Chinnatah sat motionlessly beside one of the several upright Tusken tents, or urtya, watching the suns set. Colors seemed to spiral across the sky like a brilliant mosaic or a fleeting dance that only he seemed to enjoy.
He could always count on the Tatooinian suns, even when everything and everyone else in his life seemed to change or turn against him. Every day, the twin suns would rise and set, sprinkling the horizon with splendid colors. Such colors were never seen in the bland Tusken camps, for Tuskens were always trying to blend into their surroundings—after all, it was easier for them to attack and avoid an attack that way.
Not that they should need to avoid an attack...
Chinnatah sighed. The Ghorfa's violent ways made them outcasts from Tatooinian society. If the Sand People would just give up their old customs, life could become easier for them...But no, even thinking about changing the ancient customs was considered a sin, punishable by death.
Tusken Raiders held onto little: skulls of their ancestors, legends of the past, and pearls taken, long ago, from Krayt dragons. It was always the past and the future that Raiders emphasized: battles that had taken place or would take place...The Sand People never seemed truly concerned about the present.
The suns had disappeared, and a raging fire sprung up, illuminating the darkness and causing shadows to play across the ominous-looking urtya. A Ghorfa ritual was about to begin.
The Elders began the ritual wearing spirit masks fashioned from natural materials. This ritual addressed the victorious conquest of those who had lived on the outskirts of Anchorhead.
The mimicking of the battle soon began, Tuskens acting as Tuskens defeating those who played the slain. One Ghorfa acting as a bantha reared back dramatically, slashing at the air with crudely fashioned horns.
Watching for a few moments, Chinnatah finally decided he couldn't stand being reminded of the cruelty of his people for much longer, and he began to sneak away, Vrentlla waiting a few moments before following. Mrekln saw the pair, and he snarled beneath his breath. One day, he would rid the desert planet of those two weaklings, Mrekln told himself, hissing through his breathmask.
****
Leia smiled at the cowled man walking beside her. They were supposed to meet her father at the Alderaani Honeyblossom Park, though they knew that Bail might be a little late, as he was giving Hric Dahlney careful instructions on how to deal with Alliance contacts.
Obi-Wan winked back at the young girl at his side, his eyes sparkling beneath his hood. Suddenly, his cheery mood was interrupted by an eerie feeling that not all was as it should be. He looked around, probing as much with the Force as he dared, but he could find nothing.
Nonetheless, he muttered to Leia that perhaps they should walk faster.
Several yards away, green eyes retreated from behind a pair of macrobinoculars. One day, the being vowed, that smug grin would be wiped off the face of the spoiled princess.
********************
Another Standard Galactic Year had passed by, and now, at fourteen Standard Years of age, or seven birthing seasons, Chinnatah was only one year away from Tusken adulthood. It was no small honor for Tuskens to bestow adulthood on uli-ah, for Ghorfa adolescents had to survive rigorous rites of passage to be considered adults—such was why Tuskens were considered most dangerous during their adolescent years. Young Raiders were required to complete these rites of passage after seven and a half birthing seasons for full tribal acceptance; doing so at an earlier age was frowned upon, and an older Tusken that had failed to complete a rite of passage was considered an outcast. There were no exceptions to the rule.
Chinnatah stared blankly across at a dead womp rat. It was oozing blood and still twitching—womp rats tended to somehow cling to an appearance of life for a while after death. The creature had been brought back by the hunting party and was currently being cleaned by his mother Arr't'ni, as females usually maintained the camp while the males hunted and fought. He felt his anger at the Tusken culture slowly weakening. Everyone else resigned themselves to their jobs; why must he be the one to provide them with even more trouble? The desert planet did enough to keep the nomads on their toes without one of their own assisting in wreaking havoc.
He began to walk toward his working mother, as if to say something, but he soon found a solid obstacle in his path. Slowly, he lifted his chin up and craned his head back. Despite the unisex robe worn by all Tusken uli-ah, Chinnatah knew it was Mrekln.
Chinnatah backed up a few steps, finding himself in need of space.
