Ch1

The Gozanti class cruiser veered sharply left and right as it came down through the volatile atmosphere of the planet known for its twin suns and endless sand. Inside the hull the pilot clenched his teeth as he attempted to maneuver his damaged cruiser the planet's atmosphere wreaking havoc on his shuttles shields and damaged armoring. He was coming in too hot, something had to be done and soon. Fiddling with the controls he veered his vessel towards the left banking it up as he attempted to gain some altitude and some control back over the shuttle. The engines screeched hideously as the ship was now all but on a collision course to crash into the surface of the planet below. The pilots eyes widened in cold horror as he attempted to reign in his fear at his fate as the controls failed to respond to his commands and somewhere in the background another engine died in an explosion that racked the ship violently. The last thing the pilot saw before impact was the never ending and vast expanse of Tatooine's sands before his world went dark.

Crimson eyes opened blearily as the pilot groaned in pain, pain being the first thing registering in the peripheral of his mind. Pain and the sense of weakness and confusion. The Chiss shifted cautiously feeling sand under himself as he realized he was lying sprawled on his back at an odd angle. He winced cursing under his breath as sharp cold pain shot through his left arm and abdomen. The first course of action would have been to assess his injuries and the state of his ship but he was too out of it to even do that. After a brief struggle willpower won out and he was able to focus his eyes for several moments as he took in the wreckage that was his ship. The majority of it lay towards his right the shuttle itself broken about and around him as several small fires were gradually dying down under the merciless heat of the twin suns now high in the sky. He calculated it to be high noon before his body won out and he was plunged back into a scalding sort of darkness filled with memories of death and pain.

It was night when he awoke once more a cool breeze tickling his senses and caressing his face and hair. The glowing crimson eyes took in the vast expense of sand and nothingness before Thrawn pushed himself up on one arm and then rose unsteadily to his feet. Scavenging for a med pack was a bit difficult given the ship was all but spare parts, however his diligence was rewarded and he unearthed the medkit by the five to six clock mark where the small medbay of the ship was, now half buried in sand. The digging only took several minutes and once he reached the sectioned off compartments he was able to reach the bacta and apply generous amounts of bacta patches to the various wounds he sported the worst of them a chunk of metal that went through the fleshy part of his left arm between the shoulder and elbow the shrapnel going right through his bicep and triceps. Biting hard on a piece of cloth he eased the chunk of metal out carefully hissing lowly as he did so before quickly and methodically applying bacta to the wound. Swallowing several pills against bacterial blood poisoning he wanted to move on to do some basic inventory recovery but two steps later dizziness overcame him. He broke his fall using the side of the medbed which was broken in half but not buried in the sand only to sink to his knees and then proceed to passing out.

The third time he awoke it was high noon. He could tell it was so because of the suns position and the amount of relative heat which was given off. Pushing through the sand that nearly buried him calculating eyes snapped open sharply as a headache pounded behind his eyes from lack of water and sustenance. Finding the food compartment was all too easy now that his wounds had ceased screaming. Chugging down half a standard ration of water in one go Thrawn assessed his surroundings, it was mostly desert but he knew the planet to be inhabited. Stripping the ships computer of the basic navigation equipment and powering it up with the spare power cells aboard the mostly intact left side of his ship it took him several minutes to triangulated his planetside position. He was only several clicks away from Mos Espa one of the few settlements on Tatooine and also home to the scum and villainy that operated in this sector. Fortunately the black suns did not operate on this particular planet and with his mission accomplished he supposed the setback of either commandeering a ship or calling for an imperial pick up was inconsequential in the bigger picture. Putting on the helmet that completed his mandalorian ensemble blasters included Thrawn sighed in relief at the inner cooling system mild as it was kicked in. It alleviated some heat he was beginning to feel ill from. Pulling out his holo he put through a call to Imperial High Command only to be left with garbled static, turning the transmitting device over and determining that the wires and inner interface was burnt out he pocketed it once more. So… extraction was no longer an option, at least not until he could repair his holo. Regardless it was time to move; in fact it was fortunate no predator had come upon him yet. After making several circuits of the wreck and determining that most of the inner hull and its contents were useless he stuffed a standard survival pack with what he had left of the bacta patches and standard rations before trudging off west towards the city that had by far and large held little interest for both the Republic that had once stood and the Empire which now ruled the galaxy.

