"The Trouble with Womp-Rats"

Chapter 1

As the twin suns of Tatooine rose, Luke was at his window watching the start of a new day. His excitement was obvious, for this was the day that his uncle was letting him take the T-16 out on his own for the very first time.

Running into the kitchen, his Aunt Beru, was preparing breakfast; seeing the excitement in Luke's eyes she asked.

"My, aren't we full of energy today?"

Luke jumping into his seat answered, "Well it's not like Uncle Owen to give me the day to myself… and I even get take the T-16 out… and I don't even have to a single chore today."

Beru smiling said, "Well it wasn't entirely his idea to give you the whole day, I had to persuade him… a little," She finished, giving him a wink.

"Do I have to eat? I wanna get right out there and… well… I gotta pick up Biggs, we're gonna go Womp-Rat hunting,"

Beru, not entirely happy with what Luke had planned for the day, "I'd rather you didn't tell me what your going to do, you know how much I hate those disgusting things, they're disease ridden, and are very dangerous… If I were you I wouldn't tell Uncle Owen what you're planning, or your day will end before it starts, as a matter of fact I wish you wouldn't do that at all."

"You aren't gonna tell him are you, you know how he gets when ever I do something he thinks is to dangerous, even when I work around here all I get to do is up keep on the droids, and clean up the work shop." he said kind of discouraged picking at a crack in the table.

"Well he doesn't want anything happening to you… and neither do I, you remember the story he told you about your grandmother and the sand people, he's just being protective of you… a little over protective sometimes, but he means well." she said ruffling his hair.

Handing him a high protein drink she motioned with her head for him to go, knowing full that as soon as he got up he wanted to leave.

"Thanks Aunt Beru you're the greatest." he said bolting from the table knocking his chair over as he left.

"Today I'm the greatest." she responded softly, shaking her head.

Owen coming into the kitchen, just as Luke ran out, noticed the chair knocked over, bending over to pick it up he comented.

"I see Luke is up and running already, I told him to wait for me so I could go over the workings of the skyhopper with him."

Beru handing him a cup of caf and chuckling said, "You think he hasn't been over that thing a hundred times since you told him he could take it out, he probably knows it better than you do."

"Still… you remember the last time I let him do something with out me showing him, it took me two days to fix that vaporator."

"Yes, but that wasn't fun, that was work; remember Owen he is only a child after all; now here eat your breakfast. I'm sure he'll be fine; besides he's going with his friend Biggs. How much trouble can he get into speeding around the farm?" she finished sliding his plate in front of him.

"He's too much like his father, and we know what kind of trouble he got into," Owen responded.

Luke was out warming up the T-16, he wanted to be gone before his uncle got there to give him the history of the T-16, and how, as he thought to himself, it was used by the planetary militia and police force. Not to mention that it had a high powered ion engine, letting it go up to twelve hundred kilometers an hour, and twin repulsor units letting it go as high as three hundred meters… blah…blah… blah.

The only thing Luke wanted to do was get out there and open her up, and see if she really could go twelve hundred kilometers an hour. His friend Biggs had boasted that he had piloted one when he was nine, and that one went only eight hundred kilometers an hour, but Luke doubted he had driven one, and that Biggs just didn't want to be shown up.

Hopping into the cockpit he started the power up sequence, first warming up the ion engine then the repulsor lifts. He flipped the final switch and the cockpit began to vibrate as the engine engaged. Easing the yoke forward the T-16 moved forward several inches. Testing each lever, and pedal Luke got his bearing on which one did what, checking that everything was clear he eased the yoke forward again, and pushed the throttle to half. In an instant he was what he guessed fifty meters away from the farm, when he decided that he was far enough away he mumbled aloud.

"Now it's time to really see what you've got."

Turning towards the direction of his friend's home he pushed the throttle to full. Looking back he watched the farm get smaller and smaller as the T-16 picked up speed.

"Woo Hoo," he screamed as the T-16 reached full speed.

Looking out each side of the cockpit, things rushed by so fast that Luke could hardly make out what he was passing. Easing back on the throttle, Luke swerved at the last second, narrowly missing one of the vaporators.

"Wow that was close, if I'd hit that Uncle Owen would really have my hide," he said a little shaken.

Easing further back on the throttle, he brought the T-16's speed down to nine hundred kilo meters an hour, at least until he passed the last of the evaporators, he thought.

Passing the last of the vaporators he scanned the distance ahead noticing a disturbance, he was a little more than half way to Bigg's house when he picked up the figure of another T-16. Throttling down his own T-16 he watched to see where the new one was heading. Turning toward him he began to get scared thinking that maybe he had done something wrong, when the radio started to crackle with an all too familiar voice.

"Hey Luke ids that you?" Biggs called out.

Luke feeling a little better that he wasn't I trouble and this wasn't someone his Uncle Owen had sent out for him replied.

"Biggsy! When did you get a T-16, you just about scared the poodoo out of me, I thought my Uncle sent someone to get me."

"Nah… it's just me," Biggs answered his voice still crackling over the radio, "how do you like her, I just got her last night."

"Well from this distance I can hardly make you out but I'll be more than happy to take a closer look once you get here." Luke answered a little sarcastic.

"Yeah… I guess you could see her if I was a lot closer, stay where you are I'm gonna open her up." Biggs answered a little embarrassed.

"She's a little older than mine but only by a few years," Luke said walking around his friends T-16.

"Whata ya think … maybe we can do a little up dating on her, she's got the quad stunners, but I'd rather have the twin blasters on her if we're gonna hunt Womp Rats?" Biggs asked excitedly.

"Yeah," Luke started, "We should have no problem refitting her with those, my uncle says they can come with either, depending on who's using it."

"Ok well lets get going, I know the day just started but I wanna get some practice on these stunners, and…if… you're not to chicken maybe we can… RACE!" Biggs said sneaking up on Luke and knocking him over.

"Oh … no you don't Biggsie," Luke said getting up and brushing the sand of himself, "You're cheating…"

"All's fair in T-16 racing!" Biggs yell back climbing into the cockpit of his T-16.

Luke had just finished brushing the sand off himself when Biggs fire up his T-16 and sped away. Luke stood there watching him, smiling he then ran to his T-16. Not going through the normal start up sequence he did a quick start. Pushing the throttle to almost full Luke sped away, and within thirty seconds he had caught up with Biggs.

"Hey there slow poke," Biggs teased.

"Slow poke!" Luke shot back, " I'll show you a slowpoke," he said pushing the throttles to full, passing Biggs, he left him in a cloud of dust.