Intransigent

by Raging Smurf

Proverbs 17:17- A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity... Aliit; family is more than blood. From the heights of transcendent joy, to the depths of hatred and despair, blood never lies and family never dies. Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum. Star Wars SI.

6. The Shattered Prophecy

Full credit for this chapter goes to my coauthor, Mande'kad. Any and all love for this goes to him in particular and you'll find him on USS Explorer's Discord server as well as my own.

Because I forgot to link it last chapter, here's the link to my Discord, just remove the space: discord /2XN2rzuFpM

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Today only the person who no longer believes in a happy ending, only he who has consciously renounced it, is able to live. A happy century does not exist; but there are moments of happiness, and there is freedom in the moment. - Ernst Jünger, the Glass Bees.

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Coruscant

The Force transcended space and time, those two concepts paling before the scale and reach of the unifying energy field. Distance meant almost nothing to what could be felt when a sentient being was operating in tandem with its will, and time meant even less. The future, at least fragments of it, could at times be revealed before time and the moment caught up, if one only opened themselves to the endless sea that was the Force. With the patience and clarity offered by the Light, little knowledge or enlightenment was out of reach when sinking into the ebbs and flow of the deep.

But with the sea, came the storms.

Jedi Master Mace Windu opened his eyes and his consciousness settled back into the moment, having extracted himself from the all-around embrace of the Force he had been settled in for what had been the entire day cycle from the crack of dawn to what was now late dusk.

Despite the meditative session, he had come no closer to determining what he had sensed.

It had been an event felt by more than just himself, however. He was certain Master Yoda had sensed it, along with many other very Force attuned Masters such as Rancisis and Yaddle. But the difference, compared to the other esteemed Masters that had sat upon the Council since before his birth, was that he felt and saw a shift in how, for lack of a more grounded term, everything looked. Shatterpoint, one of the most potent of gifts he had instinctively, was always something that coloured his perception of life, people, and his actions. He saw the connecting threads, panes of shimmering glass, and how all of it connected to the nearly indecipherable nature of the future.

Several Jedi, particularly Masters and Knights, had suddenly shifted into having a shared shimmer that was tenuous at best, but connected to a shared source that, in the only thing Windu had managed to decipher, originated in the echo of a Dark Side surge that had come from the Outer Rim.

Rising slowly as he extended his legs out to be uncrossed, the Korun male stood up from his meditation pad and approached the holo-projector in the center of his living quarters. With a simple few movements of his fingers along the touch keyboard to contact a particular Jedi, Windu waited patiently.

After just around a minute of time passing by, the projector crackled to life and displayed the bluish image of a human man who looked to be in his late 40s, with steel gray hair, a pale, weathered face, and one of his eyes misty white from an old injury.

"Master Windu." The man acknowledged him.

"Master Tholme." Windu dipped his head minutely. "I take it your mission had no more complications?"

"None at all." Tholme replied. "A simple job when one knows what to do."

It was a rather, as Master Dooku would have put it, less than civil task that Jedi were especially well equipped to handle when it came to battling and stamping out evil in the galaxy.

"I sense this isn't a wellness check though." Tholme continued, his eyes maintaining their gaze on Windu.

"It isn't." Windu confirmed. "You likely sensed the brief flash of darkness coming not too far from your location?"

"Aye, I did. Difficult to locate, but I did feel it."

"And that is why I called." Windu stated, raising his right hand and resting his chin against his thumb and index. "The source needs investigated and you are the closest Master to it."

Master Tholme's eyes narrowed in focus, his Jedi senses attuned to the gravity of Windu's request.

"Understood, Master Windu. I can investigate the matter and report back my findings." Tholme responded with a firm commitment.

"Good, and may the Force be with you." Windu concluded his side of the conversation.

"And with you." With those final words, the visage of Master Tholme faded away, leaving Windu to delve into the impending darkness that awaited further investigation.

Yoda would not have done what Windu just did had he still been in charge of these kinds of decisions. The Jedi Grandmaster would not be described as decisive by anyone, most notably those who actually knew him. Had Windu consulted Yoda for his brand of advice and followed it, nothing would have been done and a wait and see approach would have been preferred. With him contacting Tholme like his intuition guided him, it ensured that whatever slipped through the veil that hung over the Force was addressed and, if it were a threat, was eliminated.

With that concluded, Windu stood up, turned, and exited his quarters. A few things needed addressed that he would prefer to not wait for until tomorrow.

"Repeat what you just said." Watto said, glaring at me through bloodshot eyes and from his doorway as he nearly fell when trying to fly while hungover. The guy seriously needed to cut back some when he'd get drunk, but at least he wasn't a day drinker.

"I said… that Anakin and I finished building a perfectly functioning podracer from scratch. Since I don't like the idea of exploding, I'm asking for permission to travel around the outskirts of Mos Espa to learn how it maneuvers."

Watto just scowled. "Made a podracer, hmmm." He then paused and rubbed at his eyes. "Humans don't podrace. They can't."

"Well I can." I said firmly. Odds are, I'm just as good if not better than Anakin would be at 9 years old. Granted, that's because I consciously use the Force to boost my reflexes and grant myself the most rudimentary precognitive abilities available.

Judging by the expression on Watto's face, he remained skeptical. But, he was hungover and obviously wanted me to bugger off. "Fine, just don't crash and die. You were cheap and more than worth it."

"Yeah, I know." I made a show of rolling my eyes, not meaning anything by it. "I was an add-on, much appreciated that you got me out of her Palace."

"Hah!" Watto snorted, which was a sight to see because his absurdly large nose actually lifted some. "Gardulla was going to sell you to the fighting pits because you were too temperamental."

What?!

"Now leave, don't bother me today." With that, Watto closed the door shut and I just stood there staring at the front of it for a moment.

It didn't surprise me, when actually thinking about it, that I would have likely been a decent slave for fighting pits or things like that because I'm an actual killer and know how to do it. But Gardulla selling me at 11 years old to certainly die, and Watto inadvertently stopping that…

It made me uncomfortable because I felt somehow indebted to the bastard!

Narrowly dodging a proverbial bullet wasn't what screwed with my head, because I'd experienced events of chance repeatedly in war that only war provided. Unexploded shells hitting near you and launching you into a creek, random stop to talk with somebody resulting in a shell going off 100 yards away in the exact spot you would have been had you not stopped to speak, and a host of others that made the difference between staying alive and being crushed into a shapeless nothing by an uncaring hunk of metal.

It was feeling like I owed that winged, big nosed, blue motherfucker something that made me uncomfortable.

I just shook my head and decided that Watto's approval was enough for today and I walked back home to inform Anakin of the good news.

I approached my house, the sun casting long shadows across the dusty ground. The news of Watto's reluctant approval echoed in my mind as I entered, finding Anakin tinkering with some spare parts out of what I could easily sense as boredom.

"Anakin," I called out, catching his attention. "Guess what? Watto actually gave the go-ahead for us to take the pod out for a spin."

His eyes widened with excitement. "Really? That's wizard, Kane!"

"Yeah, he grumbled a bit, but he finally agreed. Let's go get the pod ready. We've got some maneuvering to learn."

Anakin jumped up, a wide grin spreading across his face. Together, we made our way to where we had stored the pod's parts, which we had divided into three sections that I could steer out of the house with a sturdier dolly, and a mix of anticipation and determination fueled our steps. The prospect of finally taking our creation for a test run filled the air with a palpable energy, and I couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment.

I went to the impromptu garage of ours and carefully placed the first thruster on the dolly, the Force aiding my muscles to manage the hefty load. Once secured, I 'wheeled' it outside, and the durasteel encased thruster was soon resting on the sandy ground of our sort of backyard.

Returning inside, I repeated the process for the second thruster. With each trip between the workshop and the open space outside, our podracer slowly took shape under the Tatooine suns. The anticipation grew with each part added, and I was practically chomping at the bit.

Finally, with both thrusters in place, I fetched the pod's cockpit. Loading it onto the dolly, I wheeled the entire assembly outside, the three major components now arranged in the sand, ready for the final touches before our inaugural test run.

Of course, I ended up having some very loud spectators at my assembly.

"Wow, that's so cool, Ani! You and your brother made that?"

"Your brother's cool!"

"I wanna ride!"

