Chapter Thirteen

Star Destroyer Retribution, 34 ABY

Dio unplugged himself from the terminal and beeped at the two remaining Resistance members in the room.

"You got it?" Iden asked.

The droid beeped in response as he moved towards his holder on Iden's back.

"Good," Iden said.

"So... this plan of yours?" Zay asked as Dio collapsed back into his holder.

"We're going to rip this Star Destroyer out of hyperspace."

"I think I finally understand why Shriv is a nervous wreck whenever you're together."

Dio beeped and directed them towards the exit which was located to the far righthand side of the room. They went through the door, took a left, and went up a small set of stairs. When they reached the top, there was a long hallway in front of them with a door halfway down the hallway and another small set of stairs at the end.

A Stormtrooper at the end of the hallway spotted them and shouted, "seal the door!"

Zay raised her targeting rifle and fired, but the door closed at that exact moment and her blaster bolt hit the door.

"What now, Mom?" she asked.

Iden pointed to a small room on their right. "Secure the room. On me."

The two readied their blasters and approached the door. Inside there were three Stormtroopers and an array of weapons and detonators. The three Stormtroopers turned around at the sound of hearing the door behind them open.

"Hey you can't-" one of the troopers started.

Zay cut him off by putting a blaster bolt through his chest. Her mom took out one more and the two teamed up to take out the third. Zay shot the trooper in the chest and her mom hitting him in the head.

"Clear," Zay said.

"Okay, load up on detonators."

"Your plan is starting to make a lot of sense."

Her mom let out a small chuckle. "Heh, grab as many as you can carry."

Zay walked over to a small open crate that was full of ion detonators, plucked five from the crate, and started stuffing them into her jacket. "Don't mind if I do." After she was done putting the detonators away, she turned to face her mom. "You ready?"

Her mom grabbed a few thermal detonators of her own and replied, "Yep. Let's get going. The door at the other end should take us to the other side of the locked door."

The two approached the other door at the other end of the room and it did indeed open up to the other side of the locked door. Just like her mom had said it would. They took a right and saw the small set of stairs in front of them with three Stormtroopers standing at the top. Before any of the troopers could utter a word, the duo mowed them down in a hail of blaster fire.

After that, the two marched up the stairs and walked down a short hallway that had a surveillance room at the end and a door off the left of the surveillance room.

Iden pointed to the console in the surveillance room. "Dio, need a slice."

Dio popped out from his holder and quickly sliced the console. The camera showed two Stormtroopers and an officer on the other side. The hyperdrive bay was also in the room located on a raised platform. The hyperdrive had four large pipes on each corner running from the generator down to the bottom of the ship and a control panel on all four sides in between the pipes. There was some kind of control room located under the generator.

"Where do you think that camera is located, Mom? Zay asked.

Her mom gestured to the door off to their left. "Probably on the other side of this door which is where we're going plant the detonators on the hyperdrive."

"Sounds like a plan. Let's get going."

Iden pointed to the panel next to the door. "Dio, slice please."

While Dio was slicing the door, Zay got on the side with the panel and her mom got on the other side. After ten seconds of waiting, Dio beeped as he was about done with his task, and Zay prepped her rifle. The door opened and the officer and two troopers turned around and started firing at them.

Zay quickly and wisely ducked into cover as blaster bolts whizzed past her head. She carefully leaned around the corner, brought the scope of the rifle to her eye lined up the reticle with the officer's chest, and pulled the trigger. She watched the blaster bolt hit the officer and he fell to the ground with a scream. Meanwhile, her mom dispatched the two Stormtroopers.

Zay stepped into the room and swept the area. "It looks-" she started before she heard shouting coming from the other end of the room. "Never mind, it's not clear. More Stormtroopers!"

"Take 'em down!" her mom ordered.

"Roger," Zay said as she ran to take cover behind a nearby crate towards the right side of the room. "I get the right and you get the left?"

"Good idea Zay. Let's do it," her mom said as she took cover behind a crate to the left side of the room.

Systematically, the duo picked off the remaining Stormtroopers in the hyperdrive bay one by one until there were only a couple left.

