03. Find My Love

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What the druk just happened. It feels like I was kicked in the head by a Bantha. 

Jysella registered the dulcet bleeping of K5 in the background. The droid was calling her a 'useless meat bag'. She rolled her eyes and propped herself up with one arm. She narrowed her eyes at the machinery around her. I'm in a TIE fighter? 

 Jysella jolted as she was reminded of the events that had just transpired on the Finalizer. Poe! He was on the other fighter with that trooper, well ex -trooper. What was his name again? Flynn? It was something like that. She pulled herself up with the dangling straps of what used to be her seatbelt. Her memories of the recent events were getting clearer.

Hearing her groan K5 let out a rash of blips. 'Yeah I'm awake. How long was I out?' Jysella's vision was still a little blurry. With the viewport facing the ground it was hard to gather was time it was on Jakku. Her holowatch would be no use as it was acclimated to the work cycle of the Finalizer. 

She almost balked at his reply. 'Seven hours! Poe and Finn could be back on the Finalizer for all I know.' She kicked the hull of the fighter. K5 bleeped.

'Yeah well the chance of them getting off Jakku without running into some kind of trouble is pretty slim. I hope they're okay...' Jysella trailed off. K5 replied with a whistle.

'Yeah you usually are the pessimistic one, guess it's my turn for once.' Jysella bit out as she moved into crouch. She felt around in her boots. The computer Spike was still in her boot and so was her viroblade. Going by the scratching sensation in her bra, the comlink was still there too. Not that it would have helped her to find Poe. He would need the transmission code if she wanted to send him a message. Even then he would have to have his own comlink.

Jysella took a moment to reach out with the force. Not daring to stretch too far with the possibility of Kylo Ren being in orbit around the planet. Nothing. She frowned. Maybe he got off the planet. K5 let out a low bleep at Jysella.

'Yeah I'm working on it K5. I'm a little frazzled from my concussion. Not to mention my sprained wrist is making things so much easier.'

Without warning she flicked off the droids seatbelt. K5 screeched as he slammed into the viewport next to Jysella. 'Nice of you to join me K5.' She smirked. Before she gave the droid a chance to reply she pressed the button to open the viewport. They dropped a few feet down onto the sand. .' The chill of the cool night air hit her immediately. The droid rolled a few feet while Jysella dropped to her knees. K5 whistled at her angrily.

'What? It was getting a little stuffy in there. Plus I need to see if there's any external damage to the engine. Otherwise we're not going anywhere.' With how long Jysella was out, she estimated that it was early morning. With the visibility and terrain it would be extremely hard to find the other fighter. Even with the scanning capabilities of a Special Forces fighter.

On her way to the back of the TIE fighter Jysella paused. There was a large shard peaking over the top of the sand dune that the fighter was partly buried in. She clumsily climbed the sand dune. 

She reeled at the sight. From the base of the structure she could tell it was the keel of a capital starship. The rest of the keel no longer look like part of a starship, it was covered in blackened glass. About 12 klicks away she could see the towering remnants of imperial destroyers. Jysella whistled. This must have been where the Battle of Jakku came to an end and with it, the last stand of the Galactic Empire. She could make out some AT AT'S in the distance.

A series of panicked bleeps carried over the wind. She spun around. There was a figure skulking around the TIE fighter. K5 was brandishing his welding torch arm at the intruder. Jysella rushed down as quickly as she could. With a small flick of her uninjured wrist her viroblade was out.

'Stop what you're doing right now.' The person in question paused their surveillance of the fighter. 'The fighter is already taken.' Jysella moved closer to the scavenger. They raised their hands in a placating gesture and stepped back. They pulled the wrappings from around their face. In the poor lighting Jysella deduced that it was a female Aqualish. Jysella's grip loosened on her viroblade as the Aqualish backed away. The scavenger looked her up and down, taking in her rumpled First Order uniform.

'I don't want any trouble. I'll be on my way.' The Aqualish woman replied in Huttese. Huttese was an easier language for the Aqualish species given the shape of their larynx. The scavenger started to make her way toward the large sand dune.

'Which way is the nearest town?' Jysella called out in Huttese. K5 bleeped in anger. She shushed K5 with a small kick. The scavenger paused for a moment. She turned back around and pointed. 'About seven hundred klicks that way.' Jysella pocketed her viroblade. The Aqualish made a move to turn again. She halted as Jysella shot her arm out. 'Is this gonna' take long, I'd rather not spend valuable salvaging time chatting with the First Order.'

'If it helps I'm not actually with the First Order. Their officers don't typically steal TIE fighters.' A pleading tone slipped into her voice. 'Look I could really use some help right now, I'm with the Resistance and I need to know if you've seen another TIE fighter around here. It would have crash landed somewhere in this direction. I know you have no reason to believe me. But please.' The scavenger looked out across the horizon before sighing. She then looked Jysella up and down, coming to her own conclusion.

'I haven't seen anything, but I think I may know what you're looking for, a droid right? It's been the talk of Niima outpost.'

'Did you see the droid? Is it safe?' Jysella ignored the sarcastic comment that K5 made. The droid sounded a little jealous at all the attention BB8 was getting.

