Allana

  "So, what's the plan?" Asked Obi-Wan.

"What?" Asked Anakin.

"I assume you stayed and brainstormed about what to do next in there, am I right?" I gulped.

"You are." I started thinking as fast as I could. "D'Nar said something about the empire and his Queen, therefore my hunch is Zyberria. We must go there."

"Alright. But don't you think the cruisers may be a problem?" Asked Cal. "I mean, if they spot a Republic ship, everything could be for nothing."

"True, but, we still have D'Nar's ship." I looked at Anakin, he nodded. "How long did you say would it take to fix it?" I raised my eyebrows and he continued the improvisation.

"Two hours tops. It's an engine, simple work." He answered.

"So your plan is fly all the way to Zygerria, using the slaver's ship and knock on the door?" Asked Obi-Wan.

"Yes."

"Knock? Just like that?" I nodded. "Really?"

"How long has it been that you've been undercover?" The Padawan's faces lit up.

"A while ago." Said Kenobi.
"Does the time we almost lose R2 count? Asked Ahsoka.
"Never." Said Cal. The three of them at the unison. I chuckled.

"Well, we'll do it again." Obi-Wan nodded at Anakin's words. "You two...properly, for the first time, but you get it."

"Fine." I nodded.

"Wolffe, did you registered the slaver's ship?" My Commander nodded. "What did you find?"

"Besides the cages with several creatures in them, weapons and Zygerrian armours. Only male armours though."

"Okay." I faced the boys. "There's your ticket in."

"So, who's going?" Asked Ahsoka.

"You, Lana, Cal, Obi-Wan, Rex and I." Ani answered. "We'll need a small team." I nodded.

"Wolffe, you and Cody will stay as head of battalions. If we need help, we'll give you a call." Obi-Wan instructed.

"Yes, sir. I'll inform the Commander."

"Thank you." I told him and he walked away after nodding. "Cal, go to the inventory of the ship we'll use, get those armours out and find one that fits you, then hand the rest over to these guys." He nodded and walked to get the job done.

"I'll fix that engine." Anakin said and headed out to work on it.

"How will we divide ourselves?" Kenobi asked.

"Let me figure that out and I'll let you know." He nodded.

"I'll contact our spies to gather information." It was my turn to nod. He then walked away.

"What will we do?" I sighed.

"You won't like it."

"Oh, brother." I chuckled.

"Come on." I started walking out of the bridge with the Togruta's company. We reached a room that's special for inventory. "So, a while ago, I was on Ryloth. Right after Cad Bane and the Holocron situation." She nodded as I looked for the clothes I had in mind. "Cham said he needed help to find some women of the village who were abducted and enslaved by some gangsters moons ago and I helped. When we freed them, the ladies threw the costumes away, however, I thought that perhaps...they could come in handy one day. And..." I found them. "Ha." I turned around and handed a turquoise skirt, top and sleeves set. "There must be different jewels that you can add, the more, the better." She made a disgusted face.

"Why? Just why?"

"Because, we'll be the slaves."

"Exactly. Why?"

"We're the only girls around right now and the story will be that one of the boys is the slaver. When they find women, it's usually for serving drinks and food."

"Or worse."

"Let's not think about that. The thing is, women as slaves is way more common that men. Sadly. Now, if the one to 'give us' to the Queen does the part right, we'll be her personal assistants. To call it in a pretty way. Now, get dressed and take that grey robe. Put it over and get in your role. The lives of those Togrutas may depend on it." She sighed and nodded before she walked out to get to the small room she has here.

  I grabbed a dress similar to Padmé's cyan blue dress. The backless, long sleeved and skirted dress. It only covered my chest and neck. And was scarlet red. I left my hair the way it was, it fits the vibe. I grabbed the silver jewels I could find that went with the hair and placed them on before I grabbed a black robe and placed it over my body.

  When I walked out, I walked towards the hangar. The moment I arrived, the boys looked at me, they were already wearing the armours. Ahsoka was there too. The ship was fixed and we wasted no time in boarding. When we took off, Anakin piloted and set course towards Zyberria. We arrived in an hour and a half. And when we did, we spotted too many ships arriving too.

