Paige Tico Paige Tico , nicknamed Pae - Pae by her sister , was a human female who served as a gunner on a MG - 100 StarFortress SF - 17 in the Resistance during their conflict with the First Order . She was the sister of Rose Tico , a Resistance maintenance worker . During the evacuation of the Resistance base on D ' Qar , Tico ' s bomber flew against the First Order " Mandator IV " - class Siege Dreadnought " Fulminatrix " and successfully destroyed it with the bomber ' s payload . However , the resulting explosion engulfed the bomber and took Tico ' s life . Her final actions allowed the Resistance ' s fleet to escape D ' Qar ' s system . Biography . Early life . Paige Tico had at least one sibling , a younger sister named Rose Tico . After witnessing firsthand the brutality of the First Order on their homeworld in the Otomok system , both Paige and Rose fled from the Otomok system and joined the Resistance . Once as a Resistance soldier , Paige became an exceptional gunner and pilot . She survived several missions , leading her to became superstitious , occasionally wrapping her medallion around the struts of her cannon s for good luck . Though Rose was assigned as a maintenance worker aboard the cruiser " Raddus " , she sometimes accompanied Paige on flights . During their downtime between bombing runs , the two sisters always discussed their chance to see the galaxy . Evacuation of D ' Qar . In 34 ABY , during the evacuation of D ' Qar , Paige ' s bomber , the " Cobalt Hammer " , flew against the First Order ' s " Mandator IV " - class Siege Dreadnought " Fulminatrix " , commanded by Captain Moden Canady . When Paige was ordered to release the proton bomb s of her bomber , she hurriedly climbed out of her bomber ' s hold to the bombardier station , where she took the control to release the bombs , but the laser cannon of a First Order TIE Fighter managed to hit the " Hammer " , causing her to fall off the ladder and lose consciousness . When Paige regained consciousness , she discovered that the Resistance was in trouble . Unfortunately , the control to release the proton bombs had been left at the top of the ladder . Knowing that she would not have enough time to get back into the cockpit and activate the bombs with the control , Paige kicked the stairs so that the control could fall into her hands . After several kicks , the control fell into the abyss , but Paige managed to catch it . Then , Paige released the proton bombs , which fell on the " Fulminatrix " , destroying the ship and killing Captain Canady and his crew . As it was too late for escape and knowing her sacrifice would keep the Resistance safe , Paige closed her eyes as the fire engulfed the " Hammer " . Legacy . Eventually , Paige ' s sacrifice allowed the Resistance ' s fleet to escape D ' Qar ' s system for good , although the First Order would eventually follow them . Paige ' s sister , Rose , took her death very hard . Writing a brief epitaph at the end of the journal Paige had kept , Rose described her part in the battle , commending her older sister has having died a hero and swearing that she wouldn ' t let the First Order destroy the Resistance and would find a way to defeat them . When Rose saw Finn trying to " escape " from the " Raddus " , she stunned him and attempted to bring him to the Rebels as a coward because her sister was killed during the battle , but she was ultimately convinced that Finn was not trying to escape . Personality and traits . Paige was extremely close to her younger sister , Rose , since childhood , feeling incomplete when they were separated . When they joined the Resistance , Paige insisted that she and Rose be assigned to the same ship . The two sisters frequently sat together at Paige ' s gunner station while traveling to and from missions . Paige thought that Rose underestimated herself and her importance in the Resistance and often provided moral support . While Paige harbored hated for the First Order ' s leadership for the destruction of her homeworld and their other atrocities , she didn ' t hold the same vitriol for the First Order soldiers and pilots . She felt that many of them were people like her thrown into a situation that some would ' ve wanted to escape , a belief she found vindicated by the stormtrooper Finn , who defected from the First Order and helped the Resistance destroy Starkiller Base . Paige had a fascination for fathier s , deciding that they were the one creature above all else she wanted to see in person . On her suggestion , the crew of the " Hammer " used imaginary stables of fathiers as markers in the crew ' s card games . Paige also wanted to see a live fathier race . While she never got to see a fathier or a race , her sister Rose got to see and ride one on her mission with Finn to Canto Bight . Behind the scenes . Paige Tico was portrayed by Veronica Ngo in . Tico was first shown in the Behind The Scenes video for " The Last Jedi " , which was released on July 15 , 2017 for the D23 Expo . Director Rian Johnson confirmed Paige ' s appearance in the footage on . In one of the film ' s early drafts , featuring a different version of the evacuation of D ' Qar , Paige was going to die after releasing the proton bombs over the " Fulminatrix " in the arms of Finn , who would have been the gunner of the " Cobalt Hammer " instead of being hospitalized aboard the " Raddus " . Concept art for the planned scene showed Paige ' s last moments in which she would have left a bloody hand print on Finn ' s heart , echoing the stormtrooper ' s bloody handprint scene of , including how Finn pulled her lifeless body from the bomber inside the Resistance hangar , but director Rian Johnson cut the scene in a later revision of the script , because he ultimately found that " he couldn ' t pay it off . "