Dev hated this planet, that was true.

But stronger than Malachor, was his hatred of the Empire's Inquisitors.

Hate was a bad emotion for a Jedi to have, that was true.

But Dev couldn't lie to himself–He would be glad to see all Inquisitors fall off a cliff.

"I've never had an Inquisitor run from me before." Kanan commented, panting as they raced behind their enemy. Dev wished, for not the first time, that Inquisitors weren't so fast.

"Maybe it's because he's outnumbered." He suggested, jumping over a cracked pillar lying in his path.

"He did seem surprised. I don't think he was looking for us." Kanan said thoughtfully, his brow furrowing.

Dev looked at him, his mind coming to the same conclusion. "Then who is he tracking?"

"Hmm...." Kanan muttered quietly, not liking the way this day was going. Forgetting his injured foot, he Force-leaped over a giant boulder, and was rewarded with a jolt of almost unbearable pain. He stumbled, but managed to keep running, cursing once in annoyed agony. "Karabast! Cursed foot. When do you think these burns will heal?!"

Dev chuckled, despite their situation. "It's been less than a day, Dad. You need to let it rest, give it a chance to heal."

Kanan sighed. "Then I guess we should pray that we don't run into any more Inquisitors, because if so, I won't be resting until we get off this forsaken planet."

His father's words sparked something in him. He reached for the knowledge lurking at the corner of his mind, and once he held it, he knew that his theory was correct. "You're right!"

Kanan smiled in his teasingly triumphant way at him, but Dev could see the confusion in his turquoise eyes. "Um, I know?"

"No, I mean, the Inquisitor is running from us, right? He hasn't changed direction the whole time.... He's probably running to that other ship, which is likely his!" Dev exclaimed.

Kanan realized that his son was right. The Inquisitor was making the exact move that he would have, if in the same position. "Hey, you're right!"

"Um, I know?" Dev mimicked, allowing a teasing smile to cross his face.

Kanan rolled his eyes jokingly. "Yeah, yeah. Stay focused, Dev. Think you can sense where his ship is? If his thoughts are strongly geared towards his ship, you might be able to pick up on it."

Dev looked at him, slightly confused.  "Why can't you do it?"

"Call it Jedi training in action! You're stronger than me in the Force right now; the pain of my foot would distract me too much. Now, hurry up and try it." Kanan urged.

Dev sighed, but reached it with his mind, looking to poke into the Inquisitor's thoughts and pull out a location. He kept his eyes open though–The last thing he needed was to trip over a piece of fallen architecture and go splat. The Inquisitor would laugh at him before slipping through their fingers.

He could feel the Inquisitor's Force-signature, a tangled knot trying to weave itself through his fingers. The Inquisitor was so focused on his destination that he hadn't sensed Dev's attempt to breach his mind yet, but Dev knew that he only had seconds before he would be shut out. Hopefully, that would be all that he needed. He didn't want to go beneath the surface of the Eighth Brother's mind–The darkness would be too overpowering for him, and he knew it.

Suddenly, he sensed it. What he wanted to know was right there, he just had to take hold of it and pull it into his own mind.

He grasped the information, and gasped as he was jolted back to reality like a flying speeder had hit him.

"You found the ship? Where is it?" Kanan asked urgently.

Dev took a deep breath, shaken by the experience. Just touching the surface of that mind had been like falling down a pitch-black well. "Wait, I need a minute, I just got a general direction of where it is–"

"Sorry Dev, I know that must have been hard on you, but there's no time. Get over there and find that ship. I'll keep trailing him from behind.  Do not let him take off!"

"You want me to run to that ship, alone on a strange, Sith-inclined planet? What if there are more Inquisitors there–or something worse? Don't you think that's at all dangerous?!" Dev exclaimed exasperatedly.

Kanan gave him a pointed look. "No, disobeying me is gonna be dangerous. Now get going!"

Dev sighed in despair and started to run off in the direction of the ship, leaving Kanan to chase the hopefully lone Inquisitor.

"If I end up dead, I'm coming back as a Force-ghost to haunt my father," Dev muttered under his breath as he sprinted into the darkness.

