Star Wars: Legacies

Luke

    Neither of them said anything for a long time. They just sat in silence as they sped through hyperspace. Luke turned to look at his sister, who still looked as devastated as she had when he found her.
    "I'm sorry, Luke. I'm so, so sorry," She whispered, hiding her face in her hands, "This is all my fault. Obi-Wan. . ."
    "Hey," he interrupted, blinking back his own tears, "It'll be okay. He'd- he'd want us to keep going. I just- can't believe he's gone."
    She sniffed and nodded, rubbing her neck. "They let us go, you know."
He raised an eyebrow at her, "You call that letting us go?"
    "They want us to find Artoo. It's only a matter of time before they realize I lied. They want us to draw him out then capture all three of us."
    He sighed, "I guess that makes sense. I'll ping him when we land on Tatooine," he said, pushing Obi-Wan out of his mind. He shoved his grief and shock somewhere else until he had time to deal with it.
    "You came after me," she said after a few moments.
Luke checked the specs, "Of course I did, why wouldn't I?"
    "Because you said you'd never help me again?"
"Oh, yeah, that. Yeah, I was upset, but you're my little sister, I'm always gonna come after you."
    Leia scrunched up her nose at him, "You're five minutes older than me."
"Yeah yeah, whatever. Still older."
    She folded her arms and sat back in her seat, avoiding his eyes, "Are Dad and Ahsoka okay?" she asked hesitantly.
    "Yeah, dad was awake when I left. They're saying Ahsoka's gonna be fine too."
"That's good," Leia answered absentmindedly.
    "Yeah, where is Artoo?"
"Mos Eisley. I had him hide in some mechanic's repair shop," she replied.
    "Thank the Force, I thought you sent him to Grandma," he said.
Leia scowled, "How stupid do you think I am?"
    Luke just stared at her, completely deadpan. "Considering our current situation? Pretty damn stupid."
    "Shut up," she snapped.
They exited hyperspace in front of a brown desert planet, hurtling towards the surface. Luke grabbed at the controls to try and slow it down, but he only made matters worse. Leia belted herself into her harness and did the same for him, "Luke, this isn't how you land a tie fighter!" She yelled as they entered the atmosphere.
    "Really?! Never would've guessed that!" he yelled back, frantically flipping through systems trying to slow their descent, to no avail. The Dune Sea was hurtling right for them, and he couldn't stop it.
    "Time to go!" he yelled, igniting his lightsaber and slashing through the side of the cockpit. He unbelted and jumped out, Leia close behind. They flew haphazardly through the air, barely able to use the Force to break the fall as they crashed and tumbled through sand dunes, eventually rolling to a stop.
    Luke smeared the sand from his face and watched as the fighter crashed into the dunes nearly a click away, exploding in a fiery inferno.
    "Ptuh! Ptuh, agh!" Leia said, spitting out a mouthful of Tatooine's gritty earth, "Ptuh! Agh, I hate sand!" she growled, trying to shake it out of her clothes. Luke flipped his hair around, trying to get it off, without much success. The sand was hot to the touch, and he could already practically feel himself getting a sunburn. Worse yet, he was still in full stormtrooper cosplay, and it was as hot as it was uncomfortable.
    "Well, look on the bright side," he said cheerfully, "Mos Eisley is right there!" he pointed to the silhouette of a town, stark against the horizon, about two miles away.
    Leia grumbled and pulled herself to her feet, shaking the sand from her clothes, which was covered in scorch marks from the rapidly disintegrating fighter she jumped from. "Goody."
    She helped him up, and the two of them began trekking through the dunes, sluggishly putting one foot over the other as they made their way through the desert. The suns climbed high in the sky, until it was beating down so hard he was drenched in sweat. His mouth was drier than he could ever remember it being in his entire life, and he was so thirsty he thought he was gonna pass out. However every time he began to fall behind, Leia helped him keep going until they finally reached the backwoods, scummy town of Mos Eisley.    
