Traversing Tatooine's mesa had never been a struggle to Koba. By now she had learned how to hurry along without her feet sinking into the sand, or having the grains spray up behind her. She made along at a quicker pace than Obi-Wan. His pace was urgent yet at ease, unlike Koba; urgent and afraid of what she might come to see. It wasn't long before the two descended into the canyon that Koba's premonition had occurred.
"Wait." Obi-Wan suddenly warned. "I sense something."
"Tusken Raiders." Koba replied while keeping her pace. "They must've found R2 before us."
"I believe you are correct. Come, we must make haste, but do not alarm the Sand People."
As the two made their way across the mesa, they stuck to whatever cover they could find. Minimal as it was, it was better than nothing when they were to come across a hostile band of Tusken Raiders and their banthas. Which, eventually, is what happened. Before the two could be sighted, they hurriedly ducked behind the cover of a rocky crevice. In front of them were several Tusken Raiders assembled with a couple of Banthas. Among themselves they bickered, their voices and guttural language coming in bouts of harsh tones. Koba could only guess the words they shared.
"What do we do, Kenobi?"
Her ex-mentor remained silent in thought. With narrowed eyes he watched the Sand People argue until finally two of them mounted their Banthas and strode off. Four remained. Koba itched to grasped the dual lightsabres strapped to her thighs, but she refrained from entering combat. It was not the way, and she knew Obi-Wan would not approve.
Suddenly, noise erupted from the opposite end of the canyon. There was a shot fired in the distance, and a red flash streaked across the canyon. A guttural shriek sounded, followed by laughter.
"It must be him..." Koba murmured, slinking from her cover and further into the open. "He's in danger."
Obi-Wan's hand grasped her arm, pulling her partially back into their cover. "Koba."
Wordlessly, she pulled her arm away and stepped into the light. There was no helping it now. Within the Force she could feel the energy of another Skywalker, closer than ever. He would not go without aid.
The lightsabres at her thighs suddenly became unsheathed as she strode toward the small gathering of Tusken Raiders. Two bright white beams of light shot from the silver grips, creating a hum at her sides. This new sound alerted the raiders, and their attention suddenly turned to the young woman. They gathered their clubs and faced their new threat, crying out before they charged at Koba.
Level-headed, she took the four raiders with ease. The first came at her, followed by three others, and with two swift swings of a single sabre she sliced its club in half and cut open its chest. Its body fell into one of its comrades, causing them both to topple over into the sand.
The next two came upon simultaneously, circling tauntingly and shrieking in tongue. Koba watched them, discreetly connecting the ends of her lightsabres to create a singled double-ended spear of sorts. She waited, judging their movements. In a split second she moved, rotating her weapon to simultaneously slice through their weapons and render them useless. The Raiders squealed in surprise, but had no time to dodge before Koba spun again and sliced through their abdomens with both ends of her sabres. With little to worry about when the remaining Raider rose from its dead allies, Koba calmly dismantled and sheathed her sabres, withdrawing a small handheld blaster from her tunic and shooting a laser directly into the creature's skull. It collapsed among the others, and Koba sheathed her weapon.
Obi-Wan's footsteps thudded lightly behind her as he came to a stop at her side. Koba met the disapproval written clearly in his wrinkled expression without a word, and he did not say a word as he continued onward to where they suspected R2 and Luke Skywalker were located.
They came upon a speeder and yet more Sand People, rummaging through the vehicle. One of them carried a figure over its shoulder toward the vehicle, then dropped it just before the site. Koba's eyes narrowed on the unconscious figure. Before she could make a move for her lightsabres for a second time, a low howling moan echoed through the canyon. Obi-Wan and Koba exchanged a look, then they turned back to the Sand People. Upon hearing the howl the group had begun to panic, calling to each other as they dropped whatever equipment they had scavenged and made a break for the hills, abandoning not only the speeder, but the body of the boy in the sand.
"Let's make haste to the boy then, Koba. Something may be close behind us." Obi-Wan said, slipping past her and marching across the sand toward the unconscious figure. For a moment she hesitated, then picked up the pace and followed close behind, constantly scanning the canyon for any other threats. Obi-Wan took to his knee next to the boy who, upon closer inspection, Koba identified several traits he had in common with his father. She adjusted her gaze so as not to see the Skywalker boy in her peripheral. Where she looked, however, held a different familiar character.
Koba squinted at a crevice in the cliff where a dusty white droid lingered in cover, its red light flashing in the light shade. "R2?"
The droid suddenly blinked to life as its voice recognition identified the life form it had shared a significant part of its past with. R2-D2 lurched to life and bolted out of the crevice, coming to skid to a halt before her.
"Goodness, I've missed you." She said as she wrapped her arms around the droid. Koba pulled back, dusting the sand from its body. R2 met her with a series of beeps which urged a smile to pull her lips, but their reunion was cut short when the droid turned its attention back to Obi-Wan and Luke. Obi-Wan's hand rested upon the forehead of the ladder, and her head tilted to get a partial view of the droid.
"Do not worry, little friend. He will be alright." He spoke calmly to R2-D2.
Followed by those words was the coming to of Luke. His eyelids shifted briefly before gently coming to open and look around. "What happened?" He inquired.
At the sound of his voice, Koba cringed internally. It had been some time since she'd heard such a voice reminiscent of Anakin's.
"Rest easy, son." Obi-Wan said him. "You're fortunate you're still in one piece."
It took him a moment before the boy realized whom he was speaking to, and although he wasn't given his name, he knew. "Ben? Ben Kenobi?"
"The one and only." Koba interjected with an upturned lip. She folded her arms over her chest and stepped toward them.
Obi-Wan ignored Koba's snide tone. "What brings you out here, Luke? The Jundland wastes are quite perilous for you to be treading here."
Luke's eyes landed on Koba briefly, finally taking her image in. Her height, the sleeveless tunic that hung past her knees, met with boots to her shin. He turned back to Obi-Wan. "Oh, this little droid!" He said, gesturing to R2-D2. "I think he's searching for his former master. I've never seen such devotion in a droid before... there seems to be no stopping him. He claims to be the property of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Do you know who that is?"
"Obi-Wan... Obi-Wan." The Master Jedi murmured to himself, tapping a finger contemplatively against his furry chin. "That is a name I have not heard in a long time.
Koba rolled her eyes. "It's been five minutes.."
Neither Luke nor Obi-Wan heard the remark.
"I think my uncle knew him. He said he was dead." Koba snorted at Luke.
"No..." Obi-Wan cast a warning stare Koba's way. "Not dead. Not for awhile yet."
"You know him then!"
"Well of course! He's me! I haven't gone by the name Obi-Wan by anyone other than Kobayashi here since before you were born, young Luke."
"Then the droid does belong to you!"
Koba stepped in then. "Well... Partially. It was more of a joint custody."
Now it was Obi-Wan who rolled his eyes. "Regardless of my ownership of this droid I believe it's best if we get indoors. The Sand People are easily startled but they will soon be back in greater numbers."
Luke rose to his feet with the help of Obi-Wan. A short sequence of beeps suddenly came from R2, both raising alarm in both Luke and Koba.
With two voices, one in disbelief and another in concern, Luke and Koba cried out.
"3-PO!"
