Star Wars: I Am a Slave ✓

Chapter 23 - I Am Not Vader

The heavy salvage crews had been working for a couple of days already on the Ravager. Just as Rey had feared, they had dismantled the power generators and removed them and the rest of the terminals scattered throughout the ship. 

The medical droids were gone as well. However, Rey had been able to remove all of the medical supplies that were still in good condition before Unkar's crews got to them.

This was the third day since the crew had arrived. The bridge decking was gone, as were the inner bulkheads in that region.

Rey hauled her cache of devices to her speeder as the sun was rising. It would not be long before the crews arrived again. They started early and worked until dusk.

When Rey reached the access port, she heard sounds outside by her speeder. She lowered her bag to the deck and took her staff off her shoulder, holding it ready. She crept forward, peering out behind the tube.

Two men were trying to start her speeder, with little luck. This was the first time Rey was grateful that the start-up sequence for the speeder was tricky. She jumped out of the tube and yelled, "Hey! That's my speeder. Hands off."

They turned around, the one on the seat jumping off, approaching her. One of them, a dark-hair human male, said to his friend, "Look what we have here!" He nodded to his friend, and they attacked her in concert. Rey swung her staff up and took the first opponent under the chin.

The other man tried to grab her from behind, pawing her on the chest. Rey kicked back and swung her staff, bruising him on the leg. The man held onto her tightly. Rey felt the anger swelling in her as she dug her nails into the man's arm.

The man yelled, "Take her staff. Relax, sweetheart, we only want to have some fun with you."

The first man stood up, shaking the stars from his head. He approached Rey and tried to grab the staff. Rey knocked him again, but he grabbed onto the end as it connected with him. He pulled on it, but he could not remove it from Rey. His friend maintained a solid grip on Rey from behind.

More crews started to arrive. As they saw the ruckus, more men approached the area. Rey kicked, twisted, and bit into hands, to no avail. As two more men came up, they grabbed the staff out of her hands and pulled her to the sand. More men arrived. There must have been at least a dozen now, watching as the original two started to tear at Rey's clothing.

Something within Rey snapped as fear consumed her. She struck out in blind rage with the Force, sending her attackers flying into the hull of the Ravager. She then stood, adjusting her clothing. A few continued to advance on her, angry and determined to get their prize.

Rey held up her hand the way she had watched Vader hold his in the vids and squeezed.

Unkar arrived, watching the scene. He screamed, "Vader! It's Vader! Let her go!" Her attackers clutched at their throats, unable to scream or do anything else. "He'll kill you. Let her go!"

Rey stopped her choke-holds on these men. She had never killed anyone before, and she was not sure she wanted to start now. She grabbed her staff and yelled at them all, "I am not Vader! That was me. I will finish what I started if you ever attack me or my things again."

She turned to the access tube as the men stared at her in horror. After grabbing her things, she mounted her speeder and headed back to her walker to catch some sleep. She hoped her little demonstration would encourage Unkar to deal with her fairly from this point forward.