Kitser, Wald, and Pala, three of Anakin's closest friends, had somehow found out that we were probably doing a test run today. Now, I'd told Anakin not to say anything, and I and every sapient in the galaxy knew that the best thing Anakin Skywalker was at was following instructions. No way would the six year old Anakin let slip to his friends that he and his older brother were cool and were going to test out their pod today.

With the podracer components arranged in the sandy backyard, the excited chatter of Anakin's friends filled the air. The cheers and comments reached a crescendo as I made my way toward the cockpit, ready for the final touches before our inaugural test run.

Ignoring the clamor as I settled myself into the seat, I focused on the controls, my hands reaching for the switches and levers. With a deep breath, I initiated the startup sequence, the podracer responding with a series of mechanical whirrs and clicks as everything began to start.

With a slight pause in internal sounds and alerts that cleared the engines as safe, the engine suddenly roared to life, and the thrusters trembled slightly with power. Anakin's friends cheered louder, their excitement being eclipsed by my own; I actually had to take a calming breath over the deafening roar to not get drunk on the sudden Force infused thrill that tried to overwhelm me. With a glance toward the sun-soaked horizon, I gripped the controls, ready to embark on our first test run, the desert expanse whispering promises of speed and adventure.

"Okay, everything looks clear." I said to myself, the sound drowned out by the roar of the engine as I double checked what the display screen in front of me said. With that final confirmation, I signaled at Anakin that I was going to actually move the pod some.

After waiting a few seconds and sensing the kids clear away a little further, I set my hands on the throttles and pulled back ever so slightly. The pod shuddered slightly and inched forward, a gust of exhaust blasting behind me.

Pulling back to have the throttle at the neutral level, I raised my right hand and made an OK gesture, before shoving forward to let Anakin know I was going to go forward a few hundred yards or so and circle back.

With that heads-up, my hand dropped down to the throttle and I shot forward, a spike of thrilling exhilaration burning through me as I went around 40 miles an hour at first to get the hang of how a pod felt compared to how a car or MRAP drove.

Don't ask why I, an uncertified grunt, was driving an MRAP. My platoon sergeant would transcend reality to stomp a mudhole in my ass if I answered that out loud.

The sensation of the pod was strange, but I got used to it. There's none of that certitude of the earth crunching underneath tire or tread. I'm literally flying forward in a tin can by two extremely powerful jet thrusters that would put the engines my squadmate's uncle helped build to shame.

After moving forward a distance, I steadily turned and made my way back to the back of our house to go another lap. Maneuvering the pod to continue getting the hang of how it moves, I steered it through the sandy expanse behind our house. The thrusters responded to my touch rather smoothly and the podracer glided with surprising grace for its admittedly makeshift nature. The wind whipped around me as I circled, each turn revealing a bit more about the responsiveness of our creation.

I did that for about 15 minutes until I felt confident that I could actually drive the thing to the actual desert areas just outside of the outskirts of Mos Espa and actually begin training to race. I then completed the final lap and I smoothly directed the pod back toward the back area, bringing the test run to a close.

Lowering the thrusters to be off while the repulsor was still active, I took off the goggles meant to protect my eyes and I waved at Anakin, who was running up to me with a face splitting grin plastered over his expression.

"Nothing wrong at all!" I said a little loudly as I opened my arms that Anakin rushed straight into excitedly. My ears were still ringing ever so slightly from the wind, so my voice was a little elevated.

"We gonna test it out near the wastes now?!" Anakin asked brightly as he looked up at me.

"Yep," I replied, before looking up at his friends, "Okay guys, that's your show for the day. Anakin and I are heading out to race the pod some more."

There was a little bit of whining and complaining, but a stern look from me had them accepting it and saying goodbye to Anakin without much fanfare.

Once the three kids gave their farewells, Anakin returned to my side once again and inspected the cockpit of the pod.

"Can I pilot it?" He asked quietly, glancing behind me to make sure our mom wasn't within earshot.

"Mom's in the house." I eased his jumpiness with that, since I could sense Shmi in the general area from her standing out among the regular people. "And yeah, you can once I've done some more practice myself and mom doesn't see it. Our secret, alright?"

As much as I didn't want Anakin to be at risk if I could help it, I wasn't a naive fool. Danger was in his blood and it would follow him in whatever he did. Anakin was a daredevil and adventurer at heart, something that could only be guided and cultivated instead of suppressed.

Anakin nodded vigorously to show he understood. With that, I reached into the cockpit and flipped on one of the safeties that would have the thrusters running at minimal capacity, while the repulsors would still be active. That way, the pod could move at a speed no more than a golf cart and could get to where we needed to be.

"Okay, thrusters are put on a hard lock." I told him unnecessarily. He already knew because he was the one that actually installed the safety, but I might as well say it. "Drive it to the wastes eastward and I'll follow with the speeder."

Calling what I had just mentioned was a 'Speeder' would be giving it too much credit. It was the equivalent on Earth of a 20 year old electric bike that you'd find in a junkyard and got your scheister cousin Jackie to fix up for the extraordinary bargain of 20 lb worth of deer meat and the parts that you fished around for.

Regardless, Anakin complied with my request and he started up the thrusters to more than just a simmer in preparation and I walked over to where I had parked the speeder.

I sat down in the seat, flipped the activator, then pushed up on the tiny throttle to have the speeder lurching upward and off the ground. My thumb pressed against the trusty little go switch and I darted forward at a brisk speed of around 25 miles per hour and whistled as I whizzed by Anakin.

I sensed the surprise radiating from him and I just started laughing as a spark of indignation streaked across the shimmering kaleidoscope of his emotions before his thrusters fully activated and propelled him forward alongside me as I directed my path to the wastes where my racing training would be occurring.

Anakin revved up the pod's engines and zipped across the impromptu start point, the sound roaring through the vast expanse of the sandy wastes. Meanwhile, as he had his fun learning to race as well, I sat nearby, propped up against the speeder and engrossed in my Mandalorian anthropology holo-book.

I had done my own training for the last 6 hours and there was still plenty of time in the day for Anakin to have his fun and race the pod that we helped build together. A proper feel for the controls had started to develop for me and I was pleased with my progress in operating a vehicle that could go hundreds of miles per hour. And with the Force augmenting my reaction time, along with the slight degree of precognition that I had cultivated, I could react to maneuvering at such speeds.

With that said, I went back to reading through the details of my holonovel while sinking my teeth into an entire block of blue cheese. Was I an absolute glutton? Hell no, I was a growing boy and needed as much protein and calcium as possible. Gotta keep them gains, and it wasn't like I had packed food just for me. Anakin just happened to not be hungry.

The wind whipped around me, carrying the faint scent of sand and exhaust. I glanced up occasionally, watching Anakin's maneuvers with a mix of pride and a total lack of concern. He handled the podracer with a natural ease, occasionally weaving in and out of imaginary obstacles with the skill of a seasoned pilot.

Sure, from a financial perspective, it wasn't well-advised to use fuel on Anakin's fun time when all of it needed to be dedicated to training me to win. But I wasn't a creature motivated by material desire. I was loyal to people, my people in particular. And Anakin's happiness and joy was worth the additional scrap run I'd need to make in order to barter to get the replacement fuel.

Still focusing on the words of my book, I occasionally looked up to check on Anakin's progress, ensuring he stayed safe as he enjoyed his time behind the controls. The rhythmic hum of the pod's engines provided a relaxing backdrop to my reading when mixed with the hot wind, and I kept that up for the next couple hours.

Once the sun had started to set, Anakin circled one final time and drove the pod up next to me just around 20 yards away from where I was sitting.

"That was so wizard!" He shouted loudly as he lowered the output of the engines, his presence like a furnace as sparks of joy practically danced all around him and through the very air that I could almost see from how intense it was.

As Anakin brought the pod to a total hover, the excitement radiating from him was palpable, his joy a tangible force in the air. I closed my book, setting it aside as I stood up to join him.

"Yeah, you did great, Ani," I replied, a small smile tugging at the corners of my lips. "You really got the hang of it out there."

Anakin beamed, his enthusiasm contagious as always. "Can we do it again tomorrow?"

"I'll try and get more fuel and we will, buddy," I said, ruffling his hair affectionately. "But for now, let's head back home. It's getting late, and we need to switch so mom doesn't figure out you're a scoundrel."

With a nod and a slight huff at that little teasing comment I made, Anakin hopped out of the pod, his energy seemingly boundless as he ran towards the cheap speeder I was leaning on. I followed suit and climbed into the cockpit of the pod.

