Luke made his way back to the garage to finish working on Threepio and Artoo.
However, when he entered, it was to find the room empty of the two newcomers. Confused, he pulled out a remote similar to the one the sellers had used on Artoo and pushed a button.
"Oh!" Threepio said in surprise, jumping at the sudden shock.
"What are you doing hiding back there?" he asked as if to a guilty child.
"It wasn't my fault, sir, please don't deactivate me." He pleaded. "I told him not to go, but he's faulty. Malfunctioning. Kept going on about his mission."
"Geez, Threepio. You don't have to act like that.", Padmé commented to the protocol droid.
"Is there a time where he isn't"?, Anakin joked.
"Dammit." Luke cursed and ran from the room, Threepio following behind. He ran back out topside and searched the horizon with another pair of binoculars.
"That R2 unit has always been a problem." Threepio said, walking up beside him. "These astro droids are getting a bit out of hand. Even I can't understand their logic at times."
"I'm not saying he's wrong but R2 is kind off crafty sometimes.", Ahsoka stated for the little droid.
"Yet he has saved many lives throughout the war because of it. Perhaps he has something in his mind that is for the better.", Plo Koon supported her claim.
Master Mundi came next. "Remember he has the plans for the Rebels, and he is looking for Master Kenobi at that matter."
"How could I be so stupid?" Luke said as he put the macrobinoculars down, "He's nowhere in sight. Dammit!"
"Excuse me, sir, but couldn't we go after him?"
"It's too dangerous with all the sand people around. We'll have to wait until morning."
Anakin unconciously clenched his fist, remembering those Raiders taking his mother away from him. And the possibility of Luke running into them is unacceptable to him.
"Luke!" Owen called from within the house, "I'm shutting the power down!"
"Alright! I'll be right there!" he called back before groaning. "Boy am I gonna get it. You know, that droid is gonna cause me nothing but trouble. I can already tell."
"Oh, he excels at that, Master Skywalker.", Ahsoka humorously called out.
"That did seem to become a habit of his.", Kit Fisto pointed out.
The next day, Owen awoke to find Beru making breakfast and Luke nowhere to be found.
"Hey, you seen Luke yet today?" He asked his wife.
"Yeah, said he had some things to do, so he left early." She said as she work on their breakfast.
"He take those new droids with him?" he asked.
"Dunno." Beru said with a playful slap to the hand that held the bacon.
Owen sighed and bit off a chuck of the meat. "Well, he better have those units in the south range repaired by mid-day or there'll be hell to pay."
Instead, Luke and Threepio were zooming across the desert in a land speeder.
"Look, there's a droid on the scanner, dead ahead." He pointed at the screen. "Could be our little R2 unit, hit the accelerator."
As he moved through a canyon, a creature wrapped head to toe in cloth took aim at him with a sniper rifle. It was stopped by one of its' kin. They exchanged a series of grunts and growls before the second pulled the first back to their massive, shaggy, ram-horned mounts and they moved out as one.
"Tusken Raiders. This could be dangerous for Luke.", Shaak Ti said in worry for the boy.
Anakin glared at the sight of those animals, still remembering the day he slaughtered them all when they took his mother away from him. Since thay day, he vowed to be the strongest, just so he could save everyone he ever loved.
Especially Padmé.
Luke stopped the speeder a few feet away from Artoo, who was waddling over some rocks.
"Hey, hey, where do you think you're going?" he said. Artoo whistled in response.
"Master Luke is your Master now!" Threepio scolded "We don't want to hear anymore of this Obi-Wan Kenobi gibberish!"
Artoo whistled back in response. "And don't talk to me about your mission. You're lucky he doesn't blast you into a million pieces on the spot."
As Luke assured him there was no call for that, Artoo whistled again, with something akin to fear in the tone. "What's he saying?"
"There are several creatures approaching from the south-east." Threepio said, fear in his voice.
"Sand People. Or worse." Luke growled. He ran to his speeder and pulled out a rifle. "Come on, let's check it out."
"Kid, I'm telling you, get out of there now.", Anakin warned his son.
"You do know he can't hear you, Skywalker?", Mace asked, bewildered at the Jedi Knight's sudden change of tone.
"I know, but still..."
A few minutes later, Luke had taken a vantage point on the lip of the canyon and was looking at a possible campsite below him, Threepio standing behind him. "Well, there are a couple banthas down there, but I don't think- wait a minute…" a humanoid figure walked into view from behind a bantha, "They're Sand People alright, I can see one of them now."
His vision went dark and he looked up to see a Sand Person in front of him. It howled a war cry, shaking a bent club over its' head. Threepio screamed and fell backwards. Luke tried to bring his weapon to bear, but his assailant batted it away and struck him in the middle of the chest, throwing him on his back. It tried to bash his head in multiple times, but Luke dodged each time.
"Luke!", cried out Ahsoka and Caleb at the same time for the boy. The masters present were likewise worried for him now while Anakin resisted the urge to yell or go back to Tatooine and finish the job.
The scene cut to a cave nearby the abandoned speeder, the war cries of the Sand People echoing off the walls of the canyon. Artoo watched as the Sand People dragged an unconscious Luke back to it and began to ransack it. Artoo whistled a few times, trying to wake Luke up to no avail.
Suddenly, a haunting noise echoed off the walls. The Sand People turned to see a robed figure walking towards them, waving his arms about. The sound more than the source terrified the Sand People and they beat a hasty retreat, dropping everything except their stick-maces.
"What in the world just happened?" Luminara said, a little shaken.
"Scared them off, something or someone did. Good for Luke, this may be.", Yoda mused.
Artoo watched as the robed figure knelt beside Luke and checked his pulse. He looked up at his and lowered his hood, revealing a much older man. His face retained its tan and friendly features, but his hair became sandy grey.
'He kinda look like Obi-Wan, if not older.', thought Anakin. The rest present felt the same way, including Obi-Wan.
"Hello there." He greeted to Artoo. "Come here, my little friend. No need to fear." Artoo whistled, looking at Luke. "Oh, don't worry, he'll be alright."
As if on cue, Luke began to stir and opened his eyes. "Rest easy, son. You've had a busy day." the old man said said as he helped Luke into a sitting position. "You're fortunate to be all in one piece."
Luke shook the cobwebs loose and got a better look at him. "Ben? Ben Kenobi? Boy, am I glad to see you."
"The Jundland Wastes are not to be travelled lightly." Ben told him, as he stood and helped him to his feet and sat him down on a nearby rock. "Tell me, young Luke; what brings you out this far?"
"This little droid." He said, pointing to Artoo. "I think he's searching for his former master, but I've never seen such devotion in a droid before. He claims to be the property of a Obi-Wan Kenobi." At the name, Ben's eyes widened, as if sudden memories flashed before him, and he took a seat of his own. "Is he a relative of yours? Do you know who he was talking about?"
"Obi-Wan Kenobi?" he said, almost in shock. "Obi-Wan… now that's a name I've not heard in a long time. A long time."
"I think my uncle knows him. He said he was dead."
"Oh, he's not dead. Well, not yet."
"That's good to hear...", Obi-Wan said in relief.
"You know him?"
"Well, of course I knew him. He's me. I haven't gone by the name of Obi-Wan since before you were born."
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Hey guys I really need you to throw some power stones to keep the story going.
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