Chapter Two: Touch the Sky
In which Jyn escapes capture once, but cannot evade fate. Rein seeks for the solution to the problem of his father's behavior.
Lyra gave birth in a Separatist prison. The bars of the bed were cold as ice, and her grip on them were hard as stone.
The quarters in the northern wing of Vallt's Keep rang with many noises that night, from the hush of chains on metal, to the groans which she tried to smother as each contraction shook her body.
Valltii caretakers came to her aid, soothing her screams and wiping away tears.
Although she was imprisoned, Vallt was a planet which revered the birth of children, of any species. The rite to motherhood was sacred.
She was given every comfort - except that of her husband.
"Galen, I need him," she cried out. "I need my husband."
"We can do anything but that," the only human attendant spoke. "Until he agrees to work with the Confederation, you must stay separated."
"Please," she groaned aloud. The human looked uneasy and spoke in rapid Valltii to one of the head caretakers. The alien shook her blue head.
"I'm sorry." The attendant translated, taking great care to avoid Lyra's imploring eyes.
"Can nothing be done?"
"Nothing."
Lyra's mouth opened to retaliate, but her breath caught in her throat and her eyes screwed shut in pain. It was difficult to muffle screaming.
In a complex in the Southern quarters, Galen was chained in solidarity. When the planetary government was overthrown, they had tried to sway his loyalty by imprisonment. He was promised freedom, if he but worked with the Confederation.
The Confederation could go to hell for all he cared, but for his wife he would betray sides. Soon, she would be in need. If she but said the word, he could secure their freedom.
Lyra refused.
"I will not be party to this." She grasped Galen's hands firmly. "You cannot give in."
"Think about our son," he said. "Is that what you really want? To be imprisoned here for such an indeterminate amount of time? We can have our freedom; we have but to take it."
"Or our daughter," Lyra frowned, releasing his hand to move to her stomach. "And yes, it is. Your loyalty should not be bought so easily."
"Lyra-" He gave into the frustration building between them. "It's been too long already."
"Under no circumstances will you work with our enemy." Her voice dipped with severity, and she stood abruptly.
"It wouldn't be working with the enemy."
"Yes, it would, Galen."
"You have to be sure about all of this." He motioned wildly. "Because I won't be able to help you."
"I am."
"But even for the sake of our child?" Galen stood to be beside her. She leaned against him, weary with fatigue. Even though she tired of the argument, she held her ground, adamant that Galen not give in.
"They will take care of me."
"You know what that means." He was silent, the suggestion needing no words to substantiate what he meant.
I won't be there when the time comes.
"I do," Lyra said.
They stood together. Galen traced his fingers across Lyra's arm.
"Okay."
Their fate was sealed.
Rein fumbled for a portkey slide. It was so dark in the windowless hall that he nearly fell through the door as it shot open. He entered, slid it shut carefully, and ascended the staircase. At the top of the stairs he threw off his cloak, leaving on the floors where it landed.
He had left his father's quarters only when he knew Orson was asleep. He lingered into the early hours of the morning.
Light had already begun to trace the curve of the horizon when he left.
From the air taxi he could nearly reach out to touch the sky.
The room which he entered after the stairwell was furnished sparsely, adorned neither by decoration or hangings. At one end a mattress laid on the floor, and at the other a table; a fireplace was imbedded in the wall facing the great floor-to-ceiling embers were visible, burning low and flickering red.
Rein threw back his head, aching for lack of sleep.
Now the that the sun had risen, light blinded him, the windows flooding the room with golden and copper tones. He could scarcely think. With a quick succession of claps, the glass shuttered itself and the room darkened.
Rein turned to a side room, much smaller than the living space. He ran water in the sink, cupping it to his face. He rose from washing, surveying himself in the mirror.
He had the face of his father, but something else stared back. Not the blue eyes, nor the hair which curled like that of an unruly youth's, but something else. His eyes were lidded in red, filled with exhaustion.
Already his twenty-two years appeared to have aged. His name was either mocked with disdain or bowed down to with respect; He was the only remnant of good that his father had brought with him into the world.
Everyone knew that, from the guards who kept watch at Krennic's quarters, silently observing, to the working women who took his money with disdain.
Of course, the partiers loved him.
