Star Wars Trilogy

by Ryder Windham

  Luke said, “They’re Sand People all right. I can see one of them now.”

  Suddenly, something clouded Luke’s field of view, and he lowered his macrobinoculars in time to see that a Tusken Raider had quickly risen to loom directly in front of him. The Tusken Raider roared. C-3PO was so startled that he fell over backward.

  The Tusken Raider clutched a gaderffii, a hand-fashioned double-edged axlike weapon, and held it high over his head. Luke snatched up his laser rifle, but the Tusken Raider swung his gaderffii and cleaved through the rifle’s long barrel, knocking Luke to the rock ridge. The Tusken Raider swung at Luke’s prone body, but Luke rolled aside to avoid being struck by the gaderffii. The Tusken Raider swung twice again, and Luke dodged those blows too. The fourth swing connected, and Luke was knocked unconscious.

  Below Luke, R2-D2 huddled against the shadows under a rock ledge. The astromech trembled as three Tusken Raiders hauled Luke’s unconscious body down to the canyon floor and dumped him unceremoniously beside some rocks near the parked landspeeder. Feeling helpless, R2-D2 watched the Tusken Raiders saunter over to the landspeeder. They began to strip the vehicle, tossing parts and supplies in all directions. Then they stopped.

  A great howling moan echoed through the canyon. Hearing the sound, the three Tusken Raiders fled from the landspeeder. R2-D2 peeked out from the shadows to see the source of the sound: a shuffling humanoid in a dark brown robe with a head-concealing hood. R2-D2 couldn’t imagine why the Tusken Raiders were afraid of the approaching life-form, and wondered if perhaps they’d seen something he hadn’t.

  The hooded figure stopped beside Luke’s unconscious form, then bent down and checked his pulse. R2-D2 beeped, and the figured paused. Then he raised a hand to pull back the hood, revealing a bearded old man with thinning white hair. The man turned to face the R2 unit, then smiled and said, “Hello there! Come here, my little friend. Don’t be afraid.”

  Concerned for Luke, R2-D2 beeped.

  “Oh, don’t worry, he’ll be all right,” the man answered.

  Luke stirred, then slowly opened his eyes to look up at the old man, who said, “Rest easy, son, you’ve had a busy day. You’re fortunate to be all in one piece.”

  Luke’s eyes widened. “Ben? Ben Kenobi?” It was the second time Ben had happened upon him when he needed aid. But Luke wasn’t considering the odds against the repeated occurrence; he was just relieved. “Boy, am I glad to see you!”

  Seeing that all was well, R2-D2 stepped out from under the rock ledge and approached Luke and Ben.

  “The Jundland Wastes are not to be traveled lightly,” Ben said cheerfully as he helped Luke sit up. “Tell me, young Luke, what brings you out this far?”

  “Oh, this little droid!” Luke said, gesturing at R2-D2. “I think he’s searching for his former master, but I’ve never seen such devotion in a droid before.…”

  Ben smiled again at the blue astromech, who beeped at him. Then Ben returned his gaze to Luke, waiting for him to continue.

  Luke said, “Ah, he claims to be the property of an Obi-Wan Kenobi. Is he a relative of yours? Do you know who he’s talking about?”

  Ben’s smile was gone. His eyes were on Luke, but there was something in his expression that seemed simultaneously startled and alert, as if he’d just seen a ghost. Catching his breath, Ben eased himself back to rest against a boulder. “Obi-Wan Kenobi…” he said. “Obi-Wan? Now that’s a name I’ve not heard in a long time…a long time.”

  “I think my uncle knows him,” Luke said. “He said he was dead.…”

  “Oh, he’s not dead,” Ben said, smiling as he glanced at the sky. “Not yet.”

  “You know him?”

  “Well, of course I know him. He’s me! I haven’t gone by the name Obi-Wan since, oh, before you were born.”

  Luke said, “Well, then, the droid does belong to you.”

