𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔯𝔬𝔡𝔲𝔠𝔦𝔫𝔤...
" K  I  L  L S H O T "
...𝔞𝔫 𝔞𝔩𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔫𝔞𝔱𝔢 𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔢

'you come from a long line of broken promises'

𓆩✧𓆪

LYRA JAI is on the run.

Legacy is always one step behind her and sometimes two steps ahead. It lays waiting in the shadows that she now calls home, it lurks in every crevice aboard her ship. Legacy was a lie that chased Lyra Jai all the way through her father's Jedi temple. Until she was sixteen, a child with victory in her veins. She has erased every trace of herself from the galaxy and taken on a new title. Captain Endellion, the moniker of a long line of space pirates. As a captain, no one cares about what once was. Her crew is loyal to the bitter end. There are no rules here to govern her life, no Jedi code to burden her choices. It is almost enough to make her forget what once was and the parents who entrusted her to live into the light they had so desperately wanted to see in her.

POE has a vendetta with a dead girl.

Teenage hubris sent Poe Dameron on the run at sixteen after everything he knew was altered beyond recognition. Years and good fortune have sent him up the ranks of the Resistance and made him Commander. All of that glory is almost enough to forget the reason he ever tried to leave it all in the first place. For a time, the youngest Skywalker daughter was believed to have followed the footsteps of her father. Disappeared without a trace. Dead in the eyes of all who knew her best. Then the reports begin to resurface one at a time – an assassin in the shadows, a freighter of mercenaries working for whoever will pay them the most. Attempts are made to bring them to reason, to make them answer for their crimes, but it's no secret that the Resistance is benefiting from some of the work of these vigilantes. Poe Dameron has had his fair share of run-ins with them; times when he came a hair's breadth from winning a dogfight only to have the odds turned against him at the last second. Recon missions sabotaged, information stolen, and fuel tankers stripped all add up to a feud between Commander Dameron and the crew of the Phoenix.

Nothing is quite as it seems.

𓆩✧𓆪

alicia vikander as
LYRA JAI SKYWALKER

the prodigal daughter

drew van acker as
LOREN SKYWALKER

the burden bearer

nadia parkes as
ADENA SKYWALKER

the voice of reason

𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔞𝔩𝔰𝔬 𝔣𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔤 . . .

oscar isaac as poe dameron

natalie martinez as eleni dameron

candice patton as reeve tailor

jessica henwick as jessika pava

rose leslie as aliyah teron

jessie mei li as eden feng

avan jogia as georgios bera

logan lerman as ellis melamed

𓆩✧𓆪

𝔞 𝔟𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔣 𝔢𝔵𝔠𝔢𝔯𝔭𝔱 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪

 " THE CAPTURE OF JESSIKA PAVA "

— 𓆩✧𓆪 —

. . .THE PHOENIX, CARAJAM AIRSPACE 

THE FREIGHTER drifted silently above the swirling planet. From a distance, all was well and at peace. Within the ship was another story entirely.

Ellis yanked the blindfold off to reveal a young woman's glare. Her dark hair was slicked with sweat and stuck to flushed cheeks.

"You won't get away with this," she threatened, trying to kick out her legs. They had already been strapped to the chair.

Lyra just sighed, already bored of this interaction. The woman stopped her struggle, squinting to pick out Lyra's form in the shadow. She could be an obliging host, so she stepped out into the dim light of the brig to greet her prisoner.

"Welcome aboard the Phoenix," Lyra told her.

Recognition flooded over her. Immediately, the women's glare lost all of its fervor and terror took its place. "You won't get any information out of me. I won't talk!"

"The only question I have is to ask for your name," Lyra said evenly. "Believe me, these ordeals are easier if we can greet each other properly."

In response, the girl spit on the floor.

Lyra cocked a brow. "I was just saying that someone needs to mop down here."

"I know who you are," the woman threatened. Her lithe form strained against the restraints. She was built like a dancer, but right now she looked like a graceful beetle in a spiderweb.

"Do you?" Lyra's footsteps echoed on the metal grates as she drew close. Sweat beaded on the woman's upper lip. "Tell me, what are they saying about me these days?"

