The Rise of the Final Order - A Star Wars Story

Chapter 9

Kaia Kestis

It was decided that Kaia would pilot the Mantis. After all, Greez would probably rather die than let Ben fly it, and Lyra had no interest in it whatsoever.

Of course, that also meant it was Kaia's job to navigate through Coruscant's constantly busy traffic and make it to the landing bay in one piece.

Normally, she wouldn't be worried about it at all, but this wasn't her ship, and if she so much as scratched it, Greez would be furious. She did not want to deal with that mess.

Thankfully, she made it to the landing bay without issue, and the landing was nice and smooth. Once the Mantis had set down, she powered down the drives and let out a relieved sigh.

She undid her crash webbing and stood up as Lyra and Ben, seated in the other two cockpit chairs, did the same.

"We need to get moving," she said, making her way to the back of the ship. She opened up a compartment under her bed and pulled out two things: her ELG-3A blaster pistol from her homeworld of Naboo and her mother's vibroblade. They would be her weapons for this mission.

She slipped both weapons onto her utility belt, then went into the main part of the ship, where Ben and Lyra were already waiting, both with a blaster in their holsters.

"Everyone ready?" she asked, moving towards the door.

"Ready!" Lyra responded, clearly trying to sound braver than she felt.

"Then let's go." Kaia pressed the button on the control panel that opened the door. It opened onto the busy platform, and soon, Kaia and her team were part of the crowd.

They caught a shuttle that took them into Coruscant's undercity, where Black Sun's headquarters were located. Kaia could tell by Lyra's nervous Force aura that she was uncomfortable with their surroundings and the beings they passed, and she didn't blame her. The undercity was a dangerous place full of criminals and lowlifes, most of whom would be happy to swipe your credits or stab you while you weren't looking.

After living on Bracca and being on the run for so many years, Kaia was used to seeing those kinds of people, so it didn't faze her much, although she still knew she had to be careful.

The streets were dark, only illuminated by a few street lights and various neon signs which usually had a letter or two that wasn't lit, and the people they walked by didn't make any move to intercept them. They merely watched as they went by or paid them no attention at all.

"So what was it that you saw back on Bracca when you touched that blaster?" Ben asked quietly after they had been walking for several minutes. "You said you would tell me, remember?"

"I remember," Kaia responded, paling slightly. She glanced at Lyra, who was a few steps behind them, looking around with wide eyes, then met Ben's gaze. "I-I saw my parents. The night they were killed." She shrugged as nonchalantly as she could. "That Mirialan was there. He was one of the ones who did it. That's why I saw it."

"I'm sorry," Ben said quietly.

"Sorry about what?" Lyra asked, picking up her pace so that she was now walking between Kaia and Ben.

"Nothing," Kaia said quickly. Lyra frowned. "Nothing important, I mean. Don't worry about it."

"Yeah, we've got something else to worry about," Ben muttered, stopping and nodding towards a rundown building a few steps ahead of them. As soon as Kaia paused to look in that direction, she saw the faintest movement as someone moved away from the window they had no doubt been using to watch them.