Chapter Seven

Vardos, 34 ABY

As Zay walked through the deserted city of Kestro with her blaster pistol clutched tightly in her hands, she saw destroyed buildings and burning rubble all around her. In the distance, she heard blaster fire and decided to stay away from that area. She reached the entrance to what looked like an office building of sorts and she raised her blaster pistol and fanned the area when she stepped through the now destroyed doorway.

After she confirmed the immediate area was clear, Zay looked to her left and smiled gleefully when she spotted a DLT-19X targeting rifle lying on the ground next to the dead body of a J-Sec officer who had a blaster burn on his chest. Her father was a proficient sniper back during the Galactic Civil War and he had taught Zay how to shoot one when she was younger.

When Zay reached the body, she holstered her pistol and knelt to inspect the corpse more closely. She pulled back a piece of the burnt uniform, cringing at the sight of the darkened skin and the reddened burn that surrounded the section of flesh that had been maimed by a blaster bolt. She reached out to put her hand on the blaster burn but as her hand got closer the heat emitting from the burn was so intense that she reflexively pulled it back.

Whoever killed this officer must have done it recently and they could still be nearby. The blaster fire I heard in the distance is probably the reason. The targeting rifle will be useful. I might as well take it, she thought.

Zay reached down to scoop up the targeting rifle and when she touched the rifle she saw a blinding flash of white light and then looked up saw someone barking orders, blasters firing, and people running and screaming.

She let out a small gasp then stumbled backwards a few steps and almost tripped over her own feet in shock and horror. 

She panted a bit, trying to regain some composure. "What in the force what that?" she murmured quietly.

Zay didn't have time to think about what just happened. When she reached down and grabbed the rifle again she didn't see what saw the first time. She instinctively checked to see if a power pack was inside. Much to her surprise, the rifle was already loaded with a fully charged power pack. She then looted the body for any power packs and other useful items. All she found were half a dozen thermal detonators, half a dozen power packs for the targeting rifle, and a few power packs for the officer's blaster pistol. Even though she already had a half dozen power packs for her blaster in her jacket she took the officer's power packs as well just in case.

She slung the rifle over her back, took out her pistol, and walked back out of the building. To her right about forty-six meters away sitting atop a small hill, was what looked like a landing pad with an Imperial shuttle on the pad. Zay turned to head in that direction when she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She then heard the distinctive sound of a blaster being cocked behind her.

"Freeze!" a voice ordered. "Drop your weapon!"

Zay slowly turned around to see a man standing less than ten meters away dressed in stark white-colored armor aiming an F-11D blaster rifle at her.

"Why should I?" she asked defiantly.

"Drop your weapon," the First Order trooper ordered again. "Don't make me ask you again. Surrender your weapon or I will kill you."

"Well, sorry to burst your bubble buddy, but I'm not doing that." Without a second thought, she swiftly raised her blaster pistol and fired point-blank at the stormtrooper before he could even get a shot off or yell for help. Her blaster bolt hit the trooper in the helmet, right between his eyes.

"So much for being quiet," she muttered as she turned and started sprinting towards the landing pad in the distance. Zay knew that there were probably more Stormtroopers nearby that heard the shot and she had to put some distance between herself and them.

When Zay got halfway up the hill, she saw a J-Sec officer appear at the apex and aim his blaster rifle at her. She spotted a destroyed AT-AT walker about twenty meters away and made a mad dash for it as the officer opened fire on her. She holstered her pistol as she ran and unslung the targeting rifle. She spotted the J-sec officer start running down the hill for cover since there was no at the top.

When Zay reached the destroyed walker, she took cover and raised the rifle scope to her eye, taking aim making sure to aim to a bit ahead of the target to compensate for the travel time of the blaster bolt. Zay squeezed the trigger and the rifle ejected a red blaster bolt that hit the officer straight in the chest. The officer cried out and his weapon went flying. He fell to the ground and rolled for a few meters before coming to a stop next to a piece of debris from a nearby destroyed building.

"Well, I guess everyone except Mom and Shriv is considered hostile," she said under her breath as he kept moving up the hill with the targeting rifle in her hands. "I need to find a place to hold out and wait for Mom and Shriv. They'll find me."

When Zay got to the top of the hill she did a quick scan of the area. Right in front of her was the shuttle. To her right was nothing but destroyed buildings and she could hear blaster fire coming from that direction. No way was she going that way. Finally, to her left, she saw what looked like the remnants of a small catwalk just above her located approximately twenty meters away only accessible by steps. The railing was partly broken but there was a sheet of metal on the back and the right side. On the small catwalk, she saw half a dozen boxes she could use to make a makeshift sniper's nest.

Zay dashed up the steps two at a time and reached the catwalk without encountering any more resistance. She threw the targeting rifle on the ground and it landed with a clang against the metal. Then, she arranged the boxes in a semicircle around her with the sheet of metal opposite to the railing at her six. Afterward, she picked up the rifle, dug herself in, and waited for any potential First Order stormtroopers or J-Sec forces to come to investigate the shots.

She prayed that her mom and Shriv were okay and that they would find her. Zay glanced up at the pinkish-looking sky above her. It was a pretty sight that she could get used to. She certainly didn't want to die here of all places, but if she was going to go down, she'd make damn sure to go down fighting to her last breath.

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