She shook her head. She had guts, even Lyra would admit it, but there was still a wide-eyed look of fear on her face. "You killed Luke Skywalker's daughter."

Lyra had to laugh. So this was Leia's idea of recompense. Erasing the truth of her niece from the galaxy in order to preserve the charmed fairy tale that was the life of Lyra Jai Skywalker.

"I did kill her, and she didn't put up that much of a fight," Lyra mused.

"You're sick."

Ellis rolled his eyes. "And you're tied to a chair."

The woman glowered. "I'd rather be tied to a chair than be one of you degenerates."

"Degenerates? Crafty, maybe, but not degenerate. Besides, you're the one who fell for our trap."

"You won't get anything out of me," she seethed again.

"I admire your conviction." Lyra lunged forward and pressed her forearm into the woman's chest. Not enough to hurt, just enough to startle her. "But I always get what I want."

Lyra turned and left the hold with Ellis at her side. The door behind them slammed shut.

"How did you come across this one?" Lyra finally asked.

He hit the keypad and they stepped into the lift that would take them up to the freighter's main strategy center. "Eden has been keeping track of the conversations coming in and out of that bar on Carajam. You know it, the one that all the Resistance pilots think is a well kept secret?"

Lyra scoffed. "Maybe now they'll learn."

Reeve was waiting for them up above. The strategy center was a glorified galley, but Ellis and Georgie had both previously been part of slicer operations, so the wide room was outfitted with the most recent technologies. There was a narrow holo projector in the middle that was ringed with squat seats.

"Did they pull up a profile on her?" Lyra asked.

Reeve only gave a loose shrug. "I dunno. I just got up here. Hey, are you guys using that little repulsor cart in the cargo hold?"

"The one that we were using for the crates?" Ellis responded, flopping down on one of the cushioned seats next to Georgie.

"Yeah."

"Yes, we use it for the crates, Tailor," Georgie told her.

She rolled her eyes. "I got that, genius. I meant are you currently using it. I want to fix the repulsor that keeps going out, but it'll have to be out of commission for a few days."

"That's fine."

Aliyah entered the room from the side that connected to the cockpit. "Captain," she nodded. She was the oldest of all of them, older than even Lyra. "I have the stats you wanted."

Her image flew up on the holo screen as Aliyah tapped at the computer. The face that had sneered at them in the brig was now even and serene, bordering on a smile.

"Jessika Pava," Aliyah read from the profile. "Blue Squadron pilot."

"Hm," Lyra grunted. Blue Squadron could only mean one thing.

"What's the hm for?"

"It was a thoughtful sound," Lyra told her.

Aliyah toggled back over so that the projection now showed a live feed of what was going on in the brig. Jessika Pava still sat in her chair still as a board and staring forward as if her glare might burn through the wall ahead of her.

"I say we keep her," Reeve said. "She seems fun."

Lyra turned her gaze to face the girl. She knew that face. "She isn't a pet, Reeve. I'm not keeping a pilot aboard my ship just so you can fawn over her."

Her lips turned into a grin. "I can't help that I have a thing for Resistance pilots."

"We all have our shortcomings," Ellis jeered.

Lyra considered the profile blazing blue on the screen. She was from Dandoran, a smuggling planet with which Lyra was well acquainted. Other than that, her profile was desolate of anything that garnered interest. She was without a notable rank, affiliation, or connection.

Veritably perfect.

"Good pick," Lyra nodded with grudging approval. "She'll do fine."

"Thank Eden," Aliyah said. "She was the one that stunned her. I just helped drag her on board."

Lyra stood to go, and Reeve got up at the same time. "Let me talk to her"

"I don't have time to watch you flirt," Lyra groused. Then she sighed. "Don't overdo it."

Reeve bounded off, and soon she appeared on the holovideo in front of them. Aliyah tuned the audio, and they could hear what was being said with only a brush of static.

Jessika raised her head. "Back so soon?"

"Don't worry, the Captain's upstairs. I can't imagine sitting in a dark brig all alone is your idea of fun," Reeve told her, smiling.

