The raspy voice of the trandoshan reached up into the ventilation as the two Jedi crawled back to where they'd entered.
"We don't really have the time to get any more," Ztherr said. "Help me close it up and get them down to the landing bay."
Anakin and Obi-wan were running out of time if they wanted to save these people from a life of slavery.
"I'll see if I can talk to them," Obi-wan said. "You go back into the vents. Drop down behind. If things go wrong protect the people."
There was no need for any other words. This is what they did. Last night may have be strange, but today was just another day.
Out in the hall, Obi-wan waited before the blast doors he knew lead into the second cargo hold. He stood with a wide stance, hands clasped behind his back. They slid open to reveal only Ztherr
"What?" the trandoshan hissed.
"I'm going to have to kindly ask you to release the people you are in the process of kidnapping."
Surprise flickered across Ztherr's reptilian features, but he recovered quickly, drawing his blaster.
"Now, now, there's no need for that," Obi-wan said, infusing a little force persuasion into his words.
He placed his hand atop the blaster, pushing it down gently so it faced towards the floor.
"Your job's gone wrong," Obi-wan continued. "Release them and disappear on Cafra or I'll let the ship's crew know what's going on."
"What will they do?" Ztherr hissed. "Arrest us? Under what authority? There's no law here."
"That may be true, but you will be vastly outnumbered." With a movement so quick Ztherr barely registered, Obi-wan pulled his blaster from his grip. "And you're unarmed."
Suddenly Ztherr was afraid. He looked behind him for Rel but the man was nowhere to be found. The crate floated ominously on the anti-grav with no one to push it. Anakin crouched behind a nearby stack of cargo, Rel caught in a chokehold. He'd all but stopped struggle by this point, and was slipping slowly into unconsciousness.
"I have no authority to arrest you," said Obi-wan. "No harm will come to you, or your friend. Just leave."
Anakin scowled on hearing this. If allowed to go free these men would just do this again somewhere else, but he knew he couldn't argue with his master.
"I can tell you're a reasonable man," said Ztherr. "I was afraid for a moment you would be like your brother. I say you have yourself a deal. Rel and I leave quietly and the refugees continue safely on to Korono."
Relief washed over Obi-wan. He couldn't have let this situation play out, but he'd feared that their action would result in their discovery.
Ztherr extended a black-gloved hand: a shake to seal their agreement. Anakin, who was watching, could not warn his master in time. On accepting the handshake Ztherr's clawed fingers had clamped down around Obi-wan's hand like a vise. A potentially deadly dose of electricity coursed through the Jedi's body. Anakin was seconds from hurling Ztherr through the air, the force humming around him, threatening to rush forth without his explicate consent.
He could not act so rashly. He needed to think, to regroup. What would Obi-wan do? Anakin focused on his breathing, on the infinite calm of the force. He let the anger flow out into it. Leaving his master's body crumpled on the floor outside he used the force to close the cargo bay door, activating the locking mechanism.
It was clear now: Ztherr and Rel needed to be dealt with. His lightsaber was practically burning a hole in his shirt. There was one sure way to make sure they wouldn't reveal their identities. He could hide the bodies in the crate. They wouldn't be discovered until long after they were safely on Korono. It wasn't cruelty, it was practicality. But looking down at Rel's body on the floor he knew he wouldn't be able to look Obi-wan in the eyes after executing an unconscious man. Ztherr however was another story. But to kill one and not the other… that risked their discovery.
So non-deadly force it was. He could hear Ztherr trying to get in, swearing in a language Anakin did not recognize. Most important thing right now was getting the refugees to safety, he knew that. With the help of the force he pulled the crate to the far corner of the room, near the grate that lead to the next cargo hold. If he could get them through before Ztherr got into the room he would have one less thing to worry about.
Ripping the grate off of the wall, he opened the crate. There they were: the twelve people who would have lived the rest of their lives in slavery, had him and Obi-wan not chosen that exact room to drink in. Whatever Ztherr had given them must have been strong, because none stirred at all. They could have been corpses. The first man he lifted was about Obi-wan's age with sandy blond hair. Anakin force pushed him down the half meter long vent which lead to the next room. He reached for the next woman, but as her head fell to face him he froze. Something was caught in his throat, maybe a sob, maybe a scream.
