Interlude 1: Shmi Skywalker

Slaves never really had a day off. At least Shmi never did. She was a 37 year old single mother, desperate to make sure that her son could hopefully escape from this hellish existence someday. Thankfully, her new Master was a lot more benevolent than the last.

Not only did she have a whole floor of the two-story house for just her and her boy. Today she was busy in her little workshop, with her back to the kitchen/dining room. She used a ‘fancy’ Aeromagnifier given by her Master to clean computer memory devices. It didn’t pay well, at all, but it did pay something. For a slave to make money wasn’t too strange on Tatooine, but it was still a luxury. At least until you consider that she had to spend almost all of the money she made on food, because her cheapskate Master was too lazy to provide them with more than the bare minimum to survive.

That was the problem with being a Slave Master after all. It was just like having a pet, except at least a slave could actually provide services and potentially make money. It’s funny how you can just give a slave a bit of freedom and not only will you have to spend less money on them, they’ll even thank you!

Whether it’s the Cartels or the governments in the Republic, they all understand this. It’s why they’re the Masters of the Galaxy and the number of their ‘free’ slaves was innumerable.

*Tsst~!* The sound of welding came from Ani’s room down the hall and Shmi leaned back in her chair, looking over towards his door. Her little workstation was tiny, just like her room. While she gave Anakin the master bedroom, which was attached to the bathroom and had enough room for his own personal workstation as well. His door was closed, but she could imagine him with his welding goggles on, putting together that Protocol Droid he’s been working on for the past year now.

“Better that than that damn podracer.” She already had to watch him crash and nearly die so many times now. He’s only six years old! Even if he was a prodigy and won most of his races, he still made a lot of mistakes. Most importantly, he didn’t cheat. Unlike all his opponents and their masters.

Shmi breathed out a long sigh and got back to work, occasionally looking over at the little mirror on the right side of her desk. She looked at her face and smiled wryly. Even if Humans lived for up to two-hundred years, she’s had a hard life thus far. Those dark eyes focused on her thick brown hair, checking for gray or white, but thankfully nothing thus far.

“At least we’re not moisture farmers.” She chuckled to herself as she picked up the metal container and took a sip of water. It was relatively cool inside the house, but that was only relative for Tatooine. If she didn’t keep water inside sealed containers, it would evaporate and get wasted. Sure, they had miniature vaporators in the house, but they didn’t operate at 100% efficiency.

Getting back to her mindless work of cleaning computer memory, Shmi zoned out. She closed her eyes for a moment and saw her parents. Dad’s twisted and agonized face on his severed head. Mom’s screams and cries as she was being tortured by those pirates for fun…

“Frak!” She cursed and shook her head, rubbing her tired eyes as she tried to get back to work. But in her hands weren’t computer memory drives anymore. It was the controls of a starfighter! She quickly avoided getting hit by a few turret blasts and zoomed past the side of a cruiser, firing a proton torpedo at dangerously close range to the engines of the massive starship!

“Good work, Shmi! Get back here and don’t scuff up my ship!” She heard her old master’s soft voice and felt a tinge of fear shoot down her spine. A moment later, she was serving food and drinks to her Master’s crew. Watching as they played with their newest prey. Men and women that she helped them capture.

*Slap~!* She felt a shock and pain on her ass, looking over at the blurry face of the human man.

Why doesn’t he have a face?

*Pew~!* A blaster bolt flew over and turned his head into smoldering slag.

Ah, that’s why. He died.

She looked around at the people she practically grew up with, watching them getting slaughtered by the sexy Twi’lek girls they captured. They let their guards down. That’s just the way it goes.

Not everyone was killed though. That would be wasteful. A bunch of Trandoshan men and women boarded the ship, capturing and enslaving everyone. Well, for her, it was just moving from one prison to another.

I just want to escape! I just want to be free!

“The Force will set you free.” A deep voice whispered from somewhere in the back of her mind. She rubbed her throat and coughed a few times, reaching for the canister of water on her desk. But what she saw was slimy green flesh instead. She panicked and started massaging harder, more seriously. She didn’t want to upset her Master!

Shmi struggled not to cough, even as the Spice smoke combined with the natural fragrance of Hutt slime made her want to just suffocate. Unfortunately she kept breathing and living. As usual.

I’m too stubborn to just die.

Looking up at the hot suns above her head, she saw a golden serpent slithering around the heavens. Those pretty blue eyes peering down at her, “Mom, please, don’t leave me!”

“Ani…” She whispered his name and saw a glimpse of the handsome man he would become in the future.

I can’t die. Ani needs me!

Shmi opened her eyes and took a deep breath, smelling the smoke from the other room! She got up from her seat and rushed towards Anakin’s door! Hitting the button on the side, the metal door slid open automatically and a bunch of black smoke billowed out!

“Ani!” She shouted his name as she searched through the dark smoky room!

“Mom? Where are you?!” His voice sounded faint and distant, which was strange because logically the room shouldn’t be that large.

“I’m right here! Follow my voice!” She shouted as loud as she could, but he didn’t seem to hear her voice anymore.

