I dropped in front of Ana and Idrick, who lay on the ground unconscious.

"Stay still," I murmured. "And stay behind me."

I stood and turned towards our aggressors. Four Zigerian males, slavers, covered in tight armor and carrying blaster rifles were spread out in front of us in a loose arc.

"Stay away, boy, this one's ours!" the leader sneered at me.

I stood unfazed. The leader eyed me, then barked an order. The slaver on my far right raised his blaster and fired a single shot. I snapped to the side, my arm flying out and knocking Ana to the ground. I channeled the force and raised the slaver above the others' heads. I snapped his neck with a satisfying crunch and let him drop to the ground. Nothing happened for a second. Then the leader yelled and the remaining three raised their rifles.

It had been a long while since I had been at the receiving end of a firing squad. I drew my light saber and ignited the crimson blade with a whoosh. I deflected four blaster bolts before I was able to direct the next few directly at our attackers. Two dropped as bolts punched through their armor and a final bolt blasted the leaders rifle from his hands. I reached out with the force and yanked his body to myself before he could recover. I pulled him towards me until I closed my fingers around his throat and forced him to his knees. I stared into his eyes and forced my mind into his.

Zigerian's are notoriously sound of mind, and if it wasn't for the shock of coming face to face with a force sensitive, I doubt I could ever take his mind as easily as I did, even in my prime. Nevertheless, it took me only a moment to tear the knowledge from his mind. A camp a few kilometers to the east, three freighters and two fighters in orbit. A total of three dozen men. And he was the second in charge. I cursed under my breath and let the wolfish man fall to the ground. His eye twitched as drool leaked out of his mouth.

I de-ignited my blade and turned towards Ana. She had been lying on the ground, eyes wide, body frozen. Now she scooted back until her back hit the tree behind her. There was raw terror and confusion in her eyes. I didn't need to be force sensitive to feel how scared she was. Once upon a dark time I would've fed off her terror. Now I felt extremely sorry for her.

"I'm uh... I'm guessing I should probably explain myself," I said. She didn't respond. "We need to get back to camp. There's a lot more of them," I waved towards the now dead Zigerians. "We need to get off planet as soon as we can."

Ana slowly rose to her feet and with a final look at me, move to Idrick's side. The one thing I had admired most about her was her ability to push everything aside and focus on the task at hand. She quickly checked the Twi'lek's pulse.

"He..." she stopped and swallowed. "He's stable, they only stunned him."

I nodded and pulled him onto my shoulders. Together we headed back to our temporary home.