Disclaimer: Disney owns Star Wars, not me. All the characters and places (except for my OC Analise) belong to them.

"aaaa"-talking out loud. "aaaa" (bold and italics)-talking through a holo or com.'aaaaa'-inner thoughts. aaaaa-talking through a Bond. "aaaa" (bold)-talking in another language. ("aaa") (bold, italics, and parenthesis)-talking through a holo or com in another language.

AN: I hope everyone had a great and blessed Easter:) Mine was great and a little bittersweet since it was the last Sunday I will be with my church family for about seven months. I actually leave for my summer job on April 8th! It's totally insane.

Plus I got the Last Jedi this past Tuesday and I have watched it at least three times (in between writing, packing, Old Republic, and getting a new computer)!

In my last chapter I mentioned the possibility of me taking a break and that is still in the cards though it might not be right away. The vast majority of Mackinac Island does not actually open for the season until April 26th, so the only thing I will be doing is getting the store ready which should leave me time to write. The next chapter might still be slightly delayed, but I'm not expecting that it will be. Just giving everyone a heads-up just in case.

Thank you xxTheTruMan196 for the review:) I was worried about how R2 My Hero would turn out as I found it a little bit more demanding to write.

Onto this week's exciting episode!

Mace and Anakin have returned to the Temple to heal and rest after the destruction of the Endurance. Things are quiet, but Boba Fett is still out there with vengeance and hatred burning in his heart...

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-Revenge is a confession of pain- Lethal Trackdown, Clone Wars Season Two

Chapter Thirty-Two: A Child's Revenge

Boba didn't feel great.

He didn't know why. Considering that they now had the means to lure Windu to them and end his life once and for all; well Boba knew that he should be happy, excitied even. Aurra and the others certainly were. Especially Aurra.

But then again his surrogate mother was just a tad more bloodthirsty than Bossk who, despite being a bounty hunter and not a more traditional Trandoshan hunter still believed in their ways. She was more certainly more bloodthirsty than Castas who was just a cowardly blob with more failures than kills until Aurra had pulled him into their group.

Boba still wasn't sure why she had wanted Castas and believed that the Klatooinian wouldn't last much longer.

Still, things were looking up and Boba would have his revenge soon. He just wasn't happy about it.

The boy shifted his seat a little, his eyes falling on the door at the back of the cockpit.

He knew what lay behind it. Their lures for Windu and maybe, just maybe they were the reason why he wasn't feeling that great.

Boba slipped from his seat, hoping that Aurra's sharp eyes wouldn't notice as he went to the door and opened it before ducking inside and letting it fall shut behind him.

Three men, three Clones knelt on the cold metal floor, bathed in red light. Their hands were bound and gags were tied tightly around their heads.

He did not know these men personally. Did not know what names they called themselves or things they liked to do when away from battle, but he knew their faces. Their faces were his face, the face of his father. The face his father would have had had his father not been struck drown by Windu in that bloody arena.

Still it was not their fault that Windu had struck down his father. That was all Windu. It had nothing to do with the Clones kneeling before him, eyes watching him to see what trick this young bounty hunter had up his sleeves.

Boba had no tricks. Instead he fell to his knees before the one on the middle. The oldest Clone who wore the uniform of Admiral with no small amount of pride even in a cage. Young, still unscarred and shaking hands gently tugged down at the gag until the Admiral's mouth was freed and he could breath a little easier. "You know Sir..." Boba paused as he unhooked a small canteen from his belt that was filled with water and held it up to the man's mouth so that he could drink. "This wasn't what I wanted at all."

The man bobbed his head to signal he was finish and Boba stood. The Admiral stared at him. "Then why do you go along with them son? I know, I can tell that you don't want to do this. Why don't you just leave and go someplace safe?"

"You think you know me?" Suddenly Boba's heart swelled with pain and hate. Who was this Clone to question him. "You don't know the first thing about me old man!"

"I know..." The Admiral continued, his gaze lingering the way Jango's had done. It made Boba shiver though he did not show it. This man wasn't his father. This man was just a Clone. "I know because when I look at you I can see that you have a good heart. I look at you and I can see the good solider you are that is buried deep inside." Then again if Boba let himself stop and really, truly think about it; he was a Clone too.

No!

No! He wasn't a Clone! He was more. He was special!

"Shows what you think!" Boba snapped suddenly. "I'm more than a Clone! I'm not like you, like those two!" He waved a finger back and forth between the other two Clones. Worried eyes watched the boy and Boba pounced on the stare. "You got something to say huh? What do you think you're looking at?"

"Boba!" The door had opened and Aurra stood in the doorway, her eyes watching the boy. "There you are..." She took in the heavy breathing, the tense muscles. "What is going on back here?"

Boba didn't answer right away. Instead he shoved the gag back up around the Admiral's mouth. Gone was the boy who had been sad and sorry. In his place was someone angry and desperate. "Nothing Aurra." The female bounty hunter narrowed her eyes, but opted to let it go. Boba was still learning after all. It would take time to break that silly sense of honor he had. "Anyway what are we going to do with these guys?"

She smirked and leaned forward, stroking the Admiral's face like she would a lover's. "Don't worry Boba. It's time these nice men proved to us just how useful they can be."

Boba turned his head away as the smirk turned into a sneer and the carress became a slap that became a punch and lead to kicks. He turned his head and closed his heads so he wouldn't have to see.

He wished he could close his ears so that he didn't have to hear.

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He eyed his opponents seated on the bed across from him then dropped his eyes back to the sabbac cards in his hands. He was not about to loose that rather large pile of sweets stacked in the middle between them.

The younger male he could easily beat. His nephew had no good mask. Just as he fought in battle so too did he play cards with more heart than head. Always playing to win, tossing and picking up cards with no real plan. Yes...He could easily beat his nephew, but the twin on the other hand...

His niece would be a real challenge for she was not a big player of sabbac. She knew the game of course. Rare was the Jedi who did not know sabbac. It helped to blend in. Unlike her brother though, she never played to win. She always played because it would make whichever friend or family member she was playing against happy. He truly believed that because she never played to win she always won.

With a gusty sigh of defeat, his nephew folded and set his cards down on the bed. "I'm out," Anakin moaned. You got this Moon?

Always Sun. The pair shared a mental smirk as Anakin oh so casually got up from the bed and wandered over to the window in the Healer's room he was sharing with their uncle. He pretended to be pouting, taking in the gaze as some sort of balm when he was really keeping tabs on the game.

Mace eyed Analise. He was sure he had won this hand, that there was no way his sweet niece had better. But as always he could never tell what lurked behind that seemingly innocent face when she played sabbac and it wasn't like he could reach out in the Force and search for hints of her feelings. Using the Force to give a player an edge during any time of game was a big no. Unless it was stated in the rules as it being okay which was very rare.

"I'll call then," the Jedi Master spoke as he laid his hand down on the bed to show his cards. "Sabbac, a winning hand..." He didn't immediately collect the pot though and waited for Analise to show her hand. There was no way though. No way that should possibly have an...

"And I have an Idoit's Array Uncle Mace." If Mace had been a younger man, perhaps the Knight he had been in the past he would have been falling back onto his pillows and moaning in outrage. The cards she had laid down did not lie. Once again his niece who never played to win had won. "Sorry Uncle Mace. You can have some of my share after Anakin claims his."

"You planned this...Didn't you?" There was no real heat in Mace's accusation as he looked back and forth between the twins. Just a cool statement of fact. "You had to have planned this since I know for a fact that Analise doesn't like sabbac and never plays to win on purpose." The female Knight giggled.

