Halo
Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to their respective owners.
A/N-thank you to everyone who kindly reviewed the last chapter.
Chapter Four-Millennium Falcon
The heat of the midday sun beat down on Kylo as he pushed himself back onto his feet. His clothing was overwhelmingly hot and sticky and he longed to strip off his black tunic just so he could get some air to his skin. He swept his fingers through the midnight strands of his hair in a vain attempt to shake the sweat out of it. He felt grotty, extremely hungry and thoroughly pissed off. The little astromech continued to whir and beep at him in its binary language.
"Aren't you going to answer him?" Rey demanded as she came to stand by his side.
Unlike Kylo she wasn't dripping in sweat. She was so acclimatised to the desert, that all she had show for the extreme heat beating down on them, was a sheen of fine perspiration coating the surface of the skin on her face. And unlike him it just enhanced the dewiness of her skin, while it made him feel utterly revolting.
"We're wasting time with this droid. Point it in the direction of Niima Outpost or something and we can be on our way." Kylo responded testily.
Rey's eyes narrowed as she prodded him in the side with the end of her quarterstaff. Kylo glared at her and she glared right back at him. "BB-8 needs our help. He has an important message to deliver to the Resistance. And as you are part of that said Resistance, I can't understand why you are so against helping him."
BB-8 let out a series of electronic beeps as it rolled toward him again. Its ridiculous dome head swivelled back making it look like the stupid droid was giving him a pleading look. Kylo stared down at it, his head still spinning from all that had happened to him. If he didn't get some proper food and water soon, he felt like he was never going to recover. He couldn't believe he had managed to complicate everything with his silly lies.
"Tell the Scavenger the truth then." His inner conscience whispered in his ear. "See her run when she realises exactly who it was, she 'rescued.' She won't look at you like a hero then. She'll look at you like a monster."
Kylo wanted to smack the traitorous voice out of his head. Why did his conscience always sound so much like Snoke? Thinking of his master brought his mood down ever further. He glared down at BB-8. The little droid retreated a little under the ferocity of his stare.
"We'll help you, BB-8." Rey promised as she hunkered down and began to straighten the aerial on it's head. "And ignore Ben. He's always grouchy." She cooed.
Kylo watched in disbelief as Rey fawned over the droid like it was her baby or something. She was taking this compassion thing a bit too far. And now she had promised the thing that they would help it. "Explain to me how we're gonna get that thing on the speeder without it rolling off?" He said sarcastically.
Rey looked up at him as if his final braincell had just popped right in front of her. "We'll use the nets." She answered, stating the obvious.
"They're full of junk." He pointed out.
"Then we'll empty them." Rey said exasperatedly as she spun gracefully back onto her feet.
"I thought you needed that junk to trade." Kylo reminded her.
Rey's cheeks turned slightly pink as she avoided meeting his eyes. "This is more important." She muttered. "Now stop asking stupid questions and help me get BB-8 loaded up on the speeder."
Niima Outpost was a junkyard settlement. The outpost was named for and founded by Niima the Hutt after the Battle of Jakku to capitalize on the new scavenging opportunities the battle created on the planet. It was also the only spaceport on the planet, although it was referred more as a landing field rather than a spaceport. Scavengers, like Rey, salvaged materials from the technology leftover from the Battle of Jakku. Salvage made up the backbone of the economy, but other branches such as black-market trading, mercenaries for hire, and other unlawful activities also existed.
When they finally reached the outpost, twilight was setting in. The desert at twilight was a vast undulating sea, punctuated by the shadowy silhouettes of cactus like plants, like great ghost ships upon the sandy waves. Rey didn't go right into town. Instead, she stopped on the outskirts, turning the speeder off so as not to attract any unwanted attention. Even from this distance it was clear that the town was swarming with stormtroopers and other First Order personnel.
Kylo's stomach growled as he silently observed the hive of activity going on in the town. To sate his hunger all he would have to do was march right into Niima Outpost and reveal himself. Within parsecs he would have a platoon of stormtroopers at his disposal, as well as access to gourmet food and fine wine. He could hand the BB unit over to the tech people. It wouldn't take long before they pulled it apart and discovered the secrets it was hiding.
As for Rey….