It was his mother. She was younger than when he'd last seen her, like she'd been in his earliest childhood memories. Deep down he knew this young woman could not be his mother, but the resemblance was disorienting. For a second he entertained the possibility he held an unknown cousin in his arms.
Ztherr and Rel had taken her against her will: this poor woman fleeing a war zone all alone. He could see her ending up somewhere just like Tatooine, broken down over years of servitude until any dreams she'd had were just dust underfoot.
"I'm sorry I left you," he wanted to say, but didn't because he knew neither this woman nor his mother would hear him.
There was a bang and a shower of sparks at the door. Cursing his moment of distraction, Anakin pushed the woman through the vent and turned to face Ztherr. He'd blasted the locking mechanism, causing it to fail.
"You!" the trandoshan hissed.
Anakin dodged the blaster fire just in time, leaping behind a row of shelves holding smaller boxes.
"There's no one to intervene and save you, this time. You're dead meat."
Anakin bit back his response, as it would give his position away among the twisting rows of cargo. Hood up, Anakin watched the trandoshan from the shadow cast by a stack of crates, as he looked for him in the wrong direction.
With the force, Anakin toppled a shelf onto Ztherr before running towards him. If he could just get a hold of that blaster. Sadly, nothing heavy seemed to have fallen on Ztherr, and he threw a box at Anakin before firing. Anakin slid across the ground, then flipped to the side, grabbing hold of the top of a crate and launching himself over Ztherr. Every blast hit empty air, Anakin one step ahead. The force hummed around him, infused into every move he made.
Jumping onto Ztherr's back from behind, Anakin attempted to pull the blaster from his grip. Ztherr fell backwards purposefully, crushing Anakin against the ground. They grappled for a moment, the trandoshan's crushing weight keeping Anakin from taking a full breath. With the help of the force he flipped them so it was he pinning Ztherr against the floor. Then he was flying backwards, a screaming pain in his upper arm. Ztherr had managed to shoot him. It was only a graze through his bicep, but the pain still blurred his vision.
Anakin rolled to cover behind some crates. He squeezed his wound and blood bubbled up through his fingers. It was nothing. He'd fought through much worse. Breathing in then out, Anakin focused on finding his center in the force. That was not all he found. He found distain for the honourless Ztherr who had used Obi-wan's trust against him. His master had not understood that there was more honour on the battlefield than there was in the world of criminals. This creature was of the same kind that had enslaved his mother, who had taken Ahsoka.
Where was he? Why had he not attempted to pursue him in among the cargo?
The answer came quickly in the form of Ztherr's voice ringing out from across the hold. "I hate to minimize profit, but every time I see your face from now on I shoot one of the slaves in the head. I know you fancy yourself a hero, but isn't the life of a slave better than none at all?"
No, Anakin thought, it wasn't. This had gone on long enough.
He stepped from the cargo, injured arm held tight to his side. His hood almost completely obscured his face. He moved so silently that at first Ztherr didn't notice him. When he did the trandoshan didn't have time to react. Anakin's uninjured hand had shot up and suddenly Ztherr was a meter off the ground, gasping for air. His blaster flew from his hand and into Anakin's.
"You're…" Ztherr gasped, eyes bulging, "a Jedi!"
Would he have to kill Ztherr to keep their secret? He couldn't. Obi-wan would see right through him, and he didn't not wish to succumb completely to the anger which had exploded inside of him. Not that he couldn't use it. The trick was to act the part, without becoming it.
Anakin spun, slamming Ztherr against the wall. Shifting the pressure he applied to Ztherr's chest, he advanced slowly. The trandoshan sucked in air desperately, having been seconds from passing out before Anakin had released his windpipe. As he walked towards him Anakin let him see it: the nightmare version of himself he did not let out unless the situation was dire enough.
Voice low, teeth gritted, Anakin asked, "do I look like a Jedi?"
He could sense Ztherr's fear, and he relished it. This creature deserved much more than what he was going to get. Pushing harder, Anakin heard Ztherr's ribs crack. He let out a strangled scream which Anakin cut short by holding his jaw shut. The door to the cargo hold was closed, but he couldn't risk drawing any attention.
