Twin suns burned hotly down upon Rey's head. All her recent decision had afforded her was to trade one desert for another, it seemed. Regardless, the ship before her was garbage. It was the name on it that stoked her ire though. She wrinkled her nose in disgust and looked back at Han Solo. Her tone was even. "Is this meant to be a joke?"

Sand crunched under Rey's feet as she gingerly made her way around the dusty ship before her. The words gleaming on the side of this so-called Desert Rat were mocking her.

Han's voice echoed behind her. "It belonged to a bounty hunter from here. Got a hold of her ship a while back—after—you know—"

Rey shrugged. Was he expecting her to be upset about someone she didn't know? It was the way of life in places like this. Her voice was flat as she voiced the obvious. "She died."

Suddenly the name of the ship made perfect sense to Rey. Only a survivor of a desert planet would take a taunt they'd heard a million times and own it- solely to make others pay. The type of vengeance the woman that had owned this ship likely wrought on those around her must have been limitless.

Han gave her a concerned look. "Come on kid—you don't have to do this—it's dangerous work—"

Rey ignored him, eyes quickly assessing everything this ship needed before she'd even consider taking it off world. "It needs a serious hataw—"

Han huffed. "Didn't know you actually spoke Huttese—"

What did he expect? Niima Outpost had been named after a Hutt and any place named after a Hutt had their influence. Han may have understood a lot of Huttese and even spoke a little, considering he worked for a Hutt once, but Rey found herself having to speak it as proficiently as a native speaker. Rey muttered softly under her breath. "Kind of hard not to considering where I'm from—"

If he heard her he didn't show it. Han ran a hand through his head and then waved at the ship awkwardly. "You're right though—it does need an upgrade—but it could be worse—"

Rey flashed him a quick grin. "Yeah—it could be the Falcon—"

Han scowled at her. "Watch it—"

She was back in her desert garb again. It made no sense to be out here in any other sort of attire. Rey looked over at Han and refrained from rolling her eyes. He was still dressed as he always had been. It was foolish. From the bag hanging at her side, she pulled out a piece of cloth and quickly tied a head-wrap and added her goggles before picking up her quarterstaff and taking off in a seemingly random direction.

"Where are you going?"

Rey called over her shoulder. "I need parts."

"We're in the middle of nowhere," Han groused.

Rey pointed out to the distance. "Town's that way."

Han narrowed his eyes and looked back at her skeptically. "How can you even know that without a nav computer? Every part of this dust ball looks the same." Han stopped and pursed his lips. "The Force?"

Rey shot a glare behind her, not that he could see it with the way her head was wrapped. Her voice was clipped. "No. Experience."

She refused to acknowledge that the Force could have had anything to do with her sense of direction. In Rey's mind it diminished her own hand in her survival. If the Force was so wonderful it should have done more than given her good directional sense growing up.

"Hey, kid. You don't need to do all this—"

Rey shook her head stubbornly. "You've said that already. When we get to town, leave things to me."

Han gave her a disapproving look. "You've never even been to Tattoine before. This place ain't Jakku."

Rey thought it unlikely in all the ways that truly counted. It was a desert and deserts were desperate places.

She watched a sandcrawler come rumbling towards them, the little creatures called Jawas approaching at a steady pace. Those were scavengers if she knew her trade.

Rey took a determined pace towards them, traversing the sands gracefully like she did it everyday. She really had.

Han trailed in her wake stumbling in the sand.

Han's reluctance on her behalf was grating on Rey's nerves. It was more than obvious that the ship he was going to lend her needed a lot of work. It wasn't even docked in a port, she noted, but stowed in the desert. It showed signs of having been scavenged. Chewbacca had insisted on staying on the Falcon, presumably, to keep further scavenging from occurring, but Rey had caught on to something more. They were both hoping she'd give up this cause and return to the Resistance.

Han knew of her doubts and concerns—she'd told him—yet he still thought she was better off working for the Resistance, even in light of knowing that Skywalker had things to answer for. Rey's frustration fueled her. She slid gracefully down a dune and came to a halt in front of one of the little robed creatures.

She looked at them shrewdly. Her voice was crisp and to the point. "What are you selling?"

The Jawa in front of her immediately started prattling in its language.

