Last Shot - A Star Wars Story

Chapter 1

Kelsa Antilles

"First Order incoming!" Lyra's voice warned over the comms. Just then, Kelsa watched as a squadron of menacing First Order TIE Fighters emerged out of hyperspace. Great. Just great.

"We better get out of here," she replied, already preparing her X-Wing to make the jump into hyperspace.

"We can take 'em," one of the other pilots assured her. "No problem."

"I hope so," Kelsa muttered, abandoning her first instinct to escape through hyperspace. She wasn't about to let these people die, because they certainly would without her help.

She watched as Lyra's X-Wing shot ahead of hers, doing a barrel roll as she shot down two TIE fighters with ease. At least someone could take care of themselves, Kelsa thought with a sigh of relief.

She fell in beside Lyra, easily blasting away three First Order fighters. "Great shot!" someone cheered.

Just then, one of the remaining TIE fighters fired at one of the Resistance ships. "Look out!" Kelsa yelled, though she knew it was already too late. Within a matter of seconds, the Resistance fighter exploded, instantly killing the pilot inside. Over the comms, Lyra let out a cry of dismay and Kelsa shook her head, disappointed. Another good soldier lost to the First Order, and certainly not the last one either.

Still, there wasn't time to stop down and grieve. They had to deal with the First Order first.

Kelsa did a barrel roll and blasted two more TIE fighters before spinning around to take down another. It was so satisfying to know that for every First Order ship she blew up, the safer the Galaxy would be.

"Is that all of them?" she asked, noticing that things had calmed down all of the sudden.

"I think so," Lyra replied, sounding a little breathless. She paused for a moment before adding, "I think we should get back to base."

"Sounds good," Kelsa agreed, already preparing the navicomputer to make the jump to hyperspace for the second time. "I heard that the Millenium Falcon brought back some important information."

"I wonder what it's about," Lyra murmured.

"I guess we're about to find out," Kelsa replied. "Ready to make the jump."

"I'm ready too," Lyra responded. "Making the jump in three, two, one."

Kelsa pushed forward on the lever that would send her into hyperspace, and a few minutes later, she had arrived at the moon Ajan Kloss, where the Resistance was hiding out, with the rest of her squadron.

"Good job everyone," one of the squad members congratulated as they entered the forest planet's atmosphere. "We all did great today." No one mentioned the death of their squad member. There had been too much grieving lately, and no one wanted to deal with that sadness anymore. Instead, they enjoyed their victories. There would be time to grieve later.

Besides, Kelsa barely knew most of her squadmates. Sure, they shared a common cause and fought in the same Resistance, but outside of missions, they didn't really talk, and to be honest, she liked it that way.

Kelsa skillfully landed her X-Wing and got out to meet Lyra, pulling off her helmet as she climbed down the ladder next to her ship and hurried over to Lyra's X-Wing.

Her friend was stumbling off the ladder, looking shaky. She had a bad case of helmet hair, but that usually happened on your first time flying a mission.

"How are you doing?" Kelsa asked, only a little concerned. She had assumed Lyra would be a bit out of her comfort zone, but her friend looked like she might be sick.

"I'm fine," Lyra replied. "I just...never want to do that again." She pressed her hand to her forehead with a stressed expression. "That was too much. I'd rather stay on the ground, away from the fighting."

"That's fine," Kelsa told her. "I just thought it would be nice for you to get away from all the stressful stuff going on here."

"Yeah, that part was nice," Lyra conceded. "But other than that, it was horrible."

Kelsa shrugged. "I guess it's not for everyone." Lyra nodded feverently.

"It's definitely not for me," she avowed, shifting her helmet under her arm. She patted it conclusively. "I'm going to get out of this stuff. I'll be right back."

Kelsa stepped to the side to let her pass and made her way to where a very damaged Millennium Falcon was drawing lots of attention. Finn, Poe, and Chewbacca were all standing around it, their expressions ranging from worried to horrified.

"Rey's going to be so mad," Kelsa could hear Finn mutter under his breath.

"Yeah probably," Poe agreed. "But at least I saved us." Kelsa rolled her eyes as she approached, but decided not to make any witty remarks. Besides, Rey would chew them out enough on her own.

"So, we've got a spy in the First Order," she remarked, stopping beside Poe.

"We do," Poe confirmed. "But we don't know who it is yet."

"How do you know we can trust them if we don't know who they are?" Kelsa demanded skeptically.

"Their information checks out," Poe responded.

Kelsa still remained doubtful, but she decided it wasn't worth it to continue the conversation. Instead, she turned and walked away, towards where Lyra was returning in her usual officer uniform. She would find out what she needed to know eventually. 

A/N: Sorry this chapter is a little short! They get longer as it goes on I promise! Also, feel free to leave comments and feedback! It's much appreciated!