Growing up on his parents’ moisture farm, Cliegg Lars dreamed of a better life. Tattooine might be a poor world located in the Outer Rim, but it lay along several busy hyperspace routes. Somehow, he scraped together enough money to buy passage aboard a starship and traveled to the Core world of Ator, where he made a new life for himself and fell in love with a woman called Aika. In time, she gave him a son, Owen.
Worlds such as Ator, located in the galactic core, are centers of industry, finance, and culture. There are opportunities for those who can adapt to the fast pace of life there, who can contribute to society’s constant demand for invention and innovation. The winners in such a society enjoy a lifestyle vastly superior to that available on a poor colony world. But every day, starships arrive in each major city, unloading immigrants eager to demonstrate their capabilities. Their eyes are focused upon society’s biggest prizes. Inevitably, some will never find better than menial employment, and thus be forced into the ever-growing slums.
How long Cliegg lived on Ator, and how high he rose in that society, we do not know. Sadly, his wife died, and in Aika’s absence, his heart called him back to Tattooine. He returned to make peace with his parents, aid them in working the farm, and instill in his son his work ethic and a renewed belief in the importance of family.
Perhaps it was her smile, or a simple act of kindness, that first attracted him. Or perhaps it was something more. Shmi Skywalker also suffered the deep pain inflicted by a loved one’s absence. Years ago, her son had been taken away by a Jedi master, and she had not seen him since. Whatever drew him to care for her, he realized he could no longer keep her as his slave. He had dug into his meager profits to secure her services: he needed her help in working the farm. Yet when he freed her, she agreed to not only share his workload, but also his hopes and dreams.
Moisture farmers are not alone in their constant struggle for life on this arid world. Humans and aliens ply their trades in the planet’s dust-ridden towns, or aid the Hutts in their export of minerals and illegal goods. Jawas scavenge among the dunes for scrap, and sell what they can repair or cobble together. And a primitive tribal peoples, the dreaded Tuskin Raiders, prey on the weak. One day, Cliegg returned home to learn that his wife had been taken in an unprovoked attack.
He and his neighbors rode out every day to fight the Tuskin Raiders and to win back the abducted. But of the thirty who rode out, only four returned, and of them, Cliegg was gravely wounded. He could no longer hope to free his wife. With the loss of one leg, he found himself confined to a power chair.
The sudden appearance of her son Anakin gave Cliegg reason to hope. But despite his Jedi skills, Shmi died in the Tuskin Raider camp. At her funeral, Cliegg could only stare at her grave and proclaim her the most loving companion a man could ever have. Denied of the advanced medical treatments and prosthetics available on Core worlds such as Ator, Cliegg died shortly thereafter, apparently from his injuries, but also, one suspects, from a broken heart.
With the increasing pace of life, and the demands it consequently places upon us, it is easy to focus upon those who live lives of excitement and glamour. Yet there are so many like Cliegg Lars, people who might once have pursued dreams of greatness, but now spend each day working to secure a better future for their families. They are not acclaimed for bringing happiness and meaning to an otherwise empty life. They are not heralded for instilling their family values and personal ethics in their children.
Perhaps they are the ones truly worthy of being remembered.
Worlds such as Ator, located in the galactic core, are centers of industry, finance, and culture. There are opportunities for those who can adapt to the fast pace of life there, who can contribute to society’s constant demand for invention and innovation. The winners in such a society enjoy a lifestyle vastly superior to that available on a poor colony world. But every day, starships arrive in each major city, unloading immigrants eager to demonstrate their capabilities. Their eyes are focused upon society’s biggest prizes. Inevitably, some will never find better than menial employment, and thus be forced into the ever-growing slums.
How long Cliegg lived on Ator, and how high he rose in that society, we do not know. Sadly, his wife died, and in Aika’s absence, his heart called him back to Tattooine. He returned to make peace with his parents, aid them in working the farm, and instill in his son his work ethic and a renewed belief in the importance of family.
Perhaps it was her smile, or a simple act of kindness, that first attracted him. Or perhaps it was something more. Shmi Skywalker also suffered the deep pain inflicted by a loved one’s absence. Years ago, her son had been taken away by a Jedi master, and she had not seen him since. Whatever drew him to care for her, he realized he could no longer keep her as his slave. He had dug into his meager profits to secure her services: he needed her help in working the farm. Yet when he freed her, she agreed to not only share his workload, but also his hopes and dreams.
Moisture farmers are not alone in their constant struggle for life on this arid world. Humans and aliens ply their trades in the planet’s dust-ridden towns, or aid the Hutts in their export of minerals and illegal goods. Jawas scavenge among the dunes for scrap, and sell what they can repair or cobble together. And a primitive tribal peoples, the dreaded Tuskin Raiders, prey on the weak. One day, Cliegg returned home to learn that his wife had been taken in an unprovoked attack.
He and his neighbors rode out every day to fight the Tuskin Raiders and to win back the abducted. But of the thirty who rode out, only four returned, and of them, Cliegg was gravely wounded. He could no longer hope to free his wife. With the loss of one leg, he found himself confined to a power chair.
The sudden appearance of her son Anakin gave Cliegg reason to hope. But despite his Jedi skills, Shmi died in the Tuskin Raider camp. At her funeral, Cliegg could only stare at her grave and proclaim her the most loving companion a man could ever have. Denied of the advanced medical treatments and prosthetics available on Core worlds such as Ator, Cliegg died shortly thereafter, apparently from his injuries, but also, one suspects, from a broken heart.
With the increasing pace of life, and the demands it consequently places upon us, it is easy to focus upon those who live lives of excitement and glamour. Yet there are so many like Cliegg Lars, people who might once have pursued dreams of greatness, but now spend each day working to secure a better future for their families. They are not acclaimed for bringing happiness and meaning to an otherwise empty life. They are not heralded for instilling their family values and personal ethics in their children.
Perhaps they are the ones truly worthy of being remembered.
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