Skywalker Twins [Book 1]

Chapter 1 - Deadly Desert Race

Tatooine.

Last Month

The Two suns burned down on the sand covered planet sat below them. The roars of the podracers echoed through the hills. Podracing is incredibly dangerous and deadly sport and on Tatooine it was immensely popular. It was a race that consisted of small crafts piloted by one being. Usually. One pod held two pilots. The local twins from Mos Espa who live in the slave quarters with their mother Shmi. They were slaves to a junk dealer, a Toydarian named Watto since they were very young. Their mother had a small home business that Watto had allowed her to do so she could earn money for herself, although she was most likely to spend it on her twins anyway. The twins, Anakin and Freya, worked in Watto's junk shop. He usually had them cleaning or fixing the products he had but right now, was possibly the worse chore he could ever have them do. Shmi's heart stopped each time her two children climbed into one of those awful contraptions. But Watto could see that the twins had a natural talent, other than their advanced engineering skills. Podracing. Although they have never won a race. Scratch that. They had never finished a race but they were the only humans who could do it.

They were currently speeding through Beggar's Canyon, one lap into the race. They were behind but not by much, they just needed more speed to catch up. Anakin gave a nod to his sister, who immediately pushed the thruster forwards to give her brother the speed he needed. The engines roared louder as received more juice and they flew past other racers and started to gain on the pod in 3rd place. Loose pieces of sand created a sheet of dust in the air as the podracers sped by. Stray pieces bouncing off the metal of the twins' racer. The young boy kept his hands gripped on the controls as they zoomed through the canyon. He knew. They both knew that one wrong move could lose them the race maybe even their lives. But Anakin loved the danger. Speed and power in his grasp.

The pod itself looked like it was about to fall apart. It rattled over the flat sandy surface, around rough, uneven mountains, tight bends, and curves and to top it off an insane drop known as the Metta Drop. This is the same circuit that is used for the annual Boonta Eve Race but that was still a month away. All Shmi could do was hope that Watto would not make her young children race in that awful event. If that wasn't bad enough. It was mandatory for slaves to attend the races. She was forced to watch as her children speed around some of the most dangerous areas on the planet.

A smirk made its way on both of their faces as Freya pushed the lever forward adding more fuel to the thrusters as they neared the end of the canyon. As they approached the exit, the cliff walls became narrower. Anakin kept his hand steady on the controls as he navigated through the cave. They burst through the gap, narrow their eyes at the sudden brightness from the twin suns. The speed they were at was dangerously fast speed, they passed the pods in 2nd and 3rd place and were quickly gaining on the pod in 1st place, Sebulba. He was rotten inside and out. He was a Dug and he had no respect for slaves especially Anakin, who had the tendency to talk back to him. Sebulba was dangerous and unpredictable, he would do anything to win a race. He was responsible for dozens of wrecks. The twins knew better than to underestimate him. Freya pushed the thrusters forward feeding the engines more power. Not that it helped, they still had space between them.

In their last race, Sebulba had attempted to push the twins into the cliff face of the canyon. That time, Freya was in control of the pod, Anakin saw him coming and warned her. She nodded and Anakin pulled the lever back, temporarily cutting power from the engines, they escaped Sebulba's dirty tactics, but it cost them the race.

The crowd in the arena erupted in cheers as the pod raced through. The spectators in the watchtower calling out their names and positions. Somewhere in that sea of people was their mother, praying that they will be okay. Sebulba was just up ahead and the gap between them had begun to close.

"How many behind?" Anakin called over to his sister, who turned her head to count how many pods were trailing after them.

"Three," she replied. They were nearing Jag Crag Gorge, which was a narrow passage, way too narrow. Sebulba just up ahead, trying to put some distance between him and the twins, "Reduce speed?" she asked.

"Yeah," he answered quickly, his focus fully on the controls and Gorge ahead. It was too dangerous to go through it at high speed. One wrong move could be catastrophic. The pods behind seemed to think the same thing and slowed down,

except for one. One pod attempted to pass the twins before they entered the Gorge but disappeared into the sand covered rock face.

They soon emerged from the Gorge, Freya immediately pushed the thrusters forward, feeding the engines as much power as the pod could give. They weren't far behind Sebulba, the other two pods followed suit. The engines roared as they filled with power, each competitor wanting to be the victor of the race. It wasn't long before the twins and Sebulba were side by side. Sebulba didn't like that, he tilted his controls slightly to the right, making his orange, x-shaped podracer scrape the side of the twins' pod. Freya flinched away as the scraping metal began to create sparks.

Anakin didn't shy away though as both pods went over the edge of Metta Drop and landed on the rocky ground below. The drop was the perfect opportunity to take over your opponents, everyone knew that, so when Sebulba slowed down instead of increasing his speed, the two Skywalkers were shocked but when their pod suddenly jumped forward due to something hitting them from behind they realized what he was up to. The Dug was trying to make them crash and take them out the race.

The other competitor pushed his thrusters forward in an attempt to escape but ended up slamming right into a mountain, leaving nothing but a fireball and metal fragments.

The twins might have suffered the same fate had it not been for their instincts. Sebulba's engines slam into the back of their pod. Anakin lifted out of their drop, nearly crashing into Sebulba, who swerved to save himself. Anakin's sudden change of steering resulted in them spinning out of control. He pulled back on the lever, cutting the power to the engines as the pod got closer to the ground below. They collided with the ground, gliding along the dusty, sand surface severing both of the control cables, the two engines flying off in two directions while the Pod that held the twins reeled left, then right, and then began to roll. They could only brace themselves as they had lost complete control of the pod, they could only hope that they didn't end up scattered along the sand along with the pod. There was a sudden explosion to their right.

The pod finally came to a stop, landing tilted to one side. Anakin was the first to unbuckle his safety belt, followed shortly by Freya. They both crawled out of the remainder of the pod and onto the boiling hot sand. The roars of the remaining pods could still be heard.

Freya looked at the pod behind them and grimaced, "Do you think Watto will be mad?"

Anakin glanced left and right at what his sister was looking at before looking at her, "Most likely," he knew that Watto would be waiting for them to return. It wasn't their fault though, not that the Toydarian would care.

"We'll win one day, Ani," Freya told him, "I can feel it," the rattling of an approaching landspeeder turned their attention to their right, it had come to retrieve them and take them back to the arena.