Slaves Of The Empire {1}

| Interlude |

Two years ago...

Tanil Vitej came back to herself slowly, and Ahsoka could understand why. It was possible she was only confused, but Ahsoka's friend Barriss Offee had only had a Geonosian brain worm in her skull for a few hours, and she'd woken up to find gaps in her memories from the entire preceding week.

Vitej had been in the chancellor's employ for six months. If the Zygerrian had had that ugly little parasite in her head that whole time, then Ahsoka couldn't even begin to fathom the ramifications that would have on her mind.

Vitej's alarm spiked in the Force, and Ahsoka looked up to find her staring between Obi-Wan and Anakin's lightsabers and robes with an expression of sheer terror. She remembered then that Zygerria had all but declared itself an enemy of the Republic, and winced.

"You're– you're Jedi?" Vitej gasped out. "All three of you?"

"Yup," Anakin said, crossing his arms in the way anyone who didn't know him would instantly find menacing. Ahsoka snapped a warning at him along their bond about his body language. Glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, he relaxed, tucking his hands carefully behind his back.

Vitej's alarm bloomed into full-fledged panic. "Where am I? Why am I here?"

"You don't remember anything?" Obi-Wan asked gently.

Not gently enough, Ahsoka thought as Vitej's fear rose impossibly higher. "No, no, I can't remember anything but being at work in the villa. Am I even still on Zygerria? What have I done to get me in trouble with Jedi? I have never broken the law. I am a loyal, obedient citizen of my Queen." Vitej pawed her ears anxiously, looking like she was on the edge of a nervous breakdown. "Why am I here?"

"We'll try to figure that out for you. Give us just a second," Anakin said, and dragged Obi-Wan and Ahsoka a short distance away by the shoulders. He glanced warily back at Vitej's prominent ears, and pulled the two of them a few steps farther before finally turning to Obi-Wan. "Could she be faking?"

Obi-Wan's brows furrowed. "I sense no deception from her."

"This happened to Barriss and the clones, too, after Geonosis," Ahsoka broke in at a whisper. "Those brain worms are a menace."

"What should we do with the Zygerrian, then?" Anakin asked.

"Comfort her, I suppose. She has been torn out of the environment she knows without explanation, and she's nearly at the point of doing something rash." Ahsoka and Anakin exchanged a look, and Obi-Wan frowned at them. "What is it?"

Anakin grinned like he had not a care in the galaxy, but Ahsoka could see the strain beneath it. "Thanks for volunteering for the job, Master."

"Anakin–"

"Did we not establish earlier that you're the one everyone likes?" Anakin hissed. "Please, Master. Maybe she'll have some more information for you about the brain worms. Think about it. Six months in a host. She's gotta remember something."

Obi-Wan opened his mouth and shut it. Sighing quietly, he patted Ahsoka on the shoulder and walked back to where the Zygerrian was sprawled against a pair of crates of frozen vegetables. With his most calming smile at the ready, the Jedi Master removed his cloak and draped it over her shoulders. "No need to worry, my dear... Tanil, was it?" he said. "A rare parasite in your brain has been causing you to act... erratically, and put you in a compromising position with the law. But we have long experience with these particular parasites, and we know you are not to blame for what has transpired."

Ahsoka stopped listening after that, and one look at Anakin told her he had as well. He strode a few paces farther from the walk-in freezer they'd used to trap Vitej and her brain worm freeloader, then stopped, turning to her.