-0-0-0-

In the streets of Mos Espa inside a repair shop a young boy fiddled with several wires on a serving droid he was fixing.

"Poodoo!" A wire fizzled to life in his hands and he bounced it around like he did when he had taken a bun that his mother had made straight from the stove. Anakin smirked as the droid finally settled and he was able to untangle the mess of wires and circuitry that some e'chuta had broken in the last brawl at the cantina. It was off limits because Mom said so but it wasn't like he wanted to go there anyway. It was full of scumbags and all sorts of ch'booza big shots who had blasters and stepped all over anyone who didn't. There were more bounty hunters now though, it was because the Empire had taken over and the Emperor whoever he was hired them to kill those that supported the rebels who wanted the Republic back, that's what he'd heard anyway. It was all the same to him though, Mom said he'd been six when the Empire beat the Republic but either way he was still a slave. It was funny how the Republic said they were for the people and didn't do anything about the sleemo slaving Hutt's, and now the Empire said it was for the people and the Hutt's were still around. Mom said it was all politics and no one cared about no one, and that people should care but they were just so busy caring about themselves to care about anyone else. He had thought the Jedi would come and free him and Mom and come and free everyone but they didn't, and now the Jedi were all dead or almost all of them. One sleemo bounty hunter said he'd been hunting a Jedi but he didn't think a bounty hunter could really beat a Jedi. He furrowed his brow in concentration and it took him several more minutes to reset the wires. He was about to flick the droid back on to see if it was all good now only to suddenly look up as he heard someone entering the shop.

His eyes widened as he saw the most wizard looking alien approach him. He had blue skin and black blue hair but the most choobaz thing about him was his glowing red eyes. "Do you need something fixed sir?" He said as politely as he could wondering whether the man was a bounty hunter, he sure looked like one.

"My holo seems to have fried itself perhaps you can fix it?" The voice was smooth deep and accented. The holo changed hands and Anakin tried not stare as he saw blood seeping from the man's armor. The wounds looked painful. They also felt painful. That was something he could do, he could feel things, like that time when he saw a half dead ack and knew to stay away from it cuz it felt all wrong and something told him not to approach it. "Do you need some medical treatment sir? I may not be good at that but my Mom can help." It was harder to read the alien man, but he felt sick to Anakin, like he needed help.

A blue black eyebrow was raised at him. "Is she a Doctor?"

"Nah she's one of the healers in the town and all." He could feel the man wasn't interested but something told him that he needed this man to get help and while he couldn't read the alien he could feel his pain. It was hard to say but maybe when the man was better it be easier to tell what he was thinking. "There's gonna be a sandstorm soon it's gonna be a big one too, you should come to my place I'm sure Mom wouldn't mind." The man looked skeptical at the last part he said but Anakin new he had him. "I'm Anakin by the way Anakin Skywalker. It's nice to meet you." The man nodded absentmindedly but Anakin could tell he was the kind of person who'd remember. "Here, the inner wiring and stuff needs replacement and one of the chips is fried but I can fix it."

Anakin could see the man was pensive but after several minutes passed the holo back into Anakin's waiting hands. "How much will that cost?"

"You can pay in items or Regulator Notes, it be five notes for the wiring and thirty for a new interface chip."

The man looked pensive once more but after several moments of hesitation pulled out a thin hundred slip. Anakin was about to pay back the difference to the man but the man didn't move to take it. "Keep the change." This had him looking up suspiciously at the alien; no bounty hunter in their right mind overpaid by that much. "Consider it a down payment for the checkup." The answer surprised Anakin even more, he'd said nothing and yet the man knew what he had wanted to ask and had answered him. Not many people did that. In fact not many people looked him in the eye or payed attention to him as much as this strange alien did. To most he was just an annoyance but this bounty hunter if he even was that seemed genuinely interested in him.

"So are you hunting anyone?" The man was about to answer only for Watto to bluster in from the garage in the backyard of the shop much to his annoyance. He really wanted to know who the man was hunting. "Ah welcome welcome, I see another customer. How can I help you my good sir eh? Maybe you need a motivator or a capacitor eh?"

"Thank you but I have already been assisted." Anakin smirked as Watto came closer only to freeze at the man's armor.

"Imperial bounty hunter eh? We do everything legal here just so you know. We want no trouble."

"Of course not." The man soothed in, his voice smooth like he was pulling one over on Watto giving Anakin a sideways glance. The man's lips quirked into a thin smile as if letting him in on the joke and Anakin found himself grinning inside himself at how absurd the man made Watto sound.

