Capítulo 2: Self-taught part 2

* Morning *

Morning paints with gentle light... the walls of the ancient slave hut. Dawn on Tatooine is not a pretty sight - the two stars of tattoo-one and tattoo-two were just beginning to light up the planet that wasn't lucky enough to be in that stellar furnace.

I got up, as I always do - early. To my surprise, Quigon was up, too, and was now sitting in the living room, meditating. When I came out, he pretended to be a weight-loss Buddha for a while, and then opened his eyes.

- Good morning, Anakin. How did you sleep?

- Fine, especially in a sandstorm. I don't know why.

The Jedi smiled, and drew his sword, with words:

- You said you noticed yesterday? Well, that's good. The Jedi twirled the sword in his hand. It felt like a small grain of sand in the force, a crystal inside of it. Now, that's what I wanted to talk to you about.

- Um... how do I address you?

- Just by name," he said, glancing at me with interest.

- Kwygon, I wanted to ask you... where can I buy a crystal for my lightsaber?

- What do you need it for? Well, never mind. Crystals are sold by a separate company run by the Jedi Temple. There are plenty more on the market, both collectible and ordinary. The Padawans get everything they need for their swords for free, so you don't have to worry about that," he assured me in the "everything will be there, boots and pants..." style.

I thought for a moment, but then I reached into my pocket and pulled out....

Yes, Quigon was surprised. Or rather, he coughed when I pulled out my sword blank.

- Here, I wanted to build it. Pretty good for training, by the way, but I can't buy crystal here, so it's just a workpiece..." I said in an innocent voice as I watched the Jedi hurriedly return his face to equanimity.

- Anakin... may I see it? - Quigon asked, looking at the billet.

- Yes, of course," I held out my hand and watched as Quigon sniffed the hilt, then spun it in his hands and stared at it. Then he closed his eyes and appeared to be in a trance, holding my future sword with both hands...

- Hm... - he said without opening his eyes. I stood for a few more minutes, waiting for the verdict. The sword was my little pride and the Jedi did not disappoint me, saying:

- Quite an interesting piece of work. It's not bad either, what kind of metal is it?

- I don't know, someone sold a piece of armor from a starship to Watto, so I took some metal from it...

Quigon opened his eyes and held out the hilt of his sword to me, saying:

- "I didn't expect that. Quite a fine piece of work, though you lack experience in it.

- Thank you, Quigon. I've been working on this piece for a long time," I nodded, and sat down in my chair. The Jedi knight followed my example and sat down as well, starting a conversation:

- Anakin, you certainly have the power, and you have it well... I've never heard of an untrained man using the power like that," Quigon said quietly for decency, then continued, "but I suppose it's okay since you have nothing against being trained in the temple?

- Of course, Kwygon, I don't mind joining you," I reassured him. Indeed, why would he drive a wedge when I said I was all for it?

- Then I'd like to see what you can do. - He said and, pointing to a tank of water, asked, "Can you lift objects? That carafe, for instance?

In response the decanter flew up as if by force. And then a couple of glasses, then I held them in the air, poured water into glasses, and placed one in front of the Jedi.

Quigon was no longer surprised, but he still looked thoughtful. After all my training with credit cards, it was easy enough for me to do that-just try to slip up when you take a credit card out of your pocket...

- So..." The Jedi hesitated. Just at that moment my mother came out, still stretching... Kwygon looked at her and smiled and said:

- Yes, Shmi, I'm even more surprised than you are. There's still the matter of the money..." the Jedi glanced at me, but I reminded him:

- One of the conditions is no questions, remember?

- Yes, yes..." said Quigon hastily. Mom did come up to me, starting the new day by asking me questions:

- Ani, are you hiding something from me? Quigon said you were going to become a Jedi, but...

- Oh, don't mind me, Mom," I brushed him off, "better a Jedi than a slave. Besides, who knew that...

- Yes, yes," Mama nodded hastily, exchanging quick glances with Quygon. Oh, something's wrong! Well, that's their business, and Quygon did remind me of the canon and pulled out some box from behind my sinus with the words, "Anakin, you wouldn't mind giving some blood, would you?

I had to put my finger under the needle. Quigon had the foresight not to talk to his Padawan right there and walked out, leaving my mother and me alone. To break the silence, I asked:

- Are those two still asleep?

- Yes..." Mom nodded absently.

- That's alright. Soon we will fly away from here...

- Yes, Quigon told me yesterday. But why didn't you tell me? - She went from distraction to indignation and anger. Oops.