As Anakin revved up the speeder, I activated the pod's engines, the familiar hum filling the air once more. Together, we made our way back home, the fading light of the setting sun casting long shadows across the sandy wastes.

Despite the practical concerns of fuel and training, the happiness on Anakin's face made it all worth it. As we journeyed home, I couldn't help but feel grateful for the bond we shared. I didn't even need to talk to him to get a general outline of what he was going to do, I just intuitively knew now. It had been slowly building up and I now knew beyond all doubt that we had an actualized Force Bond.

It only took about a half-hour for us to navigate back to where we stored the pod, the engine of the speeder purring softly as we made our way through the sandy wastes. Upon arrival, I swiftly went about removing a few key parts from the pod, ensuring it couldn't be stolen. With practiced efficiency, I bagged up the components, securing them tightly before shouldering the weight of the bag.

"Come on, Ani," I called, motioning for him to follow as we began the trek back home. The fading light of the setting sun cast long shadows across the desert landscape, the air growing cooler as evening approached.

Anakin skipped alongside me, his energy undiminished despite the day's adventures. Together, we walked in comfortable silence, the distant hum of engines and the occasional gust of wind the only sounds in the vast expanse around us.

Just before we got within visual range of our house's door, Anakin tapped the outside of my hand to get my attention.

"Huh?" I asked, glancing down at him.

"Um," He started, looking a bit uncertain and I frowned as I could feel his Force signature shrink in for a moment. "Could you teach me how to fight?"

I didn't even hesitate in my reply. "No."

"Why?"

"Because it is not safe for you to get into a fight that you think you can win. Oh, I know you, Anakin." I suddenly scowled when he pulled a face at what I said. 'You would try and fight a Krayt Dragon if you thought you could do it."

"Hey!" He protested.

"Tell me I'm wrong." I said flatly, turning my head downward to stare at him more intently.

Anakin returned the gaze for just a couple seconds before he relented, his head drooping and him muttering under his breath.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." I said, shifting the bag of parts into my left hand so I can wrap my right around his right shoulder. "I don't want you thinking you can get into fights just because I've gotten into trouble before. I know you hate that you've never been able to stop me from getting hit when we were with Gardulla, but you need to understand that's not something I like about myself; I started most of those. I'm not perfect, Anakin, I get angry too easily and I don't want you to have a temper like I do."

"You don't have a temper." He tried to defend me, but I just tightened my grip a little bit on him and pulled him closer to my side.

"Anakin, I always feel anger when I think about how we aren't free, and how our freedom might depend on me winning races." I explained, my breath catching for a moment when I could feel that familiar icy burn that came from the bosom when my connection to the Force started to be painted with the emotion of anger, wrath, or fury. But I focused on the more substantive thread that connected me to Anakin and let it re-center me. "I just don't let it control me because I don't want to be a bad person, because then I wouldn't be your brother. I'd be bad."

I don't know if Anakin understood what I was saying or not, but either way, I felt his annoyance at being denied focus into a fine point and I prepared myself for another question that will probably be kind of heated.

"So I just shouldn't learn to fight?" He asked sullenly. "Ever? I should just be a nice slave."

My response was a pat on the top of his head like I was scolding a dog that barked too loud at night. Anakin even yelped like one.

"Don't get snippy with me, Anakin." I warned lightly. We were just around 100 yards away now, so I slowed down some. "There's a difference between being smart and being a coward. You're not a coward and I'm not one. We're going to buy our freedom by me podracing, then I'm going to buy tickets to Coruscant, join the Jedi with you, then we're coming back here to free everyone on Tatooine."

I of course omitted a few details around that, but I want to tell him that I had contingency plans in place where I could acquire a holocron or two to be self-taught, because I was not going to let a bunch of apathy-ridden monks too enslaved to the arthritic philosophy of Grandmaster Yoda dictate whether I could save the collective arses of their misbegotten Order or not. I was going to save them whether they wanted it or not. I was Space Jesus and they were the ungrateful teeth gnashers that would be dragged to salvation.

Either that or I was the Antichrist.

I had completely shocked my brother into a stunned silence with that proclamation while I had my extremely quick internal tangent about the Order. I could feel it ripple through his entire being.

"You didn't think I had that much of a plan, did you?" I asked rhetorically, patting him on the shoulder reassuringly as I kept to the more sedate pace. "Yeah, I know, your big brother is a genius."

Anakin took a few seconds to manage a response, but he cleared his throat awkwardly.

"I'm sorry for saying that."

"It's okay, you just didn't know." I reassured him, reaching the front of our house. "Just don't assume things at first. We're going to be free and you'll be the best Jedi in history."

Anakin was placated fully by that and everything smoothed out, which I was thankful for and I pressed the activation pad that resulted in the door hissing open, bringing an end to the day of high stakes driver's ED.

---

Once again, I was reminded of what Mace Windu had once said about the Force. It does not change you, it merely elevates and enables what you are. If you are a sapient who seeks and pursues tranquility, contemplation, and peace, it will give you all of that and more.

But if you are a man of wrath, it will elevate it to the eldritch black rage of a god of destruction.

For me, it made me almost drunk on an adrenaline high as my fist crashed into a training bag I had made and set up in a storage room.

The exhilarating surge of adrenaline courses through my veins, igniting a primal instinct to engage in combat, to grapple, to resist. Grasping the bag firmly after my latest flurry of strikes, I unleash a torrent of blows, each hit landing with calculated precision and unwavering force that threatened to tip over and out of my control as I danced on the knife edge of euphoria.

Each strike against the bag reverberated through my body, an unending symphony of impact and motion. With each punch, I feel the satisfying thud of knuckle against canvas, the rhythmic cadence of my own heartbeat matching the tempo of my assault. My footwork is fluid and precise, kicking up sand wherever my feet trod and allowing me to dance around the bag with effortless grace for an 11 year old, my movements a testament to the months of intense training I had subjected myself to.

As I continued my barrage of strikes, I seamlessly incorporated several kicks into my attacks, each blow delivered with calculated precision. The bag swayed under the force of my onslaught, but I remained steadfast and relentless, my focus unbroken. With each strike and pound of my heart in my ears, I felt a surge of energy coursing through me, fueling my determination and driving me to push further, hit harder, and unleash the full extent of my strength.

Yet, the insatiable thirst for adrenaline persisted and didn't slow down. Shifting my focus, I stepped back from the punching bag and concentrated my will as I hovered over a cauldron of frothing power just under the peripheral of my conscience. With a swift gesture of my hand, I propelled another bag across the room with a potent surge of the Force. The impact of my will striking material reverberated through the air, sending a surge of satisfaction coursing through my being, compelling me to seek more.

Turning my attention to the nearby metal containers I had set up on the table for this purpose, I summoned my strength and focused my willpower. With determination, I crushed them with less effort than months ago using the power of the Force. The metallic crunch of the containers is akin to a symphony of power and control.

At this moment, I am invincible. The surge of adrenaline propels me to greater heights, urging me to push beyond my limits, to strike with unyielding force.

But the good times like this come to an end.

Abruptly, the adrenaline-fueled high began to dissipate, leaving me feeling strangely empty and fatigued. The tight grasp I had held in channeling the Force began to slip away from me, the connection weakening with each passing moment. I paused mid-motion as I started to rush back to the bag, the once fluid movements I had maintained now feeling stiff and awkward.

"Damnit." I muttered under my breath, drawing a few breaths to steady out my breathing as I stood rooted to the spot. The realization dawned on me that I had allowed myself to become consumed by the rush and hadn't paced myself, again. I lost sight of the balance and control I had been working. As the remnants of the adrenaline rush dissipated, I was left feeling drained and rather disoriented, my senses dulled and my focus scattered.

With a few more deep breaths, I forced myself to regain composure, drawing upon the last vestiges of my strength to steady myself. It didn't take long, but I pieced together a stable enough, conscious connection to the Force and my head stopped spinning from the sudden loss of depth.

Gathering my resolve, I took a step back, releasing the tension in my muscles and allowing myself to relax.

After gathering my composure, I turned away from the punching bag and made my way to a nearby table behind me where I had left a thermos full of cold water. With a grateful sigh, I unscrewed the cap and took a long, refreshing drink, the cool liquid soothing my parched throat and replenishing my energy in conjunction with me letting the Force reinvigorate me.

