Chapter 6
Disclaimer: Same as previous chapters.
Chapter 5
It had been eight months since the Trade Federation had been defeated and Andrew and his family had been helping with the rebuilding processes but Padmé had noticed Andrew had a distracted look, his dreams were full of worlds that he hadn’t seen before. When he turned eleven he got a message that he was considered being ready for working in public office, which he was ready to do.
Andrew looked often at the robes and lightsaber that Yoda had given him and wondered what was Yoda thinking? He was no Jedi, Anakin and Faith had the Jedi potential. He was just, well he didn’t know but he was sure he wasn’t a Jedi.
He put the lightsaber and brown robes somewhere else and decided to forget about it, for now as he had things to do; to help the rebuilding of Naboo and its people, everyone had to pitch in and help.
Padmé looked over some rebuilding forms and saw her brother doing his best to help and he was burning himself out but he shouldn’t do that, she remembered that he wanted to explore and he was technically old enough by Naboo’s laws because of the intellectual maturity he had shown through the crisis.
She walked over to him and said, “Andrew, come on let’s go talk somewhere, alright?”
Andrew nodded and followed her to an area outside of Theed, she turned around and smiled gently, “Andrew, I think you need to explore as you are technically old enough now. I can give you a ship, not a nice one like we used before but a ship and you can take R2 with you.”
“But Padmé,” Andrew stammered, “I have to work for the Public office, it’s the law.”
“Work when you come back Andrew,” Padmé said, “Maybe as my assistant but do what you need to do; explore the galaxy and learn what you want and then come home.”
His heart caught in his mouth he wanted to explore, he needed to leave, it was in his blood as something was calling him. He nodded, “Alright but I’ll be back in a couple of weeks.”
“No,” Padmé said sternly, “You explore, don’t time yourself. You explore your heart out and make new friends, please do this.”
Andrew’s face brightened as he rushed outside and he yelled to R2, “Get ready R2, we’re going on a trip.”
R2 rolled out and beeped and whistled several questions while Andrew nodded to the droid and said, “Yeah, we’re going on a trip and it’s going to be awhile, I think.”
It beeped and whistled as it got ready to leave, he was excited that Padmé was letting him leave the world but mom was going to kill him for leaving when he was still young.
Padmé watched him get ready to leave and his face was beaming, she always knew he was going to leave and go to the stars. She wanted him to be happy and thankfully she could give him the old cargo ship because it was sturdy and it could keep Andrew safe.
Captain Panaka looked at her sternly and said, “Your majesty we cannot have your brother go gallivanting across the galaxy, especially in this piece of crap.”
“The ship may not look good but it’s sturdy,” Padmé said, “The royal engineer corps fixed it up after the invasion, it has some weapons and Andrew has to explore. He won’t be happy planet side until he gets this wanderlust out of his system.”
“But,” Captain Panaka said, “He is your brother not some cargo pilot, what if he gets into trouble and needs help with money or something like that?”
Padmé smiled and said, “That’s why I’m giving him a gift of credits to explore with and some gems that the ministers said he could have. He’s going to do this Captain, whether you like it or not he’s going to do this,”
“At least give him a blaster and a guard to go with him,” Panaka sighed, “So he can be safe.”
“No,” Padmé said, “The blaster is alright because I taught him how to shoot but the guard isn’t, he’s not foolish enough to go to dangerous planets, I think.”
The next day Andrew ran out excitedly to the ship and muttered, “She’s giving me the Rancor’s Rage? Cool!!” He pointed to R2 and said, “Look, that’s our ship.”
R2 made a nasty squawk and Andrew made a face to R2 and said, “It’s going to be good and look, it’s going to be us; just you and me for a bit.”
Padmé walked to Andrew and said, “The Rancor’s Rage, I’m sure you remember the ship, right?”
“Yeah, it’s the ship the Naboo defence force confiscated from those smugglers,” Andrew said as he ran around inspecting it and smiling widely.
She nodded and said, “Yes, it was just sitting here doing nothing at all but it’ll be in good hands and,” she looked at Andrew, “For my sake and your own be safe, alright?”
Andrew nodded as he got up and moved his travelling cases into the living quarters, he looked around and said, “R2, plug yourself into the Navi computer and help me program a course for Tatoonine, I got things to do there.”
R2 beeped its answer and plugged itself into it, as it began to activate the computer Andrew looked at the galaxy map. He sat on the pilot’s chair and felt the engine rumbling to life and the auto pilot programming the course out of the system.
He sat down and realized that he was leaving his system; the place that had been his home for god knows how long he would be gone for, it could be years.
As they made the jump to hyperspace he decided to look around his ship and check what he had for supplies, he saw that Padmé had stocked the holds with plenty of food, Gungan Bubble tea and water. There was also a kitchen for himself and maybe any passengers he picked up.
The beds were comfortable and he fell into a deep sleep. He couldn’t believe it; he had his own ship, it was just so cool. He was going to see every system he could, he was going to make Padmé so proud of him by being an adult.