Mrekln's companion, standing a few feet away from him, softly barked something that sounded malicious. If Mrekln's laugh was anything to judge by, the malicious nature of the comment was not to be doubted. Gikahth, the Raider who had spoken, was burly—at least, as far as Tusken uli-ah went—and he stood tensely, as if he were about to pounce on Chinnatah at any moment.
The smallest of the trio began to walk away, but Mrekln was again there to bar his path. [You're not getting away. Follow me, or Gikahth will spill your innards.]
Chinnatah stared ambivalently out his eyetubes, but he said not a word, obliging Mrekln and following him away from the Tusken camp. The other Ghorfa were too busy to notice the departure of the three uli-ah.
****
Leia was sitting on the couch and looking with disgust at a datapad holding the latest piece of Imperial propaganda. She shifted angrily, the delicate white fabric of her dress—which had been picked out by her Aunt Rouge—shimmering with the movement. What was the galaxy coming to? Why couldn't more planets attempt to be peaceful and honest like Alderaan?
Very few weapons existed on Alderaan; Bail's illegally hiring someone to give Leia weapons training was startling enough. But she knew as well as Bail did that she was not destined to live out her life on Alderaan. One day, she would venture away from the planet, wonderful though it was, and she would somehow help resurrect the Republic out of its ashes.
Although her father didn't know of her extended knowledge of the matter, Leia knew he had been privately assisting the Rebels against the Empire, working with a Chandrilan named Mon Mothma and a Corellian named Garm Bel Iblis to strengthen a Rebel Alliance against Palpatine. At present, the Rebels weren't a real threat to the Empire since they were still very unorganized (though Bel Iblis had made a few strong military strikes), but as each day went by and demonstrated the lengths of the Empire's cruelty, the ranks of Rebels went up. One day, Leia vowed to herself, she would aid the dissenters as her father did. But she would be more periodic with her help when she became a senator, regularly transporting food and medical supplies, delivering funds, and recruiting new members to the Rebel Alliance...Yes, one day...
The princess sighed, resigned to the fact that there was not much she could do presently. She stood up and walked out of her room, staring at the ground pensively. Such was why she didn't notice the man hiding in the shadows until she felt the cool metal of a blaster against her temple and heard his gruff voice mutter, "Don't move."
She froze; it was too late for her self-defense training to kick in.
Another being emerged from the shadows, this one a malicious-looking alien with tusks.
"You're coming with us," the blaster-wielding human spat.
****
[This is what we are going to do,] Mrekln began, keeping the narrow metal tubes covering his eyes trained pointedly on Chinnatah. [First, we're going to find some crystal burst,] he explained, clenching his fists in anticipation and filling Chinnatah with dread. "Crystal burst" was adolescent Tusken slang for "sugar water." Sugar water was a rarity on Tatooine; only the wealthiest Tatooinian residents could be found "tainting" pure water with sugar. [And then we're going to steal three landspeeders and race them through Beggar's Canyon.]
Chinnatah lifted his chin slightly, the corroded metal filter covering his mouth giving him the appearance of hesitation. Even simple sugar water could easily intoxicate Tusken Raiders...To steal three vehicles while intoxicated was an action bordering on suicidal. But Chinnatah, resigned to his fate, merely nodded. He had heard one of the other Tusken uli-ah whispering about Mrekln and his gader stick half a birthing season ago. The uli-ah had said that Mrekln dipped his blade in lethal sandbat venom, which was usually only done by the greatest and most confident Tusken warriors, as anyone who accidentally touched a little bit of the venom on the blade could soon be lying in Death's bed. He certainly didn't want to be the one to confirm Mrekln's use of sandbat venom.
Gikahth looked at Chinnatah sharply when the latter shifted his gader stick to the other hand, but Gikahth was satisfied to learn that Chinnatah was only intending to use the weapon as a walking stick along the craggy Tatooinian mesas. Before they headed off, Mrekln growled a quiet order to Chinnatah to remain silent and follow his orders.
At last, they came upon one of the places that Mrekln and Gikahth had staked out. It was impressive by Tatooinian standards, obviously belonging to one of the wealthier residents of Tatooine, and since the home's contents were more promising than most, its security fence was probably top-of-the-line.
