Rey of Hope (The Rise of Jakku's Resistance)
"HALF A PORTION!"
Rey No-Name had enough. The scrap she had collected was worth at least four. Not to mention, they tasted like shit anyways. It was a soulless, cultureless food. "It's worth at least four."
"HALF A PORTION!"
Rey saw red. A wind rattled at the edge of her vision. She spotted a knife in her pile of scrap. Her fingers closed around the blade and the wind hit her back. The knife flew straight through the being's left eye. There was very little blood. She turned towards the crowd. "I have been here since I was a small child. Since then, I have watched this overseer cheat, lie, and devalue the people of Jakku. I know that this planet was once a thriving place. It can thrive again. And we do not need the Offworld Mining Corporation to do it. Who is with me?"
There was silence. The crowd broke into mutters. Rey knew that she was relatively new. People had been here for generations. She was also a No-Name. That didn't help her cause either. An elderly woman stepped forward. Rey remembered her.
It was Elder Aylin Tsei. She was fifth-generation and her great-grandchildren were ninth-generation. "Rey has a point. We have grown progressively poorer. The Offworld Corporation has done us no favors. Back when I was a girl, we used to weave clothes and make paint. But children had time to be children. And, while life was hard, we were not forced to have our children work day-in, day-out. We had time for stories and education. And when's the last time we did a full wedding in this town?"
The crowd began muttering again. It sounded more positive this time. Rey knew, vaguely, that if the crowd decided not to dump Offworld, she could very well be killed and left outside of town. The closest these people would ever get to an apology. "What happens next?"
Aylin considered it for a moment. Rey almost held her breath. There was tension in the room. Aylin's smile was moderately terrifying. Offworld had cut the dental benefits a generation before Aylin. Rey knew that teeth tended not to hold up when your dental tools were scavenged when food got expensive. "I believe, my dear, it's time that we called the general assembly together for the first time since Empire Day."
Rey had no idea what a general assembly was. It sounded like a good plan, though. She knew it was some sort of democratic governance. Did she get a vote? Rey hoped so. "Do I get a vote?"
Aylin looked both amused and saddened. Her gaze fell upon the crowd. She met Rey's eyes. "My dear woman, everyone gets a vote in the general assembly. Now, it is time to walk. Fortunately, we have access to plenty of travel-friendly water and food for everyone."
Rey got no fewer than six mildly amused glances. Nobody seemed particularly saddened by the loss of Representative Grusk. She would guess that nobody had particularly liked him, even if they hadn't wanted to anger the company he worked for. Offworld had enslaved entire planets before.
It took surprisingly little time before everyone was ready to go. Rey would guess that was because they were all equally poor. Everyone had gotten an equal share of the food and water. They began walking towards the desert. Rey knew that there were two other settlements and the Niima Outpost. Vaguely, she wondered if the local militia would cause trouble about this.
The heat baked into them as they traveled. Rey was surprised that there were no fatalities during the journey. Then again, there wasn't any arbitrary water or food deprivation by an off-worlder. That probably helped. At least one person in their mining settlement had died per day for as long as she could remember. "Was there a religion on Jakku?"
Aylin paused. She didn't miss a step as they continued walking through the desert. Rey wondered if she had made some sort of social blunder. "There is or was a village that worshiped in the Church of the Force. They ended communications some time ago when The Empire began. We shall see if they still live."
The wind tore at their camps at night. Rey was glad that some of the others had offered her a spot in their woven tent. Otherwise, she feared that the wind and sand would have stripped her skin and clothes. There was a reason that she had lived in a cave. Dinner had been some sort of soup with spices that Rey had never tasted before. It vastly improved the taste of the Offworld rations.
The first place they visited appeared to be a ruin. Rey felt her stomach drop. The houses were burnt long ago. There were even a few skeletons sitting in the sun, picked clean long ago. The tatters of their clothing fluttered in the desert winds. She inhaled as Aylin poked the ground. Nothing. Aylin stepped forward. Poke. Aylin stepped forward again.
CLANG!
Aylin smiled. "It appears our Tuanul friends are not as dead as The Empire might have hoped."