"I was going to say no, but Anakin looked so sad and serious since Ahsoka's at lessons that I had to say yes."

"Of course I'm sad and serious Analise..." The mood, the feeling of the room became dimmer and lower as the young male twin finally spoke of his feelings that had been rolling around inside since he had finally returned to the Temple.

"The Endurance." Anakin half-turned to look at his sister who had passed Mace the datapad he had been reading before she had bounded into their room and was gathering up their cards. She wasn't dressed in the white robes the Healers force upon their patients, but the dark circles under her eyes and paleness of skin bore testament to her own recent visit. "And Boba Fett."

"Yes...Boba Fett." He turned his eyes to their uncle, sharp and sparking. "So what exactly do you plan on doing about Jango Fett's son Uncle?"

"Nothing," Mace was quickly becoming absorbed in the notes from various meetings he was being forced to miss. Not that he regretted having the perfect excuse to skip out on debate about whether or not to update the information that students were given in their Health and Wellness class. He couldn't even remember putting his name down for that particular committee. 'Damn troll.' Yoda was always saying he needed to take a more active role in the education that was given at the Temple. "I plan on doing nothing about Boba Fett at all Anakin."

"Why?" The Knight turned to stare at his uncle full-on in shock. "He took down a entire cruiser just to try to even get a shot at taking you out!"

"And what do you suggest I should be doing?" Analise watched as Anakin walked back over to Mace's bed. She wiggled over so she could lean slightly against his side, pouring calm into their Bond and taking the edge off his anger. She also, carefully so that neither would catch on, sent healing energy to her twin.

"I don't know...Tracking! You could be tracking him down so that he doesn't get another chance and..."

"Which is exactly how Boba acted in the first place." Mace pinned the Knight with a knowing look. "So are you telling me I should act like a child whose been denied a treat?"

"And it's not the Jedi way to seek revenge." Analise leaned more on her twin who wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Anakin knew what she was saying, but he also read the hidden meaning in Analise's words. This was not a case where the twins could buck the Jedi way as they had in the past.

Still he could not keep silent. "It wouldn't be revenge. It would be justice for the crimes he's committed."

"In case you have forgotten Anakin, we are in the middle of a war right now." Mace looked up from his datapad. "We don't have time to be chasing after one child..." When Anakin opened his mouth to protest Analise reached over and wrapped her fingers around his wrist, squeezing him in another warning. This was not their fight nor their choice to make.

The door to the room slid open with a soft hiss. A Togruta Padawan darted ahead of the Kel-Dor Master, dodging around the end of Mace's bed to latch onto Anakin. Ahsoka didn't care that the news she and Papa Plo carried with them was bad or that she was fourteen and was suppose to be beyond such childish behaviors. She was a Skywalker and just like her siblings contact brought her comfort and peace. So Anakin said nothing, just lightly stroked the top of her head in between her montrals. "What is Uncle Plo?"

"Bad news I'm afraid for you Mace." The still recovering Master frowned. "The bounty hunters that tried to take you out and took down the Endurance instead have sent us a transmission." Plo walked calmly to the corner of the room where a small and slightly decorative holoprojector stood. Mace and Anakin followed him as Analise switched off the lights and reached out through the Force to pull the blinds down before joining them. "Apparently they were able to take some hostages."

Ahsoka wiggled her way to a spot between her older siblings as Plo instered the datachip with the recording into the projector and turned it on.

The familiar blue-flickering of a holo painted strange shadows nearby as an image took shape. A young boy, only a little bit younger than Ahsoka stood behind three men bound and gagged, kneeling at his feet. There were Clone troopers...Clones that they all knew. The boy had a blaster as did the tall near-human female standing near him. But the boy seemed unsure, not entirely comfortable with his place. The woman was different. Her hip was cocked to one side, a sneer on her face. To the adults it was clear that she was enjoying herself.

"I have a message for the so-called great Jedi General Mace Windu," the boy spoke. His voice shook just the smallest bit even as his chest was puffed up and he stared a challenge into the recording device. "You were damn lucky to have escaped me and my crew last time Windu. But you won't be the next time and you will pay for the death of Jango Fett." The arm with the blaster swung out, pointing at the back of the men's heads. Analise raised an eyebrow as she watched. The boy didn't seem all that willing to aim a blaster at the man's head for he opened his mouth to speak again, only to snap it shut.

"So if you want to see these freaks alive again, we have some demands that you better follow. So listen up!" The woman took the control that the boy no longer head and Analise tilted her chin. Her special gifts, abilities did not work with holos; but she didn't need them to see the woman's true nature.

'She holds the power. She's playing...'

"There is only one demand. Come and face Boba! The price for not coming? Well it's these men. They will be killed one by one until you show up." She grinned. "Think I'm bluffing? Hey you!" She reached out and slammed her foot into the ribs of the man to whom Boba's blaster was aimed at. "What's your name?" The man didn't answer so she kicked him again. "What's your name scum? Answer me!"

The man coughed, panting a little. He refused to bow though. His eyes were unflinching just like the other two. It was clear that he didn't doubt how it was going to end for him. "It's CT-411 you bounty hunter trash!"

"I'm trash?" the woman laughed in disgust. "You weren't even given a proper name." She shook out her hair before nodding to Boba. "Go ahead Boba. Shoot that freak. Do it!"

"He can't, he won't..." Analise watched as Boba's fingers on the blaster tightened, his face screw up in determination. "Jango Fett was the DNA source for the Clones. Every one of them looks like his father. He might not like the Clones, but he can't hurt them." Her prediction seemed correct for the female yelled at Boba again as the boy's grip became loose and his determination was replaced with failure.

Boba's arm fell to the side and he turned his head away as the woman hissed in anger and disgust. She quickly raised her own blaster and shot the man in the head.

Anakin's hands clenched into fists. "He did have a name. It was Ponds." Another name to be added to the growing mountains of names of Clones who had given their all and never looked back, who rarely if ever questioned what they were doing.

"Well there you have it Windu," the woman laughed happily as she waved her smoking blaster in a mocking salute. "Just two more of these freaks left. Better come find us and fast!" The recording ended and Analise quickly waved her hand, using the Force to bring light flooding back into the room as the lights came on and the blinds raised. Anything to chase back the shadows for the moment so that they could think clearly.

"There is no choice and no time for discussion." Mace was all calm on the outside as he stared at the empty space where the holo had been. "I must go to save the others." Inside Analise knew it was a different matter. She could read the emotions rolling around in her normally most stoic of uncles. There was anger, sadness, even fear that had not yet been released into the Force. She doubted it would be released until the men were rescued and their kidnappers brought to justice.

"Didn't you say that you weren't going to get involved?"

"That was before I knew that those bounty hunters had captured some of our men Anakin." Mace turned to leave. "They have nothing to do with Jango's death."

"Then we're coming too Uncle."

"And you will have nothing to do with this plan," Plo spoke as he stepped into Mace's way. "You Mace would only make the situation worse by showing up. Besides you are still too injured to go. You as well Anakin. None of the healers have cleared you for duty yet." The goggle-covered eyes turned to his niece as she opened her mouth to protest. "And you are suppose to be resting after helping getting those stims out and running to the men." Analise closed her mouth, opened it again to protest, then shut it and shook her head.

"I hate to admit it, but you're right Uncle Plo." She looked to her other uncle and twin. "He is right. We aren't back on the duty roster yet and if Che has her way we won't be for another week or two." She eyed Mace. "And your temper is currently held together by strings Uncle Mace. I can feel it rolling under the surface. Neither you nor Anakin have the clear heads you need even if you were clear."

