Soundtrack - Main Title
A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away...
IT IS A PERIOD OF CIVIL WAR
FOURTEEN YEARS AFTER THE MASSACRE OF THE JEDI, SMALL REBEL CELLS HAVE FORMED TO FIGHT AGAINST THE EVIL GALACTIC EMPIRE.
THE SURVIVING JEDI HAVE SCATTERED ACROSS THE GALAXY AND ARE HUNTED BY DARK SIDE USERS CALLED THE INQUISITORS, AGENTS OF THE EMPIRE TRAINED BY THE APPRENTICE OF EMPEROR PALPATINE.
PURSUED BY AN INQUISITOR, ONE REBEL RACES TO SAFETY IN HER STARSHIP, UNKNOWINGLY GOING TO THE ONE PLACE THAT NOT ONLY HOLDS THE LAST HOPE FOR THE GALAXY, BUT THE LAST HOPE FOR THE JEDI...
The sight of Tatooine was a sorrowful one. He had lived there once. He didn't talk about it much, but when he did, it was never anything good. However, she didn't have time to think much about it because her ship was damaged and she was going to crash if she didn't get control of it.
She'd learned how to crash ships from her Master - he called himself the best pilot in the galaxy, but he was much better at crashing ships than flying them - there was a way to angle a ship in the fast decent so minimal damage will be dealt.
The ship crashed. Smoke filled the air and sparks flashed from loose wires.
The Togruta stood from the pilot's seat and exited her ship to see the damage. The Inquisitor had hit her ship pretty bad; she needed to quickly repair the important stuff and leave before her enemy catches up. She had spotted a small town nearby as she crashed, so she quickly went in her ship to grab a poncho and canteen before heading towards the town.
Soundtrack - The Desert
The townspeople seemed nice enough. No one gave her odd looks - possibly because they're used to travelers coming through - and some even gave her kind smiles. She found a small space port that seemed to be staffed by a bunch of teenagers.
A young brunette girl sat behind the desk at the front, looking bored as she cleaned dirt out of her fingernails while a group of boys in the side room playing a game. A dark haired boy and a blonde boy stood at a work table in the middle of the room as the repaired device while a dark skinned girl leaned close to the blonde boy as she watched them. The ones at the work table looked up at her.
"Hi, I'm Biggs," the dark haired boy said with a smile - he looked to be older than his peers. "How can I help you?"
"I need some parts to repair my ship," she replied. "And some tools if you have any."
"What kind of ship do you have?"
She told him the model.
"I believe we have parts for that. Luke, mind helping me?"
Luke - the blonde boy - nodded and stepped away from the work table. The Togruta told the two boys what parts she needed before going to the front desk to pay the brunette girl. She turned as Luke approached her with the box of parts and tools.
"Need any help?" He asked with an eager smile.
Her first instinct was to tell him no - it would be safer for these kids to have minimal interaction with her in case the Inquisitor came by asking questions - but the Force was telling her to accept his offer.
"Some help would be nice," she said with a smile.
Luke's eager smile turned into an excited grin as he followed her outside. "Where's your ship?"
"I crashed just out there." She pointed out into the Dune Sea.
"That's a long way. We can take my speeder."
The Togruta raised an eyebrow as she followed the boy to a crudely repaired speeder sitting nearby. "Aren't you a little young to be driving?"
Luke snorted. "On Tatooine?" He said as he put the box in the back of his speeder.
She supposed he had a point. It would be crazy to think the Hutts would care about something like minors driving.
"Nice ship," Luke said after he jumped out of the landspeeder. "Doesn't look too damaged though. Did you say you crashed?"
"I learned how to crash ships from my brother. He claimed to be the best pilot in the galaxy-" the Togruta picked up the box of parts with a reminiscent smile "-but really he was better at crashing than flying."
She looked at Luke to see him staring up at her ship, his blue eyes gazing at it in wonder. He lifted his hand to touch one of the blaster burns.
"Look at all this carbon scoring," he said in slight awe. "You must see a lot of action."
"I have," the Togruta replied as she approached him. She set the box down in the sand and stood with her hands on her hips as she looked at the ship that had seen better days. "A little too much if you ask me."
She had been fighting since she was fourteen. The Clone Wars had been a big part of her life, and the downfall of the Jedi and the rise of the Empire marked the start of another war; and the Clone Wars only happened so the Empire could rise. All that fighting. All that pain and suffering. It all happened for nothing.
