Luke and Leia - Twins [1]

16: Meeting for the First Time

Mos Eisely Spaceport had never appeared so crowded in Luke's life, but considering the circumstances he guessed that was a good thing. It gave him and Ben and the droids more cover to hide from stormtroopers.

The sand crunched under Luke's feet as he walked over to the cantina with Ben and the droids, and already he had a bad feeling about the place, more so than normal. As soon as he'd walked in the bartender had ordered that the droids leave, and although Luke didn't like Artoo, who held the Death Star plans, and Threepio out by themselves he presumed it'd be better if both he and Ben stayed in the cantina to look for a pilot.

The droids were out now, and Luke looked around and wrinkled his nose at the place. Ben was right, it was a wretched hive of scum and villainy. He ordered a drink and sat down next to the old man, eyeing a few strange characters next to him. One had a disfigured face, while the other was a species he hadn't seen before.

Luke noticed that the alien was staring at him as well and he looked down into his drink, not wanting any trouble. He'd had enough trouble today to last a lifetime.

Swallowing hard as the memories of the previous events bombarded him, Luke felt tears starting to prick his eyes. He had lost his entire family today, Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen and Leia. He had only seen two skeletons, but he knew without a doubt that all three were dead or worse. Now, he was on his way to Alderaan with an old Jedi and two droids carrying vital information crucial to the downfall of the Empire.

Luke felt a hard knot form in his chest. The Empire deserved to fall after what it had done to not only his family but to all other families that had ever perished under the Emperor and Darth Vader's rule.

A snarl that sounded next to Luke would have normally made him jump out of his skin, but at the moment he was either too tired or too numb or both to have much of a reaction. Instead he lifted his head and looked up to find the alien from earlier staring at him again, while the deformed man translated.

"He doesn't like you." He stated, glaring at Luke. Luke would normally feel threatened and scared by this man but at the moment he was a bit emotionally compromised. Instead, he got angry.

"I'm sorry." He snapped.

"We're dangerous men, wanted in many places." The man threatened, and Luke was getting more exasperated by the second.

"I'll be careful." He retorted sarcastically, and immediately regretted it as the man's eyes glinted dangerously.

"You'll be dead!" He yelled, and in a flash Luke found himself stumbling backwards into a table and looked up from the ground to see Ben... Cut an arm off.

The alien yelled, and Ben looked around threateningly before deactivating his lightsaber and helping Luke up. Luke was still in awe at the arm on the ground, but diverted his gaze as he saw blood starting to ooze from the wound.

"I've talked to Chewbacca here-" Ben gestured to the Wookie behind him "-and he says that he and his counterpart can make us an offer."

Together the three walked to the back of the cantina and slid onto a booth, where a scowling man eyed Luke and Ben with harsh hazel eyes. His legs were crossed, and his arms hang along the upper sides of the booth.

"Chewie here says you need a lift." He stated blandly, situating himself into more of a professional position. Now his body acted intrigued, but Luke could tell by his face that he thought it was simply another smuggling job. Boy, are you wrong.

Luke was jolted out of his thoughts when he heard the man's offer. "Ten thousand?! We could almost buy our own ship for that!" He exclaimed, outraged at such a high price.