Plo nodded. "Exactly. So I plan on going and finding these men so they can be returned to where they belong." He looked towards Ahsoka who was rocking back and forth a little on her heels. She was the picture of an idle child, but Plo knew that was just a mask. In reality Ahsoka had been listening to every word that was being said and adsorbing them to go over later. Just like her siblings. "Ahsoka has been cooped up for far too long. With your permission Anakin, Analise I will take her with me."

"Sure."

"Go ahead Uncle Plo. It will be a good chance for her to work on her tracking skills."

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It had fallen to him.

He had been chosen to eject the dead Commander's body into the icy cold embrace of space.

Aurra had told him to.

He knew she was mad. She had given Boba a direct order to shoot the Commander himself. Instead he had choked and been unable to even follow that simple, simple command. Him! The son of a famed bounty hunter and fast-tracked to becoming one himself. Him who had shot other living beings dead without a second thought had faltered and failed. And why?

Because when he looked into the faces of the Clones he still saw his father. Aurra was trying to fix that, trying to break him of such a hindrance; but it wasn't working.

Boba didn't like the Clones. In fact he hated them. Hated them because they wore his father's face and mindlessly fought for the Republic. The Clones were nothing more than slaves who worshiped at the feet of the Jedi and drooled with the urge to serve them.

Yes Boba hated the Clones...But they wore his father's face. They had nothing to do with his death and his father had always told him to leave innocents out of business. Innocents being any being who wasn't involved.

Boba had tried to tell this to Aurra. Had tried to explain that they really had no reason to kill the Clones, but she didn't listen. She never listened to him except when it gave them an edge. Boba liked to think that he was in charge, that this was his crew. But he knew the truth. Aurra was the one who held all the cards.

"You little brat!" He had no warning as he entered the small hold and was slammed against a wall. A long-fingered hand dug itself into his shoulder, nails ripping through his jumpsuit and into his skin. His feet dangled inches over the ground and he stared fearfully into Aurra's rage-filled face. "I gave you an order you filthy little bug! Next time I tell you to pull the trigger you pull that blasted trigger!"

She let go and Boba fell to the floor, just landing on his feet. Aurra snorted in disgust and turned her back on him as she returned to the cockpit. Boba followed, holding tight to his now sore shoulder and blocking out the looks of pity the remaining two Clones sent his way.

He didn't need their pity.

"The Jedi will have received our message," Aurra announced and ignored Boba as he slunk into a seat. "Now that they know how serious we are, they won't wast anytime in tracking us down." Castas fidgeted, rubbing his hairless head and making snuffling sounds. "What is it Castas?" Aurra sighed as she swung her head around to face him. "You've got something on your mind clearly so speak!"

"It's just..." the Klatooinian sputtered a little bit. All that false bravado was gone now. Both he and Bossk had heard Aurra letting Boba have it and there was no way Castas wanted to be on her bad side. "Look Aurra this whole thing has gotten way too out of hand. We're so far in over our heads that we're pretty much drowning!"

"Seriously Castas?" The female rolled her eyes. She was clearly tired of his protests, his complaints, and his whining. "When you signed up for this gig you knew what we would be doing. You knew we were going out to kill us some Jedi. Well wake-up Castas! This is how you kill them!"

"Well yeah...But look around you Aurra! You said Dooku would pay for Windu's head, but look! Boba took down an entire Jedi cruiser and Windu made it. Now we have hostages that we need to keep tabs on. None of this," Castas threw an arm out nearly hitting Aurra as it swung past her, "Was part of the plan." He shook his head. "This is too much for me."

"Well then," Aurra planted her hands on her hips. "I see the true Castas at last. I can't believe how good an actor you are. I never would have figured you for a coward." She swung her head to Bossk who so far had been quiet as he guided Slave I along her path. "And you Bossk? Are you ready to turn tail and run?"

"Not a chancce. There'sss way to muchhh riding on thiss for me. And even if there wassn't I could really ussse that cassh." Castas shook his head again and threw up his hands.

"Good for you, but I'm out."

"Fine!" Aurra roared. "Fine if that's how you really feel. We're going to be making a quick stop and you can drag your worthless, stinking carcass off this ship when we get there." Castas growled and sat back.

"Ummm Aurra?" Boba inched forward in his seat. He didn't want her to lash out at him again. "Where exactly are we going?" The woman smiled a little.

"Florrum. I've got an old friend there and if I talk sweet to him he might even agree to take Castas' place for us." In his seat the Klatooinian huffed, but said nothing. "Set the course Bossk and get us there quick as you can."

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The red and white Praxis Mk. I turbo speeder raced along Coruscant's lanes. It hovered feet above large industrial pipes that carried...Well Ahsoka didn't want to think about just what exactly traveled in those pipes. Just the ideas of what it might be was enough to twist her stomach, make it roll.

Instead she focused on the traffic around them. Well the lack of traffic around them. It wasn't because they were clearing in a Jedi craft. It would be easy to miss the large symbols of the Jedi Order painted on the speeder during heavy traffic and Plo hadn't even switched on the signal built into it that when flipped on gave them special clearance to use certain lanes because they were Jedi.

No it was because of where they were heading. The undercity, the shadowy world that lurked beneath the glitz and glamour of Coruscant's upper levels. The bright and shiny upper levels that Ahsoka called home. She rarely ventured to the lower levels where the sun fought to wiggle its way through whatever openings it could find and where the further down you went, the harder it was to make it. She rarely ventured down and never by herself.

Normally such a journey would have her bursting with excitement. It meant adventure, it meant danger, it meant a chance to be a hero and save the day. Today though Ahsoka was only confused and lost. Why would Papa Plo be taking them to the undercity?

"I just don't get it Papa Plo." As was the case, Ahsoka could never hold a question back for long. "Why are we heading to the lower levels? I mean why are we still Coruscant?" She tugged at the poncho he had given her. When doing such work, the point was not to stand out, to make it clear that you were a Jedi. Anakin had told her that when dealing with scum in the lower levels, looking for information covertly so as not to alert whoever was being hunted it was always better to keep being a Jedi under-wraps until it was needed. Still she doubted that a pancho or the worn robe Papa Plo was wearing would be doing any sort of hiding. Papa Plo just screamed Jedi even with his lightsaber hidden. At least he did to Ahsoka. "It would make far more sense for us to go to Vanqor. That's where they were and..."

"Where they are not," Plo stepped in as smoothly as he piloted the speeder. "We will not find them on Vanqor because they will have left the planet and that system by now. Going there would be a waste of time and a pointless exercise." Ahsoka tilted her head to one side in a perfect imitation of Analise, thinking. She had never considered that possibility, but the more she thought about the more it made sense. After all once the enemy knew their location, they never stayed.

Suddenly their speeder was drifting down, down, down an open cylinder. "Wow..." Ahsoka breathed in awe as she watched the walls of the cylinder raise up around them with the circle of sky overhead. She had never traveled this way before. Anakin preferred more interesting ways to get to the lower level. Lights studded the metal walls as if to remind them that they were leaving the open, fresh air, and sunlight goodbye. Perhaps the lights were a warning to those that might have forgotten just how different the lower levels were from the upper.

"We were able to get a name for the second bounty hunter in the transmission," Plo informed Ahsoka. He was not awed by their surroundings. He had passed this way many times before and he was sure he would do so many times in the future. "Her name it turns out is Aurra Sing and she apparently has the reputation for being rather nasty if she crosses. She only joined Jango Fett's circle of associates shortly before the man's death."

"Do you think that's why he is with her? Because she's a bounty hunter like his father and knew him?" Plo nodded.

"It would appear that Aurra got to him first before any of the other associates and has cut herself off from most of them."