As I drank, I allowed myself a moment of quiet reflection, thinking about the incremental improvements I was making that had started to plateau. I had made a certain degree of quick leaps in progress, my abilities to utilize precognition and telekinesis probably being on the level of a youngling from my self taught regimen. But now I was just refining what I could already do, making it easier to do. There wasn't a significantly greater depth that I could reach into, remaining as it had for the last several months now.

As it was, most of my free time was being dumped into podracing and preparing myself for some of the lesser races to make some decent money. Training my hand to hand and Force skills had dropped in priority for the moment until I could be confident in winning a race.

But this was one of the mandatory skill maintenance days I was doing, and I wasn't going to let even a moment go to waste.

With renewed determination, I set the thermos aside and prepared to resume my training, ready to go again.

Opening myself up to the Force and grinning as my desire to triumph marked the Force as it worked through me, I rushed towards the bag once again.

---

"Awesome!" Anakin shouted once again next to me as the leader of the race completed the second to last lap, quickly followed by the blur of the pods directly on his heels.

The podrace I was scouting continued below us and was on the track I was going to race on in the next go around in a couple weeks. It wasn't the Bunta Eve classic, but it'd still net me some good money even if I didn't win and placed second instead. This was all about money in case I didn't get freed by Jinn or Vos and needed to build up some funding to buy my way off the planet with Shmi, so it was important yet not a massive priority that I win the race when there were pod races year round that paid an okay amount of money.

And Watto wasn't difficult to convince to be the sponsor for my pod after he saw me go through a typical training session out in the Wastes. Hell, the Toydarian looked downright happy after I finished putting away the pod after that day of racing, and his passing comment about me being a fantastic buy cemented that in a rather callous way.

As I thought that, Anakin continued to cheer enthusiastically at each pass. Meanwhile, I focused back on intently watching the race itself instead of being entertained, adjusting the controls of the remote drone I'd patched together to capture the action from different angles above. Despite the smaller scale of this race, the thrill of the competition was palpable, and I couldn't help but feel the anticipation building in the crowd as the racers continued to navigate the challenging course on its final lap.

"Who do you think is gonna win?!" Anakin shouted over the cheering of the crowd as the one currently in first reached around the halfway mark of the last lap.

"The one in second if the first's left thruster gives out." I said immediately, lowering my hands and showing the screen to Anakin as my drone's camera tracked the first place pod. The pod's thruster was occasionally spitting blackened smoke as the coolant meant to stop a thruster burnout was leaking out due to a less than honourable ramming that occurred the previous lap, but this wasn't NASCAR where you'd get in deep shit for pulling stunts like that.

Anakin stared at the screen with me now and I watched as the inky black smoke thickened when the pod banked left for the final straight shot to the finish line around 20 miles away.

"It'll likely crash." I muttered to myself.

As the pod surged forward, its left thruster sputtered and smoked, struggling against the strain of the final stretch. I watched intently as the pilot wrestled with the controls, pushing the damaged thruster to its limits in a desperate bid to reach the finish line.

Now everybody had noticed it and a collective cheer from one half of the spectators cheering on the one currently in first place while the others cheered for the pod trying to catch up and take the win.

Anakin leaned in closer, his excitement palpable as he followed the action on the screen. "Come on, you can do it!" he urged, his voice filled with anticipation.

I remained silent, my gaze fixed on the struggling pod as it inched closer and closer to the finish line, only around 10 miles away now. With each passing second, the thruster's efforts grew more desperate, the smoke billowing thicker as the strain took its toll.

But despite the odds stacked against it, the pod pressed on, the pilot refusing to give up even as the thruster finally gave out completely with an explosion of smoke that completely drowned out my ability to see the pilot.

Once the smoke cleared, I saw that the pod had abruptly lurched and the cockpit twisted, rolling a full 360 degrees as the Xexto pilot was a storm of multiple limbs as he frantically depowered the other thruster and somehow righted himself midair and kept the pod on course without splattering himself across a mile of sand and rock from going over 500 mph.

"Damn." I couldn't help but let out. That was actually honest to God skill right there, and Anakin was practically jumping up and down as he and a host of others on our side of the impromptu track and the other side were cheering like their lives depended on it as the pilot was timing random thrusts on his throttle to keep some pace while not spinning out of control.

I was glad that I scouted this race in particular, because this was damned entertaining to watch and I couldn't help but respect the desire to win regardless of the risk of death. Hopefully the guy didn't get killed in the process though.

But just from seeing how much space was being closed by the second place pod, which looked more like mine and Anakin's pod, sleeker and lower profile, I knew the best that the current first could manage was second place.

5 miles away now. The two pods were now only a couple hundred meters apart, with the clouds of sand being kicked up by the thrusters obscuring a perfect visual on the pilots and the crowd cheering louder.

2 miles. The front of the thrusters on the pod in second place was now right beside the pilot of the first pod, and was rapidly closing.

1 mile. The pod with only a single functioning thruster was overtaken and was now in second place.

Anakin let out a disappointed groan as the two speeders zipped past us and his preferred one did not win, but I couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for the pilot's determination. Despite the setback, they had pushed themselves to the limit, refusing to back down until the very end.

The rest of the racers made their way with the table scraps of the winnings that would be afforded to third and fourth place, but the energy from the audience had diminished once the most exciting part of the race had concluded. I had also personally stopped paying attention and was currently going through my mind a few more potential fail safes that I could build into the thrusters in a week or so's notice to prevent a similar coolant leak from happening.

The announcer made some commentary as I was thinking that in Huttese to proclaim the winner and a compliment to the Xexto racer that managed to still finish second despite a critical engine failure.

"Alright, let's go now before everybody else starts to." I said to Anakin. I received a quiet reply of acceptance and I piloted my drone back to me. It took all of 30 seconds to land it on the guardrail within arms reach and I grabbed it in my left hand.

With that, I made a hasty retreat with Anakin to avoid the rush of people leaving following the end of the race. Keeping a hold of his hand to make sure I wouldn't lose him, I walked down the steps of the elevated viewing point we had been at and walked along the sandy dirt path that acted as a sort of parking lot for speeders to reach the one Anakin and I rode in on.

Now, some people might at first think there was a risk of vehicle theft when this was Tatooine and full of criminals. But petty crime like speeder-jacking was almost non-existent. There was no standards of policing here like in cities on Earth, no sympathy for peaceful protests when cops accidentally iced a kid after mag dumping an entire apartment complex over stupid crap, and civilians weren't curtailed in getting justice themselves by the hired muscle for the Hutts that kept basic order, but tolerated most things so long as they didn't disrupt profits or mess with a third party's property.

So, slaves would get beaten by their own masters for misbehaving like stealing. But a freeman? I explicitly remember hearing last year about a guy who tried to steal a speeder getting both legs broken and was dropped off in the Wastes, or other examples of limb removal like you'd expect in the seedier areas of Earth for stealing things. Tatooine in all honesty felt like a combination of the Middle East mixed with a sizable helping of what I'd read about 1870s America south of the Mason Dixon in how they went about delivering 'justice'.

With that glorious little trip down memory lane, I spotted my speeder and fished out the security lock for the locking mechanism I'd installed on the engine so only I could start the thing. Anakin and I got to it and I knelt down to press the flat, durasteel disk onto a divot and pressed the center button. With a soft beep sound, the lock came loose with a clink from the two teeth of the lock decoupling.

With that done, I set down the drone for a second and grabbed the lock, slipping it into the satchel I always carried with me, then I put the drone and the controller for it in last before I closed it shut.

Turning to Anakin, I could tell he was a bit put out by the fact that the one racer lost. So, I decided to cheer him up.

"Hey, you wanna drive?" I asked.

That definitely got his attention, because he perked up and I sensed a flash of happiness.

"Yeah!" With the usual display of hyperactive energy Anakin had 24/7, he jumped up and sat in the driver's seat, which happened to be the only seat technically.

But the seat was large enough to sit the two of us because I was physically 11 and he was 6, so I just shrugged and sat behind him with my fingers gripping the slanted metal guard at the front of the speeder so I wouldn't fall off.

"Go ahead and let's get out of her-." I was cut off by Anakin lead footing the throttle and I gripped the durasteel plate tighter to not let my hands slip when we shot forward.

Careful on the throttle, brat.