Rey shook her head. It was obvious that it didn't speak Basic and Rey certainly didn't speak its tongue either. She switched to Huttese. "Speak clearly or don't waste my time. Do you sell ship parts?"

The creatures were prevaricating, motioning her towards some droids, instead of answering her question.

Rey sighed, quite annoyed with their antics. "No. I don't want a droid. I want ship parts."

Han caught up to her, panting heavily.

The Jawas began chattering.

Rey shook her head in denial. Her voice was hard. "He doesn't want any droids either—where do they sell ship parts then?" This was pointless. She turned to Han. "They have nothing of use to us. Looks like we'll have to go to town after all."

Han looked worse for wear. His exhaustion only had him repeating his previous warnings. "Rey—Mos Eisley isn't exactly the best place—"

No, she didn't expect that it would be. It was likely lawless and full of scum. "If we want to fix that ship then we don't have much of a choice."

She looked at Han and he looked like he couldn't take the heat. While she could easily walk the distance, she didn't think he would hold up. She abruptly turned back to the Jawas. "Speeders then? Do you have any of those?"

The next thing Rey knew, a horribly old speeder was being rolled down the gangplank of the sandcrawler. She gave it a once-over, her disdain palpable to everyone. "Does it even work?"

The Jawa in front of her started practically schmoozing, an obsequious tone to its voice, telling her in broken Huttese how excellent this particular speeder was, the best in the system, and that she couldn't find anything better anywhere.

Rey's haggling skills had been honed in a desert worse than this. She not only talked them down on the price but, after threatening them with her quarterstaff, they threw in a couple of extra power converters, just in case.

She grabbed a canteen of water from one of the Jawas and threw it at Han. The creature was indignantly berating her for her actions, but she glared it down.

It quickly backed away from her in fear. At seeing their compatriot's fear, the others followed suit and gave Rey her space.

These creatures would like nothing better than to come across their corpses, dead from thirst, so they could recollect the speeder to sell it to some other hapless passerby. Rey couldn't leave these creatures fast enough. They disgusted her.

Once they were both ensconced in the two-seater Han turned to look at her, his face uncharacteristically serious. "What was that all about?"

Rey revved the repulsor engine and it haltingly started to life. She slowly put it in gear and prayed it would last until they got to Mos Eisley. She refused to look at him. "I thought you knew Huttese?"

"I understand quite a bit. Not what I'm talking about though."

Rey spoke quietly. "You can't take any chances with that sort."

Han snorted. His voice was incredulous. "Jawas? They're annoying, I'll give you that—but they're mostly harmless. Not that I'm complaining, I needed the water—"

She could hear the doubt in his voice. He was sounding awfully judgmental to Rey's ears. "Look, Han, you don't know about surviving in a desert. Space ports, smuggling, all of that? You're the expert. This? They would happily use our bones to pick their teeth—"

Han still looked skeptical. "Jawas?"

Rey finally looked at him. Her face was hard. "They're scavengers. I know scavengers."

As Mos Eisley rolled into their sight, Rey could see mostly domed buildings the color of the sand around them. It was larger than any settlement on Jakku, by a long shot. She could tell it was a spaceport. She gave Han Solo a side eye. "Why didn't we come here first?"

Han Solo looked nonchalant. "The Falcon's a bit conspicuous, if you know what I mean—"

The only thing that surprised Rey at this point was that she was even remotely surprised. He likely owed someone money. Her voice was flat. "I don't even know what to say to that—"

Han gave her what he likely thought was a charming smile. It had probably even once worked on people like General Organa. Those days were long gone. "Hey. I know a guy. He'll help us."

She frowned. It was Rey's turn to sound skeptical. "You know a guy."

This was how Rey found herself following Han Solo into one of the dodgiest looking cantinas that likely ever existed.

For all that Han Solo looked outwardly at ease, his old smuggler's swagger coming into play, his eyes were scanning for constant danger, his hand hovering over his blaster.

Rey couldn't blame him. Her own eyes were taking in everything around her. She had not yet bothered to take off her head wrap and goggles. This place was dark and it was disconcerting because the jizz cantina band had also stopped playing at their entrance. Everyone turned to look at them as they entered.

Rey could not help but feel nervous at this scenario. She had no doubt it repeated for every new being that chose to enter the premises. Soon enough the crowd lost interest and went back to what it was doing.

