Rey put aside the Jedi tome and went to the cockpit. For some reason, she felt compelled to be there, to see her home planet come into view, to be present when the others saw it too. To welcome them…
Welcome them to what?
She took the co-pilot's seat beside Poe and buckled in as he prepared to drop out of hyperspace. A feeling like lead weighed in her stomach. This place held so many bad memories. So many days and nights, abandoned and utterly alone. Fearful of starvation, of attack. Of dying alone, forgotten in the desert sands, with no one around to care.
She didn't want to be here. But they had to try to find a chip.
Rose and Finn came in and sat behind Poe. She could feel Rose's worried gaze lingering on her back. Finn and Poe were glancing at her, too. She kept her eyes forward, glaring out the viewport ahead.
A moment later, she sensed Ben's solid presence behind her. He braced himself on the back of her chair, his fingers close to her shoulder but not quite touching. She imagined she could feel their warmth seeping into her back, and the thought made her relax infinitesimally.
The ship gave a shudder as it exited out of hyperspace. The streaks of starlight once again became twinkling pinpricks—
And then there it was. That vast, desolate red wasteland. She fancied she could see the haze of dust swirling over the surface even from space. Her throat dried at the memory of the scalding heat.
She wished she could go back to the clearing in the forest of D'Qar. Or to the waterfall pool on Ahch-To. Anywhere but here.
She startled when she felt Poe's hand pat her own. "Won't be for long," he promised quietly.
He relinquished the controls to her, and she brought them into the atmosphere. The sand tink-tink-tinked against the viewport in a fine, crystalline mist.
She doubted they would find a good deal on a chip at Niima Outpost—if Niima even had what they needed—and she really preferred not to see Unkar Plutt or his cronies again. Banking to the right, she instead steered the ship in the direction of an old Imperial crash site in the Starship Graveyards that she had scavenged in the past. It was quite the cache, so naturally the upper levels had been picked clean years ago, but the lower levels had been mostly untouched due to risk of cave-in. No sane scavenger would've ventured down into the great ship's depths. But now, with the Force at her disposal, she hoped she might be able to find something as-of-yet undiscovered down there.
After cruising over seemingly miles of the same, endless landscape, the silhouette of the old Star Destroyer finally came into view. She brought the transport around and set it down in an inconspicuous spot in the mammoth ship's shadow, hoping no other scavengers would decide to come by to investigate. Flicking switches, she began to power down the transport.
"Stay with the ship," she directed as she clicked off the engines. "If any passing scavengers see it, they'll come by to see what they can pick off. Be prepared to discourage them—forcefully."
She turned to see the rest of the team eyeing her with varying levels of unease. "What?"
"Er… you mean… ?" Poe hedged.
"There is no honor among scavengers," Rey said dispassionately. "It's survival of the fittest. If you make it difficult enough for them, they'll move on in search of easier finds."
Poe nodded tightly. He and Finn exchanged a covert glance.
She turned to Rose. "So. This chip."
Rose rallied herself. "Right. The chip for a Lambda-class vessel might work, but I'd be more interested in seeing if there are any intact mid-sized Imperial transports in the hangar. Obviously the closer we can match the chip, the better."
Rey nodded her understanding. "I'll look. This is probably going to take a while."
"Do you need someone to go with you?" Finn asked.
She smiled at him, although the expression didn't quite reach her eyes. Finn had been her first friend, and she loved him like a brother. Even though she could hear the tremor in his voice, he'd still offered to accompany her.
"I'll be fine," she assured him, thinking of the small spaces and vast chasms she was used to navigating. She would be able to move faster—and more safely—on her own.
"All right," he replied, sounding unconvinced. "Keep your comm on you."
…
Rey dug to the bottom of her pack, to the things she always carried with her, even though she never would have imagined she'd need them again. She supposed the only reason she still had them was because they were hers, and there were so few things in the galaxy she could call her own.
