Star Wars VII - Revised and Redacted

Chapter 06: Hurried Departure

The speeder crossed the distance between the starport and the forest where Sentis lived in a short duration of time, and Rey pulled up to a stop in front of the tree with his door in it. Climbing down, Rey helped her passengers extract themselves from the cargo nets they'd been holding onto for dear life during the journey.

"Let's not do that again," Finn suggested when he got back on solid ground.

"I see you've brought guests," Sentis commented as he exited his tree house. The gray-haired man looked over the new arrivals.

"This is Poe and Finn," Rey introduced. "They helped me fight of some of Unkar's people. They need transportation, and there's a reward in it for us if we help them."

"Sounds promising," Sentis accepted. His smile faltered slightly when he noticed Finn. "That jacket is Republic issue. The First Order has been patrolling the skies around here lately, and now a Republic fighter pilot shows up at my home in need of transportation. I think those two things are connected. Tell me I'm wrong."

"I'm not with the Republic," Finn countered.

"I am," Poe said. "The jacket belongs to me. I loaned it to him so he wouldn't be seen in First Order armor. He was one of their stormtroopers and helped me escape when I was captured."

"Did he? Interesting," Sentis mused. "A deserter and an enemy pilot; it explains why the First Order is searching so hard. They're sure to look here again, and I would rather be long gone before they come back. Rey, collect whatever you want to take with you while I and our guests prep the ship."

Rey nodded and vanished into the house.

"You're pretty well informed for a man living in the middle of a forest," Poe observed.

"I have a deep space relay," Sentis told him. "It keeps me informed of what's going on in the galaxy. This way, gentlemen."

Sentis took off at a brisk stride across the forest to a large tree. A hole in the side of the tree revealed the base of the trunk to be hollow. Sentis ducked inside, followed by Finn and Poe. BB-8 rolled quickly up alongside them so as to not be left behind.

Before anyone could ask why they were cramped in a hollow tree, the ground under them began to descend. A concealed lift platform lowered down a shaft into an underground hangar bay. Situated in the middle of the bay was a spaceship.

Vaguely rectangular and flat, the ship had the appearance of a wing torn from an old style aircraft. Not all of the exterior hull plating was installed, leaving gaps where the internal conduits and support struts were still visible. A spherical window, similar to the cockpit of a TIE fighter was mounted in the forward center of the wing, and an identical one was present on the far left tip of the wing. Four thrusters were evenly spaced along the underside of the craft. The rear of the ship, directly behind the cockpit, was currently folded down as a ramp to allow access to the interior.

"How did you build this underneath a forest?" Poe asked in bewilderment.

"Rey and I built the ship together over the years," Sentis explained. "The hangar, however, was here before the forest."

"Exactly how old are you?" Poe questioned.

"Not as old as you might think, but I was born more years ago than you might imagine," Sentis replied with a knowing smile.

"That isn't exactly helpful," Finn complained.

"We'll have time for questions later," Sentis dismissed. "Pilot, what's your name?"

"Poe," he answered.

"Help me power this thing up," Sentis requested.

"Anything I can do?" Finn offered.

"Yes," Sentis accepted. He pointed to the far corner of the bay. "There's a sensor station over there. Keep an eye on the screen and let us know when we have any uninvited guests."

"Sure thing," Finn agreed, hurrying over to his new post.

Sentis and Poe climbed the ramp into the ship and were almost immediately at the cockpit.

"Not very large," Poe remarked.

"It was only supposed to be for the two of us," Sentis countered. "We weren't expecting passengers."

"This looks like a TIE fighter cockpit," Poe observed.

"It is, or should I say, it used to be several of them," Sentis confirmed. "A Star Destroyer crashed with several still in the hangar. Rey and I made use of the undamaged pieces we could find."

Sentis took the co-pilot position and gestured toward the pilot seat for Poe.

"This is your ship," Poe objected.

"I haven't flown in years," Sentis countered. "I'm assuming you're still on the active duty list. You can fly this bucket."

"Alright," Poe agreed, taking the offered chair. He flipped several switches and clicked a pair of dials to the right settings before pausing. "Where's the auxiliary bypass control?"

"We don't have one," Sentis admitted. He pointed to a panel beside Poe's head. "Use the primary flow inverter. It works just as well."

By the time Rey entered the hangar with the last of their things to be loaded, Sentis and Poe had the ship engines humming loudly.

"We've got company!" Finn said as he came running up the ramp of the ship. "I don't know how many, but the blips on screen covered half the display."

"It's alright," Sentis accepted calmly. "We're leaving. Hit the switch next to you and close the ramp."

Finn did as instructed, and the tail of the ship pulled up and sealed the outer hull tightly.

Sentis flipped a lever up and looked expectantly out the front viewport. When nothing happened, he pulled the lever back down and repeated the process again, still nothing.

"The hangar doors aren't opening," Sentis informed them. "Rey, take over as co-pilot. I'll get the doors."

"You can't go back out there," Finn protested. "Too many soldiers are coming."

"I've faced worse," Sentis assured him before pointing to the far end of the ship. "You might want to take the gunnery position and provide some covering fire. It's down there."

"Right," Finn agreed, heading off in the indicated direction while Sentis opened the ship and exited down the ramp.