CAPTAIN REX

Rex had awoken to the sounds of many footsteps running away, accompanied by yells and shrieks. He went completely still under his blanket. When they had faded into the distance, he sat up. He was just in time to see Biggs leave the tent. He crawled silently around Christopherus, who was miraculously still asleep after that racket, and to a slit in the rough canvas. Peeking out, he saw the strangest thing.

There was a man in a loose brown cloak kneeling next to Luke, with his hand on the boy’s forehead. They apparently hadn’t noticed Biggs, who had tucked himself into a crack in the cliff face. Then they looked up, and threw their hood off.

Rex nearly gasped. It was Obi-Wan Kenobi! There was definitely some more grey hair to be found amidst the red-blond, and a few more wrinkles in his face, but it was the same man. The same Jedi Knight he and his brothers had betrayed.

Obi-Wan Kenobi looked over at Biggs. “Hello there!” he called. His voice had changed a little too with age. “Come here, my young friend. Don’t be afraid!”

“H-hello sir,” Biggs stuttered. He wiggled out of the crack and walked a few steps closer. “You’re Ben Kenobi, right? My parents told me that you were some crazy old wizard who lived out here. But you don’t really look like a wizard. And what were you just doing to Luke? Is he going to be okay?”

“My, what a lot of questions to answer!” Obi-Wan – or Ben, as he seemed to be calling himself – chuckled. “Biggs… Darklighter, isn’t it? I’ll start with the last one, because I think it’s the most pressing. You don’t have to worry, he’ll be all right.”

Suddenly, Rex saw Luke’s eyes open. He sat up, and Ben smiled. “Rest easy, son. You’ve had a quite a busy night. Well, it’s almost morning, now. You’re fortunate to still be all in one piece!”

Luke looked up. “Uh… Ben? Ben Kenobi? Boy, am I glad to see you!”

“Beggar’s Canyon is not the best place to sleep.” Carefully, Ben half lifted, half helped the boy up. “Tell me, young Luke: what brings you this far from home at this time of night? And why were those Tuskens so interested in you and your friend?”

“You mean friends. It’s not just me and Biggs, Ben. We ran into some people here in the Canyon when we were running from the Sand People. They needed a place to stay, so we brought out the tent and stuff.” Luke suddenly looked positively guilty. “We might have… sort of… maybe stole two gaffi sticks from them. We thought it would be fun, we could show off a little to the other boys…”

“And who are your friends, Luke, Biggs? Anyone I would know?”

“I don’t think so,” Biggs ran over to the tent. “Jayl! Rex! Hayden! Get out of there, I got somebody I want you to meet!” he hollered.

That woke Christo up. The two got out of the tent, with Christo rubbing his eyes. “What’s going on? The suns aren’t up yet…” Then he noticed Ben. “Um, hello.”

“That’s Jayl,” Luke said. “And this is Rex. Hayden should be somewhere…”

Ben’s jaw dropped about two inches. “I’m… Glad to– to meet you, Rex.”

“Same here… General.” Rex only whispered the last word, but he was certain that with a Jedi’s sensitivity, he had heard it. Obi-Wan’s eyebrows shot up in a way that said that he wanted the whole story at the earliest opportunity.

Suddenly a few Tusken shrieks cut through the air. “I think we had best get indoors,” Obi-Wan said. “Would you like to come back to my place, boys?”

Luke nodded. “Okay, Ben, but… Wait! Where’s Hayden?”

Ben gave him an unusual look. “Who’s this Hayden I keep hearing about?”

“Um,” Rex said, “you’ll see. I think he knew you. He told me lots about you, Ben. I just hope he got past those Tuskens in one piece.”

“I’m sure he did.” Christo put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “He should be along soon, Luke.”

They soon had their camp packed up. As Rex hoisted a pack on their eopie, he caught sight of someone lying down on a ledge in the cliff above him. It was Anakin!

He made some sort of motion with his hands, but Rex didn’t catch it. But he had a funny feeling that it was in VSL, or Varied Signal Language, a take on the hand signals that the Jedi had come up with during the Clone Wars. This particular variation had been invented by Rex himself, with his friend Cody’s help.

He signaled for Anakin to repeat. Anakin said that he read him, and sent a message back. I can’t let Obi-Wan know that I’m here. Be careful not to tell him anything about me. I’ll find a way to tell him myself. Leave me a water bottle and a pack. I’ll follow you to his place. Tell Christo too. Anakin out.

Then he disappeared over the ridge. Rex discretely loosened a pack from the eopie, where he knew it would fall off, and dropped a full water bottle behind a rock where he knew Anakin would find it. Then the group set out into the sunrise.

*Obi-Wan Kenobi has made his return! How will Anakin deal with this new turn of events? And, if Anakin chooses to reveal himself to Ben, how will he react? Will he learn to forgive the man he once called brother? And now that the Sith know where Anakin, Christo and Rex went, they will certainly follow. What could they be planning? You'll find out in the next captivating chapter of The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano!

Adventure into the caves of Ilum to find your own crystal to build your very own lightsaber and may the Force be with you,

Sharron