"We should get started," Luke said as he looked around the empty desert. "We do not want to be here if Jawas come by. Or even worse, Tusken Raiders."
She had no idea what a Jawa or a Tusken Raider was, and she wasn't sure she wanted to find out.
It turned out to letting Luke help her was a good thing - the work was fast and he seemed to know what he was doing; in fact, he even suggested modifications to make her ship faster and add some weapons - since they finished the repairs while the twin suns were still in the sky.
"I'm lucky I found you," she said as Luke climbed out from the engine compartment. "I would've been out here all day."
"It's no problem!" He replied as he wiped the grease off his face with his sleeve. "I just hope my family doesn't find out I was helping a stranger."
The Togruta crossed her arms as she leaned against the wall. "Y'know, you're pretty crafty. You remind me of someone I used to know."
"Really? Who?"
"My older brother, Anakin."
Luke grinned. "My father's name was Anakin!"
"Crazy coincidence. But this was the Clone Wars general Anakin Skywalker."
"Wow! I didn't know my father had the same name as a Clone Wars general!"
"Huh?" She undressed her arms and stood straight.
For the first time, she really looked at the boy, and the more she did, the more she saw Anakin. She saw him in Luke's face framed by smuged grease, in his bright blue eyes, in his smile that was as warm as a sun. But she also saw her, the woman who was the closest thing she had to a mother. She saw her in the softness in his features, in his smaller frame, in the kindness of his eyes.
"What else can you tell me about your parents?"
Luke's smile faded and she's hit with a wave of sorrow that wasn't her own. It was Luke projecting through the Force, and she wonders why she hadn't sensed him before. He was Force-sensitive and very powerful.
He shrugged before he started gathering the tools. "My father was a navigator on a spice freighter, at least that's what my uncle tells me. He died just before I was born. I don't know anything about my mother other that she's dead."
Her heart dropped - she could sense that he craved to know his parents. Luke picked up the box and she followed him down the ramp.
"Are you leaving now?" He asked as he set the box in his landspeeder.
She should. She should leave right now. But she couldn't.
What if the Inquisitor followed her trail and discovered Luke? He's a powerful Force-sensitive. If his last name is Skywalker, and he is Anakin's son... there's no telling what the Empire would do.
She needed to stay at least another day and try and convince Luke to leave with her.
"I need to get some supplies," she said. Luke turned to her. "Food is extremely important when traveling through space."
"I know where you can get some."
She smiled. "I'm Ahsoka by the way. Ahsoka Tano."
He grinned. "I'm Luke. Luke Skywalker."
It was near sunset when Luke returned home. He had told his aunt and uncle that he was going to hang out with his friends all day since he had finished his chores early, but he ended up hanging out with Ahsoka all day. He thought she was the coolest person he had ever met. She told him some stories of her adventures in the galaxy and a little about this General Anakin Skywalker that shared the same name as his father. He sounded really cool.
After parking his landspeeder, he rushed inside to see that his aunt and uncle were already at the table.
"Sorry I'm late!" He said as he approached the table. "I lost track of time!"
He moved to sit down, but his aunt stopped him. "Go clean up first."
He realized that he was covered with grim and grease. With a sheepish smile, he ran off to clean up and rushed back to have dinner with his guardians.
"How was your day?" Beru asked as Luke started filling his plate.
"It was good. This traveler came into Tosche's Station today to get parts for her ship. She seemed cool. She said I reminded her of her brother. Did you know my dad had the same name as a Clone Wars general?"
Owen and Beru shared a look, but Luke didn't notice as he went on to eat his dinner.
"Who was this traveler?" Owen asked.
"A Togruta named Ahsoka Tano. She was nice."
"Well, be careful," Owen said. "Just because someone's nice to you, doesn't mean they don't have any ill intentions."
Luke nodded. His guardians were protective over him, especially his uncle - he had a feeling it was because of what happened to his grandmother - but he didn't sense anything bad about Ahsoka. She felt warm, maybe a little sad, but he didn't get that same feeling from her that he got from slavers, spice dealers, and other bad people they normally get on Tatooine.
"Biggs and Tank are talking about joining the Academy," Luke said to change the subject. "They said they'll let students in as young as fourteen and they even allow scholarships. I was thinking after next year's harvest I could send in my application."