Chinnatah stared at the building from his far vantage point. It was going to be tough getting in and out, and if they did so, their retreat was most likely going to be taking place with gunfire at their backs.
He moved his head fractionally to take in the setting suns. Was now his time to die? Here, with two of his worst enemies?
Somehow, he felt he should be more apprehensive about the ordeal, but the apprehension never came. With the cycle of life came death, and if it were his time to die, then who was he to try to stop it?
Mrekln spoke softly, interrupting Chinnatah's thoughts, [We could go on in spite of the alarms...Or we could try to disarm them. Gikahth, how about we send Chinnatah out to do so? He's expendable.] The last he growled pointedly in Chinnatah's direction, but still the uli-ah would not allow himself to be provoked into either action or speech.
Gikahth made a hand gesture signifying agreement, and Chinnatah gazed at the home once again. Tusken mechanical skills were usually rudimentary, normally just enough to fix malfunctioning projectile rifles or perhaps get a speeder to start. For Chinnatah to try to disable alarms belonging to someone who was probably fully aware of that fact—and for him to succeed—would require a degree of luck that Chinnatah was not sure he possessed. Luck...or direct help from the gods.
He looked to the sky once more. The Ghorfa would always perform ceremonies to appease the gods before attempting such a feat. For Mrekln and Gikahth to forego any such gesture merely reinforced the image of their recklessness.
He glanced at the pair. Their metal eye tubes were turned his way as they waited for him to make a move.
They weren't going to press the matter, Chinnatah knew. Though their disgust for him was great, neither expected him to actually attempt to disable the security fence, for there was little chance that it would actually work. By the same token, if he refused, they would never let him live it down. Either way, they would get what they wanted.
Tightening his fists barely perceptibly, Chinnatah made a quick decision. If he tripped the alarms, perhaps the pair would decide to cut the trip short, and there would be no theft of landspeeders. If he knocked out the alarms, then the danger in stealing the crystal burst would be decreased dramatically.
Chinnatah moved silently forward over the dune. The other two uli-ah watched him as darkness began to cover the ground and hide his movements.
The whole alarm system was rather complicated, but the functioning of this particular security fence depended on a sole power source.
Chinnatah froze pensively. The residents of the building must be confident that the Sand People wouldn't try to penetrate their defenses if they relied on a single power source for the security fence surrounding their home. It was then that he remembered Ghorfa warnings away from this particular building. While Tusken Raiders neither knew nor cared about the current governmental state of the galaxy, it was known that an Imperial lived here and it was also known that Imperials tended to be very aggressive. His wealth pointed to the possibility that he had guards and more extensive alarm systems inside. On Tatooine, exterior alarms were mostly used to protect residents from Tusken Raiders, while interior alarms were used to protect them from Rebels and angry civilians. Even if Chinnatah managed to get past the security fence, it was dubious as to whether he would still be able to get inside.
But Luck seemed to be with him that day.
His first priority was disabling the foolishly-located power source. He stared at the collection of wires and gears and closed his eyes momentarily, letting his instincts guide him.
With a few careful uses of his hands and the hook of his gader stick, Chinnatah somehow managed to achieve his goal. After listening to make sure that no alarms had sounded, he gesticulated toward Mrekln and Gikahth, and they swiftly but stealthily joined him while trying not to give evidence of their surprise.
That might have been the extent of their accomplishments had they not suddenly heard the far-off hum of a pair of landspeeders. After a moment's hesitation, they pressed up against the building like wraiths, making sure to be on the side opposite of the garage, which was where the landspeeders seemed to be heading.
The speeders finally stopped, their drivers hopping out only to grab a box from their respective vehicles. The owner of the house had given them a remote to deactivate the alarms temporarily, which was why when the Imperial officer had received the notification that the exterior alarms were no longer online he did not worry.
They set several boxes out in front of the garage, pausing for a moment when the landspeeders had been emptied to wipe their brows.
One of them, a human male with bright yellow hair, muttered in Basic to his companion, a human male with graying hair, "Seems like a waste of perfectly good water to me. The rich have it far too good if they're willin' to taint R'alla mineral water with sugar. Most people on Tatooine would give their right legs to have just one box of this stuff without the blazin' sugar dumped into it."
