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Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars: The Clone Wars, only the OC Jayden Shan.

The armored door opened with an ominous rumble like a bantha's gut and a faint smell of decay. Anakin, Ahsoka and their Clone troopers entered. The Clones turned their helmet flashlights on and aimed their rifles in case this was an ambush.

"I don't like this place. It gives me the creeps." One of the Clones remarked to his partner who nodded in agreement. The silence also unnerved them.

"This looks like one of those B'omarr monk monasteries that I read about in my studies at the Temple." Ahsoka said as she walked beside Anakin.

Anakin looked at her as he explained. "Smugglers take these monasteries over and turn them into their own personal retreats."

Ahsoka raised an eyebrow at that. "And the monks just let them?" She asked with confusion to why the monks wouldn't fight to stop that.

"Smugglers usually get what they want." Anakin said with a bit of disgust. "One way or another."

A sound up ahead caused the Jedi to tense and ignite their Lightsabers as the Clones aimed ahead as well, however they saw it was merely a 4A-7 droid. Despite this, Anakin didn't drop his guard.

"Good guy or bad guy, Master?" Ahsoka asked uncertainly as she glanced at her Master.

A question Anakin wanted the answer to as well. He demanded. "Who are you?"

"Merely the humble caretaker, O' mighty sir." The droid said in its electronic, monotone voice. "You have liberated me from those dreadful battle bots. I am most thankful."

"Where is the Hutt?" Anakin demanded to know.

"The battle bots kept their prisoners on the detention level. I must warn you it is very dangerous down there, my friend." The droid told him before looking at Ahsoka. "Not a place for a servant girl."

The 'servant girl' remark angered Ahsoka who immediately ignited her Lightsaber. "Do servant girls carry these? I am a Jedi Knight." She looked to see Anakin giving her a look of disapproval, causing her to sheepishly turn her Lightsber off. "...or soon will be."

"A thousand apologies, young one." The droid apologized as Ahsoka walked past it.

Anakin sighed. He's going to have to get used to having a Padawan, especially a reckless one... which reminded him of himself actually at her age. Like he told her, she would never have made it as Obi-Wan's Padawan, but she may make it as his. Anakin turned to Rex. " Captain, we'll get the Hutt. Stay here and keep your eyes open."

Rex nodded. "Copy that, sir."

Jayden sat in the shadows, watching as Skywalker and his Padawan passed below him. He kept himself hidden, even if they used the Force.

Anakin couldn't sense droids as entities in the same way that he could feel organic beings, but his Force sense of danger knew something was wrong.

He also had a brain that worked just fine and it told him that no Seppie commander in his, or her, right mind would kidnap a strategic hostage, put up a token fight, and then run away. Count Dooku certainly wouldn't.

"Master, you do know you're walking us into a trap, don't you?" Ahsoka whispered. Anakin crept carefully along the flagstones, ready for booby traps and ambushes. Something moved in his peripheral vision.

"I do." He said simply.

"We just passed two more droids."

"I know." Ahsoka reflexively checked over her shoulder for the third time.

"Well I don't like this. Can I just take care of them?"

"If it makes you feel better. They obviously don't want to kill us." He relented. Ahsoka fell back. Anakin heard the hum of her lightsaber, saw a bloom of green light reflected from the slick layer of condensation on the wall, and waited for the sound of destruction. Metal clattered; Ahsoka grunted a couple of times. Then she was at his side again, but he hadn't heard even a single footstep. She really could be a silent hunter.

"Not bad. You remembered to destroy their weapons first." He quietly mused.

"Why did you say they don't want to kill us?" She wondered in a whisper. "You think they weren't trying? They were pretty serious about it from where I was standing." Then again, maybe she hadn't caught on to the whole stealth thing.

"I think... something else is going on here." Anakin said with a frown. "I sense something... and it isn't Ventress."

"Think we're being watched?" Ahsoka asked as she searched the shadows, unaware they were being watched from above by the silent Jayden who didn't even move a single muscle.

