The Emerald Hunter: Episode I

by PhillyCh3zSt3ak

"When father got me a protection gig, I didn't expect it to be for a queen in the middle of a dispute with a megacorporation. May you live in interesting times, am I right?" Harry Skirata (Potter) is a Mandalorian bounty hunter on his first major protection contract. Takes place during Episode I from his perspective. Prewritten and complete, weekly updates until all is posted.

3. Chapter 2: Tatooine

I'll be honest, I'm super glad I set up filters with my email to auto-delete all notifications of new followers and favorites, mainly because at the time of writing this preface on the morning of 1/24, this story has accrued 146 favorites and 243 follows; no idea how many profile follows and favorites though, to be honest. That preface over and done with it seems like this story has garnered quite a following in a single week. Like I said before I do intend to add a new chapter weekly as the story is already done, I just want to stagger this guy so I can respond to you, the readers. Just a reminder to how I do review replies, I don't reply to each and every review, I try to tackle the generic ones as a lump sum and handle similar reviews together and more unique ones separately. Some may not like this as much, but it keeps things pretty clean, it also lets you get to the story quicker with less scrolling (something I know is a thing on the mobile version of the site quite often); definitely something that's more noticeable with stories that get a lot of reviews.

Hadrian-Caeser: Oh, most certainly. The way that the Republic has treated the Mandos for the past several thousand years, especially during the Disney-canon events in the past definitely jade his overall view of the Republic as an organization. And it's not peace by itself as of recent, it's complacency.

YamiSlade and DR-Z0IDBERG: Maybe, you'll just have to wait and see (mainly because I'm unsure if I truly want to go that route or just make Harry paranoid for the sake of paranoia). The set-up is there, but I'm still truly deciding beyond this story if that's the route I'm wanting to truly take.

Jostanos: The plan is weekly releases as the story as of Episode I has already been written.

[Guest who mentioned "Kal Skirata"]: He's an old Legends character who got written out of canon, here's to bringing him back.

Odin Haraldson: Unfortunately as it currently exists, this specific story doesn't go into too much detail in regards to that. But if we use context clues from Legends, his initial attitude makes sense. 22 years before the Battle of Geonosis, so ten years before Naboo (approximately), then-Jedi Dooku lead a counter Op on Galidraan where the Jedi were led to believe that Jango Fett's crew was responsible for everything and wiped them out, for the most part. So, Harry's view of the Jedi from that botched Op would be just as negative as Obi-Wan's is to the Mandos. It's something they'll have to reconcile later as I do truly want them to be best buds as Obi-Wan is one of my favorite characters.

human dragon: Same with Jake Lloyd. You can hate Anakin as a character (same with Jar Jar) and how they're played, but that blame should solely be on the director, not the actors.

Azai Jin: She is an idealist and truly wants to believe in the principles that the Republic is supposed to stand for. Something that I think we can all understand and sympathize with, but he's certainly trying to open her eyes to the corruption and rot in the system, something that in the movies she's exposed to but doesn't become disillusioned by it, only more fired up to try and fix it with her running for Senator.

And to everyone else who provided best wishes for this story, thank you. Now, on to the next chapter, this time: Tattooine.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my laptop and my copy of MS Word. See the preface for the full disclaimer.

XxXxXxX

"Talking."

'Thinking.'

'Narration.'

"Translated languages."

"Transmissions."

{Music suggestion}

Lyrics

Narration.

XxXxXxX

If there's one thing that I know, it's that Tatooine is considered by many to be the ass end of the Outer Rim territories. There are a couple of reasons for that sentiment. First, is that it is a world controlled by a wildcard entity, that being the Hutt clans; currently the one that sided with one Jabba the Hutt. Republic or other sovereignty doesn't exist here, only the word of the Hutts. If they want you dead or enslaved for whatever reason, all they have to do is send one of their goons to do their dirty work. No one bats an eye, nor does anyone care. Every single being here only cares about themselves and whatever semblance of family that they have. Those that live here don't live here out of some kind of want, it's because they're on their last leg; they've got nowhere else left to go. The end of the road. They'd be willing to lie, cheat, or steal just to survive. Even sell out their fellow sapients just to live another day. The planet was scorching hot and sandy as all hell. And the worst part? We were going there.

XxXxXxX

Three hours later. On approach to Tatooine.

The chromium plated starship dropped out of hyperspace to show the twin sunned planet of Tatooine. Ric slowed their approach to allow for the night cycle of the planet to begin at whatever location they decided. "That's it, Tatooine," Ric said to the cabin's occupants, who in this case were Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, and Panaka.

"There's a settlement," Obi-Wan stated, "Mos Espa."

"That's one of the major ones on sensors."

"Someone there should have the parts we need," Jinn said.

They settled in for the long, half-day wait for the planet's shadow to overtake their landing zone. Much of the crew passed the time paying Sabacc, something that Harry excelled at. He had gained a few IOUs from them. Padme had spent the time napping in the queen's quarters, which Harry found a bit odd and eyebrow raising.

Finally, though the night cycle reached the point at which they would land under the cover of darkness. Ric and his copilot navigated the yacht down to the planet's surface, avoiding a steep descent, and landed on the outskirts of town. It settled down with the occupants inside feeling a few bumps as it landed on the landing struts on the dusty surface. The ship kicked up some dust, but no one was around to notice.

Obi-Wan went down to eject and inspect the hyperdrive as it wouldn't be spitting out hypermatter radiation. Harry took several of the guards and started to deploy the camouflage netting over the top of the ship. He had gotten the assistance of Master Jinn and used his jump pack to expedite the process. The netting used was of the 'smart' variety where you could program the color of the netting. It initially started off a very neutral gray before Harry programmed it via a datapad to a sandier brown color.

Once that was complete he retreated back into one of the ships few crawlspaces and retrieved something that no one expected: an E-Web heavy repeating blaster, and tripod.

"How in the blazes did you get your hands on that?" Panaka asked as he helped carry the blaster cannon and place it at the top of the ship's ramp.

"I know a guy," Harry replied.

"And why do we need this in the first place?" Panaka asked as he helped to place the cannon on top of the tripod, Harry checking the connections to ensure that the gun wouldn't explode during the first use.

"Tusken Raiders, a name given to them after they raided the settlement at Fort Tusken. They're a tribal, xenophobic race who are thought to be the planet's original inhabitants. If they come across the ship they'll try to get in. A nice heavy blaster will keep them, and any other unwanted onlookers, away." Harry connected the generator to the E-Web and flicked the switch. He stood behind the blaster and aimed at a sand dune close by and fired one shot. "And we're up and running. Get a guy on this and have them rotate in shifts. Hopefully we won't need it at all."

Over the next few hours until sun(s)-up they set up parameters and he even had one of the security force run out some different distances with a comlink and had Ric calibrate the ship's sensors to ensure they could not be snuck up on by any who might wish the queen harm. When the suns finally rose, Harry walked in to where the hyperdrive was exposed and Obi-Wan and one other were working on it. Qui-Gon walked out of the elevator garbed in a very casual, inconspicuous cloak. Obi-Wan looked up and spotted his master approaching him.

"The hyperdrive generator's gone, master. We'll need a new one," Obi-Wan reported.

"That will complicate things," Jinn stated looking on to the generator. "Be wary, I sense a disturbance in the Force."

"I feel it also, master," Obi-Wan agreed.

"Make sure that long range transmitter stays offline," Jinn ordered as he walked away. Obi-Wan started thinking of what was to come that came with that disturbance in the Force.

Jinn passed Harry who was leaning against a bulkhead on his way to the ramp. "I felt it too," Harry said casually, "it's giving me a bad vibe."

Qui-Gon looked at Harry for a moment, and stared in disbelief. "You never mentioned you were Force-sensitive."

"Never needed to mention it. The enhanced foresight helps with not getting nailed with a blaster, that's for sure," he replied as he pushed off the bulkhead.

"Why were you never found by the Temple?"

"Dad found me when I was a tot and trained me up in the Mando way, I guess you could say that's where I get my dislike of the Jedi Order from," Harry chuckled. "Plus, being celibate for life isn't my thing."

"Being a Jedi is about doing the most good wherever possible," Jinn countered.

"Who says I can't do it but get paid at the same time?"

"I suppose you're right," Jinn admitted in a 'agree to disagree' dismissal as the R2 unit that saved them rolled up to him. Qui-Gon then saw Jar Jar walk into the room. "You're coming with me," he said to the gungan.

"Me-sa?" Binks asked, pointing to himself.

"Yes, 'you-sa'," Harry quipped, sort of hoping that the gungan would perish in the desert, after all he was an aquatic species.

"Come on," Jinn encouraged, "before the heat of the day sets in."

The started to walk, R2 rolling along behind them, down the ramp. Harry couldn't resist and called out, "Bye, bye boys! Have fun storming the castle!" Harry waved, sending them off while keeping a stupidly amused grin on his face that confused the three. Harry chuckled as they walked about fifty meters away, still confused at what they queen's hired bodyguard just did. Harry then looked to see Padme wearing a blue, long-sleeved tunic, a grey overdress, a pair of black pants, and a pair of black boots. "Woah there, partner," he said as he stopped her with an outstretched arm. "Where do you think you're going?"

"With Master Jinn to the city," Padme replied.

"Why?" Harry asked as he noticed Panaka behind her. Harry gave him a raised eyebrow, expecting a more straight-forward answer.

"She ordered it," Panaka answered.

"Again, why?" he asked the young queen once more.

"I want to know more about the planet and its people."

"I did not spend four hours getting a parameter defense set up with an E-Web set up as well as recalibrating sensors made for detecting ships to detect possible assailants to keep you safe only for you to get off and wander about!" Harry poked her in the sternum, accenting his point.

"I order you to let me go," Padme replied sternly.

Harry cocked his head to the side and slightly down and made an expression that looked like he was holding his breath while pointing a finger at her. Finally, he relented. "Fine." She looked giddy at being able to walk around without anyone knowing she was the queen. "But I'm coming with you."

"But… why?"

"If I'm going to keep my contract I'm going to come with you."

"But if you come with me, who will keep my cover intact?"

"E-Web blaster plus our good buddy here saying that the queen ordered me to watch over you should take care of that." He then took Panaka's hat and placed it on Padme's head. He gave Harry a pointed look. "She needs it more and I think you can live without your hat for a few hours to maybe a day."