  “Don’t seem to remember ever owning a droid,” Ben said, eyeing the blue R2 unit more carefully. Although Luke had not mentioned the astromech’s name, Ben did recognize R2-D2. They’d met decades before, on a starship that had been forced to make an emergency landing on Tatooine, of all places. Ben kept his recollections to himself, but muttered, “Very interesting…”

  An inhuman barking sound echoed through the canyon. Ben looked up at the overhanging cliffs and said, “I think we better get indoors. The Sand People are easily startled, but they will soon be back. And in greater numbers.”

  As Ben helped Luke step toward the landspeeder, R2-D2 let out a pathetic beep, causing Luke to remember: “See-Threepio!”

  Luke and Ben found the protocol droid sprawled on the rocks near where Luke had been attacked by the Tusken Raider. Wires dangled out from the open socket at C-3PO’s left shoulder, and his left arm lay on the ground nearby. The two men lifted the droid to a seated position.

  In a dazed voice, C-3PO asked, “Where am I? I must have taken a bad step.…”

  “Well, can you stand?” Luke said. “We’ve got to get you out of here before the Sand People return.”

  “I don’t think I can make it,” C-3PO said. “You go on, Master Luke. There’s no sense in you risking yourself on my account. I’m done for.”

  “No, you’re not,” Luke said sympathetically. “What kind of talk is that?”

  Thinking of the Tusken Raiders, Ben said, “Quickly…they’re on the move.”

  Ben and Luke helped C-3PO to his feet, gathered up his left arm, and returned to the landspeeder. Because the speeder had only two seats, the droids were placed atop the vehicle’s rear section, on the panels that covered the repulsor field system generator: R2-D2’s cylindrical body rested upon the panel behind the passenger seat; C-3PO sat behind the driver’s seat and wedged his metal legs down into the open cockpit, between the seats. When the droids were secured, Ben climbed into the passenger seat and directed Luke to drive out of the canyon.

  Ben’s house was a dome-roofed hovel built upon an elevated ridge in the Jundland Wastes. The group had left the landspeeder parked outside, and were in the house’s modest living area. The room was cool, clean, and minimally furnished, with only a few displayed possessions.

  The damage to C-3PO’s arm hadn’t been serious, so Luke—despite a protest from R2-D2—had decided to make the repairs himself. After giving Luke a toolbox, Ben had taken a chair beside a low round table. To Ben’s right, Luke and C-3PO sat on the edge of Ben’s bed, which was set in a concave alcove. R2-D2 stood near a storage chest on the floor and peered over the round table to watch Luke work on C-3PO’s arm.

  “Tell me, Luke,” Ben said. “Do you know about your father’s service in the Clone Wars?”

  “No, my father didn’t fight in the wars,” Luke said as he reconnected a wire in C-3PO’s arm. “He was a navigator on a spice freighter.”

  “That’s what your uncle told you,” Ben said. “He didn’t hold with your father’s ideals. Thought he should have stayed here and not gotten involved.”

  Luke turned to face Ben. “You fought in the Clone Wars?”

  “Yes. I was once a Jedi Knight, the same as your father.”

  Luke looked away. “I wish I’d known him.”

  Ben said, “He was the best starpilot in the galaxy and a cunning warrior.” He grinned at Luke and said, “I understand you’ve become quite a good pilot yourself.” Then a faraway look came over his eyes. He added, “And he was a good friend. Which reminds me…”

  Ben rose from his seat and walked past R2-D2 to raise the lid on the storage chest. “I have something here for you.” He removed a shiny, cylindrical object. “Your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough, but your uncle wouldn’t allow it. He feared you might follow old Obi-Wan on some damned-fool idealistic crusade like your father did.”

  Still seated on the bed, C-3PO turned to Luke and said, “Sir, if you’ll not be needing me, I’ll close down for a while.”

  “Sure, go ahead,” Luke said.

  C-3PO remained seated as he switched himself
off. His eyes winked off and his head slumped forward.

  Ben handed the shiny object to Luke, who stood and took it in his right hand. Luke asked, “What is it?”

  “Your father’s lightsaber,” Ben said. “This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster.”

  Luke’s fingers found the activation plate, and the blade—a blue beam of pure energy—emitted instantly from an aperture at the end of the handgrip. The weapon made a humming sound. Fascinated, Luke tested the weapon, moving his arm to cut through the air with the glowing blade.