'I wasn't there to see it but from what I heard around the outpost, the droid escaped with two other people on a Corellian ship. Unkar Plutt had a lot to say about that.' The Aqualish muttered the last part under her breath. 

'One of them was the closest thing to a friend that I had on this junkyard, her name was Rey,' She trailed off. 'I'm Mashra by the way.' She pressed a closed first to her chest with a small bow of her head.

'I'm Jysella. What did the other person look like? ' Mashra gave the description. It fitted that of the defected Stormtrooper. That meant Poe could still be out here. Mashra noted the disappointment on her face.

Jysella pressed her head onto the wing of the TIE fighter. She looked around with a sigh. He can't be dead. I would know. Sensing her anguish Mashra made a suggestion.

'If you want more information, your best bet would Blowback town. It's about a day's walk east of the Starship Graveyard. Though you'll get there a lot faster in that thing. Blowback is a lot bigger than Niima outpost but someone might have seen something. Try Harstan's bar, a lot of the long distance scavengers pass through there.' Jysella thanked Mashra. Before they parted ways Jysella told the Aqualish to wait.  With the help of the force she disconnected the fried hyperdrive from its terminal. It would take too long for Jysella to fix herself. If she gave it to Mashra she could repair it and trade it at the outpost. Not wanting to linger for much longer the scavenger accepted the computer with a smile and a thank you.

Jysella watched Mashra climb the sand dune and muttered to herself. 'Blowback town it is then.' She would have to find something to trade for a new hyperdrive when she and K5 reached the town. 

Jysella called out to the droid who was suspiciously quiet during the exchange with Mashra. The droid had assessed the damage of the engine and internal systems. The engine was intact. Jysella already knew the state of the shields and hyperdrive. Communications were barely functional. They'd have to stay that way for now, they'd take too long to repair. 

Jysella hopped into the fighter and engaged the landing gear again to correct the position of the fighter. They were soon up in the air. She flew low in hopes of spotting Poe. In less than half hour they were coming up on Blowback town. She landed the fighter about 3 klicks away. Landing the fighter any closer would attract a lot of unwanted attention.

Jysella cut the engines and stepped out of the fighter. She ordered K5 to stay put to keep an eye on things. Although Jysella would need to ditch her disguise first. It was very likely that her disappearance would have been noticed by the First Order. There was also a good chance that there would be stormtoopers in the town looking for BB8 or Poe and Finn. ...Finn! That what his name was. Jysella shook her head and returned back to the task at hand.

Before she crouched down next to K5 in the gunnery she located the emergency medpac under the pilot's seat. In the pack was a selection of items such as a plasma synthesizer/ coagulator, bacta spray and an anaesthetic hypo injector. Jysella tossed away the tiny pouch that she knew contained Lullaby pills. Not something that I'll be needing today.

'Gonna' need your help with a little something K5. And lucky for you, you get to make good use of your cutting tools,' Jysella voiced quietly to the droid as she opened his casing. The droid let out a few choice bleeps as she clicked open the panel. 

As K5 prepared the tool Jysella pressed the aesthetic injector to the spot behind her ear. There was a small hiss. She followed it with an injection of coagulant. Jysella winced as she pulled the injector out. The area was numbed immediately. 

She made sure to disinfect K5's cutting arm with the bacta spray first. 'Make an incision about half an inch deep, no more than that okay.' In a few moments the incision was made. 'Now for the harder part.' Removing the actual Nano chip would be easy, going through the physical changes to revert back to her own appearance would be extremely painful. The feeling of going through the change felt like someone was moulding your skin from the inside and pricking it with a hundred needles.

She hovered an arm over the area. She closed her eyes and tapped into the force. Within a few seconds the nanochip was out and Jysella was on the floor. She writhed in pain as her facial features moved around like rubber. A pricking sensation travelled from her toes to head. Her uniform was drenched in sweat. A few strangled screams slipped out. It felt like her eyes were going to burst out through her skull. She forced her first into her mouth to muffle the noise. 

K5 was jostling in his seat, bleeping wearily. Her screams transformed into whimpers as the changes reached their end. She took in a gulp of air as she came down from the adrenaline rush. A dull ache throbbed at her temples. With quivering fingers she set the chip safely in the medpac.

Jysella didn't make a move to get off the floor of the gunnery. She pressed her uninjured hand to her cheeks, she pinched and poked and the skin. To be able to feel her own facial features for the first time in years was a huge relief. She didn't have time to dwell on the comforting thoughts for long.

 She shakily got up into a crouch and made her way to open the viewport. She waved off the uncharacteristic concern that the droid showed. She made sure to leave the computer spike and the comlink with the droid for safe keeping. Jysella clumsily exited the TIE fighter, her body trembling. She tossed a thank you to the droid before reminding him to keep his optics peeled for anything suspicious. Jysella steadied herself on the wing of the fighter before setting off towards Blowback town.

Within the hour Jysella reached the edge of the town. By this point she had ditched her uniform jacket and had torn off any First Order insignia. The stench of speeder fuel was overpowering as she walked through the town. Jysella coughed as she inhaled the fumes of a machine manned by an Abednedo that was brewing some dark red broth. She also caught a few Spice sellers lurking about. With the help of an Uthuthma, the species native to Jakku, Jysella reached Harstan's bar in no time.

