Then I became truly serious.
This was a racer who would do anything to win.
And I had to come out of this victorious, no matter what.
I didn’t want to ask Vardis for favors again, and besides, there was something else I had no intention of losing.
We shot past the starting line of the second lap, only a few meters apart.
The crowd went wild.
After all, one of the most unlikely contenders for victory was now fighting Sebulba for first place.
We accelerated to such incredible speed that I could no longer make out my friends’ reactions, but I could imagine the expressions on their faces.
As we raced through the canyon, I noticed Sebulba pulling out some kind of communicator.
It looked like he was talking to someone.
Suddenly, I felt a bad premonition, and just as I feared, the Force suddenly flared with an alarming warning.
I immediately jerked my podracer sharply to the side.
The spot I had avoided thanks to the Force vision suddenly turned into a massive crater that would have certainly caused my instant death.
Cold sweat appeared on my forehead, and that unquenchable anger I knew so well once again filled my heart.
I focused on Sebulba’s podracer, and thanks to my mechanical knowledge, I located the fuel cells just above the carburetor.
Using a subtle application of the Force, I pushed an enormous amount of unprocessed fuel mixture into the carburetor.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then, suddenly, I felt a blast that shoved my podracer several meters to the side.
Having anticipated that possibility, I accelerated and avoided what remained of Sebulba and his podracer—a small bomb scattering debris that continued flying around me like deadly projectiles for several more seconds.
And just like that, I violently ended not only his career, but also the miserable life of that worm.
When I slowly approached the finish line, no longer in any hurry at all, I noticed that an unbelievable silence had fallen over the arena.
Everyone seemed frozen in deep shock.
A few seconds later, as if by the wave of a magic wand, deafening cheers first erupted from my group, the people who had believed in me, and then from the entire stadium.
[Commentator:]
“Ladies and gentlemen!
We have just witnessed something incredible!
Young Anakin Skywalker has won his very first race today!
According to every prediction and every betting odd, his chances of victory were eighty to one.
He was considered one of the least likely racers to win, and yet he is the one walking away as the great champion of this race!
And now we hand the microphone over to the great Jabba, who will congratulate the winner!”
Jabba: “Hrrrgh…
Ghhrr…
Oohh…” blah blah blah…
The only people screaming in anger were those who had bet on Sebulba.
They looked as though they were about to suffer heart attacks.
And Watto, whose eyes had turned so red they looked as if they were about to explode, quickly glanced around.
The moment he spotted Qui-Gon Jinn, he immediately began backing away.
I remained seated in my podracer, waiting for my friends, who were already running toward me from the viewing platform while joyfully shouting my name.
However, I noticed Qui-Gon Jinn heading in the opposite direction.
More precisely, toward Watto.
Watto noticed him as well and apparently tried to slip away, but the Jedi, as if he had anticipated that move, caught up with him in one of the corridors.
A moment later, both of them disappeared from my sight.
My thoughts, however, drifted in a completely different direction.
Earlier, I had spent a long time convincing Vardis and had entrusted him with my entire fortune so that he would bet not only my money, but also his own, on my certain victory.
I was truly curious whether he had listened to my advice, how much of his own fortune he had wagered, and just how wealthy we had become.
As I waited, the familiar notification of one of my skills leveling up echoed in my ear.
Before I could even check what had advanced, a figure with long ears suddenly leaped at me.
During that single second of flight toward me, I recognized the familiar sliminess.
Jar Jar.
Somehow, through sheer force of will, I managed to slip free of my harness, jump out of the podracer, and roll aside, avoiding his fish-like embrace, while he slammed hard into the podracer’s hull.
[VARDIS’ POV]
Vardis stood in front of the betting office with several of his guards, and he clearly did not look pleased.
“What do you mean you don’t have that kind of money?!
Then what right do you have to accept bets in the name of the great Jabba?!”
“Sir, please understand.
We have the funds to pay your winnings, but we’ll have to go through headquarters.
I’m not able to pay out such an enormous amount here.
We simply don’t keep that much money on site.
To be honest, this is the first time in my life I’ve ever seen such a large payout.
Did you invest all of your money?”
“We’ll have to obtain authorization from the great Jabba’s chief accountant.
You must have sold a large portion of your property on the planet to place such a massive investment.”
He spoke the word investment in complete disbelief at the bettor’s incredible luck.
To him, it looked as though someone had thrown all of their money into a pit, only for it to magically multiply dozens of times.
“I’m planning certain investments off-world, so I had to sell some of my villas and the unused land I owned.
But I trust the great Jabba’s integrity, so there’s no need to rush.
Please contact headquarters.”
“Right…
right away…” the employee replied, sweating profusely, clearly dreading the conversation he was about to have.
The communicator rang for only a few seconds before someone answered.
“This is Vex.
What do you need?”
“We have a major winner.
He bet on that young Anakin, who won the race, at the incredible odds of eighty to one.
I don’t have sufficient funds to pay out his winnings.”
“Who is it?”
The employee turned around and gave Vardis a questioning look.
“Tell him it’s Vardis.”
Apparently, Vex heard the answer, because he let out a heavy sigh.
“Alright.
You know how Jabba feels about gambling.
It’s one of the few things where he tolerates absolutely no cheating.
It’s the foundation of his empire.
I’ll send transportation from headquarters immediately.
Don’t leave your post.”
“And tell Vardis that his winnings will be paid in Galactic Credits so we don’t destabilize Tatooine’s economy by introducing that much money into the local market.”
“I don’t mind.
In fact, I prefer that currency, considering my future ventures,” Vardis added, clearly overjoyed.
“And the great Jabba also wants me to tell you not to place bets on this scale ever again.
Next time, you may regret it bitterly and end up in one of the great Jabba’s pits with his pets.”
