AN: I know that I really should be working on Collision Course, considering that it is the only story that I've actually gained traction on, but I just can't get into it. Hopefully someday I will get back to it, but for now I just can't get anything down. For now, I'm gonna try my hand at this. (Hopefully I will be able to write more than a few chapters for it.) Anyway, each of these first chapters in this are supposed to act as independent oneshots to establish my version of the universe and to hopefully lessen the disappointment if I end up abandoning this. Anyway, hope you enjoy!
Chapter One: The Scavenger
The sands had shifted again. The Scavenger could see that with even a cursory glance from atop her home, the battered hull of some old military corvette situated on the top of a large sand dune. In the Great Desert the wind was constantly blowing sand into the air, but nearly every night the wind intensified, blowing making the air so thick with sand that anyone unlucky enough to be caught outside would choke on it. And when the wind howled, the sands of Jakku's desert shifted, revealing new wrecks to scavenge and concealing the old ones. That was the only reason why anyone lived on this Gods-forsaken planet. These wrecks could hold anything from top of the line flight computers to priceless antiques of the Old Republic. And thus, Jakku's massive scavenging-based economy was born, with clan like groups known as Kiithid financing lucrative, years long expeditions into the Equatorial Region, the most profitable, but also the most dangerous area of Jakku.
The Scavenger, however, was not a member of a Kiith. Her parents had been expelled from Kiith Somtaaw when she was just ten years old, and had abandoned her not long after that, forcing her to take care of herself, teaching herself to fight, navigate, and most importantly, scavenging. After all, on Jakku, scavenging is paramount. And so that's what she was doing, sitting atop the wrecked corvette, she pulled out a battered set of macrobinoculars and a datapad. Taking a moment to orient the map on the rugged datapad, she brought the binoculars up to her eyes and scanned the horizon, searching for wrecks. From her first glance she could see a large Imperial Star Destroyer far off in the distance, nose down in the sand, engines in the air, and a little bit further than that she could see the exposed nose of a Republic Consular Class Frigate. Marking them on her map, she looked for the Rebel Blockade Runner she had been scavenging yesterday and found that it had unfortunately already been covered back up by sand. There had still been some good loot she hadn't retrieved yet, she'd have to wait until the sands revealed it again. Regardless, she pulled up her scarf, grabbed her backpack and staff, and set off into the open desert.
-/-\-
Along the way she found several small fighter wrecks which she hadn't seen from her home, scouring them for parts before marking them on her map to signify she had looted them for the future. As she was bending down to store several pieces of salvage from the X-Wing in her pack, the hair on the back of her neck stood up and she dropped to the ground, rolling to the side. As she did this the blade of a spear passed by her face, digging into the sand. Scrambling to her feet, she unslung her staff and got ready for a fight, pointing it towards her assailant, a large Twi'lek with the markings of Kiith Sajuuk. Cautiously, the two opponents circled each other, making probing strikes at the other. Suddenly, the Twi'lek made a jumping lunge at The Scavenger, who brought up her staff to bat away the attack, causing the alien to stumble. Keeping her momentum, she spun, aiming low to sweep out the legs of her assailant. As he fell to the ground, she brought her staff back quickly, before jabbing forward at the Twi'leks face, breaking his nose. Moaning in pain, the alien began to crawl away, blood dripping from his nose to stain the sand below him. Walking up behind him, The Scavenger brought her staff down in a powerful overhand swing, hitting the back of his head with a sickening thwack. That was how fights were on Jakku; short, brutal, and perhaps most importantly, without blasters. The constant sandstorms combined with the slightly ionized atmosphere rendered blasters practically pointless. They could still be fired, but with vastly reduced range, accuracy, and power. Not only that but after only a few shots all but the most rugged of blasters would freeze up and be rendered useless. And thus, almost all combat occurred in close quarters with improvised weapons. Quickly rummaging through the marauder's corpse, she took several credit chips from his pockets before retrieving her bag and continuing towards the Star Destroyer.
