The Death of Captain Syndulla

Aftermath

Zeb straightened up from his seat in the turret, his ears flopping down as he watched Phoenix Home and the intridictor collide. She had to have made it out, he thought to himself, there were escape pods- she had to be in one of them.

Rex and Sato shared a brief look of sorrow and shock, as their eyes went back to the fiery explosion, forgetting about the battle and the war for a moment. Captain Syndulla was gone. She wouldn't abandon ship- especially if it meant saving her family.

Kanan put his hand on his chest, almost feeling pain there. Tears burned his grey eyes as he pulled the mask off, it falling from his hand and onto the ground.

"No..." his voice broke, as he yelled, "no!"

Bendu watched as the Jedi collapsed to the ground, broken, sobbing, and trembling.

Thrawn regained his balance from the explosion quickly, as he paused for a moment, silently watching with amazement and disgust. He would admit that it was a bit of a shock for Captain Syndulla to go out in this manner. And Konstantine fell into her trap, as foolish as it was. But not a single ship escaped. The twi'lek's death was meant to save them, but instead it caused them their defeat.

Kallus stared from where he was kneeling on the ground, his jaw dropped, his eyes wide. He had only met with the twi'lek a few times, but in those times (and in his research) he knew she would do anything for her crew. He knew she loved them and that she could die for them if need be. But he couldn't help but feel shocked when she actually did.

Ky couldn't tear her eyes away. The world around her seemed to be going so slow and so fast at the same time. Her ears were ringing, her head was spinning. Some sort of scream escaped her lips, but she couldn't even hear herself.

Ezra felt the breath leave his body, felt his heart stop, felt his eyes fill with tears. He couldn't force himself to turn away. He couldn't leave. He was frozen, watching the explosion that killed the closest person he had to a mother.

"Hera..." the words barely escaped his lips, "no.."

"Commander Bridger, jump! Now!" Sato's voice told him over the comms after a moment. Chopper beeped something, as Ezra began breathing heavily, shaking his head and putting his hands over his ears.

The entire battle had seemed to freeze. Even the Imperials, who were recovering from the massive explosion Hera caused. But they had still lost their moment to escape. They had failed.

There was a silent moment on all comm channels, before Commander Sato spoke again, his voice full of sorrow,

"All ships," he muttered, "return to base."

— — —

No one dared to move from their spot after landing. Sato and Rex shared glances, trying to figure out what to do without saying a single word. Zeb put his head in his paws, punching the controls hard. Ky tried to compose herself, running her hands through her hair, trying to make sense of everything. Chopper beeped quietly, the droids dome going down to the ground. And Ezra- Ezra sobbed into his hands, shaking uncontrollably, muttering the words 'I'm sorry' over and over.

"We need to get outta here, Commander," Rex said dryly, "time for a plan b."

"So be it," Jun Sato stood up, "let's see how many forces we have left..."

Zeb met the two at the ramp, still shaken from everything that just happened.

"What do we do?" He asked quietly, rocking back and forth a little, "what happens now..?"

Sato looked down for a moment, thinking of the right words to say. Captain Syndulla was the glue that held together her crew. Sometimes even what held Phoenix Squadron together. And with her gone, Sato knew things were going to fall apart even more than they already had. He shook his head, closing his eyes for a moment.