In a small village on the planet Shilli, there were screams and shouts that echoed through the dark night. Fire spread quickly and smoke poured into the dark sky. Terror was everywhere. Bombs exploded, guns went off; it seemed to be the apocalypse. The raiding pirates were merciless in their killings, killing all in their way. A loud sound from a horn rippled through the night. Near the edge of the village was a smallish hut: reed for its roof and a long piece of cloth for a door. Inside, there were murmurs.

"Must you leave and help a lost cause" the female Togruta asked worriedly.

"The horn has been blown. It is my duty as a warrior of the clan" her husband explained urgently. "Take her with you and leave here if I am not back within the hour" he continued. A small Togruta infant, no more than 2 years, waddled toward him. Her eyes were wide, arms outstretched and a large smile on her face. He bent down and picked her up.

"Little one, you must help your mother and keep safe" he slowly said to the child before setting her back down and picking up his spear.

The happy face of the child disappeared and soon she began to cry. The mother quickly picked her up to coddle it. The warrior, now at full height, was very tall and muscular and powerful, however, even with all his power, he knew it was not going to end well. Recently, pirates had discovered that they could easily take resources from Shili without much effort. The tribes had recently met and decided to make a stand against them, but it was too late. Before they could meet again and discuss strategies, the pirates had attacked. Now each tribe would have to defend themselves. Taking one last look at his family: his wife, and his daughter, the warrior exited the hut.

The mother and her child waited for him, but at the hour, she quickly grabbed some necessities, the child and left through the back door. They had to cut across the village in order to get to the main path and continue down it until they reached the neighboring village, where they would seek protection. This would prove to be a more difficult feat as the village was being pillaged by the pirates and scorched by the fires. The female Togruta silently shed a few tears as they made their way through. They were lucky to get through the main part of the village undetected, but that was when their luck ran out. A patrol had detected them.

"Where do you think you're going? Back to the pen you go!" A rough looking Weequay pirate shouted as he pointed a gun at them. He grabbed her arm violently and pulled her back into the burning village and put them with the other women and children. The mother wept more when she saw the body of her husband-warrior on the ground, not moving. Before the night was over, a big cargo ship landed a few yards away from the pen. The pirates rounded up the prisoners and forced them onto the ship and into the dark hold. Now in shackles, the women, children and elderly of the Togrutian village were bound to their unfortunate fate.

A blue Jedi fighter exited out of hyper-drive and emerged into the system, in front of the Shilli planet. Inside the fighter was Master Plo Koon, who had been sent on a solo mission to investigate the pirate attacks and put a stop to the chaos.

These attacks had been increasing over the past few months, and rumors of an alliance between the pirates and the Trade Federation began to spread. The Council decided that a diplomatic meeting with the Trade Federation would stop whatever activities with the pirates, however, the Trade Federation denied the rumors of working with pirates, instead stating that they were working with honest business people. It was concluded that if the Trade Federation was going to continue their "business," it would be up to the Jedi to stop the pirates and prevent any more destruction. To make matters worse, the piracy group, Red Skull, had helped Red Sun in the Stark Hyperspace Wars, and was therefore, a threat to the peace of the Galaxy. Now they were bargaining with the Trade Federation. Currently, Red Skull was facing internal problems as their leader had died during a recent raid, and all the other members were fighting to become the sole leader of the organization. Hagns, had won, and was now beginning to rebuild the organization, but it was still fairly weak. It was a good opportunity to strike the organization and bring it down.

His ship zoomed into the planet's atmosphere and landed at the port.

"R4, stay here and watch the ship."

The droid beeped in response. The Jedi Master then proceeded to rent a speeder bike, for local transportation. His first area of investigation would a small remote village 300 miles out.

