In the former home of Ezra Bridger and his missing parents, which acts as their safe house, the crew watches a HoloNet report from the Empire.
[A beloved citizen of Lothal, Minister Tua's life was cut short by this criminal band of rebels. If you see them, summon Imperial authorities immediately. Trooper corps have been mobilised in an extensive sea-]
"They did this to turn Lothal against us. We can't do any more here. We have to leave," Hera says. "For good."
"We can't just... run. The people have to know the truth. T-that it wasn't us who... who..." Ezra says.
"Easy there, Ezra. I understand," Kanan says.
Seeing Minister Tua get killed right in front of them, shocked all of them. The question was whether this would break them or make them stronger. The Padawan was hit quite badly, and the others also struggled to cope with this. It wasn't that they hadn't seen people dying, but the way the Minister suffered before she was finally killed, and the fear in her eyes, the coldness in the air.
"At least Zeb and Chopper are here."
"I agree, but we need to leave. The Empire has given us no choice on the matter."
.
In the Imperial Complex, Vader has begun using Force Sight and Force Track to find the rebels. And he observes their actions now. He sees how the troopers find them in their safe house, prompting the crew to escape just before the stormtroopers set off a thermal detonator and destroy the house. They are imaginative; one has to give them that. Under the assumption that the forces in the Imperial complex will be stretched thin due to deployments searching for the rebels, the crew hatches a plan to sneak into the lion's den and steal a shuttle, as the lockdown prevents them from finding a civilian ship.
The plan is bold, and it would be very good if it were anyone but Vader they are up against. This is exactly what Vader wanted in the first place: to get them to come to him and have no other option but to flee, together with the droid. And when they do, they would lead him to their rebel command ship.
Kanan Jarrus retains his stormtrooper disguise, and Ezra impersonates an Imperial cadet, allowing them to enter the facility with crates hiding the rest of the crew. Along the way, Ezra attempts to perform a Jedi mind trick on an officer but fails, forcing Kanan to do it instead.
Seeing that the time has come, Vader stands up and walks out.
.
The droid opens the sealed door to the small starport belonging to the Imperial complex with several TIE fighters and a shuttle to steal.
"A shuttle. What did I tell you?" Kanan asks.
"You did well."
As they run towards the shuttle, Sabine finds something.
"Hera, over here."
"Shield generators."
"Yeah, military grade."
"Zeb, Ezra, grab all you can carry," Hera says. "This might help turn this day around. The fleet could use them."
As they approach the shuttle, Kanan stops walking, and so does Ezra. He turns around to his Jedi Master.
"D-do you feel that?" Ezra asks. "Just like..."
"...On the shuttle, with Tua. The cold."
*Kchch puuh*
They turn around and see the tall, dark figure of Darth Vader standing at the entrance of the hangar, looking at them, and they hear the mechanical breathing—the sound most associated with fear in the current universe.
[Picture]
Vader walks forward, with troopers following behind him. He ignites his lightsaber. Seeing this, both Kanan and Ezra do the same with their respective lightsabers. But moving is hard for the two.
"Hera go! We'll cover you!" Kanan yells.
*Kksssshhhh*
Kanan blocks a casual strike from Vader.
*Kchch puuh*
The troopers, meanwhile, take positions and start firing at the others who are still loading up the shuttle with the shield generators. While Hera and the droid are doing that, the other two give them cover fire and manage to hit a few of the troopers, while not suffering any damage in return, due to their abysmal aim.
Feeling the strain in his arms, Kanan loses the expanse badly. Instead of capitalising on this, though, Vader uses a light Force Push and sends both of them flying through the air. Kanan manages to recover somewhat and stand back up, fighting against the cold that seems to spread through his entire body. He channels the Force through him and uses a variation of Force Speed to attack Vader again.
*Kksssshhhh*
*Kksssshhhh*
But it's no use. Vader parries his pathetic attacks easily and grabs his hands, holding the lightsaber. Using his strength, he lifts Kanan into the air and clenches his cybernetic fist.
"ARGH!"