"Come on, before they get too far out," Panaka said, still salty about his hat. Harry grabbed his T-visored helmet and put it on and grabbed his Verpine rifle before slinging it over his shoulder before following them.

As they walked towards the farther out Jedi led group Harry handed Padme a blaster pistol. "Stuff it in your belt and make sure it doesn't leave your person," Harry ordered her.

"How come?" Padme asked as she complied.

"Those who have less than pure intentions concerning young females might try something, regardless to the fact they're accompanied by a Mandalorian."

"'Less than pure'?"

"You know, slavers, rapists, muggers, their like," Harry explained nonchalantly. Padme shifted the pistol on her belt so she'd be able to reach it easier.

Finally, they reached shouting range of the three. "Wait!" Panaka called. "Wait." The three held up as Panaka, Harry, and Padme approached. "Her Highness commands that you take her handmaiden with you."

"No more commands from her highness today, captain," Jinn replied. "The spaceport is not going to be pleasant."

"The queen wishes it, she's curious about the planet." Harry felt something coming from the gungan and noticed that his lips were moving in a not-too-idiot-like fashion along with Panaka's words. Again, he had to file this away for later for future reference.

Qui-Gon looked pensive. Harry could tell he knew something, possibly about the whole-body double charade. Finally, he relented. "This is not a good idea," he commented. "And you?" he then asked Harry.

"She asked that I keep a close eye on her handmaiden. She figured she was safe enough with another Jedi as well as the defenses I've set up for the Royal Guard," Harry explained.

The Jedi raised an eyebrow, but didn't really think about it too much. Having a Mandalorian would keep people from asking too many questions. It wasn't too uncommon for some people to hire them out as bodyguards. "Stay close to me," Jinn ordered, primarily to Padme as he expected Harry to be careful. The now group of five walked the several kilometers towards the city. Harry knew that even with the suns as low as they were, it was going to be a long day.

It took two hours to reach the city on foot. The trip had been mostly quiet, though when the heat set in Jar Jar had complained about him getting burned. 'Well I guess that's what you get for wearing short sleeves and not wearing some kind of cloak,' Harry thought. There was the sounds speeder and swoop traffic as well as transports taking off both in the distance and nearby.

"Moisture farms, for the most part," Qui-Gon explained a large majority of Tatooine to Padme. "Some indigenous tribes and scavengers. Spaceports like this are havens for those who don't want to be found."

"Like us," Padme said.

They walked on before Jar Jar commented, "This-sen be very, very bad." The gungan then stepped in droppings most likely left by a bantha or other beast of burden. "Ugh, icky, icky goo!" he cried out as he tried to wipe his foot off in the sand.

'Unobservant idiot,' Harry thought. Hoping that Binks would slight some local and get himself killed if it would rid them of this idiot.

They went further inside the city and looked for dealers. Harry had it easy compared to his traveling companions, well except for the droid, he had a climate controlled set of armor that kept him at a comfortable temperature. They stopped often in the shade to rest up from the heat as they went from shop to shop looking for parts compatible with a Type-J 327. Most of the larger shops had parts for Corellian freighters as well as a few other types that were extremely common. A few hours passed before the group stopped at an intersection and Jinn looked over at a smaller parts shop.

"We'll try one of the smaller dealers this time," Jinn commented.

They walked into the parts shop, to which Binks almost got hit by a speeder whose driver wasn't paying attention. 'So close,' Harry lamented in disappointment.

They entered the shop to hear a door chime. They were greeted by a Toydarian. "Good day to you," he said in Huttese. "What do you want?" he asked.

"I need parts for a J-Type 327 Nubian," Jinn replied.

"Ah, yes! Nubian! We got lots of that." Harry raised an eyebrow at that statement. Type-Js weren't that common as they were used by the rich on Naboo. "Boy, get in here now!" he shouted to the junkyard outside.

"My droid has a readout of the parts I need." Jinn watched as Jar Jar got distracted by something shiny in the shop. A sandy-blond haired child walked into the shop's entrance wearing none too expensive clothing. Harry immediately knew that the kid was a slave, most children didn't work until they were in their teens to earn a little side money.

"What took you so long?" the Toydarian questioned.

"I was cleaning the fan switches," the boy explained.

The boy began to climb onto the counter. "Watch the store. I've got selling to do," he ordered. "Let me take you out back, eh? We'll find what you need." The Toydarian then flew towards the junkyard entrance, Jinn in tow.

Jinn reached over to Binks and took away a component that he was looking at. "Don't touch anything," Jinn ordered. "Keep him out of trouble," he directed at Harry.

"No promises," Harry replied before leaning against the wall near the doorway. Binks then acted with extreme immaturity and attempted what could only be called a 'funny face' before sticking out his tongue like I child would when chastised. Binks then walked over to some deactivated droids that were on display. 'God, if you're real, please let that droid explode and kill that idiot when he touches it,' Harry prayed in a not-too-serious manner.

"Are you an angel?" the boy asked in Basic.

'What?' Harry thought in confusion.

"What?" Padme echoed the correct response in just as much confusion as her bodyguard was.

"Angels. I heard deep space pilots talk about them. They're the most beautiful creatures in the universe. They live on the moons of Iego, I think," the boy answered.

"Hate to break it to you, kid, but she's human," Harry said dismissively while looking at messages that had piled up in his holonet mail account on his HUD display.

"You're a funny little boy. How do you know so much?" Padme asked, ignoring Harry's comment.

"I listen to all the traders and star pilots who come through here. I'm a pilot, you know. And some day I'm going to fly away from this place."

"Go for your dreams, kid. Aim high," Harry commented mostly out of boredom as he deleted yet another spam message from this company advertising a drug that would make you 'last longer'.

"You're a pilot?" Padme asked.

"Mhmm," the boy confirmed. "All my life."

'I highly doubt he's been piloting since he was an infant,' Harry thought. 'Then again, child blanket euphemism.'

"How long have you been here?" Padme asked.

"Since I was very little, three I think. My mom and I were sold to Gardula the Hutt, but she lost us betting on the Pod Races," the boy explained.

"You're a slave?" she asked in concealed horror.

"The Hutt cartels are big into the slave and drug trades, princess," Harry explained.

"I'm a person and my name is Anakin," the boy, named Anakin, replied feeling quite offended.

"I'm sorry, I don't fully understand. This is a strange place to me," Padme apologized. "I'm Padme Naberrie."

It was then Jar Jar had the brilliant idea to push the shiny nose of the droid he was looking at. Said droid sprang to life, quite literally, and started to walk away from the gungan. Said gungan trying to grab the droid in vain only to fall down to the ground, the droid laughing at him in binary. Harry looked dejected as he hoped that the droid would do Binks in, and Padme looked on in amusement as the idiot gungan made an even bigger fool of himself. Anakin? He was dismissive as he knew he'd have to clean it up. Finally, the gungan managed to grab the droid by the neck-stalk that connected the small skeleton body to its oversized disc shaped head after more things were knocked over.

"Hey!" Anakin shouted.

"Huh?" the gungan replied before getting a droid foot to the jewels, which for some reason didn't cause him to be rolling around in agony.

"Hit the nose!"

"Oh!" Binks replied in realization. He then pushed the shiny nose once more after dropping the droid and the droid's body leapt up into itself until it ended up as it was before: a compact droid in an inert state.

"Di'kut," Harry said as he went back to his messages.

"Who are you?" Anakin asked Harry.

"An on the clock Mandalorian who's killing time while he waits for his boss," Harry replied.

"Oh." He then looked at Padme and declared, "I'm going to marry you."

'Wow, way to go from zero to a hundred in under a second on the "creep-o-meter",' Harry thought.

Padme just laughed as it was so outlandish and unexpected, plus there was little chance that they'd see each other again once she left. "I mean it," Anakin insisted.

"You are an odd one," she laughed off the boy's statement. "Why do you say that?"

He hesitated for a moment, "I guess because it's what I believe…"

Padme, though slightly uncomfortable, smiled at the boy, being as kind as she could. "I'm afraid that I can't marry you, Anakin. You're just a little boy."

"I won't always be," he quietly said.

'And yet again that was creepy,' Harry thought. Plus, he noticed something strange about the boy, but he couldn't place his finger on it.

Jar Jar, again being bored pulled away from a display, causing it to fall down. He then tried to catch the parts but caused an even bigger mess by causing a second display to fall over. He feebly juggled the parts before he finally fell over, dropping the parts he was juggling, and knocked over more parts from other displays.

It was then Qui-Gon walked back in and said, "We're leaving. Jar Jar." Said gungan had more things fall on him as he yelped.

"I'm to have met you, Anakin," Padme said politely as she turned to leave.

"I'm glad to have met you too!" Anakin called back.

"Chakaaryc adiik," Harry muttered just loud enough for Anakin to hear as he followed Padme out the door of the shop. Jar Jar and R2 were close behind as they exited the shop.

They walked to a more discreet alley that overlooked a main street. Qui-Gon pulled out his comlink and opened a channel with the queen's ship. "Are you sure there's nothing else aboard?" Qui-Gon asked his apprentice.

"A few containers of supplies, the queen's wardrobe maybe, but not enough to barter with at least not in the amounts you're talking about," Obi-Wan replied.

"We're not using my E-Web as a bartering chip," Harry added in protest.

"Alright, I'm sure another solution will present itself. I'll check back later," Qui-Gon said before closing the channel placing the comlink back in his pocket.

"No again, no again. The peoples about? Cwazy! We-sa be robbed and crunched," Jar Jar said with over exaggerated gestures.

"Not likely, we've got nothing of value and that's a problem." Jinn started to walk out of the arch they had taken shelter in, R2 chimed something in reply, probably something akin to agreement before following.

They walked past a farmer's market of some kind that looked like it had aquatic animals the guy was selling. Jar Jar, unsurprisingly got distracted and tried to shoplift one of the smaller ones by trying to directly eat it.

Unfortunately for him, the shopkeep noticed. "Hey, are you going to pay for that?" he asked in Huttese. Binks mumbled a reply that was muffled by the animal. "That costs seven wuppii." After hearing the amount, he spat it out, due to it being under tension from the display it was on it was sent flying into a bowl of… something that a dug was eating.

Unsurprisingly he was pissed off said dug who bounded over the table. Binks tried to unconvincingly look innocent, and that's where he first failed. Whistling nonchalantly never works. "Is this yours?" the dug asked.