Kylo turned his head to the side to look at her. She was busy concentrating on setting the droid free from the confines of the net strapped to the side of the speeder. What would happen to her? Dread owned him, pushing against him like an invisible gale. His stomach locked up tight, nothing getting in or out. He knew exactly what would happen to Rey. If Snoke found about her, about her latent Force ability, he would pull her apart just like the techs would do to the BB unit. He couldn't let that happen. He would protect her from that. He owed her his life, getting her off world and away from the First Order's clutches would help repay his debt to her. He would help her escape and then leave her with enough riches to set herself up somewhere safe. Maybe he could visit her from time to time in her new home. Maybe…
"Ben, some help would be nice." Rey's impatient voice busted him out of his private little fantasy. Shaking his head dazedly, Kylo ran clumsily over to join her.
It was the damn astromech's fault, Kylo decided, he chased after Rey, his longer strides easily outpacing hers. They had managed to sneak into Niima Outpost without incident. Keeping to the shadows, they had made their way toward the shipyard in an attempt to commandeer a quadjumper. They had nearly reached their goal when out of nowhere the dumb droid suddenly began to kick up a hell of a fuss. It had spotted a stranger in the distance, apparently wearing his former master's jacket. BB-8 had quickly rolled off after the stranger, chirping and whining loudly.
Rey, being Rey, wouldn't listen to Kylo's entreaties to leave the darn thing to its own devices. Instead she decided to sprint after the droid. Frustrated beyond belief at the sheer stupidity of what she was doing, Kylo had been forced to follow her. What happened afterwards was like something out of a bad holo-comedy. Rey had reached the dark-skinned stranger first. After a quick consultation with BB-8, who confirmed that the guy was indeed wearing his master's stolen jacket, Rey had deftly poleaxed the thief with her quarterstaff, knocking him out cold. For some bizarre reason only known to herself, she wrestled the jacket off the comatose guy, giving a self-satisfied smile as she pushed her arms through the long sleeves of the jacket and pulled it on.
"What the hell are you doing?" Kylo demanded when he finally reached her.
Rey just grinned at him, acting like it was no big deal that they had just given their presence away. She was bubbling with energy and looked like she was totally enjoying herself. In the distance Kylo could hear the familiar whine of a squadron of Tie Fighters headed their way. As he opened his mouth to yell at her to run, he happened to glance down at the unconscious thief lying sparko on the sand, and his dark brown eyes widened in recognition. The 'jacket thief' was actually a stormtrooper, FN-8127.
Kylo didn't have time to ponder this odd turn of events, the Tie Fighters were storming overhead. Grabbing Rey's hand, he towed her after him as they attempted to dodge a hail of laser fire. Plumes of sand flew up around them as the Tie's failed and missed their target. BB-8 rolled after them at top speed, whirring and chirping in distress.
"Which way to the shipyard?" Kylo yelled to Rey as he tried to make himself heard above the constant laser fire.
"Left and then straight ahead." Rey shouted as she pulled her hand out of his and took the lead. Zigzagging left to right in order to avoid getting hit by the screaming Tie's, she was the first to stumble into the shipyard. "There!" She called breathlessly over her shoulder to Kylo. "There's the quadju-"
Before she could even finish saying the word, one of the Tie Fighters aimed its weapons at the quadjumper. This one found its target. To their horror, the quadjumper ignited in a fiery ball of yellow flame, billowing outwards, and blinding them with heat.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Kylo swore like a trooper. Stinging tears streamed down his sunburned cheeks as the acrid smoke made his eyes water. "What now?"
"Over there!" Rey called to him as she pointed in the direction of an old freighter that had not flown for years. "Its garbage, but it will have to do."
Kylo's vison was still blurred by the thick smoke pouring off the destroyed quadjumper. He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands in a vain attempt to clear them. When he finally managed to see through the fog his jaw dropped and another string of expletives left his mouth. Parked a few meters away from him was the Millennium Falcon. His shocked gaze drank in the familiar contours of his father's ship. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. What was the Falcon doing in the back end of nowhere?
Rey was right to call it a piece of garbage. Its aged appearance belied numerous advanced modifications to boost the ship's speed, weapons, and shield, including a hyperdrive engine among the fastest in the entire galaxy, enabling it to outrun Imperial Star Destroyers. It included sensor-proof smuggling compartments, which his father had made good use of in the past on his many smuggling expeditions. Kylo felt like he was taking a journey back into his past as he thundered up the ramp behind Rey, with BB-8 hot on his heels. He didn't have much time to wonder what the hell he was doing as he raced to the cockpit, slid into the pilot's seat and began to fire up the engines.
A/N-thanks for reading!