Anakin came out slowly. "Thank you for saving him."

The doctor nodded, smiled, looking strained. "I'm glad I could help."

Anakin sensed her concern, her reluctance to ask. He pulled out some credits. "Will these hold you over? I've got more coming."

"Oh. Yes. Thank you." She smiled tiredly. "I wish I could make do with just trade, like some do."

"Water and bacta are expensive." Anakin nodded. "So is droid maintenance. Let me know if I can help. I'm good at fixing things."

Her eyes widened. "Oh. Thank you very much..." She hesitated. "The vaporator is malfunctioning...could you fix that? The water wouldn't be so expensive if I didn't have to keep replacing what the vaporator normally supplies."

"Let me at it."

She smiled at this and showed him the way.

The vaporator work quickly left him hot and soaked in sweat. He wondered how much water he was losing, trying to get the machine to collect water working. But it was a good feeling. Machines he could handle. And he felt a strong connection to his mother and son in doing it. Luke had spent his childhood cursing at these machines. That thought brought an amused smile to his face. Eventually the lights turned green and the machines input and output reading increasing to normal levels. He sat back on the sand, one hand still lightly bouncing the hydrospanner on his palm. The sky overhead was an overarching, overpowering blue. The twins suns blasted down with a powerful glare. He wished solving his Hutt problem was going to be half as easy.

Ahsoka arrived first. She was using regular transport and hitched a ride on a freighter to Mos Eisley. From there, she made her way to Anchorhead.

"Where's Obi-Wan's place?" She asked, peering out the hotel window.

"Way out by the Jundland Wastes. I just moved in here to keep an eye on Balinak's recovery."

Ahsoka looked back at him, half sitting, half lying, one boot on the bed. "Obi-Wan wants me to negotiate with Rotta."

"I know." Anakin said, rolling his eyes.

"Don't be so enthused." She said, dryly.

"Sorry. It would be great if it worked. But Rotta has grown into a miniature Jabba. And we know how that turned out. And Luke and Leia were only trying to free Han, not a bunch of people, just one."

Ahsoka was silent for a moment. "He's not little 'Stinky' anymore."

"Now he's not-so-little Stinky. Actually, given his age in Hutt terms, it'll probably be even worse. Think spoiled hutt at the terrible youngling stage..."

She folded her arms. "I wish I believed it would work. Does it bother you that you don't really want it too?"
"What makes you think I don't want it too?"

"You hate hutts. You want our people safe, but you don't care about Rotta."

Anakin opened his mouth, closed it again. Ahsoka was very perceptive. It was unfair to lie to her, or himself. "One thing I'll acknowledge the Jedi were right about. When you take someone old enough to remember and have a history, you get their baggage too. I haven't forgotten it was a hutt that owned my Mother and I."

"But..." She chewed her lip, hesitating. "Why..." she ventured slowly, "were you willing to deal with them as Vader?"

"I didn't unless I was ordered to." Anakin glanced at the door, checking for any passerby who might overhear more than was good for them. "And in the case of Captain Solo, I was dealing with Boba Fett, not Jabba."

"So..." she returned back to the mission. "I go in and negotiate, you go in undercover and try and let them know what's up and get them weapons...this is similar to what they did to free Captain Solo."

"Only with a lot more people to break out. And do we have a plan to get them out of the palace?"

"We have help coming. We can finalize the details then. Actually...when can Balinak travel? Could we take him to Obi-Wan's?"

"The doctor said he might travel tomorrow. But even then, he needs to stay out of the heat and keep well hydrated. No strenuous exercise."

"Well, if we go in your ship, he'll be out of the heat. Is it cool in the house?"

"Tolerable, but it depends on the time of day. I only just got the cooling unit working before all the action started."

"Tomorrow then."

Anakin agreed, feeling a touch of pride rising. She had grown into a smart, talented Jedi leader. He was honored to have been involved in that.

"Oh by the way..." She tossed him a holo chip. "Padme sent you a message."

