"The Force is strong with this one." She told herself as she realized she dropped her tools upon feeling a Force sensitive person enter Real space as she worked upon another ship that just came in.
She apologized to her teacher and says she needs to take a break.
Once out of her apprenticeships work station she ran towards that Force sensitive that just landed in one of the hanger bays further down the long hallway.
To her surprise the Force sensitive stayed where he or she landed.
After a few short minutes of running down the hallway she finally spotted that person in a hanger bay standing beside a very worn out and somewhat damaged X wing.
The man was wearing worn out and muddy white armor on top of dirty white Jedi robes. His cloak that he wore over all of that was brown and had dried chunks of dirt on it, even on the hood that covered most of his face.
Reminding her of Roan the Sith, due to him dressing similar but being his counterpart in the Force.
She could sense he was mostly calm and collective, but underneath it all he was concern.
He glanced her way and showed his face.
His hair was medium long and he sported an ungroomed beard. He looked fifty years-old which could be seen in the grey white coloration of both his beard and hair. He had a bit darker skin.
Once his X wing was given into the mercy of the hands of the mechanics he gave her his full attention.
She walked closer and spotted an astromech ejecting from the ship and join his masters' side and beeping something.
She could never understand droid language and so gave the man full attention as he stopped before her.
She starred at him in awe. Not knowing what to say she attempted to speak but she found herself speechless.
"The fact that you sensed me from that distance tells me you are Force awakened already... Ahsoka didn't wanted to train you?" he asked.
"Yes." She was confused, not knowing how he knows that.
He extended his right hand as well did she. The two shook hands.
His gloved hand grabbed her harder than she expected him to, hurting her a bit. As she attempted to introduce herself he pulled her closer and leaned to her ear and whispered: "Jedi Master. Don't tell anyone."
As he pulled her closer she could hear mechanical sounds come from his hand and knew he had a mechanical one.
She was confused but didn't felt endangered as a Jedi would never do harm to a civilian: "Who is this man and why is he so harsh and strange?"
She glanced at his side to really check if he was a Jedi, to see his lightsaber.
It was hanging at his hip.
"Who are you?" she was getting concern as he didn't say his name yet.
"You don't seem to recognize me. Good… Finally, someone." He whispered the last part to himself.
She let go of the hand shake and backed away from him, now being quite concern.
"Look I need my X wing repaired till tomorrow and I need a quiet room where I can sleep." He tried to convince her, but she was getting nowhere with this stranger.
"Okey, I don't know who you are, but I won't accompany you anywhere." She told him raising her hands and backing away some more.
"Look I'm a Jedi Master, I came off of the battlefield and I really need you to get me somewhere private?" He came closer as he showed off as a privileged man and glanced around them for any onlookers and then fixed his hood further across his face, so much so that she could barely see his eyes from underneath his hood.
"Maybe." She crossed her arms and knew he is trying to hide, but why, who is he?
A random mechanic walked pass him and stopped near him.
It made the man realize he is in hearing range so he clasped his hands together in a prayer and begged "Promise me, you will do as I asked."
He seemed desperate and his blue eyes showed a strong look.
But his face showed her something more, tiredness.
She could tell he works nonstop just from the face alone and she could relate.
That is where she remembered that he came from the battlefield, as his robes smelled of blaster fire and lightsaber cuts and his hair still had a few leafs and dirt in it, as well as his beard, his face wasn't darker, but only dirty as she only now noticed.
Only now she realized that a tired and probably a hungry man stood before her and he was a Jedi. A Jedi Master to be exact.
He might be a stranger, but no one deserves to starve.
She took pity on him.
"Come with me." She said as she waved him to follow and without hesitation he did, as well did the droid.
She led him to the main hallway that runs inside the whole ship yard and led him to the closest mass hall where she told him to go to refresher and wait for her there.
He nodded and went in while she walked to the mass hall and waited in line for her to pick what she wants to eat.
Once her turn came she ordered two meals and lied to the cook that she will take it to her teacher.
Once with both trays of food stacked upon one another she exited the mass hall and walked to the mens' restroom where she bumped her elbow against the door and soon enough the Jedi opened it.
She then walked to the nearest storage room where her whole sector went to get all the small electronic parts.
Rey knew that the security droid would not allow her to get in the storage room with trays of food, but that was not her destination.
As the two and the droid walked to the buff security droid it warned: "You are not permitted to enter with a tray. Please drop the tray and wash your hands before entering."
"Look, I didn't come here to go to the storage room, I came here to eat in your security room."
"That… I may permit, but please clean after yourselves." The droid said and outstretched its hand.
She gave the trays to the Jedi and pulled out her identification card.
The droid scanned it and allowed them to pass.
The Jedi's droid beeped a few times and the Jedi said.
"Oh really R2?... Right I remember the images from the Holonet. The droids really do look similar."
The droid beeped again a few times and by the time it stopped they came to the small room inside the large storage section.
This room was full of surveillance cameras on one side and on the other windows with privacy shades. She turned on the lights and walked to the windows to offer some privacy to the new occupants of the room.
She took the trays from the mans' hands and placed them on the table.
"Really? You never talked about your adventures with my father did you?"
The droid beeped again.
