A/N: As I said in the description, this story takes place during Season 2 Episode 22 "Lethal Trackdown." I got this idea after hearing Plo Koon say, "We are justice." It sounds cool, but if you think about it... maybe not. Anyway, on to the story!
One day, a Kel Dor walked into a bar.
This particular Kel Dor happened to be a Jedi Master by the name of Plo Koon. He was on the planet Florrum with Padawan Ahsoka Tano. They were on a mission to rescue the hostages Boba Fett and Aurra Sing had taken from the downed Republic cruiser Endurance.
As Plo walked into the bar, Ahsoka waited just outside. She heard the rhythmic thump of his boots, then the scrape of a stool as he sat down. The clank of a cup being put down on a table.
"Bad move, Jedi. This will cost you." A female's voice. Aurra Sing. Ahsoka waited for Plo to say something, but he remained silent. Then Ahsoka heard the click of a blaster.
"I wanted Windu. What are you doing here?" A male voice, a young one. Boba Fett.
"We can do this the difficult way or the simple way," Plo said, unfazed. "The choice is yours." Ahsoka restrained a giggle at how calm Master Plo was.
"Bossk, can you hear me?" Aurra said. "Execute the hostages if I give the word."
Oh. That wasn't good. Ahsoka peeked around the corner and saw that Aurra had an antenna extending from the top of her head.
"Unwise," Plo said, still completely calm. Then his voice became almost sympathetic, albeit in a sarcastic way. "You have already lost and you don't even know it."
Aurra, on the other hand, was becoming angrier and angrier. "I am prepared to kill you, the hostages, whatever it takes to get what Boba wants," she growled, counting on her fingers to emphasize her preparedness.
"Sounds more like what you want," Plo said matter-of-factly.
At that moment, Ahsoka ran into the room, igniting her lightsaber. She cut off Aurra's transmitter and therefore any means of ordering the hostages' deaths before holding her lightsaber to Aurra's neck.
Boba raised his blaster against Plo's head. "Let her go!" he demanded.
"No chance," snarled Ahsoka.
"She won't do it, Boba," Aurra told him. "She's not like you."
"She's right," Ahsoka said, nodding towards Aurra. "I'm not a murderer."
"I'm not a murderer!" Boba yelled. "But I want justice!"
"We are justice," Plo boomed.
Aurra looked into Boba's eyes. "Don't listen to them," she warned.
"No one will be harmed if you come quietly," said Plo, almost sounding bored.
"I can't let you die!" Boba cried to Aurra.
"You won't have to," she said softly. Ahsoka saw Boba look downwards. Then he looked back up at Aurra with fear in his eyes.
"Aurra!" Boba yelled. He turned his blaster from Plo to Ahsoka and shot at her. Ahsoka had to release Aurra to defend herself. Aurra took advantage of that one moment and knocked Ahsoka into the wall with an elbow to the chest.
Ahsoka looked up, trying to shake the daze out of her head. Plo flipped the table sideways just in time to block the darts Aurra launched from her boot, then Force-pushed Boba to the floor. Aurra drew her blasters and began shooting at Ahsoka. Ahsoka barely had time to ignite her lightsaber, but she managed to block each shot Aurra sent at her. Plo Force-pushed the table in front of Ahsoka to protect her before moving forward to confront Aurra. Plo cut Aurra's blasters into scrap metal and pointed his lightsaber at her neck.
"It's over," the Kel Dor boomed. "Surrender!"
Behind Plo, Boba sat up. "Aurra! Now!" he called. He slid something through Plo's legs, and the telltale beeping told Ahsoka what it was.
"Bomb!" Ahsoka growled. Forgetting for a moment about fighting, she ran away from it and was vaguely aware of Plo doing the same.
The bomb exploded, knocking Ahsoka to the ground. She couldn't see anything, lying on the floor and surrounded by smoke.
"Boba, hurry!" Aurra.
The sound of running feet.
A slight tremor in the Force as Plo manipulated it.
"Aurra! Help! Help me!" Boba.
Ahsoka pushed herself to her feet. To her left, Plo was holding Boba by the shoulders, preventing his escape. Directly ahead of her, Aurra was looking back at Boba.
After a moment of hesitation, Aurra ran outside. As Ahsoka pursued Aurra, she heard Boba pleading with Aurra not to leave him.
With a flying kick, Aurra knocked a pirate to the ground. She grabbed another's shoulder and shoved him to the ground. A third tried to punch her, but she easily blocked his fist, grabbed his face, and threw him onto his back in the dirt. Aurra jumped onto the newly vacated speeder bike and took off.
Ahsoka ran after Aurra. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a pirate raise his blaster before Hondo pushed it back down.
Maybe this pirate captain isn't so bad after all, she thought. He did warn us earlier…
But there was no time for that now. Ahsoka jumped onto another speeder bike and followed Aurra into a canyon of sorts. The walls curved up and were just short of forming a tunnel.