Anakin's eyes lit up. The message was personal, nothing more dramatic then well wishes and sending her love. But his heart lifted at the sight of her. As busy as her work kept her, she found time to remember him stuck on this rock. The thought made him smile.

The next day, Anakin went and retrieved Balinak. "We'll travel in my ship, so it'll be quick."

"Now remember. It's very hard in this heat, but you must stay hydrated. Do be careful." The doctor urged Balinak.

"Thank you, ma'am. I won't forget you saved my life."

"You can thank me by taking care of it."

They started walking to Anakin's ship.

"Balinak, this is Ahsoka Tano. She was my padawan."

Balinak gasped. "You're the Chosen One! Anakin Skywalker! Jobee said that Ahsoka's master was Anakin Skywalker!" Until now, the name 'Anakin' hadn't clicked.

"Oh please don't call me that...just call me Anakin. Please." Anakin was wincing at the title, a painful reminder of his failure to bear a terrible burden.

"I remember you, Ahsoka, by name at least. Jobee speaks of you often."

"I've missed him. How is he?"

"Well. Except for being locked in Rotta and Gorga the Hutt's lair."

"We can solve that." She replied as the ship dropped to the sands outside Obi-Wan's small house. They all trooped out and inside. Anakin hurried to flip on the cooling system. He ran back out to throw the camo back on the ship and then went straight back in and shut all the doors and windows.

Balinak sat by the cooling vent. It caused a very slightly fishy odor to swirl through, an odd scent in a desert dwelling.

"So, we need a plan. We do have more help coming. Luke is coming with Rogue Squadron. Han and Leia are too busy out trying to convince Commenor to throw support to the Republic."

"These are Alliance members?" Balinak's eyes swiveled.

Anakin glanced around, pursing his lips and finally looked at Ahsoka. She smirked at him. "May as well tell him."

"Luke is my son."

Balinak's jaw dropped.

"Yes, I broke code. But he is a Jedi, trained by Obi-Wan. Rogue squadron is the top Alliance fighter squadron."

Balinak cocked his head and swiveled his eyes. "But a fighter squadron fights in space. How will they fight on the ground?"

"They're pretty versatile. Getting more so, in fact." Ahsoka propped one boot on the seat, eyes shifting to the trunk next to her. "What's in this?"

"No idea." Anakin answered, lost in thought.

"I don't think Obi-Wan would mind if you looked. Maybe he'd want us to bring what's in it."

Anakin glanced up, as she flipped the lid. Balinak's eyes slid half shut, already tired out. "Why don't you lie down? Bunk's in there."

"Thank you." Balinak hurried to lay down, hand pressing the still healing side.

Ahsoka's eyes were wide. They darted to look up at him, then back to the trunk. Her hand dipped in and came out holding a string of beads. Her jaw worked.

"Hey isn't that?"

"My padawan beads..." She whispered, puzzled. Her eyes turned to look in the trunk and Anakin joined her.

He gulped, withdrawing a black river stone. "Hold it."

She gasped. "I feel it in the Force. It's Force sensitive!"

"Qui-Gon gave it to him. And he passed it on to me." And now it was here in the trunk. He turned to look back in. A few assorted pieces of clothing, a box containing lightsaber components, a datapad with a lock and explosive wired to it. His brows rose at that and he looked at Ahsoka. She returned the look. He looked in again. A manual on the Jedi code...one of the few hard copies that was passed down for generations and loaded with comments from previous owners. Ahsoka squeaked. It had been hers last, and before that Anakin's. Finally, two datareaders that left Anakin gasping. One was his padawan journal. It was extremely private, though it wasn't uncommon for a student to share with his Master.

"Hey! My padawan journal." Ahsoka took the other.

"Amazing. He found time to retrieve this stuff on the run."

"He just had to hit your quarters. You kept my padawan beads." She smiled. "And my journal...did you read it?"

"Of course I kept it. And no, I didn't read it. I was tempted, but I didn't."