  “An elegant weapon for a more civilized day,” Ben commented as he returned to his chair. “For over a thousand generations the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times, before the Empire.”

  Luke deactivated the lightsaber and sat back down on the edge of the bed. Facing Ben, he asked, “How did my father die?”

  Ben glanced away from Luke. Choosing his words carefully, he returned his gaze to Luke and said, “A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. He betrayed and murdered your father.”

  Luke was stunned. Why didn’t Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru tell me this?

  “Now the Jedi are all but extinct,” Ben continued. “Vader was seduced by the dark side of the Force.”

  “The Force?” Luke said.

  “The Force is what gives the Jedi his power,” Ben said. “It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.”

  R2-D2 beeped.

  Rising again, Ben stepped over to R2-D2 and said, “Now, let’s see if we can’t figure out what you are, my little friend. And where you come from.”

  As Ben touched R2-D2’s dome, Luke said, “I saw part of the message he was—”

  R2-D2’s hologram projector flicked on, and Ben said, “I seem to have found it.”

  Ben returned to his seat, and R2-D2 projected the flickering hologram of the young woman so that she appeared to be standing upon the low round table.

  “General Kenobi,” said the woman’s hologram, “years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire. I regret that I am unable to present my father’s request to you in person, but my ship has fallen under attack, and I’m afraid my mission to bring you to Alderaan has failed. I have placed information vital to the survival of the Rebellion into the memory systems of this Artoo unit.”

  Ben glanced at R2-D2, then back at the hologram.

  “My father will know how to retrieve it,” the woman’s hologram continued. “You must see this droid safely delivered to him on Alderaan. This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.”

  The woman’s hologram glanced over her right shoulder, then bent to adjust something, just as Luke had seen her do before. He now realized she must have turned in response to something or someone behind her, then turned back to manually switch off R2-D2’s holorecorder. The hologram flickered off.

  Ben sat back in his chair and tugged at his beard, thinking hard.

  Luke said, “Who is she?”

  Distractedly, Ben said, “She is Princess Leia Organa of the Royal House of Alderaan, an Imperial Senator and, unbeknownst to the Empire, a leader of the Rebel Alliance. She’s grown into a remarkable young woman.”

  R2-D2 rotated his dome to look at C-3PO, who was still shut down. R2-D2 would let C-3PO know that they could now speak freely about the princess in the presence of Luke and Ben.

  Ben looked to Luke and said, “You must learn the ways of the Force if you’re to come with me to Alderaan.”

  “Alderaan?” Luke said with disbelief. Rising away from Ben, he added, “I’m not going to Alderaan.” He moved toward the door. “I’ve got to get home. It’s late; I’m in for it as it is.”

  “I need your help, Luke,” Ben said. “She needs your help. I’m getting too old for this sort of thing.”

  “I can’t get involved!” Luke protested. “I’ve got work to do! It’s not that I like the Empire—I hate it! But there’s nothing I can do about it right now. It’s such a long way from here.”

  “That’s your uncle talking.”

  Luke sighed. “Oh, boy, my uncle. How am I ever going to explain this?”

  “Learn about the Force, Luke.”

  Exasperated, Luke said, “Look, I can take you as far as Anchorhead. You can get a transport there to Mos Eisley or wherever you’re going.”

  Ben looked away from Luke and said, “You must do what you feel is right, of course.”

  What I feel is right? How can he say that? I’d like to help Ben and…her, whoever she is. But is it right to run out on Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru? They’re the only family I’ve got, and I’m not going to let anything happen to them. If that’s not right, then maybe I’d rather be wrong!

  While his squad of stormtroopers continued their search on Tatooine for the Death Star plans, Darth Vader traveled by Star Destroyer to deliver Princess Leia Organa to the Death Star.

  The Death Star was, quite simply, the largest starship ever built. Shaped like an orb, it was 120 kilometers in diameter, the size of a Class IV moon. Its quadanium steel outer hull had two prominent features: an equatorial trench and—on its upper hemisphere—a concave superlaser focus lens. The trench contained ion engines, hyperdrives, and hangar bays; the superlaser had enough power to annihilate entire worlds.

