Chapter Three - Attack At Dawn
Obi-Wan sat on the floor of Luke's bedroom and marvelled at all that he had. He had a cot which had been decorated with cartoon images of spaceships, a big pirate style chest full to the brim with toys, and lot of other little articles lying about.
Wow, this is remarkable. Luke would never have these things at the Jedi Temple. Everything would have been basic, and he would have grown up with only a few toys to his name. Beru and Owen must think of him as their own child. It's a shame he will probably never meet his father. Obi-Wan sighed.
"Obi?" Obi-Wan looked at the small boy sat apposite him. Luke stared at the Jedi Master with interest, and then held out his hand. Obi-Wan noticed that he was holding a smooth pebble in his tiny palm. He held out his hand and Luke passed him the little pebble. The pebble was small, round and incredibly smooth to touch. It had a mixture of all different shades of blue on it.
"What's this Luke? For me?" Obi-Wan pointed at the pebble and then at himself. Luke shook his head and Obi-Wan chuckled. He studied the pebble carefully. There was something familiar about this pebble.
"Where did you find a Force sensitive pebble?" Luke just stared at Obi-Wan in confusion. Obi-Wan handed the pebble back to the toddler, who held it tightly in his palms.
"I keep trying to throw it away, but he won't have it." Obi-Wan turned his neck towards the door, and saw Beru leaning on the door frame. "You hear so many stories of babies chocking on little items these days. It frightens me."
"He likes it because it is a Force sensitive pebble." Obi-Wan explained.
"What does it do?"
"Not much. My Master gave me one for my thirteenth birthday. A little while later, on a mission, I had been captured. My captors were going to brain wash me, and they had taken everything away from me, apart from that pebble. I focused all my memories in to that pebble, and they failed in their mind wipe." Beru's eyes widened in shock.
"Wow. Have you been on many missions Master Kenobi?"
"Yes, I have. And please, call me Obi-Wan." Obi-Wan smiled. "I've been on missions all over the galaxy."
"I've never left Tatooine. What is the galaxy like?" Obi-Wan straightened up. Luke stared at the two adults, listening intently and wondering what they were talking about.
"It really depends on where you go. Some places are beautiful, some places are horrifying. Some places are welcoming, and some places are hostile." Obi-Wan replied.
"It's amazing. I'll never leave Tatooine. I don't know if I would be able to adjust to the different lifestyles that other planets might have." She sighed. "Well, I'd better prepare the evening meal. There's a sandstorm approaching, so I don't think you'll make it to your hut in time. You're welcome to stay here. I'll have Owen set up a spare bed."
"I don't want to be any trouble. I can sleep on the floor."
"Nonsense Obi-Wan." Beru grinned. "What sort of a host would allow their guest to sleep on the floor?" Beru turned and left the room. Obi-Wan picked himself up off the floor.
"Nnnnn!" Obi-Wan looked down at Luke, to see the little boy stretching both arms towards him. He bent down and hoisted the youngster up. This is going to be a long night.
Vader lashed out at Sidious with his crimson lightsabre. The two blades clashed continuously, and neither combatant was willing to accept defeat. Vader clenched his teeth together and battled furiously, determined to beat the old and grotesque figure that stood before him.
"Come on Vader! Use the Dark Side of the Force. Use your anger! Use your hate! Defeat me. Put more effort in! You haven't even come close to hitting me, and you call yourself the Chosen One. What's the matter with you?"
Vader snarled and increased the speed and strength of his attacks. He was beginning to push his master back. As his attacks became more vicious, Vader became reckless. He was so intent on attacking Sidious that he had begun to leave himself vulnerable to fatal attacks. The swings of his sabre became wild. Vader was no longer fighting like a swordsman. He was fighting like a maniac. And Sidious knew it.
"You leave yourself open to attack Lord Vader. Most unwise, wouldn't you say?" Vader shot Sidious a fierce look.
"Shut up!" Vader lashed out with his sabre once more, and the two Sith locked their blades together. Vader's eyes burned the colour of flames, and Sidious cackled with laughter. The two Sith refused to back down, pushing their blades together. To a bystander it would look as though the lightsabres were stuck together.
"I will defeat you Master," Vader growled.
"Not today!" Sidious shot back, as he ducked. Vader hadn't anticipated this, and because he was pushing all his weight against Sidious' blade, he fell head first into the hard terrain of Korriban. Sidious struck his apprentices' blade out of his reach. Vader rolled over so he was lying on his back, and Sidious had his crimson blade a short distance above Vader's throat.
"Do you accept defeat my young apprentice?" The blade was so close to Vader's neck that he could almost feel it's burn. The flames had gone from his eyes, and they had returned to their natural blue colour. Fearing what his Master might do next, he nodded. Sidious extinguished his blade. Vader made a fist with his prosthetic hand and slammed it down in to the ground. He had gotten overly confident, and his frustration only grew.
"You fought well. Foolishly and recklessly I might add, but well enough."
"Thank you my Master," Vader muttered through gritted teeth.
"I have some rather pressing matters to deal with. It seems our clones have captured a rather powerful Jedi." Vader looked up with interest. "I believe you know him my apprentice."
"Who is it?" Vader asked, careful not to seem too concerned.
"I believe he goes by the name of Ferus Olin. And he is proving to be quite the problem." Sidious was about to turn away when Vader spoke again.
"What has Ferus done?" Sidious sighed.
"He tried to get in to the Jedi Temple. Foolish boy."
"What is to happen to him Master?"