    "You know, Obi-Wan would call this place a 'wretched hive of scum and villainy," Luke said, his head foggy and scrambled. He saw Leia smile a bit, but her amusement immediately wavered, and the sadness returned to her face.
    "Here," she said, handing him a pouch of Republic Credits she always kept on her. "Go get something to drink, and buy yourself some different clothes. You stick out like a sore thumb," she said, "I'm gonna go find Artoo, then we need to get out of here."
    Luke didn't argue, doing as he was told. He downed over two liters of water at a local stand before stopping because he felt like he was gonna throw up. When he was done, he felt a lot better, his head cleared up and he came to his senses. He bought a white and beige outfit from a local vendor, and cleaned himself up in a sketchy public restroom. Since Padawan hair is recognizable from a mile away, he untied his ponytail and sliced off his padawan braid, hoping he wouldn't be in too much trouble when he got home. Suddenly, he looked like any other local. Thankfully he favored his father, a Tatooine native, in the looks department, so he fit right in. Ruffling his shaggy hair, he opened the door, and Leia was standing there waiting for him with a familiar astromech who beeped excitedly when he saw Luke.
    "Hey buddy!" he said, patting the top of the droid, "Soooooo, what's the plan to get offworld?"
    She smirked, "I'm glad you asked," She pointed at the local cantina. Luke noticed she had her lightsaber back on her hip and had picked up a sort of green poncho to cover her Jedi robes. The two of them went inside, having R2 hide and wait when he couldn't follow them in.
    "You really think we're gonna find a freighter pilot here who can take us to Coruscant?" he asked.
Leia shrugged, "Some of the best pilots can be found in bars, Ahsoka always said when you're looking for a low life, you start at the saloon."
    "Can't argue with that," Luke concurred, following her inside.
The cantina was dimly lit and full of about every life form you could think of. A band was playing in the corner, and a large group of people were crowded around the bar. Leia walked up next to a wookiee, and Luke closely followed. She pushed her way to the front and asked for one on the rocks before telling Luke in no such words to mingle and see what he could find.
    "I'll have one of those," he told the bartender. He looked around apprehensively, everything about this place put him on edge. She turned his head to see Leia talking to the wookiee, when suddenly someone grabbed his shoulder. The alien began chattering in a language he didn't understand, and not wanting to cause a scene, Luke quickly turned away, trying to ignore him.
    Someone tapped on his shoulder and he turned to see perhaps the ugliest human he'd ever seen in his life.
    "He doesn't like you," the creature said in a gravelly voice.
"I'm sorry," Luke answered, not sure what else to say.
    "I don't like you either. You just watch yourself," he grabbed Luke's shoulder, "We're wanted men. I have the death sentence on 12 systems."
    "I'll be careful then," Luke responded, trying to keep hold of his patience.
"You'll be dead!" he yelled, shaking Luke's shoulder. He instinctively put a hand on his lightsaber when he felt someone grab his wrist. He turned to throw a punch, but it was Leia, smiling sweetly at the horrifically deformed man. "Trust me handsome, he's not worth the effort," Luke could hear the persuasion in her words, she was trying to mind trick him.
    Unfortunately it didn't work, and the criminal grabbed Luke and before he could react, flung him across the room into a table, pulling a gun on them. Struggling to regain his senses, he went for his lightsaber, but Leia had beat him to it. She pulled out her violet saber and with a quick slash, sliced through his torso, killing him almost instantly. She callously watched his body crumble to the floor, and Luke anxiously looked around the room, expecting everyone to immediately jump his sister. Instead, everyone uneasily stepped back, murmuring among themselves.
"Jedi business, go back to your drinks," she ordered.
    To his surprise, everyone acted like this was mere commonplace, and went about their business as two bouncers dragged out the body and the band resumed. Leia and the wookiee walked over, and she pulled him to his feet. "This is Chewbacca, he's the first mate on a ship that should work," she told him.
