It had been over a week since they had arrived on Tatooine. Each day had been spent in some form of training. As they progressed, Ben began to show them more on how to rely on the Force, and less on themselves. Ania had found her mind and powers strengthening everyday.

"So then Tolsa grabbed my blasters and stunned the Tusken before he could smash my head in," Ania said. A flickering hologram of Ezra shimmered on the control panel of the Redemption. She had just finished telling him about their recent run in with an angry Tusken.

Ezra laughed. "I'm glad to know you aren't always as observant as you think."

Ania crossed her arms and scowled. "It's really not funny! That Tusken could have killed me."

"No, it couldn't have. You know why?"

Ania raised an eyebrow. "Do tell."

"You most likely would have Force choked it because it wouldn't leave you alone." Ezra crossed his own arms and smirked.

Ania rolled her eyes. "Hey, I've only threatened to do that to you once and I never did!"

"Yeah, I'm kind of disappointed, honestly. I mean, when a mercenary makes a promise like that, usually they intend to keep it." Ezra shook his head in mock disappointment. "Oh well."

"Ben has been teaching me a lot about how far my influence in the Force can go." Ania smiled devilishly. "Allow me to demonstrate." She closed her eyes and stuck a hand out, sending a surge in the Force as far as she could. She opened her eyes and Ezra cried out, falling forward. "Apparently I can reach to all corners of the galaxy if I try hard enough."

Ezra picked himself up, grinning. "All right, you win." He looked away for a minute. "Hera has a mission for me. I have to go."

"We'll be back soon."

"I'll be waiting." Ezra waved as the hologram cut off. Ania put her chin in her hand, looking at the last frozen image of him, still flickering. She stood and switched the hologram off.

Tolsa was waiting when Ania stepped off the ship. "There you are! Ben thinks we're ready to go searching for my kyber crystal!" She exclaimed. "Let's go!" Tolsa grabbed Ania's arm and pulled her along to the hermit's hut.

Ben was sitting outside when they approached. Tolsa pulled Ania to a stop and bounced on her heels excitedly. Ben smiled faintly. "Tolsa has told you already, I take it?"

"Yes, she's very excited."

"That's good. Hopefully she will succeed. I have been searching for a collection of kyber crystals for a long time. I managed to find one here on Tatooine. The problem is, it is in the hands of Jabba the Hutt. To retrieve the crystal, Tolsa will have to guide you to it. If it is meant to be her crystal, it will lead her to it."

The girls nodded in understanding. "Let's go then!" Tolsa turned to run, but Ania grabbed her arm.

"We can't exactly just fly right up to Jabba's Palace," Ania pointed out. "Their scanners will be able to tell it's not one of their's, even with the scrambler."

Ben nodded and stroked his beard thoughtfully. "A land speeder would do you well. You could take your ship as close as possible and then take a speeder from there."

"Where are we going to get a land speeder?" Tolsa raised an eyebrow.

"The moisture farmer nearby has one, though I'm not sure he'll be willing to lend it to you. You'd be better off asking his nephew. He might be able to persuade his uncle to let you borrow it," Ben noted.

"Let's go, then. We shouldn't waste any time."

"Good luck," Ben waved at them as they headed to Redemption.

They lifted off and flew the short distance to the moisture farm, setting down just beyond the perimeter fence. A stout man stormed out of the house, carrying a 6-2Aug2 rifle. The young man followed him out. Ania wisely left her lightsabers on board the ship, before going out to meet them.

"What do you want?" The stout man hollered, raising his rifle.

Ania and Tolsa raised their hands defensively. "We're not here for trouble," Ania said.

He lowered the rifle, but the wariness remained. "Well, what do you want then? There's nobody in these parts with a ship like that and I don't recognize the two of you."

"Actually, sir, we're looking for a speeder. We were told you might have one we could borrow?" Tolsa asked sweetly.

"Why would I let two strangers make off with the only speeder I got?"

Ania glanced at the boy standing behind his uncle. He was watching his uncle, intently. "Sir, I promise you can trust us. We'd only need it one rotation and then it'd be back here. We can pay you," she added.

"Trust!" The man barked. "There's not a soul on Tatooine who knows the meaning of that word. You won't be getting my speeder and that's final!"

"But," Tolsa took a step forward. The rifle was instantly aimed at her.

The young man put a hand on his uncle's shoulder. "Uncle Owen, these girls don't look like any trouble. We don't need the speeder for a few days."

The man, Owen, shook his head. "No, Luke. I've told you time and again there's no point in risking something for others if you can smell a scoundrel nearby." Owen shot them a dirty look. "I smell two of them."

"What do you need it for?" The young man asked.

"Luke," Owen hissed warningly.

"A small pickup and deliver. Nothing illegal," Ania added.

"Use your ship for it," Owen growled.

"We can't. They want it low profile."

"Who's they?"