"Looks like Zygerria is a popular place these days." Said Skywalker.

"Hm. Whatever is happening is attracting plenty of high-class scum." Said Obi-Wan. Everyone nodded. In no time, Anakin landed the ship, quite roughly if you ask me. Afterwards, we directed ourselves from the cockpit to the entrance of the ship.

"Let's just hope the information our spies gave us about the Queen is accurate." I said as they fixed the hood over my head.

"Remember, I'll keep her occupied while you locate the missing people of Kiros." Said Anakin.

"How do you plan on keeping the Queen occupied?" Asked Obi-Wan. Anakin chuckled.

"Well, with my magnetic charm, of course." I chuckled.

"Yeah, remember Kenobi. He's popular with the ladies." He sent me a glare that I completely understood. "Or so he says." He rolled his eyes. "Now, Cal, you're staying with Rex and Obi-Wan. Stick to them and be careful." He nodded. "Keep this for me, the armour is big enough to hide yours and mine. Anakin, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan already gave R2 theirs and he can't carry another one." I handed my lightsaber over.

"Your lightsaber?" I nodded.

"Do. Not. Lose. It. Or yours. Remember that your lightsaber is your life." He took it and gif it underneath the armour.

"I know, Master."

"I'm counting on you." He nodded.

"Thank you." We walked out of the ship.

"You know, I still don't know why we're playing the part of the slaves." Said Ahsoka, who was clearly still upset about it.

"I'd do it, but I tried it once and wasn't really good at it." Said Anakin, making me frown. Before we jumped in here, he seemed to be a little bit more open about what he had gone through that's being triggered right now. He explained a thing or two to the team. "Besides, the role of the Master comes easily to me."

"Really? Well, this time, try to be convincing at it." I chuckled. "If you're not being one because you're a Master, why is she a slave too?"

"Because, my plan is to stand quiet in the back and listen carefully to extract intel from personal conversations." We started walking into the city. "Now, everyone should try to be convincing at this. If we blow our cover, the entire mission will be screwed too. So, keep it cool." I looked at the General of the 212nd and the Captain of the 501st. "Take care of him, okay?" I asked as I looked at Cal. They nodded, I nodded back, thanking them.

  As we walked, we looked at everything going on around us. Men selling women, creatures fighting against each other with knives, people sealing business here and there...a true scum hole.

"Ugh." Snips exclaimed. "How can a civilisation this advanced still practice slavery?"

"It makes them wealthy and powerful at the expense of others." Anakin explained. "Before the Hutts bought my mother, she was sold in a market just like this." I frowned sadly again and thanked that we were closing the line, this gave me the chance to hold his hand and squeeze it to share my support for a nanosecond. He squeezed it back before he let go.

  As we walked and separated ourselves in trios, we spotted a Twi'lek falling down. I stopped my march. He argued about something with his master and that upsetted the Zygerrian. He pulled out his whip and threatened to hit him. We all moved forward. I covered the guy with my body but the impact never arrived.

"You don't wanna do that." Said Snips. When I looked up, I found her holding the forearm of the slaver. He kept the whip and turned around to face her, yanking his arm away from her grip.

"Ah, you dare touch me!" He yelped as I helped the man stand. He thanked me in a whisper and I nodded before I walked behind Anakin.

"Excuse my slave, friend." He said as he gently pushed Ahsoka away. She was standing beside me now. "She's freshly caught." The Zygerrian studied us up and down, meticulously. My eyes met his for a very, very breif moment, but it was enough for me to recognise him. He's the guy D'Nar was talking to alongside Dooku. He's seen me.

"Shit." I whispered and spotted Ahsoka looking at me from the corner of my eye.

"Hm...what have we here?" Two soldiers approached us, as well as probe looking devices that floated in the air around us. "You wear Zygerrian armour, but you're not one of us. Who are you?" He crossed his arms.

"I've come for an audience with the Queen." Anakin answered without giving an answer.

"Then, you have an invitation? We can't just let anyone in to speak with Her Majesty."

"No invitation, but I do bring news. News the Queen will be eager to hear."

