I
The air is thick with the aroma of food, smoke, and the sharp scent of drinks that allow one to relax in this particular cantina. The sounds and voices of various species from across the galaxy echo throughout, while the shrill sound of music fill the cantina with an atmosphere of carefree. Everyone here is relaxed with not a care in all the galaxy. Here, at Mos Eisley, this particular cantina is home to many. Those who call Tatooine their home, travelers, smugglers, pirates, and even the First Order. Despite the looming presence of the First Order, most everyone feels comfortable here. In part because the First Order doesn't have any real control on Tatooine. But that doesn't stop First Order troopers from trying to assert authority from time to time. Many on this sun battered planet will advise in keeping on the First Order's good side.
As the light from outside gleams in from the entryway to the cantina, a strange figure enters. A Twi'Lek, with skin as pale as the dunes of Tatooine, walks through the cantina toward a table mid-way down against the wall. The guests all turn and watch for a moment. It is rare that a Twi'Lek is seen here. Even rarer that it be a male and not a slave. Once the Twi'Lek sits down at a table with two others, the rest of the cantina goes about its business.
"Are you Caius Va'Lim?" Asks the Twi'Lek.
"I am. Do you have my information?" A male humanoid alien, whom strikingly looks no different from a human, asks. The only features that tell this alien from a human, are the pointed ears that are pointing nearly upward a short ways, and slender fingers slightly longer than an average humans. With short black scraggly hair, brown eyes, a neatly trimmed mustache and goatee, and lightly tanned skin; it's almost impossible to notice. His type are usually referred to as Near-Human, since only skin color or other minor physical differences give away that they are not fully human.
"Do you have my money?" The Twi'Lek replies.
"Information first," Caius says annoyed, "Then money."
"Who is this next to you? I was under the impression it would only be you." The Twi'Lek prods.
"This is my partner, Trace. He goes where I go." A large, muscular, cybernetic human sits next to Caius. He has a darker skin tone than Caius, and dark brown neck length hair that looks unkempt yet clean. Trace stares at the Twi'Lek with his cybernetic eye that sits in place of his right eye, then raises his left arm, placing it on the table. A cybernetic arm from just above the elbow now rests on the table. Large and muscular to match the rest of Trace's frame. The Twi'Lek, who has been leaning forward on the table, jumps back in his seat. Startled by the heavy thud of the arm. "He's bigger than me, and you." Caius informs the Twi'Lek.
"I can take a hint." The Twi'Lek puts his hands up in apprehension as a few beads of sweat roll from his brow. He has very clearly become nervous after the threat, which can be heard in his voice for a brief moment before calming down. "What you seek is not far from an old moisture farm on the outskirts…" He stops talking as he notices two First Order troopers enter the cantina. The troopers walk past the table they are sitting at and take a seat in the back of the cantina. "As I said, on the outskirts. In the Chott Salt Flat. Look for the abandoned farm." He then slides Caius a small parchment with caution. "I'm afraid that an exact location of what you seek is not known. Only a general direction from the farm and one landmark is what I was able to gather."
"I'll find it. Here, your payment." Caius hands him a small sack containing an unknown amount of money.
"Wait," the Twi'Lek stops Caius and Trace as they both stand up. "You should know that there are strange stories surrounding what you seek. They say an old hermit use to live out there. Went by the name Ben Kenobi or something. They say that one day he just disappeared without a trace." The two First Order troopers then look toward the table they are at. Caius notices and stops for a brief moment as Trace was beginning leave.
"I would be careful about what you say. Don't want to wind up dead. Now go about your business and forget everything you just told us." Caius waves his hand in front of the Twi'Lek, then he and Trace leave the cantina. Shortly after, the troopers get up and leave as well. Outside the cantina, Caius urges Trace to follow him around to the side of the cantina. "I'm pretty sure those troopers heard what the Twi'Lek said. We better get to that moisture farm before they get there."
"What about the Twi'Lek? Won't he be in danger?" Asks Trace.
"He'll be fine. I'm sure they won't send someone after him right away. He's got plenty of time to get out." Caius says in a carefree manner. He then walks to a small speeder and gets in.
"If you say so." Trace says walking toward the speeder. He then gets in on the passenger side and the speeder sinks and tilts a little bit.
"You should lose some weight."
"It's all muscle, and these damned metal body parts." Trace replies, insulted and showing his metal arm.
"Might be that leg of yours. Should get some lighter materials." Retorts Caius.
"I had no choice when I needed my entire left leg replaced. So are we going to get moving?"