She withdrew a long length of cloth, which she wrapped around her hair in a protective turban, leaving the end loose to secure over her face. With a tug, she freed her goggles—the ones she'd made from a fighter pilot's visor, designed to reduce glare and sharpen vision. She secured the goggles on her forehead, ready to pull down over her eyes, then filled her canteen at the ship's spigot and secured the strap across her chest. She picked up her staff and lightsaber and strode over to lower the ramp.
The hot, dry air hit her like a wall. She took a reluctant breath and tightened her grip on her staff.
The rest of the team met her at the top of the ramp. She was slightly amused that they'd insisted on seeing her off, but more than that, she was appreciative for their wordless support. They were worried about her. She'd never had someone worry about her before, when she'd ventured into these death traps for all those many years.
She was somewhat familiar with this crash site, having scavenged it before. It was why she'd brought them here. Even so, she knew things might've changed since her last visit. As the sand reclaimed the metal, the huge ship could have shifted and things inside could have slid around. On occasion, a weakened structure like this could even cave in. But she knew the signs. She would be careful.
She sensed Ben standing directly behind her. "Are you sure about this?" he asked in a low voice.
There was a bite in his tone, stemming from an underlying tension that belied his concern. She smiled, and turned to face him.
"Yes," she assured him. "We need the chip, right? It's just another day on Jakku for me." She slung the strap of her staff over her shoulder. "Are you going to work on the armor?" she asked, trying to divert his thoughts and give him something else to focus on.
He nodded.
"Good." She secured her goggles into place, then shot him one last grin. "Make mine pretty."
With that, she spun on her heel and headed toward the crashed Star Destroyer.
…
The vastness of the ship never failed to amaze her.
She stepped into the empty hull of the central ion engine, its curved structure soaring far above her, and slowly made her way inside. Locating the old break in the wall, she squeezed through into the Destroyer's interior.
The air inside the rusted carcass of the ship was cooler, but only just. Rey reached up and switched on her headlamp, then continued further inside.
She stepped carefully, measuring her strides and testing the weight of each foot before moving forward. Things had definitely shifted since the last time she'd been in here, but not enough to concern her just yet. She passed by busted computer stations and the lifeless forms of broken droids, long dissected and picked clean for usable parts. Everything was coated in a fine layer of grit.
From her experience, she knew that to get to the hangars on the lower decks, she would have to scale the next turbolift in order to circumnavigate the solar ionization reactor, then descend again and continue forward. There were two sets of hangars on either side of the ship. With the way this Destroyer had crashed nose-first into the planet, those hangars would very likely be underground, and the corridors leading to them possibly impassable.
Thus, no one else would've been likely to check there.
She moved the strap of her staff across her chest before beginning her ascent up the turbolift. She scaled the metal shaft with ease, hopping from ledge to ledge, until she could climb out onto the first passable level.
The floors were still in relatively good condition here, and she quickly made her way down the corridor, counting the minutes, her headlamp moving from side to side as she searched for the next turbolift portal.
There it is. Kneeling down to catch the ledge with her fingers, she spun around, feeling over the edge with her toes for the next step, and began to climb down.
When the next main corridor came into view on the other side of the shaft, Rey turned and launched herself across the space, catching onto the opposite wall before swinging into the opening of the corridor. She crouched upon landing and took in her surroundings.
Things looked a little worse for wear down here. Sand had pooled in the downward-sloping corners where the hallway met the floor, which was pitted and rusted from exposure. Stepping carefully, Rey continued down the corridor.
She climbed down one more turbolift shaft, turned down the corridor on the right, and found herself in the first hangar. Taking a deep breath, she slowly looked around.
Her headlamp only illuminated so far in the vast darkness of the hangar, but she could make out the shapes of a variety of transports, hunched like the hibernating forms of hulking monsters in the dark. Most of the vessels had slid to one side of the hangar in the crash, but a couple of the smaller ones were still tethered in place.
Passing by the small ships, she carefully approached the larger transports at the end of the hangar. One was too badly crumpled to safely access, but another one was still semi-intact. She cast her headlamp over the wings, drawn up vertically on either side of the cabin. The tip of one wing was crumpled, presumably from the crash, but the ship was undeniably a Lambda-class shuttle.
