Reborn: A Hive of Villainy
The vision that Gandalf witnessed did not hinder his consciousness. While young Luke and Obi-Wan talked about a strange hologram that Artoo projected, Gandalf thought more and more about the Force, until he was brought out of his trance by a question, coming from Obi-Wan. The old man gave Gandalf a strange look, but then realized what he was doing.
"The man is from another world," Obi-Wan thought, quickly. "He has to know what he's capable of."
Gandalf looked at him in slight confusion. "What do I think about the situation, you ask? Well, I haven't any sort of idea at the moment."
"I can only imagine how strange your journey has been, friend," Old Ben assumed, with empathy and after a short moment of thought. "Gandalf, I must go to the planet Alderaan, in order to seek council with an old friend of mine on the state of the Rebellion, and you might need to come with me. I don't wish to leave you alone here in the middle of the Jundland Wastes, without any knowledge of the terrain or lay of the land. "
"Yes," nodded Gandalf, in agreement. "These lands are unknown to me, and it would be helpful if I were to traverse them with someone that I've at the least made an acquaintance with."
"Good, then it's settled," Obi-Wan stated with a firm tone as he looked over to Luke. "We leave as soon as you're ready, my boy. The rest of my belongings don't matter anymore. I'm leaving this planet behind, forever. I strongly advise that you come with us, and learn about the Force."
The poor young man, saddened, knew that his uncle, Owen Lars, wouldn't let him leave this planet with the old man in a million years. Owen, for some reason, couldn't stand the recluse, and found him to be a bad influence on his growing nephew. Luke wanted to leave the planet so much, and he knew he'd be blowing a big opportunity if he didn't follow Obi-Wan and Gandalf, but he also knew how smart his uncle was. The young man was convinced that Owen could find Luke anywhere, even if it were in the most isolated system in the galaxy. No matter where it was, Owen would grab Luke by his shirt and drag him back to the old moisture farm to help him with the farming for another cycle. In fact, Luke was surprised that his uncle hadn't done that already. It was almost halfway through the day, and there was no sign of Owen. Typically, if Luke was gone for even an hour at any time before mid-day, Owen would go out looking for him and eventually find him within half that time. Obi-Wan looked at the young man for some agreement, but Luke could only appease the old man.
"Look, I can take you as far as Anchorhead," sighed Luke. "You can get a transport there to Mos Eisley, or wherever you're going."
"You must do what you feel is right, of course," Obi-Wan responded, sadly. "I'm ready to leave whenever you are, Luke."
Luke soon woke up Threepio and got both droids into his landspeeder, but before the group left, Obi-Wan wanted to have a word with Gandalf, and as Luke prepared for the ride to Anchorhead, the two old men sat in Ob-Wan's old, soon-to-be abandoned house, discussing the Force.
"I know what you just saw, my friend," claimed Obi-Wan, to the confusion of Gandalf. "You just interacted with the Force in a manner that normal individuals don't."
Gandalf, looking stunned at the old man, was speechless. How Obi-Wan felt the presence of Gandalf's Force vision, the wizard knew not. "I honestly don't know how you saw what was happening in my head. You were actually able to witness my vision?"
"I didn't witness your experience," Obi-Wan claimed, in response. "I stimulated it. I was the catalyst that helped you understand what the Force is. Tell me, Gandalf... why do you think you're here?"
"What do you mean?" Gandalf asked. "I was from another world, as I said, and I was sent here as a test."
"My apologies," replied Obi-Wan. "I meant to ask you why you think you're in my house. Do you think that I find random strangers out in the middle of the desert, bring them back here, and nurse them back to health on a regular basis?"
"Well, I…"
"No, I doubt," continued the Jedi. "I have neither the experience nor the resources to do such things. I'm not a medical genius, Gandalf. I brought you back here because I felt a great presence within you... something I hadn't felt in years. Not since the last time I saw the Grand Master, himself, did I feel such a strong presence in the Force, and I didn't want that presence to be corrupted."
"You're meaning to say that I can use the Force?" the wizard asked.
"Yes," Kenobi replied. "You have the potential to become a great Jedi, Gandalf. In your vision, did you see the circle, and the candle?"
Gandalf was able to recollect that vision, and take in what he saw. "Yes, I saw them. What do they mean?"
