Chapter Text
"Chewie, tell me something good!"
The Falcon let out a series of beeps, red lights flashing as far as the eye could see. The wookiee made a sound; something between a whine and a roar.
"Didn't I say tell me something good?"
A tall man with dark hair came skidding into the cockpit and began mashing at a series of buttons, muttering to himself.
"Fuck!" He slammed his hand into the data pad beneath him. "We need to bring her down Chewie" - another agitated moan from the wookiee. "Yeah yeah, I know. Does it look like we have a choice if we want to make it out of this pile of junk alive?" Another roar, this time more defeated, and the wookiee slammed a button, immediately pulling them out of hyperspace.
"Let's just hope we don't jump straight into a Rancors lair" the man mutters, pulling himself into the empty pilots seat. As the dust began to clear before them, the lights slowly ceased flickering and the beeping gradually died down until the cockpit fell silent. Ahead of them was a vast desert, one that looked almost empty aside from littered mechanical structures.
"Looks like we're coming in pretty fast, let's see if we can slow it down a little." They began manoeuvring the ship through the structures, although even the best of pilots would struggle to land smoothly with the speed they were going at. They approached the surface through a clearing with a loud thud, and the ship skidded and skipped ahead in the sand. The Falcon came to an abrupt halt, throwing both pilots back violently against their chairs. But before either could breathe a sigh of relief, the beeping and flashing started again.
Both pilots let out disgruntled moans. Chewbacca began making a series of agitated whines, before the young man put his hands up in surrender. "Alright, fine I'll take a look this time. Come on, you're not that old." The man pulled himself up from his chair as the wookiee mumbled to himself, making his way out of the cockpit towards the hangar bay. He reached out to a data pad on the wall, pressing buttons until a map appeared, racing through a series of numbers and locations until it stopped suddenly.
"Niima Outpost. Jakku. Outer Rim - that's great, just great." He slammed a hand into a button adjacent to the pad, and the door flew open, revealing a gap between the ship and the surface. "Even better, the ramp is jammed". The man rolled his eyes before leaping from the ship, landing crouched on the sand below.
He dusted himself off, and took a few steps back, assessing the damage. The ship was well and truly busted, he thought to himself, no denying that. He headed closer, working his way around the ship and calculating the potential cost it looked to set them back by. That was, if they could even get the parts they needed to make the repair work. The desert they'd landed in looked just like that - a desert. Not a sign of life to be found for miles.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of metal bending and cracking. He sped up, turning the corner of the ship to see a masked figure hunched on the roof of the ship, pulling off chunks of metal and throwing them down next to a speeder that lay below.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" The figure looked up, clearly startled. They let go of the metal in their hands and jumped down, landing with ease on the sand below.
"You can't just take apart people's ships like that!"
The figure moved forward suddenly, raising their hands up apologetically. They moved gloved hands up to their face, pulling the mask down and placing goggles atop their head to reveal a woman, barely in her twenties. "I didn't realise the ship had passengers! I was just salvaging scrap, I didn't mean any harm".
As the man moved closer, he looked again at the scavenger. She really was young, her skin smooth despite a life presumably spent in the fierce desert sun. A cluster of freckles spread across her face, and he detected a hint of sadness in her eyes.
"How could you not think there were any passengers, we just landed!" The man threw his arms up in frustration as he moved closer to the woman.
"Is that what you'd call it, landing?" She raised an eyebrow. "That pile of garbage came down pretty fast, I was sure anyone on board would have already ejected or perished."
"Garbage? This ship made the Kessel run in...nevermind, it doesn't matter." He waved his hands. "What does matter is that you can't just steal whatever you see, okay?" He sighed, exhausted by the rough landing and the stress of the whole situation, running a hand across his temple.
"That's just how it is on Jakku. It's the only way to survive." The girl moved towards her speeder, removing a set of tools from the bag at her belt and dropping them in a holster at the front of the speeder. She turned back again, and taking a step forward, she removed her glove and extended a hand.
"Rey. My names Rey."
He stared, letting her hand hover for a moment, before abruptly turning away. "I'm not in the habit of keeping company with thieves." He heard a sharp intake of breath that sounded suspiciously like a huff.
"Fighting words, coming from a smuggler."
He stopped abruptly, and turned to look at her, rage filling his gaze. She smirked.
"Just because you think I'm from some backwater planet, it doesn't mean I don't know a smuggler ship when I see one. No need to act so high and mighty."
The man walked towards her, teeth gritted. "I don't appreciate the attitude, 'Rey from nowhere', and I certainly don't take kindly to strangers trash talking me or my ship. Now, is there something else you want to say or are we done here?"
Her gaze met his, firm and confident. "You look like you could use some parts. I can help you get them."
"And what's in it for you?"
"A favour."
He frowned. "A favour? What kind of favour?"
"Not a big one. Don't worry, I'm not trying to make you gamble away your ship or anything like that. Just something small. I'll tell you once I've got you the parts."
Another frown. "You don't make a particularly compelling offer, Scavenger. Surely bargaining should be one of your strengths? I'm sure we could find a way to get parts on our own without needing your help."
"I'm a mechanic too!" she suddenly lurched forward as he turned to walk away again, grabbing the sleeve of his shirt. "I'm good at fixing things. At fixing ships. I can help you find the parts and I can fix up this hunk of junk in no time." Noticing she was still gripping his shirt, she let go abruptly.
He stared at her intensely, a look of disgust and contempt crossing his brow. He turned again to leave, walking back to the entrance of the ship.
Defeated, Rey let her shoulders dip and her posture loosen. Resigned, she began packing her remaining tools back into the holster, when she heard a whistle.
She turned back to see him, stood at the ships entrance staring back at her.
"Are you coming, Rey from nowhere?"
Her face lit up, and shoving the last of her things into the holster, she ran, almost stumbling, towards the Falcon's entrance. By now he'd pulled himself up into the hangar bay, and as she approached, he extended a hand down to her. She ignored it, and instead gripped the edge of the door and hoisted herself up with ease, propelling herself into the ship.
A little taken aback, he stood up, brushing himself down. He turned towards the corridor, and immediately walked into a giant wall of fur.
"Chewie! How many times have I told you to look where you're going?" The wookiee made a mixture of jumbled sounds. "So, uh Chewie, meet Rey, Rey this is Chewbacca." Another grumble. "Rey is going to help us fix our ship".
Rey walked over and reached an outstretched hand to the Wookie before her. Without warning, the wookiee pulled her into a strong embrace, making a series of cheery grumbles.
"Oh! It's nice to meet you too! I've met a lot of wookiees before, but I can't say one has ever greeted me with a hug."
The dark haired man stood, aghast. "How can you...?" his voice trailed off.
Rey turned back to him, and there was that smirk again. "You pick up a few things when you're out in the desert."
Chewbacca loosened his grip, and headed over to his co-pilot, mumbling a series of low sounds and the man whispered in response "I don't know Chewie, I mean it just sort of happened. I guess I felt bad, her being out there on her own." He sighed, and turned to walk in the opposite direction.
"I've got a few things to sort out. Chewie, why don't you show Rey around the Falcon until I'm back. Seems like you two are fast friends already." He raised his hand to wave, before disappearing through a door that shut abruptly behind him.
Rey turned back to look at Chewie, a look of bemusement on her face.
"So what's his deal then?" Chewie shrugged. "Didn't even tell me his name..."
Chewbacca let out a hollow bleat in response.
"Ben. Hmm. I just assumed he'd have something more dramatic to go with that uptight persona."
They headed off in the direction of the cockpit.