The Hidden Message
Thanks to TimeTraveller-1900 and skyjadeprincess for favouriting and following this story.
Next day, an Imperial landing craft had arrived at the spot where R2 and 3PO's escape pod had landed and a platoon of Sandtroopers were searching the pod for the stolen Death Star plans. "Someone was in the pod. The tracks go off in this direction." the commander observed, seeing footprints and tread tracks running off into the desert.
"Look, sir, droids!" a trooper said, holding up a small piece of metal that had fallen off 3PO.
~8~
The Jawa sandcrawler chugged it's way across the sand dunes. Inside the hold, R2 and 3PO bounced about like peas in a frying pan. R2 was in standby mode, but 3PO was fully active. Presently, the bouncing stopped and the sandcrawler's engines powered down. "We've stopped." 3PO realised. "Wake up. Wake up!" he tapped on R2's dome and the Astromech powered up again. A door opened and several Jawas entered the hold. "We're doomed." 3PO said pessimistically. "Do you think they'll melt us down?" he asked R2 as a Jawa approached them.
R2 beeped a negative answer.
The Jawa aimed their ion blaster at 3PO. "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" the Protocol droid squirmed. "Will this never end?" he moaned to R2 as the Jawa ushered them out of the sandcrawler.
The Jawas had arrived at a moisture farm homestead consisting of three large holes in the grounds surrounded by several tall moisture vaporators and one small adobe blockhouse. The Jawas scurried about preparing droids for sale. One Jawa approached the entrance to the homestead just as two Humans came out. Leading was middle-aged moisture farmer Owen Lars, followed by his 19-year-old nephew Luke Skywalker, a farm boy with heroic aspirations. The Jawa approached Owen and indicated the droids out to him. "Alright, let's go." Owen said, and followed the Jawa towards the droids.
Luke was just following him when a woman's voice called out from one of the huge holes that formed the homestead, "Luke? Luke?" Luke responded to the call and went over to the edge of the hole to see his aunt Beru standing in the main courtyard. "Luke, tell Owen if he gets a translator, be sure it speaks Bocce." she called up to her nephew.
"Doesn't look like we have much of a choice, but I'll remind him." Luke replied, and went back to join his uncle.
Owen meanwhile was looking through the line of droids for sale. "Yeah, we'll take that red one." he said to the Jawas, picking out a red and white R5-series Astromech droid. "No, not that one." he said as he rejected R2-D2. Next in line was C-3PO. "You, I suppose you're programmed for etiquette and protocol." Owen said to him.
"Protocol? Why, it's my primary function, sir." 3PO replied. "I am well-versed in all the customs..."
"I have no need for a Protocol droid." Owen dismissed him.
"Of course you haven't, sir." 3PO said. "Not in an environment such as this. That is why I have been programmed..."
"What I really need is a droid who understands the binary language of moisture vaporators." Owen told him.
"Vaporators? Sir, my first job was programmed binary load-lifters, very similar to your vaporators in most respects." the droid touted.
"Do you speak Bocce?" Owen asked.
"Of course I can, sir. It's like a second language to me." 3PO replied. "I'm as fluent in Bocce as..."
"Alright, shut up." Owen told him and turned to the Jawas. "I'll take this one."
"Shutting up, sir." 3PO conceded.
"Luke?" Owen called to his nephew. "Take these two over to the garage, will ya? I want 'em cleaned up before dinner."
"But I was going into Tosche Station to pick up some power converters." Luke whined.
"You can waste time with your friends when your chores are done." Owen told him firmly. "Now come on, get to it."
Luke gave an annoyed sigh and turned to 3PO. "Alright, come on." he said sulkily, and he began to lead the droid towards the homestead. "And the red one." he called to the R5 unit, who didn't budge. "Well, come on, Red, let's go." Luke called grumpily to the droid, who reluctantly began to trundle after them. Luke and 3PO were halfway back to the homestead when they heard a loud bang and turned round to see that the R5 unit had stopped in a cloud of smoke. "Uncle Owen?" Luke called. "This R5 unit has a bad motivator, look."
Owen promptly rounded on the Jawas. "Hey, what're you trying to push on us?!" he demanded. The Jawas could only shrug in bewilderment.
Meanwhile, R2 whistled to 3PO who then tapped Luke on the shoulder. "Excuse me, sir." he said, "But that R2 unit is in prime condition. A real bargain."
"Uncle Owen?" Luke called. "What about that one?" He pointed to R2.
"What about that blue one?" Owen said to the Jawas. "We'll take that one."
The lead Jawa seemed to agree to that and ordered R2 unit to go to the Humans, while several other Jawas came over to take the failed R5 unit away.
"You'll be very pleased with that one, Sir." 3PO said to Luke. "He really is in first class condition. I've worked with him before." Luke his hand to silence him, realising that this Protocol droid was a bit of a chatterbox. "Here he comes." 3PO said as R2 trundled over to them, whistling as he did so.