"The circle represents the Jedi Council. Many years ago, we discussed everything together, in complete solidarity. All matters of the Force were brought up there. The Council was where we brought our energy together, in order to create a calm and unifying experience in the Force."
"And what of the candle?" asked Gandalf, with many more questions still in his mind.
"Ah, now that has to do with the events that will hopefully play out soon," Obi-Wan stated. "You will learn all this when you're ready, my friend. For now, we'll have to leave."
"Obi-Wan, this is not my first time working with a higher power. I hope you know that. In my world… in Middle-Earth, I served a being called the All-Father, or Eru, as some called him. Through him, I was made, and through him, I gained wisdom," Gandalf explained, as Obi-Wan stood up, ready to leave.
"You seem very wise, and very experienced, and it would be a lost opportunity if you were to be corrupted by the Dark Side of the Force, which you'll learn about soon enough," responded Ob-Wan. Gandalf stood up and followed the old Jedi, who was much shorter than he, but with just as much wisdom in his stature. When leaving the house, Gandalf noticed the wide, rocky desert that surrounded him. The landscape, the strange vehicle that floated over the hot, dusty sand before the group, and the two peculiar droids that sat in the back of the vehicle all made Gandalf feel unorthodox about the realm that he was placed in. The group got on the landspeeder as Luke finished checking all of the rations he still had, since the trip from the Dune Sea to the town of Anchorhead could turn out to be a long and arduous one if all of the needed materials weren't acknowledged. The young man, taking one last check of his vehicle, hopped in and started up the engines. The sound of the motor hurt Gandalf's ears, as he wasn't accustomed to how advanced the technology was in these worlds. Luke, looking back to Gandalf with excitement, mistook the wizard's negative reaction to the speeder for a positive one.
"I know!" Luke yelled, happily. "She can really sing, can't she?"
"I don't think he can hear you," Obi-Wan stated, with a hand on Luke's shoulder. "Best to leave him be, for now."
Luke nodded to him in agreement and focused on the terrain in front of him. Luke, like his father before him, excelled at vehicular operation, flying, driving, and maintenance with machines, in general. One could say it was a trait of the Skywalker family, and Luke really knew how to stimulate praise from the rest of his friends, because of it. As he was driving along, the young man saw a few T-16's flying overhead, probably heading towards Beggar's Canyon. He pointed toward the airspeeders and started talking to Obi-Wan about them, as the engine on the vehicle gradually became quieter. Luke wanted to keep up the conversation with the old man, before he said his last goodbyes.
"Those Skyhoppers up there are top-of-the-line, Ben," explained Skywalker, as Obi-Wan looked up at the vehicles. "I've found a way to modify mine when I get it back up and running, again. I can imagine you remember what happened to it."
"Oh, yes, the time where you flew it through the Canyon and almost got yourself killed?" Obi-Wan responded, quickly. This irritated Luke, for a moment, but he remembered that Obi-Wan offered to give young Luke the much-needed parts to repair it, to the denial of his uncle, of course.
"Hah! You still wanted to help me out, old-timer, and I can't say that I'm not thankful you tried. Once I get that baby fixed up and overhauled, she'll be able to get back at those bucketheads for hogging my game while I was out of the business," chuckled Luke, while Obi-Wan looked at him in distress.
"My boy, that's dangerous! You know how powerful those blasters are, they'll shoot you right out of the sky!" Old Ben warned, as he realized what he was saying. "Oh, look at me, I'm sounding just like your uncle. He has a point, though, Luke. You've got to look out for your own safety. I've no doubt in my mind that you've some toughness in you, lad, but even the strongest of us fall. I've seen it happen, before, and it's horrifying."
When Gandalf heard this, he remembered the young man in the vision he had, the one with the scar on his eye. He then remembered the history of his own world, and how the One Ring corrupted a very good man. Isildur, who bore the One Ring directly after the Dark Lord, was a good, kind-hearted, and loyal man, and a strong warrior, but even he succumbed to the power of the Enemy. Even Melkor, strongest of the Ainur, was corrupted by his own wishes. Even the powerful Gandalf the Grey fell in battle.
"All too true," added the wizard, as Obi-Wan looked back at him. Luke, understanding the point, addressed a statement to the blue droid.
"Artoo, what've we got comin' up, here?" the young man asked. The droid beeped and whistled, with Threepio chiming into the conversation.
