Much thanks to those who reviewed the prologue for this story. I'm hoping to get updates posted every two or three days, so you can look forward to chapter 2 this weekend. Be sure to let me know what your thoughts are on this posting.
Chapter 1 (0 BBY)
It was always an exciting day when the Jawa sand crawlers came around. At least as exciting a day as a moisture farm in the middle of a desert ever saw.
Every so often the Jawas would bring around a varied assortment of droids—most of which were acquired through less than legal means—and the owners of the local moisture farms would gather to see if there was anything in the catch worth haggling over. On this particular day, Luke Skywalker accompanied his uncle Owen in search of a droid that could help them program the moisture evaporators.
"Think they'll be anything good today?"
Uncle Owen grunted noncommittally in response, his eyes squinted against the blistering, midday sun. Thirty meters in the distance, a group of droids stood in the shadow of the great sandcrawler, a handful of jawas muddled around in the background acting as unnecessary guards to the droids already kept under ranks by restraining bolts. Luke and his uncle perused the selection of droids, most of which were unremarkable, before coming to a protocol droid whose gold coating, tarnished though it was, shone in the light. Uncle Owen started grilling the machine while Luke's attention wandered further down the line. His eyes fell on the blue and white astromech droid near the end of the line. He felt an instant connection to the machine and considered asking his uncle if it would suit their needs, but he knew the answer before the question was even asked. Still he couldn't help but feel that he needed that droid for some reason or another.
A few moments later, Luke was trudging back toward the Lars homestead with the gold protocol droid and a boxy, red astromech following. A few seconds later a popping noise and a plume of smoke erupted from the little droid's top.
"Uncle Owen, this droid's got a bad motivator!" Luke called.
Angry words were exchanged between Owen Lars and the head Jawa and eventually the red astromech droid was replace with a sleeker, blue R2 series droid. Luke rallied both droids and started back toward the farm. As they approached home, a short figure came out to greet them, her hair pulled back from her face in a tight braid, her pale blue-hazel eyes shining bright. Her pristine white tunic was offset by the dark brown leggings and matching boots. As the youngest member of the Lars household, Kasya was the spitting image of her mother at that age, but had a voracious spirit that reminded everyone of her grandfather. She was headstrong, outgoing, and loyal to a fault.
"Hi dad!" she called, wrapping her arms around the older man.
"Hey there Kasy," her father greeted. "How was your fieldtrip?"
"It was okay," she shrugged. "Mos Eisley is kind of a boring place and the Old Republic Museum isn't exactly thrilling."
"Still a day out of school though," Luke pointed out. He enjoyed teasing Kasya about being in school, especially since he had finished his required schooling two years prior. Not that his days spent toiling around the moisture farm were any more stimulating.
"True. I guess you found some new droids?"
Owen glanced behind him where the two droids stood silently. "We did, and it's your responsibility to get them cleaned up before dinner."
Kasya groaned, but Luke took his protest even further. "I was going in to Tosche Station to pick up some power converters."
"You can waste time with your friends when your chores are done," Uncle Owen admonished. "If you both work on it, then you'll be done twice as quickly."
"Fine," Kasya lamented. "C'mon, Wormie. Let's get this done."
They made their way to the garage then assumed their usual 'divide & conquer' routine. Luke led the protocol droid over to the vat of oil and set him up to be submerged, all the while listening to his prissy voice ramble on about all the chaos in the galaxy. Kasya took to the smaller, R2 droid and set about cleaning him up.
"You sure are dirty," she commented, scrubbing at a particularly large mark on the droid's dome. The little blue astromech bleeped at her in what could only be deemed a derogatory fashion. "Just pointing it out," she mumbled. "What your name anyhow?"
"That is R2D2," the other droid chimed in. "He is my counterpart. I am C3PO, human-cyborg relations."
"Nice to meet you both," Kasya said. Luke nodded in kind, most of his attention on the spaceship in his hands. Kasya rolled her eyes, her cousin was far too old to be playing with toys but don't try to tell him that. They were 'scale replicas,' not toys. "Hey Luke, it looks like there's something stuck in this data slot."
With a pitiful huff, Luke climbed out of his chair and joined Kasya across the garage. He examined the droid closely, taking note of the slot Kasya was talking about, before trying to pry the device from its place. "It's really jammed in there." He yanked a few more time and eventually the debris was torn loose…
…and a small hologram appeared on the floor between the two humans.
"Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope."
Kasya stared at the image, unblinking. "Um…who is that?"