"Sorry." Anakin said sheepishly as he slowed down the speeder to a more conservative pace. I was hoping he didn't hear my thoughts, because I tended to get a little knee jerk rude when aggravated.

I wordlessly shrugged at his reply and pressed my senses up against him slightly to convey my lack of annoyance, which reassured him while we drove the speeder through the desert that separated Most Espa and that particular race track. The drive itself was only about 20 minutes long when we got back into Mos Espa and I was ready to stop at one of the diners to treat myself and Anakin to some air conditioned relaxation and some food with the money I made off of a sale I made on some parts a couple days ago.

Before Anakin got to the intersection where we would turn, I loosened my grip with my left hand and tapped his shoulder to get his attention.

"Stop here and switch with me, we're going to eat at a diner."

Anakin's eyes widened in surprise at the statement. "Really?!" He asked eagerly.

"Yes," I confirmed, setting my hand on his shoulder, "Now stop here so I can take us to the correct one."

I probably could have just directed him to where we were going, but I didn't want to ride in the back. I preferred driving.

Anakin stopped the speeder and we promptly switched spots. I then drove the speeder the five minute trip to the diner when going the regular speed that's typically used when within Mon Espa and did it without any issue.

Pulling into where other speeders were parked to the left of the entrance into the grayish, sandstone building, I parked my own speeder and applied the lock without saying a word while Anakin had hopped off the back and waited patiently for me to finish. After that, I gestured for Anakin to follow me and the two of us walked to the front door and entered when the durasteel door hissed opened.

First sensation I got was the glorious rush of cool air that came out from the air conditioned building and I rushed in with Anakin so the door would close quickly. The last thing I needed was anyone complaining about letting the cold air out.

Sparing a quick glance around to find an open table, I saw one in the corner and decided on that being the one where we would sit.

"Table on the right and by the corner." I said to Anakin.

I received an affirmative from him and we went to the table, then sat down.

It only took about a minute at most before a waiter came over, a younger Twi'lek male that was around 20 and had dark blue skin, to serve us.

"Do you have money, kid?" He asked rather bluntly, probably noting that are clothes were more on the simple side and probably denoted us as slaves or poor, which we were technically both but that was beside the point. "Squatters that just ask for water to get out the heat aren't welc-"

I just wordlessly pulled a roll of coins from my pocket, courtesy of my excellent sale of some parts, and set it on the table.

"I'm wanting an 8 ounce bantha steak, medium rare, the bread usually served, and a large glass of blue milk." I said with such a deadpan that I swore I didn't sound like an 11 year old and instead sounded like my usual self in my old life. "Anakin, what do you want? There's a menu here" I gestured for him to look at the thin, plastic menu that looked almost exactly like the menus on Earth, but they were in Aurebesh.

Anakin, either not noticing or caring about how the waiter was rather annoyed, looked at the menu for a minute before placing his order. It only took a few seconds of mental math for me to count out how much the meals would cost. It was definitely expensive, yes, but I had already talked with Shmi about Anakin and I doing something together that I could spend some of my money on so he could have a sense and taste of normality, of what could be in our future once we were free.

And she agreed. So, an air conditioned diner and good food was the way I settled on. It wasn't the most imaginative, but it was something.

After placing our orders, the waiter gave me a skeptical glance before nodding, grabbing the credits, and walking off to process the transaction. Anakin shifted in his seat, his small hands resting on the table while his eyes roamed around the diner. It wasn't much, just another hole-in-the-wall spot like many on Tatooine, but the cool air and the smell of cooking bantha steak were enough to make it feel like a luxury.

A few minutes later, the waiter returned with our food. The plates were set down with minimal fanfare—a tender, medium-rare bantha steak for me, and a smaller portion of roasted shaak for Anakin, along with some bread and blue milk on the side. I cut into the steak, savoring the first bite as the smoky, seasoned meat melted in my mouth. Anakin dug in too, the expression on his face lighting up as he tasted the shaak.

We ate in companionable silence for a few minutes, just enjoying the food and the rare moment of peace in a place that seemed far removed from the scorching desert outside. When Anakin was about halfway through his meal, I glanced over at him and decided now was a good time to break the silence.

"Ani, about the races," I said, keeping my voice casual, "I'm not signing up for the big ones, like the Bunta Eve Classic."

Anakin looked up, surprised. "Why not? Those are the big races."

"Too risky," I replied, cutting another piece of steak. "I'm not going to throw myself into something where half the racers don't even finish."

"But you could win," he said, frowning.

"Yeah, or I could crash and burn," I said with a shrug. "The smaller races are tough, but they're safer. I'm not about to gamble everything."

He hesitated, then nodded slowly. "Okay… I get it."

"Good," I said, giving him a quick smile. "Now, let's finish up. We've got a lot of work left on the pod."

We both returned to our meals, the understanding between us now settled. Anakin wasn't thrilled, but he trusted me. That was what mattered.

---

The sun was beginning to dip behind the rocky horizon, casting a golden glow across the racing track. The early evening heat had finally begun to ease, though the air was still thick with dust kicked up by the preparations around us. The smaller tournament races were gearing up for the evening, and I was crouched underneath the pod, double-checking a bolt on the engine. Anakin knelt beside me, handing me different diagnostic monitors as I asked for them, his eyes constantly darting between our pod and the other racers in their little areas and running double checks of their own.

"We're almost there," I said, giving the bolt one last turn before wiping the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand. "You do the computer check?"

"Yep!" He replied excitedly. I could tell he was eager, the tension in his small body clear as he watched me work. He hadn't said much, but I knew what was going through his mind.

With all the diagnostic testing already done, I stepped back and admired the pod. It wasn't much compared to some of the more high-end models parked nearby, but it was ours. I could feel the hum of the engines as they idled, the power they held just waiting to be unleashed on the track. For a small tournament, it would be more than enough.

"How's it looking?" Anakin asked, breaking the silence.

"Good," I said, nodding. "Better than good. The repulsors are in sync, and the engines are running smoother than they were last week."

Anakin grinned, his excitement bubbling up despite himself. "You're gonna crush them."

I smirked. "That's the plan."

We both stood there for a moment, watching as other racers continued to make last-minute adjustments to their pods, the noise of engines revving and parts being secured filling the air. The alert for five minutes until the race blared out and I took that as my queue, heading to the pod and grabbing the helmet. I slipped the simple, gray plasteel over my head and I smiled, waving at Anakin even though he was right next to me.

"You know the drill," I said, giving Anakin a sideways glance. "Stay out of the way when the race starts, but keep an eye on the pit. If something goes wrong, I'll need you to act fast."

He nodded seriously, as if I hadn't told him this a dozen times before. "I'll be ready."

I rested a hand on his shoulder. "I know you will."

With everything set, I stepped back, admiring our pod one last time before the race. It was time to prove ourselves—not in some deathtrap like the Bunta Eve Classic, but here, where smart racing and skill would win the day.

A loud, crackling voice came over the intercom, echoing across the track. "Five minutes until the race! All racers, get to your pods and prepare for launch."

I glanced at Anakin. "Alright, Ani, head over to the crew pit. Keep an eye on the board, and stay sharp."

Anakin nodded, his expression a mix of excitement and responsibility. "Got it," he said, before darting off toward the pit area, weaving through other crews and mechanics.

With him safely out of the way, I turned my focus to the pod. I hopped in, settling into the snug cockpit and gripping the controls. The familiar feel of the pod wrapped around me, almost like a second skin. I took a deep breath, allowing the ambient sounds to fade into the background as I closed my eyes.

Reaching out with the Force, I let it flow through me. The familiar rush of heightened awareness spread across my senses, sharper than ever. I could feel the energy in the air—the excitement of the spectators, the anticipation of the racers. Every heartbeat, every breath from the crowd around me hummed like a live wire, their emotions feeding into the atmosphere.

I sank deeper into the Force, opening myself to it fully. It felt like I was bathing in liquid sunfire, a golden warmth that coursed through me. My pulse quickened, not from nerves but from the exhilaration that came with letting the Force empower me. Every sound, every movement, every vibration became clearer. My senses expanded until I felt almost weightless, the world around me crystal sharp and humming with life.

A giddy feeling spread through me as the connection deepened. This wasn't just a race—it was a battle for freedom, and I was ready for it.

The countdown was on.

