Rey Skywalker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thatwaslucky) wrote2018-11-24 04:46 pm
thatwaslucky) wrote2018-11-24 04:46 pm
Entry tags:
Jakku- Saturday
The storm lasted three and a half days.
By the end, Rey had a splitting headache from not eating or drinking- she'd been rationing the whole time and there wasn't much of her backup stash left- and she was moving really slowly. Yet she still had to spend an hour prying the door open to get out. The sand was packed hard and high against the side of the AT-AT, and she wasn't exactly at her best.
The speeder, surprisingly enough, had made it through okay. She took some time to make sure it was driveable, then took it to Niima Outpost- slowly- to trade something random that she'd found in the AT-AT and spent time cleaning up. Food was the priority. If she didn't get that, there were going to be worse problems going forward.
People were starting to emerge from their homes, making their way to the town, most with the same idea she had. Niima itself had suffered some damage but was coming back. The tents had mostly been shredded, but sentries were already working on repairs. The three ships that were always parked nearby were still there, looking like they'd been spared most of the damage. And Unkar Plutt was already at his window, waiting for people to come and do exactly what she was.
"First one in," he told her.
Rey presented the three pieces of salvage, which he inspected carefully. While she waited, she noticed that other scavengers were coming back after picking through some of the new wreckages, and she could have kicked herself for not doing that first. By the time she got out now, the best things would be gone, if anything was left at all.
"What's this supposed to be?" Unkar asked.
Rey looked back over at the part. "It's the actuator for a Kuat-7 acceleration compensator."
"Not like this it isn't. And this, this supposed to be part of a data buffer set?"
"Yeah."
He grunted. "This one is good, low-interference regulator for a Z-70, I can move this. Give you three portions, one for each of them."
"The Z-70 is worth three alone," Rey pointed out.
"I'm offering you three, Rey. Take it or leave it."
She winced. The sunlight was making her headache worse. "Three portions, two bottles of water."
Rey ended up having to settle for one portion of food and two bottles of water. That was okay. Not great, but okay. Water was more important, she at least had some food left in her Fandom stash to get her by if need be, and this should at least ease the headache. She ate there, in the shade by the vendor stalls, watching people come in and watching a ship come in to land, which grabbed everyone's attention. It always did. They got traders in quite a bit, often the same ships, arriving to do business with Unkar, usually off anybody's radar. It didn't affect anyone else who lived here, but they all watched it.
Rey was no exception. As she finished eating and got up to throw her trash away, she could see people descending the landing ramp. She'd seen the human male before, but the young girl was new, as was the older woman. The man gestured towards Unkar's, speaking to the woman and girl, though Rey couldn't hear what was being said. The girl stuck her hands in her pockets, shoulders drooping, and the woman put her hand on the girl's head as she spoke to the man. The man lowered his hands and set them both on the girl's shoulders. She looked up at him and he bent toward her, maybe speaking, and then pointed into the ship. The girl turned and followed the woman back up the ramp and out of sight. The man headed for Unkar's.
Rey returned to her speeder and started it up to drive off, wondering what it was that was said. She didn't have the slightest idea.
She rode out farther than she normally did. She'd lost today, but maybe she could get a jump on tomorrow. The wrecks that had been uncovered by the storm had already been claimed and picked over, and things she'd known were around were gone, covered by sand and reclaimed by the desert. The storm had done more than uncover things; it had reshaped the terrain, and it wasn't until she got to the Crackle that she realized how far she'd gone. Long ago a ship had crashed. No one knew when, or who it belonged to. All it was now was a frame sticking out of the sand, which people called the Spike. The rest of it had burned to nothing by fire in the crash, so hot that it turned the sand around it to glass. Now whenever people stepped on it, you could hear it crack under your feet.
Hence, the Crackle.
Rey stopped the speeder and squinted up at the sun. Maybe two hours of daylight left, and she'd need most of that to get home. The desert was dangerously cold at night if you weren't prepared for it, and the dark brought predators. That was okay, she could be quick. She shut down the speeder, considering the Spike. It was definitely climbable. Maybe not safe, but climbable.
She left her staff resting against the speeder, knowing it might inhibit the climbing, and made her way to the base of the Spike, glass popping and cracking beneath her feet. She used the edges of her wrap around her hands to protect it from the burning metal, which only did so much good. She found enough hand and footholds, and it wasn't until she felt the wind that she realized how high she'd climbed. Rey stopped at a spot where she could almost sit in a gap in the frame, which wasn't comfortable, but would allow her to stop and scope out the area.
The view was amazing from here, and with her half-broken monobinoculars, Rey thought she could make out Niima in the distance, along with the dead Star Destroyer. There were some Teedos heading home, but otherwise she couldn't find much that helped her. There wasn't anything new to see, and her heart sank as she realized how much harder tomorrow was going to be.
Before climbing down, though, she reached into her satchel and pulled out her phone, figuring at least she could get something to send to Kanan next week. As she snapped the picture, she caught a glare in it- metal or glass. She paused, not wanting to get her hopes up, and carefully put the phone back before picking up the macrobinoculars again. It took a moment to find the exact spot; the sun was dropping, and this was absolutely a case of being in the right place at the right time. She was maybe minutes from losing whatever that was forever. She saw it again, sunlight glinting off exposed metal, and refocused the macros. What she saw almost made her fall off the Spike.
It was a ship.
Rey checked the sun again. If she left now, she could get home okay. She could make it to the wreck in the daylight, but she'd be dealing with all the dangers that came with the dark. She could head out at dawn tomorrow and hope she could find it again, and that no one else would have stolen it from her by then.
Those two unknowns made her decision. She had to see what it was.