"But not at all of them." Ahsoka sat up straighter, her mind racing. "I doubt it would have been possible for Aurra to cut herself from all of them. It wouldn't be a smart move right?" She waited for Plo to nod before rushing on. "So that means she's still in contact with someone or maybe Boba is or maybe it's one of those friend of a friend type of things. We just need to find those associates of Jango Fett's that still might be in contact with Aurra right?"

"Very right little Soka." The Togruta Padawan beamed at the prideful praise given to her by her foster father. "And that is why we must travel to the underworld. Bounty hunters and their associates perfer to stay in the shadows for the most part. Makes their jobs easier."

"And our job harder."

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Ahsoka had heard stories about level 1313, but she had never been to it before. She knew Anakin had, Analise too; but those were stories she had always been told that weren't fit for little montrals. Instead she and her creche-mates had been treated to horror stories supplied by older Initiates and young Padawans. Stories told in much the same vein as the stories about going to get a kyber crystal.

She had been treated to stories about monsters that lurked around every corner. Slavers that leapt out and grabbed people then sold them right on the street. Of knife fights every day and shootouts every night. It was a lawless, wild place best left forgotten by those who never had to worry about where their next meal was coming from and who stayed on the right side of the law.

Just a lot of nonsense meant to scare the tunics off of little younglings and it had worked with Ahsoka. Until Anakin had found out about why his baby sister seemed to be having nightmares and the scary stories came to a halt. That was right around the time she stopped spending the majority of her days in the creche and instead stayed with her family.

Anyway she had learned pretty quick that those Initiates and Padawans didn't have a clue what they were talking about. She was standing on the landing pad outside the entrance to level 1313 and there wasn't one single bad guy in sight. In fact, if it weren't for the fact they were so far down that the only light came from the street lights, she couldn't see the sky, and there was a terminal with custom droids for beings to get past; she would have said 1313 was pretty normal.

Plo lead the way, his hood tugged up over his head as they walked casually to the terminal like they were everybody else. Only they didn't get in line in front of one of the terminal windows nor did they reach into pockets to pull out their passes that would allow entrance into the level with no questions.

Instead Plo headed to a little gated area to the right at the end of the terminal booths. The custom droid inside paused in its never-ending chore of checking passes to watch as the cloaked figure reached out and opened the special lock that required the Force. When the shield blocking the way went down, it turned back to its duties as the pair passed by.

Inside 1313 was different. Ahsoka saw only one police droid. Large circular openings cut through to the sky to let in some natural light, but it wasn't enough. There were few speeders and no ships clogging the traffic lanes and the smell was like fuel and oil and something else that Ahsoka didn't want to know what. She saw platforms with hover taxis dotting the ledges so that beings could get around the large open spaces.

"What information about Jango Fett suggests that when he came to Coruscant he would stay mainly in this area unless he was working a job." While Ahsoka's head kept turning back and forth to stare droids and beings, to try and read what was written on faded and new scraps of flimsy being blow by the wind; Plo's gaze stayed straight ahead and he never slowed his pace. "Don't look around too much Ahsoka. It makes you look new and like a target. We need to be as careful as we can be in keeping a low profile. Be cautious."

"Yes Papa Plo." Ahsoka clamped her mouth shut and looked ahead like Plo instead of staring in awe like a tourist who crept into a bad part of town for the thrill. She inched closer to him as they stepped onto a hover taxi and Plo entered in their destination.

Level 1313 was far from the nightmarish land she had heard about as a youngling, but that didn't make it any less creepier.

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Hondo Ohnaka lived a good life.

The kind of life any Weequay pirate could ask for.

He had a nice permanent outpost that was big enough to house all his crew's loot and their toys as well. It was also big enough to have a marketplace for those looking to sell or trade their ill-gotten gains somewhere other than law-abiding planets. His beautiful, elegant dinning room was also the local bar and every night was a party.

He had loyal men...Well he did now after killing the few that had tried to betray him when the Republic had been meant to send them spice as a ransom for the two Jedi and one Sith he had held captive, but those men had broken free and Hondo had lost out on his spice.

As he walked towards the ship he instantly recognized flanked by his men and a pair of his best massiffs, Hondo mused to himself about the Jedi. He liked to think that he was a friend to those noble beings who sought only to restore peace to the galaxy. For sure he thought of them as his friends even though he had held them captive and attacked them before. He was sure he would do so again in the future. After all he was a pirate.

But Hondo was also a business man who knew where the power was. Messing with the Jedi, knocking them down a peg or two was fun; but he knew he needed to stay on the Jedi's good side. Sure they weren't looking into his operations now, but there wasn't always going to be a war that was keeping them busy. Better to stay on their good side as much as possible

Yes Hondo led a good life. As peaceful a life that a pirate can have during war. He would be the first to admit that while he still loved a good fight, a grand adventure he was starting to get older and racing off to the far reaches of the galaxy on a hunch or rumor just wasn't exciting as it use to be. He like his good and peaceful life.

So the sight of Slave I landing at one of the outpost's makeshift pads didn't exactly fill him with the same sense of excitement that it might have had before. Mainly because he knew that it was no longer Jango who flew it and the person who did fly it...Well he had been with them long enough to know that this being often brought chaos and trouble with her.

Still he would welcome them for Jango's sake and maybe he would have a chance to bond with the boy. The life of a bounty hunter was an even harder life than a pirate. Perhaps he could convince the boy to step off his father's path for a time. There were no rules that said he had to become a bounty hunter right away though the training would help.

Hondo saw the figures stepping from the ship so he plastered the biggest grin he could onto his face and stepped forward to greet them. "Oh my dear Aurra!" he gushed to the female. "Things never change. You are just as bad at asking for permission to land now as you were back in the day." If Aurra was insulted by this slight hint at her age, she didn't let it show on her face. Instead she smirked and pressed teasingly close to the Weequay pirate.

"Then surely you know by now my dear that I never ask permission for anything." She wrapped her arms around Hondo and pulled his face to hers, kissing hard, hot, and heavy. She could feel Hondo wiggling under her grasp and trying not to respond. Aurra uped the kissing, but it didn't work. Hondo pulled back, breaking her grip and using his fingers to wipe his mouth.

Well so much for the plan to seduce him into following along with her. Not that Aurra was too upset about it falling through. The pirate was past his prime and had never made that good of a lover or bounty hunter. Still if he could help them...

"Yes! Yes...You were never good at that..." Hondo wiped his mouth again and quickly began making plans to spend the night with one of the willing women in his crew. Being Aurra's lover had been interesting, but her love was a coin that she paid out for her own way. She was a cold woman and Hondo had had enough of cold women.

The shifting of the boy next to Aurra caught his attention. He knew who it was, though he pretended not to. Boba, Jango's son. Those young eyes already hard and conflicted. 'Aurra's work,' Hondo thought to himself as he peered at the boy. "Well he doesn't have any of my handsome looks, so I know he's not mine." Aurra rolled her eyes and pushed Boba forward.

"Of course not. He's part of my crew though. It's Jango's boy Boba. I'm teaching him his father's trade."

"Of course, of course." Hondo knelt down so he was young level with the youngling. He had a soft spot for them. There were bright lights at the darkest of times. Bright lights that could so easily be snuffed out as Boba's light was being. "I knew your father very well Boba. We were friends. He was a good and honorable man." 'And I doubt Aurra is teaching you about that honor.' The hardness left Boba's eyes replaced by sadness.

Hondo had heard the rumors, the reports that Jango had been killed by Jedi during the first battle of the war. His friend...Hondo wish he knew just how and why Jango had gotten caught up in that mess. A template for one side and favored assassin for the other. In the end it had cost him his friend and left the son adrift with no one to truly care for him.

