The sand dunes of Jakku were infamous for their vastness but more so for the decimated Imperial star destroyers that adorned them, imperial and new republic shipwrecks alike could be viewed from all over the horizon. Each had been manned by thousands of people, each one had engaged in prolonged battle for their supposed ideals of how the Galaxy should be ruled and each had paid the price as had most of its crews in the aftermath of what had been a clash of the ages. The battle of Jakku had decided the fate of the galaxy at one point, now the site of history lay as a forgotten desolate wasteland filled with junk traders and criminals that the galaxy would rather forget about. Among these downtrodden there was a peculiar one, one not from this world and surely one who seemed to be lost in more ways than just being trapped in a galactic junk heap of a planet, the infamous Kyle Katarn found himself as an unknown castaway following behind the child he had met earlier and who was now acting as his guide in the vast desert.
"So an Executor-class, eh?" Kyle asked curiously while glancing at the empty horizon, almost all of it was endless mountains of sand with only a few pieces of debris scattered here and there. With his eyes squinted as he tried to avoid the sun's rays the Jedi received no immediate answer to his query.
"Polina?" Kyle said, trying to catch the girl's attention as she kept a brisk pace in front of him, her little steps causing slender rifts in the sands while Kyle's own steps caused him to sink his whole foot at every step. She was a nimble child of no more than ten years and she seemed to be rather knowledgeable for her age given her ease of traveling in this wastrel. It wasn't surprising given the hostile environment of this planet, Jakku, as they called it.
Polina's eyes drifted back to Kyle, she smiled and then turned her view back in front, "Yep, it used to extend all the way in the clearing, it was picked up little by little, least that's what they told me,"
The grandness of the surrounding panorama surprised Kyle. Unlike Tatooine, Zonju V, or many other desert planets that he knew of, Jakku was nothing but seemingly endless dunes with crashed star destroyers and Mon Cala cruisers alike. Polina explained that this planet had been the site of a major battle between the Galactic Empire and the rising New Republic, the Imperial leadership had planned to blow up the planet's core but were stopped before doing so, by whom it was still not quite clear. The scope at which these wrecks of battle spread out was fascinating to Kyle, he had only seen such signs of devastation from the Vong war, and that had been quite a destructive ordeal, this was only a dent on that.
Many of the crashed ships laid half-sunken within the sands while being picked up by all arrays of scavengers each looking for anything useful, Kyle could spot them easily from afar, several dozens of scavengers exiting out of the crash sites, bags of parts on their backs and ready to ship to parts unknown within their speeders or luggabeasts. The sight didn't faze Kyle much, it was no different than back in other junk planets where people lived off scavenging and collecting, even stealing like those pesky Jawas. All he wanted to do now was get to a starport and leave for Yavin as soon as he could, they'd been walking for hours and the scorching heat was beginning to take a toll on his body and perhaps even his mind.
"So how long till getting there, whatcha say it was called?" Kyle asked with a fatigued voice.
Polina turned her head, her eyes wide open as she looked right at the supposed Jedi, she still couldn't fully believe the man's claim that he was a Jedi, much less knew Luke Skywalker. However, Polina felt that he was lost, didn't know where he was, and needed help. Any other beggar or stranger who approached her would've caused her to flee in defense but the fact this man had quite literally fallen from the sky and into the sands of her homeworld told her he was no threat to her, at least she hoped.
"We're already here, past this hillside," she said with a slight smile much to Kyle's surprise, nevertheless the Jedi was overcome with a sudden boost in energy as he moved fast up the mound of sand.
Kyle's hopeful smile turned into a disappointed glare as what he expected to be a full-fledged spaceport was really nothing but a junkyard with dilapidated buildings scattered here and there. What seemed to be a large fence surrounding an assortment of other buildings and it seemed that people were coming in and out of the settlement. Taking deep breaths and trying his best to stay positive Kyle made his way down, clumsily so as he struggled to keep a footing on the sandhill, all the while Polina strode behind him with care and little hurry.
Eventually, as the strange traveler and local girl were approaching the outskirts of the marketplaces at the outskirts of the settlement Kyle looked up as a ship soared up and away into the skies. The sight gave him some confidence that perhaps not all was lost. Polina for her part watched as the man looked tired out, sweating intensely and running his gloved hand through his hair with discomfort. Several locals looked at Kyle with perplexed eyes but otherwise kept their distance and mostly to themselves as he passed by.
