“Satine, are you still orbiting?” Ben asks whispering into his com, ducking behind a corner as he looks down the hall of level 2, Fett right behind him, and all the people he’s trying to extract behind Boba. All of six dozen roughly, all free people of the galaxy now.
“Yes, I’m about a parsec away from you, I think…” Satine says trailing off, completely unsure if she’s correct or not. He couldn't help the little smile, hearing her struggling, so unlike her usual self. Ben counts eight slavers walking down the hall in the opposite direction, and that's the third patrol in ten minutes, meaning that theirs about twenty he’ll have to deal with if they can’t sneak past.
“Alright, theirs a slight change of plans, I’m going to need a bigger transport, and I’m going to need it soon, possibly now,” Ben whispers, looking at Fett over his shoulder. “And I need you to meet up with us at the facility, see if you can find a hangar to land in, but make sure you don’t land till I tell you to,” He continues.
“Alright, I can do that…” She says trailing off again, a few buttons in the background being hit from the sounds of it.
“Do you need help, my dear?” He asks his smile stretching a little wider hearing her frustrated mutterings. Fett taps him on the shoulder, making him look back up. Fett glares at him, and gestures with his blaster, down the hall their scoping.
Two Gammoreans, followed by a crowd of freshly shipped slaves, and they're coming their way. Quickly, Ben turns to the crowd behind him and starts gesturing for them to move back, and find cover, pointing at alcoves, and crates that they could use.
Fett grabs onto Boba quickly, guides him over to a whole pile of crates, near Kenobi, and gently pushes him down, making sure none of him could be seen, then he settles himself in as well, crouching behind the metal boxes and taking aim, ready for another fight.
“I’m afraid my dear that I’m going to be a little preoccupied for the moment, you’ll have to figure it out on your own,” Ben says, taking a firm stance right in the middle of the giant hall, waiting for the Gammoreans and the slavers to the turn the corner and meet him.
“What do you mean? Ben, I don’t know how to fly a ship,” Satine says suddenly even more panicked. Ben grabs onto the hilt of his saber and holds it aloft, not yet igniting it.
“You’ve seen me do it many times Satine, and you are as intelligent as you are beautiful, you’ll figure it out,” Ben says, glaring at the pigs that finally come into view, his blue blade igniting and held in front of him in his favored form.
He could sense the fear that spiked in the guards behind the slaves, the Gamoreans, felt more like irritation. They showed that irritation by quickly charging at him, their axes raised to swing.
Before Ben could take a step forward, a blaster shot passes by him, hitting one of them between the eyes. Ben makes sure to follow quickly on the opportunity and stab through the other, ducking under the mad swing it made at him.
As soon as the body hit the floor, Ben rushed forward, using the force to propel him over the group of people chained up, and towards the two human guards beginning to take aim. Before his feet touched the ground, he had to deflect two potshots to the ceiling, his saber slicing through the air and cutting both weapons in half, only a moment later.
The metal clanks against the floor, the guards staring with fear as his hand flies forward, touching their minds and forcing them to sleep, their bodies roughly hitting the floor. Ben immediately moves to the corner of the hall again, ducking behind it as he peeks around.
Those three guards from before are all coming to check what those noises were, and one of them is speaking into his com, all gripping their blasters tightly, and seeming very willing to shoot.
“Perfect,” Ben sighs sarcastically, he has about half a minute before they get here, so he looks at the new crowd of people, definitely ten people at least, a handful of humans, a Wookie, and a few more twileks. He walks towards them quickly, gesturing them towards the others already in place.
“Quickly get down, yes there, Fett cover them,” Ben says directing them as quickly as possible, his senses telling him he only has a few more moments.
Things could get out of hand very quickly if this doesn't end soon. Someone could get killed if he’s not good enough, and he hasn’t done this in so long.
He looks back at the terrified faces of the people he’s helping for just a moment, taking them in, then he walks back to the end of the hall, a few steps behind the wall, the same as he had been when the Gammoreans were the problem.
His saber feels heavy in his hand, the same every time he has people that need its defense. His eyes close, just for a moment, and he lets the force wash over him, letting it fill him.
He lets his eyes open again, letting out a long breath, then igniting his blade, seeing the slavers coming into view. They all move, quickly, uncoordinated, clumsily spreading out in fear and starting to fire at him.
Fett starts shooting back quickly, as Ben’s saber blurs, not letting any through, trying to direct them back at the others. A few of the freed people begin to help as well he notices, taking clumsy shots at their captors, even Boba.
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Ben starts his trek forward, walking and weaving in between shots carefully, not allowing himself to go any faster in fear of missing a shot, only allowing himself any sort of speed when moving side to side. Fett manages to take one out, getting him in the shoulder, which Boba cheers at.
Ben lets a small straining smile on his face upon hearing it, gradually getting closer, only a few feet away from the first one. He feels the fear of these men, their anger as he blocks each shot, and he feels their terror with every step he takes, especially now that he’s so close.
As soon as he’s within swinging distance, he takes his own shot and slices the man's blaster in half, flipping over the next one taken at him and taking another man's weapon. A second later, Fetts took them both down, one in the head, the other in the leg.