"Who, me-sa?" Binks asked before the dug grabbed his throat. Harry noticed before the rest of his party did and was silently cheering on the dug to beat the slime out of Binks. However, Jinn noticed this and brought everyone back, much to Harry's dismay. Harry then noticed the boy from earlier, Anakin, walking up to Binks and the dug.

'Is this kid following us?' Harry questioned.

"Careful, Sebulba," Anakin warned, staying the dug's fist from connecting with Binks' face. "He's a big-time outlander. I'd hate to see you diced before we race again." For whatever reason Anakin had a smug look on his face.

"That was the most unconvincing bluff ever, of all time," Harry commented just loud enough for his party to hear.

"Next time we race, boy, it will be the end of you," the dug named Sebulba replied, crushing the animal that was spat at him. "If you weren't a slave I'd squash you now."

The dug began to walk away as Anakin taunted, "Yeah, it'd be a pity if you had to pay for me." Jar Jar cowered even as the dug got further away. Qui-Gon walked closer as Anakin saw the rest of the group. "Hi," he greeted.

"Hi there," Jinn greeted in return.

Binks was grabbing his throat as Anakin replied, "Your buddy was about to be turned into orange goo."

"That would have been a pity," Harry said, again dismissed at the oncoming death that Binks somehow avoided yet again.

"He picked a fight with a dug, an especially dangerous dug named Sebulba." Jinn helped up Jar Jar to his feet.

"Me-sa hate crunchin', that's the last thing me-sa wantin'," Jar Jar said.

"Never the less, the boy is right. You were heading into trouble," Jinn said to the gungan. "Thanks, my young friend," Qui-Gon thanked the boy. Harry still turned a suspicious eye towards the boy as it was no coincidence that he found them. It wasn't like Mos Espa was a small spaceport like ones on mining colonies.

"But. But, me-sa doin' nothin'!" Binks protested as they walked away from an angry dug and his onlooking companions he was dining with.

They walked a few minutes away to another, smaller marketplace. Qui-Gon spaced out doing something or another. "Here, you'll like these pallies," he prompted Qui-Gon with a fruit, "here."

"Thank you," Jinn replied, politely taking it and putting it in his robe pocket beneath his poncho.

"Oh, my bones are raking," the old woman running the fruit stand declared. "A storm's coming in Annie, you better get home, quick."

They turned to leave and began to walk, Anakin asked, "Do you have shelter?"

"My father has a safehouse on the other end of town, I don't know if there's any squatters in it though," Harry replied.

"We'll head back to our ship, in that case," Qui-Gon said.

"Is it far?" Anakin asked.

"It's on the outskirts," Padme answered.

"You'll never reach the outskirts in time. Sandstorms are very, very dangerous."

"I agree," Harry chimed in. "At the rate, the storm's coming we won't get a kilometer towards it, unless you're up for some grand theft speeder."

"Come on, I'll take you to my place," Anakin said as he led them towards the seedier part of Mos Espa which happened to be neighbors with the slave quarters for the city that their owners 'kindly' paid for. Anakin reassured them that his house wasn't very far when the sandstorm hit them. After a few more minutes of walking in a sandstorm that caused everyone but Harry, as he was the one that had a helmet on and air filters, to hunch over and cover their eyes they arrived at Anakin's hovel house. The boy slammed a button on the side of the door frame that opened the door to the harsh sandstorm. He shook his head as he entered the kitchen, leaving sand in his wake. "Mom! Mom, I'm home!" he called out.

"Aww, this-in cozy," Bink declaired.

"These are my friends, mom," Anakin declared as his mother walked into the room.

"More like acquaintances for the moment, ma'am," Harry respectfully corrected as he removed his helmet, shaking some of the sand out that managed to get in.

"Hallo," Binks greeted.

"I'm Qui-Gon Jinn," Jinn greeted the mother.

"I'm building a droid, you wanna see?" Anakin asked Padme.

"Your son was kind enough to offer us shelter from the storm."

"Come one, I'll show you 3P0," Anakin said, grabbing Padme's arm and dragging her off. R2 was close behind, chirping away. Harry followed, but only to ensure the queen's safety and stood in the doorway, his helmet under his arm. Anakin then brought Padme over to his workbench and pulled a sheet off of a humanoid shaped shape. "Isn't he great?" Anakin asked. The droid that was revealed was a standard protocol droid used by many people throughout the galaxy. "He isn't finished yet."

"He's wonderful," Padme said.

"It looks like it still needs a little work, but it's quite impressive that someone your age and limited knowledge in formal education in engineering that you were able to build it from parts you found," Harry commented. He was impressed. While the kid probably didn't have social skills for being around women that gave him a creeper-like demeanor, Harry gave the kid credit where credit was due. Being able to put a droid together from scraps took a lot skill to do.

"You really like him?" Anakin asked. "He's a protocol droid to help mom. Watch."

He then pressed the activation stud on the power switch on the droid, to which the droid's eye lit up. "Oh, where is everybody?" the droid asked.

"Oops." Anakin noticed that the droid was missing an eye. Photoreceptor. Whatever. He picked up a part from the bench and pressed it into the droid's chassis. To the boy's delight the other eye lit up.

"I am C-3P0, human-cyborg relations. How might I serve you?" the droid asked.

"He's perfect," Padme commented.

"Oh, perfect," the droid preened.

"When the storm is over I'll show you my racer, I'm building a pod racer," Anakin said.

The droid wobbled on over to the center of the room where it complained about the floor being uneven. "Oh, hello," he said to R2, "I don't think we've been introduced." R2 chirped his designation to the droid. "R2-D2? It is a pleasure to meet you. I am C-3P0, human-cyborg relations." R2 chirped some more. "I beg your pardon, but what do you mean 'naked'?" R2 chirped a reply. "My parts are showing? Goodness!"

"Does this always happen?" Harry asked.

"I never told him," Anakin honestly replied.

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen Qui-Gon was talking on his comlink with Obi-Wan. "Young Skirata was right, it definitely sounds like bait to establish a connection trace," Qui-Gon said.

"It seems as though he wasn't as thorough with the deactivation as he would have liked, bits did get through still. But what if it is true, and the people are dying?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Either way, we are running out of time," Qui-Gon finished before cutting the connection and placed the comlink back into his robes.

Harry walked up next to him, setting his helmet on the table. "Your padawan?" Harry asked.

"Yes. It seems that parts of a transmission directed towards the frequency used by Nubian ships still got through. The governor was pleading for the queen to establish contact with him. Obi-Wan has already ordered the crew and suggested to the queen to not send any transmissions of any kind."

"Good, the last thing we need is the Federation and whatever cronies they try to send after us. After the storm is through I'll see if I can go over to my father's safe house and see if there's any probe droids left. If there is I'll set them up on a patrol route around the settlement to watch for suspicious activity. Then I'll see if he left any data spikes laying around and I'll try to hack into the local spaceport's traffic control, if the Federation sends anyone, we'll know before they get to us."

"That is, if you can get to the safe house."

"If things have been cleaned out by some thug or another I guess we'll just have to chance fate and see what happens."

"The Will of the Force," Jinn corrected.

"Semantics," Harry shrugged.

The rest of the evening went on and the sandstorm still raged outside as the hovel's occupants could tell from inside. Harry learned that the last name of Anakin and his mother, the Skywalkers, was one that they made for themselves as Shmi had been sold as a child to another master before Gardula and Watto by her own flesh and blood and didn't want to be associated with that family anymore. Harry made a note that if he were to come across these family members he would off them free of charge; the less scumbags in the galaxy, the better. He also learned that Anakin piloted his own rebuilt podracer and sometimes piloted pods for his master who seemed to have a bit of a gambling problem, both Harry and Jinn filed that information away for later as it seemed useful. Somehow, the topic seemed to change to slavery again when Padme suggested escaping or running away.

"All slaves have a transmitter placed inside their bodies somewhere," Shmi explained.

"I've been working on a scanner to try and locate mine," Anakin added.

Harry swallowed a bite of the fruit that he took from the bowl. "Try near the brain stem or the brain proper," he said. He got a slight look from the group. "What? That's where I'd put it. Placing it in either of the two places risks death if you don't have a top tier neurosurgeon to remove it. Especially a hack doctor in in these parts who have less than sterile conditions in their clinics."

Anakin seemed to take this information and stored it away for later. "Any attempt to escape-," Shmi was cut off by her son.

"And they blow up you up! Boom!" Anakin shouted while slapping his hand to the table to simulate an explosion.

"And that's the other reason why, quick and painless that way. Anywhere else would just be cruel," Harry added on to his original point.

"How wude!" Jar Jar said in disgust.

Padme remarked, "I still can't believe there's still slavery in the galaxy. The Republic's anti-slavery laws-."

"The Republic doesn't exist out here," Shmi politely interrupted her. "We must survive on our own."

Binks thought it was a good idea to use his tongue to grab and swallow one of the fruits sitting in the bowl like some kind of tropical lizard. Once he swallowed he just got stares from everyone, to which his only reply was, "'Scuse me."

Anakin chose the right time to change the subject. "Has anyone seen a podrace?" he asked.

"They have podracing on Malastare. Very fast, very dangerous," Jinn answered.

"I personally prefer swoop racing," Harry shrugged as he bit into the protein that was cooked which resembled that of a bird. Maybe a gizka?

"I'm the only human that can do it," Anakin bragged.

"You must have Jedi reflexes if you race pods," Jinn complemented. Harry knew he was going somewhere with this, but he couldn't tell where. Binks decided to do the same lizard-tongue thing again, but this time Jinn caught his tongue as it came back towards his mouth; a feat that Harry wouldn't have done without gloves. "Don't do that again." Once that was said he released Binks' tongue. To which he only blubbered like an idiot as he shook his head.

"You're a Jedi knight, aren't you?" Anakin asked Jinn.

The entire room was silent. This surprised Harry and he slowly moved his hand towards his holstered pistol. Jinn noticed Harry's action and gave him a look that said that he could handle this if it went sideways. "What makes you think that?" Jinn asked.

"I saw your laser sword. Only Jedis carry that kind of weapon."

"Perhaps I killed a Jedi and took it from him," Jinn answered.

"I don't think so," Anakin replied, "no one can kill a Jedi."

Harry had to resist sputtering out laughing like a total lunatic on Death Sticks. "I wish that were so," Jinn answered somberly, as if remembering comrades long gone and forgotten to all but a few.

