Chapter 1 – Meetings and Repairs

Thea sighed deeply as she pulled her robe closer around herself as she trudged through the Jakku desert. The wind whipping through her silver-white hair with a black streak down the side. She had always hated deserts, and there seemed to be far too many desert-only specific worlds.

Yet she knew that Jakku hadn't always been barren like this, it had once been a beautiful world, but time changed everything, she supposed.

Star Destroyers, as well as other wrecked and scavenged ships and vehicles littered the landscape. Half buried X-Wings in one direction, and a downed AT-AT just over another ridge. As much as she loved technology, this would've been a great find for parts if she had been here 30 years ago when the battle took place. There were still things to find of course, but anything of true value had long since been striped and sold by the local scavengers.

She wouldn't come here unless completely necessary, and unfortunately her very aged ship was in need of repair. Jakku was one of the only decent scrap dealers in this area. She had done the best she could with what she had, but it was time to either fix it entirely or just replace it with something newer.

Her dynamic-class freighter, otherwise known as the Ebon Hawk was essentially a museum piece at this point and by the time she had awoken, she had found many scavengers in the act of stripping it down, but she had put a stop to that and gotten everything back. That was about 3 years ago now, and it was very much improved now, the old ship had never looked so nice before. Yet the hyper-drive was on it's last legs, she probably could only get another jump or two out of it before it gave up entirely. There was only so much even the best mechanic could do with a three thousand year old hyper drive, after all.

"I hate sand." She said to no one as she pressed on.

It took nearly an hour or so before she reached Nima outpost and quickly traded water for parts. People here were always willing to trade for water and she had to give for it. Unfortunately, she was running low on funds at this point, as her small fortune of Sith Empire credits were virtually worthless in the current day and age. She had converted what she could, but it hadn't lasted long. Her hands brushed over the hilt of her twin lightsabers on her hips.

She could never sell those of course, they were incredibly important to her and she doubted there were many left in the galaxy trained in their usage anymore. She had a blaster too, but she also needed that for protection as she couldn't entirely rely on the force without giving herself away.

She finished trading with a scavenger, acquiring a large canteen of water and a decent supply of those ration packs that everyone here craved. Afterwards she made her way to the scrap dealer. This entire operation was ran by the Junkboss Unkar Plutt. Who was put in charge of Jakku by the local Hutts to oversee things. She never much cared for him, but they had an understanding and she had gotten to know some of his underlings too.

"Good Morning Jax," Thea said with a smile as she approached an open stall with a bored looking human in his mid-40 staring off.

"What is it this time, Thea?" The man asked, a look of irritation on his face at her approach.

"Gonna need a new hyper-drive, the main one is about to kick it on me, and I haven't replaced the back up one yet either." Thea said as he leaned against the stand and ignored his unpleasant attitude. "What can you do for me?"

"An entire hyper-drive? I'm sure we have something in stock." He said and briefly looked behind him. "Think we have a class 1 and a 3 back there. You got the credits to pay for this? The class 1 will be about 11,000 credits."

"Like hell I'm paying that much." Thea said, the smile falling off her face. "Make it 7."

"7? That's robbery." He said with an annoyed growl.

"Too bad." She said and tossed him some credits and pointed over her shoulder. "You really think any of these scavengers are gonna pay that?"

Jax growled irritably and snapped his fingers to have it delivered to her ship. "Take it and leave." Despite his temper, he knew crossing her was never wise when she was in need. "It's in perfect condition, it just needs a regulator. You'll have to go ask a scavenger for that though." Then he turned his attention away from her.

Thea sighed heavily and turned away from him, and looked across Nima Outpost. She had been here multiple times, and the work junkyard didn't begin to describe the place. The people unlucky enough to live here were constantly working, tearing apart old technology and ships to get scraps of ration packs. They were all overworked and underpaid and were barely scraping by.

Many of them always looked like they were just on the edge of exhaustion or starvation. It was essentially slavery without the title or those exploding chips that were sometimes used. Thankfully they were easy to work with because of that reason, Thea had gotten a large majority of her ships part from this place, just giving the people here enough food to last a month and she was given anything she needed.

She had only had a few rough encounters with the scavengers here, and they were the only times she was temped to draw her lightsabers, but she had refrained. A few quick jabs here and there was always enough to scare them off.

It only took her about half an hour to find who she needed to get her ship part. She rarely directly approached people until they got an unfair price from Unkar, as it'd make them more willing to sell at a reasonable rate then an inflated one. She tried not to shake down a ton of people if she could help it as they were helpful for her. She noticed a younger looking woman who had just stepped out of line with Unkar and was headed away from the shop, a small bag of parts over her shoulder. She could see the regular in there from here as she watched her.

Jakku was one of the scummiest worlds out there, the Hutts made credits over fist with the amount of valuable parts they got here and offered the finders next to nothing for them. She saw her chance now and quickly called out to her. "Excuse me?" The woman half turned to face her, a surprised look on her face. "I'll pay for your hyper-drive regulator, with a much better price."

