The Negotiator and the Fire Fang

Raiders of the Sand: Maraud

"So I wonder why they took us." Shan muttered as they puttered along under the heat of the hot Tatooinian suns. She was jostled into Kenobi as the Bantha they were tied to awkwardly stepped over a large boulder.

"Well," Kenobi stated, trying to stabilize Sahrea while trying to keep himself from falling off at the same time, "I don't think they mean to take us as hostages." he said, his bound hands holding onto Shan's arm as he pulled her higher on the Bantha's back. She gave him a confused look, her face painfully close to his. He forced himself to meet her eyes. Shades of blue and yellow reflected out of the grey.

"What do you mean?" she asked innocently. She turned her focus away and made a grumpy expression.

"Hey! Be careful with my droid!" she yelled to the Tusken hauling Ender behind them. The little mouse droid had fallen off the Bantha and into the sand with an irritated series of beeps. The raider errred angrily back at her before picking Ender up and refastening him to the animal. She shook her head.

"So you don't think we're hostages?" she said again, her eyes meeting his. He looked away to the dunes, unable to hold her gaze while his pulse was galloping the way it was.

"No. The Sandpeople are not without intelligence. If they wanted to take hostages, they would have taken stormtroopers or more civilians. But, they just took the two of us." Shan fiddled with her bindings.

"True. Well, what could they possibly want then? We are of no use to them." Kenobi opened his mouth to say he didn't know, but stopped when one of the raiders traveling on foot threatened them with his gaffi stick.

So they continued on in silence. They were in a convoy made up of Banthas and Tusken Raiders, some on foot, some in saddles. The Bantha at the head of the group was carrying the leader of the raiding party. They all had their outdated blaster rifles raised, as if they expected an ambush at anytime.

Out here, that was a legitimate possibility. They could very well be attacked by pirates or another Tusken tribe, or, the most likely assailant right now, a very angry imperial squad.

In the back of his mind, Kenobi was worried about his mission here, to protect Luke Skywalker, but he figured that the biggest threat to the boy was currently the Tusken Raiders and whether he liked it or not, he knew exactly where they were.

As they came to a halt, Kenobi craned his neck around. They had been riding backwards the entire way here. He got a glimpse of a Tusken Raider camp before straightening out his neck again.

The Tusken Raider who was steering their Bantha slid out of the saddle. He walked around, grabbed their restraints, and yanked both off its back harshly. Shan gave a cry as they both fell off the animal in tangle of rope, arms and legs. Kenobi went face first into the burning sand while Sahrea landed on stomach up on his back.

"Sorry!" she stated apologetically, throwing her weight to the side so that she could roll off of his back. She plopped next to him. She spit some grains of sand out of her mouth before pushing up onto her hands and knees.

"Hey, hey!" she shouted as a raider wrapped his arms around her stomach and lifted her into a standing position. The Gray stepped away as soon as she gained her footing with an indignant look. Kenobi stood up a moment later.

There was a rope connecting their wrists and waists. There was also one that connected his right ankle to her left. The last time he was detained like this, it was by Hondo Ohnaka and he was connected to Anakin and Count Dooku of all people. Shan was much preferred.

The Tusken Raider led them towards the Tusken settlement. Kenobi could tell immediately this was a satellite camp. Certain raider tribes were nomadic. They traveled around the area, floating from place to place based on the movements of their Bantha herd. Others, however, had a permanent camp and would set up these satellite camps when needed.

The entire area was under tarps held up by thick poles. To his left was a makeshift pen for the Bantha herd. There were troughs filled with gredua grain, the only nutritional plant that could be grown on Tatooine that wasn't a cacti and as such, Bantha loved them. Kenobi could smell meat cooking as they walked.

There were woven baskets and tents to sleep in. Crates and chests were strewn aimlessly around. There were workbenches and tables. Paths were cleared so that the entire camp was a type of grid.

The Sandpeople all stopped and stared at them as they passed through. Children hid behind their parents. They whispered to one another, clearly as curious as he and Shan as to why they were here. They approached what must have been the center of the camp. An ornate tent, larger than all the other ones sat there, surrounded by a ring of sunlight. That must have been where the chieftain stayed.

The two of them were pushed roughly through the scratchy flaps of entrance and immediately shoved down to their knees. Ender was dropped unceremoniously next to them, beeping panickedly from his side. An arm popped out of a flap and pushed him onto his wheels.

Obi-Wan looked up to the chieftain. He looked like every other Tusken Raider, pale robes, wrapped face, metals spikes peaking out of his skull.

The only true exceptions were a headpiece decorated with feathers and bones, a unique gaffi stick engraved with symbols foreign to the former general, and a white medallion around his neck. Kenobi wondered if it was made out of Krayt Dragon bones, since they would never use their revered Banthas for jewelry, ornamental or not. Besides, there were plenty of skeletons of the extinct species around the Xelric Draw and the other deserts.

The chieftain looked down at the two Force-users before muttering a long sentence in Tuskenese. Three Tuskens stood on his left. Kenobi thought they may have been the three he and Shan had saved, but honestly, most raiders looked the same to him, so he had no idea.

To Kenobi's surprise, a very beat up protocol droid shuffled out from behind the chief. It was a reddish color and, although it looked vaguely like C-3PO, Padme Amidala's protocol droid, Kenobi didn't recognize what model it was. It had to be far older than him.

It was a bipedaled, rust colored droid with a wide head and thin mouth. Its eyes were the same kind that 3PO models used, although this one was clearly not that type. Its one arm was silver and did not match the rest of its lean body.

The droid began to speak, but the words were garbled up before sputtering out and dying. He tapped his throat, waited a moment, and then tried again.

"The chieftain says you will be taken to your cells as his prisoners." the robotic voice said, the bad modulator making the words almost impossible to understand.

"He will come to collect you when he is ready to negotiate. Any vibroblades, blasters, or other weapons you have will be confiscated as well as your MSE-6 repair droid." Ender made a confused sound that started off low before raising to a high beep. Kenobi could almost hear the droid saying Me?

Shan opened her mouth to ask what exactly the chieftain planned on negotiating, but they were both ripped to their feet before she got the chance.

He and Shan were led out of the tent to two cages directly on the outside, across from each other. Their captor slit their bonds before shoving them each in their own cell.

"How long are we going to be in here?" Shan asked, wrapping her hands around the metal bars. The Tusken guard didn't respond. He merely slammed his gaffi stick against the cage, forcing Shan to move back or get her fingers crushed. She sat back grumpily and crossed her arms. Kenobi had a feeling they would be in here for quite a while.