"Which way to get a ride?" he asked bluntly, to which the young girl pointed over towards a checkpoint further into the outpost, Kyle made his way promptly as he still struggled to keep a strong foot and felt the heat truly taking a toll on him but he hoped he'd be able to catch a ride out of here now.
Arriving at the checkpoint, welded to gates surrounding the large field he'd seen before the building was well protected by several layers of metal and a small gap at the center, what seemed to be the entrance into the main town was closed off by a red energy field. Kyle approached the stand and was immediately greeted by a tattletale droid sticking out of the gap which startled the Jedi for a moment before he composed himself.
"Uhm, hello there," Kyle said awkwardly.
"Ah'chu apenkee?" the security droid asked.
"I'm… I lost my ship back in the desert, wanted to find a new one, or any ship available to travel out of here."
The droid kept silent for several seconds until it spoke once more, "Ah'ni apalineek."
"No, wait a second, I have credits I just need a ship out of h-"
"Ka'mi kiminik" the gatekeeping droid suddenly retracted back into its hole and the gate remained closed, Kyle slammed his fist on the wall in frustration.
"You weren't allowed in, huh?" Polina casually asked a surprised Kyle.
"You knew they wouldn't let me in didn't you!?" Kyle said in accusation.
"They never let anyone in, at least no one like me… I thought with you saying you're a Jedi and all they'd allow you inside." The girl's insinuation puzzled Kyle as he looked back into the surrounding marketplaces and run-down buildings, everyone wearing dirty garments and carrying in scrap and other junk to clean at tables made from rusted durasteel.
"So you're not allowed to leave the planet, I thought you said this was a spaceport!" Kyle asked.
"Well we actually call it more of a landing field," Polina corrected Kyle, "usually only people who run the stands or know the others inside get to leave, most of us are still indebted."
"Who is 'us'?" Kyle asked once more as he crossed his arms.
"The junk scavs, anyone who ventures out into the wreck deserts, ever since a couple of scavs stole a freighter off Unkar we're not allowed into bay three anymore, anyone who tries never makes it," Polina explained, there was a bit of resentment and sadness in her voice as she looked down and kicked the sand rather impassionately, Kyle noticed her mood shift.
"This Unkar, who is he?"
Polina looked up to the Jedi once more, "the junkboss, we give him all we find over there at his stand!" she pointed at a heavily armored blockhouse not too far from them. Kyle thought for a second, perhaps he'd be able to negotiate with this Unkar and find passage into the bay, the Jedi began walking towards the stand with Polina still following curiously behind him.
It did not take long for them to arrive, the whole settlement was not that large, Kyle saw as a scavenger handed several wiring and other pieces of technology into the stand only to be handed a couple of silver packets. Turning around with a disappointed expression the scavenger was confronted with a tall bearded figure standing right before him, Kyle stood firmly as he simply nodded to the scavenger who sprinted away in fear much to the Jedi's confusion. Kyle took a few steps forward to the service window, he could barely see inside through the screen but noticed the jumbled mess of parts and other pieces of scavenged scrap from various ships, some he recognized while others he did not.
"You are not affiliated with this outpost, are you?" A deep grouchy voice sounded off from within the stand.
"No, I am not," Kyle replied, "I'm looking for a way off-world, I heard you may be the person to speak to for it."
"Wrong, I am the person to talk to, lifts off Jakku are hard to secure these days," the supposed junk boss Unkar said with a deep wheeze before continuing, "what do you offer in exchange?"
His glare steady and posture firm despite the torture of the desert, Kyle looked within his right pocket and brought out a handful of credit chips, most of which were of a silver color while others were of a golden tint.
"I believe this ought to cover the expenses," Kyle said with unerring confidence as he set the bundle of credits on the stand.
Unkar let out a laugh followed by a slam onto the table from his side, he laughed heavily and the blockhouse could visibly tremble at the junk boss's guffaw which was cut short by him approaching closer to the screen and looking at the puzzled Kyle straight in the eyes.
"If you want to make jokes, go somewhere else, otherwise don't waste my time, reprobate…" With that said the stand's screen was closed up as the credit chips bounced off the stand and down onto the sand. The whole interaction left Kyle speechless as he picked up the chips and looked at them with concern.