"Right". Caius starts the speeder and the two of them take off with haste, leaving Mos Eisley, as the two First Order Troopers stand at the entrance to the cantina and watch as they speed off.
Hours later, Caius and Trace stand outside the speeder at the old moisture farm. Caius pulls out the parchment the Twi'Lek gave him from a small pouch. He unfolds it and begins analyzing it.
"According to this, Obi-Wan's hut should be in that general direction. South...ish, from this farm. Past what looks like a small canyon." Caius then looks at the farm, speculating why it was abandoned. "I wonder what could have happened here. This place looks like it's been abandoned for quite some time."
Trace cuts in. "Looks to have been around 30 years or so I would say."
"Did your eye tell you that?" Caius is now pointing at Trace's cybernetic eye as he is leaning against the speeder.
"More or less." Trace says with a slight shrug of the hand. He then takes the parchment to look at it himself. "Looks like it's actually a little more east than south."
"What would I ever do without that wonderful eye of yours?" Caius says as he is hopping into the speeder on the passenger side. "Onwards Trace," he says boisterously pointing.
"Oh, so I'm driving now. And you had that map turned the wrong way. Just thought I'd let you know." Trace says as he gets in the speeder, shaking his head. Caius doesn't say a word, he just sits, sulking as if his pride was just broken. They then start moving in the direction that the map had shown.
Off in the distance, the two troopers have been watching. As Caius and Trace are leaving, the troopers hop on speeder bikes and begin following at a distance.
Caius and Trace begin to make their way through a small and shallow canyon. The wind begins to pick up and howl through the canyon as bits of sand begin to fly up against their faces.
"Better put on our masks Caius. Looks like a sandstorm is approaching."
"I don't see any sandsto…" Just as Caius was speaking, they exit the canyon and see a large sandstorm off in the distance. "You're right. You're right." Caius fumbles around trying to grab his mask before knocking it under Trace's legs. Trace quickly puts on his mask, then reaches down and grabs Caius'.
"Having trouble?" Asks Trace in a sarcastic tone, holding the mask up for Caius.
"Of course not." Caius breathes a sigh of relief, grabs the mask, and then places it on his face. "It's going to be hard to see much of anything in this. Don't you have something in that eye of yours that can help?"
"Not anything that can see through a sandstorm." Trace replies.
"Maybe some kind of radar thingy?" Asks Caius.
"It's an eye. Not a radar dish."
"But it has so many other functions. Such as creeping me out for one."
"What do you mean creeps you out?" Asks Trace, insulted.
"Well, you know, the way it kind of just moves on its own."
"It doesn't move on its own."
"When you sleep it does."
Trace stares at Caius for a moment before turning to look ahead. "Hey, what's that up ahead? Looks like a square rock." Trace informs him.
"What do you mean square rock?" Caius then looks forward to see the structure closing in fast. "Umm. Shouldn't you be slowing down?" He questions.
Trace reduces speed as quickly has he can to avoid hitting it. He slows down just enough to avoid a crash that would injure both, but still hits the structure, putting a large crack and dent in it. "I don't think it's a square rock Trace." They both look at it and realize it is what appears to be a home or small hut. Both jump out and hurry inside to get out of the sandstorm. They each remove their masks and breathe a sigh of relief.
"A square rock? Really? I think you need to get that eye checked."
Trace sits down while Caius begins looking around. "It was a sandstorm. It's hard to see and make anything out in one of those." Trace sighs and says partially under his breath begrudgingly, "And my eye may be malfunctioning again."
"Guess we better make a stop at Casdan then. I have need to go there anyway." Caius begins to look around and search for clues as to who has lived here, and for anything that might fetch a price, while they wait out the sandstorm.
"I wonder who lived here." Caius says to himself. He looks around a bit more when he notices a small book tucked under some fabric under a small table. "What's this?" The book looks old and worn, possibly leather, without any writing on the cover. The book is a bit thin with tattered edges. He opens it up and begins reading it. Suddenly Caius begins getting ecstatic and starts motioning toward Trace in a frantic way with his arm to come to him. "Trace, Trace! Come here! Look!" Trace gets up and begins walking over. "What is Caius? What has you in such a bundle right now?"
"We're here! We found it! This is Obi-Wan's hut! And this is his journal!"
"What are the odds of that? The one thing we crash into during a sandstorm, and it just so happens to be Obi-Wan's hut." Trace says in amazement with a hint of sarcasm while throwing his arms up.
"I don't think it was luck that brought us here. The force must have guided us."
"One hell of a way for the force to guide us here."