"No idea," Luke answered. "She's beautiful though. Artoo, who is this?"
The little droid rattled something off, to which Threepio translated. "He says she was a passenger on our last convoy. Someone of great important, I believe, but it's old data. Nothing to worry about."
Luke watched the short hologram replay itself over and over again, mesmerized by the tiny figure. "She sounds like she's in trouble. Maybe I should play back to whole clip."
"Luke, this hologram is probably years old. You wouldn't be able to find her even if you tried." But he wasn't listening to her, instead focusing his attention on Artoo and the mystery hologram.
"Sir, Artoo suggests removing his restraining bolt so he can access the complete data file."
"Sounds like a bad idea," Kasya mumbled.
Luke studied the little droid, weighing his options for a few seconds. "All right. I suppose you're too little to run off on me." He grabbed a tool off the floor nearby and set about removing the restraining bolt with a few twists and a little elbow grease. Almost instantly the bluish hologram disappeared from sight. "Hey where'd she go? Bring her back."
Artoo twiddled something in a mess of beeps that sounded decidedly incensed. Luke looked back at Threepio for a translation.
"Artoo, you play back the complete message for Master Luke," the protocol droid demanded. "What message? The one you carry in your rusty innards." Artoo beeped in response. "It appears that the restraining bolt has short circuited his systems. He seems to have misplaced the data."
"Good going, Luke," Kasya laughed. "You have fun fixing him, I'm gonna go help mom with dinner."
Dinner in the Lars household was particularly tense that evening, especially when Luke brought up the topic of his application to the Imperial military academy.
"We've got more than enough droids to handle the harvest," Luke reasoned.
"You have to know I need you here, Luke. You can go to the academy next season, I promise."
"But that's a whole 'nother year." He pushed back from the small table and climbed to his feet.
"Luke, where are you going?" Aunt Beru asked.
"Looks like I'm going nowhere." He left the table, sulking as he crossed the courtyard and disappeared from sight.
"Someone's moody," Kasi grumbled, shoveling another fork-full of dinner into her mouth.
"That's enough, Kasya."
After helping her mother clear the table and clean the supper dishes, Kasya snuck outside to find her wayward cousin. After a few moments of searching, she finally located him on the low retainer wall that surrounded the entrance to her father's workshop, staring at the dropping suns. She slowed her steps and approached him from behind, careful not to make a sound.
"I know you're there, Kasy." The sigh that answered him brought a small smile to Luke's lips.
"How do you do that?" she asked. "How do you always know?"
He shrugged and patted the empty space beside him. Kasya perched herself on the crumbling wall and watched the setting suns for a few moments. "I know you're upset, Luke, but why do you want to go to the Naval Academy anyhow? You wouldn't fit in there with all those stuffy-shirt, Imperials anyhow."
"It's hard to explain," he sighed. Kasya gave him that looks that said 'try me.' "Fine. It's not about going to the Academy so much as it is about getting off this rock."
"Why are you so obsessed with leaving home? I know it's not the most exciting place to live, but it's still home."
Luke shook his head. "I just feel like there's something better out there waiting for me. Some big adventure and if I don't get out of here it's going to pass me up."
"Like the rebellion?" Kasya suggested. Luke ducked his head but didn't say anything. It wasn't a topic most people discussed openly; you never knew who was listening. "It's no secret that that's where you'd end up. I think that's why dad doesn't want you to go."
"Probably," he huffed. They sat in silence for a few moments, listening to the native sounds of the desert surrounding them. Kasya leaned over and laid her head against her cousin's shoulder, closing her eyes and letting the suns' last rays warm her skin.
"We should probably head inside," Luke suggested, but made no attempt to move. "I've got to check on those new droids before I turn in for the night."
"Want some help?" she asked, laying her hand over her mouth and stifling a yawn.
"Nah, I think I can handle two droids," Luke laughed. "Isn't it almost your bedtime anyhow?"
Kasya stuck her tongue out, but rose to her feet and started trudging toward the house. She threw a glance over her shoulder and noticed that he hadn't moved yet. "Hey, Luke?"
"Yeah?"
"I just wanted to say that uh…if you do leave, I'll miss you."
Luke smiled, reading the unspoken sentiment in her words. "I love you too, Kasy." He watched her disappear into the homestead before turning back to his vista. He didn't know why, but Luke felt like something was transpiring. He didn't know where or when, but something was happening that was sure to shake up life on this dusty old rock.