Anuvuin
3
We'll
go to a pilot/mechanic named Ric Olie. Now Ric Olie lives on Tatooine, and has just been appointed the Royal
pilot. He also likes building things on
the side. Right now, he is in a
conference with other mechanics, and they are on the topic of droids.
Ric
Olie says, "But if pilots could have a droid calculate and repair any damage
done in battle, think how much more the chances of survival could increase."
"I doubt it would work. Mr. Olie, until you can provide us with the
product, I do not believe it. This is a
wasted debate. Let's move onto show how
protocol droids could be of use."
Ric Olie says, "But a real pilot is
needed to actually do the piloting, a protocol one wouldn't do."
"How would you know?"
"Because I AM a pilot. I was just suggesting that a droid such as
the design I presented you could be quite helpful."
"You come up with the plans, we'll review it,
and IF we think it works, we'll okay it."
"All right, fine."
Ric Olie leaves the conference (it is now
over), and he sets off to work on the droid.
"I can't believe I have to do this thing
myself, they don't even look at my plans. Oh well, I'll show them."
Within 4 hours, Ric Olie has built the
droid. He names it R2-7 Droid…and the
first Artoo droid was built.
"No, there's something missing from this
one…I have an idea…."
And
again, Ric Olie builds a droid, the process took all night. Even though he didn't get much sleep, the
final product, R2-D2 had been created. Just as something special, he gives R2-7 Droid to the King and Queen of
the Republic, Tim and Sally Jedi. Ric
Olie becomes widely popular after this, as you can imagine. Artoo units were an instant success, used in
one-man ships to help pilots. Also, on
large ships, several of them were introduced for emergency purposes. But Ric Olie made sure that R2-D2 would
always remain on his ship, it was his special little droid. And that is the story of R2-D2 and how he
came to be built. Meanwhile, Qui-Gon
Jinn, now a well respected Jedi, and is considered one of the best of all
times, is still in search of The Chosen One. But after this many years, Qui-Gon finally gives up his search.
"What's the use? I haven't found him yet…. it's almost impossible."
So Qui-Gon turns his steps back to
Coruscant. Though Qui-Gon has given up
the search, he knows he will never forget The Legend of the Chosen One. Now, there is one more thing, before I get
into the major event of Part 1 of Anuvuin, and that is something called The
Trade Federation. The Trade Federation
is a trade group that is fairly new. But they are gaining popularity, and are one of the only organizations
to be big enough to have a position in the Senate; they have their own
Senator. Right now, they are playing by
the rules, but what happens when some influential person gets in the way? Find out in one of the last sections of Part
1 of Anuvuin. Now, it is back to
Tatooine, to the Skywalker family…the 4 years of time that I set is now up…
Summoner Skywalker
says, "Shmi, I am going into town."
"Okay, dear…"
Shmi was again
pregnant for the 3rd time. Lowdun
was kind of uneasy about this, neither Rhun nor Owen had that strong of
a Force. Owen's was little stronger
than Rhun's. Rhun's was weak. Lowdun well knew that Summoner had the
strongest Force out of his own children, and knew the potential danger that
Summoner could have a very Force-sensitive child. Shmi also had a fair amount of Force in her, average. Summoner's was bordering on more than
average, okay, it was strong, but so far his offspring have just had average or
weak. Anyway, Summoner went into town
to seek out the Hutts. He had finally
decided on something. So, Summoner took
his landspeeder over to Jabba's Palace.
Summoner says,
"Bib Fortuna, may I please speak with your master. I want to join the Maurders."
Bib Fortuna says, "sure, right this way."
Summoner was thinking to himself how lucky
he was in that the Maurders now controlled Tatooine…now it would be easier to
join them. As Bib Fortuna led the way
to Jabba, he said something in Huttese. Jabba nodded, and then addressed Summoner.
"So you want to join the Maurders?"
"Yes," says Summoner. "And there's something more, I have a slave
for you if you need one."
Another Hutt overheard this and says, "What
type of slave?"
"A female, about my age. And she's pregnant, so you'll have a little
slave soon. Her name is Shmi, my wife."
"Ho ho ho!" both Hutts laughed.
Jabba says, "I
like you."
The other Hutt says, "Bring me this Shmi
person, and I'll pay you right away."
Summoner bows and says, "You have yourselves
a deal. I will be back shortly with
your merchandise."
Rhun is now 5 years old, which makes Owen 4.
Anyway, he
comes home and says, "Shmi, dear. You have
to come into town…there is something I need to show you."
"Oh really? What is it, dear?"
"It's a surprise."
Shmi starts to get the boys ready, but
Summoner says, "No, this is a surprise for you to see…alone. Don't worry, I'll get dad to watch the
kids."
Shmi is a little curious now, but she could
never prepare herself for the events to follow.