Ben uses the Force to push three more away, his saber swinging behind him to block a few more shots before he turns again, grabbing a guard's wrist and spinning around him, forcing them back to back for a moment before he launches forward stabbing another through the chest.
Ben hastily directs another shot after the guard is cut down, guiding it back into another man's stomach. Turning he raises his blade, but stops short, seeing all of them on the ground, unconscious or dead. He lets his hands drop, breathing hard, and wiping the sweat from his brow.
He looks down the hall, making sure there isn’t anyone else to deal with before he turns back to the crowd. All of them are still huddled in their groups, still fearing for their lives.
Ben walks over, clipping his hilt back onto his belt as he goes.
“Alright everyone, we need to keep going, the way out is down that hall,” He says gesturing towards it. “We must get on the elevator, it will take us to the main storage locker, we can get to the hangar from there,” He says, nodding his head to his own plan, thinking of problems they could run into.
“Let’s go,” Fett says standing, pulling Boba up with him lightly, and looking over at the people, “All of you,” Fett says, leading the way past Ben, not bothering to even look at Ben as he goes. They all slowly start to stand, shakily following after, clinging to one another as they frantically look around.
Ben sighs, sensing their fear, so he starts walking toward the back of the group, letting Fett take the lead momentarily while he works on the new set of collars. He lets himself fall to the back of the group, and moves towards a child, saying a quiet hello and undoing their collar, letting it fall to the floor.
He moves on to the next, and the next, listening to their thanks as he goes, simply smiling and nodding, helping as much as he can. As he does though, he feels a little tap on his leg. Looking down, he sees Boba, looking up at him curiously. Ben raises a brow in question while smiling at him.
“Yes, Boba?” Ben asks looking back to the collar he’s working on, feeling the clicks and ticks on the interior opening it. Boba chews on his lip a little.
“Um, how are you doing that?” He asks quietly, playing with his hands now that his lip is preoccupied with talking. He watches as Ben releases another collar, watching as it hits the floor in fascination.
“How I’m getting the collars off you mean? Do you know what I am Boba?” Ben asks smiling with his own curiosity. It’s been a while since he’d met someone who didn't know what a Jedi was, or who he was specifically.
He laughs to himself though, forgetting for just a moment that this time, no one knows who he is, at most, a subpar Padawan to the maverick Jedi. He shakes his head though, looks back down at Boba, and senses his confusion to his laughter.
“No, I, um sorry, I don’t,” Boba says looking down at his feet, his short shaggy hair falling into his eyes. Ben places his hand on his shoulder, gently squeezing it in reassurance, making him look back up.
Ben tries his best to send warmth and peace to the boy, knowing that he’s still terrified of the ones that took him, and by proxy strangers.
“I’m a Jedi, a peacekeeper who goes out into the Galaxy to protect the ones that can’t do it themselves,” Obi-Wan says smiling wide, enjoying the words, something he hasn’t gotten to say for almost 3 years.
“We have a connection to the Force, it’s what gives a Jedi his power, it’s an energy field that surrounds us, binds us together,” He says mystically.
Boba’s eyes widen slightly, curiosity running through him like wildfire, through the Force, making Ben's smile wider than it has been in a long time.
“Can I be a Jedi?” He asks quietly, nervously looking up at him. Ben's smile wanes a little at that, feeling the hope pour off him in waves. Ben tilts his head, looking Boba up and down, making the boy straighten up like he’s being examined.
“Possibly Boba, the Force, it connects all things and is inside everyone, but not everyone is as connected to it as a Jedi,” Ben says slowly, trying to find the right words. Boba chews on his lip a little more as they walk. “But you don't have to be a Jedi to use the Force, so many people use it without even realizing they are, and they do it for the most mundane things,” Ben continues, gesturing a little at everyone in front of them.
“The Force can make you stronger, faster, react quicker, it can help you make art, or to sing, or any number of things,” Ben says, watching as the child's eyes fill with wonder. “So, it is very possible that you have a connection, and might be able to use it in small ways,” He says, shrugging lightly, a goofy smile on his face, making Boba laugh.
“Could you show me? Just a little bit, please,” Boba asks, jumping up a down a little, looking between him and Fett. “Could you show Jango? He could really use it when he fights bad guys,” Asks rapidly, making Ben laugh.
“Jango doesn’t need the Force to do that Boba,” Ben says shaking his head with a smile. Boba’s exciting bouncing comes to a stop, but his smile is still firmly in place.
“Then can you show me, please, I’ll be really good at it,” Boba asks again, wringing his hands together like they would fall off. Ben turns and takes a moment to pull a few more collars off the now free people, then looks back to Boba, but before he can say anything.
“Jet’ii, up ahead,” Fett calls, waving him forward without looking back. Ben looks back to Boba, smiling, and grabs his shoulder, leading him forward.
“Possibly, we’ll see when we get out of here,” Obi-Wan says, making Boba give him a little hug. Ben stumbles a little, but pats him on the back, baffled and amazed at how strong Boba is. How could a little slave boy have so much affection and love, and make connections so quickly when he’s been growing up like this for who knows how long.
Ben’s smile slips from his face slowly, thinking of another little boy, just like Boba.