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To say that Jeza was panicking would be an understatement. Of course on the outside, she was only mildly shaken, firing at anything that Kuroth and she came across before they could be fired upon. On the inside, she was screaming and fighting the instinct to turn around and go back to Luke in favor of doing as her Father had said. Kuroth stayed practically attached to her hip as they rushed blindly through the halls of the Majestic Cruiser, hoping that they would stumble into the hangar bay by chance.

She tried not to think about the fact that neither of them really knew how to pilot the ship, or that neither of them had the piloting skills to safely get them through a space battle and to the planet's surface below.

She was dealing with one problem at a time. It was the only way she was going to stay sane.

By some miracle—Luke would have said the Force—they found their way to the hangar bay. Of course, the alarm had been raised earlier so the men would know to keep an eye on the ship, but they were also under the impression that Jeza, Kuroth, and her Father were contained in the room they had just come from. At least, Jeza thought they were still under that impression. She wasn't going to take any chances though, and she checked both blasters on her hip before she grabbed Kuroth's wrist and pulled him forward in a dead sprint towards the ship, keeping one blaster in her head and ready to fire should she need to retaliate.

Kuroth and Jeza had not spoken a word to each other as they left Luke behind; they didn't need to. Jeza's pain was obvious, with tears leaking out of her eyes and her visible shaking, it was hard to miss.

A few red bolts flew through the air towards them, and Jeza blindly returned fire as she pulled Kuroth up onto the landing ramp. "Do you know how to close the ramp?" she called after him as he rushed towards the cockpit.

"I think so," he called back. It took a few moments that Jeza spent firing at the forces that had started to bear down on them before an audible hiss sounded that the landing ramp began to rise. Jeza turned and ran into the cockpit, taking the seat that her father had commandeered not too long ago. Just as Luke showed her, she started up the ship, her gaze drawn to the hall that they had come down on the opposite side of the hangar bay, the hall that led to where Luke still was, on his own, fighting for his life…no way out…

Tears stung at her eyes but she didn't have the time to mourn. They had to get out of there; they couldn't make her father's sacrifice be in vain. Her take-off was nowhere near as smooth as Luke's had been back on Xenon, and she hit several things on her way out, but she managed to navigate the ship out of the hanger and back into open space.

Now they just had to get through the space battle and to the planet's surface. Had she not been so devastated, she would have marveled at the sheer size and beauty that was the planet of Coruscant with its many lights that made up the city that was the entire planet.

Another ship fired at them and the freighter shook slightly, eliciting a cry from Jeza. "Do you think you could try returning fire? I can hardly fly this ship, let alone fire back as well."

"Which one is it?" Kuroth asked nervously.

"That one," Jeza said hesitantly, pointing at the device timidly. This entire escape attempt was a crash to the surface waiting to happen.

Another shot rocked the freighter and Jeza grit her teeth. What was she doing? She didn't know how to do this, they were going to die!

You're always telling me that you can handle yourself; well, right now I need you to do that for me. I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise, but until then I need you to hold your own with Kuroth.

Jeza bit her lip, taking several deep breaths to try and calm herself down as Luke's words came back to her. Her father needed her to be strong, and he believed enough in her to put Kuroth in her care when Luke could no longer take care of Kuroth himself. She would not let her father down when he needed her to be strong, especially not now.

Jeza straightened up in her seat, trying to ignore the panic that was swelling in her at being in the middle of the space battle. Instead of really focusing on the battle around her, Jeza focused on getting to the surface of Coruscant alive while Kuroth fired wildly at any ship that made an advance on them. He did seem to realize the difference between Judro's men and the Republic, however, because there was a few times where he held back and didn't fire. They took several more nasty hits, and Jeza had to force herself not to panic every time the ship rocked.

Then Kuroth made it worse.

"We lost our port side shields," he said grimly. "We're trailing smoke…I think they might have hit something important."

Jeza grimaced, her grip tightening on the controls. "Just…don't let them hit us again. We're almost in the atmosphere."

"You know enough to fly the ship…do you know enough to land it?" Kuroth asked.

"One thing at a time please," Jeza said in avoidance of his question, her voice strained.

"We're doomed," Kuroth moaned.

"A little optimism would be wonderful if you want to help," Jeza said sarcastically. All humor vanished, however, when they hit the atmosphere and gravity began to play a key factor. She gripped onto the controls in a viselike grip while Kuroth practically attached himself to the navi-computer and the communications device.