Anakin stared at his journal, wondering if Obi-Wan had read or watched it. Personal or no, after he'd fallen his master would've had every reason to delve into his psyche and try and figure out what went wrong. Of course, the most damning stuff he'd never commit to a recording or datafile.

Ahsoka sniffed and gave a faint smile. "He is so busted. He'll never live it down, the old sentimentalist."

Anakin laughed. "We've got him, don't we?" He looked around, lips turning down. "It's painful to think this is all he had for so long. Memories of good times stained by...what I became."

She laid a hand on his shoulder. "He's happy now." She scrutinized him. "And you are too, aren't you?"

"Pretty much, yes." Much happier. His love for Padme no longer a secret. His family together, working for the same goals. Obi-Wan and Ahsoka by his side. He had life better than he would've dared dream. And he knew it was far more than he deserved.

"I say we load it up."

"Agreed."


The Rogues had hidden their X-Wings along with a freighter nearby. The freighter belonged to Mirax Terrik, an old friend of Antillies. Most of the pilots stayed in the canyon, on the lookout for scavengers. It would do no good to have a plan ready only to find their ships stripped.

The hut was crowded. Luke, Antillies, Ahsoka and Anakin were formulating their plan. Mirax had joined them.

"I can do it." She said firmly.

"I think I should do it." Wedge said.

"You have the skills but not the looks. You look like a military pilot. You've got that bearing now."

"And you have the looks? You're hardly a scarred hardened slave driver."

"No, I'm the daughter of Booster Terrik and I know plenty of slavers. I don't work with them, but I've encountered them and rubbed shoulders with people that have."

Wedge looked uneasy. He looked at the others.

"Well, I'm negotiating, so I'm definitely out." Ahsoka said, arms crossed.

"And I'm too well known." Luke said.

They looked at Anakin. "Don't look at me. I can't even pretend I think he'll negotiate, or that I'm comfortable dealing with hutts."

"You could pretend. I've seen you pretend." Ahsoka pointed out.

"Sure. Long enough to rescue Rotta to secure hyperspace routes for the Republic. And look how much good that's done us in the long run!"

"Really. I'll be fine." Mirax said firmly. "I'll insist on seeing them outside...which is a reasonable request because inspecting merchandise" she winced at applying that to living beings, "Is not something you want to do in the dark. Which that palace is."

"So can we sure he'll do it by the front gate though?" Ahsoka was doubtful.

"Likeliest place. Easiest for him, not having to transport them and right where all his guards are." Luke observed.

"If he has any sense, he'll make sure he has snipers and guards all around." Wedge noted. "If we attack from the outside, they'll have the prisoners penned in. Or they can mow them down rather than let us free them."

"Most likely try and force them back inside." Anakin noted. "Killing them doesn't profit him. I can keep between the door and them though. If I can get that door shut and jam the mechanism, they won't be able to yank them back in."

"That leaves the problem of them shooting them rather than letting them go. Do you think there's anyway to get them weapons?"

Anakin's brows rose thoughtfully. He frowned, thinking. He turned to Balinak, who was listening silently. "Did you have any weapons besides Master Soffran's lightsaber?"
"We all had training sabers."

"If I could locate the training sabers, and sneak them to them, they should be able to deflect weapon fire at least." He looked at Balinak, who nodded agreement. "We never passed initiate stage. But we've had basic training in blaster bolt deflection."

"Wouldn't that be conspicuous? No offense, but if they're all dressed like him, it would be nearly impossible to hide the weapons." Mirax nodded to Balinak, who still largely wore rags. They had offered him new clothes, but he'd decided to wait until the other's were freed.

Anakin's eyes shifted to the ceiling, than frowned as a whisper of sand drifted across the room, blown by a light breeze. His eyes widened suddenly.

"Bury them. We have to get him to use the area we select to show them outside. But if we do that, then we can bury the weapons just under a layer of sand. As soon as the shooting starts they can call them up."

