Rebel

Chapter 3

I land in the outskirts of a town, I park the TIE behind a sand dune so no people will dismantle it for parts, I did my research. I open the hatch, and hot air washes over me. I groan, I hate the heat. I hop out of the TIE walking towards the town, as I enter the town, I see a sign, "Nima Outpost" it reads. I enter the town, after grabbing a few things, well, more like stealing, but I left a credit or two behind. These people trade, I have nothing to trade, so stealing is my only option, I do leave credits, if people can use them. I hike back to my ship to find it crawling with Tusken sand raiders. "Oi!" I shout, running towards them "That's my ship!" the raiders stop what they're doing and look at me, one says something and they all come scrambling towards me, I grab my blaster and start shooting them randomly. I don't hear the raider behind me and he grabs me, taking my blaster, I turn and kick him down the hill, that little womp-rat kept his grip on the blaster so I turned to the raiders coming up the dune, hand to hand combat, I think grimly, I let out a yell and change at them, I manage to get a few hits in before a blaster strike hits me in the side, I fall to the ground with a cry of pain, I feel blood trickling down the side of my face from the hits I had sustained. As my vision goes dark I see someone come up over the dune, they shout something and start to fight the raiders, then nothing.
——
The first thing that I register is pain, my body aches, my side throbs, and my head feels like it's been sat on by a Wookiee. I give a small groan and open my eyes to a droid staring intently at me. As the droid rolls back I get a better look at him, a BB unit, white with orange highlights. "Hey little guy." I croak, realizing that my throat is parched. The droid gives a sharp beep, and rolls out of sight. A few minutes later I hear footsteps, and the droid comes into view. A woman with brown eyes and hair, looks down at me.
"Here." She says, holding out her hand which has a cup of water in it. I gingerly sit up, my side throbbing. I notice bandages covering the blaster wound. I look back up at the woman, taking the water, and drinking it.
"Thank you." I say, handing the cup back to her, she takes it with a smile, setting it down on a small shelf, the shelf has a small vase with dried flowers, and a little doll, fitted in an x-wing pilot outfit. Behind the shelf the wall is covered in little white lines, in rows, I watch as the woman picks up a pin-like object and puts another line next to all the others. "What is that?" I ask, she jumps a little.
"Oh," she says, "this marks how long I've been here." I look at the wall, it must have been years.
"Who are you wanting for?" I ask.
"My parents," she says, looking at me, her eyes determined, "they'll be back, someday." She gets up and goes over to a corner, grabbing a bag, and bringing it over, I recognize it as my own, she hands the bag to me. "Here's your stuff," she says, "what's your name?"
"AX-7897." I say automatically, the woman looks surprised and confused. I feel my face heat up. "It's Alex." I say.
"Are you a stormtrooper?" She asks.
"Yes. Well, former stormtrooper now I guess."
"Former?" She questions. I look down.
"I... figured something out before I left. I'm not going back."
"Oh." She says, "I'm Rey, just Rey." I hold out my hand, she takes it.
"Nice to meet you 'just Rey'." I say, Rey giggles, "And thanks by the way, for you know, saving my life."
"Why of course, anything to help the Order!" She says, giving a mocking bow.
"I'm guessing you don't take credits either. How can I repay you?" I ask. Rey looks surprised.
"There's no need, and yes, nobody takes credits here. But..." she trails off.
"But?" I ask, wanting to help, she saved my life. You don't see that kindness in the First Order.
"I could use some help scavenging..." she said hesitantly. I smile.
"Consider it done." I say holding my hand out, she shakes it with a smile.
"You should probably change." She said guestering to my clothes, which were torn beyond repair, "Those won't work."
"Really?" I said, laughing.
"I have some that might fit you." Rey said laughing with me, she gets up and returns a few minutes later with a stack of clothing. She leaves so I can change into the clothes, the outfit is similar to her except it's a light grey.
"Rey?" I call out a few minutes later.
"Yes?" She pokes her head around the corner, her eyes go wide and she bursts out laughing, I'm struggling to put on the last layer of the outfit, it wraps around my body and half over my head, luckily there was an undershirt that I put on before.
"Really?" I sigh, "Come on, Rey." She finally stops laughing and helps me pull the fabric over my head being careful of my wound. "Thanks." I said, she holds out her hand and pulls me up, I wince as I stand up, my body still sore.
"Are you okay to do this?" She asked worriedly. I smile at the show of concern, if you got hit in the First Order, you got a trip to the med-bay, then back to work. No rest, unless of course it was fatal, then maybe a week at the most.
"I'm fine Rey." I say, giving her a smile, "See?" I stretch my hands to my toes, not getting halfway down as my side gives a warning pain. "Ouch!" I hiss, Rey steps forward. "I'm good, I'll take it easy." I reassure her. We walk outside, Rey grabbing a staff made of different parts, BB-8 follows us, giving a few beeps that said he would not be left behind. Rey loads BB-8 on her speeder, and gets on, I follow suit and sit behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist. Glad she couldn't see my blush. She gave the speeder a few pats to get it started and we raced off into the distance.