"I had a dream I was a Jedi," Anakin continued. "I came back and freed all the slaves."

Harry felt like poking fun at the Jedi, after all they were antagonists towards each other. He nudged Anakin with his arm. "Forget being a Jedi, kid. Be a Mando, you get badass armor and all the weapons you can carry," he joked. Jinn shot him a look that said, 'Are you kidding?' "What? I can't take the wind from your sails every so often?"

"Have you come to free us?" Anakin asked Jinn.

Jinn realized that he was going to have to be blunt. "No, I'm afraid not."

"I think you have. Why else would you be here?"

"That's one of life's great mysteries. Why are we here? I mean, are we the product of some kind of cosmic coincidence or is there really a god, watching everything. You know, with a plan for us and stuff. I don't know man, but it keeps me up at night," Harry finished.

There was dead silence before Padme asked, "What?"

"I mean why are you here, on Tatooine?" Anakin corrected.

"Do you enjoy doing that?" Padme asked Harry.

"A little," he replied. "It certainly makes life more interesting and less mundane," he shrugged.

There was silence once more as Qui-Gon weighed the next choice he made carefully. "I can see there is no fooling you, Anakin. We're on our way to Coruscant, the central system in the Republic-."

"See: capital world," Harry interrupted. Jinn gave him a glare but Harry shrugged.

"-on a very important mission," Jinn concluded.

"How'd you end up out here in the Outer Rim?" Anakin asked.

"Our ship was damaged, and we're stranded out here until we can repair it," Padme added.

"I can help; I can fix anything!" Anakin declared.

"I believe you can," Jinn chuckled. "But first we must acquire the parts we need."

"With no-nutten mula to trade," Binks added.

"Technically we're short on funds. We have some cash, just not the amount needed to buy the parts," Harry clarified.

"These junkers must have a weakness of some kind," Padme lamented.

"Gambling," Shmi answered. "Everything here revolves around betting on those awful races."

"Podracing," Jinn clarified, mostly for Binks who was absentminded during the last few minutes. "Greed can be a powerful ally."

"I built a racer," Anakin declared, "it's the fastest ever. There's a big race tomorrow on Boonta Eve. You could enter my pod."

"Anakin!" Shmi chastised her son. "Watto won't let you."

"Watto doesn't know I've built it. You could make him think it was yours and get him to let me pilot it for you."

"I don't want you to race. It's awful. I die every time Watto makes you do it," Shmi argued back; the fear that her son racing blatantly worn on her face.

"But, mom, I love it. The prize money would more than pay for the parts they need."

"Anakin."

"Your mother's right," Jinn chastised as well. "Is there anyone friendly to the Republic who can help us?" he asked Shmi.

"No," she bluntly replied.

There was silence once more. Harry thought that what he would propose was a long shot but, "Ok, guys. Just hear me out on this: heist." He extended a finger to accentuate his point.

"No, Mr. Skirata," Jinn replied.

"Killjoy."

There was a minute of pregnant silence before Anakin broke it and told his mother, "Mom, you say the biggest problem in the universe is that nobody helps each other."

Shmi only sighed and there was an even longer silence before Padme broke it, saying, "I'm sure Qui-Gon doesn't want to put your son in danger. We'll find some other way."

"So, does that mean the heist idea is still on the table?" Harry joked. To which he only got a light kick on his shin from the queen.

"No, there is no other way," Shmi relented after thinking it over.

"Unless you want to do a heist," Harry added, throwing the idea out there once more.

"I may not like it, but he can help you. He was meant to help you."

A few hours passed and Harry walked over to the entrance and put his helmet on. The suns were still in the sky but the sandstorm was still blowing but at much less severe and life-threatening manner.

"Are you heading off?" Padme asked. Harry turned around and saw that she looked slightly worried. He looked over her shoulder and saw that Anakin was playing with R2 in his room, laughing at the banter between the astromech and the protocol droid.

"The sandstorm's died down. I should be back in a few hours at the latest," Harry replied.

"Are you sure you can't wait until later?"

"What are you worried about?" Harry asked.

She shifted a little. "Of what little I've seen of this place, it's dangerous. You shouldn't be heading out there alone."

"So, the princess is worried about the wellbeing of her knight, is she?" Harry teased.

Her face lit up with a blush and replied hastily, "Of course not!" She turned her face up and away like some would assume nobles to do.

"Something tells me that you protest too much," Harry continued on with his teasing, making sure to 'boop' her nose. "I'll be fine, only those that are clinically insane would mess with a Mandalorian, especially one carrying a weapon," he added hefting his Verpine rifle.

He turned to leave and the door opened to show just how much the storm died down. He walked through the door and as it closed behind him Padme muttered, "That's what I'm afraid of."

Harry traveled through the borderline deserted town with little fanfare. There was the occasional Jawa or other desert dweller mulling around the streets trying to scavenge unclaimed, abandoned droids or cheap speeders left unattended and uncovered. He walked to the safe house making sure to peek over his shoulder every so often to make sure he wasn't followed by anyone. When he arrived at the unassuming hovel sitting in plain sight he approached the door and started transmitting an extremely specific frequency. On the other side of the door a small computer with an attached transmitter activated and the electromagnetic locks that kept the heavy metal door in place disengaged and the door slid open. He moved quickly inside and closed the door behind him.

The lights tied to a proximity sensor turned on revealing the spartan looking hovel which had little more than a cooking station, small living room, and two bedrooms. The entire house was filled with a coating of thick dust which told him just how long it had been since he and his father had been there last, at least five years if he was to make an educated guess. He walked past the auto-turret that had been deactivated with his extremely short-range transmission; due to the lack of carbon scoring he knew that no one stupid enough had broken into the house. He walked towards a bookshelf that had replica classic literature works from all different cultures from around the galaxy. There was even one from his birth planet there, 'Moby Dick'.

"Call me Ishmael," Harry said right before he tilted the book at the correct angle which triggered a mechanism behind the bookshelf. The bookshelf split in two and slid open. When the hidden doors stopped moving lights inside turned on to reveal a small armory of various weapons. "Thar she blows." He took a look around for a few weapons that he knew would be useful. The first was a Chiss made weapon that they called a 'charric' rifle. It was an unusual weapon that fired a hybrid munition of both solid mass and energy, a very useful tool against Jedi and those that wore armor. He placed the rifle in a duffle bag as well as some custom-made power packs and munition packs. He packed up some spare wrist-rockets that contained a higher yield than mass produced models for the same launcher. There were many other weapons inside including a massive flamethrower, a rotary heavy blaster, and even an anti-tank missile launcher that he was forced to leave for now. He grabbed various, assorted blaster rifles and pistols (and even a flechette launcher) and their assorted power packs and gas packs and stuffed them in the bag as well.

When he was satisfied with the number of guns he grabbed he exited and closed the door behind him with not a fancy trick, but a simple button that did nothing else but close the hidden weapon cache. He zipped up the bag and out of the corner of his eye he spotted something. On the couch, he saw something that he thought that he had lost years ago. The little gray, plastic box was covered in a sheet of dust just like everything else. He picked it up and brushed off the dust with his thumb and saw the familiar silver lettering in English. Not Aurebesh, but English, the most widespread written and spoken language of his homeworld. The lettering spelled out 'Sony Walkman' and a small smile crossed his face. He looked at the frame and saw that the old headphone jack had an improvised dongle attached that acted as a one-way transmitter. He synced his comlink to the specific frequency and pushed down the analogue play button. A second passed as the tape inside wound up to the first song, but soon enough the sweet music filled his helmet.

{Come and Get Your Love - Redbone}

He grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder and left the safe house, he walked in tune to the music and after he crossed the home's threshold he pressed a button on his gauntlet which sent a short-range transmission to the small computer to lock up and arm defenses. He walked in sync with the song's beat which got a few looks from the now emerging citizens of Mos Espa who started to resume their lives as the danger of the sandstorm had passed.

Hell (hell), what the matter with your head head
Hell (hell), what the matter with your mind and your sign and a ohohoh
Hell (hell) nothin the matter with your head baby find it, come on and find it
Hell, with it baby cause you're fun and you're mine and you look so divine.

No one could see him behind his helmet but he was lip syncing to the song that he had played numerous times over the years before he lost his Walkman the last time his father had dragged him along to this Hutt hellhole. There were songs throughout the galaxy that were seen as popular, but they just didn't have the same type of… feel to them that the music of his homeworld seemed to have that the rest of the galaxy just didn't have. He continued on, keeping a watchful eye out for people willing to shank him just to get their grubby, scavver hands on his 'booty'. He made sure to show his weapons to discourage any potential muggers or thieves.

The trip didn't last long. He didn't have to duck behind anything or backtrack to lose a tail. Most onlookers just looked the other way as they didn't want to start anything with a Mandalorian, armed or not. They would rather just stay out of his way or pretend that he wasn't even there if they could manage it. When he arrived at the slave quarters he was greeted by Shmi. "Madam Skywalker," Harry greeted.

"Mr. Skirata, are my son and your friends with you?" she asked as she allowed him to pass.

He walked inside and placed his bag on the table which resonated with a thud. "They're not here?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow. He unzipped the bag and took out the first weapon, the charric, and began to a fine tune the weapon.

"They left shortly after the storm fully stopped to talk to Watto about entering Anakin in the race tomorrow."

"Then they should be back soon, especially since they're dealing with a Toydarian, Qui-Gon will more than likely make a deal offer that appeals to him and either Watto will accept it or turn it down," Harry shrugged as he continued working on the weapon.

Harry was spot on when Padme and the rest of the gang arrived back at the quarters with little fanfare, but Anakin looked excited beyond belief; as if a holiday had come early or something.

"So, I assume everything went well?" Harry asked as he adjusted the sights on the scattergun, aiming it at the wall at an imaginary target.

"I was able to broker a deal with Watto to allow Anakin to race for us," Jinn replied as he entered the room, his eye following Anakin.

Harry saw Padme passed by and she looked a bit grumpy. She followed Anakin outside making sure to give Jinn the stink eye. "The Princess doesn't look too happy about something you did," Harry remarked.

"She wasn't too keen about me having Anakin race even though we all agreed that it was the only option-." Harry raised an eyebrow as if to suggest that his idea was still in play and added, "-the only legal option that doesn't expose us."

