Chapter 3 – The Farmboy Mechanic
There's a saying that if the universe had a bright center, the outer rim worlds would be the places farthest from it. Given the distance these worlds have from the core ones that once made up the Republic – now The Empire – that saying couldn't be more close to the truth, and in the case of Tatooine, that saying was spot on.
However, in some cases, one could call the "planet farthest from the bright center" ironic, given that this desert planet had two suns instead of one bearing down on it, making it much hotter than one would expect from a desert world.
But even despite this, Tatooine was anything but a bright spot in the outer rim, considering that it was under the rule of the Hutts, with crime and slavery making up most of the planet's economy, with moisture farming making up a small yet substantial amount.
But even with these downsides the people there made the most of it, with many trying their hands at other ventures like Sabacc, as well as betting on podracing and participating in other types of activities such as racing each other via T-16 Skyhoppers. Granted, the competitions for T-16s were less spectacular than podracing, but they still garnered a significant amount of attention.
And right now near Beggar's Canyon several racers were doing just that, with some spectators waiting for them in a clearing at the canyon's end.
Kitster Banai dabbed his forehead with an ice-filled rag as he and several others waited for the racers to finish, though in his case a friend of his was also participating but for different reasons besides getting a rush out of avoiding running into the canyon's wall.
In no time at all the practice race was over and the participants made their way to the others.
Kitster couldn't help but chuckle to himself as his own T-16 came for a landing near him, with its occupant disembarking from the vehicle with a wide grin on his face.
"I'm guessing she runs just fine then?" Kitster asked his longtime friend Anakin Skywalker.
"Well…" Began the tall young man with short sandy blonde hair. "I don't wanna embellish, but yeah, she does."
Kitster then sighed as he and his friend shared a laugh, along with their Rodian pal Wald joining in.
"But seriously, in a nutshell she's all set and ready to go for the next race." Anakin assured.
"Good." Wald said. "Now are you sure you don't want to join? I mean, if anybody else besides Kitster should have a shot at winning this, I really think…"
"Wald, I told you and Kitster before," Anakin replied. "Those days are over for me."
"Then why'd you take my T-16 out for this practice round?" Kitster asked.
"Well, somebody had to make sure she worked right." Anakin insisted. "Besides, you don't want to end up a smear on the canyon wall, do ya?"
Kitster just sighed, knowing he wouldn't get any further in that little argument. Despite his friend's insistence that he was out of the racing game for good, Kitster could tell that Anakin still got a kick out of flying a ship, which went back to their childhoods growing up in the slave quarters with their parents. Although they were now free of that kind of life, the fact that Anakin was able to fly a ship like a seasoned pro years back more than left an impression on Kitster, which surprised him when his friend decided to hang it up. Of course, Kitster would later discover the reason why Anakin ultimately walked away from the racing gig…
"But anyway, thanks for doing this though, Ani." Wald said. "At least now we know we'll be ready for the competition next week."
"No problem Wald." Anakin said. "Anyway, I'm gonna swing by Tosche Station before I head home."
"Ain't your dad gonna be wondering where you've been all morning though?" Kitster asked.
"Maybe." Anakin conceded. "But hey, if I'm lucky maybe he'll still be nappin'. He has turned into a late sleeper these days."
"Hopefully." Kitster said. "See you later Ani."
"See you guys!" Anakin said as he made his way over to his landspeeder and set off.
Sometimes I wonder why it's even called "Tosche Station" if the owner isn't even around. Anakin thought as he disembarked from the speeder and made his way to the shop's entrance. Despite being named after its owner Merl Tosche the shop was managed by a Besalisk named Dexter Jettster, who had ventured to Tatooine years back and took over the business after the previous manager was killed by Tusken Raiders. Exactly where Dexter came from no one knew, but he was able to manage the shop very well, which was good enough for Merl. Plus the lack of customers made it an ideal spot for youths to hang out at, with Anakin, Kitster and Wald being chief among them. Dexter never had a problem with it, so he gladly welcomed them whenever they came and besides giving them good deals on power converters and the like, he would also give a bit of sage advice to the youths every now and again. As such Anakin would always find himself staying for more than a while, even helping out around the shop at times.
