Chapter VI
Sorry for the long wait. I had lost my USB and had to have an overdue update. So here it is, all finished and great.
Warning: I'm not very knowledgable with Pod-Racer mechanics, so I'll write my descriptions of what Anakin's doing to the pod based off my knowledge on F-Zero machines, which are very similar to pod racers.
The sandy streets of Tatooine were being walked upon, as always. But three people in the crowd were not who the bystanders thought they were.
No, they were Padmé Amidala, Qui-Gon Jinn and Darth 'Luke' Vader, all thee having their own different stories that no one would believe, one Jedi, one young queen and one time-travelling Sith Lord.
They were headed towards a junk shop just on the middle of the poorer section of Mos Espa. Watto's Junk Shop. Vader growled at the memories of that shop, they were bad memories, but now, he knew that this trip was going to be the precursor of many things that are going to happen on ahead.
Qui-Gon was leading the two, Padmé frowned, as they remembered the detail of why they were going to Watto's Junk Shop, and decided to voice out her thoughts.
"Are you sure about this? Trusting our fate to a boy we hardly know? The Queen will not approve." Padmé told Qui-Gon firmly, as Vader resisted the urge to snicker, he knew who Padmé actually was already, since he already experienced most of Tatooine once, this was one of the parts which he didn't, but it was amusing anyway.
"The Queen does not need to know." Qui-Gon simply stated, as Vader glanced at Qui-Gon, debating in his mind on whether telling Qui-Gon the truth or not would be worthwhile.
The three looked forward, to see that they were already outside the shop, Qui-Gon was the first to step in, Vader stood, as Padmé glanced at Vader, wondering what would happen.
"You first." Vader motioned Padmé into the shop, as he followed in.
The two stepped in, only to see Qui-Gon, Anakin and Watto already communicating with each other of the deal and Anakin's Podrace. Vader smiled, remembering all the memories he had with the sport, including the one he won on Malastare back in the Clone War.
"The boy tells me you wanna sponsor him insa race. You can't afford parts. How can you do this? Not on Republic credits, I think." Watto laughed
Vader growled under his breath, "Your carcass may be a worthy fee."
Qui-Gon then pulled out a mobil holoprojector out of his pocket, which showed the image of the Nubian Starship which Vader landed near during his first moments of Time-Travel.
Suddenly, the Dark Lord felt a pang of homesickness, he missed that ship, which was his back where Vader was from. But then, he guessed that young Anakin might gain that ship many years from now.
But in Vader's time, the ship was black, not silver. Well, colour couldn't be seen in a holoprojector. But the ship still made Vader think of that ship in his time.
"Not bad… not bad… a Nubian." Watto admired the ship, despite the fact that all colour was lost on the image compared to reality.
"It's in good order." Vader spoke, the two looked at him, as Vader added, "Well… it still has some missing parts."
"That we still need" Qui-Gon put in after Vader finished talking
"But what will the boy ride? He smashed up my pod in the last race. It will take some time to fix it." Watto asked, Vader was about to answer when Anakin came forward
"Ah… it wasn't my fault really, Sebulba flashed me with his vent ports, I actually saved the pod… mostly…" Anakin attempted to correct
Watto laughed at that, as he told Anakin, "That you did.", the Toydarian then turned to Qui-Gon and told him, "The boy is good, no doubt about that."
"We have acquired a pod in Sabaac. Told to be 'the fastest ever built'" Vader informed Watto
"Hope you didn't kill anyone I know for it." Watto laughed, before becoming serious again and saying, "So you supply the pod and the entry fee, and I supply the boy. We split the winnings fifty-fifty, I think"
"Fifty-Fifty? If it's going to be fifty-fifty, I suggest you front the cash to the entry. If we win, you keep all the winnings, minus the cost of the parts we need… if we lose, you keep the ship." Qui-Gon stated, as Vader internally groaned, realising that this was why Watto had been so against Anakin winning later on.