- I'm sorry, Mom, but how would you understand that? And then what would have changed at all? Well, I can use the power," I lifted the glass with the still untouched water into the air and held it up to my mother, who watched the flying clay glass with her lips pressed together. But she took the water, and I continued, "So what? Many people use this power. Mom drank some and, stroking my head, grumpily said:

- But anyway, you should have told your mother everything. In fact, what kind of fashion is it to arrange secrets from your own mother! I'm supposed to hear things like that from you, not from some Jedi who doesn't know where he comes from!

A Gungan was awakened by the noise. The Nubian queen was probably still asleep out of bargain basement habit, and the sun was already shining brightly outside the window...

- Ja-ja, how on earth did I forget breakfast! - Mom exclaimed and went to prepare the table for us, but I stopped her:

- "No need, Mom, you better take a rest," I handed her a credit card with a couple of hundred "U.E." - There's not much money in here. And our guests are not empty pockets, and I still have to work with the car...

- Oh, Annie, you could crash.

- I know, Mom, but I don't think that's gonna happen. So at least I'll come last but alive, and we'll fly out of here at last.

- Okay," Mom sighed heavily. Well, she didn't like it when I raced, but over time, I managed to ideologically treat her and she didn't become so radical about racing.

* The morning of race day.

Watto got out of his store and headed toward the stadium. He was in high spirits and even placed a small bet on Cebulba. Of course, Quigon had come back to him yesterday and bought two slaves for a good price, so the junkman could buy five and still have some left over... Watto knew that Anakin would try his luck in this race, so he decided to cheer on his former slave, now a free man. Unlike other spectators, the Toydarian made his way to the garage where the racers were preparing for the race. He recognized Anakin's kar quickly, so he flew toward him, but he was only spotted when Uotto approached.

- Good afternoon, Anakin, and.

- Quigon. - introduced himself to the Jedi. Anakin, who was surprised to hear his former master's voice, turned around and looked at Watto with all his eyes.

- So that's how... well, I hope you bet on me, Watto. - Anakin smiled slyly.

- On Cebulba. - said the Toydarian and flew closer to the engines, looking at them thoughtfully. - Is that so? Hmm...

Quigon kept his eyes on Watto, while Anakin himself sat in his racing car, tidying up the control program.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the garage, Sebulba was enjoying a massage instead of fiddling with his car. As Anakin and Quygon entered the garage, the Twi'leks giggled, looking at the Jedi and Anakin with interest. The two individuals with azure skin and pretty faces were shooed away by Sebulbuoy and continued their massage.

The Toydarian assessed the engines and hastily bowed out, wishing Anakin good luck.

No one was surprised when Skywalker, slave of Watto went to buy the engines from an old decommissioned fighter... of course, a little work with power and some restored metal integrity. After an hour of work by Anakin's dizzy hands, the engines were ready to be the star of the race - they were twice as powerful as the new ones, to say nothing of the fact that Anakin had installed thrust reversers and other useful plusses in his racing car. The top of the collection was the tweaking of the control system to use power and handles at the same time. The kart now had more maneuverability than before, because the one using force had an incredible reaction. The speed of the kar on the test run was too high, because after the installation of the fuel pump of increased power, the engine began to overheat, but to produce much more than before. And twice as much power as the previous engines. Minor changes were also made to the cockpit, but these are minor things. After some thought, Skywalker ran out to the spaceport the day before the race and came back with the details. Under Quigon's curious stares, the boy forcefully and with a screwdriver disassembled the engine gondolas, and installed a new system, fitting the parts not as precisely as in the sword, but close to it. After the modification, the excess power was blocked, and there was a button on the remote control called "Afterburner," which, when pressed, removed the fuses and the engine exploded, shooting forward sharply, giving extra power. Of course, the air-jet engine was superficially familiar to him from his earthly life, and Skywalker, who had added the Air Force signs in the form of a red star to his kart, was pleased with his creation. Now he had something to surprise his guests. One should not even have hoped that the engine would stall - after checking and refining by force the kart was definitely the best.

Watteau, appreciating the beauty of the mod, flew to the bookmakers to make a new bet, and Anakin, after a glance with Quygon, got out of the kar.

After all matters were settled, and the kar was ready, Skywalker paced from side to side, mewling. Quigon maintained his equanimity, believing that if the force had brought them together, it was unlikely anything would happen; he would feel the discomfort. Shmi was escorted away, to the front bleachers, and now the command sounded, "on your mark." Anakin, having been admonished by Quygon to trust his intuition, nodded and led the kart to the start line. As usual, Skywalker's place was at the back of the line, and when the standard-bearers began to come out in front of them, the boy became worried again. It was time to start the engines.

