Awakening

Now that we're in a more calm position the pilot gets up, I take over the controls as she goes to meet up with the gunner in the hallway.

Now that the danger has passed I can actually see how amazing that flight was, I would never do it again, I would rather fly the ship myself and make sure it's a small fighter not a large cruiser.

"Nice shooting"

"That was some flying"

"Thanks"

"How did you do that?"

"I don't know"

"No one trained you.."

"I've worked on ships but I've never left the planet"

"That was amazing"

I hear them both talking excitedly. I chuckle a little, I can understand their excitement but I don't share it. I'm in too much pain, my best friend since childhood is dead. I could care less about the blaster burn on my arm while I can feel the heat
off it the pain of loosing a friend is worse.

I hear a loud metal clunk and what sounds like gas spewing out of a tight space as an alarm starts to go off.

"Help me with this quick" I hear her say

"What's going on?" He asks

"What was that?" I call In to them wondering what's happening. I put the ship into auto pilot and get up to find out what's going on. The man is on the floor facing BB8 with his back to me.

"-I'm just trying to get away from The First Order, but you tell me where your base is and I'll get you there first, deal?" he asks.

BB8 tilts his head to look at me

"Droid! Please!"

The woman pops up from down a hatch and asks for a tool

"So where's your base?" She asks

"Go on BB8 tell her" The man says

It sounds like he wheezes a little bit but in BB8's camera I see him mouth something.

BB8 looks at me standing behind the man and I nod, I can't remember where it is, it's making me wonder what else I have forgotten and it's not a pleasant feeling.

BB8 tells her where the base is and as if it was on the tip of my tongue I remember as she says it.

"The Ileenium System"

"Yeah, the Ileenium system that's the one" he says throwing a tool to her before sticking his thumb up to BB8 who pulls out his welder trying to imitate the gesture "Get us there as fast as you can"

This strikes me as odd, he's not resistance, that much is obvious. I'm guessing that is why he had to beg BB8 to tell her. The mouth motion makes sense now, he was saying please. I decide to watch them both to see what else I can find out about them.

"I'll drop you three at Paneema Terminal. I need the bonding tape, hurry"

"What about you?"

"I've got to get back to Jakku"

"Back to Jak- Why does everyone want to get back to Jakku? That place is..." He doesn't get chance to finish his sentence because he picks up a roll of tape

"It's not that one"

He picks up another roll of tape

"No"

Another

"No. The one I'm pointing to"

He reaches for every roll of tape with her annoyed responses of no each time.

"If we don't patch this up the propulsion tap will overflow and flood the ship with poisonous gas" BB8 shows him the right one.

"This?"

It looks like everything is under control, more or less, so I go back to the cockpit and just look out at the stars leaving the ship on autopilot.

The lights go off and the backup lights switch on illuminating the ship in a red glow. I press buttons trying to regain control of the ship, I curse. The three of them come to find out what's happened.

"Someone has locked onto us, all controls are overridden."

There's a loud sound above as though something unclamped. The man stands up on the chair trying to look out of the window to see what's going on.

"See anything?" Rey asks

"Oh no"

"What do you see?" I ask looking up

"It's the First Order" He says

We're being pulled inside a large ship that closes around us stopping our escape.

"What do we do? There must be something"

"You said poisonous gas..."

"I fixed that"

"Can you un fix it?"

They get up and head back to the hatch, I follow them grabbing my rifle. We grab gas masks and they thrown theirs into the hatch.

"There's not enough room for all of us in there" I point out

"You three get below" I say simply

"What?" the man asks

"Don't argue, if I don't survive this, you make sure you get BB8 to the base" I say giving him a knowing look that he isn't Resistance.

He looks reluctant but nods and jumps down the hatch.

"One more thing, I'm Amara" I say realising I still don't know theirs.

"I'm Rey, and I'm sure you know Finn, both being resistance" she says smiling.

"Get down there and stay quiet" I say smiling.

Rey passes BB8 to him before jumping down. Power comes back on and I help them put the hatch cover on before hiding.

I see Finn pop his head back up and motion for him to get back down. He does, just as the door is about to open. I stay hiding around one of the hallways.

"Chewie, we're home" I hear a recognisable voice say, before hearing a wookie.

I peak around the corner and see a grey haired older man and a big hairy Wookie. The big furry creature is walking in my direction but stops as a sound comes from below. They walk over to the hatch and the Wookie pulls the heavy grate off.

I step out from where I'm hiding and point my riffle at them "Drop your weapons" I say from behind them. Much too close than I would like to be to a Wookie. It turns around back handing me and knocking me to the floor taking my riffle off me

before picking me up and throwing me near the other two, then looks at me curiously.

"Where's the others? Where's the pilot?" The elderly man asks

"We're the pilots," she said pointing between the two of us "Her and I"

"You?" he says in disbelief looking at the both of us.