"He's not going to take credits, here what matters is the salvage you can find," Polina appeared from behind the Jedi, she looked curiously at the credits in his hand, "and they better be good ones…"
"Well I don't have time for running through scraps to find power converters, I need a starship and I need it soon…" Kyle suddenly felt the heat of the day begin to truly kick in as he felt a cold sweat and stumbled down onto the ground barely able to keep himself awake. Polina approached the man hurriedly as she felt his brow and knew he was suffering from dehydration, possibly from extreme hunger as well.
The deserts of Jakku were not forgiving to everyone, especially those who were new to it, and Polina was used to seeing many others succumb to it, but this one was different, she knew he meant business and she would not allow him to fall victim to the elements.
"Come mister Jedi, you need rest," Polina said worriedly as she took Kyle's hand.
"I… I need to find a ship…" Kyle said slowly, struggling to keep his balance.
"Rest first, ship later!" Polina said authoritatively, to which Kyle acquiesced silently by standing up with his remaining strength, following the girl's lead until the two came upon a junk dump not too far from the outpost. Several vehicles and ships of different designs were piled up, all torn and scrapped except for a singular ship which stood out from the heaps of metallic garbage of different eras past their usefulness and dumped in here to rot.
What Kyle could make out of the ship was rather murky, much of it a rusted blue and grey, with a blocky fuselage connected to what seemed to be a pair of long s-foils that ran above the cockpit. A slim, rather dilapidated door opened up sideways after Polina inputted a short code onto the pad monitor. The interior of the ship was quaint, spacious enough for Kyle to enter unimpeded, he scanned around to see an assortment of trinkets, parts, and crates all piled in different places. A long piece of thick cloth hung on two opposite sides of the ship to make a makeshift bed, Kyle noticed some of the odd trinkets shaped in the form of ships, dolls, and other makeshift toys. By the looks of it, this was Polina's "home", if you could even call such a rusted trash heap that.
"How long have you been living here?" Kyle asked while curiously inspecting what seemed to be bolts and a battery welded together to make the shape of an AT-AT. Polina suddenly snatched the toy off Kyle's hand and calmly walked towards the front of the ship, the cockpit was a two-seater and seemed to be of similar design to ships made by Incom, but this particular design was alien to Katarn. The Jedi kept inspecting his surroundings completely unaware of whatever the young child was doing, he then noticed a familiar symbol, the three-pointed Starbird of the Rebel Alliance.
Setting his hand lightly onto the largely discolored insignia Kyle had a brief melancholic moment as he remembered back in the days of the Galactic Civil War, working alongside Jan, retrieving the Death Star plans, and meeting Luke Skywalker. He never thought he'd long to be back in those days when life seemed simpler.
"Hey, mister Jedi master!" Polina's words brought Kyle back from his reminiscing as he looked back and saw her handing him a small plate with what seemed to be a piece of white bread on it. Taking hold of the plate Kyle eyed the meal with slight uncertainty but he nonetheless nodded to Polina.
"Thank you," he said as she merely smiled and walked back to the other side of the ship, Kyle following her to find several more crates arranged as if they were chairs and tables, Polina gave a gesture for Kyle to take a seat in one of the improvised chairs and he did rather awkwardly.
"Aren't you gonna eat too?" Kyle asked, Polina nodded to him as she set another plate underneath a tube, she pressed a red button and a device that seemed to be some kind of condenser attached to the wall and with several long tubes going up and through the ships windows began to sputter. Polina then opened a silver packet similar to those that the junkboss had given out earlier, soon enough water came out of the tube and into the plate at which point Polina dumped a powder from the packet into the water and mixed it with her fingers. Within seconds the mixture turned into the same bread that Kyle had on his plate much to his amazement.
"So, this is what those packets are for…" Kyle said with a slight smile in realization. He smelled the bread and bit into it, finding the taste rather bland and the texture like biting leaves. Polina meanwhile ate the piece of bread without much hesitation, Kyle couldn't complain much as he felt he hadn't eaten anything in days and for whatever reason, this strange girl was helping him, at this point he began wondering why that was the case given how everyone else had greeted him so far.
Taking another bite from the bread Kyle swallowed it harshly before taking a look at Polina, "So, why exactly are you doing this?" he asked. Polina looked at the Jedi with wide eyes as she was just about finished with her portion bread.
"What do you mean, mister Jedi master?" she replied with a muddled voice.