"Artoo says that the town of Anchorhead is still a good distance away, but there is a Sandcrawler just up ahead," Threepio explained. "If I were you sir, I'd check there for supplies we might need for the journey home."
"Good idea," Luke concluded, noticing the giant Sandcrawler about a mile or two up ahead. "Ben, I'll have to make a stop up here to see what the Jawas might have that I need."
"I don't remember ever seeing a transport so large," speculated Gandalf, looking at the ship with amazement. "What sort of supplies are held there?"
"Oh, just simple things," answered Luke, as Obi-Wan looked at the motionless transport vessel with distraught feelings. "Spare parts, food rations, some basic weapons, and a few droids. Nothing special, but the trip home from Anchorhead isn't gonna be short, that's for sure."
"Luke, I'll come out with you, there's something not quite right about the area up ahead," Obi-Wan said, to Luke's confusion. The speeder approached the large transport vehicle, which, when looked upon at a closer distance, looked to be raided. Weapons and bodies lay on the desert terrain that surrounded the Sandcrawler, and that led the two to speculate about how all this happened. Gandalf, too, exited the landspeeder, looking at all the junk that lay around on the ground.
"It looks like sandpeople did this, all right," speculated Luke, as he pointed to the different objects and clues that were scattered around the area. "Look, here are Gaffi sticks… Bantha tracks. It's just… I've never heard of them hitting anything this big before."
Obi-Wan crouched and looked at the tracks, realizing that the clues spread out around the Sandcrawler were misleading. "They didn't, but we're meant to think they did."
"In what way?" Gandalf responded. Obi-Wan pointed to the tracks and examined them further.
"These tracks are side by side," he explained. "Sandpeople always ride in single file to hide their numbers."
"These are the same Jawas that sold us Artoo and Threepio!" Luke realized. Obi-Wan looked at the Sandcrawler and noticed blast marks on the side of it. He went over to the vessel and examined them further.
"And these blast points… too accurate for sandpeople," noted the old Jedi as he inspected the area. "Only Imperial stormtroopers are so precise."
"These creatures look like they were nearly mutilated," Gandalf added, as he examined the bodies. "I can tell that this was a bloodbath."
"Why would Imperial troops want to slaughter Jawas?" wondered Luke.
"Whoever came by here must have wanted a heavy ransom," Gandalf explained. "Much like the villainous Orc grunts of my world, their motives become even more deadly than normal when they're after something of a greater importance."
At this remark, Luke realized what the wizard meant. He looked back at the dead bodies of the Jawas and then over to the droids, who were now inspecting another area filled with small corpses of the hooded natives of Tatooine. With a sudden expression of fear, the young man began to put two and two together, as Obi-Wan and Gandalf looked to him with sullen faces.
"If they traced the droids here, they may have learned who they sold them to," deducted Luke, who uneasily was able to reach a final, terrible solution. "And that would lead them… home!"
With a horrified expression, Luke sprinted over to the speeder and quickly fired up the engine as Gandalf and Obi-Wan attempted to stop the young man before it was too late. Obi-Wan, in particular, was worried about the situation at hand. He called to Luke, who flew the X-34 landspeeder away as quickly as he could. The vehicle sped off with its owner, heading in the direction of Luke's homestead. Obi-Wan looked at Gandalf with a frustrated expression, hoping to get some solidarity, while the wizard looked even more stunned.
"That boy is going to get himself killed," Kenobi panted, as he and Gandalf started to pile up the Jawa corpses in order to burn them together. "At least he won't be long. His homestead isn't far from here."
Threepio shortened his distance to Artoo in order for him to whisper a comment on the situation to his old friend. "I think he's doomed."
After a short while, the group finished their task, and with the help of Artoo's tools, they were able to burn the bodies above a makeshift pyre. Soon afterwards, Luke returned to them with a sad, but knowing expression. The young man explained that the Empire had killed his aunt and uncle, and because of this, he had no place on this planet anymore. So, he took up Obi-Wan's noble offer of adventure, and the group changed their destination to the closer destination of Mos Eisley, as Luke didn't want to waste money on a transport in Anchorhead. After a short detour, the group were able to get to the town in one piece, and when they arrived at the outskirts of town, they looked down at the Imperial-occupied settlement.
