"I don't understand!" said Rey as she opened the cargo and boarding ramps. "Where's all this black smoke coming from?"
The Falcon was on approach to Takodana when smoke began to seep up from the smuggler compartments under the main deck plates. By the time they landed it had gone from seeping to billowing.
"Wiring? insulation? I'm not a mechanic so I can only guess." answered Kylo as he lifted deck plates and blasted fire retardant foam into the openings.
"As soon as the smoke clears out I'll go down there and see if I can figure out what caught fire. said Rey."
"I'll go talk to Maz and see if she has an open room we can have."
An hour later they were seated at a table in the back of the bar area. "Well, hit me with the bad news." said Kylo glumly.
"It's not all bad. Mostly it is just annoying." replied Rey. "Did I ever tell you about the Porgs that infested the island your uncle was hiding on at Ahch-To?"
"Maybe? Weren't they some sort of bird thing?"
"Yep. Short, fat, non-sentient sea birds. With big sad black eyes. Chewy tried to eat a couple he had roasted but couldn't when they others stared at him with those eyes. Eventually they infested the Falcon and made nests in every available nook and cranny. I cleared them out before I pulled you back from the Force but I had no idea how many nests they had left behind."
"So the smoke was from …?"
"Burning Porg nests. And feathers. and … poop."
"No wonder it smelled so vile. What started the fire?"
"Best I can tell, the Porgs were tearing out insulation to make nests, and they were chewing the wiring because that's what Porgs do."
"How bad is the damage?" asked Kylo.
"I'm not sure yet. I need to get back down there and look. Chewie let them stay in the Falcon for months. Not good, probably." answered Rey.
Kylo sighed and buried his head in his hands for a moment. He looked up at Rey and said "It's time to let the old girl go, Rey."
"I don't like that prospect, Kylo."
"We don't have much of a choice, Rey. The Falcon is old. Really old. Replacement parts are hard to find. The whole ship is showing wear and tear. We don't know how much damage the damn Porgs did. And my Dad made so many modifications and additions to the engines and weaponry there's no telling what's going to fail next."
Rey sat there drooping, tears starting to form in her eyes. "The Falcon is my home." she said softly. "My first real home. Jakku was just a place to wait for someone who would never come back."
Kylo looked at her, a bit perplexed. She needed something from him to help her get through this decision, but he wasn't sure what. Comforting people was a Light side skill. He was really good at breaking things, fighting, and tossing people into walls. Not so much on making people feel better. After a few minutes he scooted his chair closer to hers and put an arm around her shoulders.
"I really hate to ask this of you, but we need to let the Falcon go. It's too easy to recognize and it's showing it's age. Even if we got the ship signature changed it would only buy us a little more time. Sooner or later we'll have to deal with my past and the UNR, but maybe later would be better than sooner."
Rey leaned into Kylo's shoulder and started crying quietly. He tightened his arm around her and let her cry for a while.
"One of the few bits of useful advice my father gave me was to 'know when to hold 'em, and know when to fold 'em.' He was talking about sabacc and poker, but the principle holds for a variety of situations. We have to retire the Falcon."
Rey wrapped her arms around Kylo's chest. Her face was still pressed against him but her crying slowly stopped. Finally she lifted a blotchy, tear stained face to him and whispered "Ok."
Kylo looked down on her with a small smile. "Maz had an open room. Why don't you go lie down for a while? Maz knows everybody worth knowing. I'll ask her if she can help us get a line on a new freighter.
"Ok." Rey wiped her face, stood up, patted his shoulder and made her way through the bar to the door. Kylo watched her leave before he turned to the little orange woman climbing into the seat Rey had vacated. "Do you always know when someone wants to talk to you?" he asked.
"Of course." she replied. "And unless I misinterpreted your smoke signals you need to find a replacement for the Millennium Falcon."
"Got it in one, Maz. I think a VCX-100 may be a good replacement. If you could keep an eye out for us …"
"You may be in luck, Kylo. Let me make a few comm calls. If I find a match for you there will be a broker fee, of course."
"I expected so much. After all, we much follow the principle of TANSTAAFL."
"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch." Maz agreed smugly. "Check back with me in a couple of hours."
With a few hours to kill and nothing specific he needed to do Kylo wanders back to the Falcon and starts clearing out the Porg nests from the compartments. It's a long, smelly, disgusting job. But he's got the compartments clean enough so Rey can figure out how much damage has been done. "I hope Rey appreciates the effort I'm making." he mutters.
As he's finishing up Rey comes walking up the boarding ramp. She looks at the pile of Porg debris and smiles up at Kylo, wrinkling her nose. "I'd love to show you my appreciation with a big, sloppy kiss but after you've had a chance to hit the fresher."
"I'll hold you to that." Kylo smirked as he walked over to the boarding ramp. "Meet in the cantina for dinner?"
"Give me a couple of hours. I need to call for a droid to carry out the trash. I think I can fix the damage, at least to the point that we can fly safely."
When they meet in the cantina Maz is waiting for them.
"You're in luck. I've found a ship for you."
"Excellent!" exclaims Rey.
"What's the catch?" asks Kylo.
"So skeptical you are Kylo Ren. This is a good deal." smirks Maz. "I found you a VCX-100 in good shape. It's registered under the name Ghost. It's one of the three that were part of the fleet that fought the Final Order at Exegol. Better sleeping quarters than the crew bunks in the Falcon and a galley that can hold a month's worth of supplies for a crew of 4 and 6 passengers. Additional armaments, but you might need extra crew to manage them. It's also got tech that makes it hard to detect."
"It sounds amazing, Maz." gushed Rey. "Where is it and what will it cost us?"
"It's in Cloud City, Lando Calrissian owns it." answered Maz. "He wants 125,000 standard credits for it."
"Knew there was a catch." said Kylo. "I don't think it's a good idea for me to go into United New Republic space."
Maz just smiled. "Here's the sweetener, Kylo. Lando is willing to let you have it for 50,000 standard credits and the Millennium Falcon. He says he's feeling sentimental."
"Lando used to own the Falcon." Kylo clarified for Rey. "He lost it to my father in a sabacc tournament back before the Rebels took on the Empire. He's wanted it back for a long time."
"So what do you two think?" asked Maz. "Lando can have the Ghost ready in 2 days.
"That's a reasonable prep time." commented Rey.
"My broker fee is 5% of the final price." added Maz
"That would be 6,250 standard credit?" asks Rey.
"Yes, and a bargain at that." replied Maz. "TANSTAAFL after all."
"We'll take it." said Kylo.
"Sight unseen?" asks Rey.
"Uncle Lando is a gambler and a scoundrel but he won't cheat us. I trust him, at least in this."
Maz hustles off to set up the deal while Rey and Kylo dawdle over dinner.
"Kylo, I have a bad feeling about going to Cloud City tomorrow."
"We'll be fine, Rey"