"And this lump of flesh is Castas," Aurra jerked her head to the Klatooinian. "He's done though and is jumping ship here." Her voice was filled with venom and Castas inched away from her.

Hondo chuckled. "Guess you learned the hard way that you couldn't handle her." He slapped a friendly hand on Castas' shoulder and began to lead him to the main building. "Well have no worries there friend, no shame. Many a man has bailed out from under her command. You're hardly the first."

"And you speak from experience Hondo." The pirate stopped and turned to face the female. Aurra eyes were shooting viroblades at him and Hondo laughed. He wasn't afraid of the bounty hunter and hadn't been for a long time. They were on his turf now. He had the control and he just knew that that one fact was driving Aurra mad. She couldn't stand not being in control.

"All in the past my dear, all in the past." He sniffed. "Now come, come. If we must discuss business I insist we do it over drinks as civilized beings do."

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The bar inside Hondo's was huge. Boba tried to see the end of it, but he couldn't. There was so much going on, there were so many people. For the most part Bossk had kept away from the dive bars and cantinas that the others went to. Aurra however didn't care if Boba came along so long as he didn't get into any trouble and Castas...Well Castas would swat Boba out of the way in his hurry to get to the bar and get drunk on whatever was cheap and quick to pour.

Boba dodged out of the way as some of the pirates began shoving each other as they cheered on a fight involving a pair of Kowakian monkey-lizards. He lingered, wanting to watch. He had never seen a fight like that before...But Aurra pulled at his shoulder and the boy reluctantly followed her and Hondo to the bar. It was so tall he could barely see over it.

Castas ignored the bar and heading staring back to the communications terminal in the back corner of the bar. He was getting out of there and he was getting out of there now. A clawed digit poked at the buttons and the call went through. "Fong, it's Castas and I need your help. I'm stuck here on Florrum and I want off." The hologram shook his head.

"You should have listened to me when I told you that getting involved with Aurra Sing was bad business," Fong Do scolded his friend and former partner.

"You were right about that. Our latest job has gone so far south there's nothing to get from it. Just like every other job that I've done with that hag!"

Castas didn't know that he was being watched. Aurra's green eyes stared at the coward. He sure hadn't wasted any time in calling someone. She didn't know who Castas had called, but she doubted any of his so-called friends would be willing to help...

Unless Castas offered them something they couldn't refuse and there was one currency that spoke louder than credits in any line of work.

She turned back to Hondo and the bar just in time to grab Boba's wrist when he reached for her drink. "No Boba, you're still too young." She made her voice soft and mothering though she knew she was the furthest from. But Hondo had always been big on families, on raising brats with warmth so she had to at least fake the role. If seduction wouldn't work, than playing the doting mother figure who just wanted her brat to be happy had to.

The boy jerked his arm away and turned away from Aurra, edging closer to the pirate who smirked into his glass. "So...Word has reached me of a downed Republic cruiser on Vanqor. A Jedi cruiser no less." He took a sip of his drink, watching Aurra. "Can I say that it is your work Aurra?"

"Nope," Aurra drain her drink in one go before shaking her head. "I can't take credit for that, but I can offer you some advice." She eyed Hondo knowing that he had already been planning on going to Vanqor with his men to hunt through the wreckage. That was after all how Hondo made the majority of his cash. "Don't head over to the wreckage just yet. We did see it on our way here and there were Republic forces swimming all over it. Might want to stick clear of it for a week or two."

She hadn't fooled him, Aurra knew that. She hadn't fooled him at all. Still Hondo raised his cup to her in a mocking toast. "Thanks for the advice old friend...So then Boba," the pirate turned his attention to Boba. "How do you like working for Aurra?"

"Well...It's alright I guess..." The female tuned out their conversation. She wasn't worried that Boba might say or hint that she wasn't taking proper care of him. The boy was in her debt and knew that.

Instead Aurra pressed an com up to her. While others saw only the comlink antenna sticking from her head, they didn't know that it was part of a larger cybernetics upgrade that she had had done to her and paid handsomely for. Aurra had a biocomputer. The antenna was only part of it. She could hear and see far better than any normal being. It allowed her to stay on top of everything; her surroundings, her jobs, and her crew. It had more than paid for itself.

Now she focused on Castas, quieting all the other voices down to murmurs that she could barely hear. "Look I have the perfect way to make up for me running off with Aurra," Castas voice filtered through. "I've picked up a lot of information working for her. Get that information to the right sort of people and we can make a killing off of it. You'll just need to line up the buyers."

"Really? Can you tell me what kind of information? What sort of buyers should I be looking for?"

"Too risky to do that here over holo." Well at least Castas was smart when it came to something. If he just handed out the information, whoever he was talking to could drop Castas, turn around, and sell the information himself without getting just a cut. "Just trust me when I say that what I've got it worth a ride off the rock!"

"You mean Aurra never told you?" Hondo's voice saying her name pulled Aurra back to the present.

"Hmmm? I'm sorry Hondo what were you saying?"

"I was just telling Boba about that job we pulled way back when. Remember?" She smiled as her hand went down to her holster and she slowly pulled her blaster free.

"What? Oh! Yes, yes I do remember. Excuse me for one moment. Castas!" She shouted as she turned to face a shocked looking Castas. Without so much as blinking she raised the blaster, aimed at his head and fired. The coward slumped over the terminal, cutting off his call before slumping to the floor.

Boba stared in shock as Aurra turned back to the bar amidst hoots and hollers from the pirates watching. "That's enough guys! Someone get cleaning up! That poor guy sprung a leak."

He couldn't believe. Sure he knew his father had killed off fellow bounty hunters, but that was when they failed too many times and became a liability while still a part of his crew.

Castas wasn't a part of the crew anymore. So why had Aurra killed him?

Boba just didn't understand.

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"We have to have better luck here Papa Plo." Ahsoka hopped off their taxi while the Master followed at a more sedate pace. She had thought that tracking would be fun and interesting. That they would have found the information they needed quick and been on their way to save the Clones in the blink of an eye. "This is like the sixth scum-filled dive bar drinking hole we've been to." She eyed the bar. A neon sign with half the lights burned out proclaimed it to be the Moshi Bar. She made a face. If clearly had seen better days if it had even had better days.

"The Force will guide us and if I may suggest, be a little more subtle this time Ahsoka." The Padawan turned, facial markings wrinkling as she scrunched up her face in confusion.

"What do you mean by subtle?"

"You're so much like you brother and Master that you have adopted many of his ways without thinking," the Kel Dor chuckled. "One of which is a lack of subtlety." Ahsoka winced and ducked her head sheepishly. It was true. Anakin was often the furthest thing from subtle and of course she followed her hero's lead.

After all, they had Analise and Obi-Wan and Padme. She and Anakin didn't need to be subtle with them around.

Still Ahsoka murmered "Sorry Master Plo" as she followed after him. Plo turned and reached out to rest a clawed hand upon her head for a short moment.

"It is fine little Soka. Just do your best to blend in and keep your senses alert. I'm sure Anakin has told you before, but I will remind you that you can learn all sorts of interesting things from someone who has been drinking."

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Plo had been inside many a dive bar before and he knew he would be inside more in the future.

The basics never changed.

The smell of spilled drinks and stale food mixed with body order. Sticky floors littered with cups and plates. The huddled groups at tables or the bar trying to outdo their friends in drinking and boosts. The loner here and there drowning their sorrows in cheap liquor. One or two criminals looking for their next mark.