Watto hums, obviously thinking about what Qui-Gon had just stated, Vader ran his right hand through his sandy-brown hair which he still couldn't believe he had. Padmé glanced at the four as Anakin tried not to look nervous, though every Force-Sensitive could sense the boy's nervousness.
"Either way, you win." Qui-Gon added, trying to make the process go quicker.
"Deal!" Watto exclaimed, as he muttered something in Huttese to Anakin
Vader growled, knowing that Watto was calling Qui-Gon a fool.
"Nice doing business with you." Vader tersely stated, as he walked away to the door, Padmé not far behind. Qui-Gon followed his companions as they left.
Padmé needed to stretch up in order to put her hand on Vader's shoulder, which was hard even when she was standing on her toes. The 6'2'' man was very tall. Though, Qui-Gon was taller at 6'4''.
"I sensed your anger back at Watto's shop, is everything okay, my friend?" Qui-Gon asked, concerned for Vader, despite anything they had against each other.
"I am." Vader distressfully stated, even now, the former Sith did not trust Qui-Gon much, despite their apparent friendship.
They both got back to Anakin's hovel, which, frankly, was not far from the shop. Watto needed his slaves too much, thought Vader in anger. He hated slavers, and he hated the conditions put on those who the slavers thought they owned.
Vader glanced at the dining room, as Qui-Gon walked away, to contact Obi-Wan. A person Vader really did not want to meet, and the former Sith wasn't confident that he'd be able to contain himself from killing the currently-Padawan.
"What's wrong?", asked a voice, Vader turned around to only see Shmi Skywalker, Anakin's mother
"Nothing." Vader answered to her, voice sharp
"I can see, something is wrong, but, if you don't want to talk about it, that is okay." Shmi kindly left, as Vader started to go the porch, having nothing better to do. He sensed that Shmi was following the Dark Lord, intending to go check up on Anakin.
And Vader let her do that, he found himself wanting Shmi to follow him, maybe he wanted company. But, Vader would never know. The two arrived at the porch, seeing Qui-Gon look at Anakin, Jar Jar and Padmé fix up the motors of the pod racer. Vader smiled at the scene, as he always did whenever he saw his past self do something that the former Sith knew would be a major event later on.
"You should be proud of your son, he gives without any thought of reward." Qui-Gon praised, as Shmi smiled lightly at that. Vader glanced at Qui-Gon, finding it hard to become angry at the man, not that he wanted to now.
"I would give him a reward anyway, for helping us when no-one else would." Vader supplied, knowing full well that this was himself they were talking about, and the fact that he didn't want any reward back then.
"He knows nothing of greed. He has…" Shmi paused, trying to find the correct words.
Qui-Gon piped in, finishing Shmi's sentence with: "He has special powers."
"Yes…" The woman answered, looking at Qui-Gon.
"He can see things before they happen. That's why he appears to have such quick reflexes. It's a Jedi trait." Qui-Gon informed.
Vader frowned at Qui-Gon, correcting him, "A Force-User's trait, Sith can do it too."
Qui-Gon didn't know how to reply to that, so he stayed silent, as they say Anakin pull up a wrench, and tighten a screw on the engine. Padmé then checked over the jets, wiping the rust off them. Vader smiled at the three interacting, seeing his past self be happy was… elating. Both Force-Sensitives sensed the strong force aura that Anakin gave off.
"The Force is unusually strong with him, that much is clear. Who was his father?" Qui-Gon asked, as Vader glanced at Shmi.
"There was no father, that I know of… I carried him, I gave him birth, I can't explain what happened." Shmi revealed
"But… that's impossible." Vader intervened in the conversation, and Qui-Gon glanced at the man.
"Yes. That's true… but I never was with a man during the time Anakin was born." Shmi told Vader, who still couldn't understand how, even after about forty years of hearing that revelation.
"It must be the Force's will." Qui-Gon added, as Vader glanced at Qui-Gon
"The Force. Maybe…" The former Sith stayed silent after that, as he walked ahead towards the three working on the pod, being followed by Qui-Gon.