"Right, right Ahsoka was with you as well."
"You know Ahsoka?" she asked immediately, her curiosity strong.
"My father knew her back when she was still a Padawan." He removed his hood and looked around the room.
The sink at the corner of the rom gained his attention and he walked to it to wash his hands and then his face, while saying: "Otherwise we met when Liea arranged a meeting with all of the Jedi in the Rebellion as the Empire fractured over the years."
The sink was getting muddy and she might even have heard a few rocks fall into the sink.
"Oh, so how many were there on that meeting?" she didn't really need him to say the names of them, but she would suffice with a number.
"Um, there was me, Ahsoka, a sometime friend of hers… and a few others, I don't remember. That meeting was a long time ago." He seemed honest as his body language went in sync with his emotions and the story. Once he felt clean he wiped his hands and face in his robes and turned towards the table where he took his food tray and sat down by the table with an exhale.
Upon realizing his face was never a darker complexion, but a white one with just so much dirt on it she was surprised.
Her self-defense teacher taught her how to observe better than what she had ever learned on her own. Before she only observed the body movements of the people surrounding her, to see when will they jump her, but now she can see that a lot faster and clearer as every action and expression is a consequence of their emotions and thinking.
She was focused upon him throughout his whole meal as she ate her own as well.
After their bellies were full she took the trays and said she will make sure that his X wing will be repaired till tomorrow and with that she left him there.
Rey dropped the food trays at the mass hall and went to his X wing to check upon the repairs.
The young mechanic noticed the star fighter already had a full body wash and was already dried. The X wing was stripped of some of exterior as it had to be cleaned of all the dirt and mud that was on the engine, otherwise they vacuumed and cleaned the cockpit and the space where the droid is supposed to be.
Droids don't have emotions and flesh they are just hunks of metal programmed to do what they do.
R2 unit, the mans' longtime friend it seems. She could never imagine such a close relationship with a droid.
One of the mechanics working upon the Jedi's Starfighter approached her and quickly gained her attention.
He asked if the man said how fast he wants it to be repaired and ready to deploy. She told him that he has until tomorrow to get going.
Upon viewing the scan of the repairs that need to be made, his eyes bulged.
In that moment she offered her assistance.
She always wanted to get close to Jedi things, let it be a lightsaber, a simple robe or a Starfighter, each time she would touch one of these she would feel honored of the opportunity.
She hoped he would accept her offer and after a few seconds of silence he said: "Yes, we will need every hand we could get." And put the holopad away.
The girl jumped of excitement and asked where she could be of any use.
He said at the upper left thrust engine, but before she could go to meet the other mechanics, he stopped her.
The male wanted to know from which section of repairs is she from. She explained where she works and what kind of repairs she already made till now. Through her lack of repairing vast compartments of the Starfighters and transport ships he determined that she was still a Mechanic Apprentice. With her lack of experience, he put her to work upon the cleaning of the engines.
Though the dirtiest of the jobs as a mechanic she still appreciated that she had a chance to work upon a Jedi's Starfighter.
She informed her Teacher and the guard she trains with that she will be late, due to working upon a Jedi Starfighter, she was sure the two would understand.
The time they spent work was the whole day, but even then they needed to work late into the night shift she felt tiredness kick in she told the person in charge of repairing that she will remove herself as she believed she will only cause trouble if she stays. The alien in charge said that he appreciated the help and wished her goodnight.
She left the repair room and walked towards the room she left the Jedi in. He was sleeping, but the droid was turned on and greeted her. She told it that she doesn't understand him. Rey reported upon the progress and believed that the starship will be repaired until tomorrow. After that she sat down by the table and dropped her head upon it lightly and started to sleep until the morning.
The sirens of the beginning of the morning shift woke her up.
Her eyes opened in an instant. She didn't want to get up just yet, but she had to, so she slowly got herself up on the feet and found herself in an empty room.
Rey stared at the chair that was supposed to have an occupant, but guessed he already woke up and got himself some breakfast, so she made her way to the mass hall.
On her way there she met the mechanics that looked angry, but she soon recognized them as the ones that worked late into the night even as she left.
They were tired since they were the ones that continued to work all of the night shift.
"Good morning." She greeted them, they stopped in their tracks but they did not recognize her.
"Um, I'm the one that helped to clean the exhaust parts." She added feeling surprised at how lack of sleep can compromise the memory of an individual. She herself always had enough sleep, but yesterday her sleep was the shortest in a long time.
"Oh yes, now I remember" one of the mechanics said and placed his hand upon her shoulder.
"Thank you for helping." He said and wanted to leave with his colleagues, but she had a question for them.
"Where's the Jedi?" the young mechanic asked.
"Oh you mean that ungrateful son of a bitch?" he asked with an agitated voice.
She rose an eyebrow.
"Left, without a good bay, without a thank you." the older mechanics now walked away.
She stood there in shock, wondering what that man s' name was.
"A stranger in need…" that's what he was, but as the words of the older mechanics slowly sank in and she realized what he said and that he didn't even left a note she began feeling the same.
There is one thing that mechanics hate the most and that is ungrateful clients.
"…is one son of a bitch indeed." She said it to herself and began her day agitated.