The differences was the lighting, the music, the make-up of beings. Moshi Bar's walls pounded with jazz-funk-rock tune that had been popular when he was still a night. The same neon lights that were broken on the sign outside lit up the inside with a sickly glow. The patrons were of all species though there there were no humans at this particular bar. The drunkest of the men were gathered around a platform drooling over a Twi'lek woman with heavy make-up as she danced seductively to the beat. She was past her prime though the men, just like her didn't care.

It wasn't the type of place he would want little Soka to be. She was still, in his eyes far too young to be scooping out a bar even if it was for Jedi business. Bars like these were filled in the Force with hopelessness and defeat. None of its patrons wanted to be there, but they had no where else to go because they could see no ways in which to better their lives.

It was the cruel trick of Coruscant, that shinning and most precious gem of the Republic, the seat of power. To live and work on the city-planet was the goal of many a being throughout the galaxy. It lured them with promises of a better life, a better future. Most of those who came saw none of that and wasted their lives in the lower levels, their nights spent at the Moshi Bar or one of its cousins.

The Master shook his head as he left Ahsoka by the door and marched forward to the bar. When the war was over he would lead the charge to fix the lower levels, to make the lives of those law-abiding citizens better and happier, healthier. It would take time, years; but he would do it.

"I was wondering if you could help me. I am looking for some information and I thought I could find it here." The Volpai bartender barely glanced over his shoulder at the Jedi and sniffed in disdain.

"Ya came to the wrong place pal. We sell booze and food here, good times. We don't sell information ya dig?" When something metal slammed onto the counter, the Volpai turned thinking that maybe it was a blaster and was instead shocked to find a lightsaber with a three-digit clawed hand resting on top of it so that no one could take it or clearly see it. The bartender sniffed as his four arms stilled. "A Jedi huh?" He crossed two of his arms and slowly turned to face the Jedi. "I thought ya'll was far too busy with that war up-top to be slumming it with the likes of us down here."

"I am a Jedi and like all the Jedi I am never too busy to help the citizens of the Republic." The look the Volpai shot him made it clear to Plo that the bartender didn't believe him at all.

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'Kirff it all...' Even though she had said it in her head and neither Analise nor Padme was with her, Ahsoka's head still darted around. Her brother and the vod'e might not mind it when she let loose with a cuss word now and then, but her sisters sure did. 'This is impossible! I'm not finding anything.'

Under normal circumstances, saying sneaking out with Fives and Jessie and Hardcase Ahsoka would have been in awe of the movement and noise, the colors turned garish under neon and the patrons desperate to just forget their troubles and let loose even though they could wake up the next day with no memories of letting loose and troubles knocking on their door again.

But these weren't normal circumstances. She was here with a purpose, with a job to do and she couldn't let herself get distracted by something so silly as the bar scene. Though she was carefully memorizing everything she had questions about so she could ask the vod'e later. That is if she could get the right ones alone without any adults in sight.

Ahsoka shook her head and took a deep breath. She needed t focus. She needed to...'Listen. Papa Plo says I have to listen.' She took another deep breath and closed her eyes. She wrapped the Force around her, tuning it to help her hearing zero in on conversations that would otherwise be muffled and hidden under layers of noise. 'Listen...Listen...Listen...'

"I thought this was was going to be a good thing for men like myself, but it's not. My whole business is going under, not up. I don't know what to do...Forget it! Bring me another round!"

Not him.

"You won't believe what I saw last night on the video screen. It was..."

Not him either.

"As soon as she gets done with her shift, I'm going to ask her out. I'll sweep her off her feet."

"You nuna bird! She'll never go out with someone like you. She's going to head back to my place with me!"

Ewww! Totally not them. She was starting to loose hope. 'One more...Just one more...'

"I just heard from a buddy of mine on Florrum right before he got himself murdered!"

'Murdered!' Ahsoka snapped out of her trance-like state, eyes darting around the bar until her senses picked up on the speaker.

A lean and shifty looking Nautolan leaning across a small table set back in a tiny alcove that had been somewhat hidden from view by the two would-be lovers of the dancer. He was speaking to an equally shifty looking Weequay pirate. Ahsoka casually strolled over to the alcove, leaning against the wall. At least she hoped she looked as casual as a clearly underage Togruta could in a bar.

"He had called me on the holo-transmitter, said he had said some really juicy information that he was willing to share if I got him off that rock. He turns around for a second and BOOM!" He slapped his hand down on the table for emphasis. "That cold-hearted witch shot him right between the eyes, a perfect kill-shot! Guess that dirt was as good as he was selling if she took him out."

"What's this witch's name?" The pirate's voice was rougher, not as smooth as the Nautolan's which made it easy to tell that the pirate was far removed from even the slight refinement of the Coruscant underground. "Though I probably already know."

"You probably do, but I'll tell you anyway. It's that bounty hunter Aurra Sing. I told Castas that working for her was bad news."

"I hear that mate!" the pirate chuckled. "She just happens to be the boss' ex and even he does his best to stay clear of her. Trouble is always following her around."

"Yeah...She's not worth it..."

Ahsoka was quickly running over what she had just heard. It was a lead! A real lead! Aurra Sing had been on Florrum long enough to kill someone. Maybe she was even still there!

The Padawan was so absorbed in reviewing the information that she failed to notice the warning from the Force. Failed to notice anything until an arm wrapped itself around her neck and she was swung around to face the pirate that had been talking. The Nautolan tightened his grip just enough in warning, but not enough to cut off her air as Ahsoka began to struggle and curse herself for not paying attention.

"Did you hear something interesting kid? We don't like little listeners?"

"Well I don't like being a choke-hold!" Ahsoka shot back as she lifted her foot and stamped down upon the foot belonging to her captor with all her weight before kicking his shin as hard as she could. The Nautolan gasped in pain and shock as Ahsoka wiggled free from his grip and darted around, sneaking a hand under her poncho.

"Just what are you reaching for?" He had turned faster than she had thought and suddenly held a pair of bright daggers in his green hands. A hush fall over the bar even as the music pulsed from the hidden speakers. All eyes were trained on her and as she looked around she saw that some of the patrons had pulled blasters out, fingers on the triggers, pointing them at her.

"Stand down now!" From the bar came the dull roar of Plo's voice and the comforting, familiar snap-hiss of a lightsaber as it was powered on. Ahsoka slowly stepped back until she was next to Plo, her own lightsaber humming in tune with his. The Nautolan scoffed as the blaster holders circled round them.

"Take a look around you Jedi," he sneered. "There's no way even you can take us all on."

"Are you sure that's a risk you want to take?" Plo ever the Jedi offered a last chance for surrounding them to back off, to let them go in peace. But none of the patrons showed even one little sign of backing down. Ahsoka frowned, suddenly feeling as though being a Jedi wasn't helping in this situation. Which to her didn't make any sense. This was Coruscant, the Republic. Jedi weren't the villains they were to the Separatists. Why then was everyone glaring at them more than normal?

Plo nudged her and the pair slowly began to back their way to the doors. "Hey that's enough out of yas!" shouted the very upset bartender who had been hoping for just one night where he didn't have a mess to clean up and police to call. "There won't be any shooting up my place tonight!"

They had reached the door, the patrons still following them. Ahsoka eyed them, narrowing her gaze as she allowed the Force to tint it just enough for her get specks of their aura. Yes they were angry, but there was one thing that for these patrons held more power than anger. She reached into her belt pouch and wrapped her hand around what she needed. "He's right you know. How about this? Drinks are on the house!" She yanked her hand from her pouch and flung it out. A mixture of credits in gold and sliver went flying through the air and the patrons, forgetting their anger scrambled after them.

