The twin suns of Tatooine beat down hard on the old hermit as he made the trek back to his domed burrow. The rugged russet steeps jutting upwards from the arid Dune Sea were the only relief from the cascades of endless pale sand. Entering his home, the hermit set down the two water jugs he had been carrying, and slowly rested himself on his bed.

A cold shock went through him; an instance of fear, confusion, and loneliness--voices of millions crying out before...nothing. As soon as the feeling came, it had passed, but a darkness lingered.

Do you feel it, Obi Wan?

“Yes,” The aged jedi answered, lowering his hood. Obi Wan Kenobi let out a pained sigh, “The Force. Vader and the Emperor…they’ve done something terrible.”

The voice of Obi Wan’s past master seemed to pause before responding. Finally, Qui-Gon Jinn continued.

Alderaan, it’s gone.

“How?” Kenobi asked solemnly, his eyes closed in concentration as his thoughts travelled to the past.

A weapon...With the power to tear worlds apart in an instance.

Obi Wan took that in for a moment. His face contorted as he reached out with the Force to find--

Leia.

Qui-Gon’s voice confirmed what his old padawan had been dreading. The first of the Skywalker twins had been captured by the Emperor.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

She has been lost to the dark side of the Force.

“Does that mean it’s time?”

Yes…

A soft breeze seemed to rise from nowhere, warming Obi Wan with memories of standing in his maverick master’s presence. Jinn’s voice seemed to echo quietly before it was nothing more than a whisper in Kenobi’s ears.

You must train Luke as you did his father. Be patient with him, Obi Wan...He will help bring balance to the Force.

“I will try, master.”

Do or do not, Obi Wan...There is no try…

With that, the last of the voice’s warmth faded, and Obi Wan felt the cold tendrils of the dark side permeating through the Force again.

Can I do it, master? Obi Wan asked himself. He had failed Qui-Gon once before with Anakin. He had underestimated the turmoil in his young apprentice. He had abandoned him to defeat the Separatists at such a pivotal moment in Skywalker’s life, and the gnawing fear that if he had just been there for Anakin, then the Jedi Order would still exist. So would the Republic...so would Alderaan…

So would Anakin.

Had Obi Wan not taken the mission to Utapau, he could have given Anakin the guidance he needed to resist the temptations of the dark side.

Or maybe he wouldn’t have. Maybe Anakin still would have turned into Darth Vader, and Obi Wan would have died along with the rest of the Jedi during the purge. Maybe Luke and Leia would have fallen into Darth Sidious’s hands just like they all did.

Obi Wan pushed the thoughts from his mind; there was no use dwelling on the mistakes and possibilities of the past. All that remained now was Luke--with Leia in the Empire’s clutches--he was the last hope the galaxy had to stop the Emperor and Darth Vader. Luke Skywalker, son of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala, was the only hope Obi Wan had of saving his fallen apprentice.

Pulling his hood over him again, gathering the remaining credits he had been saving, and placing two lightsabers beneath his brown robes, the old Jedi master made his way from his burrow, and to the home of Owen and Beru Lars.