"Scum!" Anakin spat, letting Ztherr drop to a crumpled heap on the floor. "Do you understand how badly I want to kill you?"
Ztherr attempted neither to get up, nor to answer him. He simply stared fearfully up at him with his disgusting reptilian eyes.
"However it seems to be your lucky day. Bodies will draw attention, and even if I hide them well enough Obi-wan will be upset with me."
Anakin kicked him in his injured ribs, and watched with something close to glee as the trandoshan curled in on himself, whimpering.
"You're not going to say a word about this," Anakin said, "not to my brother, not to Rel. Trust me, if you do, I'll know." He tapped his forehead. "If my sense of time is right, we're already in orbit around Cafra. Take your friend and disappear. I'd hurry too, because if you miss this generous opportunity you're both dead. If I sense you mentioned me to anyone, you're dead. Right now it's very important I get to Korono, but be confident in the fact that I will find you, no matter where you try to hide. I'm not a forgiving person."
Ztherr was nodding feverishly. "Yes-Yes of course!"
"Get up!" Anakin bellowed. "Before I change my mind."
Though he was obviously in pain, Ztherr managed to carry an unconscious Rel out of the hold. Anakin made sure to remember how he felt in the force. He'd be able to tell when he left the ship. He'd been so caught up in the moment he'd forgotten about his arm, but that didn't last as it began to smart again. As he went to where Obi-wan had fallen he focused on finding his force center again, both to ease the pain and to dissipate the darkness which had exploded in him during the confrontation.
Obi-wan lay exactly where Ztherr had left him.
"Oh, master," Anakin murmured, crouching down and turning Obi-wan's face so it was no longer squished uncomfortably against the floor.
He could sense that he was going to be alright, and it felt like a massive weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. If Ztherr had—force forbid—killed Obi-wan with the electric shock Anakin knew he wouldn't have let them leave the ship.
The ship's singular, old med droid had been not expecting such a sudden influx of patients. Anakin delivered both Obi-wan and the crate full of unconscious refugees, ignoring the stares of those in the hall. The med bay was tragically understocked but no one needed much more than a place to sleep it off.
When Obi-wan awoke Anakin was sitting one bed over getting bacta applied to his shoulder wound while being interrogated by the ship's captain.
"I figured it was better to make sure the people were okay than to follow them," Anakin was explaining. "Did they get off the ship?"
"Yes, sadly," the captain said.
Obi-wan struggled to sit up, and Anakin turned to face him.
"Welcome back." He grinned cheekily.
Obi-wan had so many questions, but he could not ask them in front of the captain.
"The captain has generously decided to make an exception to his no fighting rule on our behalf," said Anakin.
"Thank you both," the man said, "a lot of people would have just turned a blind eye. That's how scum like them are so successful. I've been flying this shuttle for a long time, and I am sad to say this isn't the first time I've seen this happen."
After they'd escaped the med bay, Obi-wan's first question was, "should I be worried?"
Anakin wasn't meeting his eyes, but his response sounded genuine enough. "No. They're both alive, if that's what you were wondering, and I very much doubt they'll mention us to anyone."
"And why would you say that?" Obi-wan pushed.
"Ztherr and I had a chat. Turns out he was an understanding fellow after all. I don't think he wanted to get on my bad side."
"No…" Obi-wan said thoughtfully. "I don't think any of us do."
He probed Anakin's mind gently through the force, but his former Padawan gave him nothing. It appeared he would be getting no more information either verbally or psychically. He trusted Anakin, and his force presence wasn't abnormal for him, but there was something about his demeanor that was worrisome.
When they filled Padme and Rex in over breakfast they were incredulous.
"I leave you two alone for one night," Padme said.
"Trouble does seem to find us," Obi-wan admitted, taking a sip of his caf.
"I'm honestly not that surprised," said Rex, as he and Padme exchanged a knowing look.
While the "Duura family" was shooting through hyperspace and nursing hangovers, somewhere else in the galaxy Ahsoka was awakening for the first time since her abduction. Everything was fuzzy: her body, her head, even the force. She felt sick from dehydration, and at the moment opening her eyes seemed like it would take too much energy. Instinctively, the first thing she did was reach out for Anakin's presence in the force.