AS Summoner
opens the speeder door for her, she says, "I wish you'd tell me what this was
about, honey…you know how much I HATE kind of things…especially when I'm
like this (pointing to her large stomach)
"Don't
worry, dear. Everything will be
explained."
He drives up to Jabba's Palace.
"What are we here for?"
"The surprise, what else."
"I thought
it would be in a different kind of place."
Summoner
doesn't have time to reply, because an armed Maurder rushes out of the palace
and holds a gun to Shmi. She can do
nothing, because more men like the first one surround her.
"What
the…Summoner, help me. You seem to be
plenty free."
Summoner only replies with, "No. You are theirs now. I just sold you to this Hutt. I'm finally rid of you. I'm a Maurder now, Surprise!"
And that is the last she hears for a couple
hours, because one of the guys shoots her with a stun gun. During the time she was out, they put a
special detonator-type thing in her arm that would blow her up…that's what they
do to all slaves so they can't escape. Once Shmi wakes up, the Hutt explained it to her. She hoped it was just a bad dream, but she
knew better.
The first
realization that came to her was, "Rhun and Owen…I'll never see them
again! I hope they're all right."
Then she thought of her husband. The thought of him made her sick.
"How could he do this to me…and this
unborn child? One thing's for sure;
I'll never admit that Summoner's the father. If this child ever asks about his father, I'll just tell him he doesn't have
one. Summoner doesn't even deserve to
be a father to this child. He certainly
won't raise it, or do anything fatherly. So basically, this child doesn't have a father."
After
Summoner took Shmi to the Hutts, he received payment right away. For a pregnant
slave, they gave 9,000,000,000 credits. He hid them in a special compartment in his landspeeder. Then he went into the bushes and got dirt
all over himself, ripped his clothes, and all that. If anyone asked about Shmi, and he knew they would, he would say
how they had been attacked by banthas, and how she was trampled to death…so
much so that the body was unrecognizable. Wit that story thought up, he rushed back home. Lowdun was cleaning off he and his wife's
landspeeder when he got back.
"Where's Shmi?"
Summoner put on the best act he could,
"Banthas came out of nowhere and attacked us…I just barely got away. I thought Shmi was right behind me, but when
I looked back, she was…dead…and banthas were trampling all over it, making it
unrecognizable. I helplessly watched as
my wife's body got crushed."
Lowdun looked at Summoner. There was something wrong here, but he
wasn't sure what it was, so he let the subject drop in his mind.
Instead, he
went up to Summoner and said, "I'm so sorry."
He believed
his son, he had to.
"Where are
my kids?"
"Out back…with your mother. I think we should come up with a good way to
tell them…I mean there's no good way, but there are better ways than
others."
Again, Lowdun looked at Summoner.
"Something's
missing about him…at once Lowdun thought he knew what it was, but there was
only one way to test it…now although Lowdun had
wanted nothing more to do with the Jedi, he still relied on the Force for
certain things. There were times when
using it was not only helpful, but was a necessity. Lowdun had also taught his own children to use it on the Moisture
Farm. He had taught them mind control,
how to move objects, things that could be of use. Lowdun turned back towards Summoner, after skimming the
surroundings.
"Summoner, I need your help with
something…hang on, I'll be back."
Summoner is relieved.
"Good, I
fooled him."
Lowdun looks around.
"There
isn't anyone with a weak mind around her…but wait, maybe I cold stage
something…"
but he doesn't have any time to think. There's a large clanking sound.
"The sandpeople…"
Lowdun runs back to Summoner.
Lowdun
says, "There's some sandpeople at the vaporators again. You do remember how to use the force for
Mind Control, right?"
"Sure."
"Good, I need you to hope me take care of
them. (And to wipe the "why can't you do it" look off Summoner's face)
"It'll get your mind off your wife…"
Summoner will do anything to enhance his
story.
"Thanks, I
just can't seem to keep my mind off of her."
Lowdun
sys, "That's only natural."
Lowdun
hides his anticipation at seeing how the following event turns out. Lowdun follows Summoner to the field. Summoner tries to use mind control, but he
just can't make the connections. Summoner realizes there's something seriously wrong, but he tires
anyway.
"Those vaporators…" he stops.
He just cant' do it. Lowdun leans up against the tool shed,
watching the whole thing. Lowdun nods,
then goes over to Summoner. Summoner
looks puzzled.
"I can't understand why it won't work."
"Summoner, get back to the house…I don't want
you hurt…I'll take care of this, and then I want to talk to you. Hurry up, these sandpeople can be vicious."
Summoner goes back, puzzled, and watches as
his father takes care of the sandpeople with mind contr. There's no harm done to anything. Then after all the sandpeople left, Lowdun
came over to where Summoner was standing.
"I don't
understand this…"
"You
should, Summoner. You lied to me."
