"Good Shot"

Time slowed to a trickle.
 
The TIE fighters were coming around low for a strafing run but Xel was ignoring them, because Stromtroopers in the open was his favorite phrase in all the galaxy. The Staccato Lightning at his shoulder hungerly howled in his ears. Blaster bolts connected with laminate armor again and again, until three men fell to the ground dead, or wishing they were. Xel had just enough time to crack a smile under his faceplate before the world exploded beneath his feet.
 
He opened his eyes and he was flying. Some force or another in this uncaring galaxy had finally heard his prayers and transformed him into Skako's instrument of retribution. He would be her avenging angel, freeing his people from savage oppression. No longer would the sins of the past haunt them...
 
Reality snapped back into place and he was falling. The scream of twin ion engines luckily drowned out the ones coming from his own lungs. He landed with a crunch as every bone in his body, every muscle, his skin, his very blood, ignited in agony. By some miracle or perverse joke his pressure suit hadn't ruptured, otherwise he'd be too dead to feel the pain.
 
The TIEs were banking hard, probably coming around for another pass. With the last of his strength, Xel raised his arm and proudly displayed his planet's rudest gesture to the pilots. "Good shot you mothe...", and the world went black.