"Ok, let's go." Luke said, and he led the droids towards the homestead.
"Now don't you forget this." 3PO said to R2. "Why I should stick my neck out for you is quite beyond my capacity."
R2 merely gave a nonchalant beep as they followed Luke towards the farm.
~8~
That afternoon, 3PO was enjoying a hot oil bath in the Lars' garage. "Thank the maker!" he sighed "This oil bath is going to feel SO good. I've got such a bad case of dust contamination I can barely move!"
Luke meanwhile was playing with a model of his T-16 Skyhopper. "It just isn't fair." he complained. "Oh, Biggs is right. I'm never gonna outta here!"
"Is there anything I might do to help?" 3PO offered.
"Well, not unless you can alter time, speed up the harvest or teleport me off this rock." Luke huffed, putting the model down and getting up to start cleaning R2, who was resting on a large battery charger.
"I don't think so, sir." 3PO deadpanned.
"I'm only a droid and not very knowledgeable about such things. Not on this planet, anyway. As a matter of fact, I'm not even sure which planet I'm on."
"Well, if there's a bright centre to the universe, you're on the planet it's furthest from." Luke replied.
"I see, sir."
"Uh, you can call me Luke."
"I see, Sir Luke."
"Just Luke." Luke told him
"And I am C-3PO, Human-Cyborg relations," the Protocol droid introduced, "and this is my counterpart, R2-D2."
"Hello." Luke said to R2 as he tried to scrape some carbon scoring off the Astromech's bodywork.
R2 gave a greeting beep in response.
"You got a lot of carbon scoring here." Luke said. "Looks like you boys've seen a lot of action."
"With all we've been through, sometimes I'm amazed we're in as good condition as we are." 3PO said as he climbed out of the oil bath and wiped himself off with a rag. "What with the Rebellion and all."
That piqued Luke's interest. "You know of the Rebellion against the Empire?!" he asked eagerly.
"That's how we came to be in your service, if you take my meaning, sir." 3PO replied.
"Have you been in many battles?" Luke asked excitedly.
"Several, I think." 3PO replied. "Actually, there's not much to tell. I'm not much more than an interpreter, and not very good at telling stories. Well, not at making them interesting, anyway."
Luke returned to cleaning R2 and struggled to unclog a piece of metal jammed into a slot just below the droid's visual receptor. "Well, my little friend, you've got something jammed in here real good." Luke said. "Were you on a starcruiser or..." Suddenly, the piece of metal came free and Luke tumbled onto his back. He picked himself up to see a hologram of Princess Leia, the Rebel senator, being projected out of R2. Luke's mouth fell open in awe.
"Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope." the Leia in the hologram said on a loop.
"What's this?" Luke asked.
R2 turned his dome to 3PO and gave an apparently innocent beep.
"'What is what?'" 3PO huffed. "He asked you a question. What is THAT?" He pointed to the hologram.
R2 gave an answering beep to his counterpart's question.
"Oh, he says it's nothing, sir." 3PO said to Luke. "Merely a malfunction. Old data. Pay it no mind."
"Who is she?" Luke asked, watching the woman in the hologram closely. He couldn't help but feel that she was familiar to him somehow, yet he'd never seen her before in his life.
"I'm afraid I'm not quite sure, sir." 3PO replied. "I think she was a passenger on our last voyage. A person of some importance, I believe. Our captain was attached..."
"Is there any more to this recording?" Luke asked, and reached for R2, who let out several frantic squawks and whistles.
"Behave yourself, R2. You're going to get us into trouble." Threepio scolded. "It's alright, you can trust him. He's our new master."
R2 whistled and beeped a long message to 3PO, while Luke watched the recording with curiosity.
"He says that he is the property of Obi-Wan Kenobi, a resident of these parts, and it's a private message for him." 3PO told Luke. "Quite frankly, sir, I don't know what he's talking about. Our last master was Captain Antilles, but with all we've been through, this little R2 unit has become a little eccentric."
"Obi-Wan Kenobi?" Luke pondered. "I wander if he means old Ben Kenobi."
"I beg your pardon, sir, but do you know what he's talking about?" 3PO asked.
"Well, I don't know anyone called Obi-Wan, but old Ben lives out beyond the Dune Sea. He's kind of a strange old hermit." Luke replied, and watched the woman in the recording thoughtfully. "I wonder who she is. Sounds like she's in trouble. I'd better play back the whole thing." He moved towards R2, who squawked indignantly again.
"He says the restraining bolt has short-circuited his recording system." 3PO translated. "He suggests that if you remove the bolt, he might be able to play back the entire recording."
Luke thought this through. "Hmm, oh yeah, well... I guess you're too small to run away on us if I take this off." he said, and used a chisel to dislodge the restraining bolt from R2's bodywork. "There ya go." he said.
The recording promptly shut off.
"Wait a minute, where'd she go? Bring her back, play back the entire message." Luke ordered R2, who gave an innocent beep.
