stormtrooper Davin Felth bent down to lift a golden metal O-ring from the sand. Holding it up for Terrik’s inspection the stormtrooper said, “Look, sir — droids.”

”Wake up! Wake up!” C-3PO said to R2-D2 as the transport came to a stop. R2-D2 switched himself off, but — at C-3PO’s urging — his dome’s lights activated and he was immediately alert. Other droids were beeping and whirring nervously. Behind the protocol droid, a wide hatch opened and filled the cramped chamber with blinding bright light.

“We’re doomed.” C-3PO said.

After their reunion, C-3PO had told R2-D2 everything he’d learned about their little hooded captors since they’ve picked them up on the desert. They were Jawas, natives on Tatooine. They scavenge the desert for machinery, which they repaired, utilized and sometimes sold to moisture farmers or other inhabitants. Even their transport — called a Sandcrawler — was a scavenged item, a relic from Tatooine’s mining boom. The Sandcrawler was large enough to serve as a mobile home for an entire clan of Jawas. It also was an autonomous mineral mining facility, equipped with ore crushers, a superheated smelter, and metal compactors. Being trapped in a vehicle with all these features was more than C-3PO could stand.

Jawas appeared at the open hatch, and a power droid tried to retreat into the chamber. C-3PO glanced at the Jawas, then back at R2-D2 and said, “Do you think they’ll melt us down?”

R2-D2 beeped as a Jawa stepped in back of C-3PO.

“Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!” C-3PO said. To R2-D2 he asked. “Will this never end?”

The Jawas herded C-3PO, R2-D2, and the other select droids down the Sandcrawler’s main ramp. They had arrived at a salt flat, on which stood a domed structure and an evenly spaced series of five-meter tall spires. The spires were vaporators, used to extract moisture from Tatooine’s arid atmosphere. The place was a moisture farm.

A Jawa nudged C-3PO, guiding him to take his place in line with the other droids beside the Sandcrawler. A hulking R1 reactor drone stood to C-3PO’s right, and a multiarmed Treadwell to his left. R2-D2 stood between the Treadwell and the Red R2-5 astromech. Beyond the R2-5, a domed-bodied armored LIN mining droid hugged the ground at the end of the line. R2-D2 and the R2-5 unit rotated their heads and glanced at each other. Besides their respective colors and head shape, the two astromechs differed in cost and utility: R2-5 was substantially cheaper but R2-D2 could store more sets of hyperspace coordinates in active memory. Starpilots commonly referred to R2-5 units as R2s, but neither astromech took it personally.

Two wolves—one old, one young—stepped out of one of the domed structures and approached the Sandcrawler. The elder had brown, grizzled fur and haggard features. The young one beside him had rust and cream colored fur and had an eager expression.

At the sight of the wolves, most of the Jawas became so anxious that they ran off and hid behind the Sandcrawler’s treads. The Jawas’ leader didn’t run, but instead walked directly to the haggard-faced wolf and gibbered an enthusiastic sales pitch.

“Yeah, all right, fine,” the older wolf said to the Jawa. “Let’s go.” 

They’d only taken a few steps forward when a female’s voice called out, “Kodi! Kodi!”

The young wolf, Kodi, turned and trotted past some fusion generator supply tanks to arrive at the edge of a huge, deep hole. The hole was an open courtyard with arched doors and rounded windows set into two high mud-packed walls. Owned by the Lars family since he was a pup, the compound had been Kodi’s home for as long as he could remember. Kodi leaned over the hole’s edge and looked down. Two domestic vaporators extended up from the courtyard floor, and near them stood Kodi’s Aunt Beru.

“Kodi,” Beru called up to him. “Tell Uncle, if he gets a translator, be sure it speaks Bocce.”

“Doesn’t look like we have muck of a choice,” Kodi said. “But I’ll remind him.” He turned and trotted back after the old wolf, his Uncle Owen. Owen was looking at the red R2-5 unit in the droid lineup.

The Jawa leader gibbered at Owen, who answered, “Yeah, I’ll take that red one.”

The Jawa leader yapped a sharp command and the other Jawas scurried out from behind the Sandcrawler’s treads to dust off the R2-5 unit. Then, catching Owen’s eye, the Jawa leader made encouraging gestures at the blue-domed R2 unit.

