Jabba's giant, antigravity Sail Barge glided slowly across the endless desert surface of the Dune Sea. Its sand-blasted iron hull creaked in the slight breeze that made the heat only semi-tolerable. Two small skiffs floated into formation behind the grand ship, one an escort craft bearing six scruffy soldiers; and the other a gun skiff, containing the prisoners: Luke, Han, Anakin, and Chewie-all in bonds of course-and surrounded by armed guards: Barada, two Weequays, and Lando Calrissian, still pulling off that disguise of his.

     Anakin looked around the barren sea of sand and caught the Corellian, Han, doing the same, albeit unsuccessfully with his temporary blindness, the side effect of carbon freezing. He was mainly used his ears as a dominant sense.

       "I think my eyes are getting better. Instead of a big dark blur, I see a big light blur." Han said rather flatly, sounding annoyed.

      "There's nothing to see." Anakin interrupted. "I used to live here, you know." Flashes of his life as a slave returned to him and he held back his grimace at the thought of his mother.

      Luke's blue eyes snapped up to him in surprise once the words left his mouth. "You did?"

     Anakin sighed. "Never liked it. Was always glad to get off this dustball. Why do you look so surprised?"

     Luke shook his head, blinking. "I-well I used to live here too. My aunt and uncle raised me."

     Anakin stared at the boy. His aunt and uncle had raised him!?

      "Well newsflash boys, you're gonna die here, too. Convenient." Han said sarcastically, casting a knowing look onto Luke's face as best he could.

      "It's glad to know all of you are such optimistic people." Anakin grumbled.

       "Wait, what part of Tatooine are you from?" Luke asked curiously, still not dropping the subject.

      "Mos Espa. I lived with my mother. We were..." Anakin hesitated, catching both Han and Luke's attention instantly. "I'd rather not talk about my past if you don't mind," Anakin said stiffly, focusing his eyes on the sand to avoid looking at the two men beside him. His childhood was always a rough subject.

      "Anakin...isn't that Luke's father's name? I vaguely remember the kid saying that. Some great Jedi or something." Han pointed out to break the silence, not noticing Luke's shoulders stiffen at his words.

     Anakin shrugged nonchalantly, hiding his brief panic at the question and confusion at Luke's reaction. "Small galaxy."

      Han scoffed. "That I sincerely doubt."

      Luke sighed, deciding he could question Anakin when they got a better chance to. Heading towards their executions on a skiff probably wasn't the best time for conversation. "Just stick close to Chewie and Lando. I've taken care of everything." Luke said.

     "Oh...great! If this is your big plan Luke, so far I'm not crazy about it." Han said with mock optimism.

"Jabba's palace was too well guarded. This will work." Luke said.

"You've been saying that quite a lot lately." Anakin said with a smirk.

Luke turned beet red. Han rolled his eyes. "I can hardly wait." That kid and his belief in the Force...if only he had a blaster with him.

     One of the Weequay guards poked the four prisoners with his spear, emitting a growl from Chewbacca. "Enough chit-chat. We're here."

•••

Jabba the Hutt rode like a sultan in the massive antigravity ship. His entire retinue was with him, drinking, eating, and having a good time.

Leia was watching her friends in the skiff when the chain attached to her neck was pulled tight and Jabba tugged the scantily clad princess to him.

"Don't stray too far, my lovely. Soon you will learn to appreciate me." Jabba said in seductive-sounding Huttese, making Leia grimace as the slime brushed against her bare back.

      The Hutt forced her to drink from his glass and she did so without protest, closing her mind and knowing it would be over soon. Her eyes skated back out of the slats in the louvered windows, looking through the dusty sunlight to see her friends.

Meanwhile, Threepio wandered among the Sail Barge aliens, bumping into a smaller droid serving drinks, spilling them all over the place. The stubby droid let out an angry series of beeps and whistles.

"Oh, I'm terribly sor-Artoo! What are you doing here?" Threepio exclaimed, recognizing the familiar, tarnished, blue and white plating of the astromech.

Artoo beeped a quick reply, just as surprised as his protocol droid companion.

