A/N
For some reasons (I probably wouldn't even be able to comprehend them if they slapped me in the face) I developed a thing for Jyn & Orson Krennic ever since I read the Rogue One - A Star Wars Story novilization by Alexander Freed. It provided me with so much background info and insight about the characters that Krennic now is ranked among my favorite villains. It also explains some of the reactions we see in the movie but without context seemed a little bit confusing (like why the hell Krennic smiles that creepy smile after Vader force choked him).
This piece (especially the first chapter) was written for #Day2 (31st January) of #JynnicWeek. Topic: Alternate Universe.
It entertains the thought how Jyn's story would have turned if she left Lah'mu with her father instead of being taken under Saw's wings. The main plot stays the same: Galen manipulated the Death Star and tries to get into contact with the Rebel Alliance. Jyn, who in the meantime graduated as an Imperial Officer, is going to take on the role as a double agent, trying to earn the trust of the Rebels in order to deliver her father's message.
This said, it is a fic that focuses on the relationship between Jyn and Krennic, using their actions and motives as a narrative framework to set the events of
Rogue One into motion.
WARNING: AU; implications (but nothing explicit) of rape and tortue; Krennic being Krennic; mention of OCs
~oOo~
Chapter I: Going Rogue
~oOo~
Name Erso
Given Name Jyn
IOCIN CO6-170822EJ
Gender Female
Born 22BBY
Place of Birth Lokori
Father Galen Walton Erso
Mother Lyra Erso
Senior Academy Royal Imperial Academy 7-4BBY
So it had come to this.
Orson Krennic closed the file in front of him and settled back against his armchair, the back of his knuckles brushing lightly over his lips in deep concentration. Amusement tugged at the corner of his mouth. Yes, who would have thought? Certainly not him. It was a surprise, albeit a pleasant one, to say the least.
He never thought the youngest Erso would make it – he had reasons and none of them even had the slightest bit to do with her as a person but everything to do with Lyra's pesky influence: Jyn was her mother's daughter. Righteous, easy to provoke (especially into making a fatal mistake) and a misguided, obsolete understanding of good and evil. Lyra was passionate about the things important to her – Krennic admited as much – but she was never able to put aside her own delusional and idealistic views on justice and freedom in favor of a more complex approach. It always seemed to him as if she never realized there was a difference between doing the good thing and doing the right thing.
This being said, he actually did feel something akin to a shadow of the overwhelming condition of sheer bliss that transforms all parents into mentally incompetent fools, when Galen announced Lyra's pregnancy to him. Not a path Krennic had ever considered for himself (and neither for Galen, as a matter of fact) but he accepted it and in a way he had hoped, it would steady Galen more in his decisions, figuring as he now wasn't any longer only responsible for his life alone but for that of his child's as well.
This shadow of benevolence vanished quickly on the day Lyra gave birth to Jyn. He remembered the ping of mild annoyance when Lyra – drunk by happiness and glowing form after-birth – presented the little bundle in her arms to him. There was a glint of defiance in her eyes as if she thought, Krennic had lost for good.
Ironically enough, up until that moment he hadn't even thought about using the latest addition to the Erso family for any of his schemes. After all, she was just an infant and only in time her talents would come forth. Maybe a sharp mind like her father. Maybe her mother's strike for adventure and exploration.
But no.
In that moment Lyra foolishly determined what she thought her daughter represented for Krennic: a weapon – to put more distance between him and Galen and to tie him tighter to his family than to the will of the Empire. And thus evoked Krennic to roll this inconvenience up and down, to and fro in his head.
Oh Lyra, Krennic mused, You always misjudged me.
She put that bee in his bonnet and only then Krennic amused the thought to use Jyn as impetus for cooperation. Lyra decided what he would do with Jyn before he even got the chance to know her. After that he didn't saw Jyn for Jyn but for the nuisance she most certainly would turn into under Lyra's influence: a constant sting in his work just like her mother.
The first and only time he felt this assumption to be justified, was on their way back to Coruscant after the unfortunate incident on Lah'mu had taken place.