“I can’t breathe… Mom, I’m scared! It hurts so much!” As his voice got closer, she could feel the flames getting hotter! It smelled like sulfur and burnt flesh! Something… She was unfortunately familiar with…

“Anakin, I’m here! I’m here Baby! Hold on!” She found the manual release for the fire suppressant system on the wall and pressed it! The cold gases blew down and chilled her from head to toe, but a moment later, the smoke and fumes were all sucked up into the ceiling vents!

“Anakin Skywalker is dead.” A deep voice bellowed as she felt a tight grip around her throat!

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

No!

As she was lifted off the ground by her neck and turned around slowly, she saw that ominous black armor. She heard the breathing apparatus working slowly and loudly, *Ouuuu~! Ehhhh~! Ouuuuuuu~! Eeeeeh~!* It almost sounded like the monster was struggling even harder to breathe than she was…

“You killed him.” He pushed and her back slammed against the wall! She broke through the building and rolled across the sand!

“Mom! Hold on! We’ll make it through, just stay with me, please!” Anakin was crying and trying to pull her along, but he was so small… The little boy, her precious baby boy, was so strong for his useless mother.

I need to live. I can’t let him face the Galaxy alone. Not yet. It’s not time yet.

“I’m okay, Ani. Don’t worry, I’ll stay with you. I’ll always be with you, okay?” She was so thirsty, she could barely breathe through the rags around her mouth and nose, but wasn’t her son the same? He was only six and he was already so strong. He wouldn’t be like her… He wouldn’t be a slave forever.

“Anakin, I love you.” Shmi pushed herself up and hugged her son as the sandstorm raged around them.

“I love you too, Mom.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly. The wind was so strong that they could barely stay upright.

Why did we get lost in that sandstorm again?

She couldn’t remember. But she knew it was just a memory. Just her sleep-deprived mind running wild as usual.

“Mom, someone’s at the door.” Ani whispered into her ear as he shook her shoulder, “Wake up.”

“Unnm…” Shmi groaned and then sat-up in her bed quickly! Her heart was racing and she was breathing heavily!

“Ani?” She called out and looked around, but her son wasn’t there! Getting out of bed, she wobbled a bit, but before she opened the door to her small room, she looked over at the full length mirror. Well, she was in pretty damn good shape. Her breasts weren’t very large and had burn marks in various spots. There were also a bunch of knife scars and burns across her back, ass and thighs.

*Tang-tang-tang~!* The sound was loud, like someone was hitting the door of the house with a hammer. She quickly put on her usual gray tunic, with a darker gray robe over that. As for her messy bed-head? She didn’t have time to worry about that.

“I’m coming! One moment please!” She called out as she left her room and headed for the front door as quickly as she could. But once she got there, she sucked in a deep breath and calmed herself down. The matte red door had no peephole, but there really wasn’t much she could do if they wanted to cause trouble anyway. She was only a slave.

Pressing the button on the door, it slid over to the right. A man was standing there in biological armor, which looked like it was made of the carapace of some large insect. Reddish-brown in places, black or purple in others. Probably really expensive. His actual skin was almost blood-red, with pretty golden eyes, some black facial hair so she knew he probably wasn’t a Twi’lek hybrid… His hair did look strange though. Clumped together like twitching purplish-black tendrils.

He is pretty handsome though. For a non-human.

It was actually fairly normal for a Species to be more attracted to their own kind than other Species. That’s the main reason why ‘Normal Human’ features hadn’t been completely bred out of existence. A lot of other Species weren’t even reproductively compatible anyway.

“Is there something you need?” She looked behind his back and saw the strange creature floating there. It looked very dangerous, but it seemed rather docile.

“Yep.” The mysterious man smirked at the short human woman, “You.”

“I’m flattered, really, but you should speak to my Master instead.” Shmi wanted to close the door, but then she saw a tuft of blonde hair in the distance. That little head poked up above a stone wall. For a moment, she saw his bright blue eyes clearly, then he ducked down below the wall again.

“Talked to Watto already.” The armored man looked around behind her head, seeing the kitchen and even her workstation pretty clearly, “He tried to scam me out of a thousand Peggats for you and your son, but I haggled my way down to a more reasonable price.”

“I-I see…” She obviously didn’t believe him immediately, but then she saw the simple silver device he pulled out of his case filled with golden Peggats.

That’s the detonator!

It originally belonged to Gardulla. The pirates before had never bothered to implant a bomb inside her body. Explosive or shock collars worked just as well.

“Then I suppose you’re my, our new Master now…” Shmi looked up into those golden eyes for a moment and quickly turned her gaze away. After all, looking your Master in the eyes was often a dangerous game.

“Pretty much.” He chuckled and took a step forward into the house as she quickly backed into the kitchen to avoid him, and his… Creatures.

“Would you like some water, Master?” She made sure to keep calling him Master and emphasize her submission. At least on a surface level. She was still somewhat suspicious and cautious, since she didn’t actually see Watto or hear anything from him directly.

“Nah, I’m good. Just ate at that Cantina down the road, uh, can’t remember the name. Has a Droid cook.” He chuckled and casually left the heavy case of money on the floor, then put the detonator on the table seemingly without any worry at all.