"Our buyer. We're delivering a shipment of tea spices to Jabba's Palace and they'd prefer we don't attract Imperial attention," Ania said quickly.

"Uncle Owen, I could go with them, to make sure the speeder gets back," Luke said excitedly. Owen still looked unconvinced.

Ania pulled a handful of credits out of her belt pouch and held them out. "We can give you this as well, for the fuel cost."

Owen sighed. "Fine. I want it in one rotation, and no longer." He held out his hand. Ania dropped the credits into his palm. He stuck out his other hand and shook hers. "Owen Lars," he said gruffly. "That's my nephew, Luke."

"Nice to meet you," Luke added.

"If you think you're going with them, you'd better make sure your aunt is all right with it," Owen pointed out. Luke nodded and ducked into the house. "If he goes with you and something happens to him, there will be a lot of people after you," Owen warned.

"Don't worry, sir. He'll be fine," Ania replied.

Luke remerged a few minutes later. "Let's go!" He ran to a shop and came out in an older X-34 landspeeder. He parked it beside the ship and ran up the ramp after them.

Ania lifted off and activated the magnetic clamps. There was a subtle thud as the speeder locked onto the underbelly of the ship. Luke waved to his uncle as they turned away from the farmhouse and headed towards Jabba's Palace. Luke watched them work the controls. Ania activated the autopilot.

"I guess I should get to know your names, since you know my first name at least," Luke pointed out.

"I'm Tolsa and that's Ania," Tolsa replied.

"Nice to know your names finally," Luke laughed. Tolsa grinned at him.

"Tolsa, a word." Ania jerked her head to the back. Tolsa nodded and the two of them entered the crew quarters. "What do we do with him?" Ania scrubbed at her face.

"We take him with, I guess."

"Ok, but then what? He finds out you're a Jedi and I'm a...whatever I am? We'll be breaking into Jabba's Palace!"

Tolsa shrugged. "I really don't know. I guess we'll have to tell him. Why would it be bad if he learned who we are, though? Haven't you sensed how strong he is with the Force?"

"Yes, I have. I just feel like we shouldn't tell him. He doesn't seem to know anything about his abilities. You'd think he would have questioned us if he could sense the Force in us." Ania sighed. "I guess we'll just tell him what we came for." They returned to the cockpit and sat down again. Ania turned in her seat. "So, there's a little more to our job than what we told your uncle."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"We're not delivering anything. We actually have to steal something," Ania explained.

"But it was something Jabba stole first and the Empire have been after them, or so we've been told. If we get this one, we can put it to a better use than the Empire would," Tolsa butted in.

"What are you getting?"

"A kyber crystal," Tolsa replied.

"What's a kyber crystal?"

"It's a crystal that contains a lot of power and energy. If the Empire gets it, who knows what they'll do with it. If Jabba learns of its power, something similar might happen. Tolsa can lead us to it, but we need your speeder to sneak up to the palace and back to the ship," Ania explained.

"That sounds easy enough." Luke glanced out the window. Ahead, a large structure began to appear.

Ania deactivated the autopilot and magnetic clamps, gently setting the speeder down before landing the ship. "All right. Let's go." Tolsa grabbed two blasters out of a crate in the cargo hold. She tossed one to Luke and slid the other into her belt.

Luke looked at the blaster uneasily but slid it into his belt. "You don't have to come with us for this part," Ania pointed out. She checked her own holsters and decided to leave her lightsabers hidden in the ship.

Luke grinned broadly. "Are you kidding me? This is more action than I'll ever see! There's no way I'm sitting it out!"

Ania nodded. "Just stick close." They stepped off the ship, pausing briefly to lock it down before climbing into the speeder. Luke had them skimming across the sandy dunes in no time. The palace loomed ahead. Ania held her monoculars up, scanning the palace for entry points. She passed them to Tolsa.

"See up there?" She pointed to several windows in the palace. "We can get in through those."

Tolsa nodded. "Stop the speeder by those rocks," she ordered Luke. They jumped out as soon as the speeder stopped. Quietly, they made their way up the slope to the base of the palace. Ania tossed two plasma blades to Luke and two more to Tolsa. She activated her own and stuck them into the walls of the palace, beginning the climb. She could hear Luke and Tolsa below her as they went up.

Ania reached one of the larger windows and stuck her head inside. No guards stood in the hallway thankfully. She heard footsteps approaching and pulled her head back outside the window.

"I tell you that worm's a swindler! One load of spice, Chewie. Only one load! It's not my fault the Empire boarded me!" A man's voice hollered. There was a series of barks and growls that replied. A wookie was with the man.

The man sighed. "Let's just go. We've got a lot of credits to come up with and fast." The pair walked past the window and out another door in the hall. Ania waited a few seconds before hauling herself inside.

She reached a hand down and pulled up Tolsa, then Luke. "All right." She turned to Tolsa. "You're up."

"Let's go find my crystal," Tolsa said with a smirk.