-3 hrs later-

Master Koon arrived to a ruined village: there were scorch marks on the ground and most of the huts had burned down. Bodies still lay on the ground, remains of the slaughter that took place a few nights ago. The air was still filled with smells of scorched earth, and the sky was still gray from the smoke. He carefully examined what was left of the village, hoping to find something that would lead him to the band of pirates. As he passed through the main area, he noticed movement. He quickly ran over to the dying warrior. The tall and muscular Togruta warrior beckoned the Jedi master closer. Master Koon leaned forward and placed his ear near the Warrior's mouth. He said something in his native language that translated to

"Big ship...giant skull...free prisoners"-this was all Plo could make out as he only understood a little of the Togruta language from Master Ti. The warrior then let his head roll to the side and let out one last waning word from his mouth: "Ahsoka." At last, the big warrior closed his eyes and passed. Plo stood up and bowed his head in respect. He pulled out a holo-communicator, and instantly, the holographic images of Masters Windu and Yoda appeared.

"What is the situation there Master Plo" Windu asked.

"Absolute chaos. The villagers have been massacred, the village in ruins and the pirates have taken everyone. No doubt to be sold off into slavery" Plo responded, "I will follow the ship and hopefully arrest Hagns and put an end to this."

"Be careful you should. Hmm, a friend you will make" Yoda added.

"Thank you Master Yoda, I will heed your advice. Farewell Masters and may the Force be with you" Plo finished before turning off the device.

The cell was a small rectangular room; there wasn't enough space for all the captives. Togruta women, children and elderly were forced into the small cell to await their fates. A Lannik pirate walked by the cell carrying a medium sized wooden crate.

"Here's yer grub" he grunted and tossed in scraps of rotten food into the metal prison. The prisoners immediately rushed to the food and began to devour it. The little Togruta began to reach for a scrap but her mother stopped her. The child looked up in confusion. "Bad" was what her mother said. Even though the pirates provided food, the prisoners would most likely die from it because it was rotten. Days past and everyone began to get sick either from starvation or disease from the rotten food.

The ship finally landed on a distant outer rim planet, Taris. This was the first stop where the pirates would begin to sell off their "merchandise". The pirates returned to the mass cell and began to force everyone out. The mother, knowing something bad was going to happen, hid her child in the space she created by loosening some screws. The child began to cry, but her mother told her to stay quiet and that she would be back shortly. The child watched through a crack, as her mother and other prisoners were forced out of the cell. She waited for what seemed like eternity for her mother's return, but she never saw her again. The ship started up again, and soon she felt the craft lifting off into space once more, but this time she was alone.

Having received the ship's description and current whereabouts from an old friend, Master Plo continued to search for the ship. Apparently, the ship was heading toward Tatooine to pick up more cargo. He put his ship into hyperdrive and zoomed off to the desert planet. Once there, he put on a beige cloak he had borrowed and lifted the hood over his head-he didn't need to attract any attention. Knowing that there would be a good chance that there would be talk at Mos Eisley Cantina, he proceeded there to find out information on where the pirates planned to dock their ship. He entered the Cantina, and found that the lively music made his visit quite enjoyable. It was bustling with people of all sorts. He had only been to Tatooine once with his beloved Master Tyvokka years before, and had forgotten how hot it was. He took a seat at a bar and ordered a drink to cool him off. As he waited, he listened quietly to conversations and tapped into other's minds to see if could find the location of that ship.

"I'll wager you two slaves for-"

"Can you believe what he did? I mean, just whipped out his gun and pointed it at me like I was some stranger-"

"Should I get another drink?-"

"So, you ready for selling tonight? Been told that they're willing to buy for a good price. Can't believe my luck too-I just picked up a good one-he'll go for a nice sum. Yeah, so I'll see you at the old port-you know, the abandoned one right next to the scrap pile."

Satisfied, Master Plo decided to finish his drink before proceeding to investigate; he time anyways before they landed. When he had finished his drink, he left a tip and left the Cantina. He went back into his ship and took off.