"You can cut the 'mister' part and just call me Kyle," he said bluntly while taking another bite from the bread, the taste only got worse after each bite, "it's obvious you've lived here for long, and by how most of the locals have treated me this ain't exactly the most friendly of planets," he set the plate aside and leaned forward, "so what's your reasoning to helping a guy who fell from the sky and by all means could be crazy?"
Having eaten the last of her bread, Polina chewed casually as she then rested her back and looked at Kyle with no concern at his attempt to interrogate her. The girl had a smug to her and she seemed to be enjoying keeping Kyle in the dark.
"Fine then, thanks for the grub kid but I think this is where we split," Kyle said as he rose from his seat, still nauseated from the heat sickness Kyle would rather take his chances alone than continue to depend on a shady kid from a backwater planet. Just as he was about to make his way out of Polina's home the child finally spoke up, her words this time truly catching Kyle's attention.
"I know where you can get your ship…" Kyle's eyes glimmered for a second as he looked back at the kid.
"Alright, now we're getting somewhere," Kyle sat back down on the crate, "so, where's this ship?"
Polina's smug turned into a more sincere smile as she glanced around and spread her arms in a demonstrative manner. Kyle was unamused, to say the least.
"You serious?" Kyle looked around the ship himself and could only see nothing but a derelict piece of junk that could barely even count as a home, much less a working ship. Kyle chuckled a bit as he ran his hand through his hair.
"Listen, kid, I don't mean to make you upset but this thing is not gonna fly. You'd be better off trying to use an Ewok glider to get off-world than this rust bucket…"
"A what?" Polina asked, puzzled.
"Forget about it," Katarn uttered dismissively as he rested his head back and rubbed his eyes, and let out a frustrated sigh.
Polina meanwhile was far from upset, she realized her home had seen better days but she was convinced that it could be repaired.
"I've been working on this U-Wing for some time now, Unkar doesn't know it but all I need is two pieces to make it fly," Polina said with confidence.
"Oh, so you're some kind of engineering prodigy now!?" Kyle wisecracked.
"Well you learn a lot when scavenging, and from watching others do it too, according to the manual all I need is a stabilizing coil and an energy cycler!"
Kyle's chuckle turned into a full laugh, "Good luck finding any of that here kid, most likely every ship with an energy cycler has been stripped by now, and stabilizers lose power about a year after going unused."
"Well then it's a good thing there's a place here that has all those things in working conditions!" Polina remarked with a coy smile to a cynical Kyle who looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Ah, so you're also a thief?"
"Who said anything about stealing, I'm only saying that the blobfish wouldn't miss a couple of parts, It's not like he's bleeding for them," Polina replied quickly, almost as if she had the answer stored for use already.
With little else in terms of alternatives, Kyle knew it was either working for days, possibly weeks to find the parts they needed and never make it off the planet of going with Polina's 'suggestion.' Katarn was not a stranger to procuring things he needed from others, he had done that with the Empire plenty of times. Though he didn't act like it was something honorable and much less did he enjoy doing it. Nonetheless, it seemed it was his only option.
"Alright then, say we borrow these things from the junkboss, we get the ship fixed, what's in it for you?" Kyle asked as he raised himself up from the wall he was laying on.
"I want out of this planet, I don't care where you go, I'm coming too!" Polina said brusquely.
"Alright, so you got your mind set, is it that easy to leave your homeworld for you?"
Polina scoffed at the insinuation, "This isn't my homeworld, much less a place I want to live in, all I want is whatever is out there. Must be better than this…"
"Believe me, kid, you don't know how unforgiving the galaxy can be," Kyle retorted, speaking from experience.
"Can't be worse than living day to day scrounging for parts and eating these…" The girl said with a more depressive tone as Kyle looked over to the makeshift condenser, the empty silver packet, and the piled-up crates all covered with dust. He couldn't quite blame the girl for wanting to leave, by the Force he wanted to leave this hellhole as soon as possible and it seemed this impromptu partnership was his best bet so far.
"Alright then, we get the parts, repair the ship and we're out of here lickety split, together" He extended his hand to Polina, "deal?"
Polina didn't hesitate as she quickly took a hold of the Jedi's hand and shook it with a smile, to which Kyle smiled back.
"Alright then, now," Kyle said as he grabbed what remained of his portion bread, "tell me everything about this Unkar guy…"