"Got one," Iden said as she took out the penultimate Stormtrooper.

Zay sighted the final Stormtrooper and lined the reticle of the targeting rifle to the trooper's head. She squeezed the trigger and her target fell to the ground with a thud.

"All clear!" she shouted.

"Iden!" Shriv said over the comms, "I overheard a couple of officers! The Resistance found the First Order's base. They're making their attack run now!"

"Great news Shriv. We're almost done here. Be ready," Iden informed him.

"See you soon," Shriv said then disconnected.

Zay saw her mom turn to face her. "Zay, if we plant detonators on that generator, this ship will go from lightspeed to stopping in a second."

Sounds dangerous. Let's do it."

Iden pointed to a spot on the generator, in between two pipes. "Right there. Start with the control panel closest to where we came in then we plant one on each side. Let's get those detonators on that generator."

"I'll plant 'em, Mom, you watch my back."

Zay approached the spot where her mom told her slung the targeting rifle over her back, and pulled out one of the ion detonators she had picked up from earlier. Just as she started placing the explosive on the generator, a female voice came over the ship's intercom system.

"Alert! Intruders have been spotted in the Hyperdrive Bay. All available units, report at once."

"Zay, you got this?" her mom asked.

"Yes, mom. I've got this!" Zay replied as blaster fire erupted around her. She attached the detonator to the generator and pressed the button to arm it. "That's one."

"Good work, Zay. Move around the generator to the right. I'll cover you. Go!"

Zay pulled the Glie-44 from its holster on her hip and flipped the safety off. "Roger. Moving." She ducked and dodged her way to the second location, taking out a few Stormtroopers in the process.

When she got to the next position, she went to reach for another detonator but felt someone yank her backward so hard she almost lost her grip on her pistol and she fell onto the floor. Panicked, Zay looked up towards the ceiling and stared into the face of a Stormtrooper's F-11D blaster rifle. She saw the trooper raise his blaster and prepare to kill her. However, Zay reacted quicker and lifted her blaster pistol and fired three times. The first two shots hit the trooper in the chest and the third hit him in the head. The trooper's weapon fell to the floor with a small clank and his body landed with a thud.

"Zay!" her mom shouted, sounding alarmed. "You alright?"

"Yeah, mom," she called back. "I'm fine." She rapidly hauled herself to her feet and quickly snatched a second detonator from her jacket, connected it to the generator, and thumbed the arming button. "Detonator two is armed and ready. Moving to plant number three."

"Copy Zay. I have your back," Iden said, still gunning down Stormtroopers.

Zay turned and started towards the third location, but stopped when she heard Dio beep a frantic warning to her mom. She whirled around to find a Stormtrooper aiming his F-11D blaster rifle at her mom's back. Her mom must have been too busy defending her that she must have not realized someone could've snuck up behind her.

"Mom behind you!" she cried and snapped her blaster pistol up. She rapidly squeezed off two shots, both hitting the trooper in the back. The Stormtrooper was standing so close to the edge of the walkway that the force of Zay's shots sent him flying off and she could hear him let out a shriek as he fell to his demise, blaster rifle still in his hand.

Iden took out the last Stormtrooper in front of her and quickly turned to look over at her daughter. "Thanks, Zay. I owe you one honey."

"No problem Mom"

"Now hurry up and get the last few detonators planted. We may have more coming soon."

Zay gave her mom a small salute. "On it!" She then turned and focused on the task at hand.

She rushed over to the third location and was about to place another detonator on the generator when she felt a blaster blot whiz past her head a few meters from shooting her ear off. She ducked and swiveled around with her pistol ready and saw three Stormtroopers charging her, one with an SE-44C blaster pistol, and the other two had Z6 riot control batons. She quickly surmised that the trooper with the pistol was the one who had just shot at her and therefore was the biggest threat.

Reacting on instinct, Zay fired three shots, the first hitting the trooper with the blaster pistol and the other two hitting the troopers that were wielding the batons.

"Zay, is that detonator set?" her mom called out.