I stoked the Force within me, feeling it coil tighter and tighter, like a spring ready to snap. Each breath drew me deeper into its pull, the outside world falling away. The crowd, the engines, the distant shouts—it all dulled to a hum as my focus narrowed. My heartbeat matched the countdown, the pulse of energy in my veins syncing with every passing second.

Four minutes...

The pressure was mounting, but I thrived on it. I could feel the power coursing through me. The engines vibrated beneath me, their hum perfectly in tune with the Force swirling around me. Nothing else mattered now—not the other racers, not the crowd, not even the prize. It was just me, the pod, and the track.

Three minutes...

I sharpened my focus even more. My senses stretched out, picking up every detail—the slight shift in the breeze, the tension in the air, the subtle tremors of the pod. The other racers? Their excitement and nerves were palpable, but they were on the edges of my awareness, mere blips compared to the raw surge of energy I was channeling.

Two minutes...

The sun was dipping lower, barely noticeable now. The track loomed ahead, and my pulse quickened—not from nerves, but from pure adrenaline. The Force was wrapping tighter around me, pulling me into its depths, guiding my thoughts, my reactions. I was ready. I felt ready.

One minute...

Time stretched. Every sound blurred into a single note. I tightened my grip on the controls, my breath steady, my mind sharp as a blade. Everything was aligned. This was it.

Ten seconds...

The Force surged. I could feel it everywhere—through my limbs, through the pod, humming in the engines. This was the moment.

Five… Four… Three… Two…

The signal blared.

I slammed the throttle forward, and the pod exploded off the line. The wind whipped past me, my surroundings a blur as I shot forward at blistering speed. The engines roared beneath me, a sound that barely registered over the rush of the Force surging through every fiber of my being. I felt everything—the vibrations of the track, the subtle shifts in the air, the presence of the other racers fading behind me as I surged ahead.

The giddiness from earlier returned, stronger now as I tore down the track. I wasn't just racing. I was flying. I was in control, and the race was mine to win.

But just as I got into a good mindset and pulled forward, two pods zipped past me, overtaking my lead. I narrowed my eyes, shifting focus to the track ahead and the pinging sensors marked as the area to turn left. I could see the other racers in my periphery, some neck and neck with me, others trailing behind. The race was still on, and I wouldn't let those two get too far ahead. I tightened my grip and leaned into the turn, channeling the Force to keep my reaction time as sharp as a razor. The excitement of the crowd pulsed in my veins, and I pushed the pod to the limit, determined to catch up.

I felt the vibrations of the pod beneath me get stronger as I revved harder, the powerful engines roaring as I steered through the first sharp turn. The ground rushed by in a blur of sand, rock, and dust, but I remained focused. I could hear the hum of other pods nearby and sense the presence and emotions of the pilots jockeying for position.

As I navigated the first lap, I saw a pod to my right, inching closer. I felt the impulse to shift and I adjusted my trajectory, swerving to block their path while keeping my speed steady. The pod's pilot shifted and avoided us hitting, their pod painted in vibrant blue that clashed with the sandy ground and the golden red of the setting suns.

I tightened my grip and leaned into the turn, taking the inside line. The pod veered slightly, just enough to cut off their approach. I could imagine the roar of the crowd behind us, and the exhilaration surged through me like electricity. The other pilot slammed on their brakes, barely avoiding a collision, and I felt a rush of satisfaction as I slipped ahead.

As I emerged from the turn and we entered a hollowed out canyon for the next stage of the racetrack, I glanced back in the rear reflective mirror I set up, catching a glimpse of the other racer obscured by the dust my engine kicked up as I sped ahead. I smirked, relishing the small victory.

With renewed determination, I focused ahead. The two leaders were still in my sights, but I could feel the gap closing. I needed to push harder, to dig deeper. I concentrated, letting it flow through me, heightening my reflexes as I entered the next straightaway. I shifted my weight, feeling the pod respond to my every command, and surged forward, eager to reclaim my place among the top racers.

As I rounded the last bend of the lap to exit the canyon for the clear path to the stands, the cold wind rushed past me, sending a chill down my spine. The air whipped against my skin but I felt insulated from the sensation. I pressed on, narrowing the gap to the frontrunners, who were now locked in a fierce battle, ramming their pods against each other in a reckless attempt to gain the edge.

I could feel the tension in the air and waited for the opportune moment to press through a gap as I watched them jostle for position in a loud crash of durasteel. I pushed my pod faster, squeezing the throttle as I closed in on the chaotic scene ahead.

Another smash together and sparks flying were followed with a scream of warning and I frantically ducked down. Next thing I knew, something metallic from in front of me whistled through the air and struck against the top of my helmet, my head jerking from the impact, and I suddenly felt a breeze on my scalp.

Fuck… FUCK!

I tucked my head down further, gritting my teeth and snarling in anger at the near miss from what was probably a shard of durasteel. I kept my pace though, the suns in front of me that bathed the two front pods in a golden light.

One of the leaders swerved sharply, attempting to shove the other off course. In that moment, I seized my chance. I darted to the side, finding an opening as they collided in a storm of metal. My heart raced, the Force guiding my movements as I slid past the struggling pods, now caught in their own battle. I could see the starting line for the next lap ahead, and with every ounce of focus, I propelled myself forward.

I tore through the starting line of the final lap, the roar of my engines drowning out everything else. The wind bit at my face, cold and relentless, but I barely noticed it still. The Force continued to course through me, steadying my body, keeping me sharp and focused. My eyes locked ahead on the track, scanning for the next opportunity to gain on my lead.

But the two racers behind me weren't done yet. As soon as I entered the lap, they abandoned their battle for second and targeted me. I could hear the distinct roar of their engines closing in fast. My rear mirror showed them edging closer, their pods inching nearer to mine, the engines like a twin set of snarling beasts.

A flash of motion caught my eye—one of them had veered dangerously close, trying to clip the rear of my pod. I shifted to the right just in time, feeling the whoosh of their engines skimming past me, a near miss. They were getting desperate, and it seemed they were trying to force me out of the race entirely now.

I growled, gripping the controls tighter, and accelerated. But the second racer wasn't backing off either. His pod swung wide, then closed in on my left, threatening to pin me against the rocky canyon wall ahead. I had no room to breathe, no margin for error. They were boxing me in, trying to sandwich me between their pods and the sharp turn up ahead.

I leaned forward, pressing the throttle as hard as it would go. The engines screamed in protest, the wind rushing even colder against my skin, but I didn't feel the chill. I was focused on one thing: staying ahead. The Force hummed through me, heightening every reflex, sharpening every sense.

As I banked into the next turn, one of the racers attempted to ram me from behind again, his pod's engine growling only a few feet from my back. I swerved left, just enough to make him miss, but he kept at it, trying to snap at my tail with his thrusters, pushing me into tighter angles.

I grit my teeth, feeling the strain of the pod vibrating beneath me as I pushed it to its limits. The two behind me were relentless, but I wasn't about to let them take me down. Not now, not this close to the finish line.

I pressed harder, my knuckles white against the controls, and kept ahead by the narrowest of margins. But then, one of them managed to clip the rear of my pod again, hard. My pod lurched violently to the side, the impact jarring me, and I barely wrestled it back under control.

"Son of a fuck!" The curse flew out of my mouth, but it got swallowed by the roar of engines and wind rushing past my helmet. My heart pounded, and I grit my teeth, swearing under my breath at the reckless bastard who'd hit me. He pulled back for just a second, only to move in again.

I could feel the adrenaline kicking in, my senses sharpening even further as I fought to keep my pod on course. The wind continued to whistle through the hole on the scalp of my helmet and I leaned into the next turn, narrowly avoiding another hit from the racer behind me.

What I wouldn't have given to have a gun on me, because shooting the fuck sounded appealing.

I glanced at the mirror for a split second, catching sight of the guy who clipped me, his pod now hugging the curve right on my tail. He was too close, and I had no doubt he'd try again before the next stretch.

I felt it before it happened. The slight shift in the air, and impulse to move as if the Force whispered the racer's next move. He was going to try and ram me again, but I was ready this time.

As he veered sharply to the right, aiming for my pod, I cut left, just in time. His right engine scraped against the canyon wall with a deafening screech of metal, sparks flying everywhere. Smoke billowed from the engine, and I could see him lose control for a moment before he slowed down rapidly, trying to keep from slamming into the rocks. His pod wobbled, and I didn't wait around to see if he recovered.