Han wove a path to a booth that was occupied by a Devaronian and sat down. Rey reluctantly followed his lead.

Said Devaronian was a humanoid that had red skin, pointed ears, two prominent horns on his head, and rolled his eyes when he saw who was approaching him. "Sorry, can't do business with you today, Solo—"

Han held his hands up. "I haven't even said anything yet—"

Rey unwound her head wrap and took off her goggles.

The Devaronian gave her a charming smile and a wink. "The girl though, I'm thinking I can do business with her—" He turned back to Han. "Where's the Wookie?"

Han smirked. "Busy. Look, Labria, we need someone to fix a ship for us."

Rey shook her head and gave Han a glare. "No. I'll fix the ship. I just need parts."

Labria looked at Rey with a considering expression. "That so?" The Devaronian looked at Han again. "This wouldn't be that one ship you stashed out near the Juntland Wastes, would it?"

Han's tone was noncommittal. "Maybe—"

Labria laughed. "Don't tell me you're getting this girl into smuggling runs—"

"I've been trying to talk her out of it—"

"Hmm." Labria took a sip of something that smelled worse than Unkar Plutt. "Alright, Solo. I'll make you a deal. If the girl can fix the ship, I'll make sure she has whatever she needs to do it, but I have conditions."

"Yeah? What kind of conditions—"

Labria waved a hand as if waving away any concerns. "Nothing onerous. Just a few runs here and there as repayment—"

"Spice?"

Labria gave Han a bland smile but didn't deny it. "Take it or leave it. Gotta make a living in this galaxy. Not all of us can be respectable like you. Have some merchandise I have to move and I don't have time to move all of it myself."

Han looked like he was going to complain.

"Come on! You can't pretend she was only going to be doing lawful things for you." Labria's eyes widened and he laughed. "Or…Ha! Just helping to stock a certain little and very illegal rebellious organization of your wife's maybe?"

Rey gave Han a betrayed look. It really figured he'd only have her doing runs to help the Resistance. Rey grabbed Han by his sleeve and pulled him away from the booth. "Excuse us."

She rounded on Han and whispered. "Explain."

Han held up his hands in a placating gesture. "I mean- we can do it this way- kid- but I don't recommend it. You really don't wanna haul spice. Trust me on that—"

Rey had to admit that she didn't really want to haul spice but she didn't see many options falling at her feet at the moment either. She made a frustrated noise and spoke in a snide tone. "Then, what, precisely, am I supposed to do? Resistance supply runs?"

Han gave her a hard look. "Why not? Making those kinds of runs are better than running spice and you don't have to be Resistance to do them."

He was actually right about that. However, this didn't make Rey feel any better. The entire point of this was to put as much distance between her and the Resistance as possible. She didn't feel as if she could voice these thoughts, but she sighed deeply. "How are we supposed to get the ship fixed up then- especially if he wants me to run spice in exchange for the parts?"

Han gave her a wan smile. "We find another way."

This other way turned out to be a random junk shop that Han Solo had passed by on their way out of the cantina. Rey stopped in her tracks, the Force singing to her. She frowned in consternation. Her voice was quiet. "Let's check this place out."

Han turned around and saw where she was looking with a sigh. "A junk shop, kid? Not sure they'll have what you need."

If anyone could find anything worthwhile in an old junk shop, Rey knew she had the best chance of doing so. "It's worth a shot."

Having decided on her course of action, Rey pushed her way into the old rundown shop. The junk parts were littered around haphazardly and nowhere near as shiny as how she had to make her own scrap appear back on Jakku in order to receive any portions from Plutt. It was a disgraceful mess and anyone but a scavenger could not even begin to see the possibilities here. It was lucky that she was.

Han had followed her inside, lip curling distastefully. He touched an old hunk of metal only to displace it with a cloud of dust. He sneezed loudly. "Great place you found here, Rey."

Ignoring Han, Rey's eyes quickly scanned the area before homing in on a few parts the ship needed. She moved to the other side of the shop, leaving Han at the entrance.

"You obviously know what you want," a surprisingly non-Outer Rim voice stated.

Glancing quickly to the right, Rey was surprised she hadn't seen the man before, especially as he was wearing all black. He was wearing a long coat that looked like it was made from reptilian leather. He had somewhat of a military look to him but didn't really give off a First Order vibe. Even though his hair was grey at the temples, he wasn't quite yet beyond his prime. Surely, this man was not originally from Tatooine.

