[POV: ANAKIN]
Despite the exercises I had been doing over the last two weeks, I was still only nine years old, so I started slowing down from exhaustion, and Qui-Gon Jinn left me a little behind.
When I spotted their ship, which was surprisingly close, it gleamed in the sunlight like polished metal.
It looked truly beautiful, and those sleek curves…
Suddenly, I remembered the scene from the movie where Anakin almost loses his head because of Maul’s speeder.
Just as I had predicted, Qui-Gon shouted for me to duck, but literally a moment before his warning, I sensed the danger through the Force and, without thinking, threw myself flat onto the ground.
Some sand got into my mouth.
I felt like starting to swear, but when I heard the unmistakable clash of lightsabers, I knew the fight had begun, so, without looking around, I sprinted toward the ship as fast as I could.
After all, this was no longer a movie but real life, and I had no intention of dying before I had even lived.
“Take off!” I heard Qui-Gon Jinn shout one last time.
When I reached the ramp, I looked back, but the only thing I could make out were two blurred figures bouncing off each other and two streaks, one red and one green, constantly colliding with one another with that characteristic sound.
I ran up the ramp and noticed several of Padmé’s guards staring with their mouths hanging open, completely frozen by the spectacle.
This superhuman display of a Jedi’s power was clearly a little too shocking for their minds.
I ran past them and headed straight for Obi-Wan.
“Master Jedi, Master Qui-Gon Jinn ordered us to take off!”
Obi-Wan looked back at me, surprised that I recognized who he was, and clearly pleased that I had called him a Master Jedi, even though he was still only a Padawan.
[POV: OBI-WAN]
I looked at my Master as he fought, then immediately ordered the pilot to take off and fly as close to the battle as possible so that Qui-Gon Jinn could jump aboard after separating himself from his enemy.
Although I believed in my Master, I couldn’t stop worrying.
This was no ordinary person, but someone gifted with the Force and clearly powerful enough to match, or even threaten, a fully fledged Jedi Master who deserved a seat on the Council, as my Master should have had long ago if not for his stubborn refusal to follow the Order’s rules.
[POV: ANAKIN]
With my eyes wide open, I watched the battle of real Force users through the ship’s windows.
It was the first time I had ever been able to witness such a sight in person.
The movies clearly hadn’t captured the true potential and ferocity of a fight like this.
I tried to keep up with their swings and forms, but I could barely follow their movements.
They didn’t stand still.
They leaped and darted across the entire area, covering nearly a hundred meters like two comets or forces of nature.
Clouds of dust rose around them, stirred up by every collision.
I could clearly see shockwaves rippling through the air every time they clashed, showing just how much force they generated during the fight.
Even though the battle had lasted only several seconds, it felt as though they had already crossed blades hundreds of times.
When the ship flew close enough to the battlefield, which was moving farther and farther away from us, Qui-Gon Jinn was apparently drawing Maul as far away from the Queen as possible.
The Jedi unleashed a Force push while simultaneously throwing a massive amount of sand at Maul.
Then he kicked off the ground, launched himself more than a dozen meters into the air, and landed directly on the ship’s ramp.
Obi-Wan immediately sealed it, and the ship began accelerating violently, climbing as fast as possible to leave the planet and the danger lurking upon it behind.
I noticed Obi-Wan leaving the cockpit to check on Qui-Gon Jinn.
I decided to follow him.
I was curious whether my future Master had come out of the fight unharmed, just like in the movie.
After seeing how fierce the battle had been, I wasn’t convinced he hadn’t sacrificed an arm or suffered some kind of injury.
We stepped out of the cockpit, and I noticed that Qui-Gon Jinn was lying on the floor, completely intact, with all of his body parts still attached, breathing heavily as he gathered his strength.
He must have given one hundred percent during that brief fight.
It was obvious that he hadn’t faced such a dangerous opponent in a very long time.
Perhaps it was the first time he had fought someone who wielded the Force and was genuinely trying to kill him.
You certainly couldn’t compare that fight to the sparring sessions in the Order, which were probably more like duels than real fights to the death.
At least, that’s what I knew from the lore.
I hadn’t actually seen training in the Order yet.
Only after visiting it would I be able to judge how different it really was and whether it was truly that bad.
When we approached him, he clearly noticed our presence.
Since I remained silent, Obi-Wan spoke first.
“Are you all right, Master?
Who was that?”
“I think so.
I don’t know who he is, Obi-Wan, but he was clearly very well trained in the ways of the Jedi.
