First

The title of this article is a nickname, call sign, or alias. This article is about a subject that has not been identified with an official name and is known only by a nickname, call sign, or alias.

"First" was the name given to a female Human by Sith apprentice Vestara Khai. Once enslaved on B'nish, the girl stowed away aboard a Damorian S18 light freighter around 41.5 ABY. However, the starship fell under attack by the Sith Meditation Sphere Ship and was forced to make an emergency landing on a nearby planet. On the surface, the girl encountered Sith apprentice Vestara Khai, who killed the girl with her parang. When Ship told Khai to name the girl, Khai chose the name "First," as Khai hoped the girl would be the first of many kills.

Biography

A Human girl was enslaved on B'nish for some time, acquiring several scars at a young age. When a Damorian S18 light freighter came to B'nish^[2] around 41.5 ABY,^[1] the girl seized her chance and, with the help of the starship's pilots, stowed away aboard the vessel, wearing just a single tattered garment covering her from her shoulders to her knees. After departing the planet of Eriadu, however, the ship fell under attack by the Lost Tribe of Sith from the planet Kesh and their Sith Meditation Sphere, Ship. The sphere opened fire with its weapons, and the freighter, heavily damaged, was forced to crash-land on a nearby planet for repairs. In the rough landing, the girl suffered a wound on her head and was knocked unconscious.^[2]

When she awoke, she encountered Vestara Khai, an apprentice of the Lost Tribe. The girl, seeing an activated lightsaber in the apprentice's hand, begged for her life, and offered Khai the cargo aboard the ship, promising that nobody would ever know if Khai allowed her to escape, as her name was not on any crew roster. Khai, however, told the girl that she would have to kill her and offered her a painless death if the girl knelt in cooperation. The girl broke into tears and declared that her life was her own, and that she was no longer anybody's servant. She attempted to escape, but Khai threw her glass parang at the fleeing girl, killing her instantly. Khai was caught off-guard by how much blood flowed from the girl, and the sensation in the Force of her life leaving her body shocked Khai so much that she began to panic and fell to her knees. After Khai, still reeling and trembling, stood and approached the girl while wondering what her name might have been, Ship told Khai to name the girl herself. After a moment's thought, Khai named the girl "First," as she was the first of many whose lives the Sith apprentice hoped to take.^[2]

In 44 ABY,^[3] when Vestara Khai's father Gavar Khai told her that she should not suppress her feelings for the Jedi Ben Skywalker and instead cultivate them in hopes of manipulating Skywalker, Vestara realized she had not been as caught off guard as she was in that moment since she had killed^[4] First,^[2] recalling how surprisingly difficult killing had been and how someone dying at a close range felt.^[4]

Personality and traits

The blue-eyed and pale-skinned girl "First" had an affection for life, despite spending much of hers in slavery. She longed to live a life of her choosing in which she would not be subject to the orders of others. When the Sith Vestara Khai threatened the girl with her lightsaber, First offered Khai the cargo from the freighter and begged the Sith to spare her life. While frightened to the point of tears by the knowledge that she was about to die, First showed the strength and resolve to live her last moments as a free being, refusing to kneel when instructed to do so. Instead, the girl ran, and while Khai killed her, she sensed a passion for life in the girl that Khai had never before encountered, which, along with the disturbance her death triggered in the Force, was enough to stop the Sith's breath.^[2]

Skills and abilities

First could run as quickly as a sorumi doe, but was not fast enough to flee Khai before the Sith threw her parami and killed her.^[2]

Equipment

First wore only a single garment that covered her from her shoulders to her knees.^[2]

Behind the scenes

First was first mentioned, albeit indirectly, in Christie Golden's 2010 novel, Fate of the Jedi: Allies, the fifth novel in the Fate of the Jedi series.^[4] She later appeared and was identified in Golden's short story "First Blood," which was published in the 125th issue of the Star Wars Insider magazine. The short story, illustrated by Brian Rood^[2] and published on April 26, 2011,^[5] contains an image depicting Khai standing over First's corpse.^[2]

Appearances

• "First Blood" — Star Wars Insider 125 (reprinted in Star Wars Insider: The Fiction Collection Volume 1) (First appearance) (First identified as "First")
• Fate of the Jedi: Allies (and audiobook) (First mentioned) (Indirect mention only)

Sources

• The Essential Reader's Companion (Indirect mention only)

Notes and references