Luckily, Obi-Wan was making progress. With a faint hiss, an opening in the ceiling was exposed.
"Here! I opened a vent. Ahsoka! Come quickly! You're the only one small enough to fit. Can you go in and carefully lower the younglings down to us?"
"Yes, Master!" She looked at Anakin, and as soon as he nodded his faith in her she concentrated and bounded up into the small opening.
Crawling high in within the ceiling, Ahsoka approached the cell containing the four young hostages. Her comlink blinked and she acknowledged. It was her Master.
"Ahsoka, do you see the hostages?" muttered the hushed, deliberate voice of her Master.
She peered down through a vent hole and saw four small children cuddled in a pile together on the floor. There were two boys and two girls. They looked healthy enough, but the room was drenched in sorrow and fear. Ahsoka felt a pang of sympathy for them. They probably have no idea why they were brought here or whether or not their parents were still alive.
"Yes, Master I see them. I'm about to make contact, I'll be right there."
Outside, Anakin was pacing impatiently. While Aayla whispered to Obi-Wan. "This is where her youth comes to our great advantage."
"Yes, I am certainly glad that she is built so small. Anakin would not have fit at her age," Obi-Wan agreed.
"Not only that, but the younglings will be less fearful of her. All they have known so far in this chaotic mess are droids and adults who failed to protect them. Ahsoka will have a way with them, you'll see."
Now that makes perfect sense, thought Obi-Wan as he was once again grateful that the council had selected a member of the more sensitive and perceptive sex to join them on this mission.
Anakin, who was still pacing impatiently, buzzed Ahsoka again. He wore his comlink on his right wrist but had to use his left to hold it up to his face. It made him angry.
"Ahsoka, what's your status? You're taking forever in there."
Aayla glanced at Anakin. "Anakin, give her time. This is a delicate situation."
"Well this delicate situation is taking too long. We need to get to the tunnels before we're discovered."
Inside the prison, Ahsoka used a piece of chord from her belt to slowly lower herself down into the middle of the holding cell. The eldest, she guessed was around six. The next two oldest were identical twins boy and girl about five, and another boy around four. The youngest three children were frightened and clinging to the eldest girl, who was silently regarding Ahsoka with striking yellow eyes.
Before Ahsoka could say anything, the eldest princess disentangled herself from her siblings and rushed Ahsoka, smiling from ear to ear and embracing her in the biggest hug her tiny arms could manage.
"I knew you were coming!" the princess exclaimed fiercely. "I knew it!"
Completely taken aback, Ahsoka finally found her voice. "Yes you were right! And there are three more of us waiting outside. Follow me! We are taking you to safety!"
Ahsoka climbed back into the opening as one by one the eldest coaxed her siblings to the long dangling cord. The young princess skillfully tied harnesses so that Ahsoka could pull them each up one at a time
At last, the six year old was tying her own harness. But when Ahsoka went to pull, the girl took a graceful leap up to the vent, making the strain on Ahsoka incredibly less than the others, despite her larger size. Interesting, thought Ahsoka. She smiled and beckoned the princes and princesses to follow her through the ducting.
Anakin's comlink blinked, but he had already had his finger on the button to receive it.
"Master I'm on my way. I've got all four of them. Two males and two females. They're scared but in good health. I think one of them might be-"
He cut her off before she could finish.
"-OK Good work, Snips, just hurry up." The Force was whispering to him over and over again. Something huge was terribly amiss. The sooner they got out of here the better.
At long last, Ahsoka reappeared and carefully lowered the hostages down to the Jedi Masters. Aayla did the receiving as Obi-Wan and Anakin stood watch with their lightsabers activated.
They regrouped and encircled the younglings, ready to divvy them up and make their escape.
Dejectedly, Anakin admitted to the others "I don't think I'll be able to carry a youngling while wielding my lightsaber."
Before Obi-Wan could reorganize the plan, the six year old spoke up. "Sir, is it your arm? I'm strong, I can hold onto your back."
Not a bad idea, thought Anakin. He wouldn't be bringing up the rear of the pack and exposing the young one to blaster fire, but he could travel in front or in the center and still use his weapon. As he was about to crouch down to facilitate the young girl's mount, she nimbly jumped up on his back and clenched her arms around his neck with and iron yet gentle grip.
"Comfy?" asked Obi-Wan, a question for Anakin as well as the princess.
"I'm good," said Anakin.
"Yes, Master Jedi," said the girl.
Ahsoka collected the youngest and smallest boy, while Obi-Wan and Aayla each lifted a twin. They ran off toward the tunnels to make their escape to the backside of the mountain from whence they came.