Rey narrowed her eyes at the man. "Is this your shop?"

Whilst the Force wasn't warning her of imminent danger, it was certainly telling her to be wary.

The man huffed a laugh. "You could say that."

Rey did not like this answer, however, she felt she didn't have much of a choice here either. It was either attempt to get parts from a store such as this, or run spice for that Labria character, which she didn't want to do. The Resistance wasn't an option.

Beyond getting the ship working, Rey didn't have a plan of what to do from there, but she couldn't think of that just then.

She gave the man a skeptical once over, which he seemed to find amusing if his smirk was anything to go by. Her voice was dry. "Right. Well, I need ship parts."

"Yeah? Rey, was it?"

There was a ruckus on the other side of the shop as junk tumbled over. Han's voice sounded from another aisle. "Shavit! I hate droids. No- you bucket of bolts- I don't need a droid."

Rey went still and her breath caught in her throat. The man's presence felt cold. She answered slowly. "Yes. And you are?"

The man gave her a slight nod. "Vicrul, at your service, milady."

Rey almost snorted. She was no lady. She'd once seen a holo of a Queen of Naboo with her handmaidens. She was the furthest thing from them, in her estimation anyway. She was a child of the harshest desert, no matter how much it galled her to think of it.

With a clipped tone, Rey got down to business. "So, Vicrul, what's the currency around here?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Now that's an interesting response. Most would assume New Republic credits."

A snort escaped Rey. "I know better." She pointed to a few things she needed for the ship. "What do you want for those?"

Vicrul shrugged. "A trade."

Rey knew it. However, it immediately made her suspicious. Rey crossed her arms stubbornly. "What kind of trade?"

Vicrul still looked amused at her. He gave another shrug. "The kind where I let you have all the parts you need if you help me with a little project of mine."

Rey scowled. "I'm not hauling spice for you."

Vicrul laughed again. "Yeah- no spice. I just need some help harvesting some things- I guess you could say."

The Force was now blaring a warning. Harvesting? What the kriff was he talking about?

Han's voice sounded behind her. His tone was more serious than she'd ever heard from the man. "Rey."

His tone alone caused Rey to turn around. Han's hand was on his blaster, but he hadn't drawn it yet. His eyes were hard, and he was glaring at Vicrul with a look of contempt.

"Time to go, kid."

The room got colder, and Rey felt a shiver run down her spine. She backed up a step towards Han.

The bell on the shop door tingled as two new customers entered the shop. Rey quickly glanced at the newcomers. Two younger men, wearing brown Resistance uniforms, complete with spats covering the boots, sauntered in as if they owned the place.

To Rey they both looked as if they were spoiling for a fight.

The taller of the two took in the scene and pulled a blaster. "What's going on here?"

Rey glanced back at Han.

Despite his eyes still being on Vicrul, he winced.

Rey pursed her lips in anger. Her voice was quiet and carried not only to Han but to Vicrul. "Did you call them?"

Han shook his head minutely. He may not have called the Resistance, but he didn't seem a bit surprised by their presence either.

They had been followed then. Rey knew that General Organa couldn't be trusted to leave her alone. That woman wanted the Jedi Order back and would stop at nothing to achieve her goal. If Han thought otherwise, he was blind.

The Resistance soldier yelled across the shop again. "Hey! I asked you lot a question."

Rey's eyes narrowed in anger. She couldn't stand men like that. She chanced a glance at Vicrul who looked too relaxed for the situation.

Vicrul lifted an eyebrow at her as if to say it was her show.

Rey exhaled loudly and glanced back to the Resistance soldiers with a glare. She felt extremely annoyed. The scavenger in her would never tolerate meddlers. "None of your business."

Han quickly added his two credits to the conversation, still looking at Vicrul all the while. He spoke like a detonator was about to go off. "We were just leaving."

Vicrul smirked at Han, but then dismissed him to look at Rey. He didn't pay the Resistance soldiers any mind whatsoever. It was more than clear he didn't find them to be a threat. "I'm sure we'll see each other again soon."