He’s tempting me.

She wasn’t a naive little girl anymore. She understood that all these ‘Masters’ were never as foolish as they let on… There’s a reason why they were the Master and she was the slave. Though she outlived quite a few of her previous Masters.

“So where’s Anakin?” He sat down at the table and the small oval chair created under his weight.

He cares more about my son than me… Probably expects Ani to be a Podracing star in the future, like Watto.

“I’m sure he’ll be home sooner or later. He’s a child and today is, was, our day off. I’m sure he’s playing with his friends or scavenging for parts somewhere.” Shmi looked at the crying black feline creature and decided to pour some Bantha milk for it. Seeing that her Master didn’t object, she assumed that it was fine, but it could also be another test.

“My name’s Amon by the way.” The man finally introduced himself, then patted the armored head of the floating crab-spider creature next to him: “This is Izsha.” He pointed at the cat, “Midnight.”

“Yes, Master.” She replied calmly and asked, “May I make myself a drink?”

“Go ahead.” Amon waved his hand casually and watched the woman’s back, seemingly peering through her thick clothes.

Maybe he’s interested in me as well?

Shmi could ‘feel’ his gaze, but she wasn’t sure whether he was treating her as a woman or… Food. After all, she had no idea what Species he was and anything was possible. The scary thing was that even if he wanted to literally eat her alive, there was nothing she could do about it. He owned her now.

But there has to be a way for Ani to escape, if it comes to that.

She couldn’t help looking at the detonator again. It was just sitting there on the table. Only a flick of a switch and she could deactivate the bomb in her son’s body, then destroy it before the bastard had the chance to reactivate it!

“This place is actually pretty damn nice.” Amon suddenly spoke and snapped the girl out of her delusions, “I’m serious. It might be considered a hovel in Mos Espa, but there were plenty of people in my hometown that lived in tiny mud-huts and treehouses. Hell, I spent the past year under house-arrest in a room that wasn’t much bigger than this kitchen.”

“Thank you, Master. I have grown quite fond of this house these past few years…” She smiled wryly and sat down across from him, taking a sip of water. Then she explained, “Before we were won in a bet by Watto, we lived in communal quarters with many other slaves. This home was originally partitioned into several apartments, but the previous owner before Watto had opened it up and sealed the other two front doors.”

“It definitely looks a lot better this way.” The man closed his golden eyes and smirked, “Your son’s room is pretty huge. Yours, not so much.”

Echolocation?

Shmi looked at his twitching ‘head tails’ and guessed they might be some sort of antennae, “Anakin is the most important to me. More than anything.”

“You’re an amazing Mom.” Amon sighed and shook his head, “Not sure if Anakin is lucky to have such a loving mother… Or cursed because of it.”

I’m the chains holding him down.

“We don’t get to choose our parents.” She smiled wryly and looked over to the open door behind him, “Where we’re born. Under what circumstances… Often, we’re offered little choice at all in life.”

“Even slaves have free will, Shmi.” His eyes peered into hers and she trembled as she looked down at the detonator in her hands.

When did I take it?!

Without a moment of hesitation, she pressed a button and turned a knob. It was so quick and easy. Just like how she practiced in her mind countless times. Just like that, her son was…

“Free?” The man’s voice whispered into her mind. She looked up at his smiling face and back down at the device. Then she heard him ask, “Is it really that safe to just turn it off? Won’t he still have a bomb inside him?”

“Yes, Master.” She breathed out a long sigh and placed the device on the table, looking up into those menacing yellow eyes again. Shmi suddenly saw her son’s face! Behind a black mask, burned and scarred, but not unrecognizable! Those eyes!

No! I need to focus! Stop hallucinating!

“Are you having a vision?” Amon was suddenly sitting on her left and his clawed right hand was caressing her cheek!

“Master?” Shmi wanted to pull away, but she restrained her instincts, like always. She just smiled up at the handsome face and answered, “I’m just… Tired. I’ll be better after a little sleep. Able to serve you however you wish.”

“That’s hot.” He snorted and tilted her head back, then he looked up her nose and asked, “So anyway, does that device tell you exactly where the bomb is or what it looks like? I can see a few pieces of metal in your body that might be bombs, cybernetic implants or shrapnel.”

Izsha put down the heavy green suitcase and floated over the other side of the woman, making some clicking noises that sounded a lot like Geonosian. Something about disassembly?

“I do have a few implants, Master. A thyroidal regulator, a menstrual nullifier and a gallbladder replacer.” She pointed towards her right ribcage and continued, “My ribs have been replaced here, here and here.” Then she pointed at her hip, “My hip was injured in a crash when I was younger. Along with my left femur.”

“Damn.” Amon smirked, “Maybe you should’ve just replaced everything and then you wouldn’t need to worry about the bomb anymore?”

If only it was that easy.

“Are you really going to remove it?” She still didn’t understand the logic behind his actions. Maybe some kind of trick to get her to follow him more sincerely?

“Found it. Hold still, this is gonna feel weird.” He turned her head facing towards the open door and she saw the little blonde boy rushing into the house!