Orson was renowned for his drinking and partying, which carried on beyond his days at the Futures Program. Very few spoke of it: all knew of his nightlife behavior. His son was disgusted most of all, therefore it was up to Rein to clear the Krennic name.
It was his sole mission, but he had no leverage, no starting place. It seemed helpless, and more and more often men and women turned their head in talk.
Just the day before, while walking through the Library of the Republic, frantic whispers drew his attention to a group of women gathered among the maze of shelved holobooks. He thought nothing of it, but steered his direction away to find a quieter section.
As his footsteps took him away, he overheard fragments such as "Krennic," "last night," and "rave". With his stomach churning, Rein turned into the row parallel to them. He slid a holobook from its place on the shelf whilst listening intently.
"Shameless," one said under their breath.
"Orson must be the cruelest man I've known. I thought, that maybe last night would be fun. Among the crowds he was charming. When we were alone he was callous and demanding."
"I've heard he's hiding things," said another. "Dark secrets."
"Rumor has it that he killed people to cover up the truth about that explosion on Malpaz, did you remember hearing about that?"
"So many people - dead. All gone."
"And you slept with him?"
"I regret it."
Rein regretted listening on them. He felt sick to his stomach.
Those women had looked no older than himself. He exited the building, troubled. He had every right to be concerned. That night he followed his father to the next party, keeping an eye on him.
He grew wary as they descended to the Uscru Entertainment District within the lower level area of the planet. Large billboards lit up the sidewalks, which were riddled with men and women, either gambling, selling themselves, or drinking.
They approached an abandoned apartment complex. As he left the taxi, he realized it was hardly abandoned.
As he stepped through the doors, a wave of music hit him. He shouldered through the dancing masses, finding that the only word to describe it was a rave.
From his jostled position he could see Orson whisper something in a girl's ear. She laughed while he emptied a glass.
Rein began to make his way across the room. Lights strobed continuously, and the mirrors on the wall only further distorted his sense of stability. A woman took him by the arms and kissed him. She leaned into him, tasting of drink. He shook her off only to be passed on to another girl.
Music pulsed throughout the room.
Rein freed himself from the grasp of a woman dressed in transparent robes only to be stopped by a man holding up three vials filled with spice. "Love, want to forget tonight ever happened?"
"No-" Rein had lost sight of his father. Quite honestly, he wanted to forget everything that happened so far that night. But not by way of spice.
"But love! Don't you want to try it? Glitteryll decreases your memories - frankly it gives you better ones too." He pressed a vial into his hands.
"I told you, no thanks." He shoved the vial back onto the drug dealer, a rising temper filling his head with a pounding headache.
He found a path through the bodies and walked intently towards the place he had last seen Orson.
"Wait up, boy."
He was stopped by a woman, tall, and taller in heels. She held her arms across her muscled chest. She guarded his way, yellow eyes flashing. "I'll need to see your identification."
Rein snapped.
"Does the name Krennic mean anything to you?"
The guard acted immediately, stepping aside to let him pass. He lead forward, smoothing back his hair, which had become disheveled on the dance floor.
The passageway was dark, ringed with blue light. He saw no one in sight. Turning a corner, he stopped short once again.
What Rein found next sent him reeling.
As Jyn walked, she held onto the kyber crystal twisted on leather round her neck.
Somehow, the feeling of the rough shard on her fingers calmed the tension she held in her limbs. She didn't believe in the token the same way her parents did; it could have been a piece of glass for all Jyn cared. She kept it close because it was the last remnant of her mother.
She carried Lyra Erso through the blood in her veins and the necklace over her heart.
The vendor's stalls grew closer together and increased in number, twisting her path so that she found herself wandering among the crowds. She hated the clutter, and yet could not escape it.
The smell of foreign fruit, imported from other planets and spices filled the air, mixing with the exhaust of vehicles trailing among the mass of people.
She stepped to one side and approached a stall filled to the brim with starblossom, kyrf, and shuura.
With lazy movements she lifted the fruit to her nose and inhaled. It smelled bitter, but she knew the inside was sweet.
It reminded her of her childhood. Her mother always kept a basket on the counter. When the fruit ripened, it filled the house with its smell.
The seller eyed her watchfully.