"How much better?" She asked unsurely and turned fully to face her. Thea noticed then how strikingly beautiful the woman was. Light skin, dark brown hair and eyes, soft features and a surprisingly curvy figure. It was hard to believe that such a good looking woman had kept her beauty on a world like this.

"As much food as you could ask for and a proper bed to sleep on." Thea stated, and then continued. "I just need the coil and you to help me install it and a hyper-drive. It's a two person job."

The woman's eyes widened at that. "All that? Just for that little part?"

"I'm in desperate need for it." Thea said honestly.

"Absolutely." The woman said and stepped closer to grab Theas hand to shake it. "My name is Rey."

"Just Rey? No last name?" Thea asked, shaking her hand in turn then releasing it.

Rey seemed to close into herself at the question. "Maybe, I don't really know what it is."

"That's fair enough," Thea said and crossed her arms over her chest. "My name is Thea Shan. I'm parked just outside the outpost."

"I have a speeder." Rey said and pointed to it just a short distance away as she slung her staff over her shoulder.

"Perfect, that'll make this so much faster." Thea followed Rey to where it was parked. "I have no desire to make that long trek again."

"You could've just used one of the landing pads they have around here." Rey said with a confused look on her face as she hopped on top of her bike.

"The last time I left my ship alone for too long, people striped it apart, the last thing I'd want is for someone doing that to me yet again."

"Are you with any group?"

"No, strictly independent." Thea said.

"Are you with the Jedi Order?" Rey asked at pointed at her lightsabers.

"Oh," Thea said, looking down and seeing the gleaming hilts beneath her tattered robes. The thought of being confused for a Jedi brought a bit of anger up in her, but she quickly fought it down. She had a low profile to maintain after all. "No. I'm not a Jedi either. I just keep these for intimidation."

"Not a bad idea." Rey said, as Thea hopped over behind him and wrapped her arms around her waist.

Rey hadn't realized what a lucky find she had made earlier that morning. She had been annoyed at first to be offered so little by Unkar Plutt since anything Hyper-drive related was usually pricey. He'd been giving them all less and less rations for quality parts. No one would be able to get by at this rate. This offworlder swooping in when she did was incredibly helpful. She could feel the other womans eyes staring into her when her back was turned though, it almost felt like she was checking her out.

It hardly bothered her though, for what she was being given, the amount of food, she could look all she liked.

Rey and Thea worked together moving the old hyperdrive out and throwing it out into the sand before moving the new one into place. "Where'd you find this ship anyway? I've never seen one like it." Rey had been expecting something a bit older like a Clone Wars era ship, but this one was much older then even that. While the ship was remarkably well taken care of and was in the process of a complete refreshing, many of the internal workings were downright ancient. Considering the age of some of it, it was many thousands of years old and Thea had done a good job of updating much of it.

"It was passed down through the family." Thea said as Rey slid over the hyperdrive to start working on it while Thea looked over some of it's workings.

"That must be nice." Rey said, a taste of bitterness in her voice.

"Does this have to do with the lack of a last name thing?" Thea asked, briefly stopping her work.

"Something like that." Rey said flatly.

"I see. How long have you been on Jakku then?

"I'd rather not discuss my life story to someone I just met." Rey said curtly. "I just want to do the job you're paying me to do." She could hear footsteps walking away as she moved her head out to see Thea leaving the compartment. "Strange." Rey commented to herself and continued to work.

Thea had just finished cooking when Rey entered the kitchen area and set a plate down at the table for her. She was impressed with her, Rey had the hyperdrive working incredibly well. She'd been moving around quicker then before.

Thea joined Rey at the table as she began eating and paused immediately after the first bite. "This is incredible. You cooked this?"

A mechanical voice answered for her as a unique looking droid walked out of the other room. "Darth Xion fancies herself a talented cook from time to time." It came from an HK-47 unit that stood just in the doorway.

Rey took in the intimidating looking droid, but the strange name was what really caught her attention. "What? Darth Xion?"

Thea, thinking quickly responded, glared at the droid. "His memory core must be acting up again. He's clearly confusing me with a former master of his. He's about as old as this ship." It wasn't total lie, the ship was very old and so was HK-47. Having been construction just after the Mandalorian War by her grandfather Darth Revan. It was amazing he was still in as good of shape as he was. He's been rebuilt various times over the years.

"I meant no offense, master." HK responded with. "The meatba-"

"I'm Thea, droid. Now leave us." Thea hissed at him and watched as HK left the room without another word. HK wasn't faculty of course, he was as precise as ever. She simply didn't want Rey to know she was Sith, she had kept that fact a closely guarded secret since reawakening. The galaxy was no friend of her kind. She had learned that fact early on by addressing herself by her Sith title once and been chased around by the New Republic for awhile, which was why she was out in this part of the galaxy to begin with. She avoided the core worlds to this day. The core worlds made her nervous now.

