Shadows of Tomorrow

Chapter 72 - The Future of the Force

Author's Note: Family reunions aren't all fun and joy. :')

~ Amina Gila

There's no sign of Inquisitors anywhere when they land the Phantom in a small hangar near the first coordinates, but for a brief moment, Marr is almost certain he senses the Dark Side. BD plugs into a nearby port, displaying a map of the area. Chopper beeps, spinning his arms around.

"Housing units?" Ezra repeats, "What would the Inquisitors want there?"

"I doubt they're renting," Kanan comments.

"You never know. Even Dark Siders have to live somewhere," Marr quips, before growing serious again, "Perhaps they're after someone."

"Then we better find them before they do," Kanan agrees.

"You check it out," he instructs, "I'll see if I can find the Inquisitors' ship... or them."

The other two disappear down the street with Chopper, and he heads off through the spaceport. There are few people around, which makes the search easier. It doesn't take long for him to find the two very familiar ships.

BD beeps eagerly, moving forwards.

"Yes, we found them," Marr agrees, cautiously crossing the area towards them. Something feels... almost familiar. Even if twisted and warped by the Dark Side, and years of being apart. The feeling is more than a little unsettling, or maybe it's who he thinks it might be that worries him so much.

"But they aren't here." He pauses in front of the ship that feels the strongest like that, peering inside. The Inquisitors might not be here, but he does sense –

The sound of a baby crying splits the silence, even if muffled by the wall of the ship. What? Why do they have a baby with them? Where did they get it from, and what are they doing with it?

It's human, and he can feel its fear pouring strongly into the Force as he lifts her into his arms, trying to get her to calm down. Ahsoka had said 'secondary retrievals'... A sudden sinking feeling settles inside him as he realizes what that might mean. Is the Empire taking strong Force sensitives to train as more Inquisitors? Similar to what the Sith seemed to be trying to do at one point during the Clone Wars? (Anakin had been there, then, to help them stop it. It was actually him in the end who ended it.)

It would make sense, too much sense. At the very least, it would prevent the children from becoming Jedi and proving a threat to them.

Right then, his comm suddenly beeps. "We reached the coordinates," Kanan reports, "It looks like the Inquisitors are after a baby? The mother managed to send it away with a droid before they got it, but we have to find it first. When you find the droid, tell it that the baby's mother, Oora, sent you."

It looks like he was right. "I'm on my way," Marr replies, setting down the first baby in the Phantom, leaving BD to watch over it, before he takes off to find the other. They have to move fast, because he knows the Inquisitors will be relentless.

The Force is urging him to hurry, and he picks up his speed as he moves through the streets, finally spotting a droid rolling down a sidewalk, holding a small basket. Sure enough, there's a baby inside – an Ithorian.

The droid is hesitant, but it lets Marr take the baby. "You need to act as a decoy," he instructs the droid, after telling Kanan to meet him back at the ship.

He hasn't made it more than a few paces down the street when he hears a lightsaber activating. The droid shrieks, and he hears and sees its pieces hitting the ground, the empty basket rolling across the ground.