Anakin wiped sweat off his forehead, which was common in the desert heat, as he worked on his pod-racer. It was almost done, all he had to do was tighten some screws of the engine, in order for the pod's power to flow from the engine to the jets.
And there was also the energy-rerouter, on which the response time was a bit slow by five seconds. That may be fatal on a race, especially one like the Boonta Eve.
A few of Anakin's friends came along, greeting Anakin in the most usual way they could, running up to him, Vader glanced at all of them, sneering quietly at them.
Insignificant peons, Vader thought. The only one from the group he ever cared about was Kitster Banai, whom, wasn't much in Vader's life or in terms of the Empire anyway. He didn't care about his old childhood friends anymore.
"Wow, a real astrodroid… how'd you get so lucky?" Kitster, the human with tanned skin and dark hair asked
"This isn't half of it. I'm entered in the Boonta Race tomorrow!" Anakin exclaimed proudly, as Vader rolled his eyes
"What? With this?" Kitster asked
"Annie, Jesko na joka" A Rodian laughed, as Vader came forward
"Hey Vader." Padmé casually waved at the intimidating man, as the kids looked at his towering figure
"It would work, I assure you, I checked it over few hours ago. Believe me, I had years of experience with pods and ships." Vader was telling the truth, he did check over the pod before they went to Watto's shop
"You did? Well, you could have told us, and this pod would have been done earlier." Anakin told Vader.
"I know. I wanted to see your true abilities. That's why I never told'ya." Vader smiled, as Anakin decided to forgive the man, it wasn't an issue too big.
"But you've been working on that thing for years. It's never going to run!" A girl told Anakin, whom Vader remembered to be a real bully to his past self.
And Vader was not going to tolerate her. At all.
"It would, I told you, I am a skilled mechanic and I know it's going to work. Anakin seems to have fixed most if not all the problems." Vader growled, scaring the girl to silence.
"Come on, let's go play ball." Another boy in the group suggested, as all the kids ran off, all suddenly very scared of the Dark man.
"You didn't need to do that y'know." Qui-Gon walked towards Vader
"I know, but… I know Tatooinian children, no offence Anakin." Vader looked towards Anakin, who shrugged
"None taken." The boy then looked at Jar Jar, who was looking at the front of the pod, Anakin warned the Gungan, "Hey! Jar Jar! Stay away from those energy binders!"
"Who, mesa?" Jar Jar asked, as he glanced at Anakin
"If your hand gets caught in that beam, it will go numb for hours." Anakin continued his previous statement
Vader smiled, as he walked over to Jar Jar, and stood beside him. Jar Jar looked at Vader, wondering what the guy was doing.
"I suggest I check the energy plate.", Vader smiled wider, as Jar Jar stepped away. Vader peeked carefully into said machine, as he used the Force to check whether it was alright or not.
The mystical power warned him just in time, as he moved away from the plate when it made an electrical pop. Vader hoped that the Gungan would be smart enough to figure out what happened.
"It'll run Anakin.", Vader tried to ease Anakin's fears, as he backed away from the vehicle, along with Jar Jar.
"I know." Anakin smiled towards Vader, who smiled back widely.
Qui-Gon headed towards Anakin, as he told the boy, "I think it's time to find out. Use this power-charge."
Qui-Gon handed Anakin a metal device, as Anakin enthusiastically entered the open cockpit of the pod.
Anakin connected the battery to his pod's engines, as the vehicle's jets sputtered for a mere moment, wheezing, since after a long time, it had been used. Suddenly, the engine fired, sending fuel to the jets, which burned the fuel and turned it into fire, as the pod lifted itself, Vader smiled, knowing that the pod was still working as it had in his timeline.
Everyone cheered, some for the reason that they now knew that another obstacle had been removed from them going home. Vader for the reason he was very happy, and Anakin for the reason that a machine he worked on for years finally worked.
