Chapter 4

Luke offered Ben a ride to Anchorhead, but that was all. The message from the Princess, Ben's talk of Luke's father, and the lure of the Force could not overcome Luke inborn sense of responsibility. Misery as a moisture farmer seemed to have a greater hold on the boy than the life in the stars he so desperately wanted.

We never made it Anchorhead. On our way there, we stumbled onto a Jawa Sandcrawler that had been attacked. Jawas laid about, dead, and the Sandcrawler has giant blast scars that were not made by local weapons. I scanned the area. Luckily, the attackers were long gone, but who the attackers were had my dome hurting again. Imperial Storm troopers.

Kenobi was saying as much as I turned my attention on he and Luke. Luke was confused, but it dawned on him soon enough that the troopers were were looking for C-3PO and me. And if they were looking for us, the troopers would have found out who bought us, and that would them back...

"Home."

Luke jumped into his speeder and raced back to his homestead, hoping to be in time to save his aunt and uncle. Kenobi knew, as did Goldie and I, that it was too late. So, we waited.
C-3PO continued to "clean up" while Kenobi sat on a nearby boulder stroking his beard. He seemed to do that a lot. I'm not sure if it was a nervous habit or just a mannerism that showed he was thinking. But in this case, it was probably both.

I rolled up to Kenobi, giving a sympathetic wheeze.

"What are we going to do know?" I asked.

Goldie repeated the question, and the old man just kept stroking his beard. He didn't say anything.

"Luke will be back soon. The news won't be good. He will have to go to Alderaan, now," I tried, again.

"No, R2, the news will not be good. His aunt and uncle are dead. I felt it in the Force. This is not how I wanted Luke to go into training."

"How were you planning to get to Alderaan? The boy has no money, nor do you appear to."

"That is a good question, my little friend. I have some money, but not enough to get us good ship, or even a bad one. But we will manage. The Force will provide."

I turned my dome to Goldie. He was close enough to translate, but far enough away so he couldn't see between Kenobi and I. I had a question for "Old Ben" that I didn't want C-3PO knowing about.

"Look!" I said, with an indignant snort. Kenobi looked up and my projector went on. It was bright outside, so I had to increase the density and color of the holo recording. Standing between them was a dense three dimensional image of Anakin Skywalker. He said nothing, but appeared to be happily listening to another person out of view.

Kenobi looked shocked. He glared at me for a moment as if I had brought back the worst kind of memory. But a moment later, he sighed heavily in resignation.

He stood up and discretely motioned for me to follow. I rolled up next to him.

"R2D2, you were there on Mustafar, though you did not witness the worst of it. You must have suspected the outcome. I deeply regret it all. Anakin was my brother and my friend." He paused for moment. "But enough. I've had 17 years to ponder those days. Luke must be trained.

Not only must we keep his father's fate a secret, but Luke surely would not accept that his father murdered his mother. You witnessed that, I know. These things must be kept from him for his own good. If he is to be trained as a Jedi, these distractions he does not need."

*****

Luke returned within the hour. He explained that his aunt and uncle were, indeed, dead. It must have been a horrific scene, because I saw fear in the boy's eyes, along with the obvious grief.

Kenobi tried to console him, though he used words that weren't very encouraging. I don't know about you, but if my "parents" just died, I wouldn't find it hopeful to know that I would have died as well. As I recall, Kenobi was never good in emotionally charged situations. Or was it just when Anakin cried?

"I want to come with you to Alderaan. There's nothing here for me now. I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father," Luke said.

I was ready to support that. No reason to stay here, anymore. The boy was finally getting what he wanted; off this planet. I think the entire group was ready for that as well.

Not long later, we entered a town Luke called Mos Eisley. It looked dirty, but, ah…you get the idea. Just keep in mind that everything is dirty on that planet. Nothing is clean. If you cleaned it, you must be doing it as exercise, because, it was dusty again in seconds.