"Perhaps. If we are... they're good at remaining hidden." Anakin remarked before they came to a stop outside a closed cell door and Anakin used the Force and detected their target behind the cell door. "Our Hutt is behind here."

"I smell him." Ahsoka grimaced as she covered her nose.

Using the Force, Anakin opened the door and the two Jedi immediately saw Jabba the Hutt's son... Jabba's baby son.

It was a baby.

"He's a lot younger than I thought he'd be." Anakin said with surprise as he was expecting a Hutt bigger and older, like maybe the same as Jabba himself.

The Huttlet was crying, which sounded more like screaming, on a mattress in the middle of the floor. Ahsoka rushed in and knelt down beside him. "Oh, he's just a baby! This will make our job a lot easier. Oh, he's so cute."

Anakin snorted. "Wait until he grows older. Come on. Let's get him out of here."

The Huttlet was screaming himself into a frenzy. Ahsoka tried to soothe him.

"It's okay, Rotta, you're going home. You're going home to Daddy. Come on, Rotta, stop crying… Master, do you know any Huttese?" She asked when her gentle reassurances failed.

'I do... and I don't want to speak it.' Anakin thought with a frown before he sighed, knowing the kid won't stop crying after being kidnapped like this. "Rotta, pedunkee, da bunk dunko. Sala. Sala."

When Rotta sobbed himself to a gulping standstill and squirmed to see where the voice was coming from, Anakin couldn't quite reconcile his feelings.

'He's still a youngling, he's not like the rest of his family... yet.' Anakin thought. His disdain for Hutts was aimed at the older ones due tot hem running the slavery trade, and a Hutt did sell Anakin and his other to Watto when Anakin was a child.

"Wow," Ahsoka expressed her amazement, "I don't know if he understood you, or if you stunned him into silence, but he's calmed down. He's so cute. He's just like a little toy!"

"You can carry him." Anakin said with a grin before he walked away, Ahsoka quickly following with the young baby Hutt in her arms.

The two Jedi came out of the detention block and joined the Clones outside the monastery.

Anakin couldn't help but ask with a grin. "How do you like your little buddy now? Still cute?"

"He's reminding me more and more of you." Ahsoka said with a glare at her Master before holding the Huttlet up. "See? You're two of a kind."

"Maybe you should carry both of us then." Anakin retorted with a smirk as he walked onward.]Ahsoka grew a worried frown as Rotta continued to cry before he coughed and she felt him burning up, plus he was now dull-eyed, tongue lolling, struggling for breath. Signs of illness.

"Master!" Ahsoka called, causing Anakin to pause and turn to her. "I think he's sick! He's burning up with a fever."

Anakin walked over and placed a gentle hand on the young Hutt and felt him burning up. "You're right. We've got to get him back to the ship immediately." he turned to a nearby Clone. "Trooper! Get me a backpack!"

A Clone brought over a backpack and the two Jedi started to get Rotta into the backpack, though he was being stubborn about it and crying loudly.

"Will you just let me do it?" Ahsoka huffed.

Anakin sighed. "I hate Hutts."

They were unaware the A4-7 droid had been recording and sent the transmission to Ventress, who sent it to Count Dooku, who showed this to Jabba the Hutt, implying the Jedi had kidnapped Jabba's son in the first place and planned to destroy Jabba himself.

This was all Dooku's plan to get Jabba on the side of the Separatists and make the Jedi and the Republic look like the bad guys.

Ventress stood in a higher alcove, watching the Jedi with a smirk as Jayden soon joined her and the two Sith Apprentices watched the Jedi. Now they had a rescue mission to complete.

"Everything is going according to plan." Ventress said.

Jayden said nothing but he nodded once as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Anakin and Ahsoka stood before a hologram of Obi-Wan, displayed by Artoo. " Anakin, did you locate Jabba's son?" Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin nodded. "We have him, but it looks like the Separatists are behind his abduction. This smells like Count Dooku to me."

