BEYOND THE STARS → POE DAMERON

XI. Behind Enemy Lines

Chapter Eleven

Retribution, 34 ABY

Zay came to when she heard the sound of her mom's voice calling her name. Her ears were ringing like crazy and the back of her head hurt like hell.

"Zay! Zay! Honey, talk to me," her mom sounded slightly panicked. "Can you hear me?"

Zay groaned. "Yeah, Mom. I can hear you. You can stop worrying about me now."

"Thank god."

"How long was I out?"

"Thirty seconds max. Can you move?"

"Yeah, give me a second." Zay unbuckled herself and looked around at the wreckage of the TIE Fighter. The wings were completely torn off and the main cabin was a complete mess. They looked to have crashed somewhere close to the engines. After her ears stopped ringing and her head cleared, she crawled out of the wreckage and saw her mom standing over her with her hand outstretched.

"You broken?" Iden asked.

"Other than my head hurting like hell, I'm good. Thanks, Mom" Zay said as she grabbed her mom's hand and was hauled to her feet. When she was upright, her mom crushed her into a tight hug.

"Thank the Force," Iden whispered as she squeezed her tightly. "For a second there I thought I'd lost you. I've already lost your father... I don't know if I could've continued if you didn't make it."

"Hey. I'm fine, Mom. Stop worrying about me."

"I know... I just don't want to lose you too."

"You won't lose me."

"How's your head?"

"It's fine," Zay replied dismissively.

The two pulled apart and Iden eyed her skeptically. She narrowed her eyes and said, "I know that tone of voice young lady. I know it's not fine. Show me where it hurts."

"Mom, seriously. My head is fine."

"No, it's not. Show me."

With a sigh, Zay turned around and presented the back of her head to her mom. She pointed to the area and said, "This is where it hurts."

Her mom shifted her hair out of the way to get a better look. "Hmmm... I don't see a bruise at the moment, but one will appear soon enough."

"See? I told you I was fine."

"I guess you're right. After this is over, I want you to put something on it to reduce the swelling. Are we clear?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Now grab your gear. We need to move."

Zay looked around and spotted the targeting rifle in the wreckage of the TIE Fighter. It must've somehow flown off her back in the chaos. She picked it up and inspected it. Miraculously, it was undamaged and didn't even have a scratch on it. She then checked and confirmed that all the power packs were still in her jacket and her Glie-44 was still in its holster on her hip, also unscathed

Once Zay gathered her gear and slung the targeting rifle on her back, she turned to her mom and asked, "Where's Shriv?"

Iden pointed to a crashed TIE Fighter close. "Over there. That has to be Shriv. Follow me."

As they got closer, they saw Shriv's boots sticking out from underneath one of the TIE Fighter's torn-off wings. When the two reached the crashed TIE, her mother said, "Come help."