We hit an Imperial checkpoint right inside the city limits. Luke, Goldie, and I were worried. This was a sure bust. But we had no cause to worry. Ben wowed us by using the Force to confuse the Stormtroopers standing guard. I can still hear him saying, "These aren't the droids you're looking for."

Our next mission was to find transport off planet, but no one had the credits. Luke sold his speeder while Kenobi scouted the cantinas. When Luke returned, the four of us entered a particularly seedy cantina. I was pleasantly surprised by the band. They were quite good, and would do well if they ever moved beyond Tatooine. Almost immediately we were met by the booming voice of the man behind the bar.

"We don't serve their kind here!"

Luke was confused. He looked to Kenobi for help.

"Your droids. They'll have to wait outside. We don't want
them here."

Yes, I was offended, but there was nothing to do. I thought I hear C-3PO huff, if that was possible, as went outside. He was just as put out as I was, but he's a little more sensitive. I could still hear the music, which was a plus, as we waited for our human companions to find transport.

"The very nerve! Humans can be so intolerant on occasion," said C-3PO, indignantly.

"Don't worry about it, C-3PO. Some people are like that. What would we do in there, anyway? We would just stand around and take up space."

"Master Luke might need my advice. He is young…and inexperienced in the world."

"Luke will be fine. There is no advice that you could give that would trump that of Obi-Wan Kenobi," I replied.

"You act like you know Master Kenobi, R2? Why would you choose his wisdom over mine?"

"It's nothing personal, Goldie. Humans prefer the advice of other humans. You have good advice, but you aren't human. You don't know what its like."

"Don't talk down to me, you rolling…you…"

Goldie couldn't think of a good insult, so I let him off the hook.

"Refuse bin," I added.

"Precisely," he replied, as if he thought of it.

I wasn't going to argue with him this time. I wasn't in the mood. Getting off this dust bowl was my primary concern.

"And don't think I did not notice you and Master Kenobi talking secretly. I may not have heard what you were talking about, but it was obviously not for me to hear. Do you know him? What on earth do you have to talk to him about?"

"Lay off, C-3PO. The man is old and lonely. He needed to talk. He's a Jedi. He wants to train Luke, but first we have to get to Alderaan. We talked about how we were going to get off this planet."

"I do miss serving the Princess, but Luke is our Master now," replied Goldie.

"I'm not sure what that has to do with Kenobi, but I'm glad to know that you remember her. You seem so eager to stay here and be a moisture farmer."

"R2-D2! Of course I remember Mistress Leia. But, she may be dead, if not in the hands of the Empire."

"That's true. And, it is the chief reason we need to get to Alderaan, give the Rebels the plans, and try to rescue her."

"I hope Master Luke can find us transport. The sandy climate is affecting my joints."

"I'm glad to know we're finally on the same page," I said.

We stood, silently, just outside the cantina door, for a while. I'm sure we looked silly; two droids loitering in the doorway of a bar. We got a few stares, but nothing to worry about.

I got to thinking about Luke and C-3PO's run in with the "Sand People". I neglected to mention that his arm was torn from its socket. Sometimes I get mad at him, but that is no excuse for ignoring his suffering. Though he played the martyr and droned on about being left behind, he saw some action and came out alive. I worried, but Luke turned out to be a competent technician.

"C-3PO, I have to hand it to you. I know we bicker and argue and the like, but we've been together for a long time. You handled the sand savage attack really well. You took a beating and came out stronger for it. I would have missed you, had you been beyond repair."

C-3PO looked at me blindly. Was there any other look? His head tilted slightly and he bent the waist to put his hand on my dome.

"Thank you, R2. I'm glad to have you here as well. It appears that we have yet another adventure ahead of us…"

The door of the cantina suddenly flew open and barely missed clipping my leg. An ugly looking creature fled across street to meet couple of storm troopers that had just rounded the outside of the opposite building.

C-3PO tapped my dome and said, "I don't like the looks of this."

As the Force would have it, Goldie and I were able to avoid the troopers and meet up with Luke and Ben. They had found a pilot and ship and a whole lot of trouble.