Interlude--Tatooine
"Young Biggs, are you here, son?"
"Ben Kenobi?" The young man came out from under the sleek craft,
wiping his hands. He shook with the old man. Unlike Owen
Lars,
the elder Darklighter had welcomed visits from the hermit,
and Biggs was as much in awe of him now as he had been at ten.
"A pilot named BoShek told me you had taken unauthorized leave
of His Majesty's forces, had a ship of your own and were on planet.
Could I hire you to take me to Alderaan?"
"I'm headed that way, sir. The Shooting Star isn't much on comfort,
though.
She's a cargo craft. I live in a flight suit and sleep in the
cockpit."
"If you've a spare suit, I'm sure I'll adjust. I can pay you as well."
"Just the extra fuel, sir. I consider it an honor to help someone
like yourself, General."
"Ah, so you've been listening to legends the last few years."
The old
man chuckled.
"The spare is in the front hold. We can leave as soon as you're ready."
"I have droids that need to join us."
"No problem. Put them in the aft hold, and we'll be off."
Kenobi had disappeared into the ship with the droids, and Biggs was
putting
the final touches on the new gear he'd installed, when a blaster bolt
ricocheted off the landing gear.
"Stop that ship!" came the metallic voice of a stormtrooper.
Biggs dashed into the Shooting Star, sealing the hatch and dropping
into the pilot's chair. "Help me with any of the preflight you
can,
sir."
They lifted hastily, and Biggs punched the jump to Alderaan one-handed,
barely looking at the controls. His other hand was working the
remote control of the guns to fend off the TIE fighters that appeared
out of nowhere.
"Five Star Destroyers, General. Quite a send-off. Hold tightly,
please."
They were safe in the limbo of hyperspace.
"Yes, our young friend decided to give me quite a going-away party," Kenobi said.
"What?"
"Those star destroyers were sent by Lord Vengar."
"What does Darth Vengar want with you?"
"Do you know who he is, Biggs?"
"I've heard of him on the telecasts, but I don't have video readout.
His voice sounds familiar."
"He was Luke Skywalker before he was consumed by the Dark Side of the
Force.
I failed him as I failed his father. With great good fortune,
we may be
able to salvage the last of the Skywalkers."
"Luke? That's just crazy. Luke couldn't even get off-planet
to the Academy!"
"The tale in Mos Eisley is he was sold off-planet by slavers."
Biggs slammed a clenched fist into the console. "Damn Owen.
Had Luke gone with me to the Academy, he'd have been safe.
Boys like him command high prices."
"My sources inform me of a raid on a brothel, and then a crash
course in Imperial discipline followed by training as a dark Jedi."
"Luke a Jedi? That's even crazier. Jedi have been extinct
for
decades."
"Are you sure?" Ben quietly moved his robe aside to reveal his own lightsaber.
"I was to train Luke, but his father, the Emperor, took him into the
darkness
before I had a chance."
"The Emperor. My best friend is a prince?" Biggs was practically reeling.
"Oh yes. It seems, my young friend, we have a great deal to discuss this trip."