"I don't envy you, the Princess is quite opinionated," Harry quipped with a shrug.

"I assume you were able to acquire some things from your safehouse?" Jinn asked in changing the subject.

"Some weapons and tools as well as some local currency. And before you ask, it's not enough to get the hyperdrive, maybe some cheap parts and tools, a third-rate hyperdrive possibly, but not a Nubian specific hyperdrive."

"I see." He then walked off towards the balcony which looked over the 'back yard' which was little more than garage space for slaves to store larger than normal things that they were allowed to keep at the behest of their masters, or were required to keep and use as part of their jobs.

Some time had passed and the droids and Jar Jar were working on the podracer that Anakin had hidden away from his master. If Harry were a betting man he would say that Watto knew that he had it but allowed him to keep it. After all, busywork keeps you out of trouble. Shmi was talking to Qui-Gon about Anakin and mentioned that he had been a Virgin Birth. This got Harry to raise an eyebrow as it was extremely odd that this would even happen, especially in a human. If Shmi was another species he wouldn't have spared another glance as some species do asexually reproduce. Either Shmi was lying out of her ass and didn't remember who the father was during a sexual encounter or she was telling the truth. The latter sent shivers down his spine as that should have been impossible with a relatively healthy human, right?

The giggles and cheers of children echoed off the walls of the slave dwellings as five children, four being human and the fifth being a rodian, came into the garage area greeting the kid. Harry only raised his head from his work to notice them and that they weren't a threat, and then went back to work tweaking and cleaning his weapons.

"Wow, a real astro droid," the brunette kid noted. "How did you get so lucky?"

"That isn't the half of it, I'm in the Boonta race tomorrow," Anakin replied.

"What? With this?"

"You're such a joker, Ani," the Rodian said in huttese.

"You've been working on that thing for years," the older of the two girls noted.

"It's never going to run," the younger of the two girls added.

"Come on, let's go and play ball," the only redheaded child said. "Keep racing, Ani, you're going to be bug squash." The rest of kids just laughed, although it sounded more like excitement to go play instead of insulting their friend.

Harry shook his head as he listened in. "Gingers, they're same everywhere," Harry commented with only Qui-Gon and Shmi to hear him.

"What do you mean?" Jinn asked.

"They have no souls." Jinn only looked at him with a quirked eyebrow. "It's a joke from my homeworld that's been around since forever," Harry filled him in.

Anakin called out to Jar Jar who was working on some part of one of the massive engines who then fumbled the wrench he was using, dropping it on the ground. He warned the Gungan of the energy binding beam which connected the two engines which helped distribute power between the two as well as holding the engines together as a pair. After the warning, the Gungan leaned down and missed the beam to pick up the wrench, but his head slammed right into the beam as he came up, pretty much electrocuting the being. Such an event made Harry chuckle a little. Especially when he got his hand stuck in the fan blades of the engine intake.

"You know, I find that Jar Jar creature to be a little odd," C-3P0 observed. R2 seemed to agree and added a few bytes of his own commentary that roughly translated to 'he rubs me the wrong way.'

Qui-Gon walked towards Anakin and handed him a power cell to power his pod. Jar Jar still had his hand stuck in the fan blade, to which Padme walked over and helped him remove his hand. Harry had the dark, amusing thought of watching Jar Jar being throttled around by an engine but pushed it away as he reassembled the current weapon he was working on as he didn't want the coarse Tatooine sand to be stuck in the parts of the blaster that would be inevitably kicked up because of the exhaust. Much to Anakin's delight the engines started up on the first try. His cheers could be heard over engines' roar. Harry looked beside him and saw Shmi looking worried as mother well should be, podracing was extremely dangerous.

The next few hours passed quietly as the podracer was tested and was eventually put away as to keep certain scavengers from getting to it. Day passed into night. Harry laid into his improvised hammock which was little more than cargo netting that he had set up. He had been listening to the mixtape through the commlink headset with his helmet sitting on a table nearby. The volume was low enough where he could hear some conversation going on if it were said loud enough. Qui-Gon had been outside with Anakin watching the stars, then again Harry didn't care; his charge was the only one who mattered who was currently eyeing him from across the room.

Shmi shouted towards the 'patio', "Ani, bedtime." She walked past the doorway that led outside. "Ani, I'm not going to tell you again." Anakin obeyed his mother and walked into the hovel and went to his room to then follow whatever sleep routine he had. Around a few dozen minutes later the light in the room went off and Shmi came out and went to her own room to sleep. Harry looked over to Padme and saw that she was still eyeing him.

"What?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

She pointed to the headset. "What are you listening to that's so interesting?"

"Music from my homeworld."

"From Mandalore?"

"No," he simply replied.

"You're from one of the other Mandalorian colony worlds?"

"Nope." He made sure to pop the 'p' with a smirk, he knew he was messing with her ever so slightly.

"Then from where?" she asked impatiently.

"Oh, just some backwater world in the middle of nowhere." She obviously looked confused.

"How are from another planet but a Mandalorian?"

He sat up and removed the headset. "What do you know about our culture?"

"Not a whole lot," she admitted.

"There's a lot of factions, well there's a lot less now than there used to be, but they all normally agree that children and family are a cherished value. In our history, there was a lot of war which meant a lot of war orphans." He could already see the heartstrings being pulled. "Either the allies of the fallen or the conquerors themselves took pity on them and adopted them into their clans to be one of them. They abandoned their original family name and took up the clan's name, hence me adopting the name of Skirata."

"You're a war orphan?"

"I wish," Harry scoffed. "No. I was left with my very… intellectually deficient relative's house by my own parents who couldn't take care of me. The worst part is, they weren't deadbeats. They were perfectly capable of taking care of me, but from what I could remember some old teacher of theirs convinced them to leave me with my paternal mother's sister so they could take care of my new baby brother."

"That's… horrible."

"Well, it at least has a happy ending where Kal'buir found me. One of the few memories and things I cherish from before I was adopted was this mixtape my paternal mother made for me containing her favorite songs from when she was a child. I used to listen to it all the time on a second-hand music player I fixed. I thought I lost it forever a while ago, but I found it in the safehouse."

She stood up and walked over to him. "Can I listen to it?"

Harry sat up and scooted over in his hammock to allow Padme to take a seat next to him. She took the unspoken invitation and moved from her spot on the couch to the hammock, sitting next to him. He gave her the commlink headset and pressed play on the Walkman.

{I'm not in love - 10cc.}

The strange, to Padme, music began pounding against her ear in a pleasant manner. She got lost in the sound of the lead singer's lyrics, even though she couldn't understand it, and on the cascading notes in synchronous timing to the drums. "It's… interesting. Pleasant even," she observed.

"There are many songs like that back on Earth." She gave him a slightly amused look. "What?"

"Your home planet is called… dirt?" she giggled.

"I had no part in naming it," he waved her off. "You know, some people dance to these songs."

She looked at him agape. "You know how to dance?" she asked in shock.

"Don't you?" Harry asked in return as he stood up and held put his hand.

She sputtered, "Of course I do! I was taught by the best teachers on Naboo." She too stood up and they took to dancing in what was little more than what you would see at a high school dance or prom. Nothing fancy, just swaying and taking a step or two in time to the music. "I just never-."

"Thought a shoot first, ask questions later type would know how to dance?" Harry finished her question. He snorted put a short laugh. "What is combat katas but dancing with your opponent?"

"But without the intent of killing them," she added.

"But without the intent of killing them," Harry agreed.

The two continued their sway dance until the song ended. They let go of each other and Padme commented, "That was… interesting."

"The music or the dancing?"

She looked pensive for a moment. "Both. The music was odd, yet pleasant. The dancing was… different from anything I've ever done before."

Harry chuckled. "Well, if it were more of a classical piece with more instrumentals rather than lyrics then it would have been more traditional in the terms of dancing. I'll tell you what, if, for whatever reason, we end up going back to my homeworld I'll show you the different music and dance styles they have."

She thought on it for a moment and then replied, "Sure, I'd like that. Although, it may have to wait until the next queen is elected."

"That's fine by me, it'll be a long time before I even go back to that rock," Harry shrugged.

"Because of your birth parents?"

"Well that, and that it's a backwater with only the most basic semblances of space travel to which they've only made it to their moon and that was around thirty or so years ago and they haven't been back since." Harry took a look at his chrono and saw the time. "We should probably call it a night, you know with the big race tomorrow. I mean, we have to haul the pod to the race as well as help get it operational."

"You're right. Goodnight," she said, lying down on the couch and pulling a blanket made from rough cloth over herself.

Harry sat back in his hammock and thought back to his charge for a moment. She was extremely short with him. Sure, he had annoyed her plenty of times and usually got a little comeback, not a full-on shutting down like that. Perhaps she was just tired from the whole Naboo situation? It meant probably nothing, right?

And with that last thought, Harry himself called it a night. However, before he closed his eyes, something felt off. Wrong. Like a void was coming near the planet. A hungry, angry void. He shrugged it off as he finally fell asleep.

The next morning was a flurry of activity. Everyone got up at the crack of the dawning of the dual suns. The first order of business was getting the pod to the track and registering Anakin and his pod into the race itself. Shockingly enough, the easiest part was getting the pod to the track despite the fact that Eopies were irritating to handle. No, the rest of the time was spent with Jinn and Watto taking care of pre-race registration. Jinn was 'financing' the pod, Anakin piloting, and Watto 'providing' the pilot. There was a lot of paperwork including a release stating the family or masters of slaves could not sue the track or other racers in the event of untimely death; a release that all the two had to sign. Jinn for the pod and Watto for Anakin. After all, this was standard legal procedure despite being under Hutt control. After they were done, they retired to the garage where racers and their mechanics (droid and organic alike) were preparing and testing each pod before the big race.

Harry and company came into the hangar at the tail end of what looked like a bet between Watto and Jinn due to the fact that Watto produced a six-sided die and cast it. Harry saw Jinn's hand move casually, obviously using the Force to influence the outcome in his favor. Obviously, it was in his favor as Watto had a bit of an outburst.

"You won this small toss, outlander, but you won't win the race! So, it makes little difference!" he shouted loud enough for it to echo in the cavernous garage. Watto hovered over to specifically antagonize Anakin in huttese. "Better stop your friend's betting or I'll end up owning him too," he chuckled. He caught the visor of the lone Mandalorian in the hangar and quickly turned and got out of there. After all, they were known to be hyper-lethal even without a visible weapon.

