The engine room. Yes. That would be the best place to be now. The purgil had ruined the front of the ship, but the rear should be free of the suffocating sands. Now he was trapped. Alone. Even that bastard Thrawn had escaped, taking the last of the escape pods with him whilst they were still in hyperspace. And now they he was all alone. The purgil had gone back to their...well.. doing purgil-ly things. Whatever that was. And now he was alone.

The vast Imperial ship took hours to navigate through. Perhaps it would have been easier if he wasn't having to constantly open doors manually to squeeze through them. Perhaps it would have been easier if the ship hadn't half buried itself in the sand. Perhaps it would have been easier if the journey to the rear of the ship wasn't quite so uphill. But it was.

Ezra released the door he had been holding open with the Force and it shut behind him. Urgh. This was tiring work. Perhaps if he just had a little rest? Sleep seemed so inviting right now. No. Sleep was the enemy. He had to get somewhere safe. Maybe find some food and drink too. He'd have to try the storage bays for that, but there ought to be some food in the canteen near the engine room. There always was on these Imperial ships. Not far to go now. He must have covered about half the ship maybe? Not far to go now. And with that tired arms pulled Ezra to his feet and he resumed his climb. Not far to go now. Not far…

Surely that would be it? Ezra had lost track of how many doors he had forced open. Certainly more than a hundred. More than a thousand? It seemed like all he could remember was climbing and opening doors, his tired brain refusing to think back further. Would this be the one? Ezra pulled at the door with the Force. It was locked. A little manipulation of the locking mechanism and… yes. He was through. Looking up he saw a vast cavernous space before him. The engine room! Finally he had made it. And no sign of the treacherous sands that had eaten up the front of the ship. Now, where was the canteen? It ought to be over there… It was! Good. Ezra smiled as his brain sighed in relief at the first bit of good news he had had since he had left Lothal behind. Just have a little bit to drink and eat, and then he could sleep.

Shuffling over to the dispensary, Ezra poured himself a small tumbler of water and took a ration pack. The water went down like that and Ezra helped himself to another tumbler. Good. His body began to relax. What was that taste in his mouth? Blood? No. No, that was adrenaline. That must have been what was keeping him going these last few days. A few bites into his ration pack, a wave of exhaustion overtook Ezra. His eyelids flickered, then closed. His head drooped and all that could be heard amongst the deathly silence of the ruined star destroyer was the sounds of deep breathing.

A few hours later Ezra woke with a start, his heart pounding and his eyes wide open. What was that? He could have sworn he had heard something. Was it one last surviving stormtrooper? Ezra reached out with the Force. There was definitely something, no, someone there. Instinctively he reached for his lightsaber, only to find an empty place on his belt. Damn. He had left it with Sabine, hadn't he. Perhaps there was something round here? No. nothing obvious. Ah. That might work. Not well, but it might. A plastic tray. There was something stuck to it. Penne all'arrabbiata? Never mind. A dirty tray would be as effective as a clean one. Even if it was a bit wet. Slowly Ezra crept forward. Something was definitely out there, moving over the engines pretty easily. Every so often it stopped and there was a whirring sound. What was it doing?

Ezra had to know. He moved forward, weight forward on the balls of his feet to keep the noise to a minimum. Then he trod on something. It shattered and the figure that was crawling over the engines disappeared back into the shadows. Shit. That wasn't meant to happen. Never mind. Ezra carried on, heading towards the last location of the silent figure. Ezra looked around in the shadows. There was a darker bit. Was that the mysterious figure? It had to be?

'Excuse me?' Ezra said.

'Ah. You've woken up then, kid.'

'Yeah. You weren't as quiet as you might have been.'

The figure stepped forward. It looked, familiar?

'Father?' Ezra said, somewhat in shock. Whoever it was certainly looked like his dad. Had he somehow escaped from the vision? Had the Temple given him one last gift?

'Don't know who you're calling Dad, Kiddo. It's not me. I think I would have remembered fathering a child.'

'You're not?'

'No. Sorry.'

'I thought that the Temple...'

'The temple? No lad. There's no power in temples to bring back the dead. He is dead, isn't he? Your father I mean.'

'Yeah. For years. Just. You look so much like him. I kinda hoped.'

'I'm sorry Kiddo.'

The figured turned back to the engine hatch behind him.

'Hmm. Nothing else useful in there.'

And with a flick of his wrist the hatch began to close.

'You have the Force?'

'As do you. Even asleep I could feel it pouring off of you. I guess working for the Empire you don't need to hide it?'

'Hide it? And what do you mean working for the Empire?'

'You know. Working for the Empire. There's no way you're a survivor. Not at your age. You're too young. You must have been taught by the Empire.'