But Watto didn't seem to care and continued blustering. "Well good good, if I can interest you in anything just ask away, I am always honored at serving the Empire."

"Yes of course, you don't happen to have a long range transmitter do you?"

"A long range transmitter eh? Ani go get the good man a transmitter." He scrambled off as Watto continued to praise his wares. Rummaging through several of the transmitters he pulled out several for the man to pick from before returning to the front of the shop.

"How much for the black and red one?" Surprised that the man had chosen the one that Anakin knew to have the longest range he inspected it as Watto named the price. "Oh that one eh? Made by Czerka very good transmitter. I give it to you for twelve thousand Regulator Notes." The price was a rip off, he was about to point that out but the man beat him to it.

"Four thousand and we have a deal." Watto was about to argue but the man's red eyes narrowed a hand hovering over his blaster and Watto acquiesced. "Four thousand ok, ok I am a fair man, I was just joking you know good joke, four thousand is fair price." The money changed hands and Watto was off to put away the large amount of credits in his safe leaving Anakin with the man once more.

"Why'd you let him cheat you like that?" Anakin asked as he led the man towards his house after he closed down the shop for the sandstorm.

"You are saying he would have settled for the items actual price?"

"Nah, but he might have, you made him scared. It was totally wizard." The man paused to look at him. "How do you know that?"

"I could tell and it wasn't the blasters either. It was your eyes."

"Really?" Anakin gripped the man's hand to pull him only to have the man flinch before allowing Anakin to pull him along. "Yeah it was pretty wizard, here's my house." He let himself in followed by the alien who at this point didn't look so good. His skin had turned a sea green and his red eyes were dimming. "Mom I brought a friend he needs help."

-0-0-0-

Shmi Skywalker was the kind of woman who aged well. Her short brown hair was pulled back into a bun, grey strands already touching it and indicating middle age. While the sparse wrinkles on her face and calloused hands spoke of a hard life and yet a kind heart despite that. She had been busy making dinner when Anakin had called her. She made her way quickly to see what sort of trouble her Ani had dragged in this time. Her eyes hovered over the alien leaning heavily by the doorway. But it wasn't his skin color or strange eyes that had given her pause but the mandalorian armor he was wearing.

"Mom, mom! We need to help him he's about to pass out." Throwing one of the bounty hunters arms over her shoulder she helped him over to a low cot that was in Anakin's small room. "Thank you." The alien murmured as she discarded him on the bed only to have her frown at the unmistakable cadence of a cultured imperial officer. Was he a deserter? She wondered what could possibly cause an imperial officer to don the armor of a bounty hunter, but in the end it didn't matter. He was ill and in need of assistance. The politeness of his tone despite knowing she was a slave also said much about the man. She hovered over some salves as Anakin unzipped the man's backpack to pull out three packs of bacta. A commodity so rare in the outer rims that she was almost hesitant to squander it on wounds that could be healed with herbal remedies when they could be used on men and woman who had seen far far worse than the wounds she was treating now.

She pulled of the armor pieces not expecting the man to stir so quickly when he did having just passed out only moments before. "My name is Shmi, I'm treating your wounds. You're safe now." The man in question did not appear frightened in the least or in need of comforting but she was so used to speaking in such a manner to the half-starved and abused slaves that were brought to her for treatment that the words came with a familiarity of long time use. For the longest time he did not speak as she treated him while Anakin ran off to seal the door and windows to the house. "It would help if I knew something about your species physiology." She said at length. His skin was a sea green but steadily morphing into a darker blue and she had little to no idea whether that was a good or a bad thing.

"Treat me as you would any human." He said at length. It was as good an answer as any; studying his relaxed face even as she treated him she was surprised at his youth. She could tell by the development of his jaw that he was almost an adult if she was going by human standards but the lack of any wrinkles or the like on the face spoke of a different story. "How old are you?" A standard medical question though one to alleviate her personal curiosity on the matter.

"Twenty standard, twenty five if you go by human years." She said nothing as she mulled over his youth and the cold and even calculating maturity that she felt radiating through his expression as his color returned and his labored breathing evened. Her mind returned to his armor at length but she knew better than to press such things. "I am no bounty hunter."

