Chapter 77 - Recruits and New Allies

In the shuttle, Anakin and Luke had just located the blocker Hondo put on their hyperdrive to keep it from taking off.

"Okay, pass me that tool and I'll pry it off," said Anakin.

Luke reached up to grab the tool his father wanted, but froze when Lobot informed him, "That might not be necessary. We've jumped to hyperspace."

"Hold on. I thought this was a derelict ship?" Obi-Wan asked, referring to the larger pirate's ship, not to their own craft, which regrettably couldn't fly.

"It seems I was mistaken. Several of these systems are more functional than they appear on the outside." Lobot confessed.

"So, where are we headed?" Anakin asked, reaching for the tool himself. His former Padawan wasn't gloating, but Obi-Wan was sure he'd hear about it later. Anakin's many arguments about a ship being more than appearances and older systems, properly maintained, being more capable, came to his mind.

"A random jump several systems away was plugged in. I altered the heading to take us back to Bespin." Lobot answered, his eyes losing focus as he read data none of the others could see.

"So, what do you want to do about this?" Luke asked, eying his father and Obi-Wan.

"I've almost got this off. When we get to Bespin, we can fly out and behind Cloud City's defenses."

"Yeah, Lando should be able to handle them," Han added. "As long as there's not a squad of Empire cruisers behind us. He can blast one pirate ship out of the sky."

"But," Luke protested. "Why did they run? They agreed to witness an exchange, then jump to hyperspace before the empire even shows up."

"Well, without you to exchange, the Empire is not likely to be happy," Han pointed out.

"But we haven't even escaped yet. And I don't hear laser guns or blasters at the door. Do you?" Luke stated. "Besides, I sense more anxiety than anything else out there. I'd bet they weren't aware of who we were waiting for until recently. That's why they jumped."

Obi-Wan sighed and shook his head. "Hondo isn't the philanthropic type."

Luke went on. "Three Years ago, Hondo was reluctant to get involved in the empire's doings, even for profit. After Aco was brainwashed, I doubt his opinion would've changed."

"So what do you want to do? Open the door and ask for a parley." Han asked. Obi-Wan and Anakin had the same opinion, but they didn't give him eye contact.

"If we do, they might be more amiable than you'd think." Luke insisted.

Anakin looked back and forth between Luke and Obi-Wan. The two Jedi were having a wordless discussion. After a while, Anakin huffed, putting his tool back down. "He's your apprentice."

Obi-Wan shook his head, but a faint smile could be detected if you really looked for it.

"So what? Are we really doing this?" Han anxiously searched for something in the ship to hold as a weapon. The others got up and went over to the door.

Obi-Wan pushed the button and the door opened with a whoosh. They all blinked for a minute. Instead of armed guards there were a few Pirates playing a card game, who looked up casually. "Capt'n wants to talk to you." One of them said, cocking his head to the right to direct them which way to go.

Obi-Wan stiffened and let his hand, which was touching his lightsaber, rest. Anakin eyed him as he, too, let his weapon hand rest. They both walked past the pirates. Han clutched harder at the long tool he'd grabbed and held over his shoulder, ready to swing. He wasn't trusting this. Luke walked out without a weapon. He smiled and waved at the pirates. Chewy watched them closely as he walked past them.

At one point Chewy charged at them with a growl. "Yrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrahhhgh."

The Pirates didn't jump. The one who's turn it was merely turned his head and nodded, "Thanks chap." He began to finger a different card and put it down, with a triumphant smile.

Han sighed. The Wookiee yowled a defence, and Han shook his head.


The room they were directed to was a large meeting room with an oval table. At the head of the table sat Hondo Ohnaka. His arms were stretched out wide, and a devilish grin was on his face. "Aaaaaah Obi-Wan, Skywalker, are ya ready to talk?"

Obi-Wan sat down directly across from the Pirate. Anakin sat on his left, and the others sat around them.

"How have the boys been?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Growing like weeds and branching off into bounties now. How 'boutch ya? I remember you had two younglings. Is the other about to pop out on me?"

"Three," Anakin corrected. "And no. Luke is the only one aboard with us."

Hondo nodded, looking at Luke. "And he's growing strong as well. You should be proud."