I suspect the Queen is his target.”
“It’s good that we managed to stop him, Master Jedi.
What do we do now?” I added.
“We will be patient,” he replied with a very philosophical expression.
I honestly felt like laughing right in his face.
What exactly was that supposed to mean, “We will be patient”?
Were we going to wait until he died of old age or what?
Honestly, that monk-like Jedi way of behaving was slowly starting to get on my nerves.
“Oh, and by the way, Obi-Wan Kenobi, this is Anakin Skywalker,” he added with a smile, pointing in my direction, clearly pleased with his speech about patience.
“Nice to meet you.” I offered Obi-Wan my hand.
“But we’ve already met.”
“That’s true, but you were mistaken.
I’m not a Jedi yet.
For now, I’m still a Padawan under the wise guidance of my Master.”
We all fell silent and looked at one another without saying a word.
I noticed that the Jedi were giving each other that particular look they used whenever they wanted to discuss something important, and I apparently seemed to be getting in the way.
Reading their behavior, I said goodbye and decided to explore this wonderful ship that would carry us all the way to Coruscant, the capital of the Republic.
The J-type 327 Nubian truly deserved to be called a yacht.
Everything here seemed incredibly luxurious.
The corridor I walked through looked more like the interior of an exclusive hotel than a starship.
The walls were made of bright, perfectly polished panels that reflected the light, and beneath my feet was a smooth floor resembling polished tiles.
Every few meters there were automatic doors leading to more rooms.
The first room I looked into was the lounge.
Comfortable sofas stood around an elegant conference table.
One of the walls housed a holoprojector and a communications system.
A few steps farther was the dining area with a small kitchen equipped with automatic meal preparation systems.
Next, I reached the living quarters.
Every cabin had its own bed, lockers, a small desk, and a private bathroom with a sonic shower.
By the standards of the galaxy, it was an exceptionally high standard.
And those were just the ordinary cabins, not even mentioning the ones for the Jedi or the Queen.
At the end of the corridor was the medical bay equipped with advanced medical equipment.
I didn’t know exactly what kind because the guards wouldn’t let me inside.
Next to it was a small storage room.
I went downstairs to the lower deck.
There I found the engineering section with the reactor, hyperdrive, and power systems.
I noticed guards standing outside the entrance, so, not wanting to cause any trouble, I turned around.
Through a small window, I also managed to spot the cargo hold, where supplies were being transported, along with a small speeder.
At the very end was the cockpit.
Several pilots and navigators calmly controlled the flight.
Dozens of holographic displays floated before them, showing engine parameters, the flight trajectory, and the movement of nearby ships.
When they noticed me, they closed the door through which I had been peeking.
No wonder the Queen of Naboo traveled aboard ships like this.
They were fast, incredibly comfortable, and looked more like flying palaces than ordinary starships.
They certainly didn’t resemble the falling-apart Millennium Falcon.
I returned to my cabin and wondered what to do.
I decided to quickly take a shower because I didn’t smell my best, and since I unfortunately didn’t have any other clothes to change into, I stepped into the sonic shower fully dressed and went through the entire cleaning cycle in just a few minutes.
I had always wondered why they never showed the other rooms of the ship in the movie.
Maybe they wanted to save money on building sets and that’s why they only left the lounge.
After my quick shower, I returned to the lounge.
I noticed that no one else was there, and Jar Jar was sitting in a chair, apparently asleep in such an awkward position that just looking at him made my back hurt.
I sat down in the corner and noticed goosebumps rising on my skin.
My body was clearly not adapted to the low temperature inside the ship after so many years of Tatooine’s heat.
I took out my communicator and started playing with it, checking whether Vardis had sent me any messages.
Apparently, he was busy because there were no notifications.
I finally decided to look over my status panel.
I was curious whether my piloting skill had leveled up.
Strangely enough, my speeder piloting skill had gained two levels.
Speeder Piloting – Level 18 (1800/2700 XP)
Level 20 (15/10000 XP)
Apparently, a race to the death and eliminating other competitors were considered highly rewarding by the system when it came to gaining experience.
INFINITE GRIND SYSTEM
=== SKILLS ===
MECHANICS
General Mechanics – Level 16 (1800/4800 XP)
Droid Construction / Information Technology – Level 15 (12/4200 XP)
FORCE
Force Instinct – Level 19 (1200/5600 XP)
Premonition – Level 16 (6/4500 XP)
Force Control – Level 5 (60/800 XP)
Telekinesis – Level 5 (150/800 XP)
BODY
Reflexes – Level 16 (1090/4800 XP)
Endurance – Level 8 (125/1800 XP)
Strength – Level 6 (100/1200 XP)
Dexterity – Level 11 (500/2650 XP)
MIND
Willpower – Level 1 (0/100 XP)
There hadn’t been any major changes because I hadn’t had time to train.
