Chapter One.
"Alright, alright, I'm goin'." Tae resigned, smiling as they slid their empty glass back to their boss. He stopped it with his right hand without looking up, demonstrating the practised ease of a man who'd been behind a bar his whole life. His left hand never faltered in placing clean tankards back on the shelf as he put Tae's dirty one in the sink for later.
Tae hopped down off the barstool they currently occupied, their boots hitting the freshly mopped floor with a dull thud as they untied their over-shirt from around their waist and slipped it on over their loose fitting grey top. They noticed, with disdain, that some kriffing moron had smeared some kind of …red? Or was that brown?... sauce on the side of the damn thing so they'd have to bump up laundry day; this being one of only two tops they ever wore to work due to its ability to take most liquid spillages with no complaints.
Rubbing at the stain with annoyance, Tae swiped an extra bottle of planet-brewed ale and some leftover fritaya chips. Wrapping the latter in a handkerchief, they stuffed both in their small satchel which they then swung over their shoulder. Tae threw a lazy wave in their boss' direction as they headed for the door, "Later, Kitch!"
"G'night, kid." Kitch's rumbling baritone called from the bar that was as old, worn and wide as the man himself. Although the dented surface was likely to have fewer stains on it at any given moment. Kitch had set about wiping the chipped wood down with a damp rag, and called out with more than just a trace of gentle mocking in his tone; "Don't let any blisterbugs get'cha again."
"I won't so long as ya don't work yourself too hard reaching up to stock the self, ya don't wanna be puttin' your back out again!" Tae called, sickeningly sweet as they pulled open the door to leave.
With an exaggeratedly offended gasp, Kitch plucked a large cracknut from the bowl at the end of the bar and launched it at Tae. It promptly stuck at nose level in their shaggy brown hair. Tae, making direct eye contact, picked the snack from their hair and ate it, revelling in Kitch's wrinkled nose of disgust as he pointed to the exit and ordered; "Get the kriff outta my bar, Taeson!"
"Our bar!" Tae called back, already stepping out into the chilly air, letting the door swing closed behind them to the sounds of Kitch's grumbled annoyances. As the latch clicked into place, Tae breathed in the frigid air, noting that the twin moons of their home planet were in juxtaposing phases, seeming to create one singular moon, brightly lighting the stony path home.
They pulled their shirt sleeves down over their palms as they began to walk, the extra pair of socks bundled inside the toes of their overly large second-hand boots a necessary annoyance as they started the trek up the incline. The path they were taking was not the quickest nor easiest but the one that they took to get home on clear nights like this one. It was a longer walk, but this way had a perfect rocky spot for star-gazing, which Tae had discovered was virtually always empty at this time of night.
When one reached the top of the slope, there was a winding path that veered off into a fork about half a standard mile down the path. The left fork lead back toward town and the right toward Tae's more secluded neighbourhood. There were only a handful of dwellers in what Tae and their cousin had affectionately dubbed "The-end-of-the-middle-of-shit-ass-nowhere".
There was, of course, Tae's house. Themself, their cousin Maedelynn and uncle Dacknie Sikejah had lived there for as long as Tae could remember and for years before that too. The house itself was a pretty simple five-roomed house over three floors. The was ground floor an open expanse of one room. The kitchen, dining room and living space shared the floor, sectioned off by flimsy sheet-wood that Tae had salvaged when they'd helped Kitch renovate the bar. The second floor held the bedrooms belonging to Maedelynn and Dacknie on the left and the 'fresher on the right. Up the last flight of stairs was the attic that had become Tae's room once they and Maedelynn had become a little too old to share a room anymore.
The houses in the Little Section of Nowhere all looked the same from the outside and the other two Tae had been into reflected the same basic internal floorplan.
Next to the Sikejah residence were their immediate neighbours who Tae knew next to nothing about save that they enjoyed post-new-era-heavy-death-synth and narcotics by the sound and smell of things.
After that there was a small gap where the communal well once sat before everyone eventually got sick of leaving their house to grab a drink and upgraded to larger, personal indoor water tanks.
Following the boarded-up well, there were three more houses.
One was vacant; the owners having relocated closer to the town in their older age, so they didn't have to make the hour long journey every day. The positioning of the house on the slight slope of the incline the little neighbourhood rested on made it look like the folks were still home when the sun was at its peak. The light rays danced off the glass decorations they'd left behind, lighting up the whole room as though still occupied and lit by the communal generator that sat by the next house.
By the generator were the Charvicks. A family of five that didn't speak Basic but were friendly and charming nonetheless. They had been frequent visitors to the Sikejah's residence for dinner over the years, each house's recipe books expanding with the other family's dishes as they grew closer. Though they didn't understand a word of the clicking-hissing language that the blue scale-skinned family spoke, Tae always admired the family's kindness and hospitality.
The last house of their little neighbourhood belonged to a single man. Once again Tae knew very little about this house's resident. Well, very little concrete anyway. The man with the strange, pungent smell who either owned nothing but copies of the same outfit or otherwise never changed the one he always wore, was a mystery to everyone.