"Pull up so we don't nose-dive," he told her, glancing down at the navi-computer. "And angle to the right so we head for the Senate District and the Jedi Temple; if we can somehow land at the Jedi Temple, that would be great."

"Yeah, now might be the time to mention that Father didn't get to the landing part in our first time lesson before we entered the system," Jeza said through grit teeth, leveling out the freighter so they weren't plunging so swiftly anymore.

Kuroth gave a slightly strangled cry before he regained control of himself. "No matter…how about we…crash land? I know a Jedi that's very good at those."

Jeza had to fight the urge to roll her eyes despite the situation. "Yes, well, I'm no Jedi. My father may be very skilled in the ways of the Force, but I am not even Force Sensitive."

"You asked for optimism, I'm trying to give you some," Kuroth said despairingly. A beep sounded from between them and they both looked down at the device. Hope filled Kuroth's features once the beep sounded again. "We're being hailed!"

He clicked on the communications device, and a small image of a young woman in long robes and a small braid pulled off to the side appeared in blue. "Dynamic-class freighter, I'm Padawan Li'oath. We noticed your ship at the Jedi Temple, are you in need of emergency assistance?"

Kuroth clutched at the communications device like it was his last lifeline. "Yes! We do! This is Supreme Chancellor Kuroth, we were hit up in the battle and we're crash landing—"

Jeza stared at him in shock as there was audible noise from the other end and the girl disappeared, replaced by a man with long wavy hair and a scar over his right eye dressed not in robes but in a tunic and tabard with a black glove that went up to his elbow on his right hand. "Chancellor? Are you all right?"

"I would like to be Master Jedi, but right now I'm not. We're crashing and I'm afraid my pilot is not an experienced one."

The man turned to Jeza in that moment, who sat tense at the controls, simply trying to keep them up in the air. Understanding and sympathy filled the man's face as he took in her panicky, still tear-streaked face. "What's your name young one?" he asked her gently.

"Jeza," she managed, keeping the ship angled in the direction that Kuroth had told her.

"All right Jeza, I need you to listen very closely, I'm going to guide you through this, but you need to do exactly as I say, all right?" When Jeza nodded, he continued. "What are your coordinates exactly, right now?"

She told him.

"I need you to move six more degrees to the right so that you're approaching the Jedi Temple, all right? Do you know what on your ship is damaged?"

She shook her head. "No sir…all I know about ships is what I was told minutes before we came into the system."

The man visibly grimaced, but the expression was gone the next second. "That's all right, that's fine, don't worry about it. I need you to relax though, okay? Just listen to my voice, don't think about anything else. Just focus on my voice and doing as I tell you to, all right?"

Jeza gradually loosened up as the man spoke; he reminded her a lot of her father, including his soothing tone of voice. Once she had relaxed considerably, he began to guide her to the Jedi Temple. His holo-self showed that he was moving as he spoke, so he was probably going to meet them once they touched down.

Under the man's guidance, Jeza was able to reach the Jedi Temple—a structure that would have amazed her had she not been so traumatized and stressed—and ease into the structure's hangar bay. It took a moment to power down the ship, and their landing was a little rough, jolting them in their seats, but they made it.

Jeza sagged in relief and defeat in her seat, conflicted as to whether she should be happy she was alive and had made it to the planet's surface…

…or terrified that she was looking to become an orphan all over again.

Kuroth gave a whoop of relief, launching to his feet and pumping his fists in the air as if he was thirty years younger than he looked. He slammed his hand down on the button that lowered the ramp, and moved to get off of the freighter once and for all before he halted in his tracks, turning back to the forlorn Jeza. Tears pricked her eyes as she thought of Luke, his warm smile and bright laugh, how tender he was whenever he would teach her something new, his willingness to listen to her and his understanding, his bright blue eyes that she could never hide anything from…

Gone. All gone. She had no way of knowing if he was going to live, or if he was even still alive, and it shattered her heart. An overwhelming feeling of grief and loss overtook her, and Jeza leaned forward and sobbed into her hands, unashamed even though Kuroth's eyes were on her.

The old man hesitantly approached her, putting his hands on her shoulders in a soothing gesture as he kneeled down beside her. "There, there," he said gently while the young girl sobbed. Neither of them noticed the figure approaching the cockpit. "I'm sure that he will be fine; he'll…he'll find a way off of the cruiser, your father is a very resourceful man."

"We…we don't even know if he's still alive!" Jeza wept. "I-I can't lose him! I c-can't! He's all I have left! After him there's no one because they're all dead!"