To Anakin's surprise, a Tung named Ben still took part in the race, though their race was notorious for being flamboyant sociopaths who couldn't string two words together in front of large crowds. After the standard-bearers passed, the commentator turned everyone's attention to the local sheik, Jabba the Hutt.

A hundred thousand credits were put on Anakin, which caught the attention of many, for he was a "dark horse," but mostly people and non-humans laughed as they looked at Quygon, who maintained a mere samurai equanimity.

Padme and Shmi were in the front row, watching Anakin's carriage. After Shmi was ransomed from slavery, Padme changed Skywalker into the same clothes as she had, that is, the clothes of a maid of the Nabuan royal palace. Surprisingly, in one day the woman was transformed for the better, Anakin now realized what the man who had bought her off in Lucas's saga had found in her. It was impossible to recognize Shmi, after all, a little makeup, decent clothes... in general, she looked her thirties, and not a year more.

After the droids and humanoids carrying the racers' flags lined up, Jabba took the floor. He didn't say much, but he was succinct enough, and struck the gong.

The afterburner button was already pushed in, and Anakin had a plan to win the race - the most dangerous thing was the clash with the other racers, so the winner had to stay ahead and, because there were no other racers, build up the gap. However, this has always been the case and whoever moved into the final stage of the race ahead of everyone else wins. It used to be Sebulba, who didn't skimp on engines and was a daredevil like all the other Dagas. When the gong sounded, Anakin began to execute his cunning plan, and as soon as the racers moved, he waited until they were far away before he pressed both knobs to full throttle. Skywalker's eyes darkened, but the kart obediently sprinted off at double speed and, fitting between the flying racers, quickly took the lead. The spectators in the stands gasped in shock as Skywalker steadily increased his lead by a good three hundred meters, but was forced to turn off the afterburner for fear of overheating his engines. Anakin, not seeing where the opponents were behind him, drove his kart like in a driving test - neatly and straight academically, not constrained in his movements, he fit into the corners. Gungan Ja-ja, meanwhile, was cheering in the stands, not letting Padme and Shmi watch on their tablets as Skywalker confidently led the race, constantly exclaiming something.

The rest of the racers, meanwhile, saw the chaos and immediately charged forward, jostling with their cockpits and engines, pushing their opponents back onto the rocks. Not one lap later, the number of participants was halved - most of them died in the crush. Of the eighteen competitors, ten remained, and Anakin was pleased to find the straight ahead that led through the stadium. The boy, wanting to show off a little in front of the audience, turned on full afterburner and began to accelerate again, thankfully there was plenty of room. After half a minute Skywalker's kart literally lightning, raising a small plume of dust, flew in front of the audience, and took off for the second circle. Fifteen seconds later Sebulba flew by, followed by the rest of the competitors with a slight lag. The audience greeted Dag with a whistle, because there were the most bets on him.

What should have happened was that one racer dropped out because he was using dumb droids as a pit stop command, and a droid that got caught in the radiator destroyed the engine.

Anakin raced a few more seconds and turned off the afterburner. The kar slowed noticeably, but it was enough of a breakaway not to have to worry about being caught up, which gave him great maneuvering power and reassurance. As Anakin's gap gradually decreased, Sebulba's kar came into view when he was about to complete the second lap. Without much politicking, Skywalker turned on the afterburner again, and Sebulba had to get away from the jets of Skywalker's engine.

Dag was furious, but there was nothing he could do as Skywalker's kar sailed ahead of him again.

Shmi wasn't as worried about her son this time as she had been before, and the Gungan was besieged by the approaching Quygon and out of the way. Only the Jedi and Anakin knew the amount of the bet, so Padme and Shmi weren't as worried as Quigon was. After Anakin finished the second and entered the final round, now with eight opponents on his tail, Quigon was worried because there was a lot at stake, and if he won, he would have to go to the hutt as well.

On average, each lap took five minutes, and at kara speed, that's quite a lot. Skywalker led confidently, infuriating the Dag that followed second, but at ten seconds behind, the only way to hope for victory was if something happened to Skywalker's kar. He was a little shy, but he was too busy guarding his car from any passersby.

And... yes, it happened what had to happen - Anakin won, under the wailing of the stands his white and blue kart with a red star on its board flew behind the start line and stopped using the reverse thrust and brake engines. Anakin had already started to climb out as Sebulba crossed the finish line, followed by a couple more riders. The rest of them were rather trailing, so they probably weren't in a hurry anymore.

