The Race of a Lifetime

From A Certain Point Of View Volume 4

Chapter 28: Race of a Lifetime

It was the day of the annual Boonta Eve Podrace. The twin suns illuminated the barren landscape surrounding the arena. The air was filled with the sounds of fans talking and cheering in the sandstone seats that lined the track. A couple dozen pods and their pilots lined the sand-covered track behind the starting line as pit droids meandered about, servicing the vehicles. All of the contestants were aliens, save for Anakin Skywalker, a slave that few thought stood any chance. As podracers continued to fill the track, the announcer began announcing them, first in Basic, then in Huttese. As they finished, one last pod was pulled up along the path by a dewback.

The pod was bright besides a few silver pipes and the large intake fans on the front of the twin engines. The engines were each about five meters long and a meter in diameter. A pair of black cables connected the engines to the driver’s compartment. The carriage of the machine was rather small, about two meters across and three meters long. The carriage was filled by a large black leather seat. The interior was lined with various gauges, screens, switches and buttons. The dewback was unfasted from the craft and guided off the track by a pit droid. Two remaining pit droids worked on the craft; one secured the cables to the engines while the other tested all of the systems and displays in the carriage. The pod’s pilot stood beside it, waving to the crowds.

Banto Jopal was a local mechanic that worked on various ships and podracers in Mos Espa.  In his spare time, he had assembled his own pod from his large collection of spare parts. He was a Rodian with large dark blue eyes that sparkled. His dark green skin was covered in a thin layer of dust from the sand blowing around on the track. He wore a pair of brown leather boots, beige tros, a beige long sleeve shirt, and a brown leather vest. A pair of slate grey racing goggles were pressed against his forehead, held in place by an elastic band that wrapped around his head behind his tube-like ears. His left arm was held naturally and loosely at his side. With his right hand, he waved to the crowd as the flags began to be carried across the track. His flag was a green pennant bordered in white, with the white relief of a Krayt dragon inside. As everyone turned their attention to Jabba the Hutt, Banto waited with anticipation, nearly quaking with excitement.

“Begin the race,” the crime lord commanded in Huttese. Placing one foot on the side of the pod, the Rodian swung over the side of the pod and landed on the seat, as though he were mounting a horse. His pit droids ran off to the side of the track as he pulled a large black lever on the right of the carriage. The carriage began to rise off the ground before hovering in midair. He flicked a series of levers with his suction-tipped fingers, and soon the engines were floating. The intake fans began spinning rapidly as the engines fired a few times. A bright purple column of electricity generated between the two engines, connecting them. Finally, the craft stabilized and began purring. The light on the bridge above the arena flashed bright green and the racers took off down the track, Banto bringing up the rear.

As the Rodian began to speed down the first stretch of the track, he encountered little difficulty. However, he noticed the leaders already attempting to sabotage each other, and this bothered Banto. This kind of dirty racing wasn’t necessary; podracing was already extremely dangerous when your opponents weren’t trying to kill you. For now, he kept his distance, especially from Sebulba. He easily made it through the canyon. The rodian began to get further ahead, dodging pods and rocks alike as he accelerated through the rock formations. He managed to make it through the caverns unscathed, but he narrowly missed sideswiping his left engine on a stalactite. Upon reaching Tusken Territory, Banto believed there was little he could do to avoid blaster bolts. He held his breath and kept his eyes on the road. He lagged behind a bit, but he made it through alive. The rest was easy. He soared across the open desert, crossing the finish line at full speed.

His second lap went much like his first. He made it through the canyon successfully once more, though he did accidentally trade paint with another pod as he tried to squeeze through. The other racer ended up colliding with a boulder and his pod detonated, but Banto was unharmed. He made it through the caverns with no struggle whatsoever. He somehow got past the Tuskens as well. He finished his second lap in fifth place; most of the competition had either encountered technical difficulties or had been eliminated by Sebulba. As he crossed the finish line and began his last lap, he felt the adrenaline course through his veins. The rodian tightened his grip on the yoke and pressed onwards. The third lap was must like the first two. He made it safely through the canyons and the cavern. He was eventually in third place, only behind Sebulba and Skywalker. As he neared the end of the Tusken Valley, he grew closer to them. Unfortunately, the galaxy had other plans…

As Banto exited the canyon, a lone blaster bolt struck his right engine. It stalled, then began to sputter. He managed to stabilize it enough to continue, but he was left with no hope of ing Skywalker. While the engine functioned well enough to continue the race, it did begin to smoke. Unknown to Banto, the fuel also began to leak. It was all he could do just to maintain his position. He barely managed to dodge Sebulba’s pod as the wreckage scattered across the track. As he ed the flaming remains of one engine, the fuel now coating the side of the engine began to catch fire.

At first, the Rodian thought it was just a trick of the brain. As he craned his head over the side of the pod to inspect for damage, he became alarmed. The bottom of the right engine was on fire, and the blaze was quickly moving up the trail of leaked fuel. He flipped a switch and a series of flaps lifted open on all sides of the engine. Fire-retardant foam began to stream out of the hatches and smother the blaze, but it wasn't enough. Banto managed to extinguish most of the fire, but the fuel continued to leak and ignite. If he didn't stop the blaze before then, the engine would explode. The Rodian knew what he had to do.

Thinking quickly, Banto tapped a display screen in the middle of his dashboard. A diagram appeared, displaying the power levels and diagnostics of each engine. He transferred all power to the undamaged left engine before pulling out a large wrench. One foot on the good of the carriage and one on the seat, he reached forward with the wrench. He grasped the nut connecting the right engine cable to the carriage and began to loosen it. With one final hard crank, he severed the connection to the right engine, which was now an inferno of gas and metal. It struck the dessert sand a moment later, detonating. Now at a slower pace and moving diagonally due to the one engine, he continued onward.

He crossed the finish line moments after Skywalker. As the Rodian slowed to a stop on the outside of the track, he watched the young boy be carried by a mob of fans. While he wished that could have been him, second place wasn’t bad. That would be him next year, he thought. Banto was correct. The following year, he made some changes to his pod. He reentered the race and won. After winning a few times, the Rodian became a local favorite, a star in the sport for years to come.

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