"What'd he mean by that?" Anakin asked Jinn.

"I'll tell you later," he dismissed. "Good morning," he greeted Shmi as he helped her off of the animal.

Harry walked up to Qui-Gon. "You know he was using a weighted cube, right?" he asked quietly.

"Did you know?"

"No, but compulsive gamblers try to place the odds in their favor." He commented, "He would have made sure whatever 'prize' he chose that would be beneficial for himself would be the one that would come about most often with a weighted cube."

"You are very insightful," Shmi commented.

"No, I just know people," Harry said as he walked off, shifting the charric rifle that was currently strapped to his back. He spotted the two twi'leks currently attending to Sebulba.

His attention was brought to Anakin once more as he started quite the… interesting conversation with his friend Kitster. "This is so wizard, Ani. I'm sure you'll do it this time," Kitster encouraged his friend.

"Do what?" Padme asked, her curiosity peaked.

"Finish the race, of course," Kitster replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the universe.

"You've never won a race?" Padme was clearly concerned.

"Well… not exactly," Anakin tried to maneuver around the question.

"Not even finished?" Padme was clearly disturbed now given the fact they had placed their hope in a kid who had never finished a race.

He wrapped his hand around Kitster in a 'broish' manner and replied, "Kitster's right. I will this time."

Jinn came up from behind and placed his hands on Anakin's shoulders. "Of course, you will," Qui-Gon encouraged the child.

Harry peaked out from behind Jinn, "Are you sure you don't want to fall back on Plan B?"

"No," Padme and Jinn replied at the same time. Harry held his hands up in defense.

The next few hours passed in relative, but intense peace. Peace being a subjective word. Different pilots were eyeing Anakin as if he were a helpless morsel ready for an apex predator, like them, to be preyed on. Harry excused himself to go… take care of something an hour before the race was to begin. He arrived back in the crew pit well after the pods had been placed into the starting grid and the flags that represented each racer had been paraded onto the track. The local Hutt lord had arrived in his private suite in prime position in the stands to allow for the prefect viewing angle to see every little thing, this obviously being Jabba; and he happened to bring a guest: Gardulla.

Jabba crawled up to a microphone and greeted and welcomed both the racers and the crowd that paid for that day's entertainment. Chances were that this was being sold as a pay-per-view thing on other worlds to chip in to watch live. Well, live with little latency. Podracing was as much a sport of skill as it was a sport of gambling.

The beams started connecting to the individual engines and engines were booted up in a primer sequence; that being primarily repulsors. Harry arrived at the observation pod right as Qui-Gon and Padme were finishing a small spat. "You Jedi are far too reckless. The queen is not-," Padme insulted.

"The queen trusts my judgement, young handmaiden. You should too," Jinn replied in the most condescending tone he could making him sound uncharacteristically sassy.

"You assume too much," she countered as she walked to face the track as the ladder was to the back. Harry arrived just as the platform was going to rise up. "Where were you?" Padme questioned. "You were gone forever."

"Business," Harry replied as the platform was raised up to a height were the people inside could observe the track properly.

"Business?" Jinn repeated.

"Let's just put it this way, if you think he's reckless, you'd hate what I just did."

"Should I be worried?"

"No."

Once the platform reached the top the announcer shouted, "Start your engines!"

As the pilots all revved their engines, Harry was able to pick out Anakin's in particular. They all had unique engine sounds. Harry activated his rangefinder and zoomed in to Anakin, watching him. "He's revving it up too much," he commented.

"What?" Shmi asked.

"He's going to flood it if he's not careful."

They went back to watching carefully, Harry PnP'd (picture in pictured) his rangefinder in a corner of his HUD.

"Oh, dissent gonna be messy. Me no watch'n!" Jar Jar declared. Once more Harry was annoyed by him. He wondered if a fall from this height would kill the Gungan. Then again, how could it even be done without it being a murder. You know, an accident.

The racers tensed up and kept revving their engines, waiting for the starting signal. The people in the control booth initiated the countdown alarm, a ubiquitous countdown that would stop once a certain requirement was met, in this case when Jabba spat some rodent's head at a gong. Immediately, a green signal appeared and each racer sped off. Anakin jolted forward and immediately stopped as his engines flooded, the other pods going right around him and speeding away.

"Wait, little Skywalker has stalled," the announcer brought attention to the boy insultingly. This immediately brought the attention of the crowd to him, to which they laughed. Anakin struggled to get his pod started again.

Padme turned to Harry. "How did you know?" she asked.

"I looked at his hands on the controls right before the signal. He put too much fuel into it at once. Not enough oxygen got to the combustibles causing him to stall out. He needs to quickly clear the engines and restart them."

"Well," the announcer continued, "it looks like Quadinaros is having engine trouble also."

"And him?" Shmi asked, pertaining to the quad-racer. Harry only shrugged.

"Come on, Ani," Jar Jar encouraged.

Finally, Anakin realized what was going on and hit several controls in sequence and he sped off to join the pack. "And there goes Skywalker!" the announcer stated.

"Go, Ani, go!"

"He will be hard-pressed to catch up to the leaders."

The group watched through Shmi's datapad both Anakin as well as the rest of the feeds that were on the track. Sebulba thrashed a racer by repeatedly slamming him into the rock wall.

"That's allowed?" Padme asked.

"So long as no illegal modifications are installed, like weapons, anything goes," Shmi replied, once more worried about her son.

"Some have more honor than others seeing as some races are more dangerous than others. But Sebulba there is in another league altogether," Harry added.

They returned their feed and watched as Anakin quickly crept up the ranks. He must've had quite a few fine-tuned parts installed to get that level of performance and agility out of them. Harry considered letting the kid fool around with his ship to see if he could get a level of performance that he had here. He entered the canyon, a tight winding snake of tight turns, and a small cliff-side village where quite a few spectators were watching from their homes or from closed off routes. They entered a small cave system that long ago must've been under the long-gone ocean. This area was the most dangerous due to it being both dark and it had a lot of hazards both above and beneath them. Your chances of getting killed here were higher than any other place just due to pilot error. This proved true when a racer slammed into a stalactite while slightly distracted by another pilot.

They entered the canyon dune turn, to which they were fired upon by Tusken Raiders. "It looks like a few Tusken Raiders are camped out on the canyon dune turn," the announcer once more announced the obvious for those who were actually paying attention. To which there were more cheers as this was an unexpected event which made it all the more exciting for the spectators.

It looked like Quadrinaros had enough and just started pounding at his console in anger. He must've hit the single control that kept his beams active as they deactivated. Harry, still with his rangefinder active looked at his face and saw the 'oh, shit' moment etched on his face right before the engines went in all different directions. He rocketed up in the air a few dozen meters from his starting position as his engines disconnected and slammed into different hard objects causing them to explode. He landed softly as his repulsors died out.

"Ooh, there goes Quadrinaros' power coupling," the announcer added for those that were primarily watching their feeds rather than the lone racer who had yet to start, but never could now.

Sebulba barely missed the now disqualified racer and finished the first lap in first place, Watto was clearly happy about that. In the pit in front of Kitster and Anakin's other friend a racer had a pit droid fly into his engine, causing damage that took him out of the race too. Apparently, the droid that came flying out of the engine was having a digital adrenaline high; or, whatever the closest thing a droid could emulate was.

"Look, here he comes," Padme pointed Anakin's incoming pod.

"It looks like Skywalker is moving up in the field," the announcer commented.

Anakin was running up on the rear of one racer who seemed to have a rear-view camera and continually blocked Anakin's attempts of passing him. He did manage to pass the much more advanced pod as he flew over him off a jump that led him to be in front. However, there would be no quarter for Anakin as he was then harassed by another racer who tried to pull what Sebulba did in the start of the race on the same set of rock walls. Anakin managed to pull a hasty, and impressive, roll over the other racer and sped away.

"Impressive," Harry complemented.

When Anakin made it to the canyon settlement once again he was now in third place, passing a few competitors. They exited the canyon with little fanfare until Sebulba noticed how close the pod in front of Anakin was and let a wrench 'slip' from his grasp. Said wrench flew into that engine, crippling it; the pod's crippled engine then slammed into the ground with the other healthy engine following suit.

"Ok, that's got to be illegal," Padme shouted.

"It could be claimed as scrap or a loose part flying into the engine," Harry countered, even if he did agree that it was uncalled for.

The racer in second place was now out and Anakin was in second. Anakin caught a piece of shrapnel in his pod causing him to lose a lead which caused his control sled to spin uncontrollably. Due to this unforeseen event, he lost quite a few places as he quickly moved to reattach the lead. His mother, Jar Jar, and Padme looked on in horror as it looked like the end of the child. However, this wouldn't be the day Anakin joined whatever afterlife awaited him as he caught the lead with an electromagnet and reattached it. Once reattached, he sped off once more to pass by the other three racers that had passed him, once more regaining his second place.

They entered and exited the cavern once more, no casualties there. The Raiders took more potshots at the racers, one hitting Anakin's pod, but it was a glancing blow from their cycler rifles. Another racer wasn't so lucky. One shot hit the sweet spot causing the engine to shut down and crash, the other engine following flinging the pod's control sled out of control.

"Oh, I don't care what universe you're from. That's gotta hurt!" the announcer continued commentating. Harry wanted to shoot him. He was annoying.

"Here he comes! Owoo!" Jar Jar cried out in joy.

"At the start of the final lap, Sebulba's in the lead, followed closely by Skywalker!"

Anakin followed Sebulba closely through the first parts of the track and was right behind him even as they entered the village canyon. He pulled up right next to Sebulba at a point where the track temporarily opened up for such a maneuver. Sebulba rammed Anakin into the lane that was closed off. He kept right next to the young pilot keeping him from escaping. It was either run right into the wall or into Sebulba's much beefier pod. Anakin's bare bones racer was light, but it couldn't take too much physical punishment.

"Skywalker's been forced onto the service ramp!" It sounded like even the commentator was surprised.

Luckily the spectators that were watching from the ramp were able to get out of the way right before Anakin slammed into it. Anakin took off like a ship leaving a hangar. If it weren't for the fact that this was a life or death race, he probably would have been elated to fly. He managed to think quickly and manipulated his controls to air brake into position in front of Sebulba who had slowed down as to only person that could contend for the race to watch the human pilot's demise. He was shocked as Anakin not only landed in front of him, but sped away. The race was on once again.

