Star Wars - A New Hope - The Life of Luke Skywalker

by Ryder Windham

  Luke didn’t expect to find any data about Obi-Wan Kenobi, Master Yoda, or Anakin Skywalker.

  He‘d searched the HoloNet before and had only come up empty. However, this time he found something…

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Anakin Skywalker — Winner. Time: 15.42:655.

  Luke could hardly believe his eyes. His father’s name and the words beside it were represented in Aurebesh lettering, suspended in the air above the computer console’s holocomm. He’d found the data in an article that had recently been posted by a journalist and former Podracer pilot named Clegg Holdfast. Although Podracing remained illegal throughout the galaxy, the destruction of the second Death Star had apparently emboldened Holdfast to write about the outlawed sport.

  Holdfast’ s article was a history of the Boonta Eve Classic, a once-famous Podrace competition that had been held annually at the Mos Espa Arena on Tatooine for many years. The article provided a list of Boonta winners and other participants. According to the data, Anakin Skywalker’s victory had occurred thirty-six years earlier.

  Luke studied the article with amazement. After the conflicting accounts he’d heard from his uncle and aunt as well as Ben Kenobi, he’d begun to wonder whether his father had ever been on Tatooine at all. Now it appeared he had proof.

  He navigated through the article and found a holographic image and schematics of Anakin Skywalker’s podracer, an open-cockpit repulsorlift chariot reined to two long engines. Unfortunately, Holdfast had not provided any images of Anakin. Examining the schematics for Anakin’ s chariot, Luke thought, That can’t be right. A person couldn‘t fit in that contraption.

  And then it hit him. Although the chariot was too small for an adult human, it could fit a child. He recalled what Ben’s spirit had told him on Dagobah, just before Luke left to confront Darth Vader at Endor. Ben had said that Anakin was already a great pilot when they’d first met. Luke had assumed he’d meant an adult starpilot.

  Could Ben have meant. . . my father was a Podracer pilot?

  From personal experience, Luke knew that Podracing was an incredibly dangerous sport. Shortly after the destruction of the first Death Star, circumstances had led him to climb into the cramped cockpit of a Podracer it had previously belonged to a Dug — and compete in a Podrace on the planet Muunilinst. Even with Jedi reflexes and the Force as his ally, it had taken great effort for Luke to survive that day. Although he could imagine young Anakin fitting into a Podracer’s cockpit, he couldn’t think of any good reason why a child would have been allowed behind the controls.

  Luke scanned through the data in Holdfast’s article, According to Holdfast, the Mos Espa Arena had become a track for swoop bike races, and two veteran pilots of the Boonta were currently employed as mechanics.

  Luke decided right then that he was overdue for a vacation.

  * * *

  “Master Luke!” C-3PO said as he entered the hangar in the New Hope. “I’ve been looking for you all over the ship.”

  “Looks like you found me.”

  Luke was standing beside a ladder that extended up to the cockpit of his X-wing starfighter. While a team of technicians lowered R2-D2 into the socket behind the X-wing’s cockpit, C-3PO said, “Sir, it appears you are. . . going somewhere?”

  “Very perceptive, Threepio.”

  Planted in his socket, R2-D2 rotated his domed head be and emitted a digital chirp.

  “What?” C-3PO said with surprise. “You’re going to Tatooine?”

  “That’s right,” Luke said. “There’s something I need to investigate there.”

  “But, sir, I just received word from Princess Leia. She has requested your presence on Aridus.”

  “Why?”

  “A meeting with the Chubbits. There are several Chubbits who remember you well from your previous visit. The princess thinks your presence might —“

  “Tell her I’m unavailable,” Luke said, pulling on his helmet.

  “But, sir, I had the distinct impression that the princess hoped you would —“

  “Just tell her, Threepio,” Luke said as he climbed up to the cockpit. “If anything really urgent comes up, she can contact me on the emergency frequency.”

  “Emergency frequency?” C-3PO said. “Oh, dear. I can’t imagine what her response will be.” As Luke was lowering himself behind the X-wing’s controls, C-3PO added, “Wait!”

  “What is it now?”

  “Sir, may I ask the nature of your mission? In case the princess inquires?”

  Because Leia had expressed no interest in learning more about the life of Anakin Skywalker, Luke knew that she would probably get upset or angry if she learned why he was going to Tatooine. “It’s personal,” he said. “But don’t worry I shouldn’t be gone more than a couple of days.” He lowered the cockpit canopy.

  “Don’t worry?” C-3PO shook his head. “Oh, dear, oh, dear.” He looked at R2-D2, whose domed head stuck up behind the cockpit. “Artoo-Detoo, you know how nervous I get when anyone tells me that. Promise me you’ll look after Master Luke.”

  The astromech replied with a sputtering beep.

  “What? Me? An old nanny droid?” As the X-wing lifted off and began moving out of the hangar, C-3PO replied with obvious outrage, “Well, you. . . you can go jump in a Sarlacc. See if I care!”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  I’m never coming back to this planet again.