So he was an imperial…the answer surprised her but she only nodded in quick assent as she applied more bacta patches. She had seen many things in her long life and while this was indeed a strange situation she found herself in treating an imperial officer it was not the first time her kind Ani had brought in a man or woman in need. She didn't much like the Empire nor what it stood for but here in the outer rims it mattered little who ruled the planets of the inner and mid rim core. And she wasn't about to turn down a man simply because of his allegiances when he had done nothing but shown both trust and respect to her as she dressed his wounds.

At length her son returned after having brought in several rags she had washed and left to dry outside entering curiously to peer at the imperial officer. "You're blue again." She was about to reprimand Anakin for a comment that could be considered xenophobic and possibly offend the man but the officer merely shut his eyes tiredly before focusing his gaze on her Ani. "It appears I am."

Leaving the two to converse and leaving Anakin instructions on what to do should the imperial's condition worsen she left to go finish making dinner. As she resumed chopping the onions she wondered whether she and her son would ever be free. Some years ago a moisture farmer had offered to buy her out but she had refused for her young son. Her little Ani had been three at the time and too good a prospect for Watto to sell especially after Anakin began showing proficiency with electronic devices. But that had been seven years ago. Lars had loved her and she him but a man moved on, he'd tried he really did but in the end Watto refused to sell Anakin and so she had stayed with her son.

-0-0-0-

He rocked on the balls of his heels as he peered down at the alien looking man. "You feel a bit better. But it's weird cause I can't tell what you're thinking." A blue black eyebrow rose as he felt the man studying him. "You can tell what others are thinking?"

"Kind of yeah…"

"That sounds useful." The response surprised him, he didn't usually tell people he could tell what they were thinking it creeped them out. And if he did they'd ignore him cause he was just a kid but this bounty hunter was taking him seriously.

"So who're you hunting for?"

"Perhaps I have already finished my hunt." Yeah right.

"Wouldn't you have a body or something with you then?"

"What if my employer doesn't require a body for proof of my kill?" The man was smiling thinly.

Anakin scrunched up his nose in thought before grinning at how the man was trying to pull one over him, it was sort of funny. "That's just sloppy then, everyone knows you need a body."

"Maybe I took a holo of how I dismembered my victim and my employer was satisfied." Anakin studied the man contemplatively trying to focus his mind to read the man. He usually didn't need to concentrate so much…his grin widened.

"Nah you wouldn't do that."

"And why not?"

"It be a waste of time. A faster kill is more effective unless the whole violent death is to make a point. You know intimidation and all that."

The crimson eyes widened and suddenly he couldn't read the man's mind anymore at all. He tried asking the man more questions but the man stopped responding. He got the impression that the man was thinking deeply and then mom came and told him to let the man rest. Which was ok because he could ask the man with the choobaza eyes more questions when he awoke.

-0-0-0-

"How was your day Ani?" His mother seemed worried. He wasn't sure why but he was used to his mom worrying all the time.

"It was fine." Plopping down by the kitchen table he took his spoon and swirled the broth in it blowing on it so it would cool down a bit. "Sebulba needed his speeder fixed again. You'd think that sleemo would've crashed by now the way he's racing.

"Anakin!"

"What it's true! This is the fourth time and his thermal regulator was totally busted, again."

"Well then it's good that you fixed it."

"Yeah I guess."

"Did you ask our guest weather he was hungry?"

"Nah he said he ate his bounty so now he'll be full for a week. Then he fell asleep. He was joking I think…" He couldn't read the man after he'd read his mind the first time around which was weird…

"That man is not a bounty hunter Ani, he's an Imperial officer."

"What's he doing here? I mean it's not like the Empire came to free us? Did they?" Maybe the Empire cared I mean why shouldn't it? If the Emperor was as great as the holo channels of the Empire said then shouldn't he?

"Ani…no… that man isn't here to free us." He tried not to look disappointed but maybe…maybe he could ask the guy to free him and his mom? He had a choobaz amount of credits, it wasn't every day that someone just pulled out four thousand Regulator Notes like it was nothing, even Bounty Hunters haggled. He sighed as he ate his food in semi silence the loud sandstorm of Tatooine raging outside. It didn't matter how long it took he'd try to free himself and his Mom no matter what.

This was a plot bunny that I had. I was reading the Thrawn trilogy and a bit later inspiration struck. I am not sure how long this fic will be, if I get inspiration I will update. Otherwise I hope you enjoy what I have down thus far. Till next time!