"It's Skywalker!" the commentator was pleasantly surprised, much to the displeasure of Sebulba fanboys. "Amazing! A quick control thrust, and he's back on course!"

"Did he crash-ed?" Jar Jar asked.

"No, he transcended reality and is now a god," Harry sarcastically replied, making sure to look right at Jar Jar incredulously. Well, as incredulously as you could be behind a helmet.

Anakin kept a respectable lead on the Dug racer. However, this didn't last long as Sebulba sped up and intended to 'run' Anakin over with his much larger pod. However, before that could happen, tragedy struck as a part that controlled a major function on Anakin's pod became lose and flew off, causing the engine to smoke and jet fire out of its side. Sebulba took the opportunity and pulled in front and away from the younger racer.

"Skywalker's in trouble. Sebulba takes the lead!" the commentator announced.

"I knew something was up when I saw him near Anakin's pod," Harry commented.

"You saw him?" Shmi asked.

"Yes, although due to his height I couldn't see what he was doing. He looked really suspicious right before he started talking to the kid."

Sebulba didn't take full advantage of the situation, instead barely leading the boy as if letting him think that he had a chance, only to rip it from him at the last moment. It was a scumbag move, but brilliant in its tactical application Harry had to commend that. Anakin managed to put out the fire, but that didn't take care of his problems. He fiddled around in the cockpit with more controls apparently attempting to 'jump' the other engine back online. Once more luck must've been on Anakin's side as he managed to get his racer up and running again and was once more on Sebulba's tail once more.

"He's catching Sebulba!" the commentator went on.

"Careful, Ani. Careful, Ani," Jar Jar chanted. Harry was reluctant to tell him to shut up as Anakin couldn't hear them at all. It was a one-way feed.

It looked like Sebulba finally noticed Anakin creeping back up on him and attempted to speed up more. In the straight-away Anakin managed to be side-by-side once more with him. Sebulba resumed ramming tactics, to which on a second ram managed to snag Anakin's line. Something that he didn't notice until his pod started lagging more than it normally would, like when more weight is attached to it.

"That little human being is out of his mind!" The commentator announced. The second head said something in huttese. "They're side by side!" Shmi looked away, not wanting to see her son die or be injured in any way. Qui-Gon looked just as worried.

Both Anakin and Sebulba continued to struggle against one another as they tried to pull away knowing that if they crossed at the same time it would be declared a tie. Anakin managed to gain the upper hand in leverage and managed to get free and pull away. Once he did, Sebulba's pod fell apart as he lost the coupling on one engine. Both engines exploded in a brilliant flare of fire and chaos, the cockpit landing not much farther and sliding to a halt. The crowd cheered as Anakin rode in past the finish line, wining him the race. There were quite a few in the crowd that were dissatisfied with the result because their racer lost. But those who cheered for the underdog surrounded him and rallied near him, cheering for his victory.

The rest of Harry's group joined up and cheered with the festivities. Well, he didn't join in. But he couldn't help being impressed by the skill the kid showed. "Mom I did it! Yeah!" Anakin shouted in victory.

The on-track festivities died down and they retired to the garage where a quieter set of congratulations could take place.

Jar Jar lifted Anakin up in the air, "Good going, Ani!"

Padme hugged him and said, "We owe you everything, Ani."

"You did good, kid," Harry complemented. He then turned to Padme as Anakin was slightly embarrassed by his mother kissing him on the cheek. "I need to take care of something. I'll meet you back at the ship."

"Where are you going?"

"To finish taking care of that business I talked about," Harry replied mysteriously. "Do me a favor and grab my bag from the Skywalker residence, would you?"

"Ok?" Padme unsurely agreed to the task.

Harry made his way to his destination to take care of his… business. Meanwhile, Padme, Jar Jar, and Qui-Gon would head to the main hangar where Watto would leave the parts for them that they gambled over. This would be the place where they would meet up before heading back to the ship.

A few hours passed as the parts were gathered and the party reassembled. However, there was a new addon. "Harry," Padme asked with both raised eyebrow and anger rising, "who is that?"

The person that Padme drew attention to was a female twi'lek with a pinkish skin tone rather than green, blue, or even the extremely rare red tone. She was currently dressed in a very revealing outfit of which primarily the bikini area was still covered, for modesty's sake. She wore an oversized hat but carried what looked like bags of clothing that were much more conservative than what she currently wore.

"This is Rylis," Harry introduced her. She gave a slight bow, but was, for the most part, quiet.

"And why did you buy a twi'leki slave girl?" Padme accused.

"Well, technically I didn't, but I also did." This seemed to really confuse Padme. "Allow me to explain."

XxXxXxX

Several hours ago. After the race.

'As you know, I parted ways with you shortly before the race began. You see, I was outright convinced by Jinn's confidence in Anakin that I decided to do a little… bet of my own,' Harry explained.

'You WHAT?!' Padme erupted in surprise.

'You see, I can always use the cash and you never know when you'll need the currency of a Hutt controlled system when you need it. So, I used what little cash I had on hand and placed a bet on Anakin. There was a 3000:1 odds chance of Anakin winning. So, I placed all of my money on him. The lines were long, that's why it took me forever to get back to the observation box. After the race, I excused myself to go collect my winnings.'

'How much did you win?' Padme asked.

'A lot.'

'And you bought a slave girl.'

'I'm getting to that.'

Harry walked into the area where bets were made and collected. There were some 'customers' demanding refunds for their misplaced bets, demands that were swept aside by the cashiers that would cash out those that made good bets. He finally got to the front of the line after another gambler was 'escorted' away who had lost thousands on the race. He walked up to the counter and the teller demanded, "Chip."

Harry handed over a datachip that had the required information that would detail what bet was made and what amount was placed on that bet. Other data that could be included could be an inventory of liquidated assets used for placing a bet with a monetary value that an appraiser would arbitrarily place upon it. The teller took it and placed it into his datapad. His expression went from bored and dismissive to outright surprised in an instant when his eyes flew over the details on the screen. He then looked up to see a Mandalorian in full armor.

"Is there a problem?" Harry asked, sounding more intimidating than he really was.

"N-no," he stammered. He then stood up. "I need to get my manager. Please wait here for a moment."

It took almost fifteen standard minutes before the teller came back with a Rodian who wore the attitude of a manager. "You're the one with the chip?" he asked in huttese.

"Yes. Is there a problem?" Harry made sure to shift his weight slightly to show his very unique weapon on his back. It was one of those non-threats. An implied but not said threat that could be written off as just shifting a load if he was accused of it.

"Yes, and no."

"Explain," Harry demanded as he moved his visor to almost touching the blaster-resistant transparisteel barrier.

"Well, we are not able to pay out the required amount that you are owed based on this chip, however, we recognize that you are have slotted winnings. Therefore, after talking to some… higher up authorities-."

"The Hutts?" Harry interrupted, cocking his head slightly to the side.

"Yes," the manager answered. "Due to the lack of actual money being wagered, we cannot pay you entirely in money. Therefore, the Hutts have graciously allowed you to collect the remaining portion of your winnings in physical property that was wagered for this race. Does this satisfy you?"

Harry thought upon that. He could get some neat new toys if some moronic bounty hunter bet on the race and lost. "That sounds… amicable to me," he grinned under his helmet.

The manager seemed to be relived that the warrior in front of him was satisfied with the agreement. "This way please," he gestured to a Gamorian guard who was standing in front of a thick door wielding a heavy vibroaxe. Harry left the line and walked over to the door. The guard grunted at him but the manager shouted, "Let that one through!" The guard grunted and moved aside, allowing Harry to pass through. He passed through the door and it closed behind him. What laid before him was an abundance of items ranging from speeders to small starships that looked worse for wear. Harry spotted the manager who said, "Select what you wish. Should you go over the limit which we owe, then the amount remaining will be taken from your remaining winnings pool."

Harry nodded in acknowledgement and started to walk around to see what was available. There were quite a few interesting toys like illegal in the Core weapons both handheld and ship mounted that caught his eye. However, he had to really do some in depth thinking as he would have to haul it to the Nubian ship out in the desert as well as keep it hidden from Coruscant Security in order to prevent them from confiscating it. He had to think small, easy to hide. He then spotted several cages slightly more hidden in the corner of the warehouse that he could barely just see.

"What's over there?" Harry asked, gesturing with his head nodding in the direction.

The manager looked, shrugged, and replied, "Slave pens." Harry raised an eyebrow. "Do you wish to see them?"

Harry considered it. A person would easy to 'ferry', plus he'd be doing a public service.

'A public service? Really?' Padme asked. 'Really?'

'At least I was thinking of getting someone free,' Harry countered.

'Oh, sure you were,' she retorted, making sure to eye the attractive twi'lek woman.

'Will you let me finish?'

Harry looked to the manager and nodded. "This way, please," he gestured for him to follow. The trip didn't take long as while the warehouse was pretty large, it wasn't the largest. Not by a longshot. They arrived at the pens. "Please, take your time in choosing."

Harry looked over the slaves in the pens. The pens themselves were just high enough for the occupants to stand up in a hunched posture; think the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Or a caveman. Take your pick. Harry observed the multitude of species locked away. There were Zeltrons, Zabrak, a human or two, and a Pantoran of all things who looked beyond uncomfortable considering their species was used to more frigid climates. There was one being that caught his attention and he turned to look at them. She was a twi'lek female with an odd peach hued skin color. This was quite odd as the most common skin hues that twi'lek had were green, blue, and a sandy yellow. There were rumors of some having a red hue, but he had never heard of a peach hue before. That being a similar hue to what pale, but slightly tanned human skin was. But there was something else about her.

The manager chuckled and said, "I see this one has caught your eye." Harry said nothing, just observing her through his helmet.

"Who'd she come from?" Harry asked.

The manager only laughed, "I can't tell you that. Client confidentiality. They may have lost their possessions or money, but we give them that small courtesy."

Harry gave a small huff of annoyance. He could expect a smartass remark of 'she came from Ryloth', but luckily, he didn't get it. But there was something about this young woman. Something different. Harry quickly queried a language database and read off, "I assume you know how to speak your native tongue?" She nodded. "There's something… different about you. Tell me, what is it that makes you different from everyone else here?"

"My former master was smart, but foolish," she started.

"Foolish?"

