Chapter Text
Batuu, a tropical world; one of many visitors. A theme park of a world as some may call it, never short of the usual tourism. To most, this might seem like a hazard; so many people would meet, making it too crowded for a casual visit. But for the Resistance, it was the perfect place to hide.
That’s what they’d told Rey, and she’s believed them for a while. However, at this point, she was more inclined to believe they just wanted a vacation. While they laid outside, under the palm trees and the smouldering sun, Rey herself, walked across the empty hanger underground, and sat, cramped inside the attached turret onto the recently purchased Neimoidian shuttle. Small task, she’d been told, only needed a gunner.
One week, that’s all it had been. One week since she was forced to leave the wasteland, she had brought herself up in. One week since discovered the abilities she had and took part in the destruction of the First Order’s superweapon. One week since she met the famous Jedi, and though was successful in convincing him to return to the fight, was only able to learn that he fell after covering for everyone else to escape. In the end, she couldn’t believe it, yet it was true. She’d left, got herself a ship, joined a militia, and met one of the most legendary people in the galaxy… all in one week.
It was a lot to take in.
As she remained in silence, thinking of it all how, how pointless it all felt, how the advanced terrorist group: The First Order, would be gliding upon them at any moment, the sound of footsteps became apparent close by.
She didn’t look, but she could smell exactly who was now standing beside her.
“You- err- doing alright?” he asked.
Rey didn’t respond at first; she stared down upon the controls of the turret. Was she alright? No, of course not, but if she said no, he’d ask why, and she didn’t want a conversation right now. She shrugged; it was the best answer for now.
“Aye… it’s okay.”
Finally, she looked at him, though only for a second before darting her eyes away. Captain Remus Ber was a defel: a race from the planet A’fel, that looked like a cross between a wolf and a bear. He stood smartly, with a blaster in one hand a huge rucksack on his back.
“You know,” he started, “I’ve always looked up to the jedi. When I was a cub, my mother would tell me stories about them; how they protected the galaxy and kept peace. Though I guess that must have been a slight misinterpretation since they’ve fought in every war. With that said, I’m honoured to be fighting along side someone who met one, especially one as renowned as Skywalker.”
Rey muttered. “Thanks.”
As she remained in her position, she heard Ber put his bag down. Rey turned to him and watched as he went through its contents.
“Chewbacca has been cleaning out the Falcon.” He explained as he reached inside. “He says there’s a lot in there he doesn’t recognise; wondered if you did. He thinks a lot of it belongs to that Plutt guy.”
Unkar Plutt was Rey’s old mentor? Perhaps that was too kind of a word. He trained her a little at first but then sent her out to scavenge the wasteland on her own. She wondered how he was without her, though she supposed he’d try and kill them both if they ever met again. Last time they encountered, Chewbacca ripped his arms clean off, and while replacements were available, it would be a lot harder to come by under his lack of wealth.
Ber passed her a blaster. It was on old model, most likely used by the Empire back in the day. Rey thought she’d seen it used on Jakku by a few raiders. Then he passed her a syringe of bacta.
Bacta was the water that healed most wounds, useful, she thought. Suddenly, however, something else was dropped onto her hands.
A sword.
Rey shook. On instinct, she stammered before dropping it onto the ground.
“Rey?” said Ber. “What’s wrong?”
She panted, trying to catch her breath as quickly as she could. When finally, she could speak again, Rey replied.
“It’s nothing.”
She picked the sword back up, attempting to analyse it casually.
“Okay, private.” Ber then said. “We’ll be heading out in about ten minutes. You up?”
Rey perked up at this. “Where?” she asked, knowing little of the operation.
“Gamor. I’ll tell you’ the rest on the way.”
With that, he moved on, to the shuttle nearby.
“Seen it all then?” a ripe voice came through the comms.
“What? No… just the important parts.”
“Oh yeah? What’s your place in all of this?”
Rey chuckled. “I wish I knew.”
“My name’s Linra. You’ my gunner?” the voice said.
“I think so.”
At that moment, Rey noticed a familiar entity. The wookie: Chewbacca, was loading up the shuttle she was attached to. He shoved a large cuboid crate inside before kicking it forward. As he turned to heighten the doors, his eyes met hers. He stopped. Rey waved at him, happily, yet to her surprise, the wookie said nothing. No reaction was made as he pulled the shuttle backdoor over himself.
