Star Wars: I Am a Slave ✓

Chapter 18 - Lift-Off

Rey closed her eyes and started her relaxation technique as Ani had taught her. When she was at peace, she moved her hand. Keeping her eyes closed, she visualized it moving in her head, felt it moving through the Force.

Every time a surge of excitement threatened to run through her, she calmed herself and continued the exercise. The engine continued to rise until it was resting on top of the hood of the speeder. Rey opened her eyes in disbelief. "I did it. I can't believe I did it."

"Belief is the first step, Rey. You must believe." Ani sighed. "Remember the pod racer simulator? Flying pods requires Jedi reflexes and minute adjustments through levitation at extreme speeds. I want you practicing your levitation daily, until it becomes second-nature to you. Now, tighten that engine down and let's go do something about those burns on your arms and your sunburn."

Later that evening after the sun had set and the two moons of Jakku had risen, Rey headed out on her speeder to the new X-wing.

 Ani had found some fabric somewhere, long strips of unbleached muslin. He had Rey wrap them around her arms as sleeves to protect her from additional burns. For additional fine-levitation practice, Ani made Rey sew the wrapped linen together into layers that she could pull on and off her arms at will.

The two moons of Jakku were both full, shining enough light on the desert that a glowlamp was not required. Only once every four months were the moons full together, as they had separate rotational axes and velocities as they orbited the planet.

When she reached the X-wing, she unfastened the engine on top of the speeder and started to take it down with her arms.

Ani appeared. "Not that way. You're going to hurt yourself. Use the Force."

Rey stopped struggling with the engine and stepped away. After sewing with the Force all day, she was able to become at peace quickly.

She lifted her hand, noticing the difference between moving a small needle in precise movements and lifting a very heavy engine in a bold motion. She moved her hand to flip the engine into the right attitude and slide it home in its port, the top left engine slot which stood empty. The original non-operational engine lying sideways on the sand beyond the X-wing.

"Good. See, not that hard when you get the hang of it." Ani nodded. "Now, time to connect the engine. Open the access hatch, and don't short-circuit the thing."

"Yes, Granddad." Rey smiled. 

The connections were simple. Positive power here, negative power cable here, fuel intake hose here, computer feed here.

She grabbed her flight helmet from the storage net on the speeder and popped the canopy. This was a different canopy than the original, which also lay in the sand away from the craft. The original canopy had been punctured by laser fire, killing the pilot. Rey had swapped the canopy out a few weeks before. The most difficult challenge was lining up the pressure seal so that the craft could maintain life-support systems once she was in the air.

"Wait. Aren't you forgetting something?"

Rey looked at him, questioning. "The engine should work fine."

"No, you haven't pre-checked. Also, move your speeder away from the thruster burn zone." 

Rey dropped her helmet in the cockpit before moving the speeder away. She left her staff and carry sack in the cargo net and returned to the X-wing. The underbelly of the craft was buried in sand, but Rey performed the pre-flight inspection as Ani had shown on everything above the sand level.

Then she climbed in her cockpit, put on the helmet, and activated the engines. As the two working engines sputtered to life, she checked each system and the display panel. She fastened herself into the pilot's seat, shut her canopy, and grabbed the joystick, fitting her feet into the pedals.

Taking a deep breath, Rey activated her repulsor lifts, taking the small craft up, spilling sand everywhere in its wake. Slowly, the belly of the craft cleared the sand, and then the landing claws lifted, draining the sand.

As soon as Rey was five meters above the dune, she retracted her landing claws. The gears ground as the feet moved into the fuselage. She made a mental note to lubricate those mechanisms later.

But right now, she was in the air. Exhilaration raced through her. All systems checked out as operational. 

Ani asked, "Are you ready?" 

Rey nodded. 

"Then let's go."

She pulled on the joystick and opened the throttle fully. Flying the X-wing was familiar because of her simulator use, but there were still some differences. There was a thrill as she felt the pull of gravity while she climbed high in the atmosphere, chasing the moons across the sky. Her hair was full of electricity as she dove down to less than a hundred meters above the surface.

She pulled the X-wing down further, skimming the surface of the sand, barely three meters above, spreading sand everywhere as she blew past.  "Wheeee! Wow!"

Ani chuckled as he remembered the exhilaration of flying like this, missing his days of pod racing, even the days of flying during the Clone Wars.

She flew for over an hour, until she knew that the scavengers had left the graveyard for the day. Then she took the craft into the graveyard, pulling as close as possible to the Ravager, flying around it, feeling the wind pull her up-and-down and side-to-side. She fought with the controls, trying to keep from being bashed into the fuselage of the super star destroyer.

"Use the Force, Rey," Ani said. "Unlike the simulator, you can use it to feel around you, even manipulate the craft."

Rey concentrated and became at peace, letting go of her excitement for a moment to let the Force flow through her. She climbed into a pitchback and then followed it with a barrel roll across the graveyard, zooming around the TIEs and snubs half-buried in the sand.

She climbed high toward the moons and looped up and behind. Then she worked a reverse loop, diving low and pulling up behind a pretend attacker.

Ani then put her through a grueling workout, programming fake bogeys into her flight computer. Rey continued her flight for many hours, exhilarated.

When Ani finally let her quit, morning twilight was upon them. "Land this thing and get some rest. We'll fly again tomorrow night."

"Where are you going, Granddad?"

"Here and there."

"Granddad, please tell me," she begged. "I'm not landing until you tell me."

"You're almost asleep, Rey. You can barely keep your eyes open. Land before you crash."

"No. And what's to stop me from leaving Jakku now?"

"You don't have enough thrust with only two engines to escape Jakku's gravity," Ani said. "Now land."

"Tell me where you're going first."

"No."

"Yes. Stop being so stubborn. It's not like I'm a child anymore."

"I'm stubborn? Look here, Rey—" Ani said before he started laughing. "You're just like your mother. Or maybe your father. Or both."

"You knew my father?" Rey asked, truly interested. She had a vague memory of a hologram she once saw, filled with static. She remembered a droid saying it was her father.

"Know him, yes," Ani said with regret. He hoped that Rey never learned what he had done to her family so many years ago. "Now, land the craft. I want to go check on some things, but I want to make sure you're safe. And there should be a camouflage net in the cargo bay of the craft. Cover the X-wing with it, and disconnect the engines before you leave, so no one flies off with it."

"Yes, Granddad." Rey brought the X-wing in close to her speeder. "Tell me about my father." But he was gone.