  Luke shook his head as he recalled the words he’d said to Ben Kenobi more than four years earlier, shortly before they’d blasted out of Mos Eisley Spaceport on the Millennium Falcon. Luke had returned several times to Tatooine since that day, and every time, he reminded himself, Never say never.

  R2-D2 beeped from his socket. Luke glanced at the translation readout and replied, “Thanks for the offer, but I’ll keep the controls on manual.” Luke grinned. Sometimes he got the impression that the astromech enjoyed flying the X-wing as much as he did.

  He landed his X-wing on the flat roof of the Mos Espa Grand Arena complex, a massive structure located Several kilometers from Mos Espa Spaceport, at the junction of the Xelric Draw and the Northern Dune Sea. The Complex consisted of several domed buildings and grandstands that overlooked a wide track. The grandstands had been built to accommodate more than 100,000 spectators, but now all the seats were empty.

  “Stay with the ship, Artoo,” Luke said as he climbed out of the cockpit, taking his dark robe with him. “I’m going to look around.”

  The astromech droid rattled in his socket behind the cockpit and beeped in protest.

  “I didn’t ask for your opinion,” Luke said as he pulled on his robe and adjusted it to conceal the lightsaber at his belt. “I’m telling you to stay here. If any vandals come poking around the ship, you have my permission to zap‘em. All right?”

  R2-D2 stopped rattling and responded with another series of beeps. To Luke’s ears, it sounded as if the droid was actually happy about the possibility of using his retractable power-charge arm against thieves.

  Luke walked alongside the roof’s railed edge as he headed for a large domed structure that jutted up above roof level. He gazed out over the empty grandstands and studied the arena’s wide, dilapidated speedway. To his right, the track curved off and vanished amid rocky pinnacles, and to his left, it curved back toward the immense plain known as Hutt Flats.

  He heard a noise across the distance, the distinctive whine of swoop bikes, which were essentially long, powerful engines with seats on their backs. A moment later, he saw two swoop bikes zoom in from the Flats, carrying their riders past the grandstands before they sped under the broad expanse of an elevated footbridge that served as the finish line.

  As the swoops came to a stop, Luke heard a woman’s voice nearby. “Looking for something, mister?”

  Luke turned to see a tall, slender woman standing outside a doorway to the domed building. She wore a strangely elegant jacket and dress, and from the way she held one hand behind her back, Luke assumed she was holding a weapon. “Hel
lo,” he said. “Yes, I’m hoping to find Ody Mandrell and Teemto Pagalies.”

  The woman looked at Luke suspiciously. “Who are you, and what do you want with them?”

  Because Luke was an enemy of the Empire and cautious, he wasn’t about to reveal his real name. “My name is Lars,” he said. “A journalist named Clegg Holdfast wrote about this place, and I just wanted to talk with some of the old Podracer pilots.”

  “Really?” the woman said. Looking past Luke, she asked, “Is that your droid and starfighter parked on my roof over there?”

  Luke glanced over his shoulder and saw R2-D2 beside the X-wing. Then he looked back at the woman, who had moved her body slightly so he now saw the grip of a compact blaster pistol in her hand. He couldn’t blame her for being suspicious of strangers, but he also wanted to avoid a violent confrontation. He said, “May I ask your name?”

  “Ulda,” she said. “And you’re trespassing on my property.”

  “You own all this?”

  “Keep your hands where I can see them,” Ulda said as she shifted her arm to level her pistol at Luke.

  “Well, Ulda,” Luke said as raised his hands and looked straight into the woman’s eyes, “I don’t see a starfighter or a droid on the roof.”

  Ulda looked past Luke again, then repeated, “I don’t see a starfighter or a droid on the roof.”

  “I’m not going to harm you.”

  “I’m not going to harm you,” the woman repeated as she placed the pistol into a jacket pocket.

  “You can direct me to Ody Mandrell and Teemto Pagalies.”

  “Yes, I can direct you to them,” Ulda said pleasantly. She was completely unaware that Luke was using the Force to gently manipulate her mind. She walked to the rail beside Luke and pointed down to the two swoop bikes that rested beyond the finish line. “There they are.”

  * * *

  “Do we remember Anakin Skywalker?” Teemto Pagalies said. Standing beside his swoop bike on the speedway in the shadow of the arena’s grandstand, he glanced at Ody Mandrell. “Ha! How could we forget him?”

  Ody rolled his eyes as he aimed a thumb at Teemto and said to Luke, “I remember more than this guy about the race that Skywalker won.”

  Ody Mandrell, who stood slightly shorter than Luke, was an Er’Kit, a species characterized by pale gray skin and downward-pointed ears. Teemto was a Veknoid who was shorter than Ody and had a head that was mostly jaw. Teemto had also lost an eye, an arm, and both ears, and bore numerous scars — all mementos of. his Podracing days.

  Ody threw a friendly chuck at Teemto’s shoulder and said, “Go on, tell us how well you remember anything after the Sand People blasted you at Canyon Dune Turn.”

  “But I also raced Skywalker before the Boonta!” Teemto said. “And I didn’t forget that! Oh, and about the Boonta? I also remember you were disqualified because some pit droid got sucked into one of your engine intakes!”