Kuroth's expression grew pained, at a complete loss for words for a few moments before his expression hardened. "There's still hope. From what I've seen, your father is a fighter, and I don't believe he'll let Judro take him so easily. We just need to act quickly if we're to rescue him."

"Rescue who, might I ask?" came a new voice from behind them. Jeza and Kuroth both jumped at the newcomer's voice, whipping around to see the man that had led them safely to the Jedi Temple. Kuroth straightened up immediately.

"Master Jedi," he said instantly, bowing in the sign of utmost respect to the man. Jeza's tear-streaked eyes were fixated on the man's crystal clear gaze, unable to tear away. His eyes were the exact same shade of blue as her father's eyes, and they held so much sympathy and haunted sorrow she could almost convince herself that she was staring into her father's eyes.

The man nodded to Kuroth. "Chancellor," he said in equal respect before he approached Jeza, never breaking eye contact with the young girl. "Why don't you tell me what happened?" he asked gently, sitting down in the copilot's chair and facing the young girl fully.

Fresh tears spilled from the girls eyes. "My father and I came across Kuroth and the bounty hunters that were holding him, and my father freed Kuroth and agreed to escort him back to Coruscant…but when we arrived we got trapped in a tractor beam and pulled onboard the Majestic Cruiser. My father had us hide and then went to disable the tractor beam, but someone spotted Kuroth and me and raised the alarm. When he caught up to us again, we were cornered and he…" Jeze choked off for a moment, fighting back a fresh batch of tears while the Jedi watched her quietly.

"Take your time," he suggested gently.

Jeza sniffled. "He stayed behind to give us a chance to escape…he's injured because Judro had him shot, but he's still up there, and I can't leave him there sir! He's all I have left, everyone else is dead," she forced out, wiping angrily at the tears that were leaking out of her eyes. The Jedi's gaze had turned weary when she'd mentioned Judro.

"I'm sorry Jeza, but if he's alone with Judro and injured, he won't last long enough for anyone to get to the ship, let alone rescue him," the Jedi said as gently as he possibly could. Jeza was already shaking her head in denial, but it was Kuroth who spoke.

"Master Jedi, from what I've seen of this man, he's a fighter, and Judro won't take him without a fight. He'll be hard pressed to do so. On top of that, her father has the Force, and is very powerful with it. He was holding his own against an army of Judro's men before he was shot, and even battled Judro himself," Kuroth said.

The Jedi's eyes narrowed slightly. "Your father's Force Sensitive?" he asked somewhat sharply. Jeza nodded.

"Please, someone must do something, I can't lose him too," Jeza whispered, tears leaking out of her eyes. The Jedi was still for a few moments before he kneeled in front of Jeza.

"I know what it's like to lose someone close to you; I know what it's like to feel like you've lost everyone," he admitted gently. "Don't lose hope Jeza."

With that, the Jedi stood up, carefully pulling the still distraught girl to her feet. "Chancellor, if you wouldn't mind, I would like for you to stay here under our watch just in case Judro tries to take you again," the Jedi said, guiding Jeza off of the freighter. There were several people outside of the freighter, and the Jedi turned to a girl with brown hair and brown eyes dressed in a white tunic and tabard with a lightsaber clipped to her hip. "Princess, will you please take Jeza down to the dining hall and get her something to drink, keep an eye on her?" the Jedi asked the girl in a soft voice.

"Of course," the girl replied, stepping forward to gently pry Jeza away from the Jedi. Jeza turned back to the other Jedi, who stood with a dark skinned bald Jedi in a brown tunic and tabard and a white-haired Jedi with blue/gray eyes and a tan tunic and tabard. Kuroth stood at the base of the landing ramp, watching them wearily.

"Will you help him sir?" she asked desperately. She needed to know before she would let herself be led anywhere.

The Jedi nodded. "We will bring your father home young one, I promise. Could you tell us what he looks like so that we know when we find him?"

Jeza nodded weakly. "He's human, not a twi'lek, and he's wearing all black, he's got blond hair…it's kind of long, he was going to cut it before we left…he has really blue eyes, like yours, sir."

The Jedi nodded. "The three of us will go after your father, and we will do everything we can." Jeza allowed herself to be led away by the girl before the Jedi called them one last time. "Oh, and Jeza?" he called.

Jeza turned around to face him, and the man smiled a very, very familiar half-smile. "You can call me Anakin."

"Are you sure that this is a good idea? All this for just one man we don't even know?"

Anakin sighed at Windu's question, adjusting his trajectory in his Eta-2 Actis-class Interceptor. It was a Clone Wars Era ship, but it was reliable, and Anakin would continue to fly the ship and modify it to fit the times efficiently. As always, it was painted gold, too.