"You knew, didn't you?"
'I was almost positive, but it had to test
it to be sure. Summoner, although I am
56, I am not as forgetful as I think you sometimes think I am. I was a Jedi Knight at one time, and there
are things I learned that I would never forget…I am trying to be as clam as I
can. You joined the Maurders, didn't
you?"
Summoner was really taken aback by this.
"I would never do anything that stupid."
"Summoner, you may think you an cover your
tracks, but there's something you can't hide. You lost your Force powers…and there's only one way to do that, you
joined the Maurders. I needed to put
you in a position that would e necessary to use the Force…I never told you
about this Maurder business because I didn't see any need to. I guess s I should have. You haven't run into your Uncle Elliot, have
you? For your sake, I hope you don't. He's a mean-spirited, awful person, although
I can't say you're much better. You did
something to your wife. Where is she?"
"It's none of your business."
"It is too, son. She is having my
grandchild!"
"You'll never find her…she's far way from
her. No, I haven't. "My brother…I never told you about him
before. He also became a Maurder…I
tried to stop him, and failed. "
Summoner turns and says, "That's nice. You can look after my kids whenever
I'm not around."
Lowdun knew he could go look for Shmi
because Owen and Rhun needed some attention.
"Summoner, even through your mistakes, I
still love you."
Summoner says, "Yeah, I know."
Now, a month later, back to Shmi.
Shmi
is due now at any time. The Maurders do not have the best of medical services,
especially for slaves, but they did pay for the child, so they felt they
had to provide a doctor of some kind. Shmi was not looking forward to having a Maurder doctor deliver her
baby, but she knew she had no choice. So, when the doctor named Doctor Pere came to check on the morning of
August 30, the following thing happened: Shmi turned to see the doctor slide the plate of smashed up cardboard
toward her.
"How are
you feeling today, Mrs. Skywalker?"
"I'm a little tired, but I think I'm all
right."
"Yes, well let me take a look to make sure
everything's all right. You said your
old doctor said it could come anytime from last week on?"
"That's right."
"Okay then, why don't you lie on the bed…and
I'll take a look here."
The doctor took out his tools. Shmi was used to this. The doctor hooked up
some machine that projected the baby's image on a screen. Both her old doctor, and now this one knew if
it would be a boy or a girl…but Shmi had asked not to know.
"Well h…(then he remembered) it looks like it
will be healthy, however, I think I'd better check on you more than once a day
from now on…it looks like it's getting ready to come out…in fact…. it could be
within just a few hours form now."
"It could be…"
Then Shmi
said, "Well, if you would know your medicine better, you would know I'm about
to have it now…I think it's coming…"
And that's when she started going into
contractions. The doctor ran away,
screaming for another doctor or nurse t help him. Shmi actually cried.
"Where is
he going? I can't do this by myself…"
She started pushing and she knew it was
coming.
She
yelled, "Someone, help me!"
But she was left alone to do everything by
herself until finally when the baby was almost totally out, the doctor came
back with 3 others.
Shmi says, "It took you long enough…now help
me."
So the doctors try to help her in the
final stages of birth…and out pops the baby. Shmi is so relieved that's all over. She looks up in anticipation.
"So what
is it?"
The doctor checked, although he was already
pretty certain of what it would be.
"A boy."
Shmi quickly thought up a name.
"I know
Summoner doesn't like it, but he has no say in this child's life anymore…I'm
going to name him Anakin Luke Skywalker."
The baby kind of made an oper or qui que
noise when it was born. Just
kidding! I just had to put that in
there. Anyway, over the next 3 years,
Shmi and Anakin remained with the first Hutt. But during one of the pod races, the Hutt lost both Anakin and his
mother to Watto in a bet. Anakin grew
to be a very bright and considerate young boy. He was one of the nicest people to ever live in the galaxy…only to later
by topped by 2 other people, but that is another story. Once time Anakin even saved a baby bantha's
life, even though banthas were so undesirable. Anakin also learned how to pilot ships fast…and he learned things
quickly. One day, Watto decided to try
Anakin at podracing…and found out he could do it, and do it well. Anakin would always dream of leaving
Tatooine to become very famous…piloting the big ships and becoming a Jedi
Knight. He always tried talking to the
big time pilots and hearing what they had to say…they would often come to
Tatooine to tell these stories while their ships were being repaired, or if
they were taking a break from their travels or trading. Anakin loved his mother very much. H even built her a droid…C-3PO. He was very good at building things…he also
started on his own pod racer…and this was all while Anakin was 9 years old or
younger. And that is how the years
passed for him. He always hoped that
one day Jedi Knights would come and rescue him. (These events overlap with Part 2…we'll explore them in more detail.) And, next time, learn about the deal between Darth Sidious and
the Trade Federation. This concludes
Anuvuin, Part 1.
Until
next time!