    "If I'd known they wouldn't have cared, I'd have done that myself," he grumbled. Leia shrugged, and the two of them followed Chewbacca to one of the back tables. They sat down, and were quickly joined by a young man. He had dark hair and light eyes, and was fairly tall, much taller than Luke, and probably about the same height as his father. He dressed simply, in boots, a plain white shirt, and a black vest with a blaster strapped to his hip. He moved with confidence about him, and slid into the seat across from them, next to Chewbacca.
    "Han Solo. I'm captain of the Millennium Falcon. Chewie here tells me you're looking for passage to the Coruscant system."
    "Yes, is it fast?" Leia asked.
Han Solo looked her up and down, raising an eyebrow slightly. "Fast ship? You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon?"
    Luke leaned forward, "Should I have?"
"It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs."
    Luke raised an eyebrow at him, clearly conveying he wasn't impressed. Based on what he's flown, a freighter couldn't be any better than his Lightflier.
    Han leaned forward, "I've outrun Republic starships. Not the local bulk cruisers, mind you. I'm talking the big Corellian ships."
    He looked back at Leia, "She's fast enough for you, sweetheart."
Leia leaned forward til her face was mere inches from the pilot's. "Call me sweetheart again," she pressed her disengaged lightsaber against the bottom of his jaw, "I dare you."
    Han didn't flinch, instead looking from the lightsaber to her, like he was contemplating something.
    Trying to avoid Leia killing the first person who hasn't threatened them, Luke cleared his throat, "Yeah, I'm sure she will be," He gave his sister a look, and she relented, dropping her lightsaber and sitting back down. She rested her hand and the hilt on the table, where Han could see it, likely as a form of intimidation while she glared daggers at him.
    "What's the cargo?" Han asked, completely unphased.
"Only passengers," Luke answered, "Me, my sister here, a droid, and-" Luke leaned forward, "No questions."

Han laughed like Luke had said something funny. "What is it, some kind of local trouble?"
    Luke smiled goodnaturedly, but his voice was tight, "Let's just say we're trying to keep a low profile."
Han sat back in his seat and exchanged a look with Chewbacca. "That's the trick isn't it? Coruscant's quite a drive, it's gonna cost you something extra. 10,000, all in advance."
    "Ten thousand? We could almost buy our own ship with that!" Leia answered, crossing her arms.
    "Oh yeah? But who's gonna fly it hun? You?"
Luke winced. He could tell Han was pissing Leia off, and there was nothing that got her blood boiling quite like a challenge, or someone underestimating her.
    "I could outfly you any day of the week," she spat back.
"Really? I'd like to see it," Han replied.
    Leia looked ready to throw him through the table, and even though Luke knew it was a fight she would definitely win, they were short on time and needed a pilot.
    "We don't have the credits on us, but we can pay you 20,000 when we get to Coruscant," Luke bartered.
    "Forget it, I don't have time for this," Han started to stand, but Luke pulled out his lightsaber.
    "Do you have any idea how much this is worth?" he asked, holding it up.
Han raised an eyebrow, "Where the hell did you two get those?"
    "I said no questions. This lazer sword is worth 17,000 on the black market. My sister's is even more valuable. I give you mine, and you can keep it as collateral til we get to Coruscant."
    Han looked at Chewie who just shrugged. He looked back at Luke and folded his arms, "Make it 25,000, and I want those credits unmarked."
    "Done." Luke answered, reaching out a hand. Han shook it, and Luke handed him his lightsaber. The pilot looked over it carefully, but didn't ignite it. "Who the hell are you two?"
    "Luke and Leia Naberriee." Leia answered, her eyes still burning.
"Uh huh. And where are a couple drifters on Tatooine gonna get 25k?"
    "Let's just say we have friends in high places," Leia responded.
Han looked at the lightsaber, "Seventeen, huh? Looks like you guys got yourself a ship. We'll leave when you're ready, docking bay 94." He looked over her shoulder, "Looks like someone's taken an interest in your handiwork."
    The twins looked around to see three stormtroopers talking to the bouncers who dragged out the dead body at the door. They exchanged a look, their stolen fighter had been tracked. Luke swallowed hard and turned back to Han, mustering an unbothered smile. "How does right now sound?"