Act III
Chapter 2
When he first listened to the recorded message from Kenobi, Han was severely tempted to delete it and never mention the thing to Chewie. His first mate was terrific to work with most of the time, but always threw common sense out the airlock whenever that Togruta and her twin charges were involved.
Hand hovering over the Erase option, the man grimaced.
"Chewie! As soon as we drop this stuff off on Christophis, we've got a job to head to on Tatooine!"
Maybe Han was going soft around those Jedi too...
-T&T-
Luke whistled when he first saw Beggar's Canyon, and instantly asked Shmi if flying through it would violate her father's rule of no shenanigans. The fifteen year old laughed, and started telling the twins about some of the contests she and the local youths had done, competing to see who could go fastest through the mix of dangerous walls and rock formations.
"Biggs was the best out of us all, but he left a couple years ago." She said, a bit sadly. "The plan was to sign up at the Imperial Academy and learn to fly properly, before defecting to the rebellion."
Leia raised an eyebrow. "Did he make it?"
"Dunno. No one's heard from him since he left."
They left the subject behind when Shmi brought out her Skyhopper, and the trio spent the rest of that afternoon making one run after another through the canyon. At first, the Tatooine native had the advantage of experience, but her fastest time was soon beaten out by the twins. Luke ended up being the ultimate winner, but true to form didn't hold it over the girls for more than a few minutes.
After the fun was over, they returned back to the farm, where Ahsoka had spent the latter half of the day helping Owen repair and upgrade various pieces of machinery with the odds and ends her family scavenged from their ship when it crashed. Beru had dinner waiting for everyone, and the evening passed pleasantly enough. Normally, the three Jedi would spend the time before bed meditating or practicing their lightsaber katas, but in deference to their hosts instead spent those few hours recounting stories of their adventures. Again, mentions of others in the secret Order or Alliance were kept to a minimum, but they still had plenty of tales in store that could be entertaining for the family that never went farther than Anchorhead.
-T&T-
Ahsoka awoke in the middle of the night, the Force practically shouting at her to get up. Instantly alert, she cast her senses out, and realized a large group of people were approaching the homestead.
"Stormtroopers!" She barked, causing the twins to leap up from their sleeping mats. Aware of how this went, from years of practice drills as well as the real thing, Luke began rolling up the mats while Leia grabbed their bags. Threepio and Artoo powered up as the various Lars' stumbled out from their bedrooms, confused and still half-asleep.
"What is it? What's going on?" Owen asked blearily, rubbing at his eyes.
"A group of ten stormtroopers are on their way here, no more than six miles out," Ahsoka told him. That woke the man up like a slap to the face.
"How did they know you were here?!"
"I don't know, Owen." Remaining calm as she helped the twins pack, Ahsoka's mind was working furiously. "It's possible my transmission was intercepted, or perhaps whatever aid Obi-wan got for us accidentally gave away our position. What I do know, however, is that we all need to get out of here."
"Not all of us," Beru said softly. "Shmi, go get your overnight bag, take clothing and a few things you can't bear to lose. I'll pack up enough food and water for you all to last a few days."
"Mom...?"
"Beru's right. Shmi has to go with you, but we'll remain here, distract the troopers to buy you more time. If it turns out to just be a routine inspection, then we can say she's spending the night at a friend's house, and never mention the three of you."
"And if not?" Even as she asked the question, though, Ahsoka knew what Owen's response would be - that he would die before putting the Jedi, and by extension his daughter, at risk.
As soon as the scared girl returned from her room, knapsack clutched tightly in her hands, she shared a brief, tight embrace with her parents. Then she, Ahsoka, the twins and the droids loaded up in her speeder, and took off in the direction of the Jundland wastes.
Owen and Beru went back inside, waiting for the arrival of the Imperials.
-T&T-
The bounty hunter had been impatient, Vader once again mused. Sending a message to the Executor while she was still in pursuit of Tano and the Skywalker twins, rather than after their successful capture, was arrogant enough that the Sith lord wanted to strangle the woman from half a galaxy away.
Then her transmission signal was terminated, last coming from a set of coordinates all too familiar to Vader.
He immediately sent orders to the Imperial Garrison on Tatooine, ordering them to locate the hunter's ship (or the wreckage of) and track down her quarry. A report came back two days later that Tano's ship was also found, devoid of inhabitants. Patrols of stormtroopers were sent out to all nearby habitations searching for the Jedi, and removing anyone who didn't provide instant and complete cooperation.
That was how Vader learned of the deaths of Owen and Beru Lars, and the Missing status of their daughter Shmi. The knowledge very nearly sent him on an unpleasant walk through old memories, something that never ended well.
Instead, he threw himself into the task of organizing checkpoints at every spaceport on the miserable desert planet, with orders to search for and arrest any who resembled Tano and her twin padawans. Sadly, he was unaware that in focusing so on departures from Tatooine, a certain smuggler's ship was able to land with virtually no opposition at all.
-T&T-
It took Han almost three days to find the Jedi, something he was less than enthused about. There was a reason he preferred living on a ship, where the atmosphere controls were simple to regulate. And since he'd left Chewie behind to safeguard the Falcon, that meant Han had to search through the sun-scorched desert by himself.
He told himself very sternally that the only reason he smiled with relief upon spotting Leia was because he could finally get back to said air-conditioned ship.
Still, it was quite nice to receive a joyful hug from the nineteen year old as soon as she reached him, and Han knew he'd be lying if he said it wasn't a weight off his shoulders to see her and the others whole and healthy - even if there was a despondent, pale-haired girl who remained glued to Ahsoka's side. It was quite a bit depressing to learn that she'd lost her home and parents because of Imperials hunting for the Jedi, even to one with as thick a skin as the smuggler.
"Well, are we going to hang around here another night, or get going?" Luke was the one to ask the inevitable question, causing his aunt to frown worriedly.
"We know that the Empire is aware we're here, or at least that there are Jedi present. What security are we going to be facing at the city, Han?"
"Chewie and I didn't see much coming in, but I'm betting there'll be a whole lot more going out."
"We'll want disguises, then."
The troopers standing at one of the entrances to the Mos Eisley spaceport that evening were on guard for a middle-aged Togruta accompanied by a pair of humans in their late teens. Amidst the other traffic, their eyes passed right over a pair of girls talking in Huttese being trailed by a grey protocol droid, followed twenty minutes later by a brown and blue astromech beside a young man with subtle tattoos crossing his face, and a further half hour after that by a man close to thirty escorting some sort of old crone wrapped in layers of ragged sackcloth.
The only reason Chewbacca recognized any of these people as they approached the Millennium Falcon was thanks to their scents. Leia embraced him before introducing Shmi, whereas upon his arrival Luke promptly wiped away the face paint and helped the droids clean themselves off as well. Han went straight to the cockpit to prepare for their departure, while Ahsoka took on the lengthy task of removing the multiple layers of cloth that had altered her shape and hidden her features.
"Alright, now who's ready to get off this ball of dust?"
"We need to figure out a destination first, Solo-"
"We've already got one!" The smuggler told them. "When old Kenobi got in touch with me, he said that he'd arrange for a new ship to be waiting for you on Naboo."
"Well then, what are we waiting for?"