Rey turned back around. She gave her reflection on the windows a confused look. Did she do something wrong?
“Where did you say you were from again?” asked Linra.
“Jakku.”
“I’m from Ryloth myself. Ever been there?”
“No- never heard of it, sorry.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me if that’s our next hideout. Ol’ Syndulla might give the Resistance a helping hand if he’s up for it. Anyway…”
Rey felt her turret rise as the shuttles began to hover above the ground. She felt the wind clatter against the windows as the squad shot themselves from the hidden hanger underground. Once above the ground, she watched as the beaches of Batuu left her vision, and the shuttles fired up, leaving the planet and journeying into deep space.
It was then that Ber’s voice came through. “Troops, listen close. There’s been a Star Destroyer located above Gamor. Now, I know the Gamorreans aren’t always the nicest of people, but they’re still people. Any hand is a helping one, ey? So, let’s give them one.”
Ber continued, but it was like static as Rey’s attention was elsewhere. She looked down onto the blade that she held in her hand. It was like flashes of light as memories rushed through her. Like a she was watching a perfect projection, she saw herself on the barren wasteland of Jakku.
Eight years earlier.
Rey didn’t know where she was anymore; she couldn’t see a thing. That was until the bag was lifted from her head and the interior of a ship came into focus. But that wasn’t the only thing she noticed, as people in white armour aimed their blasters upon her.
Panic-struck, she instantly raised her hands, showing she was unarmed. The troopers did not lose their aim, that was except from one. He moved across the floor of the ship, approaching what looked like somebody in red robes. Their back was turned to her, but Rey could see the crimson cape that reached their feet.
“This the trespasser, sir. We caught her trying to steal the coaxium from the fuel department.”
“Alone?” said the man in red.
“Seems it. She stunned one of our men.” He passed them the blaster that Rey had set to a non-lethal setting. “Took us a bit to get her. She’s a slippery one.”
“I see.”
The man in red turned, revealing his plated mask with a rectangular visor. Slowly, he approached her. Rey felt every step as he got close. This was it, she thought, she was going to die.
“Leave us.”
“Sir?” said one of the troopers.
“I said leave us.” The man in read pressed.
It didn’t take long before every soldier was out of the room, leaving Rey alone with him. She shivered for the first time on this planet as he moved around her
The man in red then turned. He moved towards a long yet thin horizontal window at the side.
“How old are you?” he asked, suddenly, not looking away from the window.
Rey stuttered. “E- eleven… sir.”
“Eleven?” he responded, sounding as if he was surprised yet not in a negative way. “So young. I take it you were born on this wreckage of a world.”
“N- No, sir.”
He turned. “No? You mean… you were marooned here? So, your guardians decided to take a vacation in this side of space?”
Rey bit her lip; this was not something she was fond of speaking of. But in the current set of circumstances, she knew it was best not to lie.
“No. My- my parents left me here. They’re coming back!” she stated, briskly. “But… until then, here I am.”
The man let out a sigh, clearly out of pity. Rey felt somewhat offended. Did he not believe her? They were coming back, that she knew- why was any of this relevant to begin with?
But before she knew it, the man in red was now stood before her. There was silence, then swiftly, he unsheathed a blade from his side, aiming it an inch in front of her neck.
Who sent you?!” he gritted through his teeth, quickly.
Rey was horrified, she felt all of her body flair up like a fire before she blurted out.
“Un- Unkar Plutt!”
Rey panted, back and forth. He was going to kill her, she knew it.
But then, he stepped back. “I see.” He spoke, deep in thought. “Plutt… I should have known.” The red one then turned back around before moving to a machine on a desk not far from where they stood. “What’s your name?” he asked as he began to pour caf into a metal cup.
“Rey.” She responded, awkwardly.
“Rey…”
Silence followed. Rey felt tense. His motives were unclear. Whatever he was going to do to her, she still had no clue; as sweat dripped down her face, she feared what approaching.
Then, he spoke again. “From what I’ve been informed, it took my troopers sometime to catch you. Your size and speed are made for good use.” At that moment, he took the full cup of caf and handed it to her, though she didn’t drink yet. She looked back at him. “Rey, do you know what this is?” he then said as he gestured to the sword.
Rey shook her head, but in her current state, it was more of a wobble.