"Mace, you didn't see her. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if we didn't at least try to rescue her father. Besides, you know what Judro does to Force Sensitives when he gets ahold of them, and I don't think we should knowingly leave him to that fate," Anakin said solemnly.

"What exactly did happen to this Jeza's father?" Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin sighed. "Take what you did on the Death Star with what I did on Korriban, and you've got what her father did for the two of them."

He could imagine Obi-Wan flinching. "Ouch..."

"Yeah...and apparently he's all she's got left. So, in answer to your question Mace, yes, this is a good idea, and we are going to do this."

Windu sighed. "I still don't like it...and I wish she would have given us a name too, that might have helped."

"Just go with it; I've learned that's the best thing that you can do when you're on a mission with Anakin," Obi-Wan quipped. Anakin rolled his eyes.

"Way to bring the humor to the mission Master."

"As always," Obi-Wan said smugly.

"Well let's focus right now; we need to get on that Majestic Cruiser. Thankfully Jeza's father disabled the Nexu's tractor beams; that will help when we get off of the ship."

"Yes, thankfully," Obi-Wan remarked. The three of them were unaffected by the battle around them as whenever a fighter or some other starship tried to attack them they were blown to smithereens by the other two ships. They weren't going to let anyone deter them from their goal; no amount of heavy fire would deter them from their sprint towards the Nexu.

"I'll take out the shield; just like the Invisible Hand Obi-Wan. All you two have to do is get in the hangar bay with me," Anakin informed them. "R2, lock onto the shield generator."

Anakin received a whir in response, and Obi-Wan chuckled.

"At least this time you remembered the shield generator," Obi-Wan quipped.

"Ha, ha, very funny Master," Anakin said sarcastically.

"Can we focus? You were the one who wanted to go on this rescue Skywalker," Windu said scathingly. "Besides, some of their ships are starting to jump to hyperspace; they're making their retreat, so we've only got so long to get in, get the girl's father, and get out."

Anakin sighed, pushing the interceptor forward and taking aim at the shield generator before he opened fire. "Window's closing," Anakin warned as he pushed himself towards the opening that was rapidly closing. It was just like the Invisible Hand all over again...

"Right behind you," Obi-Wan told him.

"You might want to be beside..." Anakin muttered, already angling himself ahead of time to make the tight squeeze.

The three Interceptors pulled even with each other, slipping into the hangar bay before the air lock doors could shut. Those inside took no time in opening fire on the three Jedi before they even came to a stop, but they were ready for the heavy fire. Anakin spearheaded the defense, and the hangar was cleared in a matter of minutes between the three Jedi Masters of Vaapad, Soresu, and Djem So/Shein. When the final droid fell, Anakin turned to the other two.

"Everyone masking their presence?" he asked. When they both nodded in confirmation, Anakin cast his eyes towards the eastern wall. "Good, because we're going to be going through the vents to sneak up on Judro and see what we can find out before we get to rescuing anyone."

"Chuba!"

Luke couldn't stop the swear word from escaping his lips in a gasp and strangled cry of pain as his chest burned in agony. He'd just been shot—again—but this time it had been too close for comfort. Perhaps it was only a few millimeters away from his heart or something else vital, and perhaps it was like someone was trying to dig his heart out with a stick and was missing their target, but he pushed himself to his feet and kept going. His lightsaber blazed in his hand as he blocked Judro's attack without missing a beat, ignoring the agony he was in with the skill only someone who'd been tortured mercilessly and pushed to their limits for over a month or more could have. He was sporting five blaster wounds: the three shots from before he'd covered Jeza and Kuroth's escape, a nasty shot in the shin from a few moments ago, and now this lovely shot in the chest. Somehow—probably that Skywalker will of his—he kept pushing through, and he could tell it was starting to drive Judro insane. He was injured, cut, bleeding, tiring, possibly dying though he wasn't sure about that one, but he just kept getting back up. He would not stay down.

Judro hacked viciously at Luke's raised lightsaber, and Luke's arm trembled violently under Judro's assault, but he did not give. Luke allowed himself to fall to the floor, pushing his hand out and throwing Judro across the room with a Force Push to give himself time to get back on his feet and spit out another gob of blood. The only two remaining members of Judro's army—a B2 Grapple Droid and a gristly looking Aqualish—stuck to the edges of the room, only firing on Luke whenever Judro signaled them to or Luke gained the upper hand on Judro, even if it was only for a moment. When Luke managed to push himself back onto his feet he found himself dodging their fire yet again, ducking, weaving, and deflecting the bolts with his lightsaber. He was relying so heavily on the Force to simply stay standing...

