Chapter 10
A few weeks later Farra was out on the veranda of the inn she and Anakin were staying in, enjoying a late summer sunset when she felt warm arms go around her and Anakin's lips on her cheek.
"Enjoying the sunset, love?" Anakin asked.
"Yes I am and even more now that you're with me" Farra said, relaxing into Anakin's arms.
Anakin had gone for a jog using the time to meditate and to keep in shape. Farra had decided not to jog, as she just wanted to relax.
Anakin held Farra close and pressed a kiss into her neck. The two watched the sunset until the sun had gone then moved inside and sat down together on a couch. They cuddled up and whispered sweet nothings in each other's ear, eventually falling asleep still cuddled up together. As they slept Anakin's dreams were disturbed. He saw Ventress standing over a fallen Farra holding two lightsabers and he couldn't tell if Farra was dead or unconscious. He woke in a cold sweat and looked at Farra. She had woken and was staring at Anakin with huge eyes.
"Did you dream that Ventress attacked you?" Anakin asked.
"Yes…yes I did. And I lost."
"I had the same dream," Anakin said.
This didn't surprise Farra in the slightest. But the two Jedi were puzzled as to what the dream meant. Was it a warning of some future event, a Force Vision? Or was it merely a dream?
When the two Jedi returned to Coruscant two months after going to Naboo they met with Yoda and Mace Windu and shared their dream with him. They had had the same dream several more times so had concluded it must be significant in some way. Yoda and Mace told them that they felt the dream was a warning of some sort. At the same time Anakin and Farra were sent to Balamak leading a Republic Task Force with the task of attacking and destroying a flotilla of Confederacy vessels, one of which had a modified transmitting array that was jamming a key holonet mode. Farra led the star fighter attack that engaged the flotilla. She engaged the nearest ship and used the Force to guide her shots, destroying the ship. Anakin was in his star fighter and he'd gone after the ship broadcasting the jamming signals. As Farra swung around to engage the next ship she saw missiles coming towards her. Throwing her ship into a corkscrew Farra forced the missiles to fly into each other. She let out a breath of relief as the missiles exploded.
A short time later Farra saw the ship that had the jamming transmitter within explode and then heard Anakin's whoop of delight over her comlink. Later on she would learn that Anakin had fired the missiles that had blown the jamming vessel up. The Jedi and their task force quickly mop up the rest of the flotilla and then return to Coruscant. Almost as soon as they get back Farra is asked to go to Tatooine to find Raala Ponchar. When she gets there she finds a wrecked speeder with Trade Federation Droids around it. From this Farra concludes that the Federation has also been looking for Raala. She fights her way through the droids and eventually gets to Mos Espa. There she talks to some of the citizens but ends up having to fight the womp rats in town. She kills them but the citizens complain about it. After talking to a person wearing a hood that turns out to be Aurra Sing Farra is directed to go to the cave west of Mos Espa at the Xelric's draw. There she finds out that 6 Anoobas were the ones scaring away the womp rats. Farra kills them along with the womp rats and at the same time realizes something else was going on
Upon exiting the cave Farra finds Aurra Sing as she could sense her presence. Aurra seems surprised that Farra is still alive.
"You Jedi are so predictable. Always showing up to help someone. The council did not help me when I was young"
"We stand for justice and peace not the hatred and violence you profess to" Farra said.
She looked at Aurra and calmly folded her arms across her chest.
"I didn't expect you to survive in the cave. I was warned about your powers but I've hunted Jedi before. Lets see how you'll do against my associates and this thermal detonator. A number of creatures were surrounding Farra. She sees that Aurra has revealed a concealed thermal detonator and leaps to dodge it as she throws it. However the concussion of the blast knocks her unconscious and she remembers nothing more until waking up in a dungeon where she finds Raala.
At the same time Anakin was working with a class of younglings, doing a training exercise with them. He was using it as an opportunity to get to know them and see if any of them would be suitable to be his Padawan. As he explains part of the exercise to them he suddenly has a vision of Farra in danger. Ending the class he dismisses the Padawans then goes to Mace Windu and tells him what he has just experienced and asks permission to go to Tatooine to see what is going on. Permission is granted and he blasts off. A short while later Anakin arrives on Tatooine. He discovers the womp rat corpses and makes his way to Mos Espa. There he finds evidence of the thermal detonator blast. A citizen greets him and tells him he'd seen another Jedi there earlier. Anakin realizes that this citizen had seen Farra and eagerly questions him as to her whereabouts. The citizen tells him that there was a thermal detonator blast and he thinks Farra was caught up in it but doesn't know what happened to her after that. He suggests Anakin talk to Watto but before he can do so another citizen tells Anakin that Jabba's assassins are looking for someone or something.
'Oh that's just marvelous. If they see me they will know I'm looking for Farra since I am a Jedi like she is' Anakin thinks to himself. He is aware of the Assassins before they attack them so is able to anticipate their moves. His lightsaber has already moved into his hand and he ignites it as he senses the assassins approach him. He Force shoves some into the walls of nearby buildings and reduces the rest to smoking corpses with his lightsaber. Deactivating his lightsaber, Anakin clips it back onto his belt then makes his way to Watto's shop. He greets Watto but Watto is under the wrong impression as to why he is there and thinks that Anakin has come to visit him because he misses him. Anakin quickly gets down to business.
"I'm here because another Jedi, Farra Sti is in trouble here. Have you seen her?"
