The Negotiator and the Fire Fang

Raiders of the Sand: Salvage

"There's been another attack, this one on a Anchorhead moisture farm." Sahrea Shan stated, looking over the holonews that was being projected upwards on the side of the street. "The Bearon's Farm. Things are getting bad Obi."

Shan had only been here for two weeks and she had already picked up on how severe the tension was on Tatooine. It was coming to a breaking point.

Kenobi kept his cool, but inside was worried. The Tusken Raiders were getting more and more angry, which translated to more bold. If the moisture farms were destroyed, Tatooine would become almost unlivable. Water would become scarce and the prices would skyrocket. People would leave or, for those who couldn't afford it, die.

That wasn't the only thing on Obi-Wan's mind. This could put his mission here in serious jeopardy.

Now that Sahrea was staying permanently, Kenobi had considered letting her in on his secret mission, to protect Luke Skywalker, mostly in case something happened to him. He hadn't yet, however, though he would tell her eventually. As for her, Shan knew that he had a reason for being here, but thankfully hadn't pushed it.

"The Empire will handle it." he replied simply. Even as he said it, Kenobi wasn't sure he believed it himself. From her face, Sahrea certainly didn't. She pffted dismissively as they joined in the crowd of people, Ender on her heels.

"Handle it? They are the ones causing the problems in the first place! What are they going to do?" she replied throwing her hand in the air for emphasis. She skirted around a Qwairo with an alarming amount of cargo strapped to its back.

"Sahrea." Kenobi said threateningly. She could be a handful when she wanted to. She threw her hands up in submission.

"I know, I know." she replied grumpily. They had a lot of discussions about this recently. He knew that she wanted to help the Sandpeople; So did he. But there was no way to help the Tusken Raiders without outing their identities. Just coming into town was dangerous enough.

With no more talk of the Empire or Tusken Raiders, the three made their way to the speeder parked on the edge of the town. Kenobi dropped his bag in the backseat before looking up at Sahrea. She was staring off into the distance. He followed her gaze.

There were a group of pirates hanging in the shade of the walled perimeter of Anchorhead. That wasn't what grabbed her attention though; It was the three Tusken Raiders they had taken hostage.

The Sandpeople's hands were bound. They were tied together and forced to kneel in the sun at blaster point. The two made eye contact at the same time. He knew what she was thinking.

"Sahrea, no." he stated flatly. Her mouth moved in a determined way. He had learned quite quickly that look meant he was on the losing end of an argument.

"Obi, forgetting the morality aspect, if those pirates keep them hostage, the other Tusken Raiders will go berserk!" Shan stated.

Kenobi looked over to them, his mind thinking. The Sandpeople never came this close to the settlements ordinarily nor did they go anywhere in groups of three. So where did the pirates capture them?

"Something's not right here." Kenobi murmured. Shan crossed her arms. "We have Ender. Why don't we rescue them and find out what happened? I could use a few heads to knock. This quiet life is fun and all, but I need some excitement now and again." she stated. Obi-Wan looked to them once more before looking back at Shan, weighing their options.

"I don't think we'd better. Too risky." he decided. She shrugged.

"Suit yourself." Sahrea replied as started walking straight towards the group of pirates. Kenobi cursed under his breath.

He hated when she got like this. Every so often she got a stubborn streak that made her completely incapable of listening. It came out a few times during the war, but for some reason it was really showing itself now, after the fact.

Well of course he followed her. He hated to admit it, but he'd probably follow that woman off a cliff and that brought up another issue, one that has been fluttering around in the back of his mind for two weeks.

Sahrea staying on Tatooine permanently made things difficult for him. He was torn. In many ways, he was beyond happy she was staying with him, but in others, he wished she would leave.

Her presence made it hard for him to stick to the Jedi Code. Yes, the Order was all but a memory now, so the Code was all he left of his former life. Attachments were still forbidden and she was becoming one dangerously quick.

Of course she had always been a sticky spot for him since that first day they had met, but the more time they spent together, the harder and harder it got for him to shut his feelings away. He knew that of these days he wasn't going to be able to and that was the day he was going to be in serious trouble.