Last Shot - A Star Wars Story

Chapter 5

Ersela Kryze

Going into this mission, Ersela had known that both Kelsa and Kaia, whether or not the latter would admit it, had history with the First Order. However, she hadn't really anticipated that it would interfere with the mission like this.

Walking beside General Armitage Hux, she was filled with dread that she was careful to keep masked, unlike Kaia, who looked quite anxious. Apparently, Hux had recognized her, and that was not a good thing.

As they turned the corner, leaving the three other rebels on their own, Ersela realized that there was no way that they would be able to meet up again without taking drastic measures. Hux wasn't going to let them go easily.

"I must admit, I wasn't expecting you rebels to make such a bold move," Hux remarked coolly. "But then, you do seem quite desperate."

"Well, when you're trying to end a war, you do whatever is necessary," Ersela replied smoothly.

Hux chuckled slightly, pleased with himself for reasons Ersela didn't quite understand. "The chances of your success are quite slim."

"And your chances of exposing us are even slimmer." Kaia, who was on the other side of Hux, suddenly spun towards him and kicked him in the gut, sending him stumbling back into the wall as Ersela darted out of the way, surprised.

"What are you doing?" Hux demanded, choking out every word. Instead of answering, Kaia pinned him against the wall with her arm and glanced at Ersela, who was a bit stunned by how quickly Kaia had acted.

"There's a closet to your left," she told her. "We can put him in there."

"Sounds like our only option," Ersela responded, pressing the button to open the door she hadn't seen until Kaia had pointed it out.

"You're making a big mistake," Hux was saying as Kaia grabbed him by the collar of his uniform and dragged him into the closet, throwing him in without a flicker of pity in her eyes. "Your plan will fail."

"Not if they don't know we're here," Kaia pointed out coldly, pulling out her First Order-style pistol and setting it to stun. Hux's eyes widened before Kaia pulled the trigger, rendering him unconscious.

"Well that was...intense," Ersela muttered as Kaia slammed her fist to close the closet, slid her pistol back into its holster, and smoothed out her now slightly ruffled uniform.

"Yeah, I'd rather not have to do that again," Kaia replied with a sigh. "Now let's go find the others."

They started back the way they came, resuming their First Order personas and hoping that the others hadn't gotten lost already.

"We should just meet them at the reactor," Kaia suggested. "That way we don't waste time trying to find them."

"Sounds good," Ersela responded with a nod. She slowed down and fished her comlink out of her pocket and tapped it so that the other three members of the team could hear her message. "Kelsa, do you copy?"

After a moment of crackling static, Kelsa's voice replied, "I copy. What's going on? Did you get captured or something?"

Ersela glanced at Kaia, who allowed herself a small grin. "No, we're fine. Are you at the reactor core?"

"Almost," Kelsa told her. "Are you going to meet us there?"

"Yeah, we're on our way," Ersela affirmed. "Try not to look too suspicious." On the other side of the com, Kelsa laughed.

"No promises," she answered. "See you soon." Ersela put her comlink back in her pocket and resumed a moderate pace.

"We have to hurry," Kaia said as they entered yet another long hallway. "We don't have much time."

"The reactor shouldn't be much farther," Ersela assured her, though she started to move a little faster. "Just a little bit farther."

When they were two-thirds of the way down the hall, Kaia stopped suddenly, her expression one of distress.

"What is it?" Ersela inquired, stopping as well. Unlike most of the Resistance, Ersela knew that Kaia was a Jedi, and so she trusted her instincts.

"Something's wrong," Kaia replied in a low, wary voice. "We have to warn the others."

Ersela still wasn't following. "Why?"

Kaia took a deep breath before replying gravely, "Kylo Ren is on this ship."