Ahsoka began to feel the ship slow down as it began to descend into the port. She was extremely hungry at that point, as she had not had anything to eat except a few roots her mother had left her. Mother, I wish you were here. Where are you? She asked herself, but she sensed that her mother would never return to the living world. Although an infant, Ahsoka was intelligent for her age-she knew she would have to wait to mourn for her parents, now she had to get out of here. The Lannik pirate came to into the cell to inspect it, while Ahsoka held her breath and waited. A shout had come from above, and the pirate immediately left, leaving the cell door partially open. Ahsoka came out of her hiding spot tentatively and sneaked out of the the cell and into the main compartment of the hangar and found another hiding spot underneath a box. She peaked out through a hole and watched some pirates get back onto the ship with more prisoners. She let a small gasp. Suddenly, one of the pirates strode slowly to her hiding place-he must have heard her. She closed her eyes and waited

-Meanwhile-

He landed his ship in the port and walked to the other side to where the pirate ship was. Master Plo reached the ship and carefully slipped behind some guards. He hid behind a crate and watched as village people were being forced to get on the ship and into darkness. A few moments later, he saw Hagns. The pirate leader was talking to one of his men, and was apparently not happy with him. They were now about to board the ship, it was time to act. Plo forced jumped to a balcony and then jumped down, landing softly, behind the pirate leader.

"Hagns, you are under arrest for piracy and the disturbance of the peace within the Galaxy" Master Koon said, keeping his hand on his lightsaber for caution.

The Twi'lek pirate turned around with a smile upon his face. He wore and eye patch over his right eye-a war flag.

"So the Jedi have finally caught up with me; I was wondering how long it was going to take. You see Jedi, I have been tracking all ships that were taking the same route as my ship-to keep and eye on business, but I found that one of them took the exact same route and was not a cargo ship. I thought, well this is interesting. I had one of my informants tell me that a Jedi was looking of information of my whereabouts. The bottom line: I had a feeling someone would show up soon."

"Hands above you head" Plo continued. The Twi'lek did so slowly.

"You must think that this is obviously too easy for you. Why would I simply give myself up so easily."

It was true, Plo had thought about it and figured it very strange. He carefully stepped behind the pirate and began to bring his cuffs out. Just then, a load explosion came from the building, and Master Plo had to take cover from the flying debris. When he got up, he realised the the pirate had also taken cover, but was now running toward his ship, which was beginning to take off. Master Koon immediately followed and managed to force jump his way in the ship's hangar before the door shut.

"R4, track the ship and follow" he said into his com-link. He was about to proceed to the control room when he felt another presence-a force sensitive one.

Ahsoka continued to wait patiently under her crate with her eyes closed. She had felt the ship start up once again, and felt it safe to open her eyes. Tentatively, she opened them and witnessed someone else hop onto the ship. Her fear and anxiety heightened when the stranger started walking toward her. She couldn't see much, although he looked scary with his mask and robes. She decided she was going to do her best to fight off the stranger and try to get away. She waited.

He neared the crate and crouched down to gently lift the crate up. Before he had fully taken the crate off, he realized that it was a Togruta infant. The child looked back at him, about to launch her self at the stranger, but stopped because something inside of her sensed that the stranger was not going to hurt her. He reached out to her, but she backed away. He decided to get coerce the young Togruta to safety before continuing his mission.

"Do not worry young one, I will not hurt you. My name is Plo, what is yours?"

The child looked a little confused, but finally said "Ahsoka."

"Well Little Soka, would you like something to eat? You look hungry." He reached into his robes and pulled out some cookies: a snack he had saved for later on, but he knew the child was in need of them more than he was. He gently opened the package and handed it to her. Ahsoka cautiously took the package and began eating quickly. So this is what the great warrior had meant, this small infant must have been a relative of hers. Once she had finished eating, she stood up and faced the strange-looking person. He looked a bit scary, but she could sort of see that he was smiling behind is mask. He then spoke again.

"Little Soka, how would you like to come with me and go to a nice place?" He knew that since the child was alone, and didn't come with the Tatooine prisoners, she was probably and orphan. He would take her to the temple to get her checked and see if she could train in the Jedi ways. But for now, he had his mission. Ahsoka thought about it: she had no father, or mother any more-perhaps the stranger would give her a good life. She nodded her head to say, yes.

"Good, but first I must do something." He tapped his com-link. "R4, fly my ship into the hangar. Yes I know it's not part of the plan, but things have changed. Thank you." Soon enough, the blue fighter landed in the hangar. Plo picked up the child and placed her inside the cockpit.

