Slavery Is A Crime

Chapter 11

- Tatooine

As the Twilight and Y-Wing fleet came out of hyperspace, Anakin had to do his best not to pound a fist into something.

They were returning to his home planet.

The planet he and his mother were slaves on.

The planet his mother died on.

He grimaced at those very thoughts as he turned on his comm. "All wings check-in, I need to make sure we didn't leave anyone behind," Anakin joked, then listened as the wings checked in. However, his eyes went wide when a number missed check-in. "Hold on a second here, I didn't hear Cody check-in. What happened during the jump?" he asked to no one in particular.

"Sir?" came Boil's voice from the other side of the comm. "What is it trooper?" Skywalker asked. "Um... the Commander... he uh..." There was a noise that sounded like the trooper was clearing his throat. "The Commander commed me a second ago saying he got lost..." Boil said, almost embarrassed for the clone Commander.

Snorts and snickers could be heard from the other side of the comm while Anakin rolled his eyes. "You'd think that by being Obi-Wan's Commander he'd know the way to Tatooine," he mumbled, then let out a sigh. "Boil, do you think you could comm Cody and give him the correct coordinates?" "Yes, Sir," Boil replied before proceeding to do so.

A few moments later, the lone Wing with the Commander in it, finally arrived. "Sorry, General... men..." he apologized. Skywalker smiled and decided to help cut the uncomfortable air around the Commander by joking with him. "Don't feel bad Commander, we all get wrong coordinates sometimes. Besides, just be glad you didn't miss the party." A small laugh was heard from Cody's side of the comm.

Anakin then proceeded to say, mostly to the 212th troopers, "Now come on, let's go save your General." Whoops, and cheers were heard over the comm from the different troopers and Anakin laughed as he started leading the whole squadron into the planet's atmosphere.

~

- Tatooine

It was late afternoon when he awoke with a smile, after finding that the Twi'lek girl was still in his lap. He carefully moved her off, then sat up and yawned, stretching his arms out. He heard a small squeaking noise and turned to find that the Twi'lek girl was awakening.

Kenobi smiled as he watched her. "Good morning, little one," he said with a smile. Numa smiled and gave him a hug. Obi-Wan awkwardly hugged the girl and patted her back, then gave her a kiss on the forehead.

Obi-Wan then stood and held the girl's hand, beginning to walk out of the stable they had been given as their "sleeping quarters". At least I have some freedom now... Obi-Wan thought, noticing the fact he only wore a shock collar and no longer had binders on his hands.

I can't tell if that's a luxury or not, considering the fact they probably didn't put them on for the purpose of me working. he thought with a quiet snort. When Numa looked up at the Jedi in confusion, he waved it off with a smile. "It's nothing, little one."

It was then that Baku entered the stable and handed Obi-Wan a pitchfork. "You, clean the stalls," he stated. Kenobi cleared his throat and gave the man a nod to show he understood. Baku then turned to Numa and handed her a bucket. "You, feed the Eopies," he said and Numa gave a little nod of her head to show that she understood.

Thank goodness... I'd hate to find out what would happen had she not understood him... Obi-Wan thought with a grimace. "Get to it now, slaves!" Baku yelled. Obi-Wan nodded slightly and rushed to the stalls with the Eopies as Baku left the stable.

Obi-Wan sighed as he grabbed one of the Eopies by the halter and tied it up outside. However, a smile pulled its way onto his face as he watched Numa run over to a bin that he assumed was the food bin.

He then walked back into the stable and picked up the pitchfork. Kenobi then grabbed a wheelbarrow and began to clean the first stall. As he did so, he noticed the second Eopie walk up. The one carrying Aaron.

Sailor hoped off the Eopie, and walked around towards a slave tied behind it. "Stand, slave!" he shouted, yanking on the rope that held the slave's wrists. The slave was pulled to its feet, and Obi-Wan could more clearly make out that it was a female slave.

From what Obi-Wan could see, standing where he was, she had rich brown eyes, deep purple hair, that had clearly been blonde before it was dyed, and a slim figure. Obi-Wan was no fool though. He could clearly see it wasn't a natural slimness. The slave had been starved.

Obi-Wan tightened his eyes closed in pain and tried his best to send calming waves of comfort through the Force, but that was almost impossible with the collar he had on. Obi-Wan sighed, then went back to cleaning the stalls as Aaron tied the slave and Eopie up outside the stable beside the other Eopie.

Aaron then entered the stall with a leather whip. "On your knees, Jedi," he said. Obi-Wan gulped putting the pitchfork down, then went to his knees as requested. "Take that vest off." Obi-Wan gulped as he awkwardly took the blue vest off and put it to the side.

"Hands behind your head. I don't want you trying to pull any of your tricks, no matter if that collar blocks your Force abilities or not." Obi-Wan did as he was told. This is definitely going to hurt... a lot... Obi-Wan thought as Aaron raised his hand up.

There was a quiet whooshing sound as the whip flew down through the air, then there was a terrible, sickening, snapping noise as the whip came down upon Kenobi's back. Obi-Wan bit his lip to keep from crying out in pain. He bit down so hard his lip began to bleed as another lashing came.

As he gained another lashing, he heard the small scream of a child. When Kenobi glanced to where the noise had come from, he spotted Numa. That poor child will most definitely have mental scars if we get out of here... Kenobi thought.