Star Wars: I Am a Slave ✓

Chapter 30 - Tuanul Village

It still rankled Rey when she thought about the Ghtroc 690 freighter that Devi and Strunk stole from her. It had been over six months since they flew off with it, and not a day went by that she did not think about it. Would they have kept to the deal if she had wanted to leave Jakku? she wondered while she ate her meal in the dusk of Jakku.

Jakku. The planet of wind, sand, and rock. Probably not another planet like it in the galaxy—well, at least not inhabited, she thought as she watched a ship launch from Tuanul Village, about 50 kilometers away. Some days she wondered if she would ever get off this rock; other days she wished she could stay, because at least here she knew how to survive. Leaving her home of 14 years would mean uncertainty—how would she eat, where would she work, where would she live? She also feared if she ever left, that she would miss her family when they came back for her. Deep down she knew she would see them again.

While she scraped her plate with her tongue and fingers, she watched as additional lights showed in the dark sky. She hurried inside to grab her quadnocs. She raised it to the sky and could pick out four lights descending to the surface. They seemed to land near Kelvin Ravine, maybe even at the Sacred Village.

She watched through her quadnocs as they dipped below the ridge, the four lights of the ships joining together to form one large blur of light. The ships were too far away to hear, but she could feel the terror. It was almost as if she were there herself.

What was that light? It was orange, but it only appeared for a moment. There it is again! Rey adjusted the quadnoc, gazing through the one viable lens. Then she dropped the device in shock. The village was on fire! It was under attack by the First Order! Rey ran inside of her walker, battening down the hatch, hiding in the cockpit. If the First Order came this far west, there was a slight chance they would not look for her in the walker. She knew that if she fell into their hands, things would go from bad to worse.

She pulled her knees up to her chest and grabbed onto her calves, working herself into a small ball. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, trying to shut out the pain of the villagers dying.

After a few minutes, Rey felt something different—a dreadful foreboding, but something more. She felt a connection, a connection she could not escape. She climbed out of her walker and raised her quadnocs again. Another shipped approached Tuanul, this one triangular in shape—much larger than the others. As the ship landed, something within her called out to her and prodded her to go to the village. It took all of her effort to deny this pull, but she resisted. Being alive on Jakku was better than being dead on Jakku, if only barely.