Ebon was a slender, charming Cathar they had dealt with many times before. He had a definite crush on Jaina, and as he listened to them flirting, Ben had to resist the urge to roll his eyes as the male asked his sister when she was planning on leaving Jag for him. Of course, Jai had a quick witted answer for him, and Ben let his eyes wander over the people of Niima Outpost as he waited for them to get down to business. His job was to protect his sister while she negotiated with Ebon for the information their mother needed, and so Ben used the Force, throwing it outward to search for any trouble.

He stilled for a moment as he sensed the same signature of an untrained Force user that he had picked up earlier. The person was scared, even stressed right now, and in pain. Ben stood, murmuring an apology to Ebon and Jaina and sending a thought to his sister, "The person from earlier.. I know you can sense that. I need to go find out what's going on." Glancing at his sister, who gave him a slight nod to indicate she had hard and understood what he was doing, Ben concentrated on using the Force to help him locate whoever was in trouble.

…

Rey had figured Snake would be waiting for her when she left the kitchens. She hadn't expected him to have Mumbles with him, though. She detested Mumbles almost as badly as Snake – he was filthy, both in mind and body, yet she had to endure them or risk being punished. Looking around to establish the best exit for herself, she sighed audibly as the men accosted her, Snake in front of her, and Mumbles moving behind her. "What do you want?" Rey asked, trying to keep her voice bored.

"You," Snake answered, moving close enough so that she could smell his stinking breath. Honestly, did he lick the backside of a tauntaun or something? Mumbles said something behind her, though in fashion true to his nickname, she couldn't make it out. "Well, I don't want you, and I need to get to Master Plutt's place. It's my turn to bring him his night time snack. So, move out of my way!" Rey's chin lifted defiantly, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Snake. Snake reached out, grabbing her tunic and pulling her towards him, his lips meeting hers roughly. Biting down on his bottom lip, Rey brought a knee up into his groin, pushing backwards at the same time. Unfortunately, Mumbles grabbed her as she moved backwards, holding her in place as Snake recovered.

"You filthy little piece of Bantha shit! I will make sure Plutt has you cleaning the tauntaun pens before morning!" Snake yelled at Rey before slapping her across the face, her bottom lip splitting from the force of the strike. She felt the coppery taste of blood in her mouth, but instead of swallowing it, Rey spat it in Snake's face, her anger growing more and more with each passing second. How dare he think she was just an object to be pawed at? She might be a slave, but she was still a person!

Rey thrust her elbow backwards, connecting it sharply with Mumble's stomach, and as he doubled over she tried to make her escape. Snake reached out, trying to capture her once more, and that's when the oddest thing happened. Rey looked up, wishing she had something heavy to knock him out with – and that's when a large beam from the adjoining building snapped off suddenly, hitting him in the head. As he slumped over, she turned to run – and ran headlong into a man who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere at the opening to the alley.

…

Ben had been able to trace the Force signature easily through the small outpost, and as he reached the mouth of a small alley, he saw the slave girl from earlier being held by two men. He had to admire the fact that she stood up to them, and as she tried to make her getaway, he watched as she used the Force to rip a piece of the building off, slamming it into one of the men's heads. As she turned to run out of the alley, Ben stood still, waiting until she ran into him before he waved his hand slightly, using the Force to keep her from falling, lifting her to a standing position gently as he looked her over.

"Did.. did they.. hurt you?" Ben asked softly, doing his best to keep his anger at bay. Anger had no place in a Jedi's life, after all, only bringing on emotions that threw off focus. He couldn't stand for people being hurt, though, especially not a woman who was obviously smaller and vulnerable than a man.

One of the men stumbled into view then, and without thinking, Ben called his lightsaber to his hand, igniting it and saying softly, "You want to get your friend and go home. You never want to touch this woman again." The man mumbled something, and Ben had to strain to her him repeating the thought he had placed in his mind. Extinguishing his saber, Ben watched as the man picked up his smaller friend and scuttled out of the alley in the opposite direction.

Looking at the woman, Ben asked, "Are you okay? What's your name?"

…

Rey's eyes widened as she looked up at the man, recognizing him as the same man who had been watching her earlier. Somehow, she was hanging in midair for a moment, before some hidden force righted her on her feet, and she found herself standing again.

"How… how did that happen?" She asked softly, her face coloring as she spoke. She wasn't permitted to speak to strangers, and if Master Plutt found out, she would definitely be punished severely. Her face colored more as the man showed concern for her. No one had ever shown concern for her well being before, and Rey looked up into the man's concerned brown eyes. He was by far the tallest man she had ever seen, and her eyes followed his as he looked behind her, into the alley. Turning slightly, she watched as Mumbles approached. A green glow lit the alley and Rey's eyes widened more as she watched the man ignite some kind of laser sword, speaking softly to Mumbles. Amazingly, he wandered off, picking up Snake and making off with him on the opposite exit of the alley.

As the man looked at her once more after extinguishing his weapon, Rey shifted her gaze down to the ground before answering him. "I'm fine, thank you. I need to go, Master needs me at home and if he finds out I was speaking to an outsider he will be angry. I don't want to be punished." Rey started to push past the man before stopping, her hazel eyes meeting his once more briefly. "My name's Rey." Hurrying past him, Rey made her way to her Master's home, stopping briefly in the refresher to tend to her cut and now swollen lip.