Chapter 11: The Outpost
Luke and Leia concluded negotiations with Rotta the Hutt after they had ensured that the First Order's spy was relieved of his communications with the main base and then escorted to the dungeons. When they left the palace, they made their way back to Mos Eisley and soon found Han, Chewbacca, and the droids waiting for them at the outdoor cantina. Han led the others over and greeted Luke and Leia with a smile, saying, "I guess the negotiations were successful after all?"
"Yes, Han," affirmed Luke. "We ran into a spy from the First Order who was infiltrating Rotta's palace, but we managed to get a trace on the location of the First Order's hidden base. Ahsoka has gone with Cal Kestis and the rest of our fleet to Nevarro to drive them out of the system while we start cleaning things up here."
Han's doubtful look crept onto his face again and he inquired half-jokingly, "Well, who's gonna help us drive 'em off Tatooine? The local security departments?"
"Maybe not, Han, but to find the help, perhaps we should help another first," said Luke. "I sense that the First Order is making its next move. They're possibly bringing in more troops to handle their plans for subjugation if they were landing ships on the planet. We'd better move quickly."
Luke led his friends through the streets of Mos Eisley and then to a shop where they met an Aleena who worked as a purveyor of models and parts for vehicles from landspeeders to starships. It took a bit of bargaining to convince the non-human dealer to part with two of his best speeder bikes and an especially well-built XP-40 landspeeder, but Han did pay a handsome price of four thousand credits for them. It was fortunate that Luke and his friends could use credits on Tatooine as most of the sparse governments in the Outer Rim had made New Republic credits useful there out of thanks to the Rebel Alliance defeating the Empire.
As they were having their goods brought to the outskirts of Mos Eisley, Han questioned Luke, "So, what's our next move?"
"We find where the First Order's transport vessels landed," replied Luke. "And it's a good bet that they know that we're here, which means we may have a short time before they send reinforcements to catch us while we're alone. Therefore, it's urgent that we send a report to the task force and prepare for battle as soon as possible."
"Pardon me for saying so, Master Luke, but I don't see how Artoo and myself will be of help to you and your friends in the desert of this desolate planet," said C-3PO.
Luke and Leia smiled at the gold-plated droid's unsurpassed talent for asking a question that seemed so trivial to anyone else but a droid. Then Luke explained, "We'll need you to establish a translation with any desert folk with whom our friends and I required communication established."
"And if the First Order has complex technology that needs to be dealt with, that's where Artoo comes in," finished Leia.
With this in mind, Han and Chewbacca hoisted C-3PO and R2-D2 aboard the landspeeder and then boarded it themselves. Luke and Leia chose a speeder bike each, and the six friends were on the move to the whirring sound of engines powering up.
Luke led his friends across the flats of Tatooine at high speed, letting the Force guide his way as he scanned the rushing ground beneath for any evidence that the First Order had been landing troops as he and the others had suspected. The twin suns of Tatooine were beginning their descent as Luke, Leia, and the others made their way from the Great Chott salt flats to the more rocky plains east of the Mesra Plateau. Suddenly, the group pulled to a stop when they happened upon a strange sight.
Twenty prone figures lay in the dirt with blasters and hand-to-hand weapons scattered on the ground. When Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewbacca stepped down from their speeders, they found that the figures were humanoid in body, but their heads and hands were wrapped in thick bandages like mummies and their cloaks were a drab and dull color. A look at their goggled faces then showed what these beings were.
Sand People! Luke's confusion turned into shock as he and his friends checked them over. Every Tusken Raider in this party was dead, and each of them had wounds of burnt flesh and bone from one end of their bodies to the other, and at least one Raider had a burn wound in his skull.
"Maybe I was hasty, Luke," Han thought. "Maybe we do have help from the local security departments if they've been coming after Tusken Raiders. But if they were following the First Order's trail through Tusken territory, I don't see why they wouldn't go out of their way to fight Tuskens."
"That's just it, Han. The local security volunteers didn't do this. But we are meant to think that they did," Luke said without deliberation.
"How can you be sure, Luke?" asked Leia.
Luke turned to his sister and replied, "Use the Force, Leia. There is a trail in the air that is not unlike the speeders we have been using. I can sense an ion trail produced by speeder bikes not unlike ours. But whoever left this trail was riding speeder bikes in organized rows. No one on Tatooine has security forces this disciplined, not even the Hutts."