Harstan's bar was brimming with species of all kinds. The local drink, Knockback Nectar was contained in large tank behind the bar. Jysella could vaguely see through to the brewing room behind the tank. She winced as she noticed a frothing blue drink in the hands of a scruffily dressed man. She shook her head before looking away from the drink in their hand. The drink was called the Reactor Core, it was a mixture of Spice Liqueur and Blue Tonic. When mixed the drink produced a narcotic agent which induced a hallucinogenic effect. Never again. Jysella shuddered at the memory.

'Does that Blarina ever shut up? I've never met a more talkative scavanger in my life.' A high pitched voice complaing in Huttese caught her attention. 'He spun me tale about a madman with a TIE fighter. The little rodent must have been inhaling Spice.' The source of the voice was a Hutt, from their tattoos Jysella inferred that they were from the Besadii family. 

A member of the Hutt's entourage spoke the name of the Blarina to one of his associates. Naka Iit. The associate that spoke the name of the scavenger in question got up a few moments later and made their way to the bar. The 'associate' was the owner of the bar, Harstan. Harstan was short with bronze brown skin and bulging muscles. They were wearing a floaty dress/tunic combination which clashed with their heavy sand boots.

Jysella slid next to the man and caught his gaze for a few seconds before looking away again. The man looked her up and down before ordering some Knockback Nectar. Jysella struck up a conversation with the human, a smile stretched across her face.

'You wouldn't happen to know where could get a hyperdrive, I'm kind of... new to the area. Not quite sure where to look.' They stared her down while they sipped at their drink.

'You've come to just the right place my dear. ' The bar owner adopted a slight patronising tone. 'You should be aware that most of the places where you'll find a functioning hyperdrive in this area will charge a cetain amount of credits for such a fresh faced beauty. A good friend of mine runs a trading post half a klick down the road.' Jysella nodded with wide eyes.

'Thank you, I haven't had the best of days, as you can seem from my slighty dishevelled appearance,' she giggled while resting a hand on their arm.

'Hmm I didn't notice, I'm not one to dwell on such base characteristics.' Some part of Jysella wondered if such a line ever worked on any other species that Harstan had shown an interest in. She listened to Harstan drone on for a few more minutes before briefly mentioning the Blarina that was the hot topic of conversation at the Cantina.

'Hmm yes. Horrible little species. They're look like malformed rodents.' Jysella nodded a long as they complained about the scavengers appearance. Jysella glared daggers in her mind. This conversation is getting nowhere fast. She began to narrow her eyes and feigned confusion. She waved a hand in the air.

'Do you mind if we go somewhere quieter? It's getting a little hard to hear you.'

'Of course.' Harstan led her behind the bar and down a hall into a spacious office that was decorated with expensive looking paintings and flowers that were engineered to withstand the heat of Jakku. Jysella made a point of ogling a painting on the wall as she sat upon Harstan's desk.

With a small swish the door was closed. Harstan's spun on their heel and strutted toward her.

'Alone at last.' Jysella hummed in agreement and hopped of the desk moving closer to inspect an ornate vase of flowers. Jysella felt the breath of Harstan behind her. Jysella's patience was wearing incredibly thin and so was her temper. She tensed. A flash of hot rage washed down her body. Before they could make another move the bar owner was pressed face first into the desk, an arm twisted in an awkward position. With her other arm she pressed her elbow into their back.

'You make a habit of touching people intimately without asking first?'

Harstan choked in surprise, the breath pushed from their lungs in a burst. 'I meant no wrongdoing. I must have misread the situation. I apologise.' Jysella let up slightly at their admission. 'In my defence you have a very well defined rea -' She pulled their arm back further.

'Yeah well it doesn't matter what you think does it.' She cut them off. 'If you don't mind me getting off topic for a moment, where can I find that Blarina you were complaining about?' Harstan laughed and writhed in her grip, panting as his arm began to burn.

'You were never interested about finding a hyperdrive were you?'

'You were never actually going to help me find one were you?' She shot back. 'And funnily enough I actually am after a hyperdrive.' She dug her elbow into their back more. 'The Blarina. Where can I find him?'

'He's on the lower level of the bar. He goes by Naka Iit' Harstan forced out.

'Thanks for your cooperation. Also, while I'm here you mind telling me what kind of hyperdrive that Y60 cargo freighter has out back.'

'Even if I knew that wouldn't tell you.' He made an attempt to break her grip. It was futile. She heaved him up from the desk.

'Okay then, so what about the access codes to the freighter.'

'No chance.' Oh really. Jysella smirked to herself and took a moment to clear her mind.

'You will tell me the access codes to the freighter.'

'Two, two alpha nine.'

'Is there anyone on board?'

'Not as far as I know.'

'For how long will the ship be empty?'

'For the whole morning.'

'Good' Jysella whispered to herself. With a small wave of her fingers Harstan was out cold. They slammed into the desk with a thud before comically flopping down to the ground.

Time to see a Blarina about a madman. 

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