"It will be in a second!" Zay called back. She placed the third detonator on the generator and hit the arming button. "Three down, one to go!"

"Good. Hurry up and plant the last one. We have reinforcements inbound."

Zay dashed over to the final location, slapped the fourth detonator on the generator, and pushed the arming button. "That's all of them." She then holstered her blaster pistol and pulled out the targeting rifle to help her mom finish off the Stormtroopers still standing.

"We're clear," her mom said with a small sigh of relief once the room was cleared and activated the comms. "Shriv, you find us a ride out of here?"

"Yeah, but, fair warning. It's gonna be a real tight fit."

"If it flies, I'm happy. See you soon," her mom said and disconnected the comm. "All that's left is the backup generator. They probably have it locked behind a security door. The controls should be somewhere nearby."

"Maybe the controls are in the room underneath us?" Zay asked.

"Good call, Zay. Let's search there."

The two made their way off the raised platform and checked the room below them. It was indeed the control room. They stood in the doorway and saw that the room had two different terminals, one on the left and one on the right.

"Zay, we don't know which terminal controls what so we're gonna have to pick one and start there."

Zay approached the right terminal. "I'll slice it open."

Just as she started messing with the terminal, the ship's intercom system burst to life once more

"Alert! Intruders have accessed the Central Computer!"

Zay glanced over her shoulder at her mom. "Sounds like we're about to have more company. You and Dio can handle it right?"

"You better believe it."

After hearing blaster fire all around her for a few minutes and finally getting somewhere with the terminal, Zay heard her mom call back to her, "Zay, status report."

"Hey, I'm almost done here, but it's a dual lock system."

"Make it quick," her mom ordered. "We have more reinforcements inbound."

After unlocking the first half of the security door, Zay spun around and went over to the other terminal. "Buy me time, I'm using the second terminal." She quickly typed in a bunch of commands and green lights started to appear on the display. "And done! The security door is unlocked."

"Good work Zay, now help me finish off these Stormtroopers."

Zay ran to the edge of the doorway to the control room with the rifle in hand and started firing at the few remaining Stormtroopers. With the help of her mom, they finished them off quickly.

"Room is secure, but it won't be for long," her mom said after the final trooper was taken out.

"We need to finish this. For everyone, the First Order has hurt. Those missing kids. Their families. For dad."

"You're right, honey, and that's exactly what we're going to do."

They went inside the control room once again and it was then that Zay noticed a mall computer on top of the left terminal.

Her mom pointed at the computer. "Dio, slice that computer, reroute all reinforcements somewhere else."

Dio beeped and started on his task. A few moments later, the intercom system came to life again.

"Intruders near in communications. Reroute all defenses to comms!"

Her mom gestured to her. "C'mon, let's set these final charges, then get to the Resistance base."

They started moving back to the entrance they had come in earlier but stopped and took cover when they heard the loud footsteps of Stormtroopers outside the door.

"They're not here," one said, "leave the hyperdrive. Search elsewhere!"

After they heard the Stormtroopers move away and start to head to a different location, the duo snuck out of the hyperdrive room and continued. After walking through a few hallways and up a couple of stairs later, a message came over the ship's intercom system.

"Alert, all forces reroute to starboard barracks. Intruders detected."

"Looks like Dio is doing his job," Zay commented.

"He sure is," her mom said.

After going up one more set of stairs and taking a left, they finally found the room with the backup generator. It was a fairly medium-sized room with the generator in the middle and a small catwalk on either side connecting to a platform on either end.

Zay went in first and cleared the room. "It's all clear," she said and turned to her mom, "you want to do the honors? Plant the last charge?"

"Sure, give me the last detonator. Then we find Shriv and get out of here."

Zay reached into her jacket, pulled out the final ion detonator, and tossed it to her mom then stood in the middle of the catwalk and watched her mom approach the generator. Just as her mom was about to place the detonator on the generator, the ship's intercom system came to life again.

"Intruders lost. Search the weapons bay!"

Zay was about to ask her mom what they were going to do next when she felt someone wrap their left arm around her neck and put a blaster pistol to her head with the other.

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