Krennic had never wanted Lyra to die. He truly hadn't. She had been the one person Galen confined in the most, his partner and Krennic knew that taking her away from him would have resulted in nothing but utter devastation and thus, in less progress. Krennic had allowed her interferences and occasional indelicate attitudes toward the Empire only because eliminating her would have caused run more trouble than gain in the long run. But it happened anyway. He had given Lyra all the chances he had and she – foolish as ever – had thrown them away. And for what? What did she think he would do to Galen? Nothing his old friend wouldn't have wanted. Galen, ever the reasonable one, too loath to admit his own genius and to claim what he wants as his own, just needed a little push in the right direction every now and then.
Krennic regretted Lyra's death – not because of her but because for Galen's sake. And, after he had observed his daughter aboard the shuttlecraft, for her's, too.
The girl hadn't cried. Neither had Galen. Krennic had been glad that she hadn't. But she hadn't been at the side of her mother either, stroking her face and hand like Galen had. No. She sat with her father, close enough to be sure of his warmth and comfort, but her eyes were trained on Krennic.
He never knew that the color green could hold such vicious fire and ferocity – even less when the color belonged to the eyes of a child. Krennic could not recall how old exactly Jyn was at that time but she wasn't old enough yet to form a sense for morality all on her own or to interpret facts without prejudice.
He looked into her eyes and knew: for her he was the monster. Any attempt to integrate her into the Imperial system was meant to fail at this point. Krennic, of course, didn't leave it at that. He tried. Over the course of the years he has kept both father and daughter under his supervision and cordiality as often as time and obligations allowed him to.
Without Lyra, Galen was finally completely absorbed in his work, solving engineering problems and scientific setbacks that had plagued their progress for months.
As for Jyn: she tolerated Krennic's presence whenever he visited, though it took years until the last remnant of loathing vanished from her eyes. Lyra's influence unfortunately stayed – Jyn only became more accustomed to hide it underneath the surface. He never saw a glimpse of it ever again, although he knew it was still there when she had turned fifteen and informed him and her father over dinner that she had applied for the Royal Imperial Academy.
To say he was stunned would have undermined the twisted amusement he felt when thinking about the possibility of Lyra's daughter being turned into a loyal instrument of the Galactic Empire. Fifteen, born in a Separatist prison on Vallt and without having undertaken the one-year junior training in advance, Krennic had known her chances of getting admitted would be slim.
So had her father. Galen had sat there in silence while Krennic had raised his glass in toast and immersed Jyn into a never-ending train of questions and thoughts to which, to his delight, she had given more than her usual one-line and one-word answers. Eventually Galen had nodded his head and to his credit: it almost had looked more like an approval than a defeat.
This had been all Krennic had needed. An order via hologram to alter Jyn's birth place, one or two granted favors among colleagues and a recommendation letter to Commandant Deenlark later and Jyn was accepted at the academy without any further questioning.
Yes, back then Krennic didn't think Jyn would make it further than maybe the first of the three scheduled years of the program.
As far as he had come to know her, she doesn't scare easily and stayed level-headed even in the most challenging situations. Though he doubted the instructors would be able to come up with a more emotionally devastating situation than what little Jyn already had to experience when her mother died. He predicted that none of her instructors probably would know how to intimidate her in the way which would be required in order to keep her disobedience and undisciplined tendencies at bay. To some extent she always was and most certainly will always have a trace of feral behavior – a quality, especially combined with her fierce nature when challenged, becoming more and more of relevance for future Imperial Officers in the face of a growing Rebel Alliance.
Still. Being Lyra's child and Jyn's resolution at a young age to distrust everything remotely Imperial had Krennic expecting to find a notification from Commandant Deenlark on his desk one day, informing him about Cadet Erso's drop out or dishonorable discharge. Maybe even imprisonment. Obviously he had been proven wrong.
He picked up her file again and flipped through the pages to the transcript of records listing all of Jyn's test results of the three-year program at the Royal Imperial Academy. She excelled in all her piloting, physical combat and martial arts courses as well as in close and long range weaponry and classes which required leadership skills or tested analytical thinking. Even her academic achievements were ranked among the top five of her year including Core Worlds Classical Culture, Policies of the Old Republic, Outer Rim Languages and her additional classes The Art of War and Ancient Philosophy.