Watching her footing, she climbed up onto the vessel's hull and slipped through the busted viewport into the cockpit. Locating the computer just below the dash, she pried it open and focused her light on the dusty tech.
But the fragile chip was split right down the middle. It had likely happened during the impact of the crash.
Heaving a sigh, she climbed back out of the vessel. She checked one more transport, a similarly-designed Sentinel-class which also sported a broken chip, and then went to the hangar next door to look. But those chips were broken too. One had been completely pulverized. She cursed under her breath.
Luckily there were other hangars with other transports to check. And if this crash site didn't prove fruitful, she knew of several others nearby.
But the day had already been halfway over when they'd landed on Jakku, and she knew by now the sun would be making its descent in earnest. Fleetingly, she thanked the Force she no longer had to depend on Unkar Plutt's mercy for food. Time to call it a day and try again tomorrow.
When she emerged from the ion engine some time later, she removed her goggles, unpinned her cloth face covering, and took a deep breath of fresh air. The air inside the Destroyer had grown hotter as the ship baked in the afternoon sun, but outside, as the sun dipped below the horizon, the air had cooled to an almost bearable temperature.
She repositioned the strap of her staff over her shoulder, then started the trek back to the Resistance transport. She was sweaty and covered in grime, and wanted nothing more than some food and a cool shower. She could have only dreamed of taking a shower in her old life. She was quickly becoming spoiled to such easy access to water.
She was almost to the transport when the ramp hissed and began to open. She looked up.
Ben stood at the entrance, hand on the controls. A flash of relief crossed his carefully-controlled features as his shoulders dropped infinitesimally.
And then the others were there, gushing over her safe return and ushering her inside. Finn divested her of her staff and canteen while Poe stood on her other side, a hand resting on her shoulder as he looked her over.
"You okay?" the pilot asked, brow furrowed.
"Fine. Just dirty and tired."
"You were gone for a while."
"I know. You have to be careful in there. It takes time."
"Any luck?" Rose inquired.
Rey set her jaw. "No. I found a few chips, but they were cracked. But, there are at least two more hangars to look in. I'll get an early start and check them out tomorrow."
"You sure you don't want someone to go with you?" Poe asked.
Rey sighed and gave him a tired smile. "We'll see." She held up a finger. "But first—I need the fresher."
Taking her staff and canteen from Finn, she deposited her things in her berth, then went to the fresher at the rear of the ship. She stripped down and stepped under the cool stream of water with a bone-deep sigh. She didn't think a shower had ever felt so good. She scrubbed her skin and raked her fingernails over her scalp, rinsing away every last bit of sand.
Dressed in clean clothes, she finger-combed through her damp hair and padded back to the cabin. Everyone else was already there, gathered around the component-littered table. She spied Ben sitting to one side, silently studying a bent piece of scrap metal while the others sat across from him, talking amongst themselves.
She felt a swell of peace come over her at the sight of Ben. It had been a long, rigorous day of physical and emotional effort, and right now she wanted nothing more than to be near him. She slid onto the bench next to him and folded her legs beneath her, resting her knee against his thigh.
"Any luck with the armor today?" she asked, studying the shrapnel scrap alongside him. It had been roughly bent into a rounded shape.
"I-I think I figured out a technique." He held out the piece to her.
She took it, turning it over in her hands, then placed it over her arm. It was a little loose, but it was definitely the right idea.
"We'll have to work together to get everything fitted correctly," he continued. "This was just an experimental piece."
"How did you do it?" She handed it back to him.
He smirked at her. "Lightsaber and a rock."
"You should've seen him, Rey," Finn chimed in. "He looked like an actual cave-person out there, hunkered down in the sand, pounding away—" He quickly went silent at Ben's dark glare.
Rey giggled. "Well, it looks like it worked."
"If I can get my hands on a blowtorch and a hammer when we get back to Ajan Kloss, I'll be able to fashion something better," Ben said. "It'll still be rough compared to a proper metalsmith's work, but again, that's the idea."
