Tatooine, 37 BBY
“The power couplings failed,” Anakin said as he studied one of the engines half buried in the sand. “I told Watto this would happen! We are lucky the pieces aren’t scattered all over the planet.”
I didn’t know much about podracers, but I did remember a scene where the power couplings of a podracer had failed and the out-of-control engines had literally torn the vehicle apart. We were indeed lucky that the pieces seemed to have somehow all landed in the same roughly one square kilometer area.
“You have all the parts you need to fix it, right?” I didn’t bother asking if he could fix it. This was Anakin kriffing Skywalker after all.
“Sure,” He replied. “I knew the coupling was dodgy so I brought what I needed before we left.” He was digging around the sand as he spoke. “Not sure how we’re going to get the parts out of the sand though, some of these were buried pretty deep by the crash.”
I just smiled and reached out with the Force, giggling when Anakin exclaimed a surprised “Woah!” as the several-ton engine lifted out of the sand into the air. “Just leave that part to me,” I said as I placed it back down next to him.
“Wizard!” He shouted as he stared at the now excavated engine with wide eyes. “Can I learn how to do that?”
“Sure,” I replied. “When you fix things you enter a sort of calm state, right?” He nodded, surprised at how I knew about that. “I saw you working on that pit droid earlier. When you are fixing things you go into the same state I do when I meditate. Even if you’re not aware of it, you let the Force flow through you and guide your actions. When you’re fixing the podracer, try focusing on that calm feeling. The first step of any Jedi is to become aware of the Force.”
I could feel his excitement as he nodded and started fiddling with the engine so I added: “The more excited you are, the harder it is. Stay calm, and it will come to you.”
He nodded again and tried to force his excitement down.
I sighed and started to guide him into the right state of mind as he continued his work. It would be Yoda’s job to refine his talents, but I figured I might as well give him a head-start.
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We continued working on the podracer for a while before I felt the Force nudging me to look eastward. My impromptu lessons seemed to have borne fruit as Anakin looked in that direction at the same time as me. Also at the same time as me, he frowned.
“That sandstorm is gonna be a problem,” He said and looked towards the sandstone cliff behind us. “We should see if we can find cover in some caves. These hills are usually full of them.”
“Alright.” I had already spotted an opening in the wall so I reached out and lifted the engine yet again. “Over there.” I pointed towards the cave. “You bring the speeder inside and I’ll take care of the engine. We can continue working inside.”
He nodded before running towards the speeder while I floated the engine towards the cave.
About half an hour later we were looking out of the cave into a wall of sand.
“This doesn’t look like it’s about to clear out anytime soon,” I said with a frown. I wasn’t too worried since the Force had guided us here, but danger could be found even with the Force on your side. “We should explore the cave and make sure there are no beasties waiting to surprise us.”
“Yeah,” He replied. His excitement was now replaced by worry.
I placed a hand on his shoulder and tried to reassure him. “Don’t worry,” I said. “Whatever the Force throws at us, it knows we can handle it.” A smile spread across my face as I continued. “We are probably the two strongest Force-sensitives in the galaxy. We can handle anything in this cave!” It was bravado. I knew anything able to survive on Tatooine would be a hard-fought battle for me, but Anakin calmed down so my goal was accomplished. Besides, it was true that I was confident in our ability to survive whatever we might find here, even if it might not be easy.
I squeezed his shoulder one last time before I turned around and ignited one of my training sabers to give us some light. I had been training with Jar’kai, and on a whim, I had brought two. A training saber wouldn’t be able to seriously harm an attacking animal, but it would sting and might be able to scare it off as well.
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“Is that a laser sword?!” Anakin’s eyes went wide at the sight of my training weapon.
“Lightsaber,” I corrected him. “And no, this is just a training blade. A real lightsaber could cut through metal, this one can barely cut through flimsi. It’ll still sting if you touch it though, and it provides some light.”
“Still wizard though,” He commented as we started walking deeper into the cave.
