The Trigger " The Trigger " is a short story in the anthology " From a Certain Point of View " . The story , written by Kieron Gillen , focuses on the point of view of Chelli Lona Aphra . Plot . Aphra was staying in Dantoo Town while trying to reactivate and upgrade some war - surplus droideka s . In need of a 3 . 23 colicoid ic pulse modulator , she attempted to loot the abandoned Rebel base on Dantooine , believing it to be salvage - rich . While working her way through a stripped central comm , Aphra was alerted by the " Ark Angel " to the presence of TIE - fighters . While retreating to the " Ark Angel " , Aphra encountered three stormtrooper s doing a perimeter sweep in an area that she had covered in a layer of micromine s . Knowing that escaping the nearby Star Destroyer would be difficult , coupled with not wanting to let people die and reluctant to abandon the droidekas she ' d been working on , Aphra decided peacefully surrender herself to the stormtroopers . The stormtroopers questioned and searched Aphra , before bringing her into the new Imperial base on Dantooine . The stormtroopers presented Aphra to General Tagge , and informed him they were looking for Aphra ' s hidden speeder , which she had lied to them about to keep them from discovering the " Ark Angel " . Tagge questioned Aphra about why she had been at the Rebel base , not believing that Aphra was simply scavenging for supplies . Aphra attempted to persuade Tagge of her innocence . Aphra stated that she was unaware of a Rebel base on Dantooine , because , due to the planet ' s primitiveness , no one there would think to resist the Galactic Empire . Amused , Tagge then revealed to Aphra that the Death Star had recently destroyed Alderaan . Curious as to how the Death Star ' s weapon worked , Aphra enthusiastically questioned Tagge about it , though he did not reveal any details . Tagge then declared that he did not think Aphra was a Rebel , but that she was " trouble " , and sentenced her to execution . Tagge assigned a stormtrooper to take Aphra out into the woods and execute her , while they continued to search for her alleged hidden speeder . To buy herself time to plan an escape , Aphra conversed with the stormtrooper . After asking him if it was his first execution , Aphra spoke with him about how firing squads on some worlds and the Death Star were the same ; as they involved a variety of people , no one person would have to shoulder the responsibility for taking people ' s lives — there was no one person to pull " the trigger " . Aphra then attempted to guilt - trip the stormtrooper , by illustrating the true horror and historical impact of the destruction of Alderaan , saying the stormtrooper would always remember it as the day he executed Aphra . While distracting the stormtrooper with her talk , Aphra was able to secretly able to jam the frequency on his Imperial - model blaster for a few seconds ; because of this , Aphra was able to disarm him and steal his blaster . She informed the stormtrooper that while " he " had never shot anyone in cold blood , " she " had . Threatening to kill him , Aphra ordered the stormtrooper to remove his helmet . Aphra stated that it was easy to kill a stormtrooper , but harder to kill another human . Aphra then philosophized that the Death Star did indeed have " a trigger " , as it was easy to kill a planet because it was more abstract than personal . Although Aphra had always defended the Empire — believing it brought peace and order to the galaxy — she realized that what had happened to Alderaan changed her opinion . Aphra decided to release the young stormtrooper , asking him to tell his superiors that he followed through on his orders . Abandoning the blaster , Aphra was able to successfully board the " Ark Angel " and get into orbit . She then managed to avoid the Star Destroyer before jumping into hyperspace .