Chapter 18
"So, what should we tell them?" Han Solo asked Chewbacca as the two ex-smugglers drove their rented landspeeder towards the location that Obi-Wan Kenobi had told them to meet with him and his three Jedi students.
How about 'There's going to be some major trouble in store for all of us when we get back to the Falcon?' That might work, Chewbacca suggested.
"Honesty, huh?" Han asked. "It might work."
I can see Obi-Wan's hut up ahead, Chewbacca reported as the hut began to appear on the horizon.
The hut was situated near the edge of a cliff, providing the exiled Jedi Master a commanding view of the surrounding area. Han presumed that the area was chosen to help Obi-Wan be prepared for any potential Imperial problems. As Han neared the hut, he could see two of Obi-Wan's students, presumably Keyan and Kyle, loading what appeared to be a small furnace into the other landspeeder.
"What's with the furnace?" Han asked as he pulled the landspeeder to a stop near the hut.
"It's supposed to be for creating lightsaber crystals," Keyan Farlander replied as the Rebel pilot pulled a tarp over the furnace to protect from the double suns.
"You can create those things?" Han Solo asked.
"I haven't seen it in action," Keyan replied, "but that's what General Kenobi says."
Luke Skywalker walked out of the hut, carrying what appeared to be a large leather-bound book. "I've got the book on how to actually create the lightsabers," he replied as placed the book into the landspeeder. "That should be it."
A few seconds after Luke Skywalker had finished packing up the lightsaber creation materials into the landspeeder, Obi-Wan Kenobi stepped out of the hut that had been his home for nineteen years. "Not quite everything," he said as he placed a small container into Han's landspeeder. "A Jedi of the Old Order didn't have many personal possessions, but it seems that sometimes things can be acquired all to quickly…"
"What's in there?" Han asked, curious about what the possessions were and how they could be acquired too quickly for the old man's taste, as well as instantly regretting asking the question. He had a sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with the Clone Wars, but there was no real proof.
"All that remains of friends long gone," Obi-Wan replied, a look of sadness beginning to form on his face as he remembered. "There is no death, only the Force," Obi-Wan quoted the Jedi Code, "but the Code says nothing about fondly remembering those that have gone."
"I can agree with that," Han replied, remembering an old love that had been killed. "I'm sorry I brought it up."
"There's no need for that," Obi-Wan replied as he began to step into the landspeeder. "You had no idea. How did your meeting with the Hutt crimelord go?" he asked.
"Not well," Han replied. "He placed a tracking device on our landspeeder--" At the mention of the tracking device, the weapons carried by the Jedi were quickly out. "Can you please let me finish?" Han asked as the Jedi prepared for what they believed to be an inevitable attack. "He placed a tracking device on our landspeeder, but we were able to find it and drive Jabba's thugs on a wild bantha chase," he said with a grin on his face. "Right now, Jabba's thugs are probably digging through a sand dune in search of a secret Jedi compound that doesn't exist. "Although, you might want to be on guard on our way back to the Falcon," Han warned. "Jabba can be considerably resourceful, and not to mention that the Empire is going to be prowling the streets."
"Thanks for the warning about Jabba," Luke replied, "we pretty much guessed that the Empire was going to be after us once we reached Mos Eisley."
"We'll be ready for them," Kyle Katarn replied, leaving Keyan wishing that he was behind the controls of an X-wing rather than about to face another ground battle.
The open-aired skiff closely followed the two landspeeders through the streets of Mos Eisley, the Nikto and Weequay thugs aboard it firing their blasters at the Jedi.
"I can't believe they found us already," Han Solo exclaimed as blaster fire impacted near him.
Jabba has some good sources, Chewbacca replied as he fired his bowcaster towards one of Jabba's hired thugs. The quarrel hit a Weequay right in the chest, dropping the leathery-skinned scoundrel's body tumbling into the desert sand.
"Luke, you better duck!" Han Solo yelled out to his friend, who was trying his best to stay standing in the back seat of the landspeeder. The young Jedi deflected a blaster shot with his lightsaber before quickly turning around to see what he was supposed to duck. A large ronto was walking across the road, pulling behind it a load of mechanical supplies. Knowing that Han was more than likely intending to drive the landspeeder under the walking beast of burden, Luke quickly hit the back seat of the landspeeder. The underbelly of the large beast loomed overhead the landspeeder, sending the unpleasant odor of the creature into the noses of all in the landspeeder.
Luke quickly stood back up in the landspeeder, using his hand to steady himself as the landspeeder swerved to avoid some pedestrians in the road. Once again, he ignited his father's lightsaber, sending the blue beam of light into existence. The skiff swerved around the ronto, causing the thugs aboard to focus on the second landspeeder. The blaster fire was quickly deflected by Kyle, and was returned by Keyan Farlander.
"Pull up next to the skiff," Luke told Han after receiving a signal from Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was driving the second landspeeder.
"You've got it," Han Solo said as he slowed the landspeeder down and began to steer the craft towards the skiff, evading the incoming blaster fire. In the distance, he could see Obi-Wan steering his landspeeder towards the skiff as well. "You two aren't going to do what I think you're going to do, are you?" Han Solo asked as the crazy image of both of the Jedi leaping from the speeding landspeeders and onto the skiff popped into his head.
Luke simply nodded.
"You Jedi are crazy, you know that? Not that I probably wouldn't do it myself, but you're crazy."
As the landspeeders neared the skiff, the two Jedi leaped from their perches and landed on opposite sides of the skiffs. Two quick lightsaber swings brought down two of the thugs, bringing the count of Jabba's mercenaries on the skiff down to three, not counting the pilot. Luke Skywalker brought his lightsaber down across the barrel of a blaster pistol, rendering the thug all but useless. A quick punch knocked the Nikto out, sending his body to the floor of the skiff. Another swing from Luke severed the arm of a Weequay, taking down the final thug on the skiff. Kyle, on the other hand, had taken a more violent bent on dispatching the thugs on his side of the skiff. A severed head had landed in an outside vending stall, and the body that it was originally attached to lay on the floor of the skiff. Another dead body was propped up against the railing, and the pilot had bailed out of the skiff and into the awning of a building.
"Overall, I think that went well," Han Solo said as he raised the landing gear of the Falcon. The heavily modified Corellian freighter was now hovering over the docking bay, ready to exit Tatooine's atmosphere.
"In a way, I have to agree," Obi-Wan Kenobi answered as he adjusted his crash webbing. "Despite overwhelming odds from both the Empire and Jabba's thugs, we managed to get away without a scratch and with the supplies we needed."
"Why all the risk though?" Han asked as he hit the main thrusters. "Aren't there other ways to create lightsabers?"
"Unfortunately, most of the places used to gather lightsaber crystals, a key component for how the lightsaber works, is tightly guarded by the Empire," Obi-Wan explained to the unknowing smuggler. "Not to mention that even if we were able to get our hands on two or three crystals, it's been a long time since I had to build a lightsaber. I'm sure that when I look through that book that I'll find things about the process that I've forgotten."
Han Solo let loose a chuckle at Obi-Wan's comment. "I somewhat know the feeling." He looked at a screen to his left before letting out another laugh. "Looks like they're a little late," he said, pointing to several more of Jabba's men as they entered the docking bay.
"It appears that you're right," Obi-Wan replied. "At least there'll be no more lives lost today, not by our hands."
"That's always a good thing," Han Solo echoed the Jedi Master's statement. "Always a good thing."