Chapter Eleven

After a few days in the Dune Sea, Jim turned around and headed back for the farmsteads. They were close to the Lars homestead when they saw smoke.

"Hey, Jim? What's out there?"

"Nothing, except my uncle's farmstead."

"Should we check it out?"

"Yeah, I think we should." Smoke this far out into the desert was never a good sign. They reached the farmstead to find the whole place up in smoke. The buildings had been torched. Off to one side of the garage-dome, Jim saw two shapes in the smoke. When the smoke blew clear, he wasn't the only one to turn around. A few of his Cadets leaned over and vomited on the sand. Getting his wits, Jim called home. They were safe, but he told his father about Owen and Beru.

"What should we do, Dad?"
"If you can, bury the bodies so scavengers don't desecrate their remains."

"I think we can move them, I'll see." He wiped his face, "I'm sorry, Dad."

"Is Luke there?"

"No, and no sign of him around the house."

"I'll come out there and help you, then." Anakin sounded grim and sad. Jim nodded, signed off, and waved over Bones and the other Medical students. He explained the plan and they got busy moving the skeletal, charred remains of his aunt and uncle. His father arrived and they dug two graves for the Lars.

Luke arrived home while they were digging and explained everything to them. Yesterday, he and Uncle Owen had purchased two droids, a golden protocol droid who didn't know how to shut up and a chirpy, feisty R2 unit. R2-D2 had run away during the night and Luke had taken C-3PO to find the little astro-droid. They'd discovered R2, run into some Tusken Raiders, and been rescued by Obi-Wan Kenobi. After retrieving a message from R2's memory, they'd set off for Mos Eisley, when they had discovered a burned-out Sand Crawler and it's slain crew of Jawas. That had sent Luke running back to the Lars homestead. Jim pulled his frantic brother aside while his father and the Cadets finished burying Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen.

"Luke, you said you retrieved a message from R2's memory. Who was it from?"

"It's Leia." Luke looked over, "She's in trouble, Jim."

"How?"

"She's been taken captive by the Empire. Who knows what they'll do to her." Luke seemed torn. Jim looked around. Leia was in trouble, and he was…oh, wait a minute! Anakin came over, having seen them chatting, and they told him everything. He gave Luke and Jim his blessing to go with Obi-Wan and rescue Leia from the Empire.

"Get my Cadets to the Alliance, I'll take responsibility for them if Starfleet Command finds out what we're doing." Jim knew Uhura and Bones wouldn't like it at all, but he had to do this alone. After convincing Bones that he would be fine, Jim set off to find Obi-Wan. Basic Training had just taken a steep turn into real-life experience in a live combat situation.

When Luke Skywalker returned with his brother, Obi-Wan Kenobi felt nothing but relief and a tiny smidge of pride. Part of him was surprised that Anakin trusted him with both of his sons, but realized that Jim would have come along anyway. Luke agreed to take him to Mos Eisley, but there was no way three Humans and two droids could ride comfortably in the land-speeder. Jim was still carrying his gear and offered to hike into the Spaceport. From their rendezvous, it was a trek of roughly two hours, perhaps more. Obi-Wan knew Jim was capable of making the trek by himself, and Luke waited until his brother was out of sight before setting off. They stayed wide of Jim's trail, but left him a dust-trail to follow so he wouldn't get lost.