"Hey Dex!" Anakin called out.
"Anakin!" Replied the Besalisk with a smile on his face as he stepped out from behind the counter. "How goes it, my boy?"
"Pretty good." Anakin said as he shared a hug with his friend.
"So I take it the practice run panned out well then?"
"Without a hitch." Anakin answered.
"Good to hear." Dexter said.
"So, anything new come in?" Anakin asked.
"Sorry Anakin, but I'm afraid there's a backlog of delays this time around." Dexter replied sadly. "And it's not because of the suppliers, but it turns out the Empire's been tightening the reigns on shipping routes in the outer rim, more so in just the past few days."
"Great." Anakin said with a resigned sigh as he ran his hand through his hair.
"I'm really sorry." Dexter apologized. "But I do have someone who knows a few ways around this. In fact, I was actually just about to contact him. So if anything, check back later in the afternoon."
"Thanks Dex." Anakin said.
"Anytime Anakin." Dexter replied. "Say hi to your father for me."
"Will do."
Guess if it's not the Hutts and their Bounty Hunters, it's the freakin' Empire. Anakin sighed to himself again as he walked towards his landspeeder after leaving the shop. Despite the fact that The Empire had no garrisons set up on Tatooine and technically no jurisdiction as a result, that didn't stop them from sending some detachments to Mos-Eisley and Mos-Espa every now and again, with "searching for wanted criminals/traitors" being the chief reason for coming over. Anakin however wasn't so sure about that most of the time, and he really had a strong feeling that the Hutts – namely Jabba – arranged a deal with the Empire to where as long as they were allowed to snoop around the desert planet on occasion, the Imperial officers would keep their mouths shut about certain "activities" the Hutts were involved in. However, it didn't take a Bounty Hunter or a trained Imperial to know that little "understanding" wouldn't keep forever, and eventually The Empire would try to make a move for Tatooine. It was just a question of when.
Sometimes I wonder how Jabba keeps any dough left in that bank vault of his.
A cry from a distance brought back Anakin's attention as he then turned his head in the direction of where the voice was coming from. But he didn't see anything. Then he saw movement in a lower sand dune a short distance away, as well as another scream ringing out. Moving quickly Anakin headed towards that dune, checking for his blaster pistol on his right hip as he did so.
"We already paid Jabba in full!" Called out the moisture farmer.
"That you did." Retorted the Rodian known as Greedo. "However you forget that debts always incur…interest, which just so happens to be my cut."
"Only if we paid in installments, which we did not." Replied another moisture farmgirl. "You're just looking for a reason to pester us some more."
"It's a person-eat-person galaxy out there, my dear." Greedo said as he holstered his blaster and drew out a whip. "And like you, even we bounty hunters have to find means to survive. We just happen to go for more…exciting ventures, as opposed to wasting the day away on moisture vaporators, hoping to make a profit and not just break even."
"But since the both of you seem to be more stubborn than a Bantha about this…" Greedo finished as he raised the whip.
The farming duo braced themselves as they saw the whip come down on them, but it never hit them, for at that moment a blur got in front of them and took the blow of the whip. As the duo opened their eyes they saw a tall figure in front of them with the whip wrapped around his right arm.
"You know, I may not be rolling in dough like some people, but even I can afford some dignity!" Anakin said as he managed to wrangle the whip away from Greedo's grasp.
"Stay out of this Skywalker!" Greedo growled, already more annoyed at having to run into this desert rat again for the umpteenth time.
"Little late for that, asshat." Anakin retorted.
"You sure of that?" Greedo asked as he drew his own blaster.
