8 Chapter 8

[Preserving the Life of Qui-Gon Jinn]

Difficulty:(C)

-Save the Life of Jedi Master, Qui-Gon Jinn from his death at the hands of Darth Maul. Keep him alive, and or inform him of his death to prevent it.

[Reward: 2,000 Exp, 5,000 System points, Lightsaber Form 4(Ataro), Randomized Holocron]

Cain knew immediately that this request was much more difficult than what was written. Even if he told Qui-Gon about his vision, the Jedi Master will most likely still fight Maul the exact same way as he did in movies, believing that it was the Will of The Force or some shit like that.

If Cain wanted to complete this mission than the only option would be to help in the fight with Darth Maul.

Although he is nowhere skilled enough to be in a fight with lightsabers, Cain could still provide support with his guns and grenades that might actually give Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan the advantage.

If Cain wanted to be prepared for the showdown he decided to use the skill points that he's been saving for an emergency.

Opening up his Status, Cain after some thought spent all of his points on increasing Gun Mastery and Body Enhancement from rank B to A.

[Skill Upgrade: Force Power: Body Enhancement(A)]

[Skill Upgrade: Gun Mastery(A)]

To upgrade skills with skill points, the higher the skill is ranked than the more points it cost to increase them. So to upgrade two Rank B skills, it then costs 2 skill points each for them to advance.

Feeling a sudden chill down his spine, Cain felt his knowledge of shooting and his technique to enhance his body with the Force expand greatly. It was as if he had done months of training in just a few seconds.

With his fighting skills at the highest, he could have them at the moment, Cain felt that he had a better chance to complete the mission.

".....Our ship was damaged, and we're stranded here until we can repair," Padmé said.

Realizing that he had spaced out after getting the notification, Cain shook his head and refocused his attention on the conversation.

"I can help! I can fix anything!" Anakin boasted while trying to show that he could help.

"I believe you can, but our first job is to acquire the parts we need..." Qui-Gon tried to let Anakin down but was interrupted.

"I've built a racer! It's the fastest ever...There's a big race tomorrow, on Boonta Eve. You could enter my pod. It's all but finished." Anakin exclaimed with excitement.

"Anakin, settle down. Watto won't let you..." She tried to get Anakin to settle down, but he was already too excited with the idea of entering the race.

"You could make him think it's yours, and you could get him to let me pilot it for you," Anakin suggested to Qui-Gon.

Seeing that Anakin wouldn't be denied, Qui-Gon looked towards Shmi, but saw that she could only shake her head as she too was distraught over this.

"I don't want you to race, I die every time you do it," Shmi said while pleading with Anakin.

"But Mom, I love it...and they need help...they're in trouble. The prize money would be more than enough to pay for the parts they need." Anakin compassionately argued.

"Your mother's right. Is there anyone friendly to the Republic who might be able to help us?" Padme finally admitted.

Hearing this question, Shmi could only shake her head no, proving that there wasn't anyone on this planet that could help them.

"We have to help them, Mom...you said that the biggest problem in the universe is no one helps each other," Anakin exclaimed.

"Anakin, don't," Shmi said, ending all arguments.

There was silence at the table for a moment as everyone continued to eat.

"We will find another way..." Cain said trying to ease Shmi nerves, but it seemed like she already made up her mind.

"No, Annie's right, there is no other way... I may not like it, but he can help you, he was meant to help you." Shmi finally admitted while sighing.

"Is that a yes? That is a yes!" Anakin exclaimed as he jumped from his seat in excitement.

The storm continued to rage outside the Skywalker's hovel, as everyone finished their food and waited out the storm.

...

After waiting for the sandstorm to pass, everyone began to walk out of their homes to clean the damage.

Exiting the hovel Qui-Gon, Anakin, and Padme left to negotiate with Watto about letting Anakin enter as a racer.

Wandering away from the group, Cain was left to socialize with the locals, but first, he put on his beskar helmet to hide his age and changed into his body armor.

Entering the first bar he found, Cain sat down and order an alcoholic drink. He wasn't bothered about getting drunk as he learned a useful trick to speed up his metabolism with the Force.

Removing the small removable section of his helmet near the mouth, Cain took a sip while enhancing his ears to listen for anything interesting.

Listening to the drunken rambling of the people around him, Cain found that there nothing was happening until suddenly someone mentioned pod racing.

"....Sebulba is the clear winner. Nobody can beat him, I already bet big on him for the race." A drunk Rodian exclaimed from the bar.

"I don't know. Betting that much is dangerous. Aren't you already in debt with The Hutts?...." His human friend questioned while taking a sip from his drink.

After hearing the men mention betting on the pod race, Cain ignored everything else around him and suddenly came up with a devious plan to make money.

