Chapter Sixteen

Star Destroyer Retribution, 34 ABY

"Tell me this plan of yours," Shriv said.

"It's simple," Zay answered. "I'm going to try to find some explosives and blow up this ship."

"Oh great. Another Veriso that has crazy ideas and plans. Now I can see where you get your craziness from. What's the human saying? Like mother, like daughter?"

"It may be crazy but think about it for a minute. Their communications systems are still active and the First Order can still locate this ship and repair it to use against the Resistance and the rest of the galaxy."

"You have a point," Shriv conceded. "But you better hurry. We still have to get the schematics of the dreadnought to General Organa."

"I'll be quick," Zay assured him. "I'll contact you once I've planted the explosives."

"Be careful."

"I will. See you soon," Zay reached down and pulled out her blaster pistol. "Ready Dio?" She asked the droid.

Dio beeped out an acknowledgment.

"Great. Let's get going," she said, flipping the safety switch off.

She exited the escape pod room, raising her blaster just in case, and turned to her right to face the door to the armory.

Without her mom beside her, Zay was nervous. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to calm herself. "Here goes nothing," she muttered.

Zay tightened her grip on her blaster and raised it as she approached the armory door, which swung open. She swept the room, and it was empty.

"You would think that a group calling themselves the First Order would know how to keep their equipment secure in the first place," Zay mused as she observed the cluttered and messy armory. There were a lot of unassembled blasters, thermal detonators, and equipment scattered all over the place. The only thing that somewhat looked in place was a crate at the far side of the room.

Dio beeped in agreement.

Zay was about to start stuffing thermal detonators into her jacket when something compelled her towards the crate. When she reached it, she grabbed the top and pushed it aside.

"Looks like a bunch of junk," she muttered as she quickly began to rifle through the contents. She ended up scavenging a diatium power cell, some kind of casing, a cylindrical sleek black hilt about twenty-seven centimeters in length that had white ornamentation with a smooth and rounded grip at the bottom, a couple of focusing lens and tuning dials, a blade emitter and a matrix, a belt ring, a double beveled shroud, and a circular silver switch of some sort. She emptied some of her extra power packs that she had gotten back on Vardos and some other unnecessary equipment and put what she found in their place. Once she was finished, she stood up.

Dio beeped out a question.

"I don't know why I grabbed them, buddy. They just felt like the right things to take with me," she replied as she headed over and started picking some thermal detonators and stuffing her jacket with as many as she could hold.

"Dio, what's the quickest way to the engine room?" Zay asked as she put a remote in her pants pocket and readied her blaster pistol.

Dio beeped.

She headed for the door. "Good. Only a hundred meters. Not too far then."

Dio beeped again, giving out a set of directions.

"Take a right out the armory door, go straight through two doors, then left through one, and right through one more. Got it."

Zay exited the armory and started following Dio's directions. She activated her commlink. "Shriv, what's your position?"

"Hangar bay one. Far left side," he answered. "Where are you?"

"Proceeding with my plan. I'll meet you soon," she replied and shut off her commlink. "Dio, plot the best route to hangar bay one from the engine room."

Dio beeped out an acknowledgment.

Zay quickly and quietly made her way to the engine room. Once there she looked around the large, cavernous room trying to find the best places to plant the thermal detonators on.

"Got any suggestions, Dio?"

Dio beeped, telling her his suggestions.

"Main reactor and the support structures. Yeah, that's what I was thinking."

She quickly places detonators on the main reactor and the supporting structures. She programmed them to remotely detonate and then opened her commlink. "Shriv, charges are set in the engine room. I'm on my way to you."

"Copy," he replied. "Just hurry. I'd like to get out of here sooner rather than later."

"I'll be there soon," she promised and closed the commlink. "What's the route to Shriv's location, Dio?"

Dio beeped, giving her the best route to hangar bay one.

Zay followed the droid's directions, avoiding a few patrols of stormtroopers along the way. Once she got to hangar bay one she headed to the far left side where she found Shriv.

"Glad to see you're alright Zay. Ready to go?" he asked.

"Yep. Let's get out of here."

They climbed into a TIE Fighter, one that had the same design as the one they flew to get onto the star destroyer. Shriv got into the pilot seat while Zay got into the rear gunner seat. Dio unattached himself from his holder zipped inside so it would be easier for Zay to get in. Once they settled in, Shriv maneuvered the fighter out of the hangar.

"Get us a safe distance away from the destroyer," Zay said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the detonator, "then I'll detonate the charges."

"Roger that."

Zay watched as the Star Destroyer got smaller as they flew further away.

"Okay we should be far enough away," Shriv said once they got to a safe enough distance.

"Ready to see some fireworks?" Zay asked, looking over her shoulder at Shriv with a hint of excitement in her voice as she put her thumb over the red button on the detonator.

"I don't know about fireworks but I'm ready for a First Order ship to go boom."

Zay grinned. "That works for me. Fire in the hole," then she pressed the button.

In the distance, she saw the Star Destroyer Retribution explode into a massive fireball.

That glanced to her right in time to see Dio let out a series of happy beeps, and his sensor flashed bright red.

For the first time since her parents died, she laughed. "You said it, buddy."

"I couldn't have said it any better myself, Dio," Shriv commented.

"Where are we headed, Shriv?" Zay asked.

D'Qar. The Resistance base is located there," he answered.

"Plot a course."

"Already done. Ready on your go."

"Hit it."

"Yes ma'am." Zay could hear the slight smile in his voice.

A moment later the hyperdrive activated and Zay watched out of the back of the TIE Fighter as the blue-shaded corridor of lightspeed passed by.

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