OBI-WAN
The speeder with the stolen droid had parked beside a small building on the outskirts of Mos Eisley. It looked the same as all the other buildings on Tatooine, made from sand and stone, but the roof had been constructed out of wood and metal. At the point of the roughly pyramid-shaped roof was a series of antenna, reaching towards the planet's suns.
Obi-Wan and Thalia had parked their own speeder behind a nearby sand dune and were now creeping up underneath one of the few windows the building had. They remained ducked underneath the sill so they wouldn't be seen but could still hear everything that was going on inside.
"Come on. Hook 'er up." A gruff voice ordered. He had to almost shout because C-6 was mouthing off at the group, not needing to pause for a breath.
"Boss, why are we resorting to taking droids? They don't bring in good money." Another voice asked.
"'ow many times do I 'ave to tell ya? Information is just as profitable as people these days. If this droid belongs to someone of any interest we'll make a bucket load." The gruff voice replied. There was a loud fizzing noise and C-6's chatter instantly died away. Obi-Wan glanced across at Thalia who had a pained expression on her face as she listened.
"Hang on, this droid hasn't been wiped!" A voice said eagerly. "There are so many memory files on here. It'll take months to go through it all."
"That's a good fing…if it belongs to someone of interest." The gruff voice, who Obi-Wan assumed was their leader, said.
"It belongs to…oh boss, you're not gonna believe this. It belongs to that neutral systems gal. There's maps of all the systems, plans for who knows what and secrets that only the Princess would know." The voice cried and there were a few laughs of astonishment from around the room.
"What do we do, boss?" A tentative voice asked.
"Take it to Jabba. He'll pay us way more than anyone else in this stinkin' galaxy." The boss replied. "We'll take Jabba's ship. Give 'im the grand entrance he likes."
Obi-Wan heard the sound of hurried footsteps move across the room and he pushed Thalia around the back of the house as the front door opened and one of the men emerged. Obi-Wan cautiously looked around the corner of the house, but jumped slightly when he felt Thalia's hands on his waist as she leant around him to watch.
Together, they watched as the man brushed the sand around his person with the toe of his boot as if looking for something.
"What's he doing?" Thalia whispered in his ear. Her voice barely cut across the wind and it caused a shiver to run down Obi-Wan's spin. A shiver that he hoped Thalia hadn't noticed.
In response to her question he shook his head, feeling the flyaways from her hair brush against his temple.
The man paused suddenly and with a kick of his boot, a lever flew up, out of the sand. He grabbed it with both hands and pushed it away from him. A low groaning sound came from beneath them and the ground trembled under their feet. Then, a few meters in front of the man, the ground opened up to reveal an underground hanger. The doors slid sideways into the sand dunes and once they were open wide enough, a large sail barge emerged from the bowels of the hanger on a grey deck.
The remaining crew were standing on the deck and hauled their comrade aboard with ease. The ship turned in the air until it was facing the right direction. It then pitched forward slightly as the engines were engaged and started away from the building.
"We have to stop them from getting to Jabba's palace." Thalia said, no longer in a whisper as her hands slid away from Obi-Wan's sides, brushing against his lower back as she stepped out from behind the building.
"We'll take their speeder. It's faster." He replied and ran over to the sleek machine, reaching under the driver's seat to hotwire the engine. Instead of sputtering to life like their one had, the speeder roared to life. This speeder was also longer, behind the seats was a long, flat bed that would usually hold boxed of goods. Obi-Wan pushed the controls to maximum and they took off at a considerably faster pace.
"So, what's our plan for stopping them?" Obi-Wan asked, shouting over the top of the wind whipping their faces.
"We just have to get C-6 back before they get to Jabba's palace. I'll go aboard and get her out of there. Keep the speeder close so we can jump across." Thalia stated and he glanced over at her.
"Are you sure? Don't you think it would be better if I go aboard?" He asked.
"I can use the force to move through the ship undetected. I'll go." Thalia replied instantly, almost too quickly, like she'd had the excuse ready in case he questioned her.
"You can trust me." Obi-Wan found himself saying, unsure of when he'd allowed his mouth to open. Thalia brushed a piece of hair out of her face, either pretending she hadn't heard him or ignoring his statement.
It wasn't long before they caught up with the barge. As Obi-Wan maneuvered the speeder as close to the ship as he dared, Thalia climbed out of her seat and balanced on the edge of the speeder, preparing to jump across.
"Go now!" He yelled and with only a slight hesitation, she leapt out across the empty space before her hands wrapped around the metal railing encircling the lower balcony of the barge. She wasn't strong enough to pull herself up, so she swung herself to the side and managed to hook a leg over the railing, hauling herself rather gracelessly onto the balcony.
She watched as Obi-Wan pulled back on the speeder's controls and the ship dropped behind the barge, out of sight of any prying eyes. Once he'd disappeared, she turned her attention to her surroundings. Along the vast balcony were a number of doors that all had the same brown metal plating with gold studs around the frames. With the force surrounding her, she pulled open the door and stepped into a dark corridor. There was no one around, so she hurried down towards a second door at the far end, using the force to guide her towards her missing droid. She pushed open the significantly heavier door and was guided up a set of wooden steps, which opened out onto a much wider corridor than the lower one had been. Moving along the back wall, she stopped suddenly when she heard voices coming around the corner. She straightened and concentrated on the force, feeling it envelop her. As two men sauntered around the corner, she started forward at a brisk pace and slipped past the pair who didn't even look in her direction.