"He is to be executed. Immediately. I would normally have the clones do it, but since you seem so interested, you are going to do it." Sidious fought to hide the smile that was behind his lips. Vader looked in a slight state of shock.
"Why executed? Ferus is no threat. He left the Jedi Order during the Clone Wars. He doesn't have a lightsabre or anything, and even when he was with the Order, he was weak."
"The fact that he used to be a Jedi is enough for me to order his execution." Sidious was growing impatient with Vader's persistence.
"I used to be a Jedi."
"And now you are a Sith!" Sidious barked. "I want him dead as soon as possible and you are going to do it whether you like it or not, do I make myself clear my very young apprentice? I want his head on my desk here in the Academy." Vader couldn't win.
"Yes, my Master."
"Good. Now let this be the end of it. Take one of the ships with you. Go now." Vader picked himself up off the floor, and dusted himself off.
"Yes, my Master." Kriff. I never really liked Ferus, but he always seemed like a nice lad. Vader scowled. Don't be so weak Vader. Concentrate. Just get the kriffing job done before Sidious flips.
Obi-Wan sat bolt upright. He looked towards Luke's cot. The boy was fast asleep, not making a sound. He slept very peacefully. Obi-Wan silently wished he could sleep as peacefully as Luke did. He looked up at the chronometer on the wall. Ugh, just before dawn. Obi-Wan closed his eyes and reached out into the Force. They flickered open again a few moments later. Tusken Raiders, kriff!
Obi-Wan leapt to his feet and ran as fast as he could to the Lars' bedroom. The door slid open and Obi-Wan tumbled in. He heard Owen and Beru groan slightly. Obi-Wan turned on the lights, and Owen sat up slowly.
"What the kriff is going on Kenobi?" Owen asked groggily.
"Tusken Raiders." After hearing those two words Beru sat up too.
"Tusken Raiders are here?"
"I felt it. They are close." Owen was annoyed at the lack of physical evidence.
"You felt it?" he snorted.
"Yes. I felt it in the Force. They are coming."
"I don't believe in the Force Obi-Wan, so until they arrive I'm going back to sleep. I'm not getting out of bed for something that could very well be a wild Bantha chase." Owen turned over and closed his eyes. Beru looked into Obi-Wan's eyes as if to say sorry for her husbands ignorance. Obi-Wan left the Lars' bedroom, and went up to ground level to have a look.
He immediately noticed a small pack of Sand people approaching the moisture farm in the distance. They were armed with gaderffiis. A gaderffii was a melee weapon used by almost all Tusken Raiders. It was a staff of about four foot long, with one end bent like into an "L" shape with a razor sharp spear point on the top, and the other end had four or more blades sticking out of it, with another spear point on the end.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Obi-Wan unhooked his lightsabre from his belt and waited for the Tuskens to arrive. Fifty metres… Forty… Thirty… Twenty…Ten…Five. The leader of the pack stopped, the rest of the pack stopped just behind him, as if to study Obi-Wan. The Tusken raised his weapon high into the air, and Obi-Wan heard a loud cry rip through the morning sky.
"I wish you no-" Obi-Wan was cut off by the Tusken Raiders attack. Obi-Wan ducked and rolled to the side, igniting his lightsabre as he did so. The Tuskens charged at him, and Obi-Wan ducked and rolled again. He leapt to his feet and plunged his lightsabre into the first Tusken's body. He removed it, and the Tusken collapsed to the floor. The other Tuskens seemed amazed, and they began shifting backwards as if scared of the foe that stod in front of them.
One of the pack decided to try the charge again, this time alone. Obi-Wan deactivated his lightsabre and put up a hand. He called upon the Force and the approaching Tusken was pushed back into the air, and crashed into the sand fifteen metres away. The rest of the Tuskens looked at each other, turned on their heels and ran to pick up the Tusken who was dazed on the floor. Then two of them took each of his arms and ran off, practically dragging the Tusken who was dipping in and out of consciousness.
"Obi-Wan!" He turned to find Owen standing a few metres behind him. His face was pale, and althought he tried to hide it, Obi-Wan could see his knees shaking uncontrollably. He had obviously had a bad experience at the hands of the Tusken Raiders.
"It's all right. This one is dead and the rest are gone. Your family is safe."
"I-I'm sorry I didn't listen to you, and I'm sorry I was rude to you. It was wrong of me. Had it not been for you, those Tusken's could have murdered us all."
"That's quite alright Owen."
"I will never doubt you again." Obi-Wan was surprised by Owens speech. He didn't think Owen would ever come to like him, in any shape or form yet it seemed like he was warming to him.
"Thank you." Obi-Wan said gracefully. "Shall we go back to sleep?" Owen nodded, and the two men began to walk back to the farm, just as the sun began to rise on the horizon.
Authors Note: Wow, two chapters, four days, eight reviews and nearly 500 hits. To be honest, I wasn't expecting this much of an audience. At least not this early in the story. So, I have to thank everybody who has read, reviewed and added this story to their alert lists. It is very much appreciated. Regarding this chapter, I must say I had trouble thinking of a title. I had wondered whether or not to call it Bonding, because of the Obi/Beru/Owen part which takes up quite a bit of this chapter, or to call it Attack At Dawn. Personally, I think Attack At Dawn sounds better, but that's just my opinion. Which ever title you think is best. Anyway, I go back to school tomorrow, so I wouldn't expect updates to be as regular as they have been so far. Of course, I will be writing, but updates really depend on how much homework I am given and the due dates. Hopefully, I won't be given any, and I will be able to write and update a new chapter either tomorrow or Tuesday. So, keep reading and reviewing but most of all, enjoy the story.