Krennic raised a brow at Jyn's choice of extra classes. It was clear to him where she wanted to go with this – was it the moment Commandant Deenlark reported Jyn's progress at the end of each year back to him. What didn't come to him as a surprise was, that points in some of her science classes were notable lower. Like Galen she was a quick learner but unfortunately she didn't possess any of his genius. Interesting was also that, though she passed every single psychological evaluation, she couldn't hide all of her less desirable character traits.
One of her professors in the second half of her second year noted
[Document #PE4/6 (Regarding CO7-170822EJ), carried out by Prof. Horado Etars]
There is no hard evidence of Cadet Erso's loyalty or disloyalty to the Galactic Empire. An aversion toward hierarchy structures is apparent but contained by Erso's sense of duty (particularly for her fellow cadets) – should be exploited. High survival instinct and level of endurance. Strong-minded with the capacity to surpass all previous accomplishments. Disregard for close-minded individuals. Still unsuitable for Starfleet or Ground Forces. Recommended for specialized officer-training.
Krennic couldn't hold the scoff back. It seemed that – if nothing else – at least his dislike for men like Wilhuff Tarkin and his affinity to strive for bigger things than himself rubbed off at the youngest Erso. He was glad it turned out like this. Jyn not only posed no longer a distraction for Galen and his work, but she also had a bright future as an Imperial Officer ahead of her. Furthermore she developed skills Krennic actually found useful.
He scanned through the next page. Another report. This time from her hand-to-hand combat instructor
[Document #MA15-Y5/6 (Regarding incident between CO6-170822EJ and CO6-120523VT), witnessed by Einir Helyg and sent to further investigation to Commandant Deenlark]
Paired Cadet Erso and Cadet Vil for 15th physical training unit as instructed as both cadets show great potential and already mastered basic and advanced combat training. Although having smaller and leaner physiological traits in contrast to her opponent, Cadet Erso easily dominated the fight. As already shown in previous training units, Cadet Erso has a raw talent for swiftness and precision, but fails to distance herself emotionally before the fight consumes her. As a result she loses herself in the fight instead of the mission. Cadet Vil almost killed during this training unit. Upon asking why she lost control, Cadet Erso failed to provide answers. Requesting individual training for Cadet Erso. Hologram recording attached.
Krennic clicked the number attached on the datapad delivered to him along with Jyn's file and application. Cadets killed in training wasn't as scarce as instructor Helyg made it out to be, albeit a cadet almost killed by a fellow cadet during training and under supervision was due to raise a few eyebrows. It irked Krennic that he hadn't been informed about this incident by Deenlark.
The hologram record started playing.
There was Jyn dressed like a trainee, a smirk on her face as another cadet – male, close to her age, athletic build – came up to her. When he didn't show any intentions to slow down, Jyn pushed her flat hand as a warning against his chest but when he grabbed her wrist, she switched her hand upwards to shake him off and sent him flying with her other one to the ground. The off-screen voice of the instructor talking about the focus of today's training unit stopped immediately. Jyn's opponent, sprawled out on the ground, started laughing and even Jyn couldn't hide a small smile.
This piqued Krennic's interest. They obviously knew each other, probably even befriended each other since they were both top of their year. So how did they end up almost killing each other? Krennic mused and watched as Jyn took a different fighting stance, awaiting the next move.
She was never the one to attack first, he noted and although her fellow cadet, based on his body proportions, should have been able to dominate her, Jyn clearly outmatched him. She was agile and strong like a young tree but lethal and ruthless like a predator. Her movements happened with a swiftness almost impossible to follow with the naked eye, yet none of her attacks exposed carelessness or a lack of control.
He watched with mild fascination as her opponent landed a hit against her chin, distracting her enough to catch her off-balance before she could counter his advance. The cadet was on her then and they rolled on the ground until his strength finally pinned her down. It was then, as he was trying to get a hold on her arms that the expression on Jyn's face shifted. Excitement was replaced by something more dangerous and unforgiving.