The Force rang with the truth of his statement. It felt as if Rey was on the precipice of something significant. It was terrifying and sobering all at once. Rey gave him a curt nod, not sure what she was really agreeing to. "Right."

She turned to leave and stalked past Han and straight up to the Resistance soldiers who were still at the front of the shop, neither of whom had yet to put down their blasters. This was like the Guavian Death Gang all over again, as far as she was concerned. Rey was seething. "Put the blasters away before you have cause to regret it."

While one of them lowered his blaster, the ringleader was arrogant enough to be offended at her statement.

The man sneered at her. "Look, girl-"

Han came up behind Rey, his voice hard and stressed. "You heard her, put it away."

The man straightened up importantly and then looked at Han. He finally lowered the blaster. "General Solo, sir. General Organa sent us-"

Rey sneered back at the man. "What's the Resistance doing on Tatooine anyway?"

The man acted like she never said anything.

Blaster or not, Rey was done. She balled her hands into fists in anger. She moved past him and clipped him with her shoulder deliberately on her way out the door.

Back on the street, Rey let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. She kept walking. Those wermos could have a shoot-out for all she cared. She was annoyed with Han too.

Rey gritted her teeth in frustration and walked back to where they parked the speeder. She threw herself in the driver's seat with a huff. Well, at least nobody had scavenged anything from this piece of junk while they were gone. It was way too pathetic to catch anyone's eye.

None of this was fair. Rey closed her eyes in frustration before opening them again with determination. She needed a different perspective. She reached into her bag and pulled out her comlink. She wanted to talk to Bast. He claimed he was her friend and she had never had one of those before.

A tiny holo of Bast appeared in front of her. The glowing blue figure smiled at her. "Rey! Darling, I've missed you." At seeing her expression though, his countenance became serious. "What's wrong?"

Rey sighed. "Bast, I'm a bit lost just now."

Before Bast could respond, someone sat in the passenger side of the speeder. Expecting Han, Rey did a double take when she realized it was Vicrul. She jumped slightly and yelled indignantly. "Hey!"

He was holding a black helmet with lots of silver inlay on it in his hands and when he sat down, his coat moved to show a scythe with a vibro-synth blade, which was connected to an ultrasonic generator chamber with an insulated handle, strapped to his leg.

Rey would have known this man was dangerous even without the Force after seeing that weapon. However, the Force was not warning her of any imminent danger, but she was more than a bit wary of him.

As if commenting on the weather, Vicrul calmly spoke. "Well now, isn't this interesting? I knew you had the shadow. I'm never wrong about it."

Rey gave Vicrul the side eye. The shadow? Vicrul was more than a bit odd.

Vicrul then looked down at the holo of Bast. "Hello, little brother."

Bast narrowed his eyes. "Vicrul! I didn't realize the Night Buzzard was…where are you all again?"

Right. Well. Of course, they knew each other. At least it seemed that Kylo and Bast weren't having her followed. That was something. It wasn't much, but it was something.

Vicrul smirked. "Tattoine. We had a lead on some Sith artifacts. Then I ran into Rey here. Tell me, Bast. Has she given anyone a good death yet?"

Bast hesitated. His face took on a serious mien. "Not yet. Listen, Vicrul, Kylo wants this handled carefully. She's more like Kylo than the rest of us."

What's more, a good death? Rey really wasn't liking the sound of this.

Vicrul's tone was nonchalant, but he sat up straight, more interested now. "Is that so? Well, she can stick with us. We'll get her sorted. Just like we did Kylo."

Rey watched as Bast's expression turned deadly. He obviously took Vicrul's statement as a threat.

Vicrul's Force presence became cold. He held up a hand as if to stave off whatever Bast was going to say. His tone was serious. "You know the rules."

The thing was, Bast backed down. That worried Rey more than anything.

Rey had had enough. Her anger gave her courage. She glared at Vicrul. "I have no idea what you're talking about, but I do what I want, when I want."

A sharp grin was thrown her way. "Well, that's perfect. So do we! I've got a feeling you'll fit right in."

Bast sounded resigned. "She's more a First Order sympathizer than anything."

Vicrul waved away Bast's concerns. "Yeah. Okay. She can do that after. If she wants to play First Order with Kylo- you know we won't care. Our goals align."

After? After what?

Bast sighed. "We were kind of steering her away from crime."

