Swampland.com

gongsi028 says...

　　Tarkin let out a slow sigh of satisfaction, then turned to the black figure nearby."There, you see, Lord Vader? She can be reasonable. One needs only frame thequestion properly to elicit the desired response." He directed his attention to theother officers. "After concluding our little test here we shall make haste to move onto Dantooine. You may proceed with the operation, gentlemen." 　　It took several seconds for Tarkin's words, so casually uttered, to penetrate."What!" Organa finally gasped. 　　"Dantooine," Tarkin explained, examining his fingers, "is too far from thecenters of Imperial population to serve as the subject of an effective demonstration.You will understand that for reports of our power to spread rapidly through theEmpire we require an obstreperous world more centrally located. Have no fear,though. We will deal with your rebel friends on Dantooine as soon as possible." 　　"But you said…" Organa started to protest. 　　"The only words which have meaning are the last ones spoken," Tarkin declaredcuttingly. "We will proceed with destruction of Alderaan as planned. Then youwill enjoy watching with us as we obliterate the Dantooine center of this stupid andfutile rebellion." 　　He gestured to the two soldiers flanking her. "escort her to the principalobservation level and," he smiled, "make certain she is provided with an unobstructedview.""Look over there, Luke," Kenobi ordered, pointing to the southwest. Thelandspeeder continued to race over the gravelly desert floor beneath them. "Smoke,I should think." 　　Luke spared a glance at the indicated direction.UGG Boots Clearance "I don't see anything, sir." 　　"Let's angle over that way anyhow. Someone may be in trouble." 　　Luke turned the speeder. Before long the rising wisps of smoke that Kenobihad somehow detected earlier became visible to him also. 　　Topping a slight rise, the speeder dropped down a gentle slope into a broad,shallow canyon that was filled with twisted,UGG Boots Clearance burned shapes, some of them inorganic,some not. Dead in the center of this carnage and looking like a beached metal whalelay the shattered hulk of a jawa sandcrawler. 　　Luke brought the speeder to a halt. Kenobi followed him onto the sand,UGG Boots Clearance andtogether they began to examine the detritus of destruction. 　　Several slight depressions in the sand caught Luke's attention. Walking a littlefaster, he came up next to them and studied them for a moment before calling back toKenobi. 　　"Looks like the sandpeople did it,Ugg boots clearance all right. Here's Bantha tracks…" Lukenoticed a gleam of metal half-buried in the sand. "And there's a piece of one ofthose big double axes of theirs." He shook his head in confusion. "but I neverheard of the Raiders hitting something this big." He leaned back, staring up at thetowering, burned-out bulk of the sandcrawler. 　　Kenobi had passed him. He was examining the broad,Ugg boots clearance huge footprints in thesand. "They didn't," he declared casually, "but they intended that we-and anyoneelse who might happen onto this-should think so." Luke moved up alongside him. 　　"I don't understand, sir." 　　"Look at these tracks carefully," the older man directed him,Ugg boots clearance pointing down atthe nearest and then up at the others. "Notice anything funny about them?" Lukeshook his head. "Whoever left here was riding Banthas side by side. Sandpeoplealways ride one Bantha behind another, Ugg boots outlet single file, to hide their strength from anydistant observers." 　　Leaving Luke to gape at the parallel sets of tracks, Kenobi turned his attention tothe sandcrawler. He pointed out where single weapons' bursts had blasted awayportals, treads, and support beams. "Look at the precision with which this firepowerwas applied. Sandpeople aren't this accurate. In fact, no one on Tatooine fires anddestroys with this kind of efficiency." Turing, he examined the horizon. One ofthose nearby bluffs concealed a secret-and a threat. "Only Imperial troops wouldmount an attack on a sandcrawler with this kind of cold accuracy." 　　Luke had walked over to one of the small, crumpled bodies and kicked it overonto its back. His face screwed up in distaste as he saw what remained of the pitifulcreature. 　　"These are the same jawas who sold Uncle Owen and me Artoo and Threepio.I recognize this one's cloak design. Why would Imperial troops be slaughteringjawas and sandpeople? They must have killed some Raider to get those Banthas."His mind worked furiously, and he found himself growing unnaturally tense as hestared back at the landspeeder, past the rapidly deteriorating corpses of the jawas. 　　"But…if they tracked the 'droids to the jawas, then they had to learn first whothey sold them to. They would lead them back to…" Luke was sprinting insanelyfor the landspeeder. 　　"Luke, wait…wait, Luke!" Kenobi called. "It's too dangerous! You'dnever…!" 　　Luke heard nothing except the roaring in his ears, felt nothing save the burningin his heart. He jumped into the speeder and was throwing the accelerator full overalmost simultaneously. In an explosion of sand and gravel he left Kenobi and thetwo robots standing alone in the midst of smoldering bodies, framed by the stillsmoking wreck of the sandcrawler. 　　The smoke that Luke saw as he drew near the homestead was of a differentconsistency from that which had boiled out of the jawa machine. He barelyremembered to shut down the landspeeder's engine as he popped the cockpit canopyand threw himself out. Dark smoke was drifting steadily from holes in the ground.

rebyll says...

I have this photo off of some "Collection" but I never really noticed....Is that George in the center between Paul and Toy?