Another Day in the Desert

28 ABY

Rey tore the twisted dashboard off from the walls of the hallway of the crashed star destroyer. Inside was a dark and narrow hole none other than a Loth-cat could fit through, with a pile of hydraulics and electronic wastes lying in its end and a spider net holed inside it.

The adolescent scavenger reached out for the seemingly worthless scraps, and dumped them in her makeshift duffel bag which was already half full thanks to her unceasing efforts throughout the day. She left with her prize, and headed towards the disabled main reactors where the only known exit to her was located. On some days she wouldn't give up until her bag was completely full, but with a customer waiting for her today, she couldn't afford to collapse in the middle of the desert because of her lack of strength.

Hopefully all these can keep me from starving for another week.

Rey was hardly as prestigious as most other children in the Galaxy. Ever since she was a child her parents had left her for whatever reason. She never figured out what that reason might be, but the hope of her parents' return has never faded even in her darkest hours.

She had been working for Dephase for at least a year now, another fellow scavenger that unlike her, had means of accessing food and other necessities than Rey craved so bad. And as an exchange for food Rey would hand over her everyday findings to whoever that took the name of Dephase, his own spaceship which rested in the Niima Outpost.

The light from outside the wrecked destroyer nearly blinded her, and as she took her time to readjust her eyes loud clangs came from behind her, a phenomenon that happens every once in a while, most likely because of critical parts being torn off the already weakened structure of the wreckage.

Just a little more and I can have a speeder from him. No more four hour walks in the desert.

Dephase has recently said he'll be leaving Jakku on the following day, which was surprisingly, quite depressing for Rey. Dephase had been one of the few scavengers that was kind to her, and his absence would mean she'll be forced to rely on Plutt for rations if she wished to continue her life on the desert planet.

A Teedo passed by as she marched wearily across the desert. Fortunately for her the parts she carried were not in its interest, and it ignorantly went on with its own salvage. By then Rey was already halfway there, and the sun was still high up in the sky, meaning she has plenty of time to take care of business and return to Hellhound 2 before nightfall approaches.

Hours had passed by the time she reaches the Skydiver, the place she always goes to after a scavenger hunt, and home of the quite reclusive yet friendly Dephase. From her memory he has rarely stepped foot outside his ship, and only speaks when he absolutely has to. Yet this man had offered her quite a decent pay, considering he was the reason Rey still had a whole stash of untouched rations stored inside the downed walker in the Goazon Badlands.

Rey silently left the pile of scraps outside the ramp of the futuristic Gauntlet transport, and awaited for the masked man's arrival. Soon enough an armoured figure with a black robe stepped out of the ramp, and received the finding of the young scavenger in a casual manner.

He reached for his belt's pocket as he did every time Rey paid him a visit with a net full of recovered scraps, and counted eight portions out of it, no more, no less. "Don't eat it all at once, as always." He warned like he always did. Rey nodded enthusiastically, and watched as he headed back into his ship with what he was promised.

The customised Gauntlet lifted off the ground moments later, leaving Rey and a shroud of dust picking off the ground as its thrusters came to life. She wasn't exactly sad to see him go, but it certainly wasn't a good thing, either.

She took out some parts from her pocket and glanced at them, which didn't seem to be of any significant use at all. But to her, they were some of the key components to her homemade speeder resting in the cargo hold of her home, a tool she was eager to complete.

Another few hours of endless walking.

She soon headed off towards where the sun was setting and back to Hellhound 2, across the dunes and along the ridges of the desert as she progressed. The path was long and seemed endless, but with all the weight of the salvaged given to Dephase, she managed to make it through half of the trip before her legs started to feel the slightest bit of fatigue.

"Almost there, almost there..." She kept whispering to herself along the way.

Ouch!

What was that?

Rey frantically scanned the open area, trying to search for the origin of the sudden jolt in her head. It was most likely her midi-chlorians inside her blood acting up, but never has it been so significant and worrying to her.

Rey tried to wait it out and move on, but after standing still for a solid minute like a statue she realised there was no leaving of that sensation. And to her surprise, it seemed to grow even stronger than before, maybe even from a specific direction.

For a moment or so she was tempted to follow the mysterious presence, but the other half of her said that it was getting late, and it would be most rational to be back to the downed walker as soon as possible. She struggled for at least a minute, and finally her adventurous spirit reigned victorious, making her legs spin to her right and start pacing towards the dimming sky.