"𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛, 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜, 𝙨𝙤 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙄 𝙙𝙤."

To find the missing people of Kiros, a small group of us would be going to Zygerria. Obi-Wan handed me a Zygerrian helmet for my disguise as we boarded the ship heading for the slaving capital. Ahsoka walked in pulling on a cloak to hide her slave outfit. I drew my eyebrows together at the sight and looked at Anakin and Obi-Wan disapprovingly.

"Come on, guys, don't make her do that," I scowled in their direction. I didn't like the idea of someone having to disguise themselves this way, even for a mission. Especially that someone being a young girl like Ahsoka who shouldn't have to deal with the treatment I knew she was going to receive.

"It's fine, Sil," Ahsoka reassured me. "I agreed to do this."

I pressed my lips together still feeling uncomfortable about the situation. I knew Ahsoka could handle it, but it was still a horrible thing to let her go through in my eyes.

"I mean, if you don't want Ahsoka being the slave, you're always welcome to fill in for her," Anakin said smiling.

"No way," I refused shaking my head. "I've done my time," I clutched the Zygerrian helmet to my waist and walked further into the ship to find Rex who currently seemed like the least annoying person I would have to deal with on this mission.

***

A swell of excitement grew in my chest as the planet came into view. When I first joined the Rangers and asked to be assigned to Obi-Wan, all I wanted to do was bring justice to the growing slave empire. I wanted to do something that would hurt slavers. I was finally going to get that chance.

We walked through the market and my eyes lingered on merchants who stood by their scantily clad slaves. The looks on their faces were all too familiar. I sighed deeply under my helmet, glad that something covered the furious expression on my face.

A scream caught my attention and I turned to see a slaver turn his whip on a young boy. I had seen plenty of whips, but this one was electric. It glowed a dangerous color as it wrapped around the kid's arm, making him writhe in pain.

"Huh, I've never seen electric whips before," I mumbled bitterly. "I guess Tatooine wasn't advanced enough for whips that don't damage their slave's bodies," I added with my voice full of resentment. "No ugly scars."

"Is that what they're for?" Rex asked looking slightly horrified. "So the slaves look... nice?"

"I'm only guessing, but when you've been in the industry long enough, you can guess why people do the things they do," I answered wistfully.

Rex nodded and we continued on our way through the market while Anakin and Ahsoka were being led to the palace. A Hutt went by observing the slaves, shoving past Obi-Wan and muttering something rude to him. The slug passed and Rex shuffled over to one of the large holes in the ground, calling us over. We peered down and there was somebody in there.

"You two stand watch, I'll take a closer look," Obi-Wan said before jumping in. Soon, he hopped out with the Togruta governor of Kiros and laid him gently against the wall. Rex and I ran over.

"Sir, did you find out where the others are?" Rex asked and we looked at him expectantly.

"Not yet," Obi-Wan answered. "We've got to get him out of here."

I looked around frantically, thinking of how we could make a fast escape, but Obi-Wan was a step ahead of me. He jumped on top of the wall where a creature sat perched. Obi-Wan knocked the slaver off the animal's back and cracked the reins, flying down to us. Obi-Wan hopped off to help Rex get the exhausted Togruta governor on the back of the creature. I quickly got on its back and waited for the three of them to get seated before urging the animal forward.

"You there! What are you doing with that slave?" a Zygerrian yelled and a swarm of slavers appeared to subdue us. I cracked the reins again to encourage the animal to go faster, but someone shaking my shoulders caused me to turn around.

"They took down the General!" Rex shouted and I halted the creature to see Obi-Wan and the governor on the ground surrounded by slavers. There was nothing we could do as of now. Rex and I shared a look and nodded. We'd be back for them. I kicked the sides of the animal and flew us out of the slave market. The shouts of slavers faded away and I landed the creature near our ship.

"Now what," I wondered as I slid off the animal.

"Well, there was talk about a slave auction," Rex said. "Hopefully by now, General Skywalker has gotten along with the Queen and will be there."

"Yeah, hopefully he hasn't strangled the queen of slavery to death yet," I joked, but I was definitely worried. Maybe Obi-Wan should've been the one to go distract the Queen. After all, he was the diplomatic one and Anakin seemed pretty off-balance since we landed on Zygerria.

"I'm sure he's doing fine," Rex sent me a reassuring smile. "We should probably head over to that slave auction soon."

I nodded in agreement and a sideways smiled fell on my face. "How much do you think General Kenobi will sell for?" I asked Rex who was taken aback by my question.