Drawing her lightsaber and pressing the accelerator, Ahsoka pulled alongside Aurra's left side, then quickly barrel-rolled over Aurra to her right side. Ahsoka swung her lightsaber at Aurra but missed. Aurra knocked her bike into Ahsoka's. Ahsoka was forced to fall back again to avoid hitting the wall. She put away her lightsaber.
Plo's voice came from Ahsoka's comlink. "Ahsoka, she is trying to lead you away from the hostages. Go to coordinates 1, 5, 7, 9."
1, 5, 7, 9… Ahsoka looked up at the sun, then back down. Those coordinates would be to her left. When the canyon split into two, Ahsoka banked her speeder and turned sharply to the left.
Ahsoka sped along the canyon. As the end of the canyon drew near, she saw a Trandoshan (Bossk?) pointing his rifle down at two humans, bound and gagged. Ahsoka pulled the trigger on the speeder bike, sending a volley of burning red plasma at Bossk. He turned to look at her, and she could swear his reptilian eyes widened as he jumped out of the way. Ahsoka jumped off her bike and cut the hostages (Admiral Kilian and a clone officer) free with one swipe of her lightsaber.
Bossk was lying stunned on the ground. Admiral Kilian picked up the Trandoshan's blaster and pointed it at him. "Don't move!" he warned.
Suddenly, Aurra appeared over the top of the canyon. She jumped off her bike just before it collided with Ahsoka's and exploded, knocking Ahsoka to the ground. Ahsoka looked up in time to see Aurra run on board the Slave I and lift off.
Ahsoka got to her feet and ran toward the ship. Using the Force to boost her, she jumped onto the wing of the Slave I and drew her lightsaber again. Aurra tilted the ship in an effort to lose Ahsoka. Ahsoka decided that holding a plasma blade right now was like running with scissors, so she deactivated her lightsaber and put it on her belt. Just in time, too, for she lost her grip and barely managed to catch the edge of the wing in one hand. She looked desperately up and caught sight of the strut holding the wing.
Calling on the Force once again, Ahsoka flipped her body up onto the wing. She ignited her lightsaber, cut the strut, and leaped onto what was left of it as the wing fell to the ground. Ahsoka slid onto the viewscreen. Aurra looked up at her, and a look of surprise flashed across her face.
Ahsoka plunged her lightsaber through the viewscreen, nearly hitting Aurra. Aurra pulled out a blaster and shot at Ahsoka, damaging the viewscreen even further. Ahsoka blocked all the shots and then jumped off the ship as a large portion of the viewscreen shattered. Landing safely on the ground, Ahsoka looked up to see the Slave I spin out of control and explode.
The hostages were free. Boba was with Master Plo, Bossk was subdued by Admiral Kilian, and Aurra was presumably dead.
Whew. Thank the Force that's over, Ahsoka thought.
Later, on Coruscant, Ahsoka stood behind Boba as he and Bossk were escorted to the prison. Mace Windu approached Boba and knelt down to be at his eye level.
"I see now I've done terrible things," Boba admitted. "But you started when you murdered my father! I'll never forgive you."
"Hm," Master Windu said nonchalantly. He stood back up to his full height. "Well, you're going to have to. Take him away."
Ahsoka saw her master glare at Master Windu's back. Sure, the kid had messed up, but the only parent he ever had was killed in front of him when he was ten years old. He deserved at least some sympathy.
The clones escorted Boba and Bossk to face justice.
That night, Ahsoka was having trouble going to sleep. "Master?" she asked.
"Hm?" he grunted.
"When we were on Florrum, Boba said he wasn't a murderer. That he wanted justice. And then Master Plo said, 'We are justice.' Isn't that kind of… arrogant? Approaching hubris, even?"
She heard Anakin move in his bunk. "Well, the Jedi are the peacekeepers of the Republic. We try to ensure peace, freedom, security, and yes, justice."
"But we're not perfect. And we're fighting in a war, Master. I don't see how that's peacekeeping."
"Ahsoka, a wise man once said that to be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace."
"But being prepared for war doesn't mean we have to actually fight a war, does it? And how can we claim to be justice when people are dying? Nobody ever asked the clones if they wanted to be soldiers. How is that just?"
"Whoa, slow down, Snips," Anakin chuckled. Then he sighed. "You're right. About everything. To be honest with you, it bothers me too. I just hope we can get this war over with soon."
"Me too," Ahsoka said.
There was a pause.
"Good night, Master," Ahsoka yawned.
"'Night, Snips," Anakin said.
Ahsoka turned over and curled into a ball under her blankets. The conversation with her master had brought her some peace of mind, and she could rest now, at least for a little while.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed the story! Please give feedback!