  “Sure, you remember,” Ody laughed. “But only because I told you.”

  Teemto looked at Luke and said, “What do you wanna know about Skywalker?”

  “Well,” Luke said, “do you know how old he was when he won the race?”

  The veteran Podracers answered at the same time. Ody said, “Nine.” Teemto said, “Ten.”

  Luke smiled. “What was he like?”

  Without hesitation, Teemto said, “A total demon.”

  “Demon?”

  “Yeah, you know. . . a speed demon,” Ody said. “It’s a compliment.”

  Teemto said, “And that little human, he never cheated in a race.”

  “Ever!” Ody added. “Even when he had the chance! Most of us just did whatever we could to make it over the finish line. Say, did you ever see a Podrace?”

  Luke thought of his own experience in a Podracer on Muunilinst and tried not to grin. He said, “I’ve seen a few, but. . . nothing like what you guys must have done. From what I’ve heard, I’m afraid most of the greatest Podraces happened before I was born.”

  Ody shook his head sadly. “Ain’t that the lousy truth, brother.”

  “Hey!” Teemto said. “I just remembered: I have a vidrecording of the Boonta in the garage. You want a copy? Some great views of Skywalker’s Podracer.”

  “Yes, please,” Luke said. “I’d appreciate that very much.”

  “Be right back.”

  While Teemto hobbled off, Luke faced Ody and said, “Do you know if Anakin lived on Tatooine?”

  Ody nodded. “Sure, right in Mos Espa Spaceport, I saw him a few times at Watto’s junk shop. I got parts for my Podracer engine there.” Ody scratched his head. “I think his mother worked at Watto’s too. Gosh, that was a long time ago.”

  “Anakin’s mother?” Luke said. “Was her name Shmi?”

  Ody shook his head. “I can’t recall. Like I said. . . a lot of years have passed. But if you want to find out more, you should go to Watto’s and.. .“ Ody clapped his hand against his forehead. “Sorry, I keep forgetting. It’s not Watto’s anymore. It’s Wald’s.”

  “Wald’s?”

  “Yeah, Watto retired. Now it’s Wald’s Parts. But that’s why you should go there. Wald knew Anakin. Let me give you directions.. .”

  Just as Ody finished telling Luke where to find the junk dealership, Teemto came walking back with a datatape. Handing it to Luke, he said, “Here ya go. A Boonta classic.”

  “Thank you,” Luke said. “I’d like to pay you for this.”

  Teemto held up his one hand and said, “Keep your credits. Just tell all your friends to visit Mos Espa Arena for the swoop races.”

  “I’ll do that,” Luke said. “Thanks again.” He bowed his head politely, then turned and walked off to return to his X-wing, eager to meet with Wald.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  As Luke’s X-wing carried him and R2-D2 away from the roof of the grand arena, Luke said, “Artoo, we’re going to Mos Espa Spaceport. I need to visit a junk dealer in the southwest district.”

  R2-D2 responded with an inquisitive beep via the comm. Luke glanced at a rectangular monitor on the starfighter’s control console to see small red letterforms appear, an Aurebesh translation of the droid’s question.

  Luke replied, “The junk dealer’s name is Wald.”

  R2-D2 beeped again, and Luke read another question.

  “Actually, someone named Watto used to own the place. Why are you so interested?”

  The droid beeped yet again.

  “But if you go with me, you’ll just get sand in your joints.”

  R2-D2 protested so furiously that Luke didn’t need to read the translation.

  “All right, enough already!” Luke said. “Have it your way.” Sometimes R2-D2 just baffled him.

  Mos Espa Spaceport was a wide sprawl of mostly domed buildings made of pourstone. Luke landed the X-wing in an empty docking bay and helped R2-D2 out of the socket and down to the ground. They exited the docking bay and proceed to their next destination.

  Numerous human, alien, and droid pedestrians moved about the dusty streets of Mos Espa, and no one paid any notice to the robed stranger or his droid companion. Following the directions Ody Mandrell had given him. Luke found the junk shop without difficulty.

  Wald’s Parts was a bell-shaped domed building that was connected to an outdoor junkyard. R2-D2 followed Luke through the building’s entrance portal, and they arrived in a chamber that was completely cluttered by metal scrap and odd bits of machinery from many different worlds. It reminded Luke of the tech dome on the Lars homestead, only much better stocked and far less organized. He thought, When I was little, I would have loved this place!

  Luke heard footsteps and turned to see a Rodian enter the chamber from a back room. A green-skinned humanoid with large multifaceted eyes and a flexible snout, the Rodian saw Luke and said, “Help you?”

  “Yes,” Luke said. “My name is Lars. Are you Wald?”

  “I am,” the Rodian said. “Just like the sign says.” He gestured to a sculptural sign that
hung on the wall,

  Luke hadn’t noticed the sign because of all the scrap that surrounded it. The sign was composed of bent-metal Aurebesh letters that spelled out Wald’s Parts, but Luke could tell from the rudimentary craftsmanship that some of the letters had been recycled from the shop’s previous name.