Star Wars Journal - The Fight for Justice by Luke Skywalker by John Peel Page A

blasts were unmistakable. Something was going on in orbit tonight. I don’t know what. And I’ll probably never find out. But after seeing that action, I wish more than ever that I could find a way off Tatooine… for good.

THIRD ENTRY
    I thought today would be the best day of my life. The beginning of something new. Something worthwhile. And definitely something other than moisture farming!
    I don’t want to live my life on a constant quest for water. All we do here is fight against the hot, dry conditions of Tatooine. It takes all our efforts, running the vaporators full-time to produce enough water for survival.
    Oh, Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru do okay. With my help, of course. But today I’m old enough to leave. And Uncle Owen promised .
    Only he’s gone back on that promise.
    He says I have to work here for another year, and then he’ll be able to spare me. I’ve worked here all my life. I thought I was getting the chance to stop wasting my time on this farm—and do something.
    I know I shouldn’t sound so harsh. I mean, Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru took me in when I was a baby, and they’ve raised me as if I were their own child. They never had any children themselves, and they’ve always been good to me. I don’t have any complaints there, although I would have liked to have known my parents.
    And this farm is Uncle Owen’s life. He’s a good man, I know that. But his horizons stretch only as far as the farm does. He rarely goes to town anymore, preferring to send me on errands for him. He stays out here, working and sweating all day to produce a little moisture. And he’s happy with that. It’s a tiring life, but the one he chooses.
    The problem is that I can’t make him see it’s not the life I choose. The thought of spending my life here, rejigging failing vaporators and programming farm droids, makes me want to scream. I want to experience life out in the galaxy—where things really happen! Sometimes, I just sit out at night, looking up at the stars, and imagine what it would be like to be out there.
    Of course, Biggs doesn’t have to imagine anymore. He’s graduated from the Academy already, and has earned his wings. I’m really glad for him, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous, too. He’s going to be out there in space, flying and visiting all the places we’ve talked about a hundred times.
    It was so great to see Biggs. But it made me realize how much I miss him. And that I’ll have another full year without a best friend to fly T-16s with. He’s already way ahead of me, but he didn’t rub it in, and told me kind of casually, like it wasn’t any big deal. But I could see the pride in his eyes, and hear the hunger in his voice.
    Thankfully, I can encode these entries so nobody else can play them back. Otherwise, I’d never be revealing what Biggs told me. He isn’t planning to stick with his job on a freighter. He’s going to jump ship at the first port of call, and join the Rebellion!
    I told him he was crazy to think he could actually find the Rebels. I mean, if the Empire can’t find them, what are his chances? And even if he does find them, I’m not so sure that’s such a great thing. I mean, we all know that the current government isn’t the greatest in the galaxy. They take their cut of everything, and they supposedly enforce the peace. But, on the whole, they pretty much leave Tatooine alone.
    Not that there’s anything here to interest them anyway.
    Sure I’ve heard about some terrible things the Emperor’s troops have done. But they’re just stories. I’ve never met anyone who could actually back up the stories with facts. It might be nothing more than discontented grumblings. Then again, maybe the stories are all true, and the Emperor’s the tyrant they claim, and he deserves to be overthrown. I don’t know. It’s just politics as usual. It has nothing to do with me.
    Of course, if I were out there among the stars, maybe I’d know more. Then I could make