Despite having the barrel of the gun pointed at his face Anakin then moved in a blur again, kicking Greedo's gun away, followed up with a nasty right-cross which caught the Rodian off-guard to which Anakin leaped at the bounty hunter and tackled him to the ground. Now had it been just the two of them Anakin would have Greedo on the ground, but since Greedo had two burly assistants with him they managed to pry Anakin away from Greedo and held him for their boss.
"This time Skywalker, I'll be the one to finish what you started nine years back." Greedo said as he recovered his lost blaster and pointed it at Anakin.
"Good thing your harlot mother isn't around to see this, but look at it this way, at least you'll be reunited with her a lot sooner than you think."
Just then a shot rang out, knocking away Greedo's blaster and destroying it. His assistants tried to find where it came from only to find Dexter pointing a slugthrower at them.
"That shot was just a warning Greedo." Called out the Besalisk. "The next one will be your head! Now take your lackeys and leave while you still can move!"
Greedo then sighed in a huff, for he knew what kind of person Dexter was and therefore wasn't someone to be trifled with, so he gestured to his two men to back up.
"Another time Skywalker." Greedo promised as he and the others got in their speeder bikes and took off.
"Thanks Dex." Anakin said.
"You're welcome, Ani." Dex said. "But are you two over there okay?"
"Yeah. Just wondering why Jabba sent his lapdog after us." Pondered the farmer.
"Knowing Greedo the way I do, he more than likely tried to see if he could squeeze out what little currency you had left without Jabba knowing about it." Anakin guessed, which wouldn't be too far-fetched. The Hutts were known to be greedy, but they genuinely step off when a debt is fulfilled completely and as such they don't take too kindly to someone else trying to get around that.
"Thank you Anakin." Spoke the male farmer, now recognizing the young man.
"You're welcome." Anakin replied.
It took a while, but once everything was okay Anakin then hopped back into his landspeeder and made his way to his father's moisture-farm. Killing the engine once he got close to one of the hovels Anakin quickly disembarked and made his way to his quarters. If I could just get there…
"So how was the trip to Tosche, or was it Beggar's Canyon?" Asked a gruff yet kind voice.
Anakin turned around and saw an older man with light brown hair with streaks of gray in his beard and sideburns standing next to a vaporator leaning on a cane for support.
"Oh, uh…hi dad." Anakin said as he tried to grin sheepishly. "Well, I just got up right now to check on the Landspeeder's engine."
Cleigg Lars then shook his head in both semi-amusement and exasperation. "Then how come I found your quarters empty two hours ago?"
Anakin then sighed in resignation, knowing the jig was up. "Okay, I went to help Kitster and Wald prep for their race next week and after that I went to Tosche. Oh, and Dex says 'hi'."
"Glad to hear from him." Cleigg said, having met the Besalisk a few times and become good friends with him over the years as well. "But honestly, why didn't you just tell me you were going? I wasn't going to tell you 'no', given how we're ahead of schedule on the vaporator front."
"I know, but you tend to sleep late nowadays." Anakin pointed out. "Plus, I know how crabby you can be when you wake up early."
"Still though," Cleigg said. "Let me know next time, all right?" He asked in a calm yet firm tone.
"Okay, will do." Anakin said.
"All right, now let's get ready. The Jawas will be coming by later this afternoon with new droids."
"Yes sir!" Anakin said as he gave a good-natured salute and made his way to the garage where his own droid C-3PO was already waiting for him.
"Oh Anakin, what am I going to do with you?" Cleigg said to himself as he made his way back to the kitchen area to get a bottle of water before joining his foster son. Although Anakin had hung up the racing goggles years back, he didn't completely lose that enthusiasm, which both relieved yet frustrated the old man to no end. As a result, the joke between the two always was that Anakin still seemed determined to drive Cleigg to an early grave, which Anakin laughed and said he didn't want to lose that spark, plus he was a bit more cautious and didn't always act before thinking. Of course, Cleigg only said that that improvement was only minute, to which Anakin would say, "Even a little bit's gotta count for something."
Smiling to himself, Cleigg shook himself out of his musings before reaching into the fridge and grabbing his water before joining his son in the garage.