"Who are you?" Jessika asked, and she seemed genuinely curious.

Reeve undid her restraints, taking care to be gentle. "I'm Reviera."

Full name, Lyra noted. She must really like this one.

"Do you work for her?" Jessika asked.

"Endellion?" Reeve asked. She glanced over her shoulder and looked right at where the camera was hidden. "Not really. I'm just a mechanic."

"Not a mercenary?"

"Different kind of fighting. I fight inanimate objects."

If Lyra wasn't mistaken, Jessika had begun to smile.

"You Resistance pilots do seem to love Carajam," Reeve mused, looking her up and down. "I cannot, for the life of me, understand why that is. If I never had to set foot on that hell hole again I wouldn't."

This would be a lie spun for Jessika's benefit. Reeve was emotionally attached to their parts dealer on Carajam, an aging women who called all of them darlin' as if they weren't wanted space pirates.

"I don't mind it," Jessika said. Then she relented a little. "But it's my commanding officer that was so insistent we go into that bar."

Reeve laughed. "He's gonna have hell to pay when they get back to your base and tell your General."

Jessika shrugged. "Possibly. Though, I'm not sure the General would even demote him. She doesn't play favorites but anyone would tell you she has a soft spot for her nephew."

Reeve's brow rose, and the slight shock on her face was there and gone in a flash. A mechanic with a gift for espionage was a rare thing indeed. The perfect combination of unsuspecting. "Nephew? What's his name–I know it starts with an L." Reeve knew the name. She was stalling.

"Captain Loren Skywalker," she finished for her. "We tried calling him Big L once. Didn't stick."

Ellis groaned at the sound of the name. "Not that dick head again. Gods Eden, could you have picked literally any other squadron to pull from?"

"Quiet." Lyra silenced him with a raised hand. "I told her to take one of his."

Whispering now, Ellis was incredulous. "Why the hell would we want his attention?"

A fair question, and Lyra wasn't entirely willing to divulge her full answer. They needed a way into the Resistance's hidden planetary base. It was simple, really. Any pilot they could have held for ransom would have worked. Her vendetta against Loren Skywalker just made this victory even sweeter. Lyra Jai didn't exist, but her twin brother would know her handiwork easily. If what Jessika had said was the truth–and she knew it was–no one believed Lyra Jai was even alive. Loren would be yelling at a ghost.

Lyra turned to Aliyah with a wicked grin. "Send a transmission to the Resistance droid on Carajam. Tell Loren Skywalker we have one of his pilots."

✧

. . . D'QAR, RESISTANCE BASE

LOREN slammed his hand down.

Anger flickered briefly, rising into his cheeks with the heat of a flush. Leia Organa was glaring at him with arms folded over her chest. Kaydel Connix was also starring, but her stare was one of annoyance, possibly because he had just taken out his frustration on her computer equipment.

"So, are you going to explain to me how you lost an entire pilot on Carajam, or do I need to put the story together on my own?" The General said. "Because this isn't looking very good for you, Captain."

"Jess is hardly incapable of handling herself," Loren groused. But it had been him who had wanted to go to the bar so badly, to draw out their assignment into a thin line instead of going back to base. He was known for this, he was the fun one, the one who let his pilots get away with skirting the rules.

Until it came back to bite him in the ass.

"Jessika Pava was under your command, Skywalker," Leia told him sternly. Everyone thought she had a soft spot for her nephew, but right now, that felt parsecs from the truth.

"I understand that, General. But you know who it is that took her–!"

"That is complete hearsay and an excuse."

"We had confirmation from the droid!"

She narrowed her eyes and he could have sworn they crackled with fury. "I will not have this kind of talk in or out of my command room. Is that quite understood?"

He gritted his teeth. "Yes, General. But you can't ignore the truth forever."

He stalked out of the command room. There was one person he could go to who would have normally understood this struggle. Poe Dameron had grown up with Loren, and that also meant he had grown up with Lyra, and that also meant the Commander knew the truth about what had really happened to his twin sister.