"It seems your master left you before she could teach you to wield a lightsaber," the mechanical voice of Vader is heard.
He throws Kanan through the air and into some crates. Seeing Kanan hurt, Erza gets angry for a second and attacks. Or so he would like. Vader raises his hand and pushes the Padawan to the wall and keeps him there.
"Your Master has deceived you," Vader says as he takes control of Ezra's hand and turns it against his own neck. "...into believing you can become a Jedi."
Erza fights back as hard as he can, but he can't change the fact that the lightsaber is closing in on his neck. He uses all of his strength... but nothing happens. And then, the lightsaber finally touches his skin.
*tschhhh*
"AAAAHHHH!" he screams in pain.
*Kksssshhhh*
In the last second, Kanan arrives and engages Vader in a lightsaber duel. Vader clearly toys with the two and grows annoyed with his own plan for doing it this way. But it is necessary for now. He pushes Kanan forward, causing him to stumble, and then backhands Ezra, who had tried to strike at him. As he parries one attack after the other, Vader suddenly pulls Kanan towards him.
"URGH"
"Allow me to teach you about the Dark Side of the Force," Vader says and places his hand on Kanan's head.
Something Kanan has never heard of, nor seen in any Jedi archives, happens. Tremendous pain overcomes all of his senses. Various visions of dark pasts and potential futures are seen, all at the same time. Kanan sees the death of his Master, of his loved one Hera, his Padawan Ezra and his friends. He shouts, but can't pass out. Vader reaches into Kanan and rips something out of him. Dark energy filled with emotions of hate, anger, fear and anxiousness is contained in it. Vader controls the energy into a ball and then has it flow into him, absorbing it.
"ARRRRHHHHH..." Kanan shouts in pain and confusion.
"Kanan!"
*BOOOM BOOM*
Various explosions go off to the side, destroying AT-DP walkers' legs. The walkers fall down and right onto Vader, who has just absorbed all of the dark energy.
*CRASSHH*
"What... what WAS THAT?!" Kanan shouts.
He feels as if he were lighter than before. As if his negativity has left him. As if he were high on spice. It is something Vader has been playing around with, to rip out he darkness inside people and fuel his own Dark Side power. If done to a Jedi, as he did with Kanan, he or she might think that they are now going to be the perfect Jedi, since they no longer have negative emotions, but it doesn't work like that. The bowl is most useful when it is empty. But the darkness will return, and when it does, he will feel millions of times worse than coming down from a high. Overall, the process is painful and unhealthy for individuals as it damages their psyche and bodies.
The AT-DP walkers groan and start to be lifted into the air. The rebels watch in astonishment as Vader lifts them using the Force, leaving him unscathed.
"If that doesn't kill him, what will?!" Ezra asks.
"Not us. Run!"
Vader watches as they leave with the shuttle.
"My lord, I will mobilise our fighters to pursue."
"That will be unnecessary, Commander. Contact Agent Kallus and have my ship prepared."
"Yes, my Lord."
.
"Zeb, make sure they can't track us," Hera says.
"Consider it done."
"Kanan, what was that? Another Inquisitor?" Ezra asks, touching his throat, where a thin burn mark has appeared.
"No, something worse."
"What?"
"A Sith Lord. The ancient enemies of the Jedi."
"How do we fight him?"
"Fight him? Ezra, we are lucky to be alive," Kanan says.
"Then that settles it. I'm going to make for orbit so we can jump away," Hera says.
"Hera, no..." Kanan says.
"What is it?" she asks.
"I, well... I was going to say that he was going to have a blockade of Destroyers waiting for us, but now..." Kanan stares at his hands.
"Now, what?"
"Now, I know that it would be our fear that would push us to the ground. No Destroyers are waiting for us, I can feel it. It's... I feel so clear... everything is clear right now. I'm not afraid. That Sith Lord did something... I think it helped me." Kanan says, not understanding the severity of what happened.
"Are you sure? Do you feel alright?" Hera asks.
"Yes. Better. I feel light."