"Oh I see. All business eh Ani" Watto says, "Ok then fine. Yeah I saw her. A couple of Jabba's goons were roughing her up then they took her somewhere"
A look of fury passes over Anakin's face before he regains control. He realizes that without Farra he could lose control if he isn't careful. He knows that if he should encounter those who were roughing Farra up he would have to be very, very careful of his emotions. He would of course like nothing more than to introduce them to the business end of his lightsaber but as a Jedi could not do that unless they were threatening him.
"Can you tell me the direction they went in?" Anakin asked.
"They went in the direction of the moisture farms. Head out through the North Gate"
Just as Anakin leaves Watto asks him about Padme.
"Oh she and I are just friends. Farra is special to me now. That's why I must find her"
Anakin leaves Watto's shop and heads out of Mos Espa via the North gate. On the way to the moisture farms he encounters a farmer who tells him that the Tuskans destroyed the homesteads. Anakin asks why they had done that wondering if the farmers had done something to provoke them. Anakin feels no anger as he had made his peace with the Tuskans the last time they'd been on Tatooine. However the Tuskans attack Anakin and he is forced to defend himself. He kills the Tuskans and frees 7 other farmers. It had pained him to do so but he knew that he had had no choice. After the battle is over Anakin is lead to the moisture farms. There Anakin finds a farmer looking at the wrecked homestead who tells him that it was a droid he'd never seen before that had wrecked the homesteads.
The Tuskans had been trying to find parts to salvage and Anakin guesses that the farmers objected to this resulting in the situation he had encountered. Anakin then understands why the farmers blamed the Tuskans for the ruining of their homesteads. The farmer is able to tell Anakin that Farra had been taken north from the homestead. On his way north Anakin finds a new type of battle droid, the Cortosis droids and learnt that someone called Bellek might be able to direct him to Farra. He reduces the Cortosis droids to scrap metal and discovers that to defeat the droid requires doing an overhead slash and hitting the middle section, as that is the droid's weakest point. When Anakin discovers Bellek he learns that Farra is probably at Jabba's palace. Unfortunately to get there Anakin will have to go through Tuskan territory.
Anakin makes his way to Jabba's palace killing as few Tuskan as necessary. He only fights if he has to defend himself and he tries to avoid fights when he can. Finally he reaches the entrance of Jabba's palace where he finds Aurra. Aurra tells him that he shouldn't have come there and will enjoy watching him die. Anakin demands to know where Farra is.
"Oh your pretty little girlfriend is quite safely taken care of," Aurra taunts.
Anakin almost loses his temper at that but concentrates hard and manages to maintain control. He tells Aurra he is sorry to disappoint her but he won't be dying. Unfortunately a dark Jedi, named Saato, Force chokes him. He wakes up in the same dungeon as Farra.
When Farra woke up she found herself in a dungeon with Raala as her cellmate. She asks Raala what has been happening. When Raala tells her, Farra decides to contact Anakin. However, she discovers that her comlink has been taken from her along with her lightsaber. She is dismayed and hopes that she can find her lightsaber again. She passes the next few hours conversing with Raala resting to regain her strength as she is still feeling the effects of the thermal detonator's blast. She is uninjured but still weak. Once she feels better she prepares to escape only to sense through the Force that someone else is being bought in. When the door opens and Anakin is thrust in, Farra can't believe it.
"Ani!! I knew you'd come and rescue me, my love" Farra exclaims, getting to her feet and flying into Anakin's arms.
The two Jedi embrace and Anakin holds Farra close just glad that she is ok. Farra relaxes glad to be in Anakin's warm embrace again.
"Am I glad to see you, my love" Anakin said.
He is holding her face in his hands and she has her arms around his neck. Then he kisses her and it seems like they are the only ones there. Nothing else is important except each other. Then Raala clears her throat and the two remember she is there.
"I never thought I'd see two Jedi in an intimate embrace like that," Raala said.
"Long story" Anakin said.
He uses the Force to open the door. Both Jedi are surprised to see their lightsabers and comlinks lying by the door. Raala picks up Anakin's lightsaber at the same time that Anakin picks up Farra's lightsaber and gives it to her.
"Your sword my lady" Anakin says.
He then takes his lightsaber from Raala. The Jedi test their lightsabers to see if they will work, Anakin commenting that it is convenient that their things just happened to be left outside the cell.
"Lucky for you it was. Remember how Obi Wan used to get mad when you lost a lightsaber"
"Don't remind me," Anakin said.
"Perhaps a reminder is a good thing" Farra joked.
"Oh ha ha ha" Anakin said.
Raala listened to the banter being exchanged by the two Jedi. She has already realized that they are very close. Anakin reminds Raala that Bellek has her wages, this being something else he learnt from the moisture farmers. Then the three of them set about freeing the other prisoners.
Raala escapes her own way while the two Jedi escape through the rear of the dungeon. They commandeer a skiff but are shot down by Saato.
"Your master has prepared you well Skywalker but you won't do so well when you are caught by the Sarlacc"
Anakin and Farra ignite their lightsabers and leap into the attack. Saato is no match for them, as they work together and they defeat her. Anakin then takes out a holoprojector and tells the council he has rescued Farra and that they have found out what was happening on Tatooine, namely that Jabba is smuggling huge shipments of construction materials and Cortosis droids. The two Jedi then return to their star fighters to return to Coruscant.
Chapter 11