[NFB, NFI, OOC okay. Taken from Before the Awakening by Greg Rucka, with a couple things cribbed.]
By the end, Rey had a splitting headache from not eating or drinking- she'd been rationing the whole time and there wasn't much of her backup stash left- and she was moving really slowly. Yet she still had to spend an hour prying the door open to get out. The sand was packed hard and high against the side of the AT-AT, and she wasn't exactly at her best.
The speeder, surprisingly enough, had made it through okay. She took some time to make sure it was driveable, then took it to Niima Outpost- slowly- to trade something random that she'd found in the AT-AT and spent time cleaning up. Food was the priority. If she didn't get that, there were going to be worse problems going forward.
People were starting to emerge from their homes, making their way to the town, most with the same idea she had. Niima itself had suffered some damage but was coming back. The tents had mostly been shredded, but sentries were already working on repairs. The three ships that were always parked nearby were still there, looking like they'd been spared most of the damage. And Unkar Plutt was already at his window, waiting for people to come and do exactly what she was.
"First one in," he told her.
Rey presented the three pieces of salvage, which he inspected carefully. While she waited, she noticed that other scavengers were coming back after picking through some of the new wreckages, and she could have kicked herself for not doing that first. By the time she got out now, the best things would be gone, if anything was left at all.
"What's this supposed to be?" Unkar asked.
Rey looked back over at the part. "It's the actuator for a Kuat-7 acceleration compensator."
"Not like this it isn't. And this, this supposed to be part of a data buffer set?"
"Yeah."
He grunted. "This one is good, low-interference regulator for a Z-70, I can move this. Give you three portions, one for each of them."
"The Z-70 is worth three alone," Rey pointed out.
"I'm offering you three, Rey. Take it or leave it."
She winced. The sunlight was making her headache worse. "Three portions, two bottles of water."
Rey ended up having to settle for one portion of food and two bottles of water. That was okay. Not great, but okay. Water was more important, she at least had some food left in her Fandom stash to get her by if need be, and this should at least ease the headache. She ate there, in the shade by the vendor stalls, watching people come in and watching a ship come in to land, which grabbed everyone's attention. It always did. They got traders in quite a bit, often the same ships, arriving to do business with Unkar, usually off anybody's radar. It didn't affect anyone else who lived here, but they all watched it.
Rey was no exception. As she finished eating and got up to throw her trash away, she could see people descending the landing ramp. She'd seen the human male before, but the young girl was new, as was the older woman. The man gestured towards Unkar's, speaking to the woman and girl, though Rey couldn't hear what was being said. The girl stuck her hands in her pockets, shoulders drooping, and the woman put her hand on the girl's head as she spoke to the man. The man lowered his hands and set them both on the girl's shoulders. She looked up at him and he bent toward her, maybe speaking, and then pointed into the ship. The girl turned and followed the woman back up the ramp and out of sight. The man headed for Unkar's.
Rey returned to her speeder and started it up to drive off, wondering what it was that was said. She didn't have the slightest idea.
She rode out farther than she normally did. She'd lost today, but maybe she could get a jump on tomorrow. The wrecks that had been uncovered by the storm had already been claimed and picked over, and things she'd known were around were gone, covered by sand and reclaimed by the desert. The storm had done more than uncover things; it had reshaped the terrain, and it wasn't until she got to the Crackle that she realized how far she'd gone. Long ago a ship had crashed. No one knew when, or who it belonged to. All it was now was a frame sticking out of the sand, which people called the Spike. The rest of it had burned to nothing by fire in the crash, so hot that it turned the sand around it to glass. Now whenever people stepped on it, you could hear it crack under your feet.
Hence, the Crackle.
Rey stopped the speeder and squinted up at the sun. Maybe two hours of daylight left, and she'd need most of that to get home. The desert was dangerously cold at night if you weren't prepared for it, and the dark brought predators. That was okay, she could be quick. She shut down the speeder, considering the Spike. It was definitely climbable. Maybe not safe, but climbable.
She left her staff resting against the speeder, knowing it might inhibit the climbing, and made her way to the base of the Spike, glass popping and cracking beneath her feet. She used the edges of her wrap around her hands to protect it from the burning metal, which only did so much good. She found enough hand and footholds, and it wasn't until she felt the wind that she realized how high she'd climbed. Rey stopped at a spot where she could almost sit in a gap in the frame, which wasn't comfortable, but would allow her to stop and scope out the area.
The view was amazing from here, and with her half-broken monobinoculars, Rey thought she could make out Niima in the distance, along with the dead Star Destroyer. There were some Teedos heading home, but otherwise she couldn't find much that helped her. There wasn't anything new to see, and her heart sank as she realized how much harder tomorrow was going to be.
Before climbing down, though, she reached into her satchel and pulled out her phone, figuring at least she could get something to send to Kanan next week. As she snapped the picture, she caught a glare in it- metal or glass. She paused, not wanting to get her hopes up, and carefully put the phone back before picking up the macrobinoculars again. It took a moment to find the exact spot; the sun was dropping, and this was absolutely a case of being in the right place at the right time. She was maybe minutes from losing whatever that was forever. She saw it again, sunlight glinting off exposed metal, and refocused the macros. What she saw almost made her fall off the Spike.
It was a ship.
Rey checked the sun again. If she left now, she could get home okay. She could make it to the wreck in the daylight, but she'd be dealing with all the dangers that came with the dark. She could head out at dawn tomorrow and hope she could find it again, and that no one else would have stolen it from her by then.
Those two unknowns made her decision. She had to see what it was.
[NFB, NFI, OOC okay. Taken from Before the Awakening by Greg Rucka, with a couple things cribbed.]