"Very well, then let us do that."
They jump to hyperspace and make it back to Phoenix Home. They make it to the command ship.
"Welcome back, Ghost team. Tell us what happened?" Commander Sato says.
"Well, we-"
"Commander, I'm scanning a ship entering our sector."
"One ship? What kind?" Commander Sato asks.
"A starfighter, sir. Just one target. No other ships have entered the system."
"Move Phoenix Squadron to intercept," Commander Sato orders.
.
Phoenix Squadron deploy to fight the TIE Advanced x1, with Darth Vader on board. The squadron starts shooting at the lone TIE/x1, but misses as Vader uses his marvellous piloting skills to dodge all of the fire. As they meet, he fires once.
*BOOOM*
[He's coming in too fast!]
The deflector shields are raised, and another ship is shot down.
[We've lost Phoenix-1 and 2.]
Vader mows through the opposition and makes his way right towards the command ship.
[Enemy fighter is making for the command ship.]
Vader attacks the command ship and damages the engine as he shoots through space. He handles his starfighter better than he ever would have, in the original, or if he still had his entire body. He has been training after all. Training hard. He pulls the fighter up and turns himself around, flying backwards now.
*BOOM BOOOM*
He turns around and attacks the command ship again, taking out its shields. At that moment, the Ghost crew start to intercept the fighter. They follow him and try to do any form of damage, while he is constantly dodging their attempts. Aboard Ghost, Ahsoka Tano, who has decided to tag along, feels something. She feels the tremendous amount of power through the Force that the fighter pilot possesses. She doesn't know who it is.
"The Force is strong with him... Kanan, let's find out how strong," Ahsoka says.
"How can I help?" he asks.
"Just remember your training," Ahsoka answers as cryptically as the best Jedi would.
The two try to combine their powers to probe into Vader's mind with the Force. As they start to do that, Ezra starts to remember the feeling he had on Lothal, not even an hour ago.
"I feel... cold. Oh, no. The anger, the hate; it's the Sith Lord we faced! Kanan!"
Vader feels the mind probe and allows it to happen, since the connection goes both ways. As Ahsoka tries to push and see into Vader's mind, she is allowed to see something for the briefest of moments. In the very next moment, seemingly boundless Dark Side energy and negative emotions assail her, creating a strong psychic backlash.
"The apprentice lives."
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH..."
Ahsoka promptly loses consciousness.
Vader doesn't care about her and doesn't follow Ghost, instead focusing on the remaining rebel ships. He turns around and targets the rebel command ship. He dodges the attacks and fires one final time, destroying the ship once and for all.
*BOOOM*
The command ship explodes, taking the people on it with it. But Vader is not finished. He targets the rest of the escape pods as they are about to flee to hyperspace and even manages to shoot one down before they leave, and the Imperium fighters are the last remaining in the sector. Overall, it was a very good day for the Imperium. With everything finished, Vader boards the Destroyer to give his report on the matter.
.
"With their command ship destroyed, the rebel fleet has been shattered. You have them on the run," Agent Kallus says.
"Clear the bridge," Vader commands.
After they leave, a hologram of Darth Sidious appears.
"Lord Vader, have you dealt with the rebels in the Lothal system?"
"Yes, Master. They are broken."
"And yet I sense in you... nothing. Why is that, my old friend?" Sidious asks.
He has not been able to sense Vader's emotions for a while now and knows that the Dark Lord hides them very well. But Sidous doesn't know for what purpose, and he hates not knowing things.
"I believe the apprentice of Anakin Skywalker lives and is in league with these rebels," Vader answers.
"Are you certain?"
"It was her."
"This is an opportunity we cannot let pass. Skywalker's apprentice could lead us to other lost Jedi," Sidious says.
"Such as Kenobi."
"Perhaps, if he lives. Be patient, my old friend. For now, dispatch another Inquisitor to hunt them down."
"As you wish, my master."
__________________________________
I am trying to make it clear that this is not Anakin Skywalker or Darth Vader from canon. Anakin Skywalker is dead.