The slog through the jungle didn't improve the second time round, even with Zawati's directions. The bacta, packed tight into Poe's rucksack, filled him with anxiety. Those little vials felt so fragile, the way Finn felt fragile, the way Poe's sanity sometimes felt fragile. A swamp wasn't an ideal environment for such sensitive cargo, that was for sure, and he could only hope they'd get back to the ship sooner rather than later.
"Did we take a wrog turn somewhere?" Jess asked, pausing and peering into the gnarled, grown-together trees. She held her machete in a loose grip, the blade dripping green sap just as it had on their way in; no use taking their old path, as it had already grown over again as if they'd never sliced through. "I have a bad feeling about this," she added, looking around as if hoping for a sign to guide them. Even to Poe who had grown up in a similar place, the foliage had all blurred together into meaningless greens and browns and he couldn't think of anything that might help.
He turned slowly in a circle, hoping for anything that might guide them. A faint glint caught his eye off in the distance, the kind that came from sunlight hitting a building and refracting.
"There's something, Jess," he said, pointing. "Let's give it a shot. We'll just approach slow, get an idea of what it might be."
She shrugged but didn't argue, creeping forward as silently as she could manage with mud sucking at her boot soles. Poe resisted the urge to curse as he fumbled along behind her, studying his feet to try and avoid anything treacherous. That was all they needed, one of them to turn an ankle. An injury like that could be so banal and common yet still kriff up an entire mission.
"What the --?" Jess exclaimed as they came into sight of the building. Turned out it was one of several, set out in a regimented fashion like a lab or a government compound. It had seen better days, sure, but Poe could still detect signs of the Empire amongst the grasping vines; everything cut and constructed exactly the same, glass that caught and held the light and was as hard to get through as a knotty old dewback hide.
He stepped out of the jungle, walking cautiously towards the compound. He stopped at a pile of debris, searching it with his gaze for the source of whatever was glinting within it.
The Imperial symbol, a badge that had probably once rested against an officer's chest, peeked out from under his foot.
Imperius Unitada ober Totallex. Huh. Not anymore.
Never again.
"Uh, hey Poe?" Jess said, voice tight. He looked over to see her standing on what had once been the central landing pad, trying to swallow around what was probably a lump of fear. Her body looked as taut as a plucked string, trembling like a rabbit that had caught the prowling coyote's scent. Only then did he smell it too, a whiff of the worst smell on any planet, in any galaxy: the smell of death.
The marsh on the far side of the compound yielded up its contents, a shambling horror so unexpected and disgusting that Poe backed up out of pure instinct, so quick he almost fell on his ass. The vaguely humanoid shape wore old Empire Stormtrooper armor, or well, pieces of it. One of its arms had decayed and fallen away, taking plating with it. The chestpiece had huge, ragged holes in it, showing dessicated flesh underneath. The thing's face would haunt him in his dreams till it was his turn to die, assuming he didn't get torn apart right here and now.
Shit. His brain felt slow to react, too damned slow. The bacta! We have to get out of here.
"Run!" Jess shrieked, and he thought dimly that he'd never heard her so afraid. He turned and started to rush back into the trees, only to be met by two more undead troopers, standing up out of their swampy graves. Without thinking he raised his blaster and punched two perfect holes into the one closest to him, only for it to sway, snarl, and come at him with its yellowed, jagged teeth bared.