Krennic realized that the other cadet must have said something to her – something that mercilessly had hit home. Jyn started to squirm and snarl underneath him like a wild animal. She yanked her hips up, catching him by surprise. Her legs were free. She snatched his head between her thighs and squeezed. Krennic realized the exact moment Jyn lost it. Her fellow cadet desperately started to claw at her or hit or grab her but Jyn squeezed on until her friend began to lose consciousness, his struggle going limp. That's when her instructor's sharp order to release him instantly ringed through the air. Jyn ignored the order. Not just that: her hands made their way up the moment she loosened her hold around his neck and Krennic knew she would have snapped that cadet's neck if her instructor hadn't interfered in the last second.
The hologram flickered down, the last image being Jyn as she was dragged away, eyes still trained on the other cadet if she still wasn't finished with him.
Interesting indeed but also troublesome. Never before had Krennic seen her act like that. It was so Lyra, so … rebellious. Her file said that both cadets, as was expected, afterwards acted as if nothing had ever happened. They graduated together. Cadet Timothy Vil applied for the Starfleet while Jyn was accepted for a further specialized training at the ISB Academy and Offices to foster her plans for Imperial Intelligence. She graduated after only two and a half years.
Krennic stood from his desk, his eyes lay on the application letter she wrote to him requesting to be put under his charge. She was elite. No question. And it seemed as if she had overcome her hatred and prejudice towards the Empire and most importantly towards him – that or she would put a knife through his neck the moment an opportunity presented itself. He didn't believe for one second that she had forgiven him for the role he played in her mother's demise. But perhaps all that officer training made her realize things she couldn't fathom as a child.
As he entertained a variation of different ideas of what might be the real reason why she wanted to work in his department, the comlink alert of one of his personal guards informed him that Officer Cadet Jyn Erso had arrived.
"Let her pass," Krennic replied, leaning back against his desk, arms clasped together in front of him.
The door opened. Like all Officers her steps were quick long strides that commanded immediate attention. Krennic watched her entrance from his position with a welcoming smile. It was easy to smile at her. She had her father's eyes.
Her gaze was aimed straight ahead. She didn't offer him a smile in return but maintained her military aloofness as all freshly graduated Officers did. Jyn, like so many others, would come to realize that there are many more forms of body language an Imperial Officer should know how and when to display.
"Ah, Jyn," he greeted her when she stopped in front of him, keeping a respectful distance.
"Director Krennic," she replied just as smoothly with a nod of her head.
He hadn't seen her since her graduation ceremony at the Royal Imperial Academy almost three years ago. They had shared a dance she had suggested. He had never seen her as content with herself and the world around her as during that day. The green in her eyes had been so full of life that it had almost been difficult to look anywhere else. She didn't look much different now – which, perhaps, should alert him the most. It made her inscrutable and that made her dangerous to have around.
"I take it, you have thought about my application then?"
Straight to the point. He shook his head at her fondly. "Would I have bothered to summon you into my office if I hadn't?"
Jyn didn't miss a beat. "I understand you have questions then that need further elaboration."
Krennic thought about the training incident. Patience, he told himself, no need to rush things.
"You have undergone one of the most rigorous and elite training programs the Imperial Military has to offer," he reached for the file behind him on his desk, opened it and without reading out even one single line – his eyes still trained on hers – he went on: "First at the Royal Imperial Academy and later on at the ISB, specializing in fields of Imperial Intelligence and espionage. Among the top of your year in almost every class. No records of misdemeanors or behaviors unfitting an Imperial Officer."
That, he thought, or maybe Jyn was just too smart to get caught.
He remembered how he busted curfew during his time at the Galactic Republic's Future Program. He was as known for his nocturnal carousing as for his strong loyalty towards Galen, causing him to undergo more than one personal rescue mission. Yet, his instructors never found out. He never provided them with a reason to expel him.
"Was there supposed to be question in there somewhere?" Jyn asked and Krennic knew, if her father were present, he would have tried to shut her down with a warning look by now.
