Blue Moon

Chapter 2

                                                                                ☾☼

"Start your engines." the announcer said.

Anakin flipped a switch and his engines came to life. The pilots flipped switches, and powerful energy binders shot between the engines. Aliens carrying large flags moved off the track. Jar Jar covered his eyes.

"Oh, dissen ganna be messy! Mesa no watchen." said Jar Jar.

Jabba bit off the head of a frog and spit it at a gong, signalling the start of the race.

On a bridge over the track, a great green light at the center flashed. The Podracers shot forward with a high-pitches scream.

Anakin's engine flooded and coughed - then died. All the other Podracers except one swerved around him and disappeared down the track. The slave boy struggled to get his racer started. The two-headed announcer reported.

"An dare ovv!"

"Oh...wait. Little Skywalker has stalled."

The crowd laughed and pointed at the stalled craft.

Quadrinaros worked frantically on his pod.

"Well it looks like Quadrinaros is having engine trouble also."

Quadrinaros pounded on his dashboard in frustration.

"C'mon Ani!" yelled the Gungan.

Finally, Anakin's engines ignited. He zoomed away after the receeding pack of competitors, leaving one quadra-Pod racer still trying to get started. The two-headed announcer described the race as it progressed.

"And there goes Skywalker..."

"Go Ani, go!" shouted Jar Jar.

"Come on Anakin!" cheered his twin.

The Podracers flew across the desert. Sebulba was running neck and neck with Mawhonic. They rounded the first turn in the track, side by side. Sebulba drove his Pod into his rival, forcing him into the wall of a large rock formation. Mawhonic crashed in a spectacular display of fire and smoke.

Anakin was much faster than the back-end stragglers and passed them easily.

One of the drivers, Gasgano, won't let Anakin by. Anakin tried to pass him on one side and was cut off. He then tried to pass him on the other side and was cut off. As they came up on a cliff drop-off, Anakin backed off, then gunned it as Gasgano went over the cliff. Anakin accelerated so fast that he sailed right over the top of Gasgano and sped away.

Four Tusken Raiders perched above the race course fired their rifles at the Pods racing in the canyon below them. One shot ricocheted off the back of Anakin's Pod.

"Looks like a few Tusken Riaders have camped out on the canyon dune turn."

The quadra-Pod engines started just as the racers came around the corner. The Driver, Ben Quadrinaros, put it in gear, and the four engines went off in all directions, exploding in a spectacular display.

"Ooo! There goes Quadrinaros power cuppling."

The Pod dropped to the ground as Sebulba entered the arena, closely followed by all the other races.

Padmé, Shmi, Mary, Jar Jar and Qui-Gon watched another screen and looked worried.

"Sebulba! Ka pa me cheespa wata!"

The crowd screamed. Watto was laughing with his friends, confident in Anakin's defeat.

Ody stopped in the pits. Droids worked on his engines. Dum-4 stood in front of the engine and was sucked in, causing the engine to die.