Anakin was back in disguise and prowling the palace first. He found the training sabers before Ahsoka arrived. A nikto was turning one over and over, studying it while his companion in the armory drank a local brew. Anakin used the Force to drop a knock out drug in, encouraging the one to get even more groggy with sleep. The nikto looked up in surprise as the other fell into the drink, snoring. His finger hit the activation stud and the training saber lance out, hitting his eye. Anakin winced in sympathy and hurried in. "Here, mate, let me help. Quick, take some painkillers until you can see a medic."

The nikto was too desperate to question. The drugs knocked him out instantly.

Anakin slapped a patch from a medkit on his belt over the eye. "Let that be a lesson to you. Don't mess with Jedi weapons." He quickly loaded the training sabers into a satchel. Finally, behind them, he found Rei Soffran's lightsaber. Rotta's dimwitted crew hadn't recognized the difference. He started to put it in the satchel, hesitated, and slid it into his pocket next to his instead.

He hurried out and took a place near the throne room's arch, listening. He wrinkled his nose at the odor of the hutt.

Ahsoka was talking to Rotta. "I saved your life once."

"Only what is owed a hutt." Anakin could feel her resisting the urge to roll her eyes. One hand was on her hip. A satchel was on her other arm. "Rotta, the Jedi are returning to the galaxy and so is the Republic. Why make an enemy, when it's so easy to make an ally? Returning their lost ones would make you a hero to them, to us, and being a hero has material benefits."

The hutt pondered this, with a frown, seriously considering the financial gain. Finally it shook the bulbous head slightly. "I would make enemies of the Empire. By selling them, I stay neutral. Can you buy them?" He had a stubborn pout in his voice, and an attitude that he was repeating what he'd heard other hutt's words. Young, Anakin realized. Rotta was trying to play the full grown hutt but didn't have the maturity to pull it off.

Ahsoka frowned. "The Republic's money is tied up in war."

"I know that your Republic will make things hard for us hutt's to do business."

"Illegal business. Immoral business, like slavery. There are plenty of legitimate ones."

The hutt snorted. "Not as profitable. And I do not forget it is your allies that killed my Father." Rotta's eyes gleamed suddenly. "There is one thing I will trade your people for."

Anakin held his breath, which had the side benefit of blocking the stench. He could feel an ominous danger in the hutt's words.

"Tell them I will trade your people for the ones who killed my father. The princess, Skywalker, Solo and the wookiee."

Anakin ground his teeth at the obvious deal breaker. He could imagine what cruelty the hutt had in mind for his family. Any sympathy for it's youth vanished.

"We can't do that."

"Then I will keep these slaves! Go!" The hutt ran a tongue over it's lips, but it was an uncertain gesture. "Before I decide you should join them."

Ahsoka stormed out. Anakin could feel her wrestling with outrage. Her fists were clenched as he moved in as if to escort her. A quick Force check revealed no-one near. She glanced aside at him as he casually and as they passed through a shadow, traded the innocuous bag for the one with the training sabers. Her satchel was very light. "Took the cash, I take it?"

"Of course they did. Fee for an audience." She nodded. She stepped out into the night and he stopped at the door, sucking in deep breaths of clean desert air. Then he had to turn back to the shadows.

Mirax was next up. "I need to buy a few slaves for a big operation." She said. She'd already impressed the hutt with her credentials.

"You can select from our dungeon if you are willing to pay the price."

"Dungeon? Really, Rotta, for the kind of prices you want, I want to inspect them outside in the light to choose."

The young hutt glowered at her.

"What? You can't keep a few slaves under control right by your own front door?"

"Of course I can! It is inconvenient."

"Why? It's not like a powerful young hutt like you is doing the guard duty."

"I have people looking into buying them already." He lied.

She put her hands on her hips. "The whole lot? You know, you act like your afraid of something. You worried about a rescue? Do their people know who took them?"

"No." The hutt lied again. "I have no fears of petty human sympathizers and the anti slave rabble. Fine. Inspect the merchandise. They will be brought out under guard. But take care, smuggler. If you twitch wrong and try and steal them, I will make you a slave with them!"

to be continued