As dusk descended in earnest, Rose and Finn distributed dinner rations around the table. Clean and full, Rey felt her eyes beginning to droop, and nearly nodded off against Ben's shoulder twice before she excused herself to go to her berth. Cocooned beneath her blanket, her last thoughts before drifting off were of whether she might awaken to the sensation of that same warm body curled around hers, as she had the previous morning.
But when she roused a full ten hours later, she was alone. She found herself strangely disappointed.
Ben was already awake and seated at the table when she trudged into the cabin, a mug of caf by his elbow and the same piece of scrap in his hands. For a moment, she wondered if he'd even been to bed; he was exactly where she'd left him the night before. She could see the wheels turning in his head as he mulled over his technique and ways to improve it.
He looked up at her entrance and gave her a small smile. "Morning."
"Morning." She joined him at the table, cradling a steaming mug between her hands. "You're up early."
"I had a few ideas," he explained, looking over the curved metal shard. "Are you getting an early start today?"
"Yeah."
"Is Poe going with you?"
His tone was neutral, but she sensed there was more to the question than his mild delivery indicated. She chose her reply equally carefully.
"Can you see Poe stomping around in that thing?" she asked gently, and was rewarded with an amused snort. "Yeah, me neither." She glanced at him from under her lashes. "I was actually going to ask you to go. I-If you wanted. I know you have a lot to do, but—"
"I'll go."
She smiled warmly at him. "Thanks."
She finished her caf, then retrieved her gear from her berth, returning with it to the cabin to prepare for the day's mission. She checked her headlamp, and fashioned another one for Ben with her spare. She snagged a couple rations for them both, then refilled her canteen at the spigot.
She'd just finished winding the cloth turban around her head when Rose came into the cabin, rubbing sleep from her eyes.
"You're heading out?" she muttered.
Rey secured her goggles on her forehead. "Yeah. Best to get an early start. Ben's coming with me."
Rose nodded. "Be safe."
Rey clipped her lightsaber to her belt and slung her staff over her shoulder. Ben joined her at the ramp, headlamp in place with his own makeshift turban, lightsaber and canteen affixed to his belt. He pressed a finger into the controls, and together, they descended into the sweltering heat and made their way across the sandy terrain to the giant ion engine.
As they came into the shadow of the hulking ship, Ben's strides slowed. Rey walked a bit further before she realized he was no longer behind her, and turned to see him standing at the entrance to the engine, looking up at the behemoth carcass of the Star Destroyer.
She unclipped her face shield and cocked her head questioningly. "You okay?" she called back to him.
"I'm fine," he replied, still looking up at the ship. "It's just… my grandfather might've been on this ship at some point." He remained a moment longer, then seemed to shake himself out of his reverie and quickly caught up with her.
She retraced her steps from the day before, squeezing through the break in the wall and heading down the corridor to the turbolift shaft. Ben's considerably larger size made squeezing through the small space a little more challenging for him, but with her light feet and his long strides, they made good time once they were in the corridor. They scaled the shaft and came out in the upper corridor, then hurried down the length of it to the next shaft and descended again. Ben easily kept up with her, his longer reach and years of physical training serving him well.
They came to the last corridor, and Rey put a hand out to still him. Turning her headlamp down the corridor, she pointed at the sand and rust.
"Be careful," she warned him. "This is where the structural integrity starts to get questionable."
"Okay." There was a breathy edge to his voice. "Where do we have to go?"
She pointed into the darkness, in the direction of the forward hangars. "Down there."
He swallowed audibly.
They slowly made their way down the corridor, carefully picking their footing before moving forward. The slope of the floor and the dusting of sand meant traction was lacking in places, and more than once, one or the other of them slipped, making them both gasp and reach out for the other.
Just as Rey estimated they had to be getting close, she saw that part of the floor ahead had collapsed into the corridor below. Kriff.
"Be very careful up here," she warned. "There's been a cave-in. The support beams must've eroded through."
She felt Ben stop at her shoulder. "If it isn't safe, we should turn around," he said quietly, the ghost of his breath stirring the strands of hair by her ear. "There are other crash sites."
"Everything else looks sound," Rey countered. This was fairly par for course, after all. And what if the other sites proved just as fruitless? "Come on. We're almost there. Let's have a look."