"Well, I can see you're serving drinks, but this place is dangerous. They're going to execute Master Luke and, if we're not careful, us too!" Threepio warned, lowering his voice. Artoo whistled a singsong response.

"Hmm. I wish I had your confidence." Threepio said.

•••

The convoy moved up over a huge sand pit. The Sail Barge stopped to one side of the depression, as did the escort skiff. But the prisoner's skiff moved out directly over the center and hovered. At the bottom of the deep cone of sand was a repulsive, mucous-lined hole, surrounded by thousands of needle-sharp teeth.

The Sarlacc Pit.

A plank was extended from the edge of the prisoner's skiff. Guards released Luke's bonds first and shoved him out onto the iron plank above the Sarlacc's mouth.

Jabba and Leia were by the rail, still watching. Threepio leaned forward and the slobbering villain mumbled something for him to translate. As Threepio stepped up to a comlink, Jabba raised his arm and the motley array of intergalactic pirates fell silent. Threepio's voice was amplified across the loudspeakers.

"Victims of of the almighty Sarlacc: His Excellency hopes that you will die honorably. But should any of you wish to beg for mercy, the great Jabba the Hutt will now listen to your pleas." Threepio announced.

Han stepped forward arrogantly, despite Anakin putting a hand out to stop him, and begun to speak. "Threepio, you tell that slimy piece of..." He felt Anakin turn him around to face the proper direction. Han tried not to flush in embarrassment, but he continued nonetheless. "...worm-ridden filth he'll get no such pleasure from us. Right?" Chewie growled his agreement.

Luke, still at the edge of the plank, shared a look with Anakin before shouting to the Hutt as well. "Jabba! This is your last chance. Free us or die."

Lando moved unobtrusively along the skiff as Luke shot a quick look of conspiracy to him.

Anakin wanted desperately to say something as well to the no good gangster, but his identity was vital to keep secret for now. There was obviously something about his future that he needed to know...

The assembled monsters rocked with mocking laughter as Artoo zipped unnoticed up the ramp to the upper deck. Jabba's laughter subsided as he spoke into the comlink. "Move him into position." Jabba made a thumbs-down gesture. Leia cast a worried look down at the skiff.

Artoo appeared from below and zipped over to the rail facing the pit. Below, in the skiff, Luke was prodded by a guard to the edge of the plank over the gaping Sarlacc. Luke looked up at Artoo, then gave a jaunty salute: the signal the little droid had been waiting for. A flap opened in Artoo's domed head and Anakin immediately recognized the tactic. He and Obi-Wan had used the same trick against Grievous back on the Invisible Hand...like father like son I suppose, Anakin thought with a smile.

"Put him in." Jabba boomed. Luke was prodded and jumped off the plank, much to the delight of the bloodthirsty spectators.

Anakin held his breath as his son fell, but immediately braced himself for action when Luke spun around, grabbed the edge of the plank with his fingertips, and catapulted skyward. He completed a backflip in midair, dropped back down onto the plank, now behind the guards, and extended his hand out casually, smiling as the lightsaber Artoo had jettisoned landed smoothly in his palm.

The second lightsaber Artoo shot out flew towards Anakin and he used the Force to ignite the sapphire blade while it was still in the air. He lifted his hands so it cleanly sliced off his bonds. Once he was free, he grabbed the hilt firmly and spun, hacking a guard down with Luke beside him.

Luke released a kick at one of the guards, letting the creature fall to his death, straight into the Sarlacc's maw. Lando had now broken his disguise as planned, grappling with the helmsman and trying to seize control of the skiff. It took a few seconds, but Lando succeeded in pushing the helmsman off the skiff and into the Sarlacc below. 

Mid-fight, Luke's eyes strayed towards the weapon in Anakin's hands. He hadn't noticed the blade the man was holding looked exactly the same as the one he had lost on Bespin....his father's lightsaber. An unlikely coincidence? But it looked exactly the same...

"Luke, to your right!" Anakin shouted. Luke blinked a dodged a guard who Anakin Force-pushed over the skiff and into the waiting Sarlacc's mouth. The guard clawed desperately at the gritty sand just as a tentacle wrapped around him and dragged him down.