"Yeah, but we aren't paid to question our employers. We bring the stuff here, we leave. That's our job," the older man reprimanded him.
"That doesn't mean I have to like—" the yellow-haired human cut off with a gurgle as a gader stick was hurled through his chest, courtesy of Mrekln.
Before the older man could even venture to raise the alarm, Gikahth had killed him.
[It looks like our work here is almost done,] Mrekln said in Tusken, his pleasure at getting the crystal burst so easily just barely evident in his voice. [And it looks like we already have two of our speeders. Now, you just have to go get one, Chinnatah.]
The introspective uli-ah clutched his gader stick just a little tighter.
****
"What are you going to do to me?" Leia gritted as she wriggled in her chair, trying to find some sort of way to break her restraints. Unfortunately, she had been disarmed, so there was no chance that her blaster might aid her.
She had asked the question ten times in the past five minutes, and her burly male captor was getting tired of it. "Just tell her, Ksuts," he growled, "she's giving me a headache."
The alien made some sort of screeching noise in the back of her throat. She began to speak, but it was hard for Leia to understand her, as her voice was muffled by her tusks. "The Viceroy has displeased our employer, who received information that he has been hiding the location of a group of refugee Caamasi...You are going to be the bargaining chip that allows us to find out that location."
Leia kept her face blank, but her insides froze. A few weeks ago, with her father and Obi-Wan, she had visited the secret Caamasi refugee camps on Alderaan. The Caamasi were a kind people whose world had been brutally destroyed. Leia, like her father and Obi-Wan, suspected that it was the Empire's doing, but there was no proof. Tears nearly came to her eyes as she remembered the hundreds of colorful flags that had been flying in the wind and proudly bearing beautiful Caamasi family crests. Amazingly, despite the destruction of their world, the Caamasi remained as gentle and loving as ever.
"Who is your employer?" she ventured, not expecting to get a reply but still wanting to try.
"If you believe we'll answer that, you're more stupid than I gave you credit for," the human laughed.
Leia Organa felt her face turn red, but she tried restrain her emotions. She couldn't allow them to rattle her. "When are you going to let me go?"
"As soon as we get a reply from your darling daddy," the human smirked.
Leia settled down into her chair, fuming.
****
Chinnatah wasn't sure how he had managed to steal the landspeeder. One minute he was running as swiftly as he could toward an open garage; the next he was speeding off in the stolen vehicle, alarms blazing in his ears. When he finally reached the dune Mrekln and Gikahth were hiding behind, he discovered that the two uli-ah had already broken into one of the cases of sugar water and were already well on their way to intoxication.
He debated whether or not to just return back to camp, but he had already been spotted by them, and—drunk or not—Mrekln was not going to let him go that easily, and he snarled tipsily at Chinnatah to join them.
Chinnatah complied, pouring some of the R'alla mineral water into his flask hesitantly. Mrekln and Gikahth had paused momentarily in their merrymaking to stare at him. They weren't going to take their eyes off him until he had drank some of the crystal burst.
Closing his eyes beneath his rags, Chinnatah turned aside his head, moving the cloth just enough for him to drink a little of the sugar water in his flask. That was all he would drink, he told himself. He waited, on pins and needles, for the water to start taking effect.
When it didn't, he moved his puzzled gaze toward the spot where Mrekln and Gikahth were having the time of their lives. It wasn't long before the pair began getting aggressive and started shoving each other, snarling in the harsh Tusken tongue.
[Yeah? Wehhll, I beth I cod beatcha,] Mrekln slurred.
[Yeah? Thow me, you—] Gikahth spat a Tusken swearword. Then he blurted an unintelligible stream that sounded as if it were supposed to be full of more curses.
[I wehhll. Leth get in the thveederth ant rayth. You thoo Thinnah.]
Knowing Mrekln was would be even more dangerous and foolhardy when intoxicated, Chinnatah had no choice but to comply, following Mrekln and Gikahth uneasily as they veered drunkenly off toward Beggar's Canyon.
Chinnatah knew they would only find trouble there.