Rey helped the villagers frantically clear sand off of what appeared to be a trapdoor. It only took a few minutes to clear off. The sand was heavy, but the entire mining settlement was strong together. Aylin stepped forward and pulled out her staff. Rey watched in amazement as she twisted the top off and pulled out a key.
SQUEALLLLLL!
The trapdoor opened downwards. Rey looked down. She felt a nudge on her shins. She looked up to see Aylin's amused face. Most of the villagers had stepped back.
"Are you coming, Rey?"
Rey followed her into the tunnels. She wasn't quite sure why, but something just felt right about trusting Aylin. Perhaps the desert had made her lonely. She was vaguely aware that The Empire tended to exploit loners. Only time would tell if the settlers of Jakku were the same. At least nobody seemed inclined to reprimand her for the-
A voice came from the darkness. "Only when the eyes are closed-"
"Can you truly see." Aylin finished the sentence.
The lights turned on around them. Rey blinked as she saw a giant room with perhaps five hundred occupants. They were all neatly assembled. As far as Rey could tell, all of them were wearing packs or bags of some sort. They were ready to go already.
The crowd spoke in unison. "We stand with the people of Jakku."
It was, Rey reflected, a bit eerie. Nonetheless, they followed her and Aylin out of the tunnels and into the light of the desert. The crowd made room for all of them. Rey was impressed. There were no fights and people were even distributing water. Or at least offering it. Perhaps. Perhaps there was hope for a better system after all. They continued through the desert.
The group had nearly quadrupled in size by the time they had recruited the other settlements. Oddly enough, neither one had an independent representative. Instead, the guards from Niima had delivered rations, but only after freely taking what they wanted from the food. As a result, the Niima militia was almost as unpopular as the Offworld Mining Corporation.
They had stopped a half-day walk from the Niima outpost. Rey wondered why. Several of the village elders had met in a tent to discuss things. Rey knew it was not her place to try to join the meeting. After the meeting, dinner had been served with the promise of an announcement. And a plan to defeat the Niima militia. Rey could only hope that she could take part. She may not have been born here, but these were as close to her people as it got. It had been Aylin who had fed her after her parents had abandoned her. She had vague memories of bedtime songs.
"Good people of Jakku. A message has been sent out. Those who would join us are staying. Those who are not to be involved are leaving or hiding aboard ships. The Niima militia has not agreed to negotiate with the general assembly."
Mutters broke out at that. Rey had a feeling that the crowd did not approve of that in the slightest. Throats were cleared and the crowd quieted down. Rey bit into a roll and nearly choked. She had never tasted anything that sweet in her entire life. The announcement continued.
"Given that they are an offshoot of the Hutt cartel and that they keep slaves - both against the planet charter, by the way - we have elected to give them the traditional sentence. EXILE or DEATH!"
The crowd roared. Rey could feel something thrum to life around them. It felt like the beating of a war drum. The thumping of her heart when she had stabbed Grusk. She continued eating. The crowd was nearly frothing at the mouth.
"All members of the rebellion will be supplied with a red armband. You will be divided into different groups based on your skills. If you are of age and fit enough to take part in the battle, you will march at dawn."
Cheers broke out around the camp. Rey finished her dinner and began looking around. She was a competent enough shot with a blaster. Most adults on Jakku carried a blaster of some sort. Hunting rats and other creatures often supplemented food when rations got cut too far down. Fortunately, she was herded towards a blue tent. Rey was handed a strip of red fabric with a single black stripe.
"Good evening. You will be part of the force that clears out the east quarter. Each of you will be assigned a member of the militia to kill. We want to prevent loss of life as much as possible, so try to be stealthy. Once the clock strikes exactly midday, you kill them with one clean shot."
Rey nodded grimly. Most of the other people in the tent did as well. It was not a task she was looking forward to. She knew that as long as the Niima guard existed, they would never be free. Come to think of it, hadn't Aylin once said that it was the Niima guard who brought in Offworld? It was hard to remember the early bits of her childhood sometimes.