"I doubt that." He stepped closer. "You're nothing more than a brigand."

"I wouldn't say that, specially when the Queen learns you prevented her from hearing the news about Bruno Denturri." The Zygettian stepped even closer and two more soldiers approach, this time from behind, aiming at Ani with their weapons.

"Halt!" Said a voice that crawled out of one of those probes. "Cease all hostilities! This man is to be escorted to the palace by order of the Queen." He frowned as he walked past us to escort us to the palace. We walked under a deep silence for ten minutes, until we arrived.

  "He knows who I am." I whispered with tightened teeth as the Zygerrian talked to a pair of soldiers, who stood by the entrance, to get in.

"What do you mean?" Anakin asked, whispering as well. Without looking at me, facing forward.

"He was talking to D'Nar when Obi-Wan and I arrived at the tower earlier." He looked at me. "He saw me and Dooku said my name."

"Well, that certainly complicates things."

"No shit." He shushed me as he saw the slaver approaching.

  "This way." Said he as he guided us in. "Your name?"

"Lars Quell." He nodded at Anakin's answer, and we walked into the throne room, where Queen sat on the seat that rests at the top of a bit long staircase. "Yours?"

"Atai Molec." He answered.

  "Make certain all preparations are complete for this evening." She asked a Twi'lek slave. When her gaze met my husband's, she gasped. "And fetch refreshments."

"My Queen." Said the guy that brought us here. "I present Lars Quell."

"Hm. So, you're the man who claims to be acquainted with Bruno Denturri?" She asked.

"Yes, your Highness." He took off the helmet. "However, when I spoke with him, he failed to describe your beauty." She smiled as she chuckled.

"Really? And did Bruno speak of my intense hatred of him? Or did that escaped his memory as well?" Atai pulled out his blaster and aimed at Anakin's head, but he calmly placed his fingers over it and pushed it down gently and slowly.

"He needed not speak of it, Your Majesty. In fact, Bruno Denturri won't be speaking...ever again."

"What do you mean?"

"Bruno Denturri's dead. By my hand. Here's a slave from his palace, compensation for my efforts." He grabbed Ahsoka's robe and pulled it away from her. She was revealed. The jewels and the dress suited her.

"Unhand me, brigand." Said she and I rolled my eyes. Anakin frowned and, without needing to frown, Ahsoka did. Her eyes are very expressive. The Queen smiled at him.

"You impress me, Lars Quell." She stood up and everyone, including myself, bent down. I saw how Ahsoka didn't, so, I pulled the fabric of the skirt discretely to call her attention. In a second, she was on her knees too. "She's quite a prize. And to have defeated Bruno Denturri in combat?" She stood before us, so, we stood up again. "Well, you must be quite the warrior." She started to walk around Snips, examining her. "Hm. The slave is certainly of fine stock. Bruno always knew how to chose a beautiful female." When the Queen's hand was close to Ahsoka's shoulder, she pushed it away.

"Don't you dare touch me."

"Though she will have to be processed." The Queen added after a while. "Her demeanor leaves much to be desired. What is your prize for her?"

"With respect." He started and I was already rolling my eyes again. "How can I price the beauty of this slave when I look upon the magnificence of Your Highness, whose beauty would make the brightest star seem dull by comparison?" She laughed.

"Lars Quell, you flatter me."

"No, Your Majesty. However..." He moved closer to whisper something into her ear. Whatever that was, made her giggle. I frowned.

"Lars stop it. Stop it." She held his hand for a second. "You are a bold one, aren't you?"

"My reputation precedes me, then." Oh, I'm so gonna complain about this whole flirting situation later on. I scoffed on accident, calling their attention. She looked coldly at me.

"And that is...?"

"She's...another slave. She's my personal girl but, I've been thinking about letting go."

"Is that so?" He nodded. "Shall we see her too? Perhaps I can find you a good costumer for her." Anakin hesitated for a moment, but after a second, he took off the robe too, revealing the whole fit. His eyes widened as he scanned me from head to toe. "Hm." She started to walk around me too as I kept my head as low as possible for the soldier not to spot me easily. "What are those?" Her long nails, better said, claws, went through my scars. Making me shiver and move away an inch.