"He has a gambling problem," she explained as if it were obvious.

"How was he smart?" Harry asked.

"He taught me how to read, how to write, and how to do math."

Harry thought about that. She would be a great asset to him considering she knew, well, at least how to read, write, and do basic arithmetic. "What about finance?"

She thought on that for a moment longer than most would. "I would be willing to learn."

Harry almost didn't hesitate, but let enough time to pass to let it seem like he wasn't too eager, that could easily come back to bite him especially with someone like the sleazeball next to him. It was just the right amount of time to let an air of uncertainty remain in the air. "I'll take her."

The manager got a sleazy smile on his face and placed his hands on Harry's shoulder. "Excellent choice." The words sent shivers down his spine. Oh, Harry was more than capable of shooting the bookie in the face, anyone could do that with a fast-enough draw. But it was just the way he said it that revealed the dirtiness it implied. "This way," he guided Harry back towards the front end. "We have a lot of paperwork to fill out."

XxXxXxX

Present.

"And that's how I technically have a slave," Harry explained. He got a raised eyebrow at the 'technically' part. "I intend to free her and employ her as a money manager and investor. I can't take care of finances all the time. I might as well hire someone who I know can."

"And you aren't afraid of her stealing from you?" Jinn asked.

"No, I have a gut feeling that my money is in good hands."

"Very well," he wrangled the pack animal that would help pull the parts to the Nubian ship. Jinn had worked efficiently with the dock workers to load everything up as Harry told his little adventure. "We should get going, it is a long walk back to the ship."

They trekked out into the never-ending desert, hauling the hyperdrive and other parts behind them. It took well over an hour to reach the Nubian ship. Jar Jar once more complained about the suns overhead, a complaint that fell completely upon deaf ears. Both Padme and Jinn were silent, oddly so, even. Rylis was timid, but asked many questions. There was much that Harry would have to teach her, especially if she was going to be useful to him outside of just managing his money, he would have to teach her how to fight. You never know what nasties are going to try and take advantage of you, you might as well take advantage of them expecting to take advantage of you.

Finally, they arrived at the ship, still shrouded in its camouflage netting. A member of the guard along with Captain Tycho came out to greet the group and started to unshackle the beasts from the sled the parts were on. Obi-Wan walked out shortly thereafter as the animal's reigns were handed to Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan gave Harry a look of somewhat disgust as he and Rylis walked on past him. Harry gave him one of the few galactically known impolite gestures as he passed the Jedi Padawan himself. He looked to his master who gave him a 'It will be explained later' look.

"Well, we have all the essential parts we need," Qui-Gon stated. "I'm going back. Some unfinished business. I won't be long."

"Why do we sense we picked up another pathetic life-form?" Obi-Wan asked in amusement.

"It's the boy who's responsible for getting us these parts. Get this hyperdrive generator installed."

"Yes, master. It shouldn't take long."

"Jettai," Harry said from the mouth of the boarding ramp, getting the two Jedi's attention. He threw a small sack which sailed in a perfect arc into Qui-Gon's hand. "Give this to the boy's mother. Tell her it's for… letting us stay the night." Jinn only nodded before he wrangled both animals to walk back towards Anchorhead.

Harry escorted Rylis inside the ship and handed her off to one of the handmaidens, giving her the instruction to find the twi'lek a bunk as well as showing her where the refresher was to change into her new clothes. Padme walked up to Harry, Obi-Wan not too far behind her.

"That was oddly nice of you," Padme commented as Harry set the bag of weapons down on the workbench.

"It does seem, out of character for you," Kenobi added, bemused.

Harry opened the bag to reveal the large number of weapons he was able to carry with him. Well, the pack animals carried them, but that was beside the point. He pulled out one of them and set it on the table after briefly inspecting it and replied, "If you think I was being altruistic, I wasn't. I was merely paying for services rendered. After all, the kid's mom did use what precious little in food they had on us. Compensation was in order. I do not like leaving any loose ends concerning debts. With what money I sent with your master, I repaid that debt."

"Just when I think we've rubbed off on you," Kenobi jested.

"Don't you have a hyperdrive to fix?" Harry shot back. It was then Harry felt the same unnatural cold that he felt the other night. "Kenobi?"

"Yes, yes. I'm on my way to fix the hyperdrive," Kenobi responded dismissively.

"Move quickly," Harry said quickly. Obi-Wan could feel the fear radiating from him. "I have a feeling we're going to have unwelcome company and I'd rather not be here when it arrives."

"What is it?"

"I don't know and I don't want to know. Get moving, I'll start getting the guard to start bringing the equipment back to pack it up. As long as it's inside we can properly stow it later while on the way to Coruscant." Harry then left the small cargo bay and gave Padme a look that said, 'stay inside' before he put his helmet back on and grabbed the charric rifle before leaving.

The next two hours were filled with shouting and moving bodies as Harry ordered the movement of the equipment that once protected the queen's ship. They didn't bother to stow it properly but in turn for expedited speed in the clean-up and preparations to launch. The last thing that they put away was the E-WEB blaster emplacement, ensuring that if evasive maneuvers were needed no one would be crushed under the weight of the weapon, so it was strapped down after being moved from the boarding ramp.

When all was said and done, Harry stood at the edge of the ramp with his rangefinder down watching the horizon for either Jinn or whatever followed them here. Turning on IR vision wouldn't help him as it was getting to be past Tatooine's heat of the day. He would have to rely on sight alone, something that he didn't like considering the circumstances. Eyesight alone can be tricky, IR vision, or heat vision, would have been extremely useful to see an enemy approaching with enough time to react.

Harry spotted two figures moving over some sand dunes. He zoomed his rangefinder in to see Jinn approaching, but he had some baggage: Anakin Skywalker. Harry muttered under his breath. He personally didn't like the kid. He gave off some kind of bad vibes around him, and Harry trusted his gut when it concerned those vibes. Tremors, perhaps? Jar Jar though? Jar Jar was worse. Being around him was outright unsettling, Harry couldn't stand being around him for long periods of time. The sooner they got rid of him, the better; Harry had his preference on the 'how', but he was sure that the queen and the Jedi had their own, nonviolent preferences. He took another look at the walking duo and saw that they were a good five minutes out. He turned away and activated his commlink.

"Prime the engines for takeoff. As soon as the Jedi and his… guest are on-board, we're leaving," he said into the microphone. He didn't get an answer, but power started to hum throughout the ship in reply to his order.

He went through a mental checklist to see if he forgot anything. Bringing one up in his HUD he saw that everything was hastily stowed away but accounted for. He turned back around to see that Jinn and Anakin were now sprinting towards the ship. Behind them there was a plume of sand behind a speeder of some sort. Jinn must've seen it at the same time he did as he yelled at Anakin to drop, which he did; because if he didn't he would have been splattered all across the desert in little Anakin bits. The black cloaked man jumped off and immediately ignited a lightsaber which clashed with Jinn's. However, this saber was red and not like the green or blue ones that Jedi were most commonly known to use. The two then matched blow for blow against each other.

Anakin ran up the ramp and said, "He said to take off!"

"Go up and tell the pilot, the lift is over there!" Harry ordered. He hefted his charric and aimed down the electronic sights as Anakin ran past him into the lift tube. The charric rifle had an effective range of about eight meters in the hands of a novice marksman who was only firing in an infantry role, however, if one knew the weapon, well, you could get a lot more 'bang' for your credit. However, Jinn wasn't giving him a clear shot; or the Zabrak was intentionally moving to only have Jinn in his sights.

The queen's ship lifted off and rose a good ten meters above the sand with its ramp down. The ship went over Jinn and he leaped onto the ramp. Harry could see what the other was thinking and started to lay down fire, not really caring if any of the shots were accurate, they just needed to be between them and the other. The other did what he expected a Jedi to do and attempted to deflect it. To the other's surprise, his saber was actually staggered back. This surprise caused a long enough gap to allow the pilot to bolt for the upper atmosphere right as the ramp folded back in and the airlock sealed. Jinn collapsed on the deck to which the elevator opened to reveal both Anakin and Kenobi.

"Are you alright?" Anakin asked as he knelt next to the Jedi Master, just like Kenobi did. Harry wanted to utter a 'sapient see, sapient do', but he was still in 'business mode'.

"I think so," Jinn replied.

Kenobi followed up with, "What was it?"

"I'm not sure, but it was well-trained in the Jedi Arts." R2 bleeted. "My guess is that it was after the queen."

"She is the only VIP on board," Harry chimed in as he removed his helmet. "Unless you've pissed off some kind of former colleague of yours?" Jinn ignored the quip.

"What are we going to do about it?" Anakin asked.

Qui-Gon could only sigh, "For now, we shall be patient. Anakin Skywalker, meet Obi-Wan Kenobi." He introduced the two to each other.

"Hi." R2 beeped once more; apparently Anakin could understand Droid Binary. "You're a Jedi too? Pleased to meet you!"

"Looks like you have a fan," Harry poked at the padawan's expense. Obi-Wan appeared to have some kind of retort, but Harry beat him to the punch. "I have some things to take care of."

"Things?" Kenobi asked.

"I don't like how that zabrak found us. I'm going to start a little investigation into that."

"If it was trained in the Jedi Arts, there's a chance it sought us out with the Force," Jinn replied, ever the diplomat.

"While I don't doubt it, assuming you're correct, but I'd rather be thorough," Harry finished as he walked away. He had things to attend to, starting with the communications equipment.

To be continued…

XxXxXxX

And there we are, another, very long chapter complete. I originally thought about splitting this up into two chapters containing an equal amount of story on Tatooine, but I thought "Nah, this is better", and here we are.

Next time? Well, we're going to Coruscant. This little trip will also have a little side adventure that is completely mine and should be quite interesting despite it being short, assuming it comes out the way I want it to. One more week of "promises made, promises kept." Like I said, weekly until all chapters have been released. I do plan on doing a review reply finale "chapter" to capstone off any remaining questions people have one month after the final chapter has been released. After that, eventually, Episode II will be announced and that will be all for the story itself. I do plan on the same format for that story as well, that is I will completely write the story before releasing it so we don't have any "abandoned story" situations or pending situations like some other dormant stories I still have that are "active." As mentioned before, I do have donation addresses if you want to send some 1's and 0's my way as they're tip jar addresses in my profile. This is all I have for now, see you all next week for the Coruscant chapter.