If you want to read more chapters ahead from here you can visit my Patre-on.
[P] [A] [T] [R] [E] [O] [N]
https://patreon.com/kelly_over
____________
"Again I must protest Masters! For one thing, the Hutts are immune to Mind techniques, and we all know they are almost certainly involved in this in some fashion. Further I cannot use any of my Force abilities save those based on changing my appearance when I'm asleep! This leaves me either having to do without sleep for the duration of this mission, or horribly vulnerable."
"Nevertheless, we have chosen you and your master for this assignment padawan, and you will accept it." Windu said shaking his head.
And that was it, just 'nevertheless'. You couldn't argue with 'nevertheless'!
Her Master however could argue the particulars of the plan, and had.
End Flashback
She looked up as heard the door open, admitting Quinlan and she bowed her head obsequiously. "Is there anything I can do to serve you Master?"
Quinlan shuddered, not just at the fact that she was so much younger than him saying that, or the fact that Aayla's clothing left so little to the imagination. No, he shuddered because he knew Harry Potter would geld him if he ever learned about this, and his equally scary Force Ghost mother would do far worse. He'd seen the way the two of them were around one another, and had even listened in on a few of their talks via Hypercom since.
"Enough of that," he said mildly.
"But I have to stay in character Master," Aayla said somewhat vindictively. "Though I am glad I'm already in the habit of calling you that, Master."
Shaking his head Quinlan looked away, actually voicing his last thoughts. "I really don't want to know what your friend Harry would think about all this."
"No," Aayla said softly, "nor would any of the Council members like it either. Are we nearly there?" she asked brusquely, changing the subject, her skin tone slowly beginning to change from its normal light blue to white mottled here and there with small black dots.
"We're about to come out of hyperspace, that is why I came to get you," Quinlan answered, relieved that they had changed the subject.
The original plan had been for them to start out on Ryloth, letting Aayla joined several dozen other slaves who were supposed to be taken and sold by this illegal group rather than the legal slave trade there. But instead, Quinlan had decided they would first create cover story and back trail, something that had taken them a month in various different Outer Rim systems then insert themselves into one of the planets that was a possible source of the slave trade.
It had been noted that one of the two Hutts operating out of the Tatooine could be involved with the illegal slave trade, though it was the trade back into the Republic that they had to stop, not the trade from Tatooine out into Hutt Space. The Hutts were not answerable to the Republic after all, and the Order had no jurisdiction there. It was the trade into the Republic that was illegal, and the size of the operation that bothered the Twi'lek senator so much.
The two of them would pose as master and slave, with Quinlan of course taking the position as master and a known smuggler out of his home system, with Aayla posing as a regular slave that he had been giving in lieu of a cash payment on his last run. Despite that, Quinlan would endeavor to appear down on his luck, something that was shown in the ship they were using for this mission. Eventually, after a few weeks spent creating a local persona Quinlan might, if they hadn't discovered enough about the slave ring, 'sell' Aayla to Jabba the Hutt to get inside his fortress.
"I'll join you in the cockpit in a moment then Master," Aayla said, looking away for a moment. "I'd, I'd like a few moments to mentally prepare myself for this role."
"Of course," Quinlan said simply, reaching out to touch her shoulder gently before removing his hand and moving back to the entrance of her room. The ship they had was an ancient Corellian tramp freighter, with only a few small rooms for the crew, but the two of them had been able to pilot it well enough on their own, with the aid of an equally ancient astromech droid, who refused to be parted from the ship in any event. Where the Order had come up with the ship Aayla didn't know nor care at present.
With a sigh Aayla made certain that her door was locked, then collapsed into a training pose that would've told anyone who knew anything about her people that she was not a slave as she had thought was posing to be. Putting her hands together, she closed her eyes, concentrating as she reached out into the Force along the connection between herself and Harry. Right now she needed that comfort. As she did, she felt Harry's emotions, always the first thing and easiest thing for her to feel. Concern was there, trepidation, but also a tinge of the eagerness. What is he up to?
OOOOOOO
Harry looked up for a moment, turning slightly away from where his mother and Master Fay were discussing local politics, his eyes going far away in a way that both women knew meant he was communing with Aayla. The two of them had gotten far better at communicating along their bond over the years, though not up to the level where they could exchange sentences or complex thoughts. Emotions though came through loud and clear, irrespective of distance at this point.
Both women immediately fell silent watching Harry for a moment knowing he was concerned about Aayla. They had been unable to send a message to one another via the Hypercom for over a month now since she and her master were on some undercover mission or other. This wasn't the first time a month had passed before they could communicate via Hypercom, but that didn't stop Harry from being concerned.
Another Jedi Master would've tried to wean Harry away from this connection, fearing it that it would lead to jealousy, fear for Aayla, and other Dark Side emotions, but Master Fay did not. Indeed, she would've laughed at the very idea of trying to. Harry and his bond to Aayla was not something anyone else would ever be able to cut.
_____________
If you want to read more chapters ahead from here you can visit my Patre-on.
[P] [A] [T] [R] [E] [O] [N]
https://patreon.com/kelly_over