Entry tags:

char: luke skywalker, title: star wars

s_d!  I present to you parts of two short stories gleaned from Star Wars Tales# 15, both of them about Luke Skywalker as a child. 

In one he's with his good friend Biggs Darklighter.  In the second, he costars with an oddly similar kid in what might be a hallucination, might be some trick of the Force.  Both have rather different art styles.

Here's the first, "Falling Star".  Ten page story; three pages posted. 



Luke doesn't know how Biggs did it, and Biggs explains that no one really cares if kids want to go to the moon.  Luke exults in this chance to finally do what he's always dreamed of and leave the planet, even if it's only a few hours.  He then geeks out about getting a seat near the viewport.

Sorry, I don't know why it's a bit fuzzy.


Something catastrophically fails, Luke fixes the engine despite the chaos and Biggs getting clubbed in the head by a panicking passenger, but then they just go back to Tatooine, to Luke's disappointment.  Back on the farm, his uncle says that if he keeps dragging his feet all he'll do is kick up sand.  When he's alone, Luke says, "Maybe drag my feet here is all I was ever meant to do, Uncle Owen."

So that's one.


Second is "Sandstorm".  Twelve page story, four pages posted.

Little Luke got in trouble with his aunt and uncle; he was asking about his father and lost his temper when they wouldn't tell him anything, so they grounded him and he ran away, not knowing about the major sandstorm which was whipping up.  Not yet aware that he's gone, his guardians talk, saying that Anakin was the same way, unfortunately.


Yes, that really is his nickname.  Poor Luke.

They come across a dead Tusken Raider half buried in the sand.  Annie thinks it's sad and speculates that Tuskens are so violent because they're misunderstood.  Luke picks up the raider's gaffi stick.  They try to wait out the storm in a cave.

The cave turns out to be filled with womp rats, too many to fend off with the stick, so they go back out; before then, the two boys realize that they both want to get off Tatooine and become pilots.  As an intermediate stage, Luke wants to get one of the new T16 Skyhoppers; Annie hadn't heard of those, but he's building his own podracer.  Annie's forewarned about the womp rats, and as they leave he confesses that "Sometimes I just sense things, and-"

The flare goes up, and attracts a krayt dragon.  Nice going, Anakin.  He disappears during the attack, and Luke, not having any idea what to do, has the words "Sometimes I just sense things" appearing in the same wavery bubble seen earlier.  He throws the gaffi stick so it spears the dragon through the roof of its mouth.  It collapses, he collapses, and it disappears as he's found, half buried in sand, by his uncle and some other farmers, who are incredulous that he's survived.  Luke tries to tell them what happened, and the other farmers chalk it up to fever dreams - but Owen's twigged to his nephew being unusual.
Up next, on When I Have The Time And Inclination: Young Leia!