Shmi Skywalker watched the scene from the porch, and smiled sadly. Her son truly did help without thought of reward.
Later, the pod had been completely prepared. Everyone went through their everyday lives, at least, what they could on Tatooine. Vader had just walked around, seeing what everyone was doing.
Until the night, he walked out of the balcony, only to see Anakin and Qui-Gon stargazing outside, as Anakin looked at all of them in awe. The Jedi Master was cleaning out a cut that Anakin earned while working on the pod.
"Sit still Ani, let me clean this cut." Qui-Gon instructed Anakin.
"There are so many! Do they all have a system of planets?" Anakin asked, as Qui-Gon smiled
"Most of them." Was the answer from the man, as Anakin looked at Qui-Gon right then
"Has anyone been to them all." Anakin asked, as Vader snorted
"No one has. There are too many." The former Sith answered, humour obvious in his tone
"I wanna be the first one to see them all!" Anakin declared, as he then exclaimed "Ouch!", when Qui-Gon wiped a patch of blood of Anakin's arm.
"There. Good as new!" Qui-Gon smiled, as the voice of Shmi Skywalker was heard, telling Anakin to go to bed
Vader saw Qui-Gon scrape Anakin's blood onto a comm. link chip, Anakin looked at what the Jedi Master was doing for a while, until Shmi called the boy again, so he left. So, Vader sat where Anakin was.
"Vader, hello." Qui-Gon greeted, smile fading
"So I assume you're going to get Obi-Wan to check the midi-chlorian count." Vader's voice seemed… flat, almost sad
"Yes. Is something wrong with that?" Qui-Gon asked, curious to see Vader's reaction
"I don't wanna talk about it, just make the call." Vader waved away Qui-Gon's questions, and turned around to face the other way, as Obi-Wan received his Master's call.
"Obi-Wan." The Jedi spoke into the comm.
"Yes Master?" Obi-Wan asked, ready to receive any order from is Master
"Make an analysis of this blood sample I'm sending you." Was the order, as Obi-Wan immediately went on the ship's medical computer and set the computer to do exactly that
"Wait a minute…" Obi-Wan mumbled, as he received the blood sample
"I need a midi-chlorian count." Qui-Gon specified, as Obi-Wan went to get those readings
"All right, I got it." Obi-Wan seemed calm, but Qui-Gon sensed his apprentice's shock in the force.
"What are your readings?" Qui-Gon asked, as Vader suddenly became interested, he knew his midi-chlorian count to be 27,500, at least, before he got burnt by Obi-Wan.
"Something must be wrong with the transmission." Obi-Wan sighed
"Here's a signal check." Was the response to that statement, as Qui-Gon sent the statistics of what he delivered to Obi-Wan, as it appeared on the screen of the medical computer he was on.
"Strange. The transmission seems to be in good order, but the reading's off the chart… over twenty thousand." Obi-Wan noticed, as Qui-Gon smiled along with Vader
"That's it then." The Jedi Master spoke almost to himself
"Even Master Yoda doesn't have a midi-chlorian count that high!" Obi-Wan exclaimed
"No Jedi has." Qui-Gon replied
"What does this mean?" The Padawan asked, confused
"I don't know." His Jedi Master sighed, as Vader was prepared to tell Qui-Gon the real count of Anakin's midi-chlorians.
Meanwhile, out on the desert mesas, a sinister looking spacecraft landed on the sand, making a herd of Banthas get away from the ship as fast as their short legs could take then.
A cloaked figure, Darth Maul, got out of the ship along with six probe droids, who spread out in different directions towards the Tatooinian cities. Maul himself stood on a sand dune and watched his droids with electro-binoculars.
He will not fail his Master, he will find the Jedi.
I'm saying again, sorry for taking too long to update. Hopefully this chapter was great. Anyway, it was because of school and a lack of inspiration. Luckily, my holidays have been started and I shall (hopefully) update at a more faster rate.
May the Force be with you.