“Please convey my deepest respect to the great Jabba.
I appreciate his honesty and the value of his word.
It’s a pleasure doing business with someone who honors his commitments,” Vardis added directly into the communicator.
Vex merely snorted before disconnecting.
The conversation ended surprisingly easily.
The employee visibly relaxed, as though he had just been granted salvation.
He didn’t yet realize that just because Vex hadn’t decided to kill him on the spot didn’t mean Jabba would allow him to live after such a tremendous loss.
Vardis gave him a look full of pity.
He knew perfectly well how the man would end up.
Simply the wrong place at the wrong time.
About thirty minutes later, a heavily armored speeder stopped in front of the building.
Vex stepped out.
To everyone’s surprise, he had come personally.
“As I said before, don’t you ever dare place bets like this again anywhere within the great Jabba’s territory.
Because the next morning, you might not wake up with your head still attached.”
He extended his hand.
“This is a Galactic Bank card containing eighty million Galactic Credits.”
Then he produced another card.
“And this one contains one million Galactic Credits.
I assume you know how to use it?” he asked sarcastically.
“Yes.
Don’t worry.
I’ll manage,” Vardis replied, barely keeping his hand from trembling.
In the later years of the Empire, eighty million Galactic Credits would have been enough to purchase nearly half of a Star Destroyer.
It was easy to imagine just how unimaginably enormous that amount of money truly was.
Especially for a businessman who had never left Tatooine.
Jabba paid it only because his reputation for honoring bets earned him far greater profits than any single act of fraud or theft ever could.
Already prepared for such a possibility, Vardis climbed into his own vehicle together with his escort, which had arrived only moments after Vex.
He drove away immediately, wanting to leave the planet as quickly as possible and wait out the problems that would inevitably follow after acquiring such an unimaginable fortune.
Before leaving, he handed the card containing one million Galactic Credits to his most trusted employee—the man he had grown up with—and instructed him to deliver it to Anakin.
Vex watched as Vardis hurried toward the spaceport.
He also noticed several people carefully observing their hasty departure.
“I wonder whether he’ll manage to protect his newly acquired fortune…
or whether, like so many before him, he’ll be crushed by thieves, and everything will end up back in Jabba’s hands as usual.”
He turned toward the betting clerk, who froze in shock.
“Take him.
Jabba wants him to die in agony for his sins.”
“No!
I didn’t do anything!
I was only doing my job!
Nooooo!”
His cries ended quickly when he was knocked unconscious.
[ANAKIN’S POV]
After brushing the dirt off myself and feeling a little sorry for Jar Jar, who had hit the podracer quite hard, I suddenly felt myself being pulled into something very warm and soft.
Padmé hugged me tightly against her chest and started jumping up and down, celebrating the victory.
Over her shoulder, I noticed my mother smiling at me with obvious pride and happiness that nothing had happened to me.
Several of the children Anakin knew were also shouting excitedly about my victory.
After a moment, I somehow managed to free myself from Padmé’s embrace.
I noticed Qui-Gon Jinn walking toward me.
Apparently, he had already blackmailed Watto with the Hutt, and now he was coming to deliver the good news about my newly regained freedom.
My plan to free my mother had also just begun.
At that very moment, I noticed that Vardis had sent me a short message.
**”Reward collected.
Your share is on its way to you and will be at your house.
The plan to free your mother is underway.
As we agreed, I’ll disappear for a while for safety reasons.
The manager will take care of the companies on Tatooine.
Write to me if you need anything.”**
We gathered up the podracer and managed to sell it for several hundred peggats.
After this race, it had become nothing short of a legendary machine.
While Qui-Gon Jinn was delivering the necessary parts to the ship, I was finalizing the sale of the podracer.
Meanwhile, Watto’s day was about to become a little stranger.
[WATTO’S POV]
A few seconds after the Jedi left, one of Vardis’ men entered the workshop.
“Greetings, Master Watto.
My employer has what I believe is a very interesting offer for you.”
“Yeah?
And what’s that supposed to be?”
The man smiled politely.
“It’s about your slave.
The middle-aged woman.”
Watto raised an eyebrow.
“Shmi?”
“That’s right.
My employer is offering one thousand peggats for her.
Cash.
Immediately.”
For a moment, the Toydarian stared at him in silence before bursting into laughter.
“What’s this?
Suddenly such incredible luck?
Hahaha!”
He shook his head in disbelief.
“Fine, take her.
Apparently, today I’ve lost both of my slaves.”
He pulled out the ownership document and the detonator remote, then tossed them onto the counter.
“Pay me and take her before I change my mind.”
Without saying a word, the man placed the prepared pouch of money on the counter, picked up the document, and nodded.
“It was a pleasure doing business with you, Master Watto.
Additionally, Anakin Skywalker sends his regards.
He’s grateful for your care, but says that from now on he’ll manage without you.
And may you never meet again.
Because despite being treated well, he still doesn’t like being enslaved by anyone.
A moment later, he turned around and left the workshop, leaving the Toydarian confused and alone with his thoughts.
[ANAKIN’S POV]
As I was returning home after selling the podracer, I met Qui-Gon Jinn riding his eopie.
I decided it was time to begin convincing the Jedi about my visions and my ability to foresee the future in order to save his life.
“Master Qui-Gon Jinn…”
He looked at me with curiosity.
“Yes, Ani?”
“I think I can sense that someone who uses the Force is approaching us.”
His expression immediately became serious.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know…
but the Force around him feels strange.
As if…
it were dark.”
“I had similar visions during the night.”
Qui-Gon Jinn immediately grew even more serious.
“I understand.
This is a very serious matter.”
After a moment, he looked toward the house.
“Come quickly.
I still have one more matter to take care of at your home.”