STAR WARS: Amiana de FeMirr. Untold

PART I

CHAPTER 1. 12 BBY

The piece of metal beneath Amiana’s hand trembled as the transport ship suddenly dipped its nose and began forcing its way through the dense layers of atmosphere.

Amiana pressed her forehead against the cold, slightly scratched viewport. From this height, the world below looked like a vast, silent ocean of gold.

For a girl who had grown up among the narrow canyons and towering stone walls of Jedha, where the sky was often veiled in smoke and blue-violet twilight wrapped itself around the city, Tatooine looked completely different, even though the two worlds shared something in common.

Jedha’s desert was cold.

Tatooine felt as though it were made of the sun itself.

An endless, blinding yellow desert stretched all the way to the horizon. Above it hung two blazing suns. They flooded everything in merciless white light, forcing the dunes to shimmer like scattered diamonds.

Far below, among the waves of sand, low gray buildings sprawled across the settlements. Above them, ships drifted lazily through the sky—from battered, rusting hulks to sleek vessels belonging to traders and smugglers.

“Dad, why are there two suns?” little Amiana asked, unable to tear her eyes away from the vast landscape of the scorching world.

The light was so bright that even her hair seemed to glow with a golden halo.

She held tightly to her father’s hand, eagerly waiting for them to land. She had never been to Tatooine before, and she desperately wanted to see the new world with her own eyes.

“That’s just the way it is, Sunshine. And today, there’ll be one more sun around here,” her father said with a smile as he fastened his own harness and secured hers before landing. “But we didn’t come here for the scenery, remember? We have a shipment of rare cooling-system components to sell, and we’re taking spare parts for old engines in return. You can’t find parts like these in the Inner Rim anymore—not without looking until your eyes fall out.”

He paused for a moment and glanced toward the cargo hold.

“And don’t forget—the Empire comes here less often because of the heat and how far out this world is. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t here. And it certainly doesn’t mean we’re safe.”

Amiana shifted her gaze deeper into the cargo hold.

There, carefully packed inside heavy protective crates, were their goods: ancient relics from Jedha that they had managed to smuggle out during the occupation, along with mechanical components highly valued by local mechanics and Jawas.

“Is it dangerous there?”

Her father fell silent for a moment.

“Nowhere is safe anymore, Sunshine.”

His expression darkened.

“The Empire, little one. The Empire is the real danger. And the Empire is everywhere.”

The ship descended with a heavy hum and a groan of landing gear, settling onto a platform at the Mos Eisley spaceport.

The moment the ramp hissed open, a wall of heavy, unbearable heat rolled over them.

After the cool, windy climate of Jedha, the air here felt scorching and dry. It burned her lungs and made her squint against the blinding sunlight.

The platform was teeming with life.

People of countless species hurried in every direction. Jawas scurried between them. Tall, thin humanoids passed by, while entire columns of droids hauled heavy sacks beneath the shouts of persistent merchants.

But among the bustling crowd, white figures immediately caught the eye.

Imperial stormtroopers patrolled the passage near the central terminal, checking the documents of arriving travelers.

Kenha tensed instantly.

His face became hard and focused. Amiana noticed how her father quietly clenched his fists inside the pockets of his cloak, then checked the pocket containing their trading permits once again.

His movements had become sharper.

His eyes more watchful.

The Empire was everywhere.

Even here, at the very edge of the galaxy.

The girl grabbed the edge of her father’s sleeve, trying to stay as close to him as possible. Yet her curious green eyes darted from side to side, greedily taking in every detail.

She listened to unfamiliar conversations spoken in strange dialects and studied every passerby, trying to figure out which ones were honest traders and which might be dangerous criminals.

Kenha pulled his daughter closer.

She could feel the tension radiating from him.

Amiana was still very young, but she already understood the difference between good and evil. She had often listened to stories told by customers at their stall on Jedha, so she knew one thing for certain:

Tatooine was not a place where you trusted strangers.

Her father completed all the necessary procedures, paid a loader to transport the cargo toward the market district, and set off with his daughter toward the meeting place.