“This is a vibroblade. It is a light yet solid sword. It was used by the servants of the sith of old, before finding use once more, under the servants of our now fallen emperor. I take it you know of the empire that once ruled over this galaxy?”
Rey stared. She didn’t want to admit that she did not, but it seemed the man in red saw through it. He sighed.
“I was his guard, one of many in fact. It was my duty to assure our lord’s safety.” He stopped speaking for a moment. While Rey could not see his face, she felt as if he was holding in great pain. “I do fear that history will be lost in these times. But I will not allow that emotion to alter my intensions.” He looked at her, then back at the blade.
It was then, to her astonishment, that the guard pushed the sword forward. He was asking her to take it from him, and so with her free hand, she did.
The guard continued. “Rey… not a common name, I must admit. What is your last name?”
“I- don’t know…” Rey admitted.
“Well then, Rey, my name is Bail, Bail Trane. There is a something that needs to be done, a task I cannot do alone… and I think I have the right person to fill that other role.”
Rey didn’t know what that meant at the time. Though it was then she wondered if she was still in the right place. Only then did she hear the sound of the four-legged behemoth march across the sand from outside.
It was something she was quite familiar with, which only meant one thing. She was close to home, or at least the scrapyard she called as such. This must mean she was where she’d be ordered to go. So, for all she knew, she was still inside the Ugly Correllion freighter with the attached battering ram.
Above the lush word of Gamor, one Star Destroyer hung over head, and below it, was smaller vessel, one that circled the planet through its own route.
Trudgen stood inside, firm as he looked out into the blissfulness of space. A beauty, he thought, as was the planet his pilot moved across. A pity it was run by such savages, he thought, Savages that couldn’t even hold a blaster, still stook in its iron age last time he visited.
His admiration, nevertheless, was interrupted by a voice. One stormtrooper with a turquoise pauldron stood beside him. He’d seen this one come aboard hours before but had not made much notice. He supposed this was the introduction, a pity it had to be at a time like this.
“Trudgen Ren… it- it’s a real honour, sir.”
The stormtrooper sputtered, but Trudgen said nothing, he kept his mind on the beauty before him.
However, the stormtrooper did not seem to get this message as he introduced himself. “Lieutenant Blewish, sir.”
“…”
“Our troops have fallen into heavy resistance… at first anyway. It seems their equipment has upgraded since the days of the Empire. Oh yes, they have guns now, can you imagine? Of course, these are no blaster bolts, merely projectiles. Not surprisingly, these are no match for our advanced armour. My stormtroopers are wiping them out as we speak.”
There was no response from Trudgen still.
He sensed Blewish’s pride, his hopes of grandeur, but most importantly, his fear.
“I- I hope the Resistance get word of this. It’s about time we finished them off.” Blewish looked around, then back at Trudgen, but Trudgen’s gaze remained on the stars. “There’s been some disagreements on the council, I’ve heard. Some say the Resistance are no longer worth our time, like they’ve already been defeated. Par, I say!”
Blewish wrenched his fist into the air.
“There’s something going on, don’t you sense it? You do have the force, right? The Resistance have weapons we don’t truly understand, yet no one wants to take this seriously. Did you hear what happened to the Supremacy? How is it possible that small cruiser could create such damage?”
Blewish was referring to an event recently, one in which a Resistance ship known as The Raddus, had collided with an entire First Order fleet, and destroyed most of what stood there.
Trudgen jerked his head to look at another set of stars, but still said nothing.
“This is something we’ve unheard of. You must agree, right? Why, if a manoeuvrer was so easy, why didn’t the old rebellion do the same to the Death Stars?”
More silence followed, this time for longer than it had before in this apparent conversation. It was then that finally, Trudgen spoke. His voice was soft and elegant, but still had hint of sharpness to it.
“Lieutenant, how long ago was the first Death Star destroyed?”
Blewish tripped. Then he counted with his fingers. “It was- thirty… four years ago, I think.”
Trudgen faced him. “Tell me then, in those last thirty-four years, do you think The New Republic would have glued themselves to the same hyperspace technology for so long? Or do you think that possibly, in the slightest of chances… that such equipment… might have, as you say, upgraded?”
The stormtrooper stammered. “I- I-”
“I hope, Lieutenant, that you got this promotion through your skills with a blaster,” said Trudgen before marching out of the hall, “because your intelligence is severely lacking.”