Vicrul rolled his eyes. "Let me guess. You and Kylo were pushing her towards the First Order to get her to stay with you. We follow the shadow, Bast. That's more important than anything else and you know it."

Rey glared down at Bast's image. So, it seemed as if he and Kylo weren't truly against living lives of crime. She should have known better, honestly. It was the height of naivety on her part to not have immediately seen through their bantha poodoo.

Rey's sweet tone was at odds with her glare, which was something Vicrul found hilarious if his laughter was anything to go by. "Something to tell me, Bast?"

Bast's face rolled through a variety of emotions. Embarrassment, worry, reassurance, and resignation were the ones Rey picked up on. "Rey, dear. Maybe it's for the best that you ran into Vicrul like this. We can call it fortuitous."

Vicrul turned deadly serious. "The Force wills it."

The finality of that statement sounded more than a little ominous to Rey. It sounded like a mantra. Not for the first time, Rey reminded herself that she didn't care much for the Force.

Rey resolutely ignored the current conversation and changed the topic. She was getting quite good at ignoring things she didn't want to address, wasn't she? "How's Kylo?"

Bast looked at his nails. "Mooning terribly over you, I'm afraid. He's been in an awful mood since you left us."

Rey's own mood wasn't the best, now that she was thinking about it.

Vicrul snorted. "Ah- so that's how it is!" He gave Rey an assessing look. "I guess I can see it."

Bast sighed as if put upon. "Their every interaction is full of sexual tension."

This was mortifying. Rey blushed bright red. She wanted to disappear into the desert and never be heard from again. "Right. Conversation over. Talk to you later."

She quickly shut off her comlink, cutting off Bast mid smirk. Her comlink was abruptly snatched out of her hands. "Give it back!"

"Just putting my number in," Vicrul said distractedly. "You'll be on planet for a while, I'm assuming."

He shoved the comlink back into her hands.

Rey huffed in irritation. "It's not like I have any other plans," she admitted grudgingly.

Vicrul put his helmet on. The vocoder sounded a bit ominous. In fact, his whole look took on a whole other level of ominous, now that she was taking the time to contemplate things. "Tell you what. At the weekend go to Anchorhead and we'll meet up. There's only one cantina there- so we won't be hard to find. Ditch the babysitter."

Rey glared at him as he got out of the speeder and walked down the street. She glanced in one of the side mirrors.

Han Solo was storming down the street towards the speeder, and he looked livid. His jaw was clenched. However, he silently sat down in the speeder before turning the angry look on Rey. His voice was gruff but soft. "We need to talk."

Rey could practically taste an imminent sandstorm in the air. Her stomach was churning. She attempted to swallow, but her mouth was dry. She had no idea what she was doing, no idea what the right thing was anymore, but she knew things were getting ready to come to a head. Rey had a bad feeling about this.

Note: Okay, well, it's been a ridiculously long time since my last update. I mean, it was March of 2018 when I last updated this story. That was before The Rise of Skywalker, which was released in December of 2019.

This also means that my Palpatine idea was more on point than I knew. Go figure. Yay me, I guess. However, I really hated the last movie, not gonna lie. To be honest there are quite a few things I don't like about the sequels. That's neither here nor there really.

Except, the last movie almost had me doing a Pontius Pilate on Star Wars, and that makes me sad. What irks me more than anything is how Luke's character has been ruined for me. Return of the Jedi Luke is the only Luke. There are other issues, but I'm not going to get into them right now.

Anyway, I'm obviously continuing this story. I will take some new things into account, as my pitiful research skills allow. However, I will studiously ignore things I don't truly like or haven't had time to keep up with. For example, I'm very out of touch when it comes to recent comics, anything on TV be it live action or animated, video games, and any novels since Episode IX. So, pretty much everything. I may be one of the few people out there who hasn't watched The Mandalorian (but I plan to rectify this). Fanfiction is marvelous for getting around these petty annoyances though.

To me, this chapter moves the story along and is more of an interlude of sorts. Even though this is not really romance focused, it is necessary to the plot. We'll get back to the romance eventually, but I'm a plot person first and foremost. I want to tell a decent story over anything else.

Until recently, I had a whole lot of apathy regarding this fandom, too much going on in my personal life, and more than a little writer's block. However, I hope to kleep moving forward with this story. I hope you'll join me.