AHSOKA TANO

Ahsoka was carried into the main room of the palace and laid on the ground before Jabba. “Wake up,” said one of Hondo’s pirates, and slapped one side of her lekku. She sat bolt upright, rubbing the spot that the man had hit. Darn him for knowing that a Togruta’s lekku were very sensitive.

“Buzz off, sleemo!” she said, and was promptly shocked, making her cry out. She then realized that had forgotten to get the shock collar off earlier.

 “Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!” laughed Jabba, and said in Huttese, “My new slave-girl is a spirited one!”

  “I’ll be needing my pay, now, Jabba. Fifty thousand unmarked credits. No less.” Hondo walked over, arms crossed.

  “What?” roared Jabba, knocking over a plate of what looked like fried lizards with one of his stubby arms. “I will pay you forty thousand, or we have no deal.”

  “Fine, Jabba. Just this once, I’m going to let you off easy. I’m in a good mood today. After all, it’s not that often that you catch a Jedi unarmed!”

  All of Jabba’s people and the pirates laughed heartily, and a bounty hunter gave Hondo a case, which probably contained his payment. As he and his people left, Ahsoka suddenly became truly conscious of what was going to happen to her. She was going to become a slave for one of the most dangerous gangsters in the galaxy.

  Ahsoka woke up the next morning on Tatooine to find that she was lying up against something warm and leathery. But it wasn’t the good kind of warm. And also, whatever it was, it was wet. It was moist, and almost felt like it had condensation on it.

  Tentatively, she opened her eyes, and felt a wash of dismay and of disgust. She was practically laying on Jabba the Hutt. Or next to him, anyway, but it was still far too close for her liking. The shock collar was still around her neck, but a gilded chain had been attached to it, and Jabba was holding the other end of it.

  And worst of all was what she was wearing. Her chest was only just covered by two strips of fabric that extended down to her hips and turned into a sort of skirt, which was slit on the sides all the way up to her waist. She had finger gloves, blue like the rest of the outfit, which extended nearly up to her shoulders on her arms, and short boots made out of soft leather on her feet. A variety of beads adorned her belt, legs, arms and montrals.

  She couldn’t help but wonder what Lux would think if he saw her in this outfit. He would probably bundle her off somewhere private to change into something more appropriate the first chance he got.

  Lux Bonteri, now Galactic Senator for the planet Onderon, was one of her best friends. He had been a part of a rebellion on the said planet a few months ago, and she, her Master, and Obi-Wan Kenobi had been sent to help them out. Just seeing him then had been so amazing for her. And he could help her, if she just managed to get out of here.

  But then she remembered her current situation. She had absolutely no intention of staying here, even if she was a slave. As the Jedi had taught her, ‘No one belongs to another unless they believe that they do.’ And she didn’t believe that she belonged to anybody but herself.

  Now to come up with a plan. She looked at the chain that was keeping her next to Jabba more closely. It wasn’t of good quality at all. If she could wrap it around something, then she might have a chance at breaking it. Or, she could just use the Force to get the shock collar off, and that would solve both of her problems – breaking the chain and getting the collar off – at once.

  She sat back, but then remembered that it was Jabba that she was leaning on, and promptly scooted away. Suddenly he yanked on the chain, pulling her way too close to him.

  “Good. Get comfortable. You won’t be going anywhere, my lovely little Jedi,” he said, licking his poor excuses for lips as he eyed her small body.

  “Don’t count on it, Jabba,” she said, pulling herself away again. She would just have to wait patiently until nightfall, when everyone would be asleep…