"What do you do for work?" Rey asked, seeming to move on quickly.

Thea was pulled away from her thoughts by that question and thought of a decent answer. "Nothing in particular. I've done some smuggling, some mercenary work, even some bounty hunting, deliveries. Anything that pays. Even some assassin jobs."

"Assassin?!" Rey asked, her face going a bit pale at the word.

"Nothing nefarious. I'm not an mindless killer. The few times I've done it I've only gone after First Order targets. They pay well. There's even one on that Kylo Ren." Thea explained. "Few people have bothered with that one."

"Why is that?" Rey questioned. She was always interested in hearing news of the greater galaxy. Especially anything revolving history.

"He's a Dark Jedi, a force user. That combined with a lightsaber, he's a dangerous target for normal people. The memories of the Clone Wars aren't so far back for most people."

"A Dark Jedi? Is there a difference between them and the Jedi?" Rey asked, looking confused again.

"Yes, the Jedi are what you know as guardians of peace and justice." She said with distaste. "Dark Jedi have smaller ambitions. They think only of themselves. They don't seek conquest, but personal power, wealth, and importance. They're barely higher than a common thug." She finished. She hated Dark Jedi even more then regular Jedi. At least she had a begrudging respect for, despite their flaws. Dark Jedi were just problematic. Some Sith Lords enjoyed using them as foot soldiers while never making them true Sith Lords, but she had never been of that mindset. Dark Jedi were not true Sith, Sith lacked fear.

Rey continued her barrage of questions then. "Have you met many Jedi during your travels?"

"Can't say I have," She said honestly. Bristling a bit at the question. "There aren't many around. What few there were seemed to vanish once the First Order picked up steam."

"I see," Rey said, a bit deflated. Yet her eyes narrowed slightly. "You just seem to know a lot about all of this."

Thea only shrugged half heatedly. "Just a bit of a history buff is all."

"How much do you know?" Rey asked, pushing further.

"Really? You just said you didn't want to tell me your story, so I'm not going to tell you mine just yet."

Rey sighed and let it drop at that. "Fair enough."

Thea smiled at her, she was a very curious woman, and sharp. She found herself liking her more and more. "Do you want seconds?"

"I sure world." Rey replied happily.

The two sat and talked together as they ate. Topics ranged all over the first from current galactic events to Reys suggestions on how to make the Ebon Hawk an even better ship. Rey and Thea had some things in common. They both loved working on ships and technology, and were both gearheads. Thea could feel how strong the force was with Rey, and was very tempted to talk to her about it, but she couldn't risk it for fear of revealing herself and she didn't trust her enough yet. Once Rey was done eating, Thea gave a large bag filled with rations, enough to last her over a month.

Once Rey was finished eating, she picked her stuff up and let her leave. They shook hands and Thea stood at the ramp as Rey left. She almost wished she had asked her to stay, it got lonely traveling by yourself with no real company. She hadn't been able to take her eyes off her the whole time, and it was good that Rey hadn't caught her blushing at all during the day. The sun had went down and there was a chill in the air as she let the ramp retract. Then the feeling of death and fear hit her immediately. She felt it coming from Tuanul village. She hadn't gone there before, but she had heard the Pro-Jedi whispers. She hoped into the Ebon Hawks pilot chair as she prepped it for launch.

As she stepped off her ship and saw what happened, she had been stricken cold. The village was in ruins, houses and buildings burned and there were corpses everywhere. She could feel the dark side here, it was done by an inexperienced someone.

She took a breath and let the force flow into her, there wasn't any life to be found here, only death. Yet, she noticed then one life, barely holding on. She walked through the village, finding the source of it. An old man with a large slash wound across his chest. She knelt by his side. "What happened?"

He hacked a violent cough and couldn't look up at her. "The First Order came here."

"What were they looking for?" She asked, annoyed. Of course they had come here too."

"Skywalker, they took a resistance pilot as well." He said breaking into another fit of coughs.

Thea took a moment to piece it together. The First Order was searching for a Skywalker. Most likely Luke. As Leia wasn't a Jedi from what she knew. How did a pilot tie into this?

"Are you a Jedi?" He asked her.

"I'm not."

"Will you help us anyway?" He asked, putting a hand on hers. "We need all we can get.."

Thea thought about it for awhile. She was no friend of the Jedi, or the Republic. She hated the First Order and she supposed that helping wipe it out would be a worthwhile thing.

"I'll help." She said at last.

"Thank you..Sith." The old man said finally as he seemed to relax and then go still. Thea could feel the pain he was in and reached out with the force and stopped his heart. Then she made her way back to her ship and headed back to Nima Outpost, she had a feeling that's where things would happen next. She supposed she'd be stuck on this dust-ball a while longer.