Along the way, Amiana kept staring at the strange creatures and the things they were doing.

What surprised her most was that, despite the unbearable heat, some beings calmly drank hot tea and other steaming beverages.

She could not understand why.

She watched tiny beads of moisture appear on their skin, their expressions becoming so relaxed that they looked as though the heat no longer bothered them at all.

Amina found it rather amusing.

Before long, they reached their destination.

Kenha ordered the loader to begin unloading the cargo while he himself stepped several paces toward a man standing at the corner of a building beneath an awning that shielded him from the merciless light of the twin suns.

His face was weathered by the local sandstorms. His clothes were white, though stained with dust and grease.

Nearby, behind a small counter, sat a boy—probably his son.

“Kenha! Old friend! Good to see you in one piece!”

Owen extended his hand and firmly shook the older man’s.

It was obvious they had known each other for years, conducting quiet but dependable business along the fringes of the Outer Rim.

“I was starting to think the Empire had closed all your routes after that trouble in the Inner Rim.”

Kenha merely smiled wearily and clapped his old friend on the shoulder.

“You can’t outrun the Empire, Owen. But slipping around its checkpoints? That’s my profession.”

He nodded toward the cargo.

“You said you needed new cooling systems for the vaporators and quality power cables? I brought everything you asked for. Plus a few rare components from other systems.”

While the two men discussed technical specifications, prices, and the reliability of future shipments, Amiana quickly grew bored.

For a girl accustomed to the mysterious streets and noisy markets of Jedha, a conversation about metal pipes and condensers seemed endless.

She wandered a few steps away and began examining an old, dust-covered engine lying beside a wall.

“I wouldn’t touch that if I were you,” a bright, slightly cocky voice suddenly said behind her.

Amiana turned around.

The same boy she had seen behind the counter was standing there.

She immediately noticed his worn clothes, stained with grease, his hair bleached by the twin suns, and his light-colored eyes filled with curiosity.

“Why not?” Amina crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m only looking. We have things like this on Jedha, too. Except ours are usually covered in centuries of dust, not Tatooine sand.”

The boy raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

“So you’re from Jedha?”

He wiped his grease-covered hand against his pants and stepped closer.

“I’m Luke Skywalker.”

“Amiana FeMerr. Nice to meet you.”

The girl held out her hand.

“Yes. I’m from Jedha.”

Luke’s eyes widened.

“Jedha? Really? I’ve never been there... Uncle Owen says it’s somewhere way out in the Inner Rim, and that it’s nothing but ancient ruins and strange monks. Is that true?”

Amina stared at him in surprise.

For the first time, she realized just how different their worlds were.

“Ruins? Oh, Jedha is much more than ruins!”

Her voice grew more animated, and for a moment her eyes shifted in color, becoming a soft olive green.

“There’s the great Holy City, where the walls remember thousands of years. There’s always something strange in the air—like an energy you can feel even when you don’t know what it is. And in the markets, you can see endless rows of stalls. And sometimes you can even see kyber crystals being packed away.”

She lowered her voice to a whisper.

“Kyber crystals. The ones that once shone inside Jedi lightsabers. But now the Empire takes them for itself. That’s what my dad told me.”

Amiana paused thoughtfully before continuing.

“It’s almost always cool and windy there, and sometimes the sky turns such a deep violet that it feels like the stars are close enough to touch.”

She looked critically around them.

“But here... you have two blazing suns and nothing but sand.”

Luke snorted.

“Well, Tatooine isn’t nearly as boring as it looks.”

He said it with such pride that it seemed as though he were determined to prove her wrong at any cost.

“I’ve got my own speeder. Me and some friends race through the Beggar’s Canyon runs sometimes. And at night, there are so many stars that it feels like you could reach out and touch the Galactic Core.”

He sat down on a bench and crossed one leg over the other.

“Though... I wouldn’t mind hearing more about those crystals of yours. You know, I’ve got a few stories about how I almost won some races...”

His voice gradually became just another sound among the many of Mos Eisley.