"I don't know... but I have a feeling the General would be insulted if he was sold for a low price."

We laughed before sliding our Zygerrian helmets back on and headed for the slave market. Following the crowds, we ended up in the viewing area of a large arena filled with the sounds of people cheering. People were excited to see slaves fight each other for entertainment and to be sold. I did my best to not throw up in my helmet.

I looked towards what I assumed was the royal booth, or VIP seating. When the Queen stood up, Anakin and I made eye contact. I tapped my blaster discreetly and he nodded. Rex spotted him as well and we broke apart to cover more ground if any fighting broke out.

"Before we begin the auction, I would welcome a most special guest, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Jedi Knight," the Queen announced and I braced myself for what I was about to see.

The crowd jeered as Obi-Wan stepped out with weak steps and his head hung low. He gripped his arm with one hand and I realized his robes were tattered. I almost choked at the sight and clenched my jaw in anger.

The Queen handed Anakin a whip and he jumped down behind Obi-Wan. The crowd cheered on Anakin to whip the Jedi and I kept a hand on my blaster knowing violence would follow soon.

Anakin gave a casual salute and smiled before striking his whip at one of the slavers and taking his gun away. Chaos erupted in the viewing area of the arena. I tried shooting the slavers in the arena to assist Anakin and Obi-Wan, but the people running around jostled me back and forth. Artoo launched lightsabers into the air and the Jedi had their weapons again. Things were going nicely... for now.

From the corner of my eye, Rex tumbled out of the viewing area and onto the aren's floor. Slavers swarmed the area with their whips and subdued the captain, electrocuting him. My heart sunk as the slavers got control of Obi-Wan next. Their screams made my ears bleed. I continued to fire quickly into the arena, taking out as many slavers as I could, hoping beyond hope that Anakin would take control of the situation, but he didn't.

They were all captured. The slavers turned their eyes on me and made their way up the levels. I darted out of the arena and immersed myself in the crowded slave market. I walked quickly and rid myself of the Zygerrian armor. I found a cloak hanging in one of the shops and swiftly placed it on my back. The slavers lost my trail and I breathed deeply.

Once my heart rate slowed down, I realized I needed to find out where they were all being taken. We were supposed to find the people of Kiros on this mission, but it had all been a step backwards. Now I was the only one left.

I let out a desperate groan and threw my head in my hands. How had the situation gotten from bad to worse so quickly?

Chatter about Jedi pricked my ears. I moved closer to the sound and found myself listening in on a conversation between two Zygerrian slavers.

"They're taking that General Kenobi and clone to Kadavo," one of them said.

That was some very useful information. I made a mental note of Kadavo, but I still didn't know about Anakin and Ahsoka. I decided to take a chance.

"What about the Jedi who was serving the Queen?" I asked.

They snapped their heads towards me. "That's none of your business," one of the slavers growled pointing the end of his whip at me.

"Fine, fine," I apologized and held up my hands, walking away.

I went back to the ship as fast as I could without drawing suspicion. Once I was seated inside, I pulled the opening of my shirt over my head and let out a muffled scream.

Not only had the mission gone horribly wrong, but the Order was literally three Jedi short. I knew the location of Obi-Wan and Rex, so I knew where to start. But as I reached for the ship's controls, something held me back. My head was screaming for me to just leave Zygerria and report what happened to the Council. Let them take care of it. Nobody would blame me. I kept telling myself that I would be bringing back better reinforcements, but I knew deep down that wasn't it. I was just scared.

I had never felt so close to the bonds of slavery until the Zygerrians looked at me after capturing Anakin. I knew if they got me, that was it. I'd be back in the system I had escaped, except this time I wouldn't have such a nice master. If I went after Obi-Wan and Rex, I'd be risking the freedom I fought so hard for. I only made it so far in life because I looked after myself, but guilt ate at me for feeling that way.

I'd told myself over and over again that I'd changed since the day on Tatooine I refused to help someone who was dying. That I was a better person now, but I really wasn't. My thoughts drifted to the clones who died everyday for their brothers, there was something disturbingly beautiful in the dedication they had for each other. They were always there for each other. No matter what. I always thought that in this world, nobody would ever look out for me. A nice person was just someone waiting to take advantage of me. But I was beginning to see differently now. Before I left Tatooine, my master told me to find the good people in this world. And I did.

With a deep breath and a pounding heart, I started the ship's engines.