The Wookie becomes vocal and she seems to understand it.

"No, it's true we're the only ones on board"

"You can understand that thing?"

"And that thing can understand you too so watch it, come on outta' there."

They climb out quickly, taking their masks off.

"Where'd you get this ship?" He asks

"Nima outpost"

"Jakku, that junkyard?"

"Thank you, junkyard"

"I told you we should have double checked the western reaches" he says to his companion

"Who had it? Ducain?"

"We stole it. From Unclar Plutt. Who stole it from the Urving Boys who stole it from Ducain"

"Who stole it from me. Well you tell him from me that Han Solo just stole back the Millenium Falcon for good" the man says walking towards the cockpit.

"This is the Millenium Falcon? You're Han Solo?"

"I used to be" he says sounding regretfully

"Han Solo? The Rebelliion General?" Finn asks

"No, The Smuggler" Rey says matter of factly

"Wasn't he a War Hero?"

"I heard they were the same person" I add from on the floor, dizzy from the furry backhander.

"This is the ship that made the Kessel Run is fourteen parsecs"

"Twelve!" Han says from down another corridor. At the same time I mumble it. I've heard it before, I'm not sure where.

I get up with help from Finn, thanking him. The Wookie hands me my weapon back.

"I'm guessing you were being gentile?" I ask as I take my rifle with one hand, holding my face with the other.

He sounds like he chuckles a little and looks amused.

"Hey" comes an angry voice from the cockpit. Han walks back to us looking unimpressed.

"Some moof-milker put a compressor on the ignition line!" He says.

"Unkar Plutt did. I thought it was a mistake too, puts too much"stress on the hyperdrive" Rey and Han say at the same time. I look at her and him curiously who look at each other a mix of confusion from Han and admiration from Rey.

"Chewie, throw 'em in a pod, we'll drop them at the nearest inhabited planet."

"Wait! No - we need your help!" She starts

"My help?"

"This droid has to get to the Resistance base as soon as possible!" Ray states

"He's carrying a map to Luke Skywalker." Finn says.

I look at him surprised, if he's not resistance who is he to know that?

Han stops in his tracks.

"You are the Han Solo that fought with the Rebellion. You knew him."

I look at him surprised. The General's husband?

"Yeah, I knew him. I knew Luke."

"I know you too, what are you doing out here?" He asks me.

"I'd like to know that myself. I crash landed on Jakku and hit my head, my memory is fuzzy at best" I admit.

There's a metallic clunk from outside which echoes through the ship.

"Don't tell me a Rathtar's gotten loose" he says hurrying to the door.

"Wait... A what?! Did you just say Rathtar? Hey!" Finn asks sounding very concerned. As we rush after him, exiting The Falcon to a giant freighter's hangar. Han moves to a control panel and we all follow him.

"Please tell me you're not serious?" I ask also worried.

"You're not hauling Rathtars on this freighter, are you?" Finn asks

"I'm hauling Rathtars." Han replies

"Rathtars? Plural? Not just one which is a bad idea to begin with" I ask.

He watches the control panel for the source of the sound. It's a ship docking with this one.

"Oh great. It's the Guavian Death Gang... They must've tracked us from Nantoon" Han says not too pleased

"What's a Rathtar?" Rey asks as Han leads us down a long narrow hallway lined with cargo containers.

"They're big and dangerous..." Han says simply.

"You ever heard of the Trillia Massacre?!" Finn asks Rey

"No." She replies

"Good." Is all Finn says

"They're big, ugly creatures with tentacles and a lot of teeth, they kill anything they see. They're fast because of their ball like shape and deadly, if you ever see one run, and hide it the smallest, most secure space you can find." I say giving
/her a straight answer.

"I got three of 'em going to King Prana."

I look at him like he's insane

"THREE?! How'd you get them on board?" Finn asks

"I used to have a bigger crew."

Chewie groans, agreeing.

Han stops at a service hatch in the floor and Chewie opens it.

"Get below deck and stay there until I say so. Don't even think about taking the Falcon." He says warningly.

"What about BB-8?" Rey asks

"He stays with me until I get rid of the gang, then you can have him back and be on your way."

"What about the Rathtars... where are you keeping them?"

A loud, heavy thud sounds behind us and we jump back, Rey screams and my heart stops for a moment as we instinctively turn to see a window behind Finn, with a Rathtar licking the glass.

"There's one." Han points

"I really dislike you right now" I say honestly still looking at the creature but directing my words to Han

"What are you gonna do?" Rey asks

"Same thing I always do. Talk my way out of it." He says simply as we start climbing it.

Chewie moans loudly in response

"Yes, I do. Every time." Han says stubbornly as the hatch is closed behind us.

"Han Solo. You are a dead man."

Han smiles innocently, friendly. BB-8 nervously looks back and forth at the gang, and Han.

"Bala-Tik. What's the problem?"