He needed to end this fight now. But every time he got close to ending it, something happened to prevent that, namely Judro's two men. And Luke couldn't go after the two because every time he started to Judro stopped him.

A warning sang through the Force, and Luke whipped around just in time to catch Judro's blades. He was tiring, and he could hardly see straight anymore. How much blood had he lost again? How many injuries was he powering through? He didn't know. All he knew right now was the flash of green and flashes of red...so much red...

Through his haze, Luke saw one of the red blurs break away, felt his hand burn, and then saw the green go flying across the room. He'd been disarmed. For a second, he felt panic start to rear its head, threatening to break through as he thought that he was going to die...again.

He couldn't let that happen. He could not die on Jeza.

The red blades disappeared and Luke's gaze suddenly sharpened as he used the Force to stabilize himself just in time to see Judro holster his blades and launch himself at a slightly surprised Luke. Judro's fingers closed around Luke's neck and they both toppled to the floor with Judro on top, his hands sealing off Luke's airway. Apparently if the man was going to kill Luke, he wanted the psychotic pleasure of feeling the life leave Luke's body.

Oh yes, Luke couldn't help but think. He absolutely loathes me.

Instinctively, Luke's hands clasped over Judro's wrists and he fought to pull the man off of him, strangled, pointless croaks for air escaping from him. He struggled under Judro's iron grip, digging his nails so deep into Judro's wrists he drew blood while he struggled to get some sort of leverage to push the man off. Judro simply tightened his grip and slammed Luke's head against the floor, causing spots to take up most of Luke's vision. On top of that, Judro dug his knee into the blaster wound on Luke's shin, causing a guttural cry of pain to burst out of him. Judro dug his thumbs into Luke's throat, cutting the sound off swiftly.

"I do have to admire...your tenacity. You're not an easy one to kill," Judro grunted. Luke forced himself to let go of Judro's hands, reaching up and grabbing the front of the man's tunic so that he could pull him closer and then hook his arm around the man's neck. Holding on tight, Luke forced himself to roll them over so that Luke was on top before he slid his arm over to press down on Judro's neck. Judro still had his hands wrapped around Luke's neck, but Luke was pressing down to crush the man's windpipe and, if he was lucky, maybe even snap his neck. For several moments, the two men struggled, fruitless, airless gasps resonating from both of them. Darkness was gathering at the edges of Luke's vision, but if he just pushed a little more...

He heard the familiar sound of the blasters going off, and Luke suddenly let go with a gasp of surprise, arching in pain as the blaster bolt got him right in the left shoulder blade. Judro took the opportunity to blast Luke with the Force, sending Luke flying across the room and slamming him into the wall before he crumpled to the floor.

If it had just been Luke and Judro facing off, Luke would have won. If it hadn't been for the army that had been wearing him down and dealing sneaky blows he couldn't block, Luke would have won. Under any other circumstances, Luke was sure he would have won. But now he couldn't even find the strength to push himself onto his hands and knees. He could breathe again, and he was sputtering feebly for air where he lay crumpled against the wall, his ears ringing.

Luke felt himself turned over by something metal—the grapple droid—and then suddenly felt his right shoulder erupt in agony that he unconsciously voiced, followed closely by the sensation of having his throat pinned by two large metal fingers.

The grapple droid had pinned Luke to the floor with its pinchers. One of the pinchers had gone clean through Luke's shoulder, and was the source of his great agony that was pushing him towards unconsciousness. The other was pinning Luke's throat to the ground, both sharp sides of the droid's pinchers cutting Luke's throat and sending trails of blood down either side.

Oh, and it was electrically charged. Luke was reminded of that little fact in the next second.

For several moments, all Luke did was writher in agony where he was pinned to the floor, refusing to make any noise. The higher the intensity of the electricity got, however, the less tolerant he became, until finally he reluctantly let out a scream of agony.

He remained that way for a few moments, screaming and withering in pain, praying for it to just end all ready as he suffered from some severe flashbacks of his time in captivity. Suddenly, it all stopped, and Luke lay still, panting and trying to think strait through his daze of pain. Even though the electricity coursing through his body was gone, he started to feel the dark side encroach on him, weaving its powerful tendrils tightly around his body before it started to squeeze whatever remained out of him. He could feel unconsciousness coming, and he reached for it gratefully.