"We'll have to wait and see what happens at next year's harvest," Owen replied. "We're still trying to make up from that drought a few years ago."
"What about the money from last year's podrace? Didn't we buy new vaporators?"
"Yes, and a lot of that water went to paying our late taxes."
Luke frowned. The taxes Jabba made them pay were so unfair, and he could go podracing again to win them more money, but he was grounded last time and told to "never pull a stunt like that again."
"What about when I'm eighteen? You think we'll be caught up by then?"
"We'll see."
It wasn't a no... but it also wasn't a yes.
Luke quickly finished his dinner and stood.
"Where are you going?" Beru asked.
"To get started on my nightly chores," he replied. Then mumbled, "I'm not going anywhere else anytime soon."
He walked off.
"Owen, we're not going to be able to keep him here forever," Beru said. "Farm life has never been for him. He's too much like his father."
"That's what I'm afraid of."
Soundtrack - Binary Sunset
Luke trudged out of the domed building as the giant twin suns of Tatooine slowly disappeared behind a distant dune range. He walked over to a ledge to look at the sky, sighing as he watched the two suns set.
Getting off Tatooine was always a dream of his. He wanted to fly, to see the stars and explore different worlds. He wanted to be a pilot like his father.
His mind went to Ahsoka and he wondered if maybe... just maybe... the Anakin Skywalker she was talking about was his father. Maybe he wasn't a navigator on a spice freighter. Maybe he was an important general in the Clone Wars - Ahsoka had said he was a pilot too. But he couldn't imagine why his aunt and uncle would lie to him like that.
Luke looked down and headed back to the domed house, pushing his thoughts away.
Soundtrack - The Inquisitor
Hunting Jedi is what Inquisitors were trained to do and she was best at it, winning the favor of both the Grand Inquisitor and their Master, which was why she couldn't just let this opportunity slip her by.
She stood on the bridge of her Star Destroyer with her hands behind her back as she stared at the brown planet behind the transparisteel.
"Sir, we've tracked Tano's ship here," the Stormtrooper commander informed her. "Would you like me to take a squad down to look for her?"
Tano was smart, resourceful, and one of the best warriors in the galaxy. She would take their troops down without breaking a sweat. No, she needed to be smart about this.
"No, send Rabé," she replied.
Rabé was one of the best spies the Empire had who used to be in service of a former Queen of Naboo. She wasn't sure how the former Handmaiden came to be in service of the Empire, nor did she care - Rabé got the job done, and that's all that mattered.
"Yes, sir."
The commander walked away as she continued to stare at the planet Tatooine. A smirk played at her lips. Tano would not escape her. Not this time.
Ahsoka couldn't stop thinking about Luke. The time she spent with him the day before only confirmed that he was Anakin's son. He was so much like his father in many ways, and one of those ways was his Force-signature. How had the Empire not discovered him yet? He was so bright.
She had thought about her next move all night and came to conclusion in the morning: she was going to have to tell him the truth and convince him to leave with her. The Inquisitor chasing her would no doubt discover him and whisk him away to be corrupted by the Dark Side.
Ahsoka slipped on her poncho and left her ship to go find Luke - she would not let anyone harm him.
Soundtrack - Tales of a Jedi Knight
It was well past sunrise when Ahsoka left her ship - she remembered Luke saying he lived on a moisture farm, so he should've been done with all his chores. She let the Force guide her to where Luke was and eventually found him. He was at Tosche's Station, around the back and working on his landspeeder.
He seemed to sense her presence and looked up at her then grinned. "Hey! You're still here!"
Ahsoka smiled. "Yep. I need to talk to you about something."
Luke slightly tilted his head. "What about?"
Ahsoka looked around. Anchorhead was small, but still anyone could be around and listening, not to mention his group of friends. "Is there anywhere private we can go?"
"It's just me here," Luke said as he closed the compartment he was working in. "The others went out to Beggar's Canyon."
"You didn't go with them?"
Luke started putting his tools and parts into a box. "I needed to think. I think best when I'm working on something alone." He wiped his hands off with a rag before turning to her. "What'd you want to talk about?"
"The Anakin Skywalker I've been telling you about, he's your father."
Luke's eyes widened. "What? How can you be so sure?"
Ahsoka crossed her arms. "Other than the fact that you look like him, act like him, and even carry yourself like him?"
