BEYOND THE STARS → POE DAMERON

III. Missing

Chapter Three

Pillio, 34 ABY

Zay and her mother decelerated out of hyperspace around the planet of Pillio. In the distance, they saw the Corvus hovering in space above the planet. The duo guided their X-wings into the open hanger of the ship that her Uncle Shriv had opened for them.

The Corvus was a Raider II-class corvette that was 150 meters in length with three engines and came equipped with a hyperdrive. The grey, wedge-shaped ship had black protrusions sticking out from its sides and boasted an armament of dual heavy laser cannons, turbolasers, ion cannons, and concussion missiles. It may be an assault starship but to Zay, it was and always would be home.

After she landed, Zay opened the cockpit and started to climb out. When her feet touched down on the deck of the ship she was born on years ago with a soft thud, she took the chance to take a glance around the rest of the hanger. Usually, she would see a few other crew members moving around the hangar and some worker droids. This time, however, all she saw was her Uncle Shriv's X-wing parked right next to hers and a few worker droids completing their various jobs around the hanger. There were no crew members in sight which Zay found strange. She then turned to see her mother climbing out of her X-wing.

Zay frowned at her mom. "Where's the crew? I only see the droids around."

"No idea and I have a bad feeling about this. In the meantime, go ahead and head up to the bridge," her mother told her as her feet hit the deck with a soft thud. "I'll be right behind you. Shriv is probably up there already and I'm sure he'll be happy to see you."

"Got it, Mom," Zay replied as she headed for the elevator. After she hit the call button and the elevator opened, she entered the small space and pressed the button for the bridge. After the elevator reached the floor where the bridge was located, Zay turned left and walked down the hallway toward the bridge.

As she approached the bridge, the doors whooshed open and Zay saw the Duros, Shriv Shurgav, someone who she considered to be an uncle to her. He had light blue skin, red eyes, a lipless mouth, and a long noseless face. He was standing next to the holo pad located near the door where she entered just like her mother had said.

"Uncle Shriv," Zay exclaimed as she approached and threw her arms around the Duros. "I missed your big face!"

Her uncle let out a small chuckle and put his arms around her in a loose hug. "Yeah. Same here, Zay."

"Is everything okay?" she questioned as she pulled back.

"Where's your mom?" Shriv asked in response sounding a bit concerned.

"Looking for my husband," Iden said as she entered the bridge at the moment. She approached Shriv and clapped him on the shoulder and Dio was right beside her. "It's good to see you, Shriv. Where's Del?"

Shriv took a second to give the modified ID10 seeker droid a pat and Dio let out a happy beep. He then turned back to Iden and said, "I was chasing rumors for the Resistance in the Jinata system. Something called Project Resurrection. People are vanishing and General Organa thinks that the First Order has something to do with it. I was surprised when my scanners picked up the Corvus on Pillio."

"What did you find?" Zay's mother asked.

Shriv walked around the holo pad and pressed a few buttons and an image of the Corvus on the planet's surface popped up. "Nothing," the Duros replied. "The ship was empty, and the entire planet had been strip-mined. I searched everywhere but... no sign of Del. So I checked the ship's logs and found this." He paused for a moment to press another button and a different planet popped up in front of the quartet. "Before Pillio, Del visited Athulla, a planet on the edge of the system."

What did Dad find and where is he? Hopefully, we'll find out there, Zay said to herself. "Someone there must know what happened to Dad," she said aloud.

"I hope so because it's the only lead we have," Iden said as she turned her head to look at her daughter. She then swiveled her head back in Shriv's direction and said, "Shriv, set a course for Athulla."

"Yes ma'am," the Duros replied as he started to input the coordinates for the planet. He then went to the pilot's station and pulled down on the lever for the Corvus to go into hyperspace.

Zay turned around to look out the front viewport. The space in front of her started to turn blue as the Corvus jumped to lightspeed headed for Athulla.

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