"Mos Eisley Spaceport – You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy," Obi-Wan noted. The group came into town on Luke's speeder, and were stopped by an Imperial garrison, who were checking everyone's papers and belongings, so they might find a couple of runaway droids. Luke felt uneasy, because he knew that the troopers would recognize Artoo and See Threepio, and take them so that the vital information hidden in Artoo would belong to the Empire. A stormtrooper came up to the group, making this the first time Gandalf had ever seen one of those white, armored scoundrels, and the wizard was horrified.
"A faceless army?" Gandalf thought, in question. "What a terrible way to enforce the law onto innocents."
The stormtrooper asked about Luke's droids, which were vouched for by the young man, but the Imperials wouldn't have it.
"Let me see your identification," the stormtrooper ordered. Luke, desperate to find his ID, rummaged around his belongings, but Obi-Wan had other plans. The old man, sitting next to Luke, wove his hand in the air slightly and addressed the stormtrooper with a calm, controlled voice.
"You don't need to see his identification," the Jedi stated. It was at this moment that Gandalf felt a presence coming off of Obi-Wan, a presence that felt like it was the Jedi's willpower.
"We don't need to see his identification," the stormtrooper said, in response. Gandalf and Luke were both completely stunned by this.
"These aren't the droids you're looking for," said Obi-Wan to the stormtrooper. Luke looked back at Gandalf for some knowledge of what was going on, but the wizard knew little about it, either.
"These aren't the droids we're looking for," said the stormtrooper. Again, Luke was stunned by this, and so was Gandalf.
"He can go about his business," Obi-Wan continued.
"You can go about your business," stated the trooper. Obi-Wan then looked at Luke with a sort of commanding expression.
"Move along," ordered Obi-Wan. The stormtrooper then motioned for the speeder to pass, with a wave of his hand. The speeder went on its way, and Gandalf had to figure out what happened.
"Obi-Wan, what in the world did you just do?" asked the wizard. Obi-Wan, with a face that looked as if it were trying to avoid attention, responded quietly, for there were still stormtroopers around.
"Best not to talk about it. You'll learn in due time."
"The Force, perhaps?" Gandalf thought. The old wizard let it go for now, but he knew that it would be brought up at a later point. After about two miles of traveling through town, the group got to the cantina. It was a large, tan-colored building, like most of the other buildings in Mos Eisley, that had an entrance on the side. The group of travelers went inside, in order to find their much-needed pilot. The cantina was dark, and filled with a great variation of aliens from across the galaxy. The group went up to the counter to talk to the bartender, who ordered Threepio and Artoo to wait outside, due to some prejudice against droids. While Gandalf looked around at the melting pot of different creatures, Obi-Wan looked around for someone that could help them get off of Tatooine.
"Remember," Gandalf thought, as he looked at the strange language on what appeared to be the menu. "Do not stare."
As the two old men went about their business. Luke was grabbed by a hulking, hideous-looking blue creature with an even more hideous mouth. That creature and another awkward-looking man, who seemed to have a nose that looked like that of a hog's, threatened the nervous Luke, who was knocked across the room into an empty table when Obi-Wan tried to interject. With quick grace, Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber and cut off the arm of the large blue beast, who screamed in pain as he ran out of the bar. With ease, Obi-Wan shut off the sword and placed it back onto his utility belt. Gandalf, who had been holding back the hog-nosed man, looked at the old Jedi in awe.
"You have one, as well?" Gandalf asked, with a stunned expression. The creature he was holding back ran out of the cantina, yelling.
"Yes," answered Obi-Wan, quietly. "I've had it for years. Try to pay it no mind, for now."
Luke was able to stand after the short skirmish, and looked at the two old men, seeing the tougher side in both of them. After the people in the bar went back to their normal routine of chattering to each other, a tall creature went up to the group. Gandalf thought he was going to attack Luke, like the other two creatures, but he seemed calm, and even a little friendly. He was very large, and had thick, brown hair covering his entire body. Obi-Wan introduced Luke and Gandalf to the creature, who towered above all of them, even Gandalf.
"This is Chewbacca, he's first mate on a ship that might suit our needs," Kenobi claimed. The creature growled happily as he directed the group towards a dark corner of the bar, where a lone, hardy figure sat.
"Who might we have here?" Gandalf asked, looking at the brown-haired man. The man responded to the wizard with a tough voice, and a grin.
"Han Solo."