But this would be unforgivable. Jessika Pava was cherished by Poe like she was his own sister. Loren was going to have hell to pay when Poe found out what had happened.

Today, it seemed that the gods were particularly interested in punishing him. As soon as he walked into the noise and chatter of the mess hall, Poe was walking out.

He lifted his chin in greeting. "Haven't seen you since you guys got back."

"I was in a meeting with the General."

Poe frowned. "Oh yeah? Judging from your face, it didn't go well."

He thought about spinning up some crap lie. Better to just get this over with. "No, it's not. You're not going to like this."

Poe grinned in that heroic way that Loren had always admired when they were growing up until he had gotten old enough that it made him jealous. Poe's charm came so easily. Loren had his own share of Skywalker arrogance, but he had also inherited the temper that his grandfather had been so famous for.

"I'm sure it'll be fine, whatever it is," Poe assured him, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Jess was captured," Loren blurted. So much for laying it down easy.

"By who?" Poe demanded, his features hardening.

"The pirate queen," Loren answered sardonically. He watched the recognition draw on the commander's face.

Poe gritted his teeth and shook his head once. "She was under your command, Loren. This is on you."

"I know, I already got the lecture on that," Loren muttered under his breath. "She's messing with me, I know she is."

"Loren, I know it's difficult, but at some point, you're going to have to stop being so damn paranoid. Your judgment is suffering, and this isn't the first time it's cost you. And now it's also cost Jess."

"We'll get her back," Loren assured him. Then he amended it to, "I'll get her back."

"No, you're going to stay here. Clearly, you can't be trusted to act rationally in this situation. I'm not putting Jess at risk because of your vendetta with a dead woman."

There it was. Poe knew that the stories weren't true. Lyra Jai Skywalker hadn't been cut down and killed in her youth like everyone had been told. She was alive and well, living under the name Endellion and terrorizing the galaxy with her merry band of miscreant murderers. Poe rarely spoke about her anymore but he had known her better than anyone, maybe even better than Loren had. Unlike Loren, Poe had chosen the path of believing she was dead, or at least so far gone that she might as well be. It was certainly the easier way to deal with the truth.

"For a dead woman she certainly likes to stir up trouble," Loren goaded.

"Loren, don't push it," Poe warned, already walking away.

Loren just watched him go. The Force rose around him like a wave, a dull roar of sound in a cacophony of shouts. His mother would have known what to do about this. But, then again, if his mother were here, none of this would even be happening.

He envied his older sister Adena. Hidden away from this madness back in the med bay, dutifully pacifist. She was quiet and it was often forgotten that she was also a Skywalker. Loren was loud enough to create a reputation for his entire family line. He wondered if Adena might secretly resent him too, but she would never say it aloud. 

— 𓆩✧𓆪 —

a/n  welcome back to the LJ universe 💐

this story snippet exists as kind of exclusive bonus content because I don't actually think anyone will ever see it.  For anyone that does, just know that this is the version of 'Phoenix' that I wasn't ready to write. 🫣

I would seriously consider making this a full story.  I also think this is one idea that has enough legs to become something completely different.  I've been sitting on this one for a long time and I just stumbled up the perfect faceclaim for adena and I just decided to post this so its real and exists in a very rough draft form.

anyway! the details!

 In this story, Lyra is no longer the sole child of Luke Skywalker, which makes it both an AU of Phoenix and an AU of the sequels in general.  She is now the twin of Loren, who is a hotheaded force-sensitive brother who is technically older than her but has rarely acted like it.  Adena is their older sister who got her medical license under the Grené name and is in general happy to be the Forgotten Skywalker Child.

I tried to take the concepts that were tied to Lyra (specifically the phoenix squadron) and make them actual rogues.  Her relationship with Poe is also REAL childhood friends to enemies to lovers rather than just having them as rivals.  I think a lot of my plot for Phoenix when I started writing it hinged kind of cheaply on the big reveal that lyra is a skywalker.  I think getting that into the open immediately in a story like this one would have let me play around with REAL plot twists.  Now this just exists as a fun kind of exercise : ) yes there are many more oneshots in my drafts : )