Chapter Fifteen

Star Destroyer Retribution, 34 ABY

Zay walked over and knelt next to her mom's lifeless body, lowered her head until her forehead touched her mom's shoulder, and silently cried. She couldn't believe her mom was gone. It almost seemed unreal. First, her dad was killed and now her mom was gone as well. She was glad that Hask was dead but a small part of her wished that he was still alive so she could put a blaster bolt through him herself.

However, she couldn't go back and reverse time just because she wanted to shoot the evil bastard who had killed her parents. She would just have to deal with the hand she had been dealt with.

She quickly composed herself and wiped the tears from her face. "I'll make you proud Mom, I promise. Both you and dad," she said. Remembering her mom's last wish she added, "I'll finish the mission."

Beside her, Dio beeped.

"You're right, we need to get moving. Scan the area for hostiles and while you're at it, try to find the location of the nearest escape pod. I want to do something special for Mom before we rendezvous with Shriv."

Dio beeped again, this time a question.

"You'll see," Zay replied. "Just find me an escape pod and I'll handle the rest."

Dio flew over to the nearest console to do what Zay told him to do while she started to pick up her mom's gear and other personal items. After she was finished with that, Zay unstrapped Dio's holder from her mom's body and strapped the holder onto her own body. The strap went across her right shoulder like a sash and she tightened it enough so it fit snugly against her body.

Dio unplugged himself from the nearby console and beeped.

"Are you sure there's no one nearby?" Zay asked the droid.

Dio beeped out an acknowledgment.

"That's odd. I expected there would be at least a squad nearby."

Dio beeped again.

"Oh, you found an armory nearby as well? That's good. Where is it and what about the escape pod?"

Dio beeped in response.

"The room to the escape pods is two minutes from here and the armory is right next door? That's perfect. It's close. Let's go," Zay said as she got to her feet, grabbed her mom's body, and slung one arm over her shoulders to carry her mom towards the escape pod. As Zay was doing this, Dio folded his four legs into his body and planted himself in the holder on Zay's back.

With Dio giving directions, Zay proceeded to slowly carry her mom's body toward the location of the escape pods. When she turned the final corner towards the room with the escape pods there was a locked door along with the armory off to the left of the room with the escape pods.

"Dio, slice the door to the escape pods," Zay said, still struggling a bit to carry her mom's lifeless body.

Dio unfolded himself and flew ahead of Zay to unlock the door. Dio worked quickly and had the door unlocked by the time Zay was approaching so she didn't have to stop and wait.

Zay carried her mom's body far enough into the room for the door to close behind her, slowly lowering the body to the ground.

Zay looked at Dio right next to her. "Thanks, buddy," she said and patted his head.

The droid let out a happy set of beeps in response.

Zay looked around and saw a row of five escape pods lined up next to one another. She proceeded to drag her mom's body toward the closest pod which happened to be the one right in the middle and pressed the button to open the hatch. Once the pod was open, Zay laid her mom inside the pod on her back. She folded her mom's hands over her chest and then stepped out of the pod.

"M-Mom I don't know what to say," she started, her voice cracking slightly. "You taught me to fight, fire blasters, fly a starfighter, and everything in between. You were the best mother I could've ever asked for. You and Dad taught me everything and words can't describe how grateful I am for what you did for me. I'll miss you Mom a-and... and goodbye. I have faith in the force that I'll see again one day."

Before she got more choked up or even started crying again, Zay reached over and pressed the button to close the pod.

She then turned to Dio. "Can you launch all of the pods from here?"

Dio beeped.

"Good... can you launch Mom's pod last?"

Dio beeped again, asking something.

"You know just as well as I do that she was a soldier so I think she'd like something such as a military funeral. Think about it, launching the other pods before Mom's is like a military salute. Now can you launch Mom's pod last?"

Dio beeped in response.

"Good. Do it."

Zay watched as Dio flew over to a nearby console and began doing his magic. She soon heard the sound of escape pods launching and she turned to face the pod that held her mother and watched as it shot off into space.

"Goodbye Mom. May the Force be with you." she said as Dio flew back and folded himself back into his holder.

Dio beeped, asking a question.

"Yes, now we can go."

Suddenly, Shriv's voice came over the comm. "Zay, are you there?" he asked.

"I'm here Shriv," she answered. "I just... had to say goodbye to mom."

"That's nice and all but we have to get out here."

"I'll be on my way soon," she assured him. "But first I have to do one last thing."

"I'm not going to like your idea, am I?" Shriv asked.

"No, probably not."

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