"Thank you." Obi-Wan replied. "You've met our companions Lobot and Han Solo. This is Chewbacca." The Wookiee nodded when his name was mentioned.

"Greetings all. I assume you want a temporary pardon for both Luke and Han Solo, and remediation for your own breaking and entering aboard my ship."

Obi-Wan coughed. "As far as breakin's go, our presence here has been largely peaceful. We haven't done you or your crew any damage."

"No damage? Whatever you told that Mando'a kid, he has scared half of my men with it."

Obi-Wan winced slightly, but Anakin chuckled.

"They want to hire a professional exterminator," Hondo went on.

"I can make an announcement and reassure your crew," Obi-Wan offered.

"That is acceptable," Hondo nodded. "You will confess to your dishonesty and accept responsibility for the trauma."

Obi-Wan cleared his throat. He knew better than to give such an open promise when dealing with Hondo's type. He took a deep breath and prepared to negotiate.


"Dush kebise banar," or bad things happen. It was one of his father's favorite sayings, and as Boba got to know the universe, he found other languages had similar things to say, as well. In Huttese they say, "Ya sa noah moulee rah tah cheeta congush," or "there is no payment to cheat bad luck."

Even spacers have an expression, "When the shavit hits the Delta Thrusters Fan." Of course this one never made sense to Boba. What pilot would flush their vacc tube there! But whatever he thought about the phrase, his reality now was looking a lot like it.

He didn't like that, after two of the Jedi he was forced to walk away from followed him, practically offering themselves up to his vengeance, he had to let them go. Didn't like that his plans now necessitated their survival, but it was the reality he now lived in.

"You got that?" He asked his man Lemal.

"Yeah, I'll give your message to Snoot," Lemal waved him off.

Snoot was Boba's second in command. He was a good leader, and smart about the tactical stuff too. Plus, while Snoot was a Drall, he had a good Mandalorian cultural understanding from their time together. He'd be able to give Boba advice on the issues at hand.

"Good, and make sure you send him the bounties list I gave you." Just because Boba was away, it doesn't mean he stopped working. Bounty Hunter's were a particular type to be in charge of. If you don't give them something to do, they're going to find the most troublesome way to spend the time off.

"And you'd know all about that. Wouldn't you, Boba," the internal voice that sounded like his Buir chided him.

With a youthful air, Boba shrugged it off and continued to his destination, the room where Hondo waited to meet with the Jedi.


"No! I still insist the boy's value should be measured the Jawa way." Hondo insisted. "Twice the weight of the sand that'll fill yah, plus yer weight in crystals."

Obi-Wan sighed. "We're offering you a fixed price, more than enough to cover your next three hyperspace jumps."

"And what about the profit loss? I'm letting you walk away, with bounties on all of your heads, yet I am willing to only count the two. What it'll do to our reputation in the guild, I don't want to know." Hondo shook his head dramatically.

Suddenly a Mandalorian walked out and made himself known, though Obi-Wan would be embarrassed to admit, he had no idea how long the man was listening. He was a bit distracted with Hondo's ridiculous demands.

"It matters not," came that familiar deep voice, mixed with a slight Mandalorian accent.

Obi-Wan was almost tempted to feel relieved by it. Until he reminded himself this was not the Clone Wars, and Boba was not one of his troopers.

"Officially, the expectation to exchange persons for a bounty exists only as long as the second party is expected to arrive within an acceptable time frame. You already violated this by jumping to hyperspace. Unless you are prepared to turn around, against my own recommendations, the only one you have any bargaining chip over is the Pilot, Solo. If you try to take him in without young Skywalker, his bail will be higher, but only because the Empire is bound to show up to take custody of him first."

'What's happening here?' Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow while listening. It was not who he expected to receive support from.

Hondo sighed. "Fine, I accept your prior offer."

There were mutters of jubilation and relief around him.

Boba walked up to Luke's chair and was reaching for a part of his armor where Obi-Wan knew often kept concealed weapons. In a quick move, Obi-Wan pulled out his lightsaber.

Boba held a hand out to pacify him. Then he pulled out a Lightsaber and he handed it to Luke, blade facing down. "Next time, you'll want to keep this on you, kid."

Anakin turned to Luke and asked, "Wait. You didn't have your lightsaber on you, when he captured you!"