He smirked. She was not afraid to go toe-to-toe with other highly placed officials. Good. He liked that.
"Cesara Nestor, your instructor for your Advanced Technical Research classes wrote and allow me to quote: 'Cadet Erso shows basic interest and talent for physics but seems unable (or unwilling) to reach a deeper lever of understanding as one could expect.'" Krennic snapped her file shut and gave her wry smile. „Put into a more eloquent choice of words: you lack your father's brilliance."
„As do you."
Sharp. Yes. Just a different kind of sharp. "And here we are," he mused.
"Yes. Here we are," Jyn agreed, her hands fell from behind her back casually at her sides. Someone finally seemed ready to drop the act – or maybe the real act was about to begin. This wasn't Officer Cadet Erso any longer. This was just Jyn, beautiful, dangerous Jyn.
"If you were anyone else, I would have declined your application without even going through the trouble of reading it."
"I understand."
"Do you?"
She met his eyes. She was careful but not guarded. "Your influence and reputation among other officials of the Galactic Empire ensured my acceptance at both the Royal Imperial Academy as well as at the ISB without further complications – "
"And you repaid my efforts quite dearly with your excellent achievements," Krennic interrupted, brushing off her appreciative attitude almost patronizingly.
"You couldn't care less about my achievements," Jyn said, drawing ever so slowly closer, "and we both know everything else would be a waste of time. I wouldn't dare."
Her father's eyes, Krennic's lips curled, but her mother's mouth.
There was less than an arm's length between them now. Her eyes – again trained straight ahead – lingered on his chest for a moment, before travelling up to meet his blue ones.
Ah. There it was. The subtle but still clumsy attempt to a more refined game.
She was still young but she made it abundantly clear what kind of warfare she wanted to learn under his charge. Krennic felt charmed.
"They say you are a master of manipulation," she went on and he wanted to ask Who? but the way her eyes traced over his face told him stay silent. It felt strange. As if there were actual fingers, caressing his skin in an impossible tenderly way. "So I went and asked Papa about you." A sweet laugh escaped her lips. A memory of lighter days, though already overcast by shadows. "I asked him to describe you for me in one sentence. He said: 'My friend Krennic is a man who wouldn't lose a battle unless it would ensure to win the war'."
Krennic still hadn't moved an inch since Jyn had decided to close the distance between them. He thought the distant scent of warm stone and sunlight lingered in the air but he couldn't be sure.
Jyn cocked her head then, challenging him. "You want to know, don't you? You want to know what makes me think, I could provide you with something you want."
"Yes," he said way too quick and eager. He stood, straightening up to his full height, looking down at her smaller frame. "Tell me, Jyn. Tell me what it is."
"I will succeed where my father has failed."
„Failed?" he inquired but she pressed on: „I will achieve greatness. I will provide peace and security for the galaxy."
„If I wanted to know what you think I want, I would have asked."
He didn't sound angry―he hadn't even cared to raise his voice. Still, there was something there―something that made Jyn's stomach cringe.
His hand came up. He hadn't bothered to wear his gloves today. Feather-lightly his fingers began to brush along her cheek down to her chin. "Try again."
Her voice didn't tremble. She didn't even have to force herself to lean into his touch. "The smuggler Has Obitt."
Krennic froze but didn't move away.
"The staged rebellion alongside Saw Gerrera against the Imperial occupation of the Salient System?" Jyn carried on. Her voice came out proud and defiant. "You know how to manipulate the Imperial System to your advantage. I want to learn. I want to bring down the Rebel Alliance. Show me."
"I don't think you have realized what you are asking."
His hand on her cheek tightened and clasped around the back of her head instead, pressing her with one swift motion against him. The air left her lungs. Krennic steadied her with one arm but forced her head to title back until he could see her face. It was unpleasant but it didn't hurt. Not really. His grib was too loose to do any real damage. He didn't intend to hurt and it showed. Besides, she didn't think there was anything left this man could do to really hurt her. But he was close - too close to stare at her the way he did just now.