"Well, she used to be very rebellious. Before she was mine, she belonged to a terrible man. When she didn't obey, he threw her to a Nexu he had as a pet. Everyone thought it had killed her, but surprisingly, she survived. I saw potential, for not everyone can survive that type of beast." The Queen nodded at the made up story. "I bought her for barely ten credits." She chuckled and I sighed. "Truth is, he just wanted to get rid of her."

"His loss." She said. "She's quite a prize too. She seems strong" Her fingers found my jaw and made me look at her. I gulped. "And she's also very beautiful."

"I know." I understood the true meaning of his words.

"Why would you want to get rid of her too?" She let go and I looked at my feet again.

"I want to experiment new things...better things." He sighed. "Goodbyes may be hard, but, business is business." She chuckled.

"Indeed." She sighed deeply. "Perhaps we can find a way to put a price on your slaves." She added. "Come, walk with me." She asked as she extended her hand for Anakin to take it. When he did, the four of us walked upstairs under the attentive gaze of those in the room. In no time, we reached the balcony that's outside the room. "Slavery is the natural order of things." The whole time she bragged about the Zygerrian Empire and their slavery system. "The weak deserve nothing more than to kneel before the strong, bound to our service. I will need men with your...talents to spread our ways across the Galaxy." As she spoke, I had a feeling on the tip of my stomach. I looked around discretely and saw from the corner of my eye how the Twi'lek lady had a knife in hand. She threw a stab attempt against the Queen, that from my angle, seemed to be going for Anakin and he was focused on talking.

I stepped in and held her wrist, making her yelp. I slowly took the knife and my face could only reflect worry. I knew something bad was going to happen.

"Let me go!" She yanked her hand away from my grip and shrieked as she fell down stairs. Anakin stepped down.

"You dare raise a hand against your Master?" Asked the Queen. "Clearly, you require further processing." I don't know what that means but given the expression of pure horror on the Twi'lek's face, I could tell it was horrible.

"No!" She refused as she crawled backwards. "I won't go back there." She stepped on top of the fence and I started walking forward.

"Wait! Stop!" Anakin called. The woman closed her eyes, turned around and jumped as she screamed.

"No!" I yelled and failed to contain myself. I ran to the edge of the fence to find her lifeless corpse and splashed of blood on the ground. I closed my eyes and frowned. Anakin was right beside me and it didn't take long before the Queen sat to my left.

"Such a waste." She said. "But perhaps she was more trouble than she's worth." I, this time, succeeded on repressing the urge to push her. These are living people we're talking about. "May I ask...have you trained this woman?"

"A bit. I think I failed to mention she was specifically owned by the Pikes. Their own security guard."

"Hm." She exclaimed. "You Lars, and your slave, are proving yourself quite resourceful." She sighed. "Very well. I will pay your price for these girls. It seems I am..." She chuckled. "In need of a new servant, and I could use one like her." My eyes found Anakin's side profile. He seemed a bit troubled, but got back in character quickly.

"They're my gift to you, Your Highness." He said.

"You are a man of many surprises. It pleases me. I wish you to be my guest at the slave auction, and to sit at my side." She extended a hand and he took it. She stood up, and both of them walked, hand in hand. She guided us to her personal spot on what looked like an arena.

As soon as the party arrived, the crowd cheered. The Zygerrian guy had gone to attend something, so, I was a bit less tense. One of the soldiers placed a big device around Ahsoka's neck by order of the Queen, she said it was for processing her after what happened earlier on the throne room. She was standing to the Queen's left, Anakin to the right and me to his right too, to R2's left. A man entered the low floor area and the crowd cheered again.

"Your Highness, Zygerrians, guests from a thousand worlds." He started. "Our auction begins with slaves of unmatched quality and impossible quality." He pushed for a second. "I give you Togruta, from the Kyros system." The gate opened and a weakened Governor stepped outside as the crowd cheered louder. Ahsoka's eyes looked for ours with discretion and Anakin's met mine a second after. "This handsome sample represents a lot numbering, no less than 50, 000 beings." The crowd cheered again. "Note the compliance. Virtually untrained in combat, there will be no rebellion from these slaves." I gasped under my breath. When I looked from the arena to the front, I spotted Cal standing across from Rex. The Captain pointed at his blaster while Cal showed his lightsaber from underneath the armour. I nodded at my Padawan and he nodded back. When my eyes met the other Master and his Padawan's they nodded too.