Smiling to himself Cain downed the rest of his drink and then paid, but just as he was about to leave somebody suddenly tried to grab his shoulder.

Having sensed this because of his Battle Instincts skill, Cain swiftly turned and grabbed the offender's hand.

"Woah, Woah calm down buddy! I just wanted to talk." A middle-aged man exclaimed as Cain began to break his hand.

Letting go of his hand, Cain looked at the man that tried to stop him.

"What do you want?" Cain demanded in a gruff tone, as his helmet completely changed his voice.

"Sorry about that before. I just needed to talk with you. I'm a recruiter for The Bounty Hunters guild." The man suddenly announced as he rubbed his aching hand.

Keeping silent at this surprising news, Cain simply waited for the recruiter to continue speaking.

"Oh..oh well, I can tell that a man of your obvious skill and stature can be very useful to The Hunters guild, especially our main client, Jabba the Hutt."

Confused on why the man was complimenting him, Cain suddenly realized that he looked almost exactly like a Mandalorian warrior. With his helmet and body armor, he could easily pass as a Mandalorian.

"Why?" Cain questioned, as he was interested to hear what the man had to offer.

"Jabba is always in need of Bounty Hunters for hire. I've been given this gracious honor of contracting expert hunters to provide our services to deal with any...problems Jabba may have." The man said while smirking.

"You want me to join your guild?" Cain suddenly questioned.

"Exactly! Though the guild is a very close nit, we still like to open ourselves whenever we see great talent, especially a skillful Mandolorain warrior such as yourself." The man said while showering Cain with praise.

"I'm good," Cain said and abruptly left the bar.

Leaving behind the befuddled man, Cain walked out of the bar and didn't look back. Just as he got to the doorway he heard the man call out again.

"Wait! Take my information if you ever change your mind." The man said while extending a card to Cain.

Looking at the card Cain thought for a second, then grabbed it and left.

As soon as he was a good distance away and alone, Cain stopped and finally read the information on the card. With the official symbol of the Bounty Hunters Guild, the card only had a number to contact them.

Stowing the card in his inventory just in case, Cain changed his clothing again and went back to the Skywalker's residence.

Moving through the hovel, Cain soon found that everyone was in the back courtyard.

They all seemed to be working a small racer, especially Anakin as he excitedly adjusted everything on the pod.

"....He's quite the special child, isn't he?" Qui-Gon said as he stood next to Shmi while they both watched Anakin.

"Anakin's something else. He's almost too generous." Cain said while smiling.

"He deserves better than a slave's life," Shmi said sadly.

"The Force is unusually strong with him, that much is clear. Who was his father?" Qui-Gon suddenly asked.

"There was no father, that I know of...I carried him, I gave birth to him...I can't explain what happened. Can you help him?" She pleaded with Qui-Gon and Cain.

"I'm afraid not. Had he been born in the Republic, we would have identified him early, and he would have become Jedi, no doubt...he has the way. But it's too late for him now, he's too old." Qui-Gon said sadly.

After a few seconds of silence, Qui-Gon moved to help Anakin with his pod. As Shmi sulked, Cain decided to finally reveal what he did for the Skywalkers.

"....I can free you from Watto." Cain suddenly announced and shocked Shmi to her very core.

"W-what? Could you really? Can you save, my Annie? He doesn't deserve the life of a slave." Shmi suddenly inhaled sharply and pleaded for Cain to save her son.

"I know for a fact that Qui-Gon will absolutely save Anakin and bring him to the Jedi Order. But even if he can't, I already have a plan for both of you to be free of slavery." Cain said.

"How?" Shmi asked while trying to make sure that she actually had some hope to hold onto.

"Well if I were to hypothetically steal, deactivate, and then destroy Watto's detonator to the bombs implanted in you and Anakin-...." Cain said but was interrupted as Shmi suddenly tackled Cain and brought him into a bone-crushing hug.

"Thank you! Thank you so much." Shmi said as she cried into Cain's shoulder.

Returning the hysterical women's hug, Cain happily waited until Shmi calmed down and stepped back from the hug.

"If it comes to it, I can bring you and Anakin to Naboo, or any planet you wish. Although we have to wait a few days until we deal with our problem on Naboo, I will leave you enough credits to get off Tatooine if needed. There you can find a doctor to remove the implants and you'll be completely free."

"I don't know how to thank you. You're giving me something I lost so long ago." Shmi said, while Cain's hands and seemingly growing younger by the second as if a weight was lifted off of her.

Suddenly from the courtyard, the small racer with Anakin in the cockpit, suddenly sparked to life as its engines roared loudly. Everyone cheered loudly as Anakin screamed loudly in excitement.

Shmi looked at the scene with a smile and tears in her eyes as she cried tears of joy, for the first time in years.