I surged ahead, my own engines roaring as I widened the gap. The third racer behind us swerved hard to avoid the smoking wreck, his trajectory thrown off as he had to cut his speed. I didn't give him a chance to catch up. I pressed forward, heart racing as the wind rushed past me.

I then shot out of the canyon, the more narrow passage giving way to open terrain. My engines roared as the track stretched out before me, a couple of miles of straight, flat land with nothing in my way. The other racers were far behind now, and I had a commanding lead.

Exhilaration surged through me. My movements were completely in sync as I piloted the pod, my reflexes sharpened by the Force, my every movement fluid and precise. I was riding the edge of the Force channeling it to through me like a living current, making me feel invincible. It was nothing like the masters could, but it was enough for now.

Then, through the hum of the engines and the rush of the wind, I felt a familiar sensation—a faint echo of Anakin's excitement through our Force bond. It was faint but unmistakable, his emotions bubbling up and pressing against my mind.

He was watching through the video feed at the front of the pod, and he knew, just like I did, that I was going to win. I could feel his joy, his exhilaration, the pride that swelled in him as he sensed my lead.

I grinned under my helmet, knowing I wasn't going to lose. I was going to make thousands off of this race. Victory was within reach, and nothing was going to stop me now.

A wild grin spread across my face as I realized just how far ahead I was. The finish line was coming up fast, and the gap between me and the others was too much for them to close. The thrill of it all hit me in a wave, raw and uncontrollable.

I let out a howl of triumph, the sound lost in the roar of the engines and the rush of the wind, but I could feel it reverberate in my chest. The sheer adrenaline and euphoria flooded through me like a tidal wave, nearly manic, almost animalistic in its intensity. My senses were heightened, every sensation vivid and sharp, as I rode that final stretch of the track, maintaining my lead with ease.

Anakin's excitement echoed even louder in my mind, his joy feeding into my own rush of triumph. Together, we shared this moment, the Force thrumming between us as I tore down the last few miles.

With one final push, I surged across the finish line, the pod humming beneath me as it crossed the threshold.

I had been made to choose between downfall and conquest, and I chose the latter.

I shot across the finish line, the engines howling as I powered down, their roar slowly fading away. For a second, I just sat there, the pod humming with residual energy. The adrenaline still pumped through me, making my heart race, and I couldn't help but laugh, a wild, uncontrollable sound that spilled out of me.

I pumped my fist in the air, my knuckles white against the controls. I did it. I actually did it. The thrill of victory hit me hard, coursing through my veins like fire. My ears were still ringing from the roar of the engines, making the cheers from the distant crowd sound faint, but I could feel the celebration around me. Even through the ringing, I heard the booming announcement from the speakers across the stands:

"Kane Skywalker! The winner of today's race!"

I grinned, still catching my breath as the euphoria settled in. I could feel the lingering echo of Anakin's pride and joy, and I leaned back in the seat, letting the moment wash over me. Victory had never tasted this sweet.

---

As we walked away from the crowded streets near the stadium, holding the closest thing to ice cream I have ever discovered in this galaxy and eating it, I felt Anakin's small hands gripping the top of my head, his legs swinging on either side of my shoulders. His excitement hadn't dimmed since the race, and he kept babbling about the speed, the pods, and how he could've done it too. I smirked, letting him enjoy the moment.

I was still riding the high of winning and we were out experiencing a more lively Tatooine night life. The sky above was streaked with shades of orange and purple, the twin suns dipping lower toward the horizon. It was almost nightfall, but Mos Espa was still buzzing with energy. People moved through the streets, some lingering outside like customers for the vendors, others packing into cantinas that were already bursting with noise. The air was thick with the smell of fried food and the sharp tang of alcohol, and the sound of laughter and shouting echoed off the buildings.

Shmi walked beside us, her eyes scanning the crowd, but I could tell she was more relaxed than she'd been earlier. Dropping off the pod and securing the 300 peggats of winnings had done its part in easing the day's tension, especially when she had noted her concern for her 11 year old son getting involved in a still risky race. Even Watto was in a rare good mood, thrilled with how much we'd brought back. He of course bought some expensive alcohol and was staying at his home.

Dust and sand were kicked up from the congestion of people still celebrating in the streets. Swoop bikes zoomed by, stirring up more grit in the air as vendors called out, trying to sell food and trinkets to the passing crowds. The cantinas were packed, music spilling out from open doors, and I could hear the occasional cheer from those still talking about the race.

"Do you think we can go race the pod out in the dunes again tomorrow?" Anakin asked, his voice full of excitement, leaning down so his face was just above mine.

"Maybe," I said, glancing up at him, blowing at his dark blond hair that was hanging down from his face.. "If Watto lets us."

Anakin grinned, clearly not bothered by the condition, and sat up straight again, enjoying the ride.

We kept walking, weaving through the crowds as night began to fully descend, the heat of the day slowly fading but the energy of Mos Espa still alive around us.

I let myself think for a moment with free reign and touched my connection to the Force once again, leaning into the sparking intensity of the festivities. I was going to make for a bad Jedi, because I knew I was going to get addicted to involving myself in revelry as the sensation was ridiculously enjoyable. It was like injecting liquid ecstasy and LSD into my very veins, but messing with all my senses in tandem. I could see the colours of drunken laughter, taste the thrill of successfully wooing a woman and taking her with an animal intensity in the alleyway to my left, and feel the blistering and overwhelming warmth that was Anakin's unbound happiness that wrapped around and pierced through my mental discipline like concentrated sunbeam.

It all mixed together into a primal, simmering storm that I could have just stood in the middle of the street for and deeply inhaled. I was going to be free, and so was Anakin, and so was Shmi. I needed no burning bush, I needed no staff, and I needed no pillar of fire or sundering of a sea…

In my power and my power alone, I had found my path to freedom and had taken it. I would be a Jedi as I would acquire the power to continue that freedom; freedom from the Sith.

And the bright blue eyes that gazed into my dark ones for a moment once again would never be stained gold and red. I would die before letting my brother become that.

I love you, Ani. I managed to say through our bond, and his eyes widened when he heard me speak but did not see my mouth move. He then laughed and I grinned, before taking another bite of the sort of ice cream.

I was going to hoard the money like a dragon, race a hundred times more, and buy myself and Shmi out even in the worst case. It was guaranteed now… we would be free.

"Are you ready to go home now, Kane?" Shmi asked, a smile of her own on her face as she looked at her two sons bond over shared happiness. "It is getting late."

I was about to reply that I was ready, but then a discordant note rang out in the symphony of elevated emotion. It was so intense that I froze, a shiver running up my spine as an icy blackness of pure dread that cut through all the other emotions like a shear of pure cold darkness ripped across the entire area. It took my breath away, and I nearly stumbled. Anakin's confusion managed to snap me back, but I needed to know. I had to know.

I set Anakin down quickly, my heart pounding in my chest as the inky blackness grew stronger, pulling at me like a magnetic force. The primal energy of the street, the joy, the sense of impending freedom—all of it was drowned out in an instant by this overwhelming sense of dread. The celebration that had surrounded me felt distant now, the noise of the crowd fading into the background as I focused on the unnatural sensation clawing at my mind.

Without another word, I started rushing through the crowded streets, dodging people as I moved toward the source. The sand beneath my feet kicked up in my haste, and the scent of dust and sweat filled my lungs, but I barely noticed. My senses were sharpened, honed in on the dark presence that had cut through the night like a blade.

I glanced back only once, catching Shmi's concerned look and I heard her call my name, but I couldn't stop. Not now. Something was wrong, and I had to find it, to face it. The further I moved, the colder the air seemed to grow, the warmth of Mos Espa's evening replaced by a chill that felt unnatural, almost suffocating.

As I pushed further into the darkened area where a seedier set of cantinas and shops were, the cold, suffocating feeling only intensified, like walking into a void. And then I saw her… the source of that inky blackness.

A girl, barely older than twelve or thirteen, with long brown hair hanging in strands over her face. Her skin was a sickly, chalk-white, like all the blood had left her face. Her eyes were what struck me most—misty, pale blue, like the ghost of a storm, distant... and hollow.

Two men in dirty, dented armor stood on either side of her, each gripping one of her arms. They were laughing, their voices slurred, clearly drunk and full of cruel amusement. One of them tugged at her, making her stumble forward, and her head lolled slightly, like she didn't have the strength to hold herself up. The other man leaned down, mocking her quiet gasps, his words a garbled mess of taunts.