Marching around the corner, she came face-to-face with an open room filled with junk and in the corner, slumped against some boxes was C-6. Thalia ran forward and pulled her droid upright so she could reach the power switch at the back of her neck. She flicked up the heavy latch and waited impatiently for the droid's eyes to light up in the usual green. C-6 came too instantly and picked up immediately where she'd left off, mouthing expletives in every language possible.
"C-6, shut up!" Thalia hushed, covering the droid's mouth with her hand.
"Oh my hero!" The droid cried, realising who had switched her on. "Took you long enough though."
"A simple thank you would suffice." Thalia said, getting to her feet. "Let's get out of here."
"Want this?" C-6 offered, opening her storage compartment and pulling out the stun blaster Padme had given her.
"Good idea." She nodded and pushed the blaster into the waistband of her pants.
Thalia lead the way, back into the passageway and then out, through a shutter door onto the main deck.
"Hey!" A shout came from behind them and three men pushed their way onto the deck. Thalia had lost focus, and therefore the shadow over her presence had lifted.
"Get behind me, C-6." Thalia ordered, pulling the blaster up in front of her face. She decided not to wait for them to shoot first, so Thalia fired a blast at the first man, but it sailed past him with ease.
"Maybe give it another try." One of them teased, raising his own blaster and firing a warning shot, which landed about a foot from where Thalia was standing.
"Now wha' 'ave we got 'ere." The gruff voice of the men's boss came from behind her, and Thalia spun around to see him and his remaining crew members standing above her on the raised helm of the barge. The five men simultaneously raised their blasters, but the sound of engines distracted them momentarily.
Their speeder, with Obi-Wan at the wheel pulled up alongside the barge. As the men stared, Thalia took her chance to lift C-6 off the ground with the force and send her flying through the air to the speeder, slowing her decent so she landed gently on the long, flat bed behind the seats.
"Blast 'em!" The boss yelled and blaster fire rained down on the much smaller ship.
Thalia watched as Obi-Wan threw up his arm to protect his head from the rain of fire, but the blasts never reached them. The Jedi raised his head to see Thalia with her arm outstretched, holding the blasts in midair.
"Shoot 'er!" Came a shout from behind and she threw out her other hand as blasts flew towards her. As blasts rained down on her from all angles, the air around her filled with blue light as hundreds of shots hung in limbo.
Eventually, the blasts stopped, and the men looked at each other, unsure of what to do next. Thalia took her chance and raised her arms above her head, before throwing them down towards the desk, bringing with them the hundreds of blaster shots. The swarm of blasts tore through the ships deck and through to the hull.
"Jump!" One of the men yelled as an explosion rocked the ship. The five ran to the sides and leapt over the railings, landing safely in the soft sand below. A terrific bang, followed by a blast of hot wind sent Thalia flying back against the raised helm. She crumpled to the ground, her ears ringing and her eyes stinging with heat as she saw flames consuming the back half of the barge.
She pushed herself to her feet, putting a hand out against the helm for stability. A low rumble managed to cut it's way through the ringing in her ears. A rumble which sounded like an explosion was imminent. Thalia shook her head, trying to clear it before stumbling her way to the edge of the barge where she could see the speeder hovering at a safe distance. It was at least ten meters away, too far to jump to.
She grasped the railing tightly as she watched C-6 take over the controls, replacing Obi-Wan who leapt over the back of the seats to stand on the long, open bed.
'I can't get any closer. You have to jump.' Obi-Wan's voice sounded in her head.
The rumbling grew louder and the ship beneath her feet began to shudder violently, sending vibrations through her whole body.
'I can't! It's too far.' Thalia replied.
'I'll catch you. I promise. You have to trust me!' Came his desperate reply and Thalia felt herself shaking her head.
'I…' She began, but couldn't finish her sentence.
The rumbling had become almost unbearable and Thalia heard an explosion begin at the bottom of the ship.
'You can to trust me.' Obi-Wan's voice sounded calmly and assured in her head, drowning out the rumbling.
Thalia squeezed her eyes shut and tightened her grip on the railing before pushing away from it, taking a few steps back on to the deck. Before allowing herself to think too much, she took two running steps and kicked off from the railing. No sooner had her feet left the ship, she felt a searing heat at her back as the ship exploded in a terrific bang.
Thalia flew through the air and gasped as her momentum was lost and she suddenly dropped towards the ground below. Her decent came to a sudden stop and she found herself floating through the air towards the speeder. On the bed, Obi-Wan had his hands outstretched towards her, his eyes closed in concentration. She floated closer and closer until she was an arm's length away and Obi-Wan opened his eyes. His outstretched arms desperatley wrapped themselves around her torso as Thalia's flew around his neck. She grabbed fistfuls of his tunic like she was afraid to let go and pressed her face into his shoulder as tears began to fall from her eyes. All the emotions of the last few weeks washed over her all at once. She'd wondered why she hadn't cried since finding out about her injury, but now it all boiled over and she allowed it all to be released. Obi-Wan's hold on her tightened, pulling her closer against him with one of his arms around her torso and the other holding her head against his shoulder, gently smoothing her hair. She could feel his own shuddery breathes against her neck and she couldn't recall a time when she'd been held as closely as he held her now.
The trip back to Troska on the Falcon was made in silence. C-6 flew while Thalia sat beside Obi-Wan against the corner of the padded benches, their legs stretched out in front of them as they leaned against the wall. Thalia's head rested on his shoulder while she intertwined his fingers with her own, letting their hands rest on his knee. Obi-Wan used hit free hand to cover hers, so he held her hand in both of his.
The tension between them had well and truly gone. Normal transmission had resumed. Whatever needed saying had been said in their embrace. Thalia knew she could trust Obi-Wan and he was just happy to have her back.
All it had taken to bring them back together had been a few pieces of fruit and an explosion.