Amid the cheers and demands for food and drink, Master and Padawan made it outside. Their sabers vanished into their hilts and were returned to their belts.

"When I said subtle little Soka that isn't what I meant." Ahsoka shrugged sheepishly.

"But I thought I was being subtle."

"That isn't the result that being subtle normally brings about..."

"And I did do as you told me Papa Plo. I listened just like you said and you were right. I was able to learn about a murder that Aurra Sing just committed!" The Kel Dor stopped and turned to study his foster daughter. She may not have been subtle, but she had gotten the results they needed just like her brother.

"And where did this murder take place little Soka?"

"Florrum. Aurra killed the man on Florrum." Plo smiled beneath his antiox mask. Ignoring the bikers outside the bar he slung an arm around her shoulders and squeezed.

"You did a good job in there little Soka. Now we must ready a ship and head to Florrum."

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"Well, well my dear Aurra..." Hondo leaned back in his office chair, feet kicked up on a desk so cluttered it was a miracle that he ever found what he needed among the mess. "Once again you come to my door in a rather interesting predicament." Though interesting was hardly the word he would use for it. Bothersome, stupid, pointless were all very nice words. "When you get mixed up with Jedi it is never good business.

If he had been the one in charge of Boba, he would have refused to allow the boy to even talk about killing a Jedi, let along the Mace Windu. It was an insane, almost suicidal idea. But then again he couldn't exactly call Aurra Sing sane and he knew that would happily add the titles Jedi Hunter and Jedi Killer to Bounty Hunter.

"Aurra, I've got an incoming ssship. From the lookss of it we've got Jedi heading our way." Boba turned quickly from where he had been staring blankly out the window, a spark of life in his eyes.

"It's got to be Windu."

"He sure took his time getting here," Aurra snorted and leveled her gaze on Hondo. "I want you to move Slave I to the outskirts Bossk and get those hostages ready."

"On it."

"Well Hondo are you in or out?" Her glare no longer had any effect on him so Hondo tossed back what remained of his drink before slamming his cup down and sitting up straight.

"No Aurra, I will not help you," he held up a hand when she opened her mouth, "But I will do nothing to stop you either. This fight is something you have created, not me so only you can see it through to the end." 'And probably not the end you want.'

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The outpost was quiet and for a moment Ahsoka wondered if Hondo had closed it down before she spotted the twisty pirate marching towards them calmly. She shook her head, remembering what she knew of Hondo. He probably sent all his people away rather than get them mixed up in a battle that wasn't their battle.

He was a pirate, one that blew hot or cold; but he did have some honor and knew when to back down.

Although Ahsoka still didn't trust him after that one time on Felucia. "Hello! Hello to both of you and welcome to Florrum and my humble little outpost!" Ahsoka's markings over her eyes lowered. Hondo was a little over-the-top, but this time something seemed off.

"I assume that you are here to make sure that we walk directly into Aurra's trap."

"You are correct Master Jedi," Hondo's voice lowered and he gestured for them to follow him. "She and the boy are in the bar. Don't ask me what her plan is because she didn't tell me that much."

"And might I ask the reason why you telling us all this?" Even Plo didn't seem to be sure as to why the pirate was working with them.

"I have my issues with the Jedi, but even I know that without this galaxy goes to pot." Hondo crossed his arms as they reached the building. "Also so that you know that I am not involved with any of this."

Plo nodded. He had met many such a being that operated outside the law of the Republic. They weren't big fans of the Order simply because the Jedi got in their way from time to time, but they respected them and knew that without them things would be a lot worse. Plo could respect that.

He turned to look at Ahsoka. "Remember what I told you Ahsoka. The key here is patience."

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It was a far cry from the Moshi Bar on Coruscant. There was no music, no neon lights, and no other patrons. Instead there was just Aurra, seated at a table in a small room that was lit with rays of sunlight cutting through windows that had been set in the ceiling. It was dark and a little dusty as Plo took his seat across from her.

"You don't listen well do you?" Aurra scoffed as she glared at him. "You just played a bad hand Jedi and it will cost you big time." Plo just stared at her as he heard movement behind him and felt the muzzle of a blaster rest aganist the back of his head.

"You're not the Jedi I wanted," the holder of the blaster spoke. He was young and the tone was a whiny one as if he had been denied a treat. "I wanted Windu." Plo shook his head.

"There are two different ways we can do this. The easy way or the hard way." His tone was that of when he spoke to a misbehaving youngling. Aurra rolled his eyes.

"Can you hear me Bossk?" she asked into her com using a sickly sweet tone.

"Read you loud and clear bossss."

"Good...Be ready to execute the hostages the minute I give the word."

"Undersstood." Plo again shook his head sadly.

"You are so blind. You have lost before we have even started, but you just can't admitt it."

"You're the one who's blind old man!" Hidden behind a pillar Ahsoka rolled her eyes. That was no insult, just a cheap shot that had missed its mark. "I'm prepared to kill you, those freaks I have hostage...I will burn this whole place to the ground if it will give Boba the revenge he wants and needs!"

"Really Aurra?" Plo tapped a claw on the table. "From what you just said that sounds more like something that you want and not what young Boba wants." That was her cue.

Ahsoka leapt out from her hiding place, lightsaber blazing as in the same moment she turned it on she sliced through the antenna sticking out of the bounty hunter's head. She wrapped her thin arm around the woman's neck in as near a choke-hold as she could get while bring her blade up near her face.

She looked across the table to the boy, to Boba who gasped and pressed the blaster muzzle further into Plo's head. "Don't even think about!" she hissed at him and watched his eyes go big.

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"Aurra? Aurra are you there? Come in...Blasst it." Bossk hitched his rifle up over his shoulder and stared down at the remaining two Clones. "Well that'sss bad newss for you boysss. If I don't hear back from Aurra sssoon I have to leave and that meansss you both get fried."

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"Let Aurra go you Jedi scum!"

"No chance on this rock!"

"Don't pay this brat any mind Boba. She's to weak to actually do it, to do anything. She's not you." Ahsoka huffed.

"I'll agree with you on that one lady." Her baby-blue eyes glared across the table at the boy. "I'm not a murderer like the pair of you are!"

"I am not a murderer!" There was actually hurt in Boba's voice at the accusation. "But I want justice and I will have it!"

"We all want justice here." Plo's voice was calm, but inside his was hurting and he could feel the Force hurting too. This was what the war was doing. He saw it clearly before him. His daughter with a stranglehold on a woman, lightsaber burning bright near her neck while a boy only slightly younger held a blaster to his head. In this moment they weren't children.

They were soliders with no fear of killing when forced to.

"Don't listen to them Boba." The boy was wavering just a little. His resolve weaking.

"I promise that if you come quietly no harm whatsoever will fall upon you."

"But...But..." Boba's hand began to shake as he stared at Aurra who kept shaking her head. Sure Aurra wasn't the perfect mother, but she was all he had and he just couldn't..."I can't let you die Aurra! I can't loose you too!"

"Don't worry Boba...You won't." She winked and warning bells blared in the Force for those who could hear.

"Aurra!" Boba yelled as he suddenly pulled the blaster from Plo's head and shot around the Jedi at the Togruta girl who let go of Aurra to block his shots. The female bounty hunter laughed as she jammed an elbow into Ahsoka's ribs. Plo slammed his fists on the table, flipping it onto its side. There were a pair of thuds as darts slammed into the top and he waved a hand, sending Boba flying backwards.

Aurra turned on the Padawan who crouched near the stairs and fired shot after shot from her duel pistols. Slightly winded from the elbow jab, Ahsoka fought to keep up before the table flew in between the two.