Ahsoka glanced at the sick Huttlet before she whispered to Anakin. "I think it's little stinky you smell."

"I'll bet Dooku is using us to get Jabba to join the Separatists." Obi-Wan mused, stroking his bearded chin as he thought on this.

"Master Kenobi." Ahsoka said, getting Obi-Wan's attention. "we have another problem." She gestured to Rotta. "This Huttlet is very sick."

Anakin nodded. "I'm not sure we can get him back to Tatooine alive, Master. This whole rescue may backfire on us. I still don't think dealing with the Hutts is a good idea."

Obi-Wan almost sighed, but he understood Anakin's reasoning for not wanting to do this since it was the Hutts who sold him and his mother into slavery when Anakin was a child. "Anakin, you know they control shipping routes in the Outer Rim." Obi-Wan reminded him. " Jabba's cooperation is crucial to the war effort. If you let anything happen to his son... our chances of a treaty with him will disappear."

Anakin frowned but nodded. Ahsoka glanced at him worriedly before she then noticed something in the sky, causing her eyes to widen. "uh, Master? We've got trouble!"

Anakin looked up and his eyes widened when he saw two droid ships as well as Vulture droids flying down.

"Defensive positions!" Rex ordered his men as they moved to do so.

"Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked, wondering what's happening.

"I'll have to call you back, Master." Anakin said urgently. "We're under attack. We could use a little help here if you have the time."

Obi-Wan nodded. "I'll get there as soon as I can. Protect the Hutt, Anakin."

The transmission then cut off as the Vulture droids fired on them and passed overhead. Anakin ignited his Lightsaber, deflecting shots from the vulture droids. At the entrance of the monastery, battle droids, super battle droids and spider droids were approaching, causing the Clones t engage them in battle.

Artoo hopped out of Anakin's starfighter and got out of the firing sight before he could be destroyed.

"Get inside!" Anakin told Ahsoka, knowing the Huttlet needed to be safe at all costs. Ahsoka nodded and ran for the monastery entrance with Artoo right behind her. Anakin continued to deflect blaster fire as he ordered his men. "Fall back!"

"Fall back! Fall back!" Rex repeated to all Troopers on comms and they ran back as the At-TE's fired, trying to hold the droids off for as long as they could. The Jedi and Clones ran to the castle doors and ducked in as the blast doors shut, sealing them inside as Separatist forces took over the courtyard of the place.

Ventress walked up to the door and stared at it as the droid commander walked up beside her. "Mistress, the Jedi have barricaded themselves inside the main vault."

Ventress didn't bat an eye "They have nowhere to run/" She said. The Jedi didn't know it, but they locked themselves in there with someone else who went back into the shadows. Shen then contacted this person. "Khan, the Jedi and their Clones are locked in there with you now. Get the Hutt and kill the Jedi, but leave Skywalker alive as I want to kill him personally."

The Jedi and Clones took a breather for a few minutes before Anakin looked at rex. "Captain, we'll stay here until General Kenobi arrives with reinforcements." He glanced at Ahsoka who was looking at him with a frown. "What?"

"Master, do you honestly think we can hold them off?" She asked as she held Rotta in her arms, "We've got to find a way out of here."

"Our mandate is to protect this Hutt, and that's what we're going to do, Ahsoka." Anakin told her.

Ahsoka frowned. "Our mandate was to get this Hutt back to Tatooine. And time is running out."

Anakin crossed his arms. "I suppose you have a plan." he stated more than asked.

Artoo bleeped several times, causing Ahsoka to look at him before she smiled. "Yes, or I think so, R2 willing."

Anakin was silent for several seconds before he nodded. "Alright, Snips. I'll trust you on this one." He turned to Rex. "Captain, hold them here as long as you can."

Rex nodded as Anakin, Ahsoka and Artoo went off somewhere else. "Will do, sir." Rex turned to the rest of the Troopers. "You heard the General! Get ready to turn those clankers into scrap metal!"

The other Clones nodded as they gripped their weapons...

And that's it for this chapter everyone.