"No kidding. I don't think Obi-Wan would have been too happy about us damaging his home." Caius closes the book and sits down. Trace follows sits down as well. "It's amazing that this place remains untouched. I know not many ever travel out this far, except for the Tusken Raiders. One would think that they would have ransacked it by now. It's laid here for at least 30 years, untouched. I wonder if the force was protecting it." Caius looks up as if he is thinking and begins stroking his goatee. "It's also a good thing that the First Order only recently found out about Obi-Wan and that he lived on Tatooine." The howl of the wind begins to die down. "Sounds like the sandstorm is about over."
"Good," replies Trace. "It's a long way back to our ship. I'd hate to get stuck in another one."
"I feel a sense of calm and peace here. An ever watchful presence. A kind presence. Almost that of a good friend and brother. The force still lingers here. Maybe a part of Obi-Wan still resides here. This journal might have a clue as to why." Caius hesitates for a moment before saying, "I don't think there is anything else here of importance. I believe this is what I was meant to find. Let's go." They get up and leave the hut. As they walk outside, the sandstorm has calmed, and they can see two First Order troopers walking up to them with blasters out. "Um…It was an accident." Caius begins pointing at the crashed speeder.
"Put your hands up and don't move!" One of the trooper's requests. As they are putting their hands up, the other trooper asks, "What are you doing here?"
"Well, you see. We were out for a leisurely cruise through the desert when suddenly a sandstorm struck. We were desperately looking for shelter when we ran into this old hut and took refuge inside." Answers Caius. The first trooper notices the journal in Caius' hand.
"What's that in your hand?"
"That's his diary. He keeps it under his bed at night. Helps him sleep." Replies Trace.
Caius turns and gives Trace a confused look. Trace looks back at Caius and shrugs his shoulders. The trooper then takes the book from his hands and opens it up. "Command. This is B-2128. We found the old Jedi's home. There was a journal, but we aren't the only ones here. We currently have them subdued. Please advise."
Caius and Trace begin whispering to each other as the trooper is speaking with his command.
"No, I got this." Says Caius.
"Let me handle it." Trace replies.
"No really. I want to do this." Continues Caius.
"Do we have to do this every time?" Questions Trace, annoyed.
"Yes…Ok, not really."
"Then just let me do this."
"Hey!" The other trooper cuts in. "Keep quiet." The trooper turns toward B-2128. "What does command say?"
"We are to take them in for questioning." Replies B-2128.
"Ok. We each take one." Caius informs Trace. "Works for me." He answers. The two troopers move in closer. B-2128 Stops at a distance and brings up his blaster rifle. The other trooper brings up a pair of cufflinks and walks closer to Trace while B-2128 has his blaster rifle trained on both Caius and Trace.
"Put these on. You're coming with us." As the trooper holds the cuffs out, Trace brings his arms down. He stops when his arms are in front of the trooper, then turns his head toward Caius briefly and winks. Trace suddenly reaches out with his left arm and grabs the trooper by the throat as he was attempting to place the cuffs on Trace.
"Put him down!" Trooper B-2128 threatens. "Drop him and I won't shoot!" B-2128 now has his attention on Trace. Caius then holds open his coat with his left hand, revealing a blaster on his left hip. As he his raising his right hand, the blaster floats out of its holster and into his hand. B-2128 glances back at Caius and notices he has a blaster pointed at him. "Hey!" He exclaims, just before Caius pulls the trigger, hitting its target. Trace then lifts the trooper high in the air with just his left arm, then slams him into the ground. Caius then spins his blaster around his finger on his left hand, placing it back in its holster.
"We're going to have more company soon. We better hurry back to the ship." Informs Trace. Caius walks over to the body of B-2128 and reaches down, picking up the journal and placing it in a satchel on his person. "Good thing they brought us speeder bikes. That should get us to our ship quicker." Caius tells Trace.
"Hopefully fast enough to avoid any more sandstorms." Responds Trace in a slightly urgent sounding voice.
"I take it that last one didn't fit your fancy." Caius says sarcastically. "That square rock really…" Trace cuts in, staring at Caius. "Get on the bike, we need to go. And please don't bring that up again."
"On no, I'm holding on to this for a while." Retorts Caius, amused. Both then leave Obi-Wan's hut behind with great speed.
The twin suns of Tatooine are setting on the horizon of dunes as Caius and Trace crest atop a dune and hastily make their way downhill. A vessel, about the size that could be a small transport ship, is awaiting the two at the bottom of the dune. It has been retrofitted and modified to be more agile and quicker. And to be able to fend off enemies.