“No, not that one,” Owen said, rejecting R2-D2.

While Kodi inspected the R2-5 unit, Owen stepped past the Treadwell, then stopped to face the golden protocol droid. Owen’s only interest in droids was whether they would be useful to him on the farm. Giving the golden droid a quick study, he said, “You — I suppose you’re programmed for etiquette and protocol?”

“Protocol?” C-3PO said. “Why is my primary function, sir. I am well versed in all the customs —”

“I have no need for a protocol droid,” Owen said, looking away.

Thinking fast, C-3PO said, “Of course you haven’t, sir — not in an environment such as this — that’s why I have been programmed—”

Owen interrupted, “What I really need is a droid who understands the binary language of moisture vaporators.”

“Vaporators!” C-3PO said as if it was a greatest word in the galaxy. “Sir — my first job was programming binary load lifters…very similar to your vaporators in most respects…”

“Can you speak Bocce?” Owen asked.

“Of course I can, sir,” C-3PO answered with pride. “It’s like a second language to me…I am fluent in —”

“All right, shut up.” Owen indicated the protocol droid to the Jawa and said, “I’ll take this one.”

“Kodi!” Owen shouted. Kodi ran over. Owen gestured to the protocol droid and the R2-5 unit, then said, “Take these two to the garage, will you? I want them cleaned up before dinner.”

“But I was going into Toshe Station to pick up more sled parts for my team.” Kodi whimpered.

“You can waist time with your mail team when your chores are done,” Owen said. Now, come on, get to it.”

“All right…come on.” Kodi said to the protocol droid, disappointed.

C-3PO glanced at R2-D2. The astromech emitted a whimpering whistle.

Kodi glanced at the red R2-5 unit, who was being finished dusted by the Jawas. Kodi said. “And the red one, come on.”

The R2-5 hesitated and stayed behind R2-D2, who let out a pathetic beep and began trembling.

“Well come on, Red,” Kodi said. “Let’s go.”

The R2-5 rolled after Luke and C-3PO. R2-D2 started shaking so hard that he attracted the attention of a Jawa technician, who turned and zapped the droid with a control box, R2-D2 went suddenly silent and still.

The R2-5 was still rolling along when its top suddenly exploded, launching small part all over the ground. As smoke poured upward from the R2-5’s ruptured head, Kodi called out, “Uncle Owen…”

“Yeah?” Owen answered, turning from his financial transaction with the Jawa leader.

“This Artoo unit had a bad motivator,” Kodi said, gesturing to the smoldering R2-5 unit. “look.”

Owen spun on the Jawa leader and bellowed, “Hey, what are you trying to push on us?”

C-3PO had noticed the Jawa technician had reactivated R2-D2, and that R2 was practically jumping up and down, trying to attract attention so he wouldn’t be left behind. C-3PO tapped Kodi’s shoulder, then pointed to R2-D2, and said, “Excuse me, sir, but that R2 unit is in prime condition, a real bargain.”

Kodi called, “Uncle Owen…”

Owen looked away from the Jawa, “Yeah?”

Kodi pointed to R2-D2, “What about that one?”

Turning back to the Jawa, Owen said, “What about that blue one? We’ll take that one.”

A few shy Jawas trudged up to the R2-5 unit, then glanced at Kodi, waiting for his permission before they hauled off the droid. Kodi waved his paw to fan away the smoke that was still coming out of the R2-5’s head, then said, “Yeah, take this away.”

C-3PO beamed at R2-D2, then turned to Kodi and said, “I’m quite sure you’ll be very pleased with that one, sir. He really is in first-class condition. I’ve worked with him before. Here he comes.”

R2-D2 scooted away from the Sandcrawler and headed for C-3PO and Kodi. Kodi said, “OK, lets go.” He turned and walked toward the domed structure, the main entrance to the Lars family homestead.

C-3PO moved close to R2-D2 and said, “Now don’t you forget this! Why I should stick my neck out for you is quite beyond my capacity.”

The droids followed Kodi into the entrance dome — their new home.

( Volume 2 — coming soon!)