-/-\-
Reaching the Star Destroyer, The Scavenger took the time to drink several small sips of water as she looked at the massive wreck, trying to think of the fastest way into it. The ship had crashed nose-first into the desert, with the rear half sticking out like some drunk god had thrown the ship like a dart. From her experience she knew the best entrance was typically the bridge, where she could usually get in through the escape pod hatches. Luckily, as the ship was tilted at an angle that would be easy, and so she clambered atop the durasteel hull and set off at a brisk jog towards the pillar that supported the bridge, stopping ever so often to take sips of water. Finally reaching the column, she began to climb, carefully finding foothold after foothold to slowly make her way up the massive tower, until she reached a sensor pod below the main bridge, where she paused to unwind her magnetic grapple from around her waist, throwing it atop the bridge, where it gripped on, leaving the rope dangling down. Very carefully, she climbed the rope, dangling several hundred feet above the metal surface of the main body of the ship. Reaching the top of her rope, she clambered atop the bridge, shaking with exertion and adrenaline. Unsteadily getting to her feet, she walked to the other side of the bridge and looked over. Bingo, one of the escape pods there had been jettisoned. Slowly lowering herself over the edge, The Scavenger swung into the spot usually occupied by the escape pod, unslung her backpack, and pulled out a plasma torch. Starting to cut through the door, she thanked the Gods that she had bought the torch. Originally, she had been highly apprehensive of purchasing the device, considering it cost a full third of her stockpiled money, but now she couldn't imagine scavenging without it. Before, she'd had to either find a natural opening, hope the power still worked, or use a set of hand tools to slowly drill opening over the course of days. Now, however she merely had to insert a cartridge into the torch and start cutting. Completing the circle around the airlock, The Scavenger pushed against it, groaning with the exertion, before it finally fell out, revealing the interior of the ship. Stepping into the cavernous interior, The Scavenger set to work, pulling out several components from the onboard computers and placing them in her bag. Taking a quick look at the back of the bridge she cursed quietly. The captain, now just a skeleton in a uniform, had shut the emergency doors as their ship went down, and the Scavenger knew that her plasma torch wasn't strong enough to cut through it, given that it was specifically designed to prevent boarders from coming through it. And given that all the other escape pod sections on the ship were covered by the sand, she doubted she would be able to get in another way today. Maybe in a few days the sand would shift again, and she would get another chance, but for now she just returned to her grappling hook and began the long descent down. As soon as her feet hit the ground she began moving towards the Republic frigate as quickly as she could. The wind was starting to blow, she would have to be quick about this to avoid being caught in the storm.
-/-\-
Running up to the Republic frigate, The Scavenger immediately ran up to her preferred access point on this design, a small emergency hatch underneath the forward bridge of the frigate that could be opened by turning a small wheel on the door. Quickly tossing her grappling hook up towards the hatch, she attached the rope to her belt and began climbing, the wind whipping up sand all around her. She had gotten far too cocky, too sure of herself and had gone too far. There was no way she'd be able to return to her home in time to escape the sandstorm. Instead she would have to hole up inside the frigate and hope the sands didn't shift too much, lest she be trapped. As the heavy metal hatch fell open, she immediately pulled herself up inside the blackened interior of the ship. Detaching her grappling hook, she turned her light on and bent down to close the hatch, grunting in exertion as she pulled up, securing the hatch as quickly as she could. Before further exploring the ship, the Scavenger took a second to rest and take a small sip of water. Only a second though, even if she was trapped she still had to scavenge. Looking around the ceiling for a second to find a hatch, she opened it before climbing up again, finding herself on the bridge. Suits of Clone Trooper armor lay scattered about the room, interspersed with the gray uniforms of the deck officers, their skeletons bleached white by age and heat. And there, near the center of the bridge, was a skeleton wrapped in brown robes. Recognizing the robes for what they were, The Scavenger held her breath as she approached the robes. If she was right in what she thought they were, she could be in for a massive payday. Slowly bending down, she unraveled the robes, ignoring the corpse of the creature. There! Her light glimmered on a metallic object on the being's belt. Picking it up, she fumbled around with it for a few seconds before her thumb caught an activation toggle. Carefully holding it out in front of her, she pressed down on the switch, and the blade of a lightsaber lit up the awed face of Rey, The Scavenger.