R2 rolled around the ship beeping and whistling at certain systems and generally checking the systems out. Its master was happy and so was it as they get to explore worlds and it was actually quite exciting, it just hoped that its young master was ready for the hardships of the journey.
Andrew snored contently as he lay on his bed, he heard Kreia’s voice whisper, *And now you shall learn Exile, you shall learn to be whatever you wish to be, free from destiny.*
He woke up, his eyes wide. He walked to his travel case and pulled out the robes Yoda gave him and put them on, he looked in a mirror and giggled a bit, he looked like a Jedi.
R2 suddenly beeped out and had him come out; it looked like they got to Tatoonine. He got in the seat and began to prep for landing in the Mos Espa spaceport and wondered if Shmi was still alive as a slave’s life was hard but he had made a promise to himself that he would free her.
As the ship landed he walked out and picked up the lightsaber that Yoda gave him but it felt like it belonged to him. He hid it on his body and sighed as he walked out, he looked at R2 and said, “Stay with the ship, alright? I’ll be back soon.”
The two suns where high in what the locals called ‘double noon‘, as he made his way back to Watto’s junk shop he thought, ’Damn, next world better have rain,’ and walked in.
The store didn’t change much from what he saw eight months ago, it seemed to be just as rundown. He saw Watto working in the back and heard him complain.
“Hello?” Andrew yelled.
“Hello, hello,” Watto called as he flew in, “Welcome to Watto’s junk shop: If we don’t have it we’ll hunt someone down and kill him for what you need.”
Watto’s eyes suddenly widened in recognition, “You!! You were with the Jedi who took little Ani and Faith.”
“Yes,” Andrew smiled, “I’ve come to see you about your slave: Shmi Skywalker.”
He called her in and she came in and said, “Watto, you wanted to see me?”
“Not I,” Watto said, “The boy who was with the Jedi eight months ago wanted to see you.”
She smiled, “I remember you. Andrew, right?”
“Yes Ma’am,” Andrew said smiling, “I’ve come back to free you and I can pay with this,” and pulled out a couple of the gems that Padmé gave him.”
Watto’s eyes widened with greed, “Yes, let’s discuss business like gentlemen,” and led Andrew to back room and said, “You wish to have her, why? Lonely on your planet I think?”
“No!!” Andrew said disgusted, “I wanted to help her when I first came here but there were problems at the time.”
“Ah yes, problems with Naboo,” Watto said waving his arms around, “Now tell me about Ani and Faith, are they alright? Shmi and I sent a letter to inquire about them and nothing,” Watto spat out disgusted.
Andrew frowned; he hadn’t heard about that and said, “That doesn’t sound nice. You were worried, right?”
“Yes,” Watto mumbled, “Worried, very worried.”
They talked for a bit and worked out a price, Andrew also arranged for both Watto and Shmi to be sent to Naboo so they wouldn’t have to stay on this horrible world any longer.
Watto looked at Andrew and muttered, “How did you get here?”
“I have my own ship,” Andrew smiled, “My sister told me I had wanderlust and I had to get it out of my system.”
“By yourself!!?” Shmi said almost aghast at the prospect, “No you don’t, not alone. You are a young man, barely older than my son. I’ll come with you.”
“Umm, no,” Andrew stammered, “That’s alright, you don’t have to.”
“Not alone,” Shmi said, “The galaxy’s a dangerous place for adults, let alone a child and I don’t care what your culture says.”
Andrew sighed and nodded as Watto agreed with her and besides if they could get off this planet then maybe he could make his way anywhere.
“Alright,” Andrew said, “But I’m going to some pretty rough places after this and isolated ones too.
They both looked at each other, why was he going to these places alone? Shmi smiled gently and said, “Why are you going to these places Andrew?”
“To find the answers to my dreams,” he replied, “To learn why I have such dreams like this.”
Watto muttered, “Great, he’s crazy,” but as he looked at Andrew’s eyes he shuddered as they seemed so old for a moment, it felt unnatural but almost like he was going to find himself in these worlds.
Andrew followed Shmi to go get her things while Watto began packing his shop up, ‘Never know when we might need to make a barter or two on the way.’
He moved them back to the spaceport and Watto looked at the Rancor’s Rage and muttered, “What a piece of junk.”
“Hey!!” Andrew said, “It’s a really nice ship as the Theed engineers remade it. It’s really nice: there’s a kitchen, nice beds and everything.”
R2 beeped out a greeting to them as they came aboard, Andrew looked at R2 and said, “Be nice to C-3PO, alright R2?”
It beeped as the protocol droid walked aboard and said, “Oh dear, I do so hate Space travel.”
Watto was impressed by the insides of the ship but they were a stark contrast to the appearance outside, these quarters were fit for kings back home. He flew over to the galaxy map and was even impressed by the readouts from the engines as they were fast. He looked at Andrew and asked, “Why did we need to go so fast?”
Andrew walked in and said, “This ship was a smuggler ship that was confiscated from some pirates who were smuggling spice into our system.”
