Chapter 12: A Bargain With the Tuskens

Luke led Leia, Han, Chewbacca, and the droids as their party went with the Tusken Raiders who had found them. The journey was unnerving for Han and even for Chewbacca, who had encountered Tusken Raiders before and knew that they were rarely so peaceful in the presence of outsiders. Had the situation been any more desperate, Han would have obeyed his primary instinct and opened fire on them. But perhaps it would have been a waste. After all, the Tusken Raiders had not attacked the group, and any unnecessary confrontation would have led to either capture by the First Order or death.

It was not long before Luke and the others arrived at a makeshift campsite in the rocky clefts a few hundred yards from the First Order's bunker. Luke and his companions noticed several other Tuskens, mostly men, but handfuls of Tusken women and children were there as well. Tusken mothers held their little ones close as Luke led his party into their midst and the male Tuskens gripped their staffs as if expecting an attack. However, a respectful nod from Luke reassured the unnerved.

Suddenly, the party stopped and the leader of the Tusken band who had found them gave a barking cry that echoed through the maze of rocks. Five Tusken males appeared, but they were dressed in darker robes than the other males of the tribe, and Luke recognized that these males were elders of the tribe. The elders spoke to the returning party in soft but grating voices and the party that had found Luke and his friends spoke to them while making several gestures of indication toward Luke and the others. Then one of the Tusken elders spoke to Luke, which C-3PO translated.

"He says that he and the other elders demand to know why we have come to their lands," the golden droid said to Luke.

"Let the elders know that we're here because of the invaders who have been harming their people and taking their territory," replied Luke. He also told C-3PO not to mention the New Republic, for the Tusken Raiders knew little about the doings of the galaxy outside of their own planet.

Though he was exceedingly nervous attempting to communicate with the Tusken elders, C-3PO told them in his best understanding of Tusken Sign Language what Luke had said. The Tuskens began speaking among themselves again, which made Han look at Leia nervously. Sensing Han's anxiety through the Force, Leia took his hand in her own and stood close to him.

Suddenly, the Tuskens turned their attention to Luke and spoke once more. After a few moments, C-3PO said, "Master Luke, sir, the elders of this tribe ask what proof we have that we do not intend to harm them as well?"

Luke turned to R2-D2 and said, "Show them your security recordings, Artoo."

With a stream of blips and tweets, R2-D2 projected the holographic recordings of what had occurred in Chancellor Mon Mothma's apartment on Coruscant the night Luke and his allies had saved her from the First Order's assassination plot. Under their masks, the Tusken Raiders watched the recordings with wide eyes. They saw no fellow Tuskens in the scenes, only figures with blasters and a few with lightsabers, and looking between their guests and the holograms, they recognized Luke's face among the individuals holding lightsabers.

The elders of the Tusken tribe resumed speaking with Luke and his friends, and with the aid of C-3PO, they explained that the invaders who had been raiding the Tusken Raiders and taking over their territories were threatening to harm them as well and that they were willing to help the Raiders reclaim their home. This intrigued the Tusken Raiders, who exchanged looks among each other that Luke and Leia each guessed might be expressions of hope. Then after another few moments of conversing, the Tusken elders spoke to Luke and the others again.

"Wonderful!" declared C-3PO. "The elders of the Tusken Raiders have decided they will allow us to help them remove the First Order from Tatooine."

The Sand People let out their equivalent of a cheer which made Han and Leia jump, but Chewbacca found his voice and added his own roars to it. While the jubilation filled the cavernous area and Han, Leia and Chewbacca joined the seemingly friendly Tusken Raiders before their fires, Luke took a moment to converse with C-3PO, who had been speaking with the Tusken elders.

"I am told that the tribe's best hunters are going to aid us in gathering extra help from other Tusken tribes in the region to help us remove the First Order from their lands."

"Good," replied Luke. "Let them know we need supplies and we'll see about arming any Raiders with blasters. They know enough about outsider technology to use them."

C-3PO resumed conversing with the Tusken elders while Luke began to reach into the depths of the Force, seeking any information that could mean the difference between securing the safety of the New Republic and losing it. As he was searching, he felt a minor disturbance in the Force, and then he knew: Ahsoka, Cal Kestis, and the others had found the First Order's base on Nevarro and were now engaged in combat with them. For one wild moment, Luke felt the tug of fear in his stomach and considered postponing the mission here to go to Nevarro and help Ahsoka, but he remembered that Lando was leading a fleet there to help and Tatooine was vital to securing the Outer Rim, and so Luke thought better of leaving.