They stop at the ship and a hatch opens after Trace pushes something on his left arm. Caius and Trace make their way to the cockpit as the hatch closes behind them, and sit down. Trace presses a few buttons and pulls a lever, allowing the ship to rise off the ground. The ship then flies toward the atmosphere of the planet. Caius begins to lean forward as if he is going to stand up. "I'm going to head to the back, I have some reading to attend to."
"Can't you read that when we know we're safe?" Trace asks.
"This is Obi-Wan's journal. You expect me to contain my excitement any longer?" Replies Caius.
"Well, yes. I'm picking up a First Order ship in orbit. Looks like an Imperial Class Star Destroyer. Also, radar is picking up a large number of fighters."
"Well that's just wonderful." Caius replies dryly. "Guess I'll get on the guns." Caius leaves his seat and heads in the back, sitting down in a chair with controls for a blaster cannon. "Let's do this Trace. We'll blast right through them and disappear into hyperspace." Caius says to him gleefully.
"Where to Caius?" Inquires Trace.
"Still have the coordinates for Jedha?"
"Yeah." Trace replies. Just then they break the atmosphere where what appears to be a few dozen or more fighters are waiting. The fighters then zoom toward them firing indiscriminately. Caius begins firing back as Trace maneuvers around them, avoiding incoming blaster fire. "I still don't know why you want to go to Jedha. It's nothing but ruins. But I'll take us there. Anything to get away from these guys." Trace informs Caius.
Trace continues avoiding on coming fire while trying to make their way through to a clearing to enter hyperspace. The ship rolls and ducks as Caius continues firing, destroying several First Order fighters. "Ha ha! These First Order goons don't stand a chance against us!" Caius exclaims, clearly enjoying the action. "Just rub it in why don't you. You're down there having all the fun, and I'm stuck here trying to not get us killed!"
"Oh come on Trace. You know you're a better pilot than I am."
"Quit trying to make me feel better. You know you can fly well enough to let me take the guns once in a while."
"You know you can use those front cannons you installed." Informs Caius.
"They haven't been properly tested and calibrated. They could explode."
"Fair point." Suddenly the blaster cannons Caius was using are shot and malfunctions. He tries a few more times to fire, but it just clicks, not responding. "Um, Trace?"
"What now?" He replies.
"The cannons were just shot."
Trace begins to sound annoyed. "Guess now is as good as any to test out the new cannons." Trace pushes a button and two barrels extend out from the front of the ship. He then presses a button on each of the control sticks and the cannons begin firing. He aims the ship toward one of the fighters and destroys it with ease. "Guess they work fine," Trace says to himself. He then maneuvers the ship toward the First Order's Imperial Star Destroyer in orbit. Trace intends to use the Star Destroyer as cover as he makes his way closer to it, and out of the fighters that had them surrounded. The First Order fighters turn around and pursue them as they fly to the underside of the Destroyer. Caius has made his way back to the cockpit but has not sat down. "Hang on to something Caius. We're making the jump to hyperspace!" Trace then pulls a lever to his right, pulling them into hyperspace. The ship disappears under the Star Destroyer, leaving the fighters behind.
On the bridge of the Star Destroyer, a general walks up to the commander of the vessel whom is standing on the bridge. This commander is a tall imposing character who appears to be in his early fifty's, standing straight and proper, looking out the large windows of the command deck into the black of space. "Sir. They got away. It appears they used us as cover and then entered hyperspace." Informs the general.
"I take it you were unsuccessful in tracking them then?" The commander asks in a displeased tone.
"Uh, no sir." The general swallows in nervous fear. "We were not."
"I put great trust in you. You have shown competence before, but it appears I was wrong in letting you command this mission." The commander continues in a displeased tone, yet is still calm in his voice.
"I'm sorry sir. I..it won't happen again." The general replies, as his forehead begins to bead with sweat.
"No, of course it won't happen again. When we return, I'm letting you explain to Kylo Ren this situation. Explain to him, that the very mission he tasked us with, is a failure. He was very interested in this Obi-Wan, a long deceased Jedi, and with anything he may have left behind."
The commander pauses for a moment then takes a deep breath. "He searched for months looking for where he once resided. And now that we find it, and discover that Obi-Wan left behind a journal, you let it slip away in the hands of two very suspicious individuals. Once you explain all this to him, you will be relieved…of your duties."
"Y..yes sir!" The general leaves the commanders sight looking terrified with sweat dripping from his face. The Star Destroyer then disappears from Tatooine's orbit into hyperspace.