Judro's voice floated towards him as darkness encroached. "You are a formidable opponent Skywalker...And if I can't make you see reason again and join me with your return to the dark side, I will have to kill you, because I cannot afford to have you on the opposing side. But you will see reason...in time. I will do what I must so you will. Perhaps I'll pay that little twi'lek girl of yours a visit if you don't respond to the more...reasonable approaches...for now though...I want you alive."

Luke couldn't focus his vision, but he did manage to growl a faint last sentence. "If you touch her...I'll kill you..."

"Challenge accepted..." Judro replied in amusement, but he was so far away Luke hardly heard him. He did hear a distinct crash as if it came from down a long, distant tunnel, and voices, but after that the darkness took him and he knew no more.

(A Few Moments Earlier...)

Anakin was lucky that his broad shouldered form fit in the vents. It was a tight fit, but the vents were larger than vents on, say, a freighter, so he fit. Anakin led the way, peering into the rooms they passed through the grates and straining his ears for the sounds of a fight. He didn't stretch out with the Force as he didn't want to alert anyone of his presence, and instead focused his Force abilities on hiding his presence from everyone on board.

Thankfully, he didn't plan on being in the vent long; just long enough to get to wherever Jeza's father was and remain hidden long enough to see what they could gather about Judro and his men before the actual rescue attempt was conducted. If they were lucky, they might even be able to get away with Judro this time. All his escape attempts had been driving Anakin slowly towards insanity, and Anakin was determined to actually capture the man this time.

The sooner Judro was captured and this war ended, the sooner Anakin could focus all of his efforts back on the same project he'd been whittling away at for over five years.

Not right now Anakin; you need to focus on the task at hand. One thing at a time, he scolded himself. Turning his mind away from the past, Anakin crawled further down the vents in silence, listening to the shuffling sounds of Windu and Obi-Wan behind him and for any sounds of a fight.

Finally, he could he heard the faint sound of lightsabers up ahead and visibly sped up his crawl, coming even with the grate that led down into a spacious room at a four way intersection in the vents. Anakin shifted to the side, giving Obi-Wan and Windu just enough room to push past Anakin so that Obi-Wan could rest in the corridor right across from Anakin and Windu could wedge himself into the corridor on Anakin's left.

Anakin signaled for quiet as he situated himself better, straining his ears to hear below. The rapid clash of lightsabers could be heard, as well as furious cries of frustration from one person and the occasional grunt of pain from a different source.

It seemed they had found the fight. Apparently Jeza's father was a highly skilled lightsaber duelist and Force Wielder for having survived so long on his own.

After a few moments of the clash of lightsabers there was suddenly the sound of a lightsaber hilt hitting the ground and the sound of humming blades disappeared. There was a loud thud and a few grunts, closely followed by the sounds of someone gasping fruitlessly for air and light hisses of pain from another person. A throaty cry of pain sounded, though it was quickly cut off. The three Jedi tensed when they heard Judro's voice float upwards towards them.

"I do have to admire…your tenacity. You're not an easy one to kill," Judro grunted. The three shared a glance. So it was Jeza's father that was gasping for air at the moment. Anakin wanted to jump down at that moment but the Force told him to wait, so he did, straining to hear something else. He wished he could see what was going on, but he had to rely on his hearing alone…

There was a grunt, and soon there were two people gasping for air. It seemed Jeza's father had managed to return the favor to Judro of cutting off his air supply. Silently, Anakin cheered for Jeza's father to win out, but that hope was dashed by the sound of blaster fire, followed closely by a strangled cry of surprise and the thud of something heavy hitting the wall and then falling to the floor. Both men could be heard gulping in air before Judro spoke.

"Hold him down," Judro rasped. The three Jedi could hear the chink of metal on metal and a sickening sound Anakin could not quite recognize, followed by another cry of pain. Sparks of electricity sounded, but nothing else for several moments, and once again Anakin found himself wishing he could see just what exactly was going on. As the electricity picked up in intensity, however, they eventually heard an eardrum-rupturing scream of agony. Anakin could wait no longer, and he unhooked his lightsaber from his belt, waiting for the other two to do the same.

The screaming ended, replaced with Jeza's father's labored breathing before Judro spoke again.

"You are a formidable opponent Skywalker…and if I can't make you see reason again and join me with your return to the dark side, I will have to kill you, because I cannot afford to have you on the opposing side. But you will see reason…in time. I will do what I must so you will. Perhaps I'll pay that little twi'lek girl of yours a visit if you don't respond to the more…reasonable approaches…for now though…I want you alive."