Jabba watched from above and exploded in rage. He barked commands, and the guards around him rushed off to do his bidding. Meanwhile, the scuzzy creatures watching the action from the window were in an uproar.

Luke started to untie Chewie's bonds as Anakin untied Han and took care of the other approaching guards. "Easy, Chewie." Luke said to his Wookiee friend. At that moment, the deck gunmen on the barge unleashed a series of blasts from a big cannon on the upper deck. Lando was tossed from the deck of the rocking skiff with a cry of surprise. He managed to grab a rope however, and dangled desperately above the Sarlacc pit. "Whoa! Whoa! Help!"

With two swift strides, the dangerous bounty hunter, Boba Fett, ignited his rocket pack, leapt into the air, and flew from the barge down to the skiff.

Boba landed on the skiff and started to aim his laser gun at Luke and Anakin, who had finally freed Han and Chewie from their bonds. But before Boba could fire, Anakin spun on him, lightsaber sweeping, and hacked the bounty hunter's gun in half. Immediately, the skiff took another direct hit from the barge's deck gun. Shards of skiff deck flew. Chewie and Han were thrown against the rail.

"Chewie, you okay? Where is he?" Han cried worriedly. Chewbacca cradled where he was wounded and howled in pain. "It's okay, pal."

For a moment, Luke was distracted, his head turned and his blue eyes wide in concern where he had seen Han and Chewie fall. He was barely able to think about moving forward to help before Boba fired a cable out of his armored sleeve aimed towards the young Jedi.

Anakin swore, knowing the boy continuously got distracted by his worry for his friends. He would have to learn to not let it get him killed in combat despite his good intentions.

Instantly, Luke was wrapped in the strong cable, his arms pinned against his side, his sword arm free only from the wrist down. The young Jedi bended his wrist so the lightsaber pointed straight up to reach the wire lasso, and cut through. Luke shrugged away the cable and stood free, focused once again.

Another blast from the Barge's deck gun hit near Boba and he was knocked unconscious to the deck, next to where Lando was hanging.

Anakin took a brief second to make sure Luke was alright and then glanced at the man in Mandalorian armor. Why did he look so familiar?

"Han! Chewie?" Lando cried from his precarious position.

"Lando!" Han cried, his vision slowly but surely edging a bit more into distinctive shapes.

Anakin moved to help the Corellian and the other man, Lando, when he noticed that Luke looked a little shaken. However, he did remain standing as a fusillade bracketed him. The second skiff, loaded with guards firing their weapons, moved in on Luke and Anakin fast. Anakin leapt toward the incoming second skiff, momentarily forgetting about Lando. Luke was right behind him, still trying to remain calm.

The Jedi landed in the middle of the second skiff and began decimating the guards from their midst. Chewie, still wounded, tried to lift himself as he barked directions to Han, guiding him toward a spear which had been dropped by one of the guards.

Han searched the deck as Chewie barked directions and he finally grabbed hold of the spear. Boba Fett, badly shaken, rose from the deck. He looked over at the other skiff, where Luke and Anakin were whipping a mass of guards. The bounty hunter blinked in confusion as he stared at the Jedi who wasn't Skywalker...yet looked familiar. Brushing it off as nerves, Boba rose his arm, and aimed his lethal appendage. Chewie barked desperately at Han when he noticed Luke and Anakin as the targets.

"Boba Fett?! Boba Fett?! Where?" Han shouted in blind panic. Anakin, hearing the name from the other skiff, froze mid-fight.

'Boba Fett!? Jango Fett's son!? That kid's still alive?' Anakin thought with unveiled surprise. Before he could even finish his thought about the wayward Mandalorian clone boy, Han turned around blindly, and the long spear in his hand whacked squarely in the middle of Boba's rocket pack. The impact of the swing caused the rocket pack to ignite and Boba blasted off, flying over the second skiff like a missile. He smashed against the side of the huge Sail Barge and slid away into the pit, screaming as his armored body made its last flight past Lando and directly into the mucous mouth of the Sarlacc. The Sarlacc burped in pleasure. Chewie growled a weak congratulations to Han while Anakin stared wide-eyed.