Luke looked down and blushed. "I was trying to get through the old station. I was using it for light, then I had to climb under something. It was just easier to drop it and roll."

"Are you hearing this?" Anakin looked back and forth between Obi-Wan and Luke. "He dropped his lightsaber." Obi-Wan shook his head. "What? You're not going to lecture him."

"What do I say? Like father, like son." Obi-Wan said.

Anakin wasn't finished, however. "You know what I say. Like Master, like Padawan. Oh yeah. Cody talks. Got some interesting stories about you from the war."

Obi-Wan would've liked to have waved off the threat, but he knew what kind of stories his old Commander and current friend could tell. Especially since Rex and his boys had rescued him from the lines, his informal discharge as they liked to call it, he wasn't under any military command anymore.

As the others were getting up, Lobot turned to Hondo. "In thirty minutes we are due to jump out of hyperspace. If you have no hostile intentions towards Bespin, I can give you the codes to land."

"Bespin! Who said we were going there?" Hondo replied.

"-And we're done here." Obi-Wan rushed to usher them out before Lobot could respond. No good would come from him admitting to altering their course.

Hondo scratched his head and gave them a funny eye as they walked out.


"And you used the force to determine our destination, even though Aco just plugged the coordinates in at random?" Hondo sounded like he didn't really believe it.

"Yup." Anakin nodded.

"I don't think the Force works like that," Hondo said. "But what do I know?" He shrugged.

Anakin wiped a line of sweat off his brow. He was relieved the Pirate captain believed his story. It'd be a shame for him to lose that bet with Obi-Wan.

"And it looks like they're accepting your codes. It's very fortunate for us to have a Bespinite onboard, randomly ending up in Bespin space, and all."

"Yup." Anakin made a thumbs up gesture at the man. "And you know what, if you ever want to,you know, stick it to the Emperor, just comm my number. The Alliance could use a privateer."

Hondo let out a gusto laugh. "Oh ha ha ha. That I'll do. Was nice meeting you. Hope the next time is more… Profitable."

Anakin didn't know how to respond to that, so he just gave a thumbs up and a salute, then headed out.


"I'll see you down there." Obi-Wan was finishing his conversation with Boba Fett when Anakin got to the hangar.

With concern, Anakin followed Obi-Wan to their ship. "He's coming with us. To Cloud City. Is it wise?"

Obi-Wan looked up at him in a way that ever since his growth spurt as a teen, was the equivalent of a normal Master looking down on a Padawan. "Well, the ship he's got now doesn't exactly belong to him, and he left a perfectly good working ship there. If he had any bad intentions, he's had more than enough opportunities up here."

Anakin nodded, as he sat down and buckled in. Lobot would be flying them down. Apparently it was a sight to behold, when you're not encased in Carbonite, or so Han has repeatedly told him.


Boba stepped off his shuttle, leaving Lemal to clean up its servers, a courtesy they were offering. It wasn't many days that you stole a ship, only to return it later on.

In the Hangar, the others were gathered, talking about their own ride. "So, What did you think?" asked the wide eyed Han.

"Um well," Anakin grasped for words.

"It was impressive that he was able to do all those calculations, steering with his mind," Luke said.

"Yes, I wouldn't call it a thrilling ride. We could've approached a bit faster, if I were honest." Based on his expressions, Anakin probably found whatever they were talking about to be boring.

Obi-Wan stepped out with a smile on his face. "That was a nice ride. I enjoyed it very much."

Anakin rolled his eyes.

Boba turned to see the lavish Lando Calrissian walking down the path, flanked by his own security, and two young girls.

The sight of which made Boba cock his head until the one shouted, "Daddy," and she ran to jump in Anakin's arms.

"Woah there." Anakin said, almost to protest the sudden assault, though his expression showed he was far from dreading it.

"And it's nice to see you too, sis," Luke said.

"Oh, you!" she turned to give him a stern glare, then flickered in the corner of her cheeks. "It's nice to see you too. If you can not get captured for once."

"Heeeeeey," Luke protested.

Anakin turned to greet Lando, while his daughter moved on to the next man.

Han gave her a flirtatious smile and leaned in to whisper, "It's all alright. I got him out of trouble, sweetheart."