  In addition to its superlaser, the Death Star’s weaponry included more than 10,000 turbolaser batteries, 2,500 laser cannons, and 2,500 ion cannons. Its hangars contained 7,000 TIE fighters and more than 20,000 military and transport vessels. The crew, troops, and pilots made up a population of more than one million.

  But despite all these staggering numbers, at least one person on the Death Star was concerned about the Rebellion.

  “Until this battle station is fully operational we are vulnerable,” said Commander Tagge. He was in a conference room, seated at a circular black table with six other high-ranking Imperial officials. Tagge was looking to his right at the seated figure of Admiral Motti, the senior Imperial commander in charge of operations on the Death Star. Tagge continued, “The Rebel Alliance is too well equipped. They’re more dangerous than you realize.”

  Admiral Motti sneered, “Dangerous to your starfleet, Commander—not to this battle station!”

  But Tagge wasn’t finished. “The Rebellion will continue to gain support in the Imperial Senate as long as—”

  “The Imperial Senate will no longer be of any concern to us,” interrupted a gaunt older man with hollow cheeks who had just walked into the conference room. He was Grand Moff Tarkin, the Death Star’s conceiver, and he entered with Darth Vader at his side. In the Imperial hierarchy, Tarkin reported only to the Emperor, and Vader served Tarkin as the Emperor’s enforcer of evil.

  Vader remained standing while Tarkin took his seat between Admiral Motti and Commander Tagge. Tarkin continued, “I have just received word that the Emperor has dissolved the council permanently. The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away.”

  “That’s impossible,” Commander Tagge said. “How will the Emperor maintain control without the bureaucracy?”

  Tarkin said, “The regional governors now have direct control over their territories. Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battle station.”

  “And what of the Rebellion?” asked Tagge. “If the Rebels have obtained a complete technical readout of this station, it is possible, however unlikely, that they might find a weakness and exploit it.”

  From beside Tarkin, Darth Vader said, “The plans you refer to will soon be back in our hands.”

  To Tagge, Admiral Motti promised, “Any attack made by the Rebels against this station would be a useless gesture, no matter what technical data they’ve obtained. This station is now the ultimate power in the un
iverse. I suggest we use it.”

  Vader warned, “Don’t be too proud of this technological terror you’ve constructed. The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force.”

  Motti sneered and said, “Don’t try to frighten us with your sorcerer’s ways, Lord Vader. Your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not helped you conjure up the stolen data tapes or given you clairvoyance enough to find the Rebels’ hidden fort—”

  Suddenly, Motti stopped speaking. Vader never actually touched Motti, but the Dark Lord made a pinching movement with his gloved hand and caused Motti to desperately reach to his own throat. The admiral was choking. His eyes remained fixed on Vader as his body spasmed.

  Pinching the air with his fingers, Vader said, “I find your lack of faith disturbing.”

  Tarkin eyed Vader, then said, “Enough of this! Vader, release him!”

  “As you wish,” Vader said. He lowered his hand.

  Air rushed into Motti’s lungs and his head slumped forward. Breathing hard, he stared at the table, then looked up to boldly glare at Vader.

  Tarkin said, “This bickering is pointless. Lord Vader will provide us with the location of the Rebel fortress by the time this station is operational. We will then crush the Rebellion with one swift stroke.”

  Luke, Ben, and the two droids were speeding through the Jundland Wastes, heading for the community of Anchorhead, when they came upon what was left of the Jawa sandcrawler. Smoke billowed from fires that still burned inside and around the bulky, rusted vehicle. Dozens of Jawas lay dead, their small forms scattered across the sand.

  Luke stopped so he and Ben could examine the wreckage. The sandcrawler’s hull was riddled with blaster damage, and it appeared the entire Jawa clan had been wiped out.

  “It looks like the Sand People did this, all right,” Luke said to Ben. “Look, there’s gaffi sticks, bantha tracks. It’s just…I never heard of them hitting anything this big before.”