The next day on Tatooine was spent in gathering aid for the attack against the First Order's invasion. Luke and Leia went with a party of Tusken Raiders through the Jundland Wastes to seek other tribes of Raiders whom the First Order might be harming as well. At first, Leia was wary of the Tusken Raiders for she had heard stories of their brutality from Luke in the first year they met, but she was pleased to see that the Raiders clearly had no ill will against them as Luke had mentioned that the Tuskens took promises with surprising seriousness.

It was not long before the group found a band of stormtroopers bearing the token of the First Order, and more Tusken Raiders were under attack. Bodies of Tusken men lay scattered on the desert floor and even a few Tusken women lay dead as well.

Luke and Leia had their lightsabers in hand at once. Together, they leapt into the air and somersaulted down to where the stormtroopers stood. In an instant, the stormtroopers fired on them, but three of them had their blaster shots reflected back at them and collapsed with molten masses of metal and bone in their chests. Leia pierced five of the troopers through while Luke cut another seven down, and they moved between the attackers with the fluidity of a river flowing downhill.

The Tusken Raiders who had led them there were itching to fight these white-armored invaders who had trespassed on their land and killed their tribesmen while forcing the rest to work in bondage. The lead Raider led his fellow Tuskens around the ledge and leapt down on the bewildered stormtroopers. The first stormtrooper to fight them received a club to the head, which cracked his helmet and drove through to his skull. A few other Raiders attacked the stormtrooper band from behind and bludgeoned them furiously even after the stormtroopers had stopped resisting. After a few minutes, the stormtroopers who remained were not willing to prolong the struggle and they mounted their speeder bikes and fled.

In moments, the Tusken Raiders whom the stormtroopers had targeted in this area approached to thank their rescuers. As the droids were not with them, Luke and Leia let their Tusken allies do the talking for them and the few Tusken men there agreed to send word to their tribe to send help.

Luke and Leia exchanged smiles at this pleasant sight. They thought it would be impossible to reason with the Tusken Raiders, but it seemed that fighting a common threat was enough to bring them together.

...

While Luke and Leia had been rallying help from other Tusken Raiders in the Jundland Wastes, Han and Chewbacca went with another party toward the desert wastes outside of Mos Espa, which was miles away from where they had met the Raiders who were helping them. For the first few hours that they were scouting, there were no signs of other Tusken Raiders or the First Order. However, that changed when they discovered another group of dead Tusken Raiders which bore the same blaster wounds as the first party Luke and his friends had found.

A mournful bark from Chewbacca had Han rubbing his friend's arm, and he said, "We'll get the First Order off Tatooine if we have to rally every trooper and ship we have, Chewie. But for now, let's focus on the matter at hand. We've got to warn any other Raiders we find."

Chewbacca only nodded, and then continued the long trek with the rest of the party. For the whole day, the group scoured the outskirts of Mos Espa for any sign of Tusken Raiders whom they could rally to aid Luke and his allies in ridding Tatooine of the First Order's incursion. Finally, as the suns were soon to set, their tireless toil was rewarded when they saw a party of Tusken Raiders facing stormtroopers of the First Order. The Tuskens were fighting back with maddened rage, but they were outnumbered and outmatched in terms of weaponry, for the stormtroopers were moving to avoid the blows of the Raiders' weapons and fired their blasters the moment they had a position to fire from.

"I was hoping I'd get a piece of some First Order slime before the moons were up," said Han, his dark eyes suddenly alight with anticipation. Though in the past he would have been gleeful enough to leap into a scuffle with little regard for his own protection, he now preferred to jump into a battle if it meant one less menace for the galaxy to worry about.

The stormtroopers had picked off at least half the Raiders in this party when Han fired the first shot, and the commander of this First Order band felt the laser bolt burn through his spine and organs, whereon he collapsed with a groan. The stormtroopers broke formation when they turned to see Han, Chewbacca, and their party of Tusken Raiders. They released a deadly barrage of laser fire at the newcomers, but at once were overpowered. The Raiders they had just been attacking leapt at them with shrieks and grunts and quickly began pounding them and stabbing at them until only ten stormtroopers remained. The remaining attackers ran for their speeder bikes, but only five reached them as Han and Chewbacca were unwilling to let even one of the scoundrels escape.

Once the combat was over, Han and Chewbacca attempted to inform the Tusken Raiders whom they had saved why they had helped them and what they were doing on Tatooine, making no secret of Luke and the New Republic's involvement with driving the First Order from Tatooine. With some linguistic aid from their Tusken allies, Han and Chewbacca convinced the other party to inform their tribe of what had happened here and where to meet with them to strike at the invaders.

A/N: I hope this chapter didn't bore any of you, my readers. Next chapter, we'll return to Nevarro and witness the New Republic's first space battle with the First Order, and then we'll see if Luke and his friend can give the First Order enough trouble to get them off of Tatooine. Stay tuned!