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As it turns out, our cave wasn’t just a simple cave but rather a cave system. Corridors of various sizes crisscrossed through the rocky walls around us as we walked. Some were barely large enough for us to move through, while others could probably accommodate a rancor.
After a while, I noticed we weren’t just walking aimlessly; we were being pulled forward by the Force.
“Do you feel that?” I asked, and Anakin nodded.
“Yeah. Is that the Force?”
“It seems to be guiding us towards something, but I’m not sure… Watch out!”
My words were cut short as I suddenly sensed a spike of danger.
From one of the corridors, a large reptile pounced straight towards Anakin and it was all I could do to react by pushing him out of the way.
The beast was accurate though, and I wasn’t fast enough.
I screamed out in pain as sharp fangs sank into my forearm. My scales provided some protection, but they were easily overcome as the beast ripped my arm away from my body at the elbow.
My Jedi instincts kicked in and the Force flowed through me to dull the pain as I swung my training saber at the creature’s face.
It yelped in pain as I hit its eye before drawing on the Force to push it back away from us.
It scurried away down the corridor it came from.
“Anika!” Anakin shouted as I fell to my knees.
While the immediate danger may have been over, our temporary safety had come at a price.
Anakin fell to his knees beside me and picked up the training saber I had dropped. I idly noted that he didn’t have any trouble wielding it as he pointed it towards where the beast had disappeared. His desire to protect me apparently gave him the purpose he needed to wield it on his first try. I was both impressed and touched by this as the pain from the stump where my arm used to be flared again.
I took a few seconds to enter a meditative state before speaking.
“It’s okay, Anakin,” I said. “I’ll be okay. It just hurts.”
“But your arm is gone!” He exclaimed, on the verge of tears. “Because of me!”
“No!” I responded firmly, looking into his eyes. “Because of me. It was my choice to push you. Besides, it’ll probably grow back, so it’s only pain, and the Force is helping me deal with that.”
It was true. Years ago when I had designed my current form, I had picked the feature ‘Regeneration (Major)’ which was supposed to even regrow limbs. And the Force I was drawing on to stem the bleeding was easing my pain enough now that it was little more than a throbbing.
As my meditation sharpened my focus, I could also feel Komari through our bond. She had felt my pain and I could sense her worry for me, so I sent reassuring feelings back. I was fine. Anakin was unharmed and I had only lost an arm that would grow back eventually anyway.
“Here,” I said, standing up again now that I had control of my situation again. “Give me the training saber.”
Anakin was still holding back tears, but his focus on the corridor the beast had run away to was impressive.
“Are you sure?” He glanced down at the stub of my arm. “Y-you o-only have one a-arm left.”
“I’m sure,” I replied, stretching my back and pretending the loss of an arm wasn’t a big deal. “Even with just one arm, I have training. You’ll probably hurt yourself if you try to use that thing.” I put on my best smile and held out my remaining hand to take the training saber from him. I could have used my other saber, but even if he was talented enough to hold it without difficulty, I didn’t trust him not to hurt himself in an actual fight.
Some of the despair finally left his eyes as he handed it back to me and replied: “O-okay.” Then he glanced down at my detached arm and grimaced. “What about- you know…” He said and gestured at it.
I thought about it for a second before I said: “Um… I’m sorry to ask, but could you carry it?” His eyes widened a little at that. “My skin is covered in scales that are really strong,” I quickly explained before adding with a shrug: “It seems like a waste to leave it.”
The engineer in him appreciated the practical reasoning and he chuckled weakly. “Sure. But do we go back or do we continue?” He asked, unsure as he looked down the corridor we were heading before we were attacked. “I can still feel… the Force? I can still feel it pulling us there.”
I nodded. “We continue.” I could also feel the Force pulling us onward stronger than ever. “When the Force is this insistent, you listen,” I said as I continued to walk down the corridor where whatever the Force wanted us to find waited.