. But it didn't prevent Lux from seeing the two figures clad in dark armor and clothing, watching them from a walkway high above the hangar.

He watched as the pair turned and left, and then ran back to his friends.

Suddenly, the sound of more powerful engines was heard. Lux looked up to see a familiar face: the Lasat crewmember, Zeb. "Come on!" he yelled, and began firing at the Storm Troopers to hold them off.

"Don't need to tell me twice," Lux muttered under his breath, before taking advantage of the cover fire and running back towards the ship.

They hurried aboard and took off, pausing only to let Sabine jump back inside from the roof. Then the ship was in air and flying away as fast as it could... But it was all far too easy to be possible. The Empire was far more thorough than this... He knew that from experience.

"Hera, how are the shields on this ship?" he asked quickly. "It's important."

"Um, they're just standard solar radiation shields. The minimum. Grade C, I think," she replied. "Nothing that could repel an attack or–"

An explosion rocked the entire ship, and suddenly they were on a downward spiral. The heavy cannons on a nearby Imperial walker had pierced their inadequate shields and taken out their engines with one fell swoop.

It crashed to the ground on a side street just a few moments later. Pedestrians scrambled to get out of its path or looked on at the smoking ship in shock, and it was a long, dazed moment before anyone inside was able to move.

Sabine was the first to react. "Come on; come on! Up, everybody! Move it!"

And so, they ran from the ship and down an alleyway, hoping to avoid the Imperial spotlights beaming down from nearby Star Destroyers.

But Lux knew it was too late. The Empire's forces would catch up with them; they always did, in the end. This mission had been doomed from the start, and they were all fools not to have seen it coming.

*The would-be defector has become the betrayer. Just before her death by means of a suicide  bombing, Maketh Tua had some sort of strange anomaly in her eye color. Could there have been another, darker hand at work to her death? But who were the two people Teri noticed overseeing the battle from afar? The rebels will find out soon enough, but it could be at the expense of their own lives...

Hello all! Happy Easter, candyfest, or whatever else you're celebrating! Sorry this chapter was so long coming, but I have two other updates for SOTE to make up for it :D

The rebels have quickly realized that this whole thing was a trap. But will they manage to escape it entirely unscathed? And I have a feeling Sorena is about to get involved in this whole mess... And not for the betterment of the Rebellion, that's for sure. 

I'll do my best to update again soon :) 

*through a mouthful of Easter chocolate* May the Force be with you,

Sharron