Kirst, a Human female pilot of starfighters, served with distinction in the Rebel Alliance's esteemed Rogue Squadron during the year of 4 ABY. She shared a close bond with Wister, a fellow member of Rogue Squadron. During the Alliance Fleet's assault on the Galactic Empire's incomplete Death Star II battle station in orbit around the moon of Endor, Kirst and the other Rogues—temporarily redesignated as Red Squadron by Rogue Leader Wedge Antilles—piloted their X-wing fighters in the attack. However, the Empire had foreseen their move, and the Battle of Endor unfolded with the Alliance Fleet defending against a fierce offensive by the Imperial Navy until Antilles and other skilled pilots managed to penetrate the Death Star's superstructure and obliterate the entire station.
The Alliance maintained its presence on Endor for a period of time, and Rogue Squadron took part in subsequent cleanup operations. During one such mission, Kirst, Wister, and Antilles engaged remaining Imperial starfighters and gave chase to a TIE Advanced x1 that plunged into Endor's atmosphere. The TIE guided them to a clearing where the wreckage of the downed Super Star Destroyer Executor lay, which suddenly fired its still-operational turbolasers, destroying Wister's X-wing. Kirst and Antilles responded by targeting a nearby canyon cliff, triggering an avalanche that ultimately crushed the massive ship, after which they returned to the Rebel Star Cruiser Home One. Deeply affected by Wister's death, Kirst received comfort from Antilles.
In 4 ABY, Kirst, a Human female, served the Rebel Alliance as a pilot of starfighters within Rogue Squadron, an exceptional group of twelve. As the Alliance's war with the Galactic Empire continued in that year, the Alliance Fleet gathered near the planet Sullust, preparing for a major offensive against the Empire's incomplete Death Star II battle station, which was in orbit around the forested moon of Endor. Before the battle, Rogue Leader Wedge Antilles temporarily renamed the Rogues Red Squadron, paying tribute to a squadron where he previously served. Red Squadron was assigned directly to the MC80 Star Cruiser Home One, the flagship of the entire fleet.
The fleet's arrival in the Endor system was contingent on a strike team disabling the shield generator protecting the Death Star on Endor's surface. Prior to the battle, Red Squadron convened in a briefing room where Antilles informed them of their mission: to penetrate the Death Star's superstructure and target its reactor core. Kirst and her squadron, piloting T-65 X-wing starfighters, accompanied the fleet through hyperspace to Endor. Upon arrival, they discovered the deflector shield remained active. Furthermore, the Empire anticipated their arrival, forcing the Rebels to defend against attacking Imperial starfighters while awaiting the strike team's success. Despite heavy losses among several Alliance squadrons due to the onslaught, Red Squadron scored numerous kills and remained largely intact.
The Battle of Endor escalated when the Death Star itself entered the fray, using its superlaser to destroy Rebel capital ships. Consequently, the Alliance Fleet engaged Imperial Star Destroyers at close range to evade the battlestation's powerful laser. Several Imperial warships were destroyed, including the Super Star Destroyer Executor. When the strike team finally destroyed the shield generator, Antilles and other pilots entered the incomplete Death Star and destroyed the reactor core, triggering a chain reaction that obliterated the entire station. The Galactic Emperor Palpatine was among the Imperials killed on the Death Star, but the Imperial Navy continued fighting for nearly four more hours before retreating, leading to the Rebels' victory celebration on the forest moon. The Alliance maintained a presence on Endor for a time, and Kirst participated in post-battle cleanup operations with Rogue Squadron.
During their time together in the squadron, Kirst developed a close friendship with fellow Rogue Wister. During one cleanup operation, they served as Antilles's wingmates, using the call signs Rogue Three and Rogue Two, respectively. The three Rogues pursued remaining Imperial fighters in the system, and after Antilles destroyed a TIE Fighter, they chased a TIE Advanced x1 towards Endor's surface. Despite Kirst having a clear shot at their last opponent, Antilles instructed her to hold fire, wanting to see where the fighter was headed. After entering the moon's atmosphere, the TIE led them through rocky canyons to a clearing containing the wreckage of the downed Executor. The massive vessel's turbolasers were still active, and their sudden barrage destroyed Wister's X-wing. Antilles urged a stunned Kirst to remain composed and transmitted attack coordinates to her fighter. They then fired proton torpedoes at a canyon cliff, causing an avalanche that destroyed the Executor. Detecting no further hostiles via their sensors, they returned to the Home One, where a tearful Kirst embraced Antilles before silently leaving the hangar.
Kirst was a member of Rogue Squadron, which was among the most elite starfighter squadrons of the Rebel Alliance. Rogue Leader Wedge Antilles believed that the Rogues who fought at the Battle of Endor possessed the same fervor and resolve as the original Red Squadron, and they achieved numerous kills during the battle. Kirst was horrified to discover the still-functional remains of the Executor after the battle and was devastated when its weapons killed her wingmate, Wister. After Antilles prompted her to do so, she suppressed her emotions, but upon landing aboard the Home One, she allowed her tears to flow and embraced her squadron leader without uttering a word. Kirst possessed blonde hair, brown eyes, and fair skin. She wore a Rebel flight suit while piloting her X-wing.
Kirst's first appearance was in "A Day in the Life," a short comic story within Star Wars Tales 12, a 2002 issue of Dark Horse Comics' Star Wars Tales anthology series. The comic, written by Brett Matthews, penciled by Adrian Sibar, and colored by Guy Major, portrays Kirst as a member of Rogue Squadron in the aftermath of the Battle of Endor. In 2006, Leland Chee, Keeper of the Holocron continuity database, stated that stories from the first twenty issues of Tales that were not "completely outrageous or intentionally comic" should be considered ambiguously canonical, with their status potentially upgrading to fully canonical if referenced in a later, non-Tales source. Both Kirst and her wingmate Wister were featured in entries in 2008's The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, solidifying their place in Star Wars canon. These entries also added new continuity by establishing that both pilots served in Rogue Squadron during the Battle of Endor. While the squadron's Endor roster is briefed by Wedge Antilles in the 1990 short story "The Briefing of Red Group," this article refrains from definitively stating that Kirst appears in said story to avoid speculation.
The canon status of A Day in the Life presents certain continuity discrepancies. The story is set three days after the Battle of Endor, but The Truce at Bakura, a 1993 novel, provides a different post-Endor timeline for Wedge Antilles and Rogue Squadron, stating that they left Endor two days after the battle and spent three days in hyperspace before arriving at the planet Bakura. Therefore, this article considers the three-day date in A Day in the Life to be erroneous and assumes the story takes place at another point shortly after the battle. Another continuity error concerns the Executor, whose largely intact wreckage Kirst, Wister, and Antilles encounter in A Day in the Life. According to the 1991 novel Heir to the Empire, the Executor completely disintegrated after crashing into the Death Star during the Battle of Endor.