He spoke Basic but frequently babbled to himself in a language that was either from a very, very, very far off planet, or a language completely unto himself. Tae wasn't sure, but didn't much mind. They would occasionally drop off some extra food and sit with the guy as he wandered around his house, showing Tae some faded paper print-outs of holoimages that were practically indecipherable from a blueish-brownish-greyish smear.
He was sweet and harmless, if a little reluctant to let you leave his company once you gave him your time. Tae usually had to make a break for it whilst he went to prepare the third pot of what Tae assumed was some of his own brew of tea, calling from the doorway that they had to get to work and they'd be back again soon.
Their little slice of the planet was full of quirks. Tae often wondered what the other residents thought of their family's household.
Tae soon reached the rocky outcropping they'd taken the long path home to stop at. Once there, they noted that, as usual: the area was serene; silent except for the soft rush of the breeze; secluded away from the bustle of nightlife in the town; but not, it seemed, solitary.
"Well, hey there, you're sorta in my spot." Tae smiled, waving a loose hand toward the creature sat on the rock in front of them.
The creature did not deign to reply, instead cocking its striped head to one side as though in question. Do you think I'm going to listen to you? it seemed to say in the slow, deliberate blink of its luminescent orange eyes.
Barrencats were, much like Tae, not the largest nor most fearsome of creatures on Ayophabie. Unlike Tae, however, the barrencat species had powerful hind legs that helped it sprint fast, large lungs for endurance and a set of four sharp claws on each paw of its three pairs of legs. Its speed and strength made it a fearsome predator to creatures smaller than it but also made it excellent at remaining out of the grasps of predators bigger than it.
It came as no surprise then, that it wasn't too threatened by the meagre human stood before it. Tae pulled their hand back in easy defeat and sat themself by the creature.
The gentle swish of the creature's tail against the stone surface sent a few pebbles skittering around as it arranged its six legs into a more comfortable position. Tae and the barrencat sat in comfortable silence, watching the sky.
Realising that the walk up the hill had tired them out more than they thought, Tae reached into their satchel and pulled out the bottle of ale they had been planning to save for tomorrow. They popped the cap off the bottle against the edge of the rock and drank deeply.
The barrencat looked up into their eyes in a way Tae immediately interpreted as judgemental, before scoffing at themself for entertaining the thought that the creature next to them was capable of comprehending what they were drinking, let alone having an opinion of it.
"I know, little guy, nothin' good ever came from drinkin' alone." Another deep swig from the bottle. "Fancy joinin' me, then?" Tae said reaching once again into their satchel and retrieving the small handkerchief containing the fritaya chips. They laid the handkerchief against the stone and crushed it under the palm of their hand then untied it, before pinching some of the now ground chips between their thumb and index finger and scattering them in front of the barrencat. "I'd offer you some of this," a shake of the bottle, the amber liquid sloshing inside, "but I think it'd do you less good than it's doin' me."
The barrencat eyed the bottle, then the crushed snacks before its front set of legs. Its eyes closed as it bent its neck and let its barbed tongue fall forwards, scooping up some of the food before it curled back up inside its mouth.
The animal stood to its full height, which if Tae were to stand as well, would be almost to the point of Tae's kneecaps, and bowed its head slightly in Tae's direction before bending its three pairs of legs and springing off the rock and away into the wilderness.
"See ya later, little guy." Tae said, saluting its retreating form with their bottle as it faded into the night.
After the fanned tail of their fluffy companion had faded from view, Tae turned once again to face the stars.
Taking another hearty pull from their ale, Tae scanned the sky and quickly found, directly to the left of the closer moon, Pajeera, their favourite constellation: Celra. A smooth arrow of six stars that pointed toward the closest planet in their galaxy. Almost like a guide to the first natives to go off-world. Tae had always kept the constellation in mind as almost a mantra; maybe you don't know where you're headed, but follow the signs you see, and you'll get somewhere.
Speakin' of getting somewhere, Tae thought, pushing their hair back behind their ear only to have it fall forwards again being at that irritating length, I gotta go to the market tomorrow.
They ran a mental checklist of the parts they needed for tomorrow's repairs. A few new sticks of soldering metal were a must, plus some more all-purpose alloy sheets since they worked for both of the gun repairs they had to work on. Tae scowled as they remembered that the TN-682-X model needed a stupidly rare precision bolt for the inner casing around the barrel. A precision bolt that they'd used the last of two weeks ago. Getting more from Galdack's stall at the market wouldn't be hard - he never asked questions – but it would be pricey. Tae didn't know if it was a coincidence that the three Bafterians they'd done business with were all greedy kriffing con-merchants or if that was just a general trait of the species.
It was fine, Tae decided, either way. They had enough money spare from their bar work from last cycle to cover it. It just meant they'd be pilfering more bar snacks until Kitch cut the next set of pay.