*************************************

A TIE Advanced v1 Fighter.

Why was it always a TIE Fighter?

Somehow, by some sort of Force-guided miracle, he had beaten his father and the Inquisitor to the latter's ship. He had had to rely completely on the Force to find his way to the exact spot the ship was located, but it had not failed him. Despite all of his mistakes, the light side was still with him.

Hiding behind a pillar, he reached out tentatively with the Force to check if there was anyone else around. Mostly, because he wanted to make sure that he wouldn't step out from his hiding place and get shot by a stormtrooper or impaled by another Inquisitor's blood red lightsaber.

He withdrew his reach from the Force and took a quick second to breathe a sigh of relief. As far as he could tell, there were no new threats nearby, but the Eighth Brother and his father were closing in on him fast.

A glow lamp ignited in his brain, and Dev couldn't resist grinning to himself. He had the perfect idea.

Quickly, he darted across the landscape to the TIE Fighter, his lightsaber still brightly ignited in the palm of his hand. It felt great to use the weapon again–For the first time in years, he felt like he was doing something useful. Plus, he had always preferred action to waiting things out.

Using the Force to propel him, he leaped to the top of the TIE Fighter. Landing in a–he had to admit–perfectly executed crouch, he began to pry at the TIE's entrance hatch, intending on going inside.

The Force warned him just in time.

Dev twisted expertly out of the way of the crimson blade aimed right at his torso, spiralling into a stretched out crouch on the edge of the TIE's roof. At the same time, the hatch popped open, granting him an entrance to the ship's cockpit.

Man, I'm on fire today!

He refused to even consider that it might be because of the strength of the dark side here.

"Get off my ship, boy, and I will make your death quick and painless," the Eighth Brother growled from below him, his lightsaber springing back into his grey-gloved grip. In the distance, Dev spotted Kanan hurriedly sprinting as fast as he could towards the two, but he wouldn't make it in time to avoid a conflict. Dev needed to put his plan into action.

"Nah, think I'm good," Dev smiled cockily before vaulting into the TIE's interior. Thrusting his lightsaber back into it's sheath on his belt, he gripped the controls and powered on the ship. "Let's take this baby for a test run!" He had never flown a TIE before, but how hard could it be?

The TIE flew off at what felt like one million miles an hour.

"WHOA!!!" Dev yelled, before managing to steady the TIE to hover shakily in the air. "This thing really moves!" I'm a pretty decent pilot myself, but this thing is crazy!

He carefully turned the ship to face the Inquisitor, whose waves of rage were rippling off him so strongly that Dev was pretty sure he didn't need the Force to feel that man's anger. Still trying to catch up behind him was a sweaty Kanan, who was gaping at the fact that his son was flying a TIE Fighter.

I don't remember teaching you that, Kanan's surprised voice came through his head.

Dev grinned and opened fire on the feriously yelling Inquisitor. Green laser bolts streaked down and blew the ground in front of the man apart, sending him spiralling backwards through the air and crashing down upon the cold, hard ground.

Don't kill him! Kanan yelled in his head.

I wasn't going to! Dev protested. Now's your chance to grab him!

Dev watched Kanan run over to the stunned Inquisitor, and his father took a pair of handcuffs off of his enemy's belt before sealing the Eighth Brother's hands together and pointing his still ignited lightsaber at the man. Satisfied that his father was out of danger for the time being, Dev landed the ship as carefully as he could–although realistically, it was barely above a crash landing. Climbing out, he was faced with a snarling Inquisitor, who was spitting every curse word at him that he likely knew.

"Hey! Ease off buddy, or I'll make you." Kanan threatened, waving his lightsaber in the foe's face.

The Inquisitor glared at both of them, but he did shut up.

"So what now?" Dev questioned his father. "There's a reason we kept him alive, right? Besides all that 'Jedi use their lightsabers for knowledge and defence, never for attack' stuff."

"Yeah, kid. Calm down. I think that flying that TIE gave you an adrenaline rush," Kanan looked pointedly at the Inquisitor. "Now you answer our questions. First of all, where is Ahsoka Tano?"