‘Smugglers?’ Watto thought, ‘I better, uhh, check the ship, no need for us to get into trouble because of spice.’
Shmi looked around, ‘This ship will do,’ she thought as she sat down and looked at Andrew, “Are you going to Coruscant by any chance?”
“No,” Andrew whispered, “I’m going to Nar Shaddaa next, there’s something there that I need to find, something important.”
Watto looked at Andrew and muttered, “Nar Shaddaa? It’s a good thing that I coming with you, I think a young man like you is liable to be sold into slavery.”
Andrew gulped; he hadn’t considered that but decided that it was worth the risk to find out. Watto smiled, “Don’t worry; you’ll be safe with me. We’ll pretend that I own you.”
‘Wonderful,’ Andrew frowned at that, he didn’t want that.
As the Rancor’s Rage left from Tatoonine Andrew began to prepare the ship for the jump to Nar Shaddaa when he heard the old woman’s voice, *Not there, not yet, head first to Dantooine.*
He looked confused as he felt his hands move of his own violation and programmed the ship for the jump to the Dantooine system; he wondered what was going on? He wanted Nar Shaddaa.
Shmi called him in for dinner and said, “I wish you would consider about Nar Shaddaa Andrew as it’s a very dangerous place, I was there once before Anakin was born.”
“We aren’t heading to Nar Shaddaa,” Andrew mumbled, “We’re heading to Dantooine, it’s an old farm world or it was one four thousand years ago.”
“Why are we heading there?” Watto asked, “We just left moisture farmers behind, I doubt other farmers are any better.”
“I have a feeling,” Andrew whispered as he finished eating his dinner and the two of them looked concerned.
Shmi nodded, “Andrew, go to sleep,” she said, “We’ll wake you when we get there.”
“Yes ma‘am,” Andrew said as he got up and said, “The ship is programmed to land by itself when we get there.”
As Andrew went to sleep Shmi looked concerned at Watto who nodded, “He’s crazy I think.”
“No, Ani and Faith got this way too but it seems like Andrew’s being lead there,” Shmi whispered, “Only god knows how he’d be like without us.”
Andrew slept deeply, shivering in his sleep as he remembered standing on Dantooine’s surface: Malak had bombarded the Enclave while he and his allies were at the Enclave to get hold of some of the artefacts there. His fevered dreams were broken by Shmi gently telling him that they were there.
He walked out and whispered, “Thank you Ms. Skywalker,” as he pulled on the brown robes and walked towards the cockpit, he saw Dantooine coming up and his mind showed him a vision of what it looked like in the past.
It was beautiful: a place of learning for generations of Jedi until Malak rained death from above the Sith invasion and it killed so many Padawans, some who were his age. He nearly collapsed from the pain.
Shmi picked him up and whispered, “Andrew, are you alright?”
Andrew nodded as the ship landed near Khoonda; he looked at Watto and Shmi and said softly, “I’ll be going alone.” R2, come with me.”
“Be careful,” they both yelled out as he walked down off the ramp and towards the Enclave, a farmer watched him walk past by him towards the ruins.
“Boy, are you slow or just plain stupid?” The farmer grumbled, “Scavengers have picked them ruins clean centuries ago, might find a couple cups there but people have picnics in them.”
The farmer shook his head and went back to work. As Andrew walked into the ruins he found the sub-level and activated a door without knowing how and walked down into it, Andrew looked at R2 and said, “Stay here.”
R2 beeped and followed him anyways, lighting the dark silent halls. Andrew looked at the thick layer of dust and realized that there was nothing living here.
*This way,* the voice whispered quietly, *Follow me here.*
Andrew walked through the dark tunnel and sighed, ‘Where are the lights? These hold buildings had solar converters along with their internal devices.”
As he put his hand to a wall he felt something and heard the voice whisper, *Here, press your palm here.* As he put his palm against the wall a pad lit up and he saw the wall fall away, he walked in puzzled as he saw two devices that looked interesting: a cube and a pyramid and they both seemed to call him to them.
The cube opened up and an image of an old man with a weary look on his face appeared and said, “Greetings, I am Jolee Bindo. The council forced me to record one of these damned devices for future generations, yadda, yadda. You let me know when you want the good stuff like my stories, that’s the good stuff, the rest is only techniques.”
Another voice suddenly said, “Jolee!! Record your stories later. First the techniques then, if they can stand you still, the stories.”
“Yeah, yeah,” the old man muttered and the device shut off.
Andrew shut it off and looked at the pyramid shaped device that suddenly activated and he saw the image of a woman with grey skin, hair and black eyes. The voice rasped out, “I am Darth Traya and I shall tell you of my teachings of the dark side and the light side of the Force.”
TBC
What do you think of the name of Andrew’s ship? Should Andrew find a planet to leave Shim and Watto on? Or should they stay with him? After he’s done with it should Andrew send Jolee’s holocron to Faith when they meet soon?
The next few chapters will deal with Andrew’s journey throughout the galaxy