"The problem is we loaned you fifty thousand for this job."

We look up, trying to get a view.

"Can you see them?"

"No."

They start crawling down the crawl space. And I silently follow the shuffling pair.

"I heard you also borrowed fifty thousand from Kanjiklub."

"You know you can't trust those little freaks! How long've we known each other?"

When underneath the gang we can see they're heavily armed

"They have blasters..."

"A lot of 'em."

"That's gangs for you" I say looking through the gaps at the red outfitted guards and the leader in a black suit.

"The question is how much longer will we know each other? Not long. We want our money back now."

"Ya think hunting Rathtars is cheap? I spent that money."

"Kanjiklub wants their investment back, too."

"I never made a deal with Kanjiklub!"

"Tell that to Kanjiklub."

The sound of a hatch opening at the other end of the hall catches our attention.

"Tasu Leech. Good to see you."

'Wrong again, Solo. It's over for you.' He says in his language, fortunately it's one I know.

"What is he saying?" Finn asks

"It doesn't sound good, I'll say that much" I say as we start to move towards the opposite end of the walkway to see this other gang.

"Boys. You're both gonna' get what I promised! Have I ever not delivered for you before?"

"Yeah."

'Twice!'

"What was the second time?"

"Your game is old. There's no one in the galaxy left for you to swindle."

'Nowhere left for you to hide.'

"That BB unit... the First Order is looking for one just like it. And three fugitives."

Finn and Rey stop crawling hearing about us being fugitives.

"First I've heard of it."

Finn and Rey look at each other, afraid.

'Search the freighter.'

One of the Kanjiklub members begins moving down the corridor, aiming a torch down between the grates. In silent panic Finn and Rey start crawling back the opposite way and I follow behind them carefully not to make a sound.

Rey crawls over to a junction box and looks at the controls.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait. If we close the blast doors in that corridor, we can trap both gangs!" Rey suggests

"Close the blast doors from here?" Finn asks unsure how

"Resetting the fuses should do it." She explains

"How do you know that would work?" I ask

"I don't see why it wouldn't"

Rey begins resetting the fuses, pressing large buttons turning the lights on them from green to red. I look up pointing my riffle defensively. I look over at Rey who smiles optimistically and then Finn who looks hopeful. The lights switch off leaving
/the red backup lights on..

"Is this supposed to happen?" I ask

"Oh no." Rey says sheepishly

"Oh no, what?" Finn asks

I look at her with a silent question on my face

"Wrong fuses."

Suddenly all the lights switch back on.

"Kill them! And take the droid!"

Something roars at the end of the hall and the gang starts screaming and shooting.

We hurriedly crawl through the space below decks.

"This was a mistake!" Finn says

"Huge!" Rey agrees

I open the hatch and jump up with my riffle at the ready before jumping up and helping Rey and Finn climb out, quickly. We run down a corridor and turn

"What do they look like?" Try asks as we turn another corner.

Gang members are fighting a rathtar and failing it eats the gang members who are screaming and shouting it.

"They look like that." Finn says. They turn and go down another corridor, I follow them "this way" I say turning down one corridor

"This way!" Finn says turning right.

"Are you sure?" Rey asks

There's a slight growl from behind and Finn is grabbed and dragged away. We turn to see a Rathtar rolling away with him.

"FINN!" Rey calls. I aim to shoot but I don't out of risking hitting Finn, but then the creature turns a corner.

"Finn!" I shout as we run after him.

"Finn!" Rey calls turning down the corridor.

"Rey!" He shouts "Rey"

I keep running after him hoping I turn the right corridors since I can no longer hear him. I spot Finn just as the blast door closes on the Rathtar's tentacle, cutting it off and releasing Finn from the creatures grasp.

"Finn!" I call rushing over to make sure he's okay.

"It had me! It had me!" He shouts pulling the tentacle off his leg. Rey catches up, I didn't realise she had fallen behind.

"It had me! But the door-!"

"That was lucky!" She says

Now I see what just happened. She must've closed the door from a control panel we passed.

"Come on" I say helping him up.

We run through the corridors towards the Falcon.

"Where's Han and the Wookie?" I ask hopping them and BB8 are okay. We turn into the hangar and see Han helping the injured Wookie up the ramp.

"Han!" Rey says as she sees him

Finn and Rey race past Han.

"You, close the door behind us!" Han says to Rey

"You take care of Chewie!" He says to Finn

Han and Rey race up the ramp as Finn heads up with Chewie, who yells in pain. I follow behind them with my riffle ready in case any of the gangs come. Once they're aboard I get on behind them putting my blaster rifle down.

"Hold on back there" Han calls from the cockpit.

I sit in a chair and grab BB8 so we don't go sliding around like the first flight in this ship.

After a few moments we jump into light speed sending my already funny feeling head a little more dizzy. At least we're away from the gangs and the Rathtars though. What's next? Rancors?