Anakin's mother and Padme rushed over to him. She lifted her son in her arms, smiling happily, and Anakin was glowing, but for a different reason: Greed. Quigon, unlike his companions, did not approach Skywalker, but went to the bookie to claim his winnings.

As soon as Shmi let Anakin go, Padme couldn't help herself and kissed the rosy-haired winner on the cheek.

Quigon went to the bookie's window and handed him his ticket. The droid secretary answered the Jedi:

- I'm sorry, we don't have that amount, we'll have to wait.

- That's okay, I'll wait. - The Jedi nodded and began to look at the passersby. Few people won today, so no one bothered the Jedi until a man from Jabba came running in, immediately reporting:

- Did you win? Oh, yes, I'm sorry. Here," the man held out his credit card to the Jedi, but Quigon, sensing something was wrong, gave him his own and asked him to transfer the money to it.

The secretary had to make the transfer and then hand over the winnings to the "lucky" owner of the fortune.

Quigon went back to the garage and found Anakin there in the company of everyone else. Skywalker had already stripped the nacelles from the car and was now taking his vehicle apart.

- Anakin, why are you taking the kar apart? - The Jedi asked the boy, holding out his credit card. Smiling, Anakin took his money and informed the audience:

- It's for one run anyway, the engines burned out from the afterburner. But what difference does it make now? - Having finished with the dismantling work, Skywalker turned to the waiting ladies:

- I suppose we can leave now. Quigon?

- Yes, yes, of course. We have no more work to do here.

- Where is your ship? - Anakin asked, and the Jedi knight led the procession after him.

* Anakin.

It did happen. Mom was warned that we would leave at once, as soon as possible, I was afraid that this Sith who is wandering around here somewhere would find us and there might be casualties, maybe even me. My carefully developed skills are useless for self-defense, let alone attacking - unless I throw something at a horned man, but the weight of the objects I can lift decreases with distance, so my skills are worth little in a serious fight. I had to rely on Kwygon's protection and stomp on the Nubian-the hyperdrive had already been installed, so the ship was ready to leave.

On the one hand I hated Tatooine with all my heart - the heat, the dust, the crime... But on the other hand I was afraid - there was so much ahead of me that I was afraid to fly away, as if I would throw myself off a cliff - there was no turning back. And there isn't one now, since I've met Quigon and expressed my desire to join their order in every possible way...

The huge chrome yacht was on the outskirts of town, a couple hundred yards from the last buildings, so I had yet to get to it, so I thought about my plight. It was a win-win, especially considering that I would now have to give up my career as a thief and start with a clean slate. Mom took my hand and we followed Quigon in a procession-me, Mom, Padme, the gungan, who chattered incessantly, and the droid. My droid is si three pi o. "c3po." It sounded more like a chemical formula, so I called it either tripio or talker. The droid, oddly enough, had nothing against it, and followed us silently. A translator is a useful, indispensable thing - if on Earth people were separated by a language barrier, then what about the galaxy, where there are thousands of intelligent races? And each had its own language, from which to separate the various dialects and dialects, which created just a mishmash. Of course, the oldest races in the galaxy had already converted to galactic-wide aurebesh, so the droid was extremely useful. And not a bucket of eyes like an astrodroid. Astrodroids were a separate topic - they were first and foremost a part of the ship or ship, they could do repairs in flight, could be navigators, even pilots, not to mention that on a medium-sized ship like the Nubian, astrodroids could do everything except those processes where ironwork was useless. Thus the Erdva was a mature space wolf. I'm not quite sure why an astrodroid was bought by a Tatooine farmer at the beginning of Part 4 - did he need to calculate hyperjump coordinates, or maintain the farm with an astrodroid? Yeah, we'll leave that to the conscience of George Lucas. But an astrodroid is an indispensable assistant, and when I want to buy myself a ship, and I can't resist, I know myself, I'll be sure to get me something like an Erdev. Or did that bucket of eyes belong to Anakin anyway? That's right, he's just a droid in the Nubian crew for now. He's the "pen-pen" of the Star Wars world--says nothing, but understands everything.

Nubian was handsome by Nubians' standards. Sure, it was big, with a sleek silhouette and chrome... but it all looked kind of dysfunctional-it was a spaceship! Why does it need this sleek silhouette, because it almost never flies in the atmosphere. But apparently it's a question of showing off for the queen, i.e. Amidala.