The voices of merchants, customers, gamblers, and even Luke himself began to fade.

Amiana froze.

Something had changed.

She did not know what it was, but she felt it.

“Amiana?”

Luke’s confused voice pulled her back to reality.

“Ami, are you listening?”

The girl turned her head to the right.

Now she could hear it more clearly.

Footsteps.

Slow, steady footsteps belonging to a man nearby.

Without saying a word, Amina started walking toward him.

“Amina, where are you going?”

Luke rose in confusion and glanced toward Owen and Kenha. The adults were still absorbed in their conversation.

The boy hurried after her.

A few seconds later, they found themselves standing beside the stranger.

Amina reached out and caught the man by the sleeve.

His face was hidden beneath a hood. What little she could see was weathered by sand and time, yet he looked surprisingly young.

At least, that was how he seemed to the girl.

The man turned.

When he saw the two little followers, he smiled.

Without saying a word, the stranger crouched down, reached into a deep pocket, pulled out several pieces of candy, and handed to Amiana and Luke.

The children exchanged a surprised glance.

The man smiled once more, rose, and continued on his way.

Without a word, he turned toward the desert and walked away.

Amiana watched him for a long time.

His silhouette slowly disappeared into the dust and shimmering heat.

For some reason, that stranger had captured all of her attention, though she could not have explained why.

“Amiana!”

This time, the voice was very close.

Owen Lars and Kenha FeMirr had finally found them.

Both men looked frightened and tense. Their faces were flushed from worry and the heat.

Owen grabbed Luke sharply by the shoulder and pulled him toward himself, while Kenha rushed to his daughter, fear written across his face.

“What on earth were you two thinking?!” Owen snapped, looking around the empty streets. “Tatooine is no place to stand around talking to strangers! It’s dangerous to take even a single step away from the house!”

Kenha gripped Amina’s shoulders.

“This world is ruled by hard criminals, daughter. Slavers who would chain up anyone they could get their hands on, criminals, and Imperial patrols who don’t care who you are. You cannot trust anyone here!”

The children were a little saddened by the reaction.

At six years old, they were still too young to understand the full horror of Imperial rule.

To them, it was only a confusing scolding from adults.

The truth was that their fathers were simply frightened.

As they were being lectured, Amiana’s fingers instinctively brushed the pocket where the candy from the strange traveler was hidden.

Feeling her father’s worried gaze upon her, the girl quietly pushed the sweets deeper into the pocket.

“We were just standing there...” she muttered softly, casting one last glance toward the place where the mysterious man had disappeared.

Kenha looked at Owen.

“Owen, we’re leaving. The cargo is sold. There’s no reason to stay until the market stalls close.”

Owen nodded.

“You’re right. You’d better hurry. They’re forecasting a sandstorm. Get off-world before it hits, or I don’t know when you’ll be able to make it home.”

Kenha thanked him and took his daughter by the hand.

Luke glanced at Amiana.

His eyes lingered on her face, as though he were trying to memorize every feature.

On a world like Tatooine, you never knew whether you would ever see someone again.

The boy walked over to Amina and hugged her.

She did not pull away.

“I’ll remember you, friend,” she said with a smile. “Whenever I see sand, I’ll think of you.”

“And I won’t forget you,” Luke replied quietly.

The loader was already carrying the last of the crates and hurrying toward the ship, urging Kenha along.

Her father took Amiana by the hand.

She looked back one more time.

Luke was standing nearby, waving at her.

Amina waved back.

A few minutes later, the transport ship rose above Mos Eisley.

Luke remained on the ground.

He watched as the ship grew smaller and smaller, until it became nothing more than a tiny dark speck against the endless skies of Tatooine.

The boy stood there motionless for a long time.

Now all that remained of his distant friend was a brief memory.

Her voice.

Her green eyes.

Her stories of faraway Jedha.

And the scent of her hair, carrying traces of dust, sunlight, and an oil called Efrekt that he had never smelled before.

A scent Luke had never encountered.

And one he somehow remembered forever.