'I was taught by Kanan Jarrus. A Jedi knight. Not the Empire.'

Something about the other man seemed to lift as Ezra explained his history. A little sadness perhaps came through when Ezra told of his parents' fate and of Kanan's. But overall he seemed to relax.

'So. A little Padawan. Do you know where you are?'

'In the engine room.'

'Yeah. Beyond that? Do you know which planet this is?'

'No.'

'Then welcome to the arse-end of bloody nowhere. Some people call it Jakku. I call it Hell.'

The man carried his search over the engines. Clearly it had some very specific bits in mind. Curious, Ezra followed.

'You can put down that tray, you know. I'm not going to hurt you. And I doubt it would do you any good anyway. A blaster bolt would go straight through it.'

'Why should I trust you? I know nothing about you.'

'My name's Darys. There you go. You know something about me now.'

'That's not what I meant. I just told you my life story. You've only told me your name.'

'Be patient, Kiddo. I'll tell you more in time. If you stick around, that is.'

'Stick around? Stick where?'

'With me. Something tells me you aren't cut out for survival on Jakku. At least, not without a little help first. So how about it? You want to come with me? Or do you want to set up home in this wreck? I warn you, it'll be calling with scavengers in a couple of hours. Most of them aren't as friendly as me.'

'You're not exactly friendly as is.'

The older man looked long and hard at Ezra, as if he was trying to make up his mind about something. At long last, he spoke.

'True. I've probably been alone too long. Now, are you coming with me? I've got all I need from these engines and it's a long walk back to my place.'

Ezra wasn't sure whether to trust the man or not. The Force was telling him nothing. Not even the faintest glimmer. It was strange, being unable to tell whether the man was telling him the truth or not. But he seemed honest enough. And if he stayed here. Well, there wasn't much for him here. Just a ship full of dead stormtroopers and foul Imperial rations.

'Ok. I'm coming with you.'

The man just smiled.

'Come on then.'

Ezra followed Darys down some sort of access tunnel. It wan't part of the original design. In fact it looked like Darys had hacked his way into the ship. But the edges. The edges were perfectly smooth molten metal. Almost as if…

'Lightsaber?'

'Don't say that word. Nothing about it. The locals don't like force-wielders.'

'So you're a you-know-what?'

'I was. Perhaps I still am. But that's enough on that subject for now. I strongly advise you not to say a word about it until we reach my place. It's safe in there. Out here, you never know who might be around the corner, listening in. Luckily it's still dark, probably going to be a few hours yet until the other scavengers get here.'

Climbing down the shaft didn't take long, now once they had started dropping down it, ten feet at a time. It was simple enough. Drop, stop. Drop again. Soon Ezra's feet landed on the sand outside the ship.

'Sorry about the sand, Lad. It gets everywhere.'

'Any tips?'

'Yeah. Don't come to fucking Jakku.'

'But now I'm here?'

'Nothing really. Try to stay calm. Don't let this planet win. And don't talk. Save your energy for walking. It's four hours walk to the nearest settlement. I hope we can make it most of the way by sun-up.'

'What happens if we don't?'

'This desert becomes seriously unpleasant. The heat kills those who aren't prepared. And you aren't prepared.'

'And you are?'

'Enough for one. I've enough supplies to keep us alive for an hour or so in the heat of the day, but not much longer.'

The desert seemed to go on for ever. In the faint moonlight Ezra could seem nothing on the horizon but more sand dunes. He trudged onwards, ever onwards, following in the footsteps of the mysterious Darys. The sand was pleasantly warm beneath his feet and a gentle wind whipped the sand up around his shins. Looking down, he saw that Darys had no shoes on.

'Should I take my shoes off?'

'No lad. Leave them on. You'll want it when the day comes. The sand gets hot then.'

'But you don't have any.'

'Exactly. I don't have any. And I have gotten used to it. My feet are tough. Just like the people of this planet. Keep yours booted for now. Believe me, sand in your boots gets really irritating after a while.'

The man fell silent again and they kept on walking. He seemed to know where he was going at least. Ezra just followed, a dull ache starting in his limbs. Ahead he saw a sharp shape sticking out of the sands.

'Razor rock. Good. We're making good time, Lad. Only about another hour and we'll make it to Chandra Station. There's shelter there. And drink.'

'Good. It's hard work this walking.'

'I know, Kiddo, I know. You're doing well. One last burst? Not far now. See, over there, on the horizon?'

'That little blip? Looks like another dune.'

'Yeah, but it isn't. That's our way-post. Just you watch it get bigger.'

Ezra did watch, and it didn't get any bigger. Not that he could tell anyway. It did however, get hotter. The winds began to pick up and the sand whipped higher, it was easily at waist-height now. Suddenly Darys stopped, and swung one of his packs of his back.