"'What message?'" 3PO translated, and promptly gave his counterpart a frustrated kick. "The one you've just been playing! The one you're carrying inside your rusty innards."
"Luke! Luke!" Beru's voice called from elsewhere in the homestead.
"Alright, I'll be right there, Aunt Beru." Luke called back.
"I'm sorry, sir, but he appears to have picked up a slight flutter." 3PO said wearily.
"Here. See what you can do with him." Luke said, handing him the restraining bolt. "I'll be right back." And he left the garage.
"Just you reconsider playing that message for him." 3PO scolded once he and R2 were alone.
R2 beeped something
"No, I don't think he likes you at all." 3PO replied, and R2 beeped something else. "No, I don't like you either." 3PO retorted.
~8~
Owen and Beru were just settling down to dinner when Luke joined them. "Ya know, I think that R2 unit we bought might've been stolen." Luke said as he sat down at the table.
"What makes ya think that?" Owen asked.
"Well, I stumbled across a recording while I was cleaning him." Luke explained. "He says he belongs to someone called 'Obi-Wan Kenobi'."
Owen was greatly alarmed at the mention of that name, but he managed to control himself.
"I thought he might've meant old Ben." Luke continued. "D'ya know what he's talking about?"
Owen shook his head.
"I wonder if he's related to Ben." Luke suggested.
"That wizard's just a crazy old man." Owen replied. "Tomorrow, I want ya to take that R2 unit to Anchorhead and have it's memory erased. That'll be the end of it. It belongs to us now."
"But what if this Obi-Wan comes looking for us?" Luke persisted.
"He won't." Owen told him. "I don't think he exists anymore. He died about the same time as your father."
Luke's interest perked up again. "He knew my father?" he asked.
"I told you to forget it." Owen told him, "Your only concern is to prepare those new droids for tomorrow. In the morning, I want them up there on the south ridge working on those condensers."
"Yes, sir." Luke conceded, seeing that the discussion was closed. He then decided to change the subject. "I think those new droids are gonna work out fine. In fact, I, er, was also thinking about our agreement. About me staying on another season? And if these new droids do work out, I wanna transmit my application to the Academy this year."
Owen looked up at him with an unreadable expression. "You mean the next semester before the harvest?" he asked.
"Sure, there's more than enough droids." Luke said.
"Harvest is when I need you the most." Owen told him. "It's only one season more. This year we'll make enough on the harvest that I can hire some more hands and you go to the Academy next year. You must understand I need ya here, Luke."
"But it's a whole 'nother year." Luke moaned.
"Look, it's only one more season." Owen tried to placate him.
"Yeah, that's what ya said when Biggs and Tank left." Luke sulked, getting to his feet as he lost his appetite.
"Where're you going?" Beru asked him.
"Looks like I'm going nowhere." Luke grumbled. "I'm gonna finish cleaning those droids." And he left the dining chamber.
"Owen, he can't stay here forever." Beru said to her husband. "Most of his friends have gone. It means so much to him."
"I'll make up to him next year. I promise." Owen replied.
"Luke's just not a farmer, Owen." Beru said wisely. "He has too much of his father in him."
"That's what I'm afraid of." Owen said darkly.
~8~
Luke went outside and watched the twin suns setting, resigned to his fate, then he turned and went back inside the homestead. When he returned to the garage, he found it dark and the droids were nowhere to be seen. Luke took out a droid caller from his belt and activated it. "Oh!" 3PO yelped as he came out of hiding being a box.
"What ya doing hiding back there?" Luke asked him.
"It wasn't my fault, sir. Please don't deactivate me." 3PO babbled. "I told him not to go, but he's faulty, malfunctioning. Kept babbling on about his mission."
Luke paled as he realised that R2 had snuck out thanks to his removal of the restraining bolt. "Oh, no." Luke breathed, and hurried outside. Once he was outside the homestead, Luke took a pair of electro-binoculars and scanned the sand flats for any sign of the runaway Astromech.
"That R2 unit has always been a problem." 3PO remarked as he joined him. "These Astro-droids are getting quite out of hand. Even I can't understand their logic at times."
"How could I be so stupid?" Luke cursed himself as he saw no sign of R2. "He's nowhere in sight, blast it!"
"Pardon me, sir, but couldn't we go after him?" 3PO suggested.
"It's too dangerous with all the Sandpeople around." Luke replied. "We'll have to wait till morning."
"Luke, I'm shutting the power down." Owen's voice called from inside the homestead.
"Alright, I'll be there in a few minutes." Luke acknowledged, then took one final look across the dim horizon. "Boy, am I gonna get it. You know that little droid's gonna cause me a lot of trouble."
"Oh, he excels at that, sir." 3PO replied.
"Come on." Luke sighed, leading the way back to the homestead.
Author's notes: And here's the second chapter up. Most of this is just a copy and paste from The Farmer's Adventure, but it saves time and effort. This chapter introduces us to Luke. Next time, we will meet Obi-Wan and the second OC. See you then!