Over the last few days, I had been far too busy interfering with the plot.
My Willpower hadn’t moved at all since I had unlocked it.
I was becoming increasingly worried about how I was supposed to raise its level.
The only skills that had increased significantly, aside from piloting, were Force Instinct and Premonition.
Apparently, overusing them during the race had finally produced results.
Honestly, two weeks was far too short a time to become invincible, and because of my child’s body, even training didn’t produce rapid growth in my physical stats.
I sighed.
There would be plenty of time to grind later.
There was no point regretting it now.
As I wondered what to do besides lifting my communicator with the Force, which was currently floating above my hand, I came to one conclusion.
I had about sixteen hours before we reached Coruscant, and only because we were using the Republic’s hyperspace routes and traveling aboard a fast ship.
Otherwise, the journey would have taken days.
Even so, in such a confined space, I had no way to train any of my other skills besides telekinesis.
So I gave up trying to think of another way to grind.
As I continued playing with my communicator, moving it from my left hand to my right and back again, I heard footsteps in the corridor.
I shifted my attention in that direction while lowering the communicator and slipping it back into my pocket.
The person walking down the corridor turned out to be Padmé in her handmaiden’s outfit.
She was clearly still playing that role.
She seemed deeply lost in thought, and I already knew what was bothering her because she walked straight to the holoprojector and played the message about the massacre that had been sent by the Minister of Naboo.
She watched the entire recording and looked deeply saddened, as though the weight of the entire planet rested on her shoulders.
Which, to be fair, it did.
Because of the negligence of previous generations and their excessive reliance on the Republic, Naboo was now occupied, and since they had almost no standing army, the Trade Federation had simply deployed its droid army and captured the capital without firing a single shot.
“I can see something is troubling you.
You can tell me about it if it’ll help you feel better,” I said from the corner where I was sitting.
Padmé jumped in surprise.
She clearly hadn’t expected anyone to be there besides Jar Jar, who was sleeping like the dead.
“Ani?
What are you doing here?” she asked, wiping her reddened eyes, which she was desperately trying to hide.
She walked over and crouched down in front of me.
“I finished washing up, and since I didn’t have anything else to do, I came to see what was going on here.
But as you can see, besides him, there’s no one else.” I pointed at Jar Jar, who was almost certainly dead, because no living being could sleep in a position like that.
“The Queen is worried, and I can’t do anything to help her.
That’s why I’m so distracted,” she tried to explain.
I didn’t feel like ruining her act, so I decided to do something that would definitely keep her occupied for a while.
“Have you ever seen a Jedi use the Force?” I asked curiously.
“No.
Jedi don’t usually put on demonstrations like that up close.”
“Then I’m sure you’ll like this.”
I took several glass marbles out of my pocket and, using the Force, began concentrating intensely as I guided them around her head like planets orbiting their star.
A few seconds after the surprise disappeared from her face, a broad smile appeared instead.
I knew that for someone who had never experienced the Force before, it would be just as fascinating as it had been for me the first time.
She tried to touch them several times, but I gently moved them out of her reach.
After a few attempts, she realized what I was doing and looked at me with mock annoyance.
“I’m not playing with you anymore,” she said, pretending to be offended as she started walking away.
She stopped for a moment in the doorway and turned back toward me with a smile.
“Thank you, Ani.
That’s exactly what I needed.”
“You can always count on me.
I really like you, Padmé.”
“I like you too, Ani.
Even if a lot has changed…
when we reach Coruscant, remember that.”
After saying those words, she turned around and walked toward her cabin.
I really couldn’t figure that girl out.
When she disappeared at the end of the corridor, I sighed, got up, and headed back to my room.
Since the time was going to be wasted anyway, I might as well meditate and train my Force Control.
…
Autor note:
I’ve solved the problem sorry everyone.
I had originally created an account on a site for my country that has a similar name, but now I’ve set up the correct one.
Sorry for all the trouble.
The only downside is that I spent three hours today closing the old one and setting up this new one, but never mind it’s ready now.
If you’d like to support me, feel free to take a look: whitedeath0.
I will soon meet the chapter requirements o site.
I’m getting back to writing Thanks for the support.
More stoneeeee😆