"Wait here, I will be back shortly. R4, look after the ship and the young one." The droid beeped in response.

"I know you're not programmed to do it, but just keep an eye out and let me know of anything."

Satisfied, the Jedi master took off for the control room.

Ahsoka waited patiently in the ship. Fascinated with all bright buttons, she began to press them, but nothing happened. Having become quickly bored, she looked around, opened hatches and compartments. Once compartment in particular pleased her: it had many packages of snacks. She looked around to see if the coast was clear, and then delved into the them. She couldn't see beyond the dashboard without standing up, and as curious as she was, she stood up. The hangar was clear, nothing exciting was going on. She turned around and saw the entrance to the hangar and the deep space that lay beyond. The stars were twinkling brightly as if they were inviting her to join them in their play, and yet the void seemed so dark and cold. Ahsoka stared a while with her large eyes, but became bored again. She sat back down in the seat, still slowly munching the cookie.

Master Plo reached the control room, but was faced with a guard. The guard, raised weapon and began firing. The Jedi master dodged the shots and hit a pressure point to knock the guard out. He entered the control room, but his cover was blown, some more pirates were waiting for him inside with their weapons drawn. He too drew his weapon, ready to defend himself. As the pirates were advancing, Plo moved around the control room and saw Hagns dead on the floor. The onslaught caught the Jedi master by surprise as he began deflecting shots and dodging punches. He knocked many of his assailants out, one of which landed on the navigation computer and turned the ship to head straight for a meteor belt. The Jedi master saw this and quickly knocked more pirates out, but his main goal was to get back to the hangar and get off the ship before it hit the meteors and exploded.

Ahsoka was happy: she had finished all of the snacks and was now savouring the last cookie. Once she finished it, she frowned and was disappointed when she couldn't find any more. Suddenly the stranger came running back. He lifted her so that she was now sitting on his lap and then started up his fighter. The cockpit closed and the ship lurched forward. Ahsoka watched as the ship lifted and zoomed out of the bigger ship, which now was crashing into some big rocks. Once out of danger, Plo put the ship on auto pilot and Ahsoka watched the big ship burst into flames as it broke into small pieces. She turned her head to face the strange looking person, who she now considered a friend and food source. She said something that translated to "more yummies?"'Plo understood what she was saying and reached into his robes to hand her another package of cookies.

"I have a feeling that the cafeteria will be on a shortage of cookies for a while" he chuckled. The ship continued to head for its destination: Corusant. Ahsoka contently munched on her cookie and watched as the stars went by. She wondered if her parents were amongst the stars.

When they had landed, Plo lifted the small girl out of the cockpit and gently set her down on the ground. She held his hand as they entered the temple. As she walked through the halls and climbed stairs she sensed that this magnificent place was going to be her new home. They entered through a large door, and Master Plo guided her to the center of the room and stood beside her, looking at the rest of the council.

"Found someone you have, Master Plo" Master Yoda inquired.

"Yes, I believe she is force-sensitive. I have taken a blood sample" he said as he handed Master Windu the small vial. Master Windu proceeded to insert the vial into his hand-held computer.

"You are right Master Koon, her midi-chlorian levels are indeed very high" Master Windu responded.

"Then she will be trained" Master Plo asked.

"Hmm, a good future I sense in her" Master Yoda said.

"What is your name" Master Ti asked in the Togruta native language.

"Ahsoka Tano" the child answered. Master Ti continued to ask questions, clearly it was a test of some sort the child thought. Ahsoka answered all the questions honestly, as best as she could. Finally, Master Yoda spoke again.

"Young one, answer honestly you do. Be trained as a Jedi, you will be."

The child smiled. She found her friend's hand again and looked up. Master Plo was smiling down at her, she could tell and that made her happy. It was beginning of one of the most special bonds she would have with any other Jedi.

/Thanks for your time! Read and Review please so that I can become a better writer and write better stories for you!/

/Author's note: I believe there was something about pirates in Ahsoka's story, so at least I may not be completely off ;) /