The speeder could be jerry-rigged back to decent condition with parts Tae already had back at their workshop. Really, it was mostly cosmetic damage on the thing. Tae could replace the front panel to take away the impact dents and after that it was just system calibrations to make sure the ship's computer knows that the weight in the front of the ship will be slightly different. They almost felt bad for taking 400 units for the job, considering it would only take them the better part of two hours to complete. Then they recalled the arrogant, derogatory tone the guy had used when he'd demanded Tae come and pick the junky ship up themself and the guilt rapidly subsided.
After that was done the next thing to do was fix up the busted telecom unit inside the helmet that Kitch's nephew had broken. Pretty simple work, Tae hadn't taken it apart yet to see the issue but was confident it was just a loose connection or a fried wire. Either way, it was a thirty second fix and ten minutes to put the whole thing back together. Kitch won't know that though, Tae grinned, taking back the last of the ale, so I could make him clean the bar's bathrooms for the next two weeks.
After that was all done the only job left was the most difficult one. Tae ran a hand back through their hair in agitation, the blunted ends of their bitten nails a familiar pull against their scalp. They frowned up into the cosmos as though it could offer some advice.
The cosmos stayed silent.
The problem itself wasn't overly complicated. In fact, it probably needed less effort than fixing up the crashed speeder did. It was the way the thought of the whole thing hung over Tae's shoulders like a sodden blanket that was the cause of concern. Sure, the job would pay a lot and, sure, Tae needed the units, but they couldn't shake the feeling that there was something just off about the whole thing.
It wasn't that they'd never taken work from the Resistance before. Probably once every other cycle they'd get someone arriving at the workshop saying they needed mechanical assistance. In Tae's preliminary examination of the issues; the people they spoke to were always the same. Polite, Thankful. Evasive. Somewhat self-righteous in a less annoying way than most arrogant shit-heads. Tae liked doing business with the Resistance.
It was almost like contributing.
Without the distinct chance of death.
This wasn't just a broken down comms system though. It wasn't an engine or some guns or a datapad. It wasn't something Tae could fix without really feeling as though they were involved. It wasn't something that could belong to just about anyone.
No.
This was different.
There was no way Tae could plead ignorance to themself if they actually took on this job.
They wouldn't just be a mechanic who helped people who paid for shit anymore. They'd be a resistance ally. This wasn't an ordinary job.
That was just it though, wasn't it?
It was still just a job.
They were overthinking it; it didn't matter, for kriffs sake! It was a job! They did the work, they get the money, they move the kriff on with their life!
Still…
It was ridiculous, Tae decided, to dwell on it now.
The problem would still be there to struggle over when the sun rose.
That in mind, Tae stood, patted away the dust from their legs and walked down the dirt track toward their house.
The light of Pajeera and the smaller moon, Pastora, lit the way home with a soft light, glinting off the dewy pebbles that skittered along the dirt when Tae's boots began to drag with weariness.
By the time Tae had walked the last half standard mile and could see the rooves of the houses of their little village jutting up over the horizon, the sky had lightened slightly. The sun would rise fully in around two hours, Tae estimated, as they closed in on home.
With a yawn, Tae reached the door and quietly turned the handle. Unlocked again. Tae had no issues with their neighbours but the habit of locking the door was one they simply couldn't shake and their uncle's forgetfulness and trusting nature, while endearing, sometimes set Tae on edge.
Closing the door and turning the lock, Tae squatted down and unlaced their boots, toeing them off and setting them to the right side of the hallway with the other six pairs the house held.
Tae wearily climbed the first set of stairs, silently as they could past their uncle and cousin's bedrooms, and up the next flight of steps to the attic room at the top of the house.
The low, slanted ceiling brushed Tae's fingertips as they stretched their arms out, groaning as their shoulders rolled and their back popped. They stretched their neck from side to side as they began shucking their clothes from their body.
Tae slid a fingertip over the grooves of the aged wood of the rickety drawers by the bed. They remembered putting the unit together with their uncle Dacknie over a sweltering Summer's weekend, back when Tae had been barely able to reach up to the kitchen countertop. Now the drawers slid off kilter and the surface of the wood was more scuffs than varnish, but Tae refused to upgrade. Pulling open the drawer, and then pulling harder when it stuck halfway, Tae selected a loose vest and shorts to sleep in.
Tae grabbed the blue cord hanging against the left wall and gave it a strong pull to yank the bed out of its current position where it lay folded over on itself to save space. The bed unfolded with a creak of its springs and Tae caught it with a practised ease; setting it down gently, careful not to let it bang against the floor and disturb their sleeping family below.
They couldn't stop themself, however, from following suit and flopping heavily onto the mattress with a weary but satisfied groan. Shrugging on the vest they'd chosen to sleep in, Tae's head hit the pillow and they pulled the cover up around their waist.
Tae watched the clouds drift slowly in front of Pajeera's light and let their eyes drift closed too and, then, Tae slept.
...
this was supposed to go on ao3 but i got bored and wanted to upload something ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
ive got this planned down as about 30 chapters long so far
im kylo trash but like...not the kylo that rian johnson made...so im making my own
sue me