Obi-Wan and Windu looked sharply up at Anakin, who had frozen at the word Skywalker, hardly hearing everything else as he went into shock. Skywalker? Blue eyes, blonde hair, Force Sensitive…return to the dark side…could it be…?

Jeza's father finally spoke in a weak growl, and Anakin felt his heart stop at the familiar voice. "If you touch her...I'll kill you..."

"Challenge accepted," Judro said the same moment that Anakin's brain finally came back into working order and he kicked the grate below them out, falling down to the floor below with his lightsaber ablaze. Obi-Wan and Windu fell to the floor just behind him, and they all stood up to take in the violent scene before them.

Judro's men—machine and living organisms alike—littered the floor, and blaster marks and lightsaber marks were all over the walls and floor as well. Judro had whipped around when the grate fell, revealing that somehow his legendary face mask that hid his face but not his eyes had remained in place, but his clothes were torn in multiple places from a lightsaber, and he was bleeding and sporting several burns. Even now, bruises were appearing around Judro's throat from where Jeza's father had wrapped his fingers around Judro's neck, and Judro was even favoring his right leg.

Anakin's attention, however, was immediately drawn to the limp figure that was pinned by the B2 Grapple Droid with one pincher pierced right through his shoulder and the other pincher pinning his neck to the floor. A Force net of dark energy had been weaved around him by Judro, his clothes were torn and burned, blood trailed down his neck and out of his mouth, and blaster burns were visible all over him, but miraculously there wasn't a single lightsaber burn on him besides a nasty one along his hand. At first glance, he appeared dead, but looking closer, Anakin could see the trembling, labored rise and fall of his chest. He was severely injured, and needed serious medical attention, but if they could get him out of there and to the Healers at the Jedi Temple, he could be fine. The Force net Judro had him in and the grapple droid's positioning was going to make it a little difficult though.

Anakin turned his righteous fury-filled eyes on Judro, stepping closer to the Sith. "Let him go Judro," he snarled dangerously, raising his lightsaber threateningly. Judro took an immediate step back, closing his fist slightly and tightening the Force net so much that smoke trailed up from his victim and the smell of burning flesh tinted the air.

"You're going to want to think twice about your position Master Skywalker, or your son's going to pay dearly for your actions," Judro threatened. As Anakin watched, Luke started to grow increasingly paler, growing weaker and weaker as the Force net sapped at whatever energy remained in the younger man. He would have reached out towards his son through the Force, but Anakin knew that the Force net cut Luke off from the Force and prevented Anakin from sensing him. Mentally, Anakin kicked himself for waiting so long to interfere.

Anakin's eyes darted over the three opponents they faced in the room; the B2 Grapple Droid, the Aqualish that had his blaster trained on Anakin, and then Judro. A plan rapidly formed in his mind; there was no way he was going to let Judro take Luke.

"Mace," Anakin said, glancing at the bald Jedi pointedly before he looked at Obi-Wan. "Kenobi."

Obi-Wan inclined his head in understanding and Anakin turned his attention back to Judro. "He's mine."

Before Judro had time to piece together what was happening, all three Jedi acted instantaneously on Anakin's secret signal; first name for the droids, last name for the living enemies. Obi-Wan became a blur of motion and descended on the Aqualish, Windu utilized the shatterpoint Force technique on the B2 Grapple Droid to break the droid into thousands of little pieces before it could do any damage, and Anakin…

Anakin went right for Judro.

Anakin reached out with the Force, focusing all of his abilities in the Force on breaking the Force net that Judro had wrapped around Luke. Force nets were supposed to be impervious, but Anakin was about to put that theory to the ultimate test. In an assault that was strong in both the light and dark side of the Force, Anakin figuratively slammed against the Force net through the Force, straining the bonds until they ruptured under his superior attack, dissolving harmlessly into nothing. He heard the hum of twin lightsaber blades being activated and opened his eyes just in time to see Judro cut a swift hole in the floor and disappear just as quickly. The Sith might be insane, but he wasn't crazy enough to take on three legendary Jedi Masters at once. Anakin took a few steps forward before he paused. He didn't have time to go after Judro; common sense and the Force told him as much. Besides…

…his son was here.

Anakin turned sharply away from the hole, making a beeline for Luke while Obi-Wan moved the grapple droid parts off of the younger man and Windu rushed to the edge of the hole Judro had escaped down. Anakin fell to his knees beside his son, cradling his no longer trapped form close to his chest and pushing the hair from Luke's face. Tears roamed freely down Anakin's cheeks as he let his eyes roam hungrily over the features he had not set eyes on in over five years.

