Kelsa Antilles

The Resistance base was bustling, more than it usually was. Everyone was on high alert as they prepared to be given the order to launch a final assault.

Kelsa and Kaia exited the Resistance transport last, while Ersela and Lyra led Cora off to the medical tent.

"Is Lyra alright?" Kaia asked after a moment, as they started off towards the medical tent as well.

"I don't know," Kelsa replied honestly. "But everyone keeps asking about it." She glanced at the particularly ugly cut on Kaia's forehead and added, "Are you going to get that treated?"

Kaia rolled her eyes. "Yes, of course I am." She pushed aside the flap to the medical tent and stepped inside, Kelsa following close behind her.

Inside there were several medical droids and a few medically trained members of the Resistance treating the few patients inside. Cora was already being interrogated by a medical droid, looking extremely annoyed, while Kaia went over to talk to one of the officers. Kelsa waited awkwardly at the entrance until Ersela and Lyra joined her, and then they stepped outside.

"I hope this whole thing is over soon," Lyra murmured, watching the activity of the base.

"Me too," Ersela agreed quietly, rubbing something onto her lip. "There have been so many lives lost."

"Hopefully Rey and her team will find Palpatine and end all of this," Kelsa remarked.

"There will be another battle," Lyra told her without turning to face her. "I know it."

"Let's just hope we win," Kelsa sighed. "We've lost so many of our fighters. We're not nearly as strong as we used to be."

"Help will come," Lyra assured her, a confident glint in her eye.

"I sure hope you're right." Behind them, the tent rustled and Kaia stepped out, a bandage stuck to her forehead.

"Cora's taking a dip in the bacta tank," she informed them with a grin. "And she's not happy about it."

"Wait, I want to see that," Kelsa said, and both Ersela and Lyra seemed excited as well.

Kaia led them to a cave beside the medical tent, where there were several more patient beds and three bacta tanks arranged at the back. Cora was floating in the one in the center, looking mortified.

Both Kelsa and Kaia burst out laughing at the sight of their friend, while Lyra and Ersela tried to hide their amused grins. Cora waved wildly from inside the tank for them to leave, and the medical droid in charge of her tank turned its head towards them and said in a flat, automated voice, "Please don't disturb the patient."

"Of course," Ersela responded, and Kelsa and Kaia were still dying of laughter, and Lyra seemed on the verge of breaking down as well. "We'll leave right now."

They hurried out, still laughing, and Kaia wiped a tear out of her eye. "That was great!"

"Thank you for showing us that," Kelsa grinned. "I know I really needed it."

Kaia shrugged. "Don't thank me. Thank whoever invented that thing."

The group continued to laugh at the memory until General Leia approached. They all composed themselves as she stopped in front of them.

"I know you didn't succeed in destroying the Steadfast," she began. "But you did a great service in slowing them down. Rey and her team are now one step closer to finding Palpatine."

"Good," Kaia muttered quietly, and Kelsa thought she might have been the only one who heard her.

"We must prepare for another confrontation with the First Order," Leia continued. "Hopefully it will be the last."

"Of course General." Ersela dipped her head respectfully.

Leia's warm gaze turned onto her daughter, and she reached out a hand to her. "Walk with me."

Lyra took her mother's hand and glanced back at her friends before allowing her mother to lead her away, and after a moment, they vanished among the bodies hurrying around.

"That's good," Ersela remarked. "I think a talk with her mother is exactly what she needs." Kaia nodded solemnly.

"We should get ready," Kelsa pointed out. She glanced around before calling out, "BB-11! Where are you?"

A few moments later, she heard a flurry of annoyed beeps and she saw her little white-and-blue droid companion rolling towards her.

"Yeah, I know I left you behind," she sighed, kneeling down to meet him and rub his head. "But I had to. It was a stealth mission."

BB-11 rolled back and forth, still berating her, before he eventually gave up and bumped his head against her knee, booping contentedly.

"Thanks, BB," she grinned, standing up. "I have my X-Wing, but what about you two?"

"I'm going to contact Mandalore," Ersela told her. "I'm sure I can get some of them to join us."

"Sounds good," Kelsa decided with a nod. She turned to Kaia. "But what about you? I heard you blew up your last X-Wing."

"OK, first of all, that wasn't my fault," Kaia retorted crossly. "And secondly, I got a transmission from an old family friend. He said I could ride in his ship."

"And who is this 'old family friend'?" Kelsa asked, raising an eyebrow. She didn't know anything about Kaia's past, so she was curious to know what kind of people her family associated with.

"You can come meet him if you want," Kaia offered. She looked up at the sky, squinting at the sunlight. "It looks like he's landing right now."

Kelsa looked up to see an S-161 "Stinger" XL starship landing nearby. Kaia was already racing towards it, and Kelsa and Ersela exchanged glances before following, BB-11 beeping in exasperation before coming after them.

They caught up with Kaia just as the ramp to the ship opened, revealing an old, stubbled Latero wearing a worn red and gray pilot's uniform and a gold chain necklace and a Nightsister a bit older than Leia wearing a red and black dress. A little white BD unit droid with red stripes bounced excitedly from each foot, beeping happily.

"Well they seem...eccentric," Kelsa murmured to Ersela, who nodded in agreement. Kaia didn't seem to notice their hesitation, as she went up and hugged both of the newcomers happily.

"It's so good to see you again," she said as she embraced the Nightsister. Suddenly remembering her friends, she let go and stepped back, turning around towards them. "Right, so this is Greez," she informed them, gesturing towards the Latero.

"Nice to meet ya," he greeted in a gruff voice, winking.

"And this is my adopted mother I guess, Merrin," Kaia finished, nodding towards the silver-haired Nightsister. The BD unit scampered up her leg onto her shoulder and trilled at her, and Kaia quickly added, "And this is BD-1."

Ersela stepped forward, extending a hand in greeting. "Good to meet you." Merrin took it with a smile.

"It is a pleasure to meet you too," the Nightsister replied with an exotic accent. She let go of Ersela's hand and glanced at Kaia. "Are these your friends?"

"Yes, this is Ersela and Kelsa," Kaia responded, waving a hand at each of them as she said their names. BD-1 chirped a greeting and BB-11 warbled back, rolling around Kelsa a bit defensively.

"Enough with the introductions," Greez interrupted. "Let's get down to business." His gaze flickered from Ersela to Kelsa, then back. "When is this battle supposed to be happening?"

Ersela shrugged. "I have no idea. We're kind of just waiting right now."

"Well, when the fight does happen, my baby here will be one of the best in the fleet," he patted his ship with pride. "Yup. The Mantis is one of the greatest ships in the entire Galaxy."

"It has no weapons," Kelsa observed flatly.

"She doesn't need weapons," Greez responded stubbornly. "Not when we have a-"

Kaia cleared her throat loudly, shooting him a glare, before he could finish his sentence. BD-1 titled his head at Kaia, while Kelsa eyed them both suspiciously.

"The Mantis is a fast ship," Kaia said. "If we were to modify it with some weaponry, maybe a turret of some sort, it would be really useful."

"Right, that's what I was gonna say," Greez mumbled.

"Alright, that could work," Ersela conceded. "Kelsa and I will help you."

"Wait, what?" Kelsa demanded, and BB-11 chirped with amusement. "I don't-" She cut herself off with a sigh. "Sure, why not?" What have I gotten myself into? 

A/N: Yep, I did indeed decide to bring the Fallen Order squad (or at least, some of it's members) into the story, because they're iconic and also super important to Kaia's story, especially later on. Also idk what I was doing with the bacta scene either but I wrote it like a year ago and I figured might as well leave it in there lol.