'Here, time for you to drink something, Lad.' He said, pulling out a pouch from his bag. Ezra did, and drank thirstily.

'What about you?'

'You finish it. I'm okay. And when you've done put this mask on. It'll get sweaty as hell, but it'll keep the sand out of your mouth.'

'And you?'

'I'm taller. Hopefully by the time the sand gets up to my head height we'll be inside a bar getting totally slarmy.'

This time Ezra knew the man was lying. He knew that he was giving his only protection to Ezra. But why? Ezra didn't know, but was determined to walk quickly, so this new-found friend of his wouldn't suffer too much in the heat. Together they walked, mile after mile, the sunlight getting hotter and hotter on their backs. Soon Ezra was glad for the mask, it kept his airways clear, even as he had to screw up his eyes to protect them from the blast of the sand. Stumbling forward with only the Force to guide him, he followed the older man, sensing a quiet pride in his suffering from him. Why? Ezra had no clue. This man was a total enigma to him. But Ezra did know one thing; if he hadn't been there on the star destroyer, Ezra would have died before he'd reached any settlement on this forsaken planet. This man, this Darys, was both a guide and a protector of sorts. He was giving up his own comfort for Ezra. There was no question about that. And Ezra was grateful for it. Darys was stumbling now, and Ezra felt bad about it. All this suffering was caused by him.

They seemed to traipse onwards like this forever, though it could only have been five minutes at most. Then, suddenly the wind died down and the burning heat went away. Ezra opened his eyes. They were standing in some sort of airlock.

'Welcome to Kap's bar, Kid. Now, shake the sand off and give me back my mask.'

Ezra did, and when the sand was mostly off, Darys opened the second door. The first thing that struck Ezra was the damp. It was a cold damp, so welcome now after the long walk in the hot, dry desert.

'Do you drink, Kid?'

'No. Imperial law on Lothal said I was too young.'

'Well you do now. Kap, one Jakku black for my friend, and a triple clear for me.'

'One Jakku black and a triple clear coming up. You look like shit, Darys. Been wandering in the sand unprotected again?'

'You know me.' The older man joked. 'Got to keep communing with nature somehow.'

'Here you go, you fucking nut. One triple clear for you. And a black for the boy. You never told me you had a son.'

'I don't. He's just a kid I found at the crash-site. Hey, don't worry, he's no Imp.'

Kap seemed to relax, and let go of something he was keeping under the bar.

'Two more glasses of black if you please, Kap. And keep 'em coming. I don't want to be able to walk when I head home this evening.'

'One for the lad, one for you?'

'He's not even half way through his first, Kap. Both for me. Oh. And here's a little something. Should be enough to buy all the bloody beer in your drinking-hole.'

'Imperial fuel cell? I should say so. I'll even get you some food too, for that.'

'Great. And for the boy too?'

'Course. Might as well. There's no other fuckers round here yet. Think most of them grabbed their speeders to check out that crash-site of yours.'

'Not surprised. It's a good'un. Should keep the buggers in portions for weeks.'

'You don't seem so keen?'

'You know me. I take what I need. Nothing more, nothing less.'

'And the boy? What do you need him for?'

'That would be telling, Kap. And I am sure a man with your imagination doesn't need telling.'

'Oh-ho! You randy bastard.'

'I've got needs. And he'll be free.'

'Well, anytime you decide he needs to earn his keep, you know where I am.'

'I'll keep that in mind Kap. Now run along and get that food, would you? The usual, twice over. One for me, one for the kid.'

'Sure thing big D.'

Kap left the bar and headed down a tunnel, leaving the two of them alone.

'What was that about me earning my keep?'

'Remember what I said in the tunnel? Well, secrets keep me alive. Now they're keeping you alive too.'

'And your needs?'

'Thanks for the offer, Kid, but you're not my type. How's the booze?'

'Ok. I am feeling a bit light headed though.'

'Perfectly normal. And I'd hurry up and drink the rest of that. I know it tastes bad, but just you wait until it warms up. Then it's bloody awful.'

'Thanks.'

Ezra took a look at his drink before downing it in one go.

'Here, have my second. You need to keep your fluids up.'

'But wouldn't water be better?'

'I wouldn't trust the water in Kap's bar if my life depended on it. Now drink your black. The alcohol should kill of any germs.'

'Shouldn't one of us remain sober?'

'Fuck it. That walk was bad. And I have transport out back. All I have to do is tell the little astromech where to go and we'll get there. All we have to do is hang on.'

A pregnant silence filled the air. In the distance they heard Kap making something in the kitchen. And suddenly Ezra knew. He'd found a friend.