I froze for a moment, my heart pounding in my ears, the sense of wrongness radiating from her so intense that it made my skin crawl. But it wasn't just her—there was something about these men too, something darker than just drunken violence.

I could sense their desire, what they were about to do.

I swallowed hard, forcing down the wave of dread and anger that surged up inside me. My fists clenched at my sides as I stepped forward.

The taller one, around 30 years old and with dark blond hair and harsh eyes, looked at me and started laughing drunkenly.

"Hah, it's the kid we bet on, Quesler." He tapped his friend's shoulder with his palm to get his attention. "Hey, good for you winning. We're gonna have some fun on our winnings, so here's to you, kid!" He mock raced a fake glass and mimed downing it.

I faintly heard something that might have been a woman's voice, and I might have heard something that sounded like my name. But that was drowned out by a voice, a voice that was a thousand; a thousand voices, yet one, roaring a typhoon that was a word, a single word that rose and dropped with the beats of my heart, the voice pumping molten fire, acid viscous and black, into my veins as all thoughts, all actions, all will, surrendered to the one and only commandment that shattered my entire sense of self and awareness.

KILL.

My legs carried me forward, my mind hardly recalling it even in that moment. My hidden blade dropped from where it was in my sleeve, and I was eye level with the man that had just spoken suddenly. The next heartbeat, his eyes went wide and a wet, thick warmth engulfed my hand, a scream and flash of brightness that retreated into nothing pulling me a hair's breadth out of whatever madness had possessed me.

I blinked, and I saw that my knife was embedded hilt deep in the man's neck, who let go of the girl and collapsed forward bonelessly.

Quesler, the friend, stumbled away a few steps in shock at the sight.

"Drezl!" He exclaimed. The man was drunk and fumbled for his blaster pistol, but botched the draw.

The voices, fewer and less loud, roared once again and I ran at him too, jumping up and slamming my fist clean into the center of his face. I felt his nose crunch underneath my fist, then a scream of pain filled my ears and he fell to the ground.

The girl, the pit of black despair, shifted and writhed within my sight and shifted to terror. She screamed and took off running, away from the death I unleashed upon the two men.

That drew me from the haze, the madness that had me forgetting my own name. I turned, seeing them, their… their names….

Anakin. Shmi.

"Quesler!" A voice from the cantina nearest to us shouted, a Mirialan male standing in the doorway with a blaster drawn as he stared at me, then to my hand covered in blood, then the two men on the ground…

Who had matching armour to him.

"Run!" I yelled at Shmi and Anakin, the dread feeling of imminent death hovering over me snapped me from the rage filled haze. They had to run, we had to run. We would die.

Shmi scooped up Anakin and we went running, my body positioned almost instinctively to shield my mother and brother as we ran down the roadway, red bolts of energy whistling past us as the man missed us while shooting.

It was when we got to the intersection where things slowed. Another colour set of blaster bolts, green, started firing wildly and I turned. The human named Quesler had gotten up and was firing wildly, blood freely streaming down his face from the shattered nose.

One of the red bolts brushed against my sleeve and pain radiated up my arm, making me panic and I shifted again to protect Anakin and Shmi. A repulser cart of durasteel cans the size of kegs then got in the way of us as we kept running, and rage overcame me once again. Right as Shmi started to slow down, I lashed out with my hands and snarled, flinging the repulsor cart aside and clearing the way with the Force. The cans tumbled off of it, rolling right next to us, but I jumped over one that nearly tripped me up.

Just a little further.

The world then twisted. A scream echoed through the Force and my step paused for a fraction of a second. My eyes darted to a can, rolling beside Shmi's right side as she held Anakin to her left. A bolt of red, hardly aimed and as a matter of chance, struck the deep gray can, and then everything exploded into white.

I was sent flying back several feet, landing flat on my back and I was out of it for probably a second, or maybe longer. Pain exploded all around me, everything sounding like ringing in my ears and the side of my face felt like it was on fire.

For what felt like an entire age, I couldn't breathe. Everything spun, just like when a dud shell landed a couple of feet from me and sent me crashing into a creek that I nearly drowned in when I landed face first into it.

I finally managed to sit up, the metallic tang of blood was on my tongue. The brief regaining of my sense of awareness did not help things as agony burned through me, a gaping emptiness being felt and I couldn't tell from where. Screams from people around me echoed in my head and I saw blurs in my periphery as people ran from the explosion and the shots that had been fired.

My vision stopped spinning and I fell forward, trying to stumble-walk forward and I saw the crumbled form of Shmi and Anakin, my mother's clothing smoking and neither of them moved.

I couldn't feel them.

Everything was dark, burning, and frigid all at the same time. I couldn't feel Shmi's familiar presence, it wasn't there. Anakin, that blazing fire that burned like a sun, was lost in the dark cloud and the burning agony. I crawled to them, feeling a shard of metal dig into my palm that I desperately ignored, and I tried to reach out to Anakin through both the Force and physically. Fire exploded in my head when I tried to reach to him, and I turned his face shakily to see him.

"Anakin, get up." I gasped weakly, shaking him. "We need to… we need to go."

His head fell to the right limply and I saw a dark red stain across the left side of his head.

No.

No.

I refused to believe it. There was something wrong, something with me, where I could not sense them. They needed to wake up, they needed to get up and run with me. I wasn't going to leave them.

My vision swam, and I could not see the rise and fall of Anakin's chest.

"Ani." I begged him, shaking him again. "Please wake up."

Blood dripped down the side of my face and it mixed with tears, and my vision started to blur. I felt like I was losing sensation in my fingers, such was the coldness that draped around me.

He wasn't waking up.

I desperately reached for our mother, ready to demand that she scold Anakin for not waking up. I shoved her over onto her back, and I saw the right side of her body was littered with shrapnel marks and a jagged chunk of metal the size of my hand was embedded all the way through her neck. Her sightless eyes gazed empty into mine.

And that was when my world ended.

The voices came back again, and the burning mental frostbite that was consuming me gave way to a black fire that chewed at my mind like fire chews upon flesh. The agony that I felt when futily trying to reach out to Anakin through our bond burned away, and I grabbed my brother's limp body to carry him away.

I wasn't going to let him die next to our mother.

I had barely hoisted him up before I felt something strike the center of my back, taking my breath from me. There had been a flash of blue, not red or green. It did not fade into black, nor did I return to that choice I had been offered when I first died. My limb simply seized up and Anakin fell from my non-existent grasp.

When I fell, Anakin fell in front of me on the ground, and his expression was still as unresponsive as before when I looked at him again.

He… he wasn't waking up.

I flailed weekly, not even having the strength to scream. They took him from me.

My vision swam once again from whatever had struck me and a man approached, darker skinned than the others and he hoisted me up by my shirt.

Dark eyes glared at me, then down to the ground where they lay. The voice hissed at me to attack, to kill, to rend his flesh. The fury brought life back to my limbs and I kicked at him, which his armour completely stopped. My fist struck at his face, which caused his head to jerk to the side and his glare intensified. He set me down then promptly drove his right fist into my face, and I felt something in my face break. I collapsed to the ground, all strength leaving me.

Everything spun as I was dragged away from them, all my senses a blur of pain and emptiness. I was dragged into a speeder, restrained, and ended up thrown to the ground in a sort of palace. A Hutt was lounging before me, but there was no hope of me understanding what was going on as I was drowning in my mind and the endless sea of the Force.

They were gone.

I was taken to a ship and thrown into a cage only a few square feet in size, next to several others that held other people of multiple different races.

They were gone.

A chill filled the room after it took off into space, feeling just like the one that we had been on when we were taken to Tatooine. I was gone from Tatooine, never to be taken back again. The darkness gathered round me, and I sank deeper into the fire and ice that robbed me of everything that was me.

They were gone.

---

Again, give full credit to Mande'kad for this chapter.

For anybody that didn't think Kane's fury was going to betray him in the end, well, that's unfortunate. His hatred of rapists and his emotional inability to allow it to occur bites him, as does all the powerful forms of evil that uses our own goodness against us.

Yes, I'm an evil bastard for taking so long to update and then hit you all with such a horrible cliffhanger. But you don't have to worry about not knowing for too long. My server has free access to the next chapter and it'll be posted here in a week.

With that, I bid you a fond farewell.

Raging..