The table blew into shards from the relentless firing of Aurra's blasters, sending the girl and woman scrambling for protection. Plo grabbed his chance and dashed forward, slicing through the pistols with his saber and holding the point to Aurra's throat. "This fight is over! Now surrender!"

Boba lifted his head and rose to his knees. He was still shaken from being tossed by nothing. He saw Aurra cornered. He couldn't let her be taken. "Now Aurra!" he shouted and flung a small disc into the center of the room. It beeped, lights blinked.

"Bomb!" Ahsoka just had time to shout before it exploded and sent them all running or tripping. Aurra, laughing happily was the first to push herself to her feet amid the smoke and little fires.

"Let's go Boba! Hurry!" The boy tried to run after Aurra, but invisible chains wrapped themselves around him and dragged him back to the arms of the Kel Dor which held onto him tightly.

"Help! Help me Aurra please! Help me!" The female bounty hunter turned to see the captured boy, arm outstretched and pleading for her help. Tears were starting to run down his face.

Aurra hesitated for just a moment. Then she saw the Padawan out of the corner of her eyes slowly jumping to her feet. No...She couldn't risk being caught just to save some little brat that she didn't really care about anyway. If she wanted to see this through she needed to cut the weight and run to fight another day.

So that's what Aurra did. She turned her back on the frighten boy and ran with Ahsoka close behind her.

"No! Aurra don't leave me! No!" Boba cried, then stopped when he realized it was pointless. The Jedi turned him around, knelt on the ground; but Boba barely took any notice.

"Boba tell me where the hostages are. I need to know."

"She left me...Aurra left me behind...I can't believe...Why?"

"Boba those men are innocent and if you don't tell me where they are then Aurra is going to kill them!"

"Aurra...She left me..."

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Hondo had gathered some of his crew in the outpost courtyard. He didn't want any of them in the bar.

Suddenly the doors opened and Aurra came running out like the hounds of hell were after her. She lunged for one of their speeder bikes, kicked and scratching and punching out the trio of men that had been working on it. She gave no sign that she saw any of them as she jumped on it, revved the engines and took off.

Not even two minutes later the Padawan came running out. She paused just long enough to find a bike with no owner. Using everything she had she ran to the bike, jumped on, revved the engines and took off after Aurra.

One of his men raised their rifle and Hondo pushed it back down. This was not their fight. Not this time.

Instead Hondo sat and waited. Waited, waited...

Then the Jedi Master appeared. An angry, sad, and confused Boba in his grasp. "He will not tell me where the hostages are. Perhaps you can talk some sense into him." Boba angrily shrugged free of the grip on his shoulders.

"Boba...You need to tell the Jedi where the Clones are." As Hondo thought he might, the boy snapped.

"Why? Why should I tell him what he wants to know? Why should he get them back? I'm alone...No one came back to me. So why? Why?"

Hondo stood and stepped closer to Boba. He rested a hand on the shaking shoulder and bent down to peer into the conflicted eyes of a lost child. "Because Boba telling him would be the honorable thing to do and it is something your father would want to do. Something he would have done himself."

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Aurra was good, but so was Ahsoka.

The teenager chased the bounty hunter through a narrow canyon pass. The walls arching up over them and dirst forming tails for their stolen bikes.

Ahsoka pushed her bike to the max, bringing out her lightsaber and lighting up as he came up behind Aurra. The woman turned and glared as Ahsoka pushed the bike further, going up one side to roll over Aurra's hand and come down right next to her on the other side.

Before she even had a chance to reach out and disable Aurra's speeder-bike, the bounty hunter slammed her bike into Ahsoka's and the Togruta slammed into the wall. Aurra laughed and cranked her own bike to the max, speeding away as Ahsoka fell back behind.

"Ahsoka don't chase after Aurra! She glanced down at her com. "She's leading you on a chase away from the vod'e. Turn around and go to coordinates 1-5-7-9 instead."

She didn't answer Plo. Instead she slowed her bike and turned to race down another canyon pass in the direction she had been directed.

When Aurra looked back she could only see the stirring dust the Padawan's bike was making. She frowned.

This was not going the way she had planed.

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"Sssorry boysss, but time'ss up!"

Blaster bolts raced past Bossk and the bounty hunter turned before jumping out of the way as a little Togruta speed up fast on a speeder-bike.

Ahsoka leapt off the bike, letting it slam into the ground as she landed behind the men and freed them from their bindings with her saber. They wasted no time in yanking down their gags before Kilian reached down and yanked Bossk's rife away from him and pointed it at the hunter. "Don't even think about moving!" he ordered.

They heard the roar of another bike as it came flying over the ground. Like Ahsoka, Aurra jumped from her bike and it crashed into Ahsoka's. The expolosion knocked them from the feet.

Shaking her head, Ahsoka lifted herself up and watched as Aurra ran up the ramp of Slave I. Ahsoka didn't stop to think. She latched onto one of the ships wings as it began to lift off from the ground.

Aurra looked out the viewport and snarled. She would not be taken down by some snot-nose brat that was even worse than Boba and didn't know her place. She jerked the ship to one side and Ahsoka faltered, feet slipping.

Still the Padawan refused to quiet. She was Ahsoka Tano-Skywalker and she would not give up!

She pulled herself back onto the wing, switched on her saber and sliced through the wing cutting off the ship and sending it off balance.

She slipped again, sliding onto the viewport where she came face to face with Aurra Sing. She jabbed her lightsaber through the transparisteel, nearly hitting Aurra's face. The bounty hunter in turn grabbed a blaster and began shooting off shot after shot. Ahsoka deflected each shot back into the cockpit then flipped away as the transparisteel shattered sending sharp fragments everywhere.

Ahsoka called on the Force to help her land, to cushion herself. Feet firmly back on the ground she looked up and watched.

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"No! No! Come on you hunk of junk! NO!"

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Slave I went down somewhere beyond where they could see, but Ahsoka didn't care. All that mattered was that they had saved the men, Master Windu was safe, and his would-be murdered would soon be locked up.

That was all that mattered.

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The twins were there waiting with Master Windu for them. Ahsoka could feel Boba's eyes boring into her back as she ran to greet them when both Masters had nodded their okay. Just like she had felt Boba's eyes bore into her every-time she had said "Papa Plo" where he could hear it.

She happily accepted Analise's hug and Anakin's hand as they watched Mace. The man was himself staring at Boba and Ahsoka noticed it was a sad stare as he knelt on the ground. Boba also seemed a little sad, but Ahsoka could see and feel the anger rolling off of him in waves.

"Being captured has helped me see that the acts I committed were terrible, horrible and I never should have done them." Sharp eyes jerked up and hate blazed within them for the Master looking at him with sadness and pity. "But it's your fault I did those acts. It's all you fault because if you hadn't killed my father I would never had done them. It's all your fault and I'll never, ever forgive you!"

Mace sighed and slowly stood. "You need to Boba or your hate will consume you and there will be nothing left. I'm afraid you have little choice." He looked at the troopers and shook his head. "Where you are going, I wish it was better. Maybe someday it will be." Mace nodded. "Take him away men."

From the safety of her sister's arms, Ahsoka watched as Boba was lead off by the troopers.

"You didn't have a choice Uncle Mace." Analise's voice was soft, soothing. "He'll learn to see that. He'll come to understand..."

"Maybe Analise...But he is a child of war. A child who saw the murder of his only family." The Jedi Master frowned at the floor beneath his feet. "His future will never be one of light and happiness I fear."

Ahsoka shivered and stared at the door Boba had gone through.

In a way she was like him. She was a child of war.

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Translations

vod'e-brothers, sisters, comrades