They crept by the cave-in, Rey glancing down as she passed it. Suddenly, she gasped.
"What?" came Ben's worried voice.
"Look!" She pointed through the floor. "It's the hangar!"
Sure enough, the floor had given way through the roof of one of the hangars. Kneeling at the edge, Rey stretched out a hand and reached with the Force. "It should hold," she said. "Come on!"
Without a backward glance, she jumped into the black hole, landing in a Force-softened crouch and rolling to the side. A moment later, Ben dropped onto the hangar floor beside her. He helped her stand, and they both looked around.
This hangar was larger than the ones she'd seen yesterday. As it was closer to the point of impact, most of the shuttles had broken through their tethers and slid into a heap at the forward end of the room, but a couple vessels were still tied in place. Inspecting the tethers on the first one, she cautiously hopped up onto the hull. The ship remained steady underneath her, so she crawled across the hull to the busted viewport. Ben hung back, keeping watch as she worked.
Rey searched through the cockpit, locating the computer in the control panel beneath the dash, and made quick work of ripping off the cover. She gasped at the sight within. The chip inside was badly carbon-scored, but miraculously wasn't broken. She wasn't sure how well the scoring would clean off without damaging the components, but at least it was something. She pocketed it as a back-up, then clambered out.
There were a couple TIEs that were still intact, but she knew those chips wouldn't work. Her eyes tracked to the other end of the hangar, where the crashed shuttles were. One or two didn't look too badly smashed. She headed in their direction.
"I have a bad feeling about this,"* Ben murmured behind her.
"I'll be careful," she said over her shoulder. Planting her hands on the buckled metal surface of a wrecked Lambda-class, she hoisted herself up and slipped in through the broken viewport. Ducking down next to the control panel, she located the computer and pulled it open. But the chip was shattered.
Cursing under her breath, she climbed back out of the transport and went to the next one, climbing up the exterior and ducking inside. She maneuvered around the captain's seat and knelt before the control panel.
"Rey…" Ben called from a distance. There was a tense edge to his voice.
She almost had the computer open when she heard a groan. Not a human one, but a metallic one.
It was followed by a stuttered grinding sound.
Oh, kriff.
She popped her head up to look through the viewport. The tethered transport she'd been in a while ago had shifted.
Oh, kriff!
Suddenly, one of the tethers gave way, and the whole ship slid sideways. The other tether was jerked taut.
"Rey!" Ben screamed.
Forgetting the chip, Rey clambered up through the open viewport. Ben had extended both hands toward the transport as he tried to stall its fall with the Force. Cords stood out in his neck, and his whole body was tense and shaking.
But the transport was slipping.
Then the final tether snapped, and Ben lost his grip. "No!"
As the vessel came hurtling down the sloped floor, Rey ran across the hull and leaped into the air. Ben stretched his hands out to her, and she felt the Force wrap around her like a vice. She rocketed across the chasm between them and crashed hard against his chest. His arms came around her like durasteel ties, and he spun around to press her against the wall just as the transport went screeching past them. It smashed into the ship she'd just been in with a thunderous crunch.
In the ringing silence, the sound of their heavy breathing was nearly deafening. Rey peered around Ben's arm to look at the crashed transport and swallowed hard.
"We're done for today," Ben said raggedly above her. Beneath her ear, his voice rumbled in his chest.
"But there's still—"
"No!" he snarled forcefully, tightening his arms around her. "You almost got smeared across that hull. We're done."
He'd never been so harsh with her before. Peering up at his face, she took in his clenched jaw and wide brown eyes, staring over her head at the transport in undisguised horror. His arms were still tightly wound around her, clutching her to him.
She'd scared him, she realized. She didn't remember ever seeing him frightened before.
"Okay," she relented softly. Dipping her head, she rested her cheek against his chest. She could hear his heart thundering away beneath her ear. "Okay," she reiterated, and slowly, carefully, wrapped her arms around his waist in turn. "We're done for today."
A/N: Starred (*) phrases were borrowed from Star Wars!