"Luke…my son…my little pilot…you're with me now…you're safe…" Anakin whispered, clutching Luke's unconscious form close to him and kissing the top of the young man's head.

"I'm going after Judro," Windu proclaimed, coiling himself up to jump down the hole.

"There's no time; you said it yourself Mace, they're getting ready to retreat. We have to get off this ship before Judro takes us with him and we all end up trapped on this nightmare," Anakin said firmly, his eyes never wavering from Luke's form. He gathered his son up into his arms, doing his best to ignore how limp and deathly the younger man looked. Luke's head lolled back, revealing the already forming, nasty bruises on his cut and bleeding neck while his hand fell back loosely at his side. Obi-Wan reached over and carefully placed the hand across Luke's abdomen, his eyes searching the room around them before he reached out his hand and called a familiar yet…different…lightsaber into his hand. Just to be sure, Obi-Wan ignited the blade to reveal its brilliant emerald glow.

"It's his all right," Obi-Wan mused before he deactivated it and clipped it to Anakin's belt for him. He strode over to the door, activating his own lightsaber. "Mace, do you want to help me with this door?"

Mace hurried to his side while Anakin cradled Luke closer to him, studying the young man. He was heavier than Anakin remembered, but not in a bad way. He was muscular, well-toned, and like a well-oiled machine. He'd been taking care of himself wherever he'd been in his exile. He didn't look malnourished in any way…

"Anakin, come on," Obi-Wan said, rousing Anakin from his thought process and ushering him forward through the hole in the door that Obi-Wan had cut out with Windu. Anakin set his jaw firmly, moving forward and staying just behind Obi-Wan and Windu, letting them carve the path forward for Anakin as he worried over whether there was enough room in his Interceptor's cockpit for two. If there wasn't, than Anakin would have to make room.

The three Jedi rushed through the hall without any stops, undeterred by the sheer number of men that were thrown at them. Anakin didn't have to lift a finger, as Obi-Wan and Mace did all of the heavy lifting while Anakin focused on keeping a tight hold of his son, all the while keeping a close watch on Luke's shallow breathing.

They reached the hangar in record time with Anakin sprinting towards his Interceptor while Obi-Wan and Windu covered him from the blaster bolts that rained down in his direction from Judro's men that had also arrived on the scene.

"R2, the cockpit!" Anakin called before he even reached the ship. The trusty droid was instantaneous with the action, lifting the cockpit's hatch just moments before Anakin reached the Interceptor, jumping onto the wing with ease and sliding into the cockpit. It took a few moments, but Anakin managed to adjust his son's limp form onto his lap so that he was secure but also out of the way and allowed Anakin to continue to pilot the Interceptor. A quick glance revealed that the technicians had already gotten the shield up and running again just in time for Anakin to deactivate it...again. It seemed Anakin already had his target as he started up his Interceptor.

Anakin glanced back down at Luke's face, lovingly smoothing some of the hair out of the younger man's eyes. "I'll get you to safety, I promise you..."

Outside the cockpit, Anakin saw Obi-Wan and Windu get into their own starfighters, signaling that it was time to get out of there. Obi-Wan's voice crackled to life over the communications device.

"I do hope you have an escape plan Anakin, or else this trip is going to be cut short."

"Already on it Master; I'm even taking out some of the trash along the way..." Anakin said, carefully angling the Interceptor so he could fire at the inside control station. He could see two operators throw themselves aside for cover before he opened fire. The station went up in flames and the shield disappeared, sucking out numerous droids, men, crates, and equipment into space before the three Interceptors flew out of the hangar and out into open space before the airlock could shut again, and not a moment too soon. Right after Windu's interceptor cleared the hangar bay door, the Nexu disappeared in its jump to hyperspace. Anakin sighed in relief, shifting his arm so that Luke's head wasn't at such a painful angle. Now all he had to do was keep it together until they were at the safety of the Jedi Temple...

"How are you holding up Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked softly.

"Better than I've been in years," Anakin replied quietly, his voice choked up with emotion. "When we get back to the surface, I'm taking Luke straight to the Healers. Will you please contact the others and tell them to meet me in the Healer's Wing? Don't tell them why...I want to tell them myself..." Anakin said gently, his eyes fixated on Luke as he piloted the Interceptor through the Force alone.

"I will...quite a lifeday gift, isn't it Anakin?" Obi-Wan noted.

Anakin smiled softly at the irony of it. "Yes, it is, isn't it..." Anakin switched off the communication device so that he could have some privacy as he shifted Luke a little closer.

"You're home Luke...you're home."