Chewbacca gave a moaning bark of confusion, to which Han said, "You said it, Chewie. This is starting to sound weird."
"Not weird, Han. Simple," replied Luke. "Look at the blast points on the bodies of these Tuskens. No security force Tatooine could kill this many Sand People with this level of force and pinpoint accuracy. Only professional soldiers would be so precise with blasters."
Leia put the pieces together and said the first guess each member of the group had. "The First Order did this."
"Then we need to know why they're sending their soldiers to kill Tusken Raiders," said Han with a determined scowl.
"Well, we're not going to find out just standing around," put in Leia. "Let's move."
The four companions continued their journey for several more miles with Luke's Force abilities to follow the ion trail of the speeders that had passed through the area. However, while Luke trusted the Force to guide him to the First Order's location, he also knew that he and his friends could be walking into imminent danger, for Tusken Raiders did not fear even Jedi and would be willing to kill any trespasser they dubbed a threat. Luke and his friends soon did run into trouble when the speeder trail began to grow cold, and soon even Luke's probing with the Force sensed that the trail was useless to them.
Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca, and the droids stopped for a moment on a flat plain to consider their next move when Chewbacca spotted a pair of enormous vehicles that looked like metallic crates on treads, and Luke sensed that they were in luck. If anyone who lived beyond the settlements could help them find the First Order if they were in this area, the Jawas could.
Luke and his friends hid their speeders away with C-3PO and R2-D2 on board and then approached the gigantic sandcrawlers. The Jawas flocked to them like children expecting a good story to hear. It took a while for Luke and his friends to convince them that they had not come by looking to purchase droids or parts, but after a few minutes of questioning, the Jawas managed to explain in their gabbling language that they had seen strange ships flying overhead earlier that day and that several armored humans on floating bikes had passed through that area. More unnerving, the Jawas told Luke and company that the area the strangers were headed for was Tusken territory.
"I think we're going to be running into Tusken Raiders after all," Luke said halfheartedly to Leia as they returned to the speeders.
…
It was night when Luke and his companions reached the edge of a high mesa. Looking into the valley, the group found everything in a state of relative disarray. Huts of stone and dust lay blown to pieces and several bodies of Tusken Raiders lay scattered on the ground, and not just Tusken men, but Tusken women and children as well. Luke handed a pair of electrobinoculars to Han, who saw a bunker not unlike the one that had powered the shield generator for the second Death Star in the Empire's last battle. Around the perimeter were hundreds of stormtroopers, maybe thousands of them, as well as officers, pilots, technicians, and security guards.
"Something is not right here," said Leia to the others. "What would the First Order want with harming the Tusken Raiders?"
"To frighten them into submitting to their will and having them work to build up their war machines," replied Luke with authority in his tone.
"How do you guess that?" inquired Han.
"Well, for one thing, there are some Raiders down there now."
A check of the electrobinoculars told Han that Luke was correct, for at that moment, several Tusken men, women, and children were carrying large canisters of supplies and parts into the bunker while others were loading blasters and detonators into the Wraith dropships, possibly for transport to the fleet that had allowed the First Order to land on Tatooine. As they were watching, Chewbacca growled and said something to Han in his barking language.
"I may not like the Tuskens either, Chewie, but even they shouldn't be put through such agony," replied Han to his confidant.
"I don't think you should have said that, Han," said Leia nervously, and she pointed behind Han and Chewbacca.
The two turned to find themselves faced with a party of Tusken Raiders, and they were not happy to be in the presence of more outsiders. One of the Raiders approached and pointed his gaderffii staff at Han's throat. Han knew better than to tell the mummy-like being to "point that thing someplace else" as he knew the Sand People would respond with violent force. However, Luke and his companions were curious as to why the Tusken Raiders were not attacking them on the spot.
The Tuskens spoke among themselves in their grunting, barking speech while others used a curious form of sign language. When they had reached a decision, Luke and his companions found several gaffi sticks angled at their throats, but still the Tuskens made no move to attack. Instead, one of the bigger Raiders- apparently the leader- pointed his weapon out to the desert, and Luke recognized its meaning at once: Follow us.
A/N: I hope this chapter was suitable for my readers. Let me know in a review if you are wishing to. Next chapter will see some more Tatooine action, and then you'll have a brief return to Republic vs. the First Order over Nevarro. Enjoy!