Boba didn't think Anakin was aware of any of this, the way he cocked his body, leisurely listening to the other man. She wasn't his ade, but Boba felt a responsibility to step in, before anything regrettable could happen.

He pulled off his helmet and stepped up. "Greetings, miss Skywalker. I am…"

SLAP! The sound reverberated off his face around the room. "You kidnapped my brother," She growled. He could tell the others were all repressing their laughter and trying to hide their smiles. "And it's Padawan Leia Skywalker, to you." She then turned and the others followed after her.

Boba stood there with his mouth slightly ajar for a few moments, until he shook his head and followed them all.

"It's Simple," Lando tried to explain. "Your girls have been able to explicate, for me, the real position I am in. With the Empire seeing themselves as having an imminent domain over the universe, and all that, I have no choice but to bend to their rules, or fight back. And if I am to fight back, I want to make it count. We're joining the rebellion. Her Majesty and I have already signed the flimsy-work." He nodded to the other young lady with him.

"That's good news to hear. We could use a new ally." Obi-Wan shook his hand.

'Rebellion, Ally.' The words spun around in Boba's head before they clicked. 'The Jedi have joined the rebellion against the Empire! That would make her…'

Lando meanwhile turned to him. "I understand you've brought back my property." He squinted.

"Yes. It will more than surpass your expectations. My Lemal has improved its systems quite a bit," Boba stated.

"Mmm-hmm. Then I think we can do an exchange." He nodded. "I think we have something of yours on the tarmac."

"That will be an ideal trade." Boba agreed.

"I would love to know how you were able to get into my city in the first place, and what a bounty hunter like you was looking for in my mainframe."

"And I'd like to know how two Humans and a Wookiee were able to get past a life signs detector without even a blip," Boba said, almost sarcastically.

"Hmm, we may be able to do another trade, then," Lando said with a smile.

Anakin made a move as if he objected to the sharing of such things, but Lando flipped him off with a wave, and said, "I've been thinking about the market value of your alterations to the Carbonite Encasement Apparatus. Someone in his business is my ideal customer."

As they were moving on again, Boba knelt down next to the young princess, "your majesty, if I may have a moment of your time?"

She exchanged eye contact with Leia, before she nodded to him. "What may I do for you?"


Anakin was with Han and Chewy getting the Millennium Falcon ready to fly. Obi-Wan was inside making sure their luggage was all stored properly.

Then the most unlikely person of all walked up to their ship. Boba Fett, his armour polished to all its Mando'a glory, stood there with his arms on his hips, looking up at the Falcon.

"Anything I can help you with?" Anakin asked.

"Oh, ah. You can help Lemal." Boba said. Anakin looked over and saw the other Mandalorian dragging in several pieces of baggage towards the ship's cargo ramp.

Leia ran up to them and asked, "Are you coming?"

Boba pulled out a sheet of flimsy and handed it to her. "Yes, I've got my forms signed right here."

Leia smiled, somehow, like this was good news.

Anakin looked back and forth with a stunned expression on his face. "Wait. You're not coming with us!"

"He's our newest recruit. How else is he going to get to the base?" Leia said. Then to Boba, "Welcome aboard." Despite leaving her father with his mouth hanging open, she turned to lead Boba onto the Millennium Falcon.


Hello Readers,

Well, did anyone expect Lando to last this long with both Leia and Mara without being conscripted?

I made a decision to "rescue" Cody and some of the other Clones in this AU. Because I can, I will. I don't intend to expand on this farther, but characters have surprised me before, not being complicit with staying in the background. I imagine, sometime after he joined the Rebellion, Rex freed a couple more troopers, and they formed a unit, going around and kidnapping clones from battlefields. Then they remove the chip in a surgery they call "discharging." After this the clone is free to either join them or retire. Anyway, I hope it makes up for my prior ignoring them.

And now Boba Fett is joining the Rebellion. I couldn't make it clear here, but Lemal will take their old ship back to wherever Boba and his men do business. He was only helping with the baggage, at the end there.

I couldn't tell you what Boba's reasoning was exactly, without ruining the end reveal I was going for, but I wonder if any of you can guess.

Next chapter is still a mystery to me. I think Anakin and the rest will be reacting to having a sorta reluctant bodyguard on duty. And we'll see what Yoda's been up to.