Leia used the spectacle outside as a distraction and leapt onto Jabba's throne, throwing the chain that enslaved her over his head and around his bulbous neck. Then she dove off the other side of the throne, pulling the chain violently in her grasp. The small metal rings buried themselves in the loose folds of Jabba's flaccid neck and he bucked in shock, unable to breathe. His huge eyes bulged from their sockets and his scum-coated tongue flopped out. Leia focused firmly, using not only physical, but mental energy as well. She visualized the chain going deeper and deeper into Jabba's windpipe until....

       The Exalted Hutt's huge tail spasmed through its death throes and then slammed down into final stillness.

Leia smirked in triumph and then struggled to free herself of her bondage, cursing the thick metal around her neck.

Luke and Anakin continued to destroy the aliens on the guards' skiff, as Han extended his spear downward to Lando, who was still dangling precariously from a rope on the prisoner's skiff.

"Lando, grab it!" Han cried.

"Lower it!" Lando shouted up.

"I'm trying!" Han snapped back.

Suddenly, a major hit from the barge deck gun knocked the skiff on its side. Han and almost everything else on board slid overboard. The rope broke, and Lando fell to the side of the Sarlacc pit. However, Han's foot caught on the railing of the skiff and he dangled there like bait on a hook, directly above Lando and the Sarlacc underneath.

The wounded Wookiee held onto the skiff for dear life as another hit from the deck gun rocked the skiff violently. "Whoa! Whoa! Grab me, Chewie! I'm slipping." Han cried, trying to stay calm.

Chewie grabbed hold of Han's feet, holding him upside down. Han extended the spear toward Lando, who was clutching to the side of the pit. "Grab it! L--Lando. Grab!"

Lando scowled up at his friend. "What do you think I'm trying to do!?"

Luke and Anakin finished off the last guard on the second skiff. Anakin saw the deck gun blasting away at their helpless companions. Luke, noticing it as well, leapt from the skiff first, across a chasm of air, and to the sheer metallic side of the Sail Barge.

Anakin winced as the boy slammed into the ship, barely able to get a finger hold and beginning a painful climb up the hull.

Sensing danger, Anakin jumped as well, his saber ignited and cutting down a creature with an ax aimed at his son's head. When the creature fell down, dead, Anakin now found himself in the same climbing predicament.

Luke scowled at him. "I didn't need your help."

Anakin stared at his retreating back as it continued its climb. "You're welcome!"

Chewie, his injury spiking from his awkward position, was reaching over the skiff railing for his cub, who was in turn blindly reaching down towards the desperate Lando.

Speaking of Lando, the man had tried to slow his descent into the pit by lying very still, only moving his hand briefly to try and grab the spear Han was reaching out to him. The slippery sand, however, didn't seem to want to be on his side.

Every time he reached for the spear, the loose grains moved him closer to his final resting place. "Grab it! Almost...You almost got it!" Han shouted.

Another blast hit the skiff and Lando really wished he had the power Vader did with choking people. He really wanted to strangle the person shooting at them.

"Han!" Lando cried, yelling his friend's name instead of the curse words he wanted to scream.

"Gently now. All...all right. Now easy, easy. Hold me, Chewie!" Han cried, yelling directions as best he could.

Something long and slimy wrapped tightly around Lando's ankle and he screamed when he realized it was the Sarlacc.

Han heard his friend's scream and acted instinctively. "Chewie, hand me the gun! Don't move Lando!"

Lando looked up from his frantic panicking and saw the still clouded look of Han's hazel eyes. He threw up his hands with a cry of horror. "No, wait! I thought you were blind!"

Han seemed to hesitate with the question until he smirked rather unreassuringly. "I can see a bit better now. Just trust me. Don't move."

"All right! A little higher! Just a little higher!" Lando directed his friend's blaster barrel, hoping he wouldn't be shot and then later digested. Han adjusted his aim as Lando lowered his head in preparation. The fuzzy-eyed pirate fired at the tentacle and a direct hit allowed Lando to pull free.

As soon as Lando's hand grasped the spear, Han called back up, "Chewie, Pull us up! Come on! Okay... up, Chewie, up!"