She felt him projecting his shock through the Force. She was going to have to teach him how to block that. He was too powerful to leave untrained, and his emotions were intense.
Luke sat down on an overturned box. "Okay, so... my father was a general in the Clone Wars. Why would my aunt and uncle lie to me?"
"To protect you."
"But my last name is Skywalker - I'm sure that would come up at some point."
"I'm not so sure." Ahsoka approached Luke and sat down next to him. "Have you ever heard of the Jedi?"
He looked confused. "The Jedi?"
"For over a thousand generations the Jedi were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. They gave hope to people. That's why the Empire wiped them out and suppressed any evidence of their existence."
"So... my father was a... a Jedi?"
Ahsoka nodded with a reminiscent smile. "One of the best. I was his Padawan and he taught me everything I know. Well, almost everything."
"How did he die?"
"I heard he died protecting the younglings at the temple when the clones were turned on us." Ahsoka turned to him. "Luke, you're very powerful - I can sense it. You need to come with me. I'm being chased by an Inquisitor, a Jedi hunter. If she finds you... I don't even want to think about what will happen."
Luke jumped up. "Go with you? I-I can't just leave! I have... chores and... stuff."
Ahsoka raised an eyebrow. That was the weakest argument she had ever heard.
"My uncle won't even let me apply for the Academy! He's not going to let me go with someone he doesn't even know, even if you knew my father!"
"I could talk to him for you. Your safety must be his number one concern, so I can convince him that you'll be safe with me."
Luke snorted. "Good luck with that - he's as stubborn as a bantha."
Ahsoka lightly smiled as she stood. "Just think about it. I'll stay here until you give me your answer."
She walked away to leave Luke with his thoughts and prayed to the Force that he would go with her.
Soundtrack - The Queen and Palpatine
Rabé watched Ahsoka leave the space port. She had not bought anything, which meant she was there to talk to someone. She would have to see who this someone was.
Luke picked up the box of tools and parts and brought it inside the station. He didn't know why he didn't immediately jump on Ahsoka's offer - she was practically giving him everything he had always wanted; a chance to explore the galaxy and know more about his father.
He set the box down on a work table. Maybe it was fear? Yes, it was fear. He had never left Tatooine in his life and now that the idea of leaving became real...
Luke shook his head. "Luke Skywalker, you coward," he told himself. "All you've wanted to do is leave Tatooine, don't let fear stop you."
He began taking the parts out of the box and put them away. He was going to take Ahsoka up on her offer, but he had to think of a way to tell his aunt and uncle. Maybe he should leave a note? It wasn't the best way, but he couldn't think of any way he could convince them to let him leave.
Luke saw a shadow on the wall - someone had entered Tosche's Station. "Can I help you with anything?" He asked as he turned towards the customer.
But something didn't feel right - he couldn't place it. The woman lowered her hood to reveal her face; she had soft features with dark hair and dark eyes, and a smirk playing on her lips. He caught sight of the Imperial insignia on her black outfit and realized she wasn't here to buy parts. Was she the Inquisitor Ahsoka mentioned?
"Oh, I think there's something you can help me with," she said in a low, dangerous tone.
Luke stepped back as his hand went to his blaster, but the woman was faster. She stunned him and everything went black.
He sensed that Luke was in trouble, but not the normal kinds of trouble like thugs, slavers, or the nature of Tatooine. No. This was the kind of danger he had feared ever since he brought the boy to Tatooine. The Empire had found him.
With his lightsaber at his side, he hurriedly left his hut to go save Luke Skywalker from the clutches of the enemy.
Ahsoka was going over the supplies in her ship when she felt it - Luke was in danger. Had the Inquisitor already caught up with her? She didn't feel her presence, but she did know it was an agent of the Empire.
With her lightsabers at her side, she set off to save her nephew - no one was going to hurt him.
Rabé stared down at the unconscious boy. Something about him was familiar, but she couldn't place it...
She shook her head. It didn't matter - she had a job to do.
The former handmaiden took out her comm disk and contacted her superior. "Reva," she said when the small blue hologram appeared. "I tracked Tano to a small space port. She didn't buy anything, but spoke with a boy. He's currently stunned."
"Good work," Reva replied. "I sent a squad of troopers down to make an Imperial outpost in Mos Eisley - I will send you the coordinates. We can use him to draw Tano out and trap her."
To be continued...