"So where do you keep 50,000 slaves, like the people of Kiros?" Ani asked the Queen. She just looked at him, not giving an answer. The doors opened and Ani saw Molec walking in, so, he stepped backwards, to hide me with his body.

"Your Majesty." He said. "I have urgent news." He added as he pushed Ahsoka away to bow next to his Queen and whisper something to her ear. She waved him away when he was done speaking.

"All will be revealed in time." She finally answered Anakin's question as she stood up and walked forward as Ahsoka reached our side. We looked at each other and a glance was enough to know we were about to do something.

"Before we begin the auction, I would welcome a most special guest, Obi-Wan Kenobi." Our attention snapped towards her and the arena with wild eyes. "Jedi Knight." She added as the gate opened and a very bad looking Obi stepped in sight. The crowd jeered. "My friends, my good friends." Miraj continued. "Do not fear the Jedi. They are no different from others we have forced into submission, for they have forsaken their ideas to serve a corrupt Senate. Every Jedi has become a slave to the Republic." I must admit, that sadly, she's not wrong about that last bit. Kenobi's eyes met ours, his face was more bruised, his clothes dirty...this was not good. "The Jedi Order is weak, and we will help break it." I frowned. She grabbed a whip and turned around. "Teach the Jedi his place." She commanded Anakin, and he waited for a hot second before taking it into his hand.

After a while, Anakin arrived at the low level and a Zygerrian soldier made Obi-Wan kneel and place his hands behind his back. Multiple spectators were asking, no, demanding Skywalker to whip him.

"Prove me you're a slaver." The Queen ordered. "Swing that whip, or die beside him." Great, she's suspicious now. Anakin looked down, up to the opposite side from us, gained a nod from my Padawan and the Captain, looked over to us and gained a nod from Snips and I as well.

"You leave me no choice Highness." Said he as he bowed and turned the whip on. He made his salut to R2. And when Ani swinged the whip, he grabbed the soldier's blaster, ripping it away from his hands. As Obi-Wan rolled over the ground and pushed that man away with the Force, Anakin fixed his hair. I smiled. Such a show off. R2 threw the lightsabers to them and Skyguy caught them in the air.

"Guard! Subdue them!" Ordered the Queen as Anakin and Obi-Wan enlightened the sabers. The guards started firing and they dodged the blasts. Moments later, Rex fired at the solders and threw a small bomb to run as Cal threw with all his strength my weapon at me. As it flew across the air, I pulled it towards me with the Force.

When Morac tried to hurt R2, I moved and held his forearm to twist it and make him fall while the droid threw Ahsoka her lightsaber. She deflected the blasts of the soldiers back at them with no effort.

"Ahsoka, the Queen!" Anakin yelled from below. Said woman turned around to face us. I kept Morac on the ground as Snips stepped closer to the Queen.

"Looks like your slave Empire is finished...again." Said she as the bright green blade was placed close to Miraj's neck, who moved to sit on the throne she had there.

"Get that thing out of my face, you little skug!" With a click of a button, the bomb-necklace lookalike Ahsoka had on her neck threw a current of electricity through her. Making her fall to the ground as she yelled and end up unconscious.

"Ahsoka!" I yelped. That was enough distraction for Morac to hit my ribs and knock the air out of my lungs.

I was on the ground as I tried to breathe again. I was able to see how they took us all down, one by one. Cal was fighting valiantly until a guy came from behind and threw his electrified whip around his neck, he fell unconscious too, then, the same happened with Rex and Kenobi. The last one standing was Anakin. It took five or six electrified whips to take him down, to kneel.

I tried to stand up but before I could, something hit the back of my head. I fell and my sight went blurry. Last thing I saw before everything faded to black was how Anakin looked over here, at me, extended a hand and then passed out.