They left at dawn. Rey was wearing a face-covering. Thankfully, the Niima guard was used to the sort of disreputable characters who traveled in large groups and wore masks. They all were wearing masks. They would be faceless. That way, if footage somehow got out, nobody's family would know who to kill. It would also prevent the Hutts from taking revenge if they deigned to be upset about the loss of profit from Jakku. Rey couldn't imagine that they'd even notice the money missing.
The day wore on. The city was somehow hotter than the desert. Rey wasn't even sure how that was possible. She had found her target outside of a cantina. He was steadily drinking some sort of alcoholic beverage. The clock chimed behind her. She watched. Fifteen minutes left. The blaster felt heavy against her waist.
DING! DING! DING!
Rey pulled her gun and fired. She hadn't even waited for the clock to finish chiming. Suddenly, she was hit with a wave of something. She heard the sound of a hundred blasters going off. Death after death flashed before her eyes. She was drowning. Rey gasped for breath as she watched whatever this was.
As suddenly as it had happened, her vision cleared. Rey realized that she was slumped against a column. One of her fellow squad members was next to her, holding her up with his weight. A hand was waved in front of her face. Rey felt like she was about to faint. She fought back the urge to puke as she slowly regained the ability to stand under her own power.
"Easy there. It's always hard to do it the first time. Premeditated killing and killing in the heat of the moment are a little different."
Rey was pretty sure that it was someone from her settlement under there. The gruff voice sounded familiar. She wondered when he had killed his first person. Was it just that? It had felt like more. Water was shoved into her hands. Rey took a cautious sip. She realized that he was gently patting her shoulder. Well, this was mildly mortifying. She glared at him through the mask. The patting immediately stopped.
"There you are. Looks like you're back with us. C'mon. Let's head towards the city square. We're supposed to meet there."
Rey followed the man to the square. She was oddly calmed by his presence and the others as they came out and joined the group. There was a certain amount of safety in numbers. They continued towards the square. They arrived there in what felt like a flash and an eternity at the same time.
"I'm Rixon Fortric, by the way. I saw you every day for the drop-off. Don't be a stranger, Rey."
Rey felt oddly touched. The crowds had always been a bit much for her. Maybe Rixon would be willing to be her friend? She knew that he probably could have his pick of husbands or wives. He brought in some of the largest and most valuable scraps almost every day. Rey was vaguely aware that he was considered pretty attractive as well.
"The people of Jakku are free! We will be voting on a wide variety of issues in the coming days, so please pay attention to the news centers. Voting times and issues will be announced on the hubs as needed."
Rey was watching as the celebrations continued through the night. A tapping sounded behind her. She leaned back against the chair. There was a drink sitting in front of her. Rixon had brought her one of every kind of dessert and she was slowly working her way through trying each of them. Rey felt bad that she had no recipes of her own to share.
"Have you considered a name?" It was Aylin. The old woman sat down in front of her.
"A name?" Rey was puzzled. Normally, she would be stuck with no last name for life. Then again, very little had been normal in the past few days.
"A name. Rixon and I are sponsoring you for a naming ceremony. You'll have a last name and be considered first generation. You've earned. You're one of us now." Aylin sounded very firm about that.
Rey felt herself tear up a little bit. She had just been so alone. "Not- not yet."
Aylin patted her hand. The old woman was smiling at her. "Take your time. A name is a very important thing. And don't be a stranger. Rixon is sweet on you and I could always use more great-grandchildren."
Rey blushed as Aylin walked off. She'd swear the old woman was cackling as she went, but the noise of the celebration quickly swallowed her. She bit into a sweet roll. This was going to be a long night. She pulled out her datapad. There had been someone high up in the Rebel Alliance who had started out as a moisture farmer, right? Maybe she could take their name. It wasn't the same, but it was close enough.
Rey made her decision as the sun rose over the newly freed city. Her eyes itched. Her throat was dry. Her head was beginning to pound from the lack of sleep. She smiled. They were free. They were all free. She stood up and walked out to see the sunrise. There was nobody there, but that was alright. She wanted to test the name out first.
"My name is Rey. Rey Skywalker."
Fin