It wasn't there. Of course it wasn't there, she chided herself. She'd left him after all. Ever since she'd turned her back to the temple and not looked back she'd been burdened by the guilt of this. Even when the order had turned against her Anakin had never given up. But she couldn't have stayed, not even for him, not after the masters who had raised her and looked her in the eyes and called her a traitor and a murderer.
No use dwelling on it more than she already had. It was time to get up. Ahsoka peeled her eyes open with some effort and attempted to sit up. That was when she realized she couldn't move. She was on an inclined table, her wrists and ankles secured to it with energy bindings. Everything came rushing back all at once: Korono, the zygerrians. She'd let herself be captured. And it was with a sinking feeling that she realized that no one would be coming for her.
She was going to have to save herself. These zygerrians had made a mistake. It was almost impossible to hold a Jedi. But she wasn't a Jedi anymore, she reminded herself. All the same, she could still use the force and she drew it around her like a child comforting themselves with an old blanket. She was in a ship's prison cell the likes of which she'd seen the inside of before. There were no switches of controls of any kind she could use to release herself, so it appeared that for the moment she was stuck. Whoever came through that door next was getting an unpleasant surprise.
As she waited, Ahsoka entered a strange sort of meditation, so focused was she on the door before her. The force was ready, and so was she. When the door did slide open she almost didn't realize in time that it was not the zygerrians who stood before her. It was a twi'lek girl, probably about her age. She carried a nutrition bar and glass of water. Her posture and downcast eyes gave her away as a slave, and Ahsoka's plan changed. If she could convince this girl to free her she knew she would be able to overpower the slavers. There was no try, only do or do not, and in this case do not was not an option she wished to think about.
"Hey…" Ahsoka coaxed, in a voice she had meant to be soothing but which had come out more as a croak.
She'd just met the twi'lek's fearful eyes when it was back to plan A. One of the zygerrians had entered the room behind her. All Ahsoka was able to move was her fingers, but as she curled them towards her it happened just as she had imagined it a thousand times, staring at the door. The zygerrian was yanked forward violently, forehead colliding hard with the edge of her table. He was unconscious, but Ahsoka knew she didn't have long.
"Quickly!" she yelled at the frightened slave. "Free me!"
The twi'lek looked behind her at the open door, making no move to do anything of the sort.
"Please…" Ahsoka was practically begging at this point. "Once I'm free I can take them. You have to trust me. I'll get us both out of here."
The twi'lek was obviously terrified, and Ahsoka knew screaming at her wasn't helping, but she was desperate. Much to her relief, the twi'lek began to move towards the fallen zygerrian. Ahsoka reached out desperately with the force, searching for something on his person, anything she could use, but her emotion had broken her focus and everything was happening too quickly.
The girl had reached into one of the slaver's pockets, but she hadn't been fast enough. The other zygerrian was at the door, electrowip in his hand. He struck the twi'lek hard across the back and her small body collapsed, convulsing.
"Stop!" Ahsoke screamed, straining forward against her bonds.
She slammed outwards with the force and the zygerrian slid a few feet back, but managed to brace himself. He hit a button on his armband and Ahsoka felt electricity run through her entire body. The pain was excruciating and she couldn't help the scream that escaped her lips. When it stopped he struck out with the whip, but instead of aiming for her he had gone for the twi'lek again.
"Why are you hurting her?" Ahsoka asked, fighting the tears that were building up in her eyes. "She didn't do anything."
"Maybe so," snarled the monster before her, "but she has a much lower tolerance for pain than you, and I know a Jedi can't bear to see someone suffer in their place."
"I'm not a Jedi," Ahsoka countered, trying to harness some of the intensity she sometimes saw in her master's eyes, "not anymore."
It did not have the same effect coming from her mouth. She sounded more like a scared child.
"So this doesn't bother you?" he asked, slamming his boot against the girls back as she attempted to get to her feet.
Ahsoka knew she was trapped. Letting her muscles go slack she slumped back against the inclined table.
"Please don't hurt her." All pretense of bravery was gone from her voice.
A toothy, catlike smile spread across the zygerrian's face. "That's what I thought."