"Do you know what the Rebels would do to you if they found out?" Krennic murmured against her ear.
"They won't find out," she said and resisted the urge to sneer. She wanted him to realize that she allowed him to control the situation. For now. She wanted him to remember that she could disable him any time she wanted to but restrained from doing so because of one sole reason: she wanted to earn his trust.
He swirled them both around: her hips suddenly pressing into the edge of the table and him against her back. This time a snarl escaped her lips.
"They will torture you - mentally, physically. They will press any last bit of information out of you until you can't tell any longer which was the truth and which was not. Maybe they will even abuse you. Certainly they will tear you apart, on way or another, until there is nothing left of you."
There was a crack in his voice but Jyn wouldn't know if it was a real one or not.
He didn't do anything more to her other than pinning her upper body flat down against the table surface. This wasn't about actual humiliation - it was about the helplesness she would feel. He wanted her to be aware what this feeling would do to her, what it might make her do.
"Before the end has come you will beg for death," he decided in a voice that was much more gentle than the content of his words.
How would you know? she was tempted to scream. You are just a petty, spiteful Imperial.
He removed himself from her. Jyn spun around and found him still rather close and not at the distance she had expected. His eyes scanned her. Judging but not dismissing. She realized this was the one and only chance he would grant her.
"I don't ask you to trust me," she said. Her smile was smaller now, but there was no nervousness to it. "I ask you to allow me to earn your trust and if you don't want to take my words, know that I'm doing what I must to keep my Papa save. That's something we can both relate to, I think."
'No' was at the end of his tongue but then it shifted and suddenly there was more. The stone she had felt drop on her chest from the moment she entered the building began to lift. She dared to breath again.
"Timothy Vil," Krennic said, resuming his Imperial stance, hands once more clasped together in front of him. "You remember him?"
Jyn remembered him as much as she dared. Timothy had provided her with the necessary intelligence data to make contact with Saw Gerrera. "I do. We graduated together from the Royal Imperial Academy. I heard he was admitted to the Starfleet."
"He was found guilty with high treason and scheduled for execution tomorrow afternoon." Krennic's voice didn't betray anything. He merely seemed to observe her reactions.
Jyn clenched her fists. Each word felt like a stab: "He supported the rebel scum?"
Krennic took one step towards her, eyes never leaving hers. Close-up his eyes were surprisingly warm. She didn't know blue also could be a warm color. "I want you to be the one to execute him."
The stone on her chest dropped into her stomach.
"Is that going to be a problem?"
They stared at each other. "No problem, sir."
She was rewarded with a fond smile and Jyn knew: This time he meant it.
"Good. Report back to my office by one-three-hundred tomorrow." He stepped around her towards the chair behind his desk. Upon finding her still standing where he left her, he added: "You are dismissed, Officer Erso."
She nodded – almost imperceptibly – and turned around. Jyn tried not to flee. Her steps thrummed in her ears like a wind of thousand voices seized in their death throes, reminding Jyn what she was about to become.
Her breath hitched as his voice mingled with the others: "What was it?"
Jyn halted but didn't trust herself enough to face him.
"What was it Cadet Vil said to you that made you almost kill him?"
She calmed her nerves, telling herself this was her opportunity to prove him just how well she already learned to play this game and how useful she was going to be to him. Krennic would need her – that's what she had to make sure of.
"He told me, he would defect after his graduation."
Silence.
Then: "Why didn't you inform any of your superiors?"
Me, you mean.
Jyn mustered up as much arrogance and venom as she could and cast a glance back at Director Krennic. "Because I needed him to become my secure contact to the Rebels, of course."
~oOo~
A/N
IOCIN = Imperial Officer Cadet Identity Number. Consist of swearing-in date and place, day of birth/month/year and the cadet's initials. In Jyn's example: CO = Coruscant, 6 = 6th month according to the Galactic Standard Calender, 17= day, 08= month, 22 = year; EJ = Erso Jyn.
COs: Prof. Horado Etars; Cesara Nestor and Timothy Vil. Everyone else mentioned is canon and part of the history of the characters as portrayed.