The main ring of the Millennium Falcon was quiet as Obi-Wan Kenobi stepped out of the crew quarters that he, Luke and the Wookiee shared. The dark durasteel grey deck of the freighter was cast in deep shadows as the night cycle entered its second half, small lights running along the curvature of the ship providing the only illumination.
The aged Jedi Master pulled his robe close to him and suppressed a slight shiver. The cool recycled air in the craft was a far cry to the scorching desert heat of Tatooine that was barely mitigated by the frequently breaking down cooling system that he had in his hut. His booted feet sounded loud against the deck as he walked towards the main hold and its adjacent common area.
The familiar golden droid sat in the semi-circular couch with his head hunched downwards, photoreceptors dead. A telltale power cord emerged from his back and snaked around the seat until it plugged into a power conduit next to the Dejarik board. Obi-Wan smiled slightly at the sight. Everyone on the ship except for him was asleep, even the droids.
Obi-Wan had taken the droid for merely just another Cybot Galactica protocol droid when he had first seen him at Luke's side and it had taken hearing his full designation to realize that the droid was far more than standard. He was originally Anakin's droid, rebuilt from a thousand spare parts and a busted up frame that he had taken out of a junk heap. The realization had brought with it a twinge of fear, for the droid had always had a nasty habit of not knowing when to keep his vocabulator switched off. Yet the droid made no mention of remembering the name of "Kenobi" or even "Skywalker."
Kenobi continued his walk through the ship, stepping through doors and passing through empty cargo holds before finding the perfect place. The life support systems hummed its song as it took the air from inside of the ship, filtered it and added a cooling element before sending it back out through the ducts. A few medium-sized cargo crates that had no doubt at one time carried any number of elicit cargoes stood stacked in the corner.
The Jedi Master sat down on the grated floor and crossed his legs. He took a deep breath in and opened his mind to the Force. The upcoming days would bring events that he sorely needed to meditate upon. The smuggler had announced quite boldly that the journey to Alderaan would only take a little over a day and a half after they had escaped the Imperial Star Destroyer and made it into hyperspace. It had left little time to think.
The door hissed open and Obi-Wan opened his blue-gray eyes as a series of tweets and whistles invaded the silence. Standing in front of the door was the shining white half-cylinder astromech droid. "Hello again," Obi-Wan said.
The droid responded to his greeting in a series of whistles and beeps before ending with an inquisitive warble.
"Of course I recognized you," Obi-Wan said. "It's hard not to remember you, Artoo."
R2-D2 chirped happily, lights along his semi-spherical domed head blinking along.
"I was wondering if you remembered me. Threepio didn't say anything and..."
Artoo emitted a series of chirps that resembled laughter.
"Bail had his memory wiped?" Obi-Wan ran his palm across his white beard to suppress a smile. "Considering how talkative he is, I can't say that I blame Bail. Who knows what he might have said and to who."
The droid beeped along quickly.
"You know that you can't tell him," Obi-Wan said. His mind flashed to a slight lie that he had practiced throughout the years. It had been a lie of necessity, the Jedi Master thought, for neither the boy or perhaps even Leia were ready for the whole truth. He'd have to keep his own counsel on when that day would be. He had just told Luke that his father was a Jedi Knight and a hero in the Clone Wars; a far cry from the undignified fate of a spice smuggler that his aunt and uncle had told him. Telling the boy that the man that his father had become had murdered his own compatriots, sparing no one, not even the younglings in his slaughter, would have done nothing but scare the boy straight into the wastes.
Artoo rolled closer to Obi-Wan and let loose a mournful tone.
"They've known one truth their whole lives and they must be eased into it. They can't know that Anakin and Vader are the same, not yet."
The droid hesitated for a moment before warbling in understanding before rocking forward on his two legs and emitting a series of questioning chirps.
"I know that Leia's been captured by the Empire," Obi-Wan said. He closed his eyes once again and peered into the Force, images of Luke racing along dark corridors with the princess in tow flashing in his mind. "There'll be a rescue and the boy will be there. As soon as we get to Alderaan and get that information that you're carrying to Bail, it'll be done." Obi-Wan knew that Bail would ask him to lead the battle when they arrived and he could not refuse the offer. His reflexes had slowed slightly with age, but the Force could compensate for that. What couldn't be made up for would be the years without any meaningful practice save for the occasional tussle with Tusken Raiders, even if one had been led by an old friend.
He stood up from his meditation, muscles and bones giving an unpleasant sounding creak. Obi-Wan frowned at the thought but consoled himself that at least he still had his mind that had led to numerous victories during the Clone Wars. Leia's words from the message that Artoo had played for him ran through that mind: "information vital to the survival of the Rebellion," she had hurriedly stated.
"What did the princess upload to your memory banks?"
Artoo thought for brief seconds, shaking his domed head before chirping out a negative.
The Jedi Master allowed himself a smile at the astromech's response. Only Alliance personnel with a specific security clearance would be able to view the files on his memory banks, the droid had said.
Obi-Wan walked away from the droid and patted it on the top of his head. "I suppose I'll see it soon enough." He turned towards the door and walked back into the main cargo hold. They would reach Alderaan in a day, he thought. Enough time to give Luke a crash course in the Force for the battles to come, though there would be a lot more time for more in-depth training later. The door closed behind him, leaving Artoo alone in the hold.