Codex:
Jakku: Jakku is a planet situated in the Inner Rim, at the coordinates of -4132.67, -4751.32. It is at the junction of 3 separate hyperspace lanes yet has remained uninhabited for much of its known existence, due to the inhospitable climate and terrain. Despite that it has often been a flashpoint for galactic conflict
Kiith: A Kiith (Plural: Kiithid) is a clan like structure typically found on Jakku. They consist of like-minded individuals who have come to Jakku for the sole purpose of scavenging the wreck-ridden world. Some Kiithid, such as Kiith Somtaaw have existed for centuries, while some, such as Kiith Soban consist almost entirely of first generation immigrants. The morals and specialties of each Kiith vary widely, with Somtaaw being widely respected as the greatest scavengers, mounting expeditions further into the Great Desert than anyone else even reaching the Equatorial Regions, while Kiith Sajuuk is despised as the nomadic bandit Kiith. Each Kiith functions as a sort of city state with their own laws and traditions. Most have their cities in the Polar Regions of the Planet, where the sandstorms are less frequent, and the temperature is slightly cooler. From there they mount their expeditions. Traditionally, the name of your Kiith is added to your family name, for example, a man named Thane Kyrell in Kiith Somtaaw would be called Thane Kyrell-Somtaaw. (AN: In case you didn't realize it, or you've never played the games, this is heavily inspired by the description of Kharak in the manual for the first Homeworld game)
The Great Desert: The Great Desert encompasses almost all of Jakku, stretching from 80 degrees north to 60 degrees south of the equator. It is plagued with a sandstorm that hasn't entirely stopped for hundreds of years. The sandstorm varies in intensity sometimes just raising enough sand to obscure the horizon in a haze, while at other times the raging so hard that it is impossible to see 5 feet in any direction. This sandstorm shifts the dunes periodically, which can change the entire layout of the land in minutes. Within the desert there are small areas that the storm rarely, if ever crosses. While it is technically possible to live in these areas, most choose to live in the safe zones. The closer you get to the equator, the more intense the storms are, and on the equator itself, it is impossible to even breathe without specialized equipment to filter the sand from the air.
Character Profile:
(Each of the introductory chapters will have a profile describing the character(s) depicted in the chapter, both to give the readers a reference, as well as to remind me if I forget)
Name: Rey (NO FAMILY NAME)
Homeplanet: Jakku
Age: 19
Weapon:
Quarterstaff
Yellow Shoto Lightsaber
Magnetic grappling hook (She can use it in combat by throwing/ swinging it at enemies)
Attire:
Tan burnoose
Tan scarf that covers hair & mouth
Goggles: (Made of salvaged Stormtrooper eyepieces, have a small light mounted on the side)
Description: In my story Rey is still someone who has grown up practically alone on an inhospitable planet, except that in my story that has an impact on how she acts, unlike in The Force Awakens. She is very coarse and has no clue how to talk to people. She is very self-reliant because she has never really had anyone to help her. She has spent almost all her life fighting with her quarterstaff and has no clue on how to fight with a lightsaber. And so, my plan is to eventually have her combine her shoto lightsaber and a phrik/ beskar/ cortosis/ whatever staff to create a lightsaber pike or spear. She is strong with the force, but she attributes any premonition to her reflexes, her accidentally force pushing an attacker as her getting lucky and the attacker just stumbling, etc. It's going to take considerable time for her to develop her force powers once she gets a teacher.
Faction Profile:
(Each of the introductory chapters will have a profile detailing the faction(s) which I plan for the character(s) in the chapter to eventually be associated with. This is both to provide insight into the future of this story, as well as to do some worldbuilding)
Name: The Altisian Knights
HQ Location: Chu'unthor
Leader: Callista Masana
Description: The Altisian Knights are a sect of Jedi that have survived since the times of the Middle Republic due to them fleeing into unknown space on the Chu'unthor following the Great Jedi Purge. This allowed them to survive through the times of the Empire mostly unmolested. Their interpretation of the Jedi Religion is a less strict, less orthodox version of the traditional interpretation of Old Jedi Council. Their interpretation allows for romantic attachments to be formed by Jedi and doesn't have a restriction on the age to begin training. Following the destruction of the Empire and the establishment of the New Jedi Order, Luke Skywalker invited the Altisians to join his new order, a proposal which was declined after much deliberation. The aging Master Altis however did offer to send several of his Knights to the New Jedi Praxeum on Dantooine to assist in training the first generation of new Jedi in force and lightsaber techniques. Sadly, only three years after the Treaty of Jakku and the subsequent end of the Galactic Civil War, Master Altis died and Callista Masana was elected as the new leader of the Altisian Knights. Since then the Altisian Knights have acted as an independent force throughout the galaxy, offering their services to the various governments of the galaxy when they see fit.