A New Future

[Insidious]

A small group of speeder bikes in varying condition sped their way across the the desert landscape towards the moisture farm of Owen and Beru Lars.

One would overtake the other as the members of the group seemed to be playfully racing one another and pushing the limits of their projects.

As they came closer to the farm, one of the members started to take the edge off his speed and power down. Jarrod Nivv didn't want to destroy any of his friends' property just because they were out on a joyride. The others started to do the same.

"You think he'll be home?" Jarrod asked into the comm on his helmet.

[Gavin Caste]

A swift twitch of the handle bar forced the black painted air foils of the civilian Joben T-85 to bank to port to avoid a gust of turbo wash heated sand as the lead biker hit a piece of loose materials. The quick motion of the notoriously sensitive control system of the bike caused it briefly to shudder and slide up the bank of the nearest port side dune. A moment later the vehicle exploded off the summit of the dune, narrowly avoiding a nearly submerged rock escarpment, taking on altitude before settling back in line behind the remaining members of the loosely knit convoy of youths.

Dev Morgan pushed his foot down on the accelerator, forcing his craft forward until he filled in the diamond formation of speeders heading towards the Lars Moisture Homestead... a site located in the middle of no where. It borders on the territories of No mans land and, lost without a clue. Man those guys weren't kidding. Why do I always end up getting these sorts of assignments?

Discreetly, Dev reached down to the side saddle of the speeder and quickly allowed his gloved fingers roam across the small protected canisters and packages that had been tied down before the team had left Mos Eisley. Three small cylindrical canisters and a pair of square cargo boxes and their straps were still tight. Well, at least I don't have to go sand diving for these things after that little flight. Don't know how I'd explain it if I lost them before I even got a chance to deliver the packages.

As his left hand returned to the handlebar controls, they quickly traced the outline of an even smaller cylinder hidden beneath a moisture wicking cloak. Swiftly confirming its presence he returned his attention back to the route ahead... just in time to avoid rear ending the leads of the formation. The youth swerved briefly as he applied the air breaks and slowed the thrust from the repulsor engines.

The mic clicked over twice as it switched from the secured encryption frequencies over to the one that had been agreed to by the party. Morgan couldn't help but smirk behind his confiscated and customized scout trooper helm. He had not really known the target of their pursuit for very long, only meeting the person in question twice before during their brief visit to the ship docks looking for parts for an older speeder. It was simple coincidence that the residence of the Homestead had placed orders with the parts kiosk, though it had not been such that he had managed to be the one making the delivery.

The smirk faded as a brief flicker flashed across his subconscious, forcing his spine to stiffen ever so slightly. Activating the modified H.U.D. within the customized helmet, he began a quick regional life scan of the area... the results were as expected, aside from the sparse local fauna and the riders, the nearest life signs were coming from the Homestead up ahead. "I hope so," he finally responded to the pack leader, forcing a chuckle in his voice to distract from the feeling of unease that had flashed over him only moments before. "Cause if he isn't, I'll have to explain to the boss why I have a bunch of these parts and no credits to pay for 'em."

[cravex]

Near Owen and Buru Lars’ moisture farm

Come on, you piece of—


Luke Skywalker jerked and fell forward as the locking bolt finally broke free and spun. He stopped just short of face-planting into the collector. It was the story of his life: almost but not quite.



He only had himself to blame, as he’d spent most of the morning tinkering with a few odds and ends before making his way out here. It wasn’t too far from home as he could still hear the occasional hum of the power transfer units that powered his Uncle Lars’ home.



Still, he was far enough away that it felt like he was on another world. It was one of the few pleasant things about Tatooine he preferred it out here. It was quiet and gave him time to think. Not that his uncle would agree with where his thoughts took him.



“I’m too much like my father,” he said, mocking his uncle’s favorite phrase, as he opened the panel and set to work extracting the malfunctioning control mechanism. Just glancing at it, he could tell it’d take a week to fix; longer if he didn’t learn to focus. “Gotta begin somewhere.”



He shook his head as he thought he heard something, but no one ever came out here. They didn’t have a reason to. Not liking the feeling of uneasiness that had crept over him, he set back to work.



Get with it, Luke. Can’t keep your head in the stars.

[Gavin Caste]

Boundaries of the Lars Homestead

Dev slowly rotated his wrists backward in order to draw back the throttle of the speeder bike, gently opening up some distance between himself and the pack leader Jarrod Nivv. He turned to starboard briefly to avoid a sensor marker that was practically flush to the ground and buried by the desert sands of the hostile environment. Once he was satisfied with the distance he had established the young rebel sent yet another probe through the cosmic ether and again the feeling of unease washed over him. He could not quite pin point what the cause was, at least not exactly. It was a feeling that was familiar yet foreign... distant yet near. Kanan would have a field day if he were here trying to explain feeling. I wonder if he feels it to? Eh, probably considers it some cosmic background or echo in the force. Still, its as if..."

His musings were abruptly interrupted as his heads up display began to flash an alert sign across the upper left hand field of vision. Morgan's attention was immediately snapped back to reality as retinal commands ordered the hidden sensors in the bike to begin a sub harmonic scan of the area. Instantly a wire frame image the terrain up ahead zoomed into focus. Several small energy towers leading to and fro from the settlement back to the city behind them. The image spun around and again narrowed at a slightly larger tower with a single humanoid thermal image crouching near it.

"Hey Nivv," he called out over the comm. "Look up. We have someone at one of those vaporator towers."

[cravex]

Near Owen and Buru Lars’ moisture farm


The moisture collectors/evaporators weren’t the most complex of machinery one could find, but they were some of the toughest. They had to be to survive and function in a climate like Tatooine. It made sense, but what didn’t make sense to Luke at the point in time was how or why the blasted machine refused to work with him, but he eventually extracted the control mechanism.

With the soccer ball sized device in hand, he was able to get a better idea of the type of repairs it’d need, and he didn’t like what he heard.

The mechanism was in one piece, but the sound of loose internal pieces hinted at the nightmare to come, assuming he didn’t just scrap the thing and try to talk his Uncle Owen into purchasing a new one. He knew he had a better chance of convincing a Jawa to give away a droid than getting his uncle to go along with his plan. It didn’t mean there weren’t options.

Hoping for the best, he pried open the house since the access was stuck as well. The inside looked better than it had sounded with just a couple of loose pieces that had managed to damage the rest of the device before it finally shut down.

He already knew what parts he needed, and he knew just the place. The only problem with that is it was in Anchorhead, a couple of hours away at best.

But the shop where Biggs and his other friends hung out would have the parts he needed. Assuming the internal systems weren’t too badly damaged from running before the collector shut down. He could already tell what had happened: the control mechanism had suffered a simple malfunction, but because it was so minor, he hadn’t given it a second thought until it shut down.

His uncle had, but then it’d taken Luke a couple of days to get around to heading out here and checking on it after his uncle had told him to. And this is what I get, he thought, closing the housing.

Checking his chronometer, he had enough time to hope they had the parts at the shop and he could get started on the repairs that night, or he’d have to tell his uncle about it and hear another lecture on responsibility and Luke lack thereof.

He took a few seconds looking from his home and Uncle Owen to his landspeeder and back. If I tell him, I’ll still have to go for parts. So… Letting the thought trail off, Luke headed for the storage bay where his landspeeder waited. His uncle wouldn’t be there at that time, so he could slip in and out before anyone was the wiser.