The deck gunners had Chewie and the desperate dangling human chain in their gun sights when something up on deck commanded their attention: Luke, standing before them like a pirate king, Anakin behind him like a shadow, both igniting their lightsabers. The deck gunners had barely reached for their pistols before the Jedi had demolished them.

Immediately, they turned to see two more gunners, who had been uncovering a giant gun at the end of the barge, racing for them, firing their laser pistols.

Leia was still struggling against her chains in desperation when Artoo zipped through the tumult of confused monsters and to the rescue. The stubby little droid extended a small laser gun and blasted the chain apart. "Come on. We gotta get out of here quick." Leia said, getting to her feet quickly. Artoo and Leia raced for the exit, passing Threepio, who was kicking and screaming as Salacious Crumb, the reptilian monkey-monster, picked out one of the golden droid's eyes.

"Not my eyes! Artoo, help! Quickly, Artoo. Oh! Ohhh! You beast!" Artoo zipped over and zapped Salacious, sending him skyward into the rafters with a scream. Quickly, Artoo, Leia, and Threepio, with his eye dangling from a wire, hurried off.

Anakin and Luke were warding off laser blasts with their lightsabers, surrounded by guards and fighting like demons. Leia emerged onto the deck as Luke turned to face another guard. He caught sight of the princess and shouted to her, "Get the gun!"

"And point it at the deck!" Anakin added, cutting down what seemed like the millionth guard.

Leia nodded and turned toward the barge cannon, climbing on the platform, and swiveling the gun around. "Point it at the deck!" Luke cried.

Leia scowled at him. "I got it!"

Anakin stiffened when the Force cried at him and he turned just in time to see a laser blast hit Luke's right hand. The boy bent over in pain, but managed to swing his lightsaber upward and take out the last of the guards.

He looked at the wounded hand, which revealed mechanics underneath where blood and bone should have been. Anakin stared at it, flexing his own mechanical hand in reflex and wondering how his son had lost the limb.

      Luke moved the hand, relieved to find it still worked. He caught Anakin staring at it and pulled it towards himself self-consciously.

Near the rail of the upper deck, Artoo and Threepio steadied themselves as Threepio got ready to jump. Artoo beeped wildly. "Artoo, where are we going? I couldn't possibly jump."

Annoyed, Artoo butted the golden droid over the edge and stepped off himself, tumbling toward the sand. Luke and Anakin ran along the empty deck toward Leia and the barge gun, which she had brought around to point down at the deck. "Come on!" Luke cried.

Anakin had hold on one of the rigging ropes from the mast. He gathered Luke and Leia in his arms, still managing to hold the rope, and kicked the trigger of the deck gun. The gun exploded into the deck as Anakin, Luke, and Leia swung out toward the skiff.

Han leaned panting against the rail as Chewie helped Lando onto the deck. Anakin, Luke, and Leia landed on the skiff with quite a bit of flair. "Let's go! And don't forget the droids." Anakin announced, making sure Luke and Leia had gotten down safely.

"We're on our way." Lando said, moving the controls.

The Sail Barge exploded in stages in the distance as they rode off. Half of the ship was on fire and burning maliciously.

Threepio's legs stuck straight up from the dune where he had landed. Next to it, Artoo's periscope was the only thing above the sand. The skiff floated above them, casting a large shadow, and two large electromagnets dangled down on a wire. With a loud clang, both droids were pulled from the sand.

The little skiff skipped around the burning Sail Barge, which continued its chain of explosions. As the skiff sailed off across the desert, the barge settled to the sand and disappeared in one flare of fire and ash, ending Jabba the Hutt's reign over Tatooine.

•••

A/N

I HAD SO MUCH FUN WRITING THIS.

The skiff scene is probably one of my favs from ROTJ (minus the end with the emperor's throne room of course <3) so this was 12 times better with Anakin added into it.

Btw, I forced two of my friends to watch The Phantom Menace and guess what....THEY LIKED IT.

They may not admit it, but I saw how into it they were. Every time I tried to speak, they shushed me and during the Pod Race scene, they were so entranced that they didn't even know I had made them food.

I HAVE SUCCEEDED.

XD

So yeah...

May the Force be with You,

- lucky_ducky_123