Jyn wanted no trouble - perhaps if she were in a different mood she would have stolen it, but the morning was early and her limbs still loose.
"How much will you sell this to me?" She lifted a shuura up in her palm, weighing it.
The owner grunted and pointed to a sign with prices labelled across it.
"But this one is smaller than the rest, so surely you can lower the price," she coaxed.
At that moment, a low noise began to resound through the marketplace. The sound of tramping feet on metal thundered as warning. Jyn knew that sound and acted at once, dropping the bargain, fruit and all.
"Halt!" Coruscant police swarmed the area, seizing the public with terror. Human and non-human alike fled the scene. Guilty or not, no one wanted to be taken away in chains.
Jyn found herself in the midst of the panic, jostled between lifeforms of every race.
The underworld of Coruscant was home to millions of the planet's population who were either too poor to move upward, or were hiding from the attentions of the authorities.
In both cases, it caused a rush for the nearest alleyways and housing blocks.
Her mind sparked with fear as a hand whirled her round. It was an officer, stun prod raised high. Tensing at once, Jyn closed her fists and bore down as she impacted with the offender.
Hand-to-hand combat was the first thing Saw had taught her during her eight year stretch under his guidance. Fear motivated her, but her instincts guided her aim home. To say the least, she could pack a punch.
"After her," wheezed the officer. "Arrest her!"
Jyn wasted no time, rising from her knees to flee the scene. And then she ran, raking in the air with every breath she took. It burned for lack of oxygen, but still she pressed on, hearing the shouts grow distant behind her.
It was not calculation that guided her, but her familiarity that took her away from the crowds. Living between the vast buildings and infrastructure that supported the surface of the planet gave her one advantage: she knew every nook and cranny that could provide her shelter.
She turned one alley, and scaled a crumbling block stairwell, and rounded pillared arcades until at last, she reached a station.
Being relatively empty, she quickly paid for a pass and moved through the ports until she entered the the train itself. She was met with a blast of cool air. Jyn moved through the carriage until she found an empty seat.
She did not realize she was trembling until her knees gave way as she sat down.
The train, jerking at regular intervals at the junctions of the rails, rolled from the platform. Jyn leaned her head against a rail, enjoying the tremors that vibrated through the metal to her aching skull.
The train was moving more swiftly and evenly, resounding with a slight clang on the rails. Jyn forgot her fellow passengers, and to the swaying of the train she fell to planning her next move.
Galen slumped against the hard stone of the walls, letting the cold seep into his soul. He dreaded the pain for Lyra.
It was all he could do to numb himself in anyway possible.
Midnight passed into early morning and he shivered in his sleep. The door hissed, releasing pressure, the locks sliding open. He dashed to his feet. Two guards flanked the opening.
"Come with us."
He knew; trembled because of it. He followed immediately.
They took him through the halls until they reached a room.
"You have twenty hours alone." The guards shoved him through and the door clicked shut with a hiss.
He saw Lyra, unconscious. Fear shook him, and he feared the worst.
He approached her bed and smoothed Lyra's hair. She lived.
He did not see the attendant standing in the corner until she was at this side, placing his daughter in his arms.
Overwhelmed, he sat, the tiny burden shifting fitfully. He bent his head and kissed his child's hand, weeping freely.
At daybreak, Lyra awoke.
The morning blurred into the previous days, and she could not remember anything. Her hands lifted by habit to rest upon her stomach: they rested on hollow flesh.
Blind with confusion and fear, she rose abruptly from her pillow and looked around, seeking desperately for anything, anyone.
Galen was by her bedside; he slept here motionless, one arm resting near hers, the other cradling a small bundle.
Relief washed over her.
Lyra Erso had never loved anything; for ten years she had been alone in the world. She had never loved until she loved Galen, the quiet student with equations spinning in his brain.
When she saw her husband, tired and worn, holding their child with such peace, she felt her heart flush with hope. All the passion and affection within her awoke, and tears traced the course of her face.
She slipped from the bed and bent over the sleeping forms of her family. With tender hands, she lifted the bundle from his arms and held her daughter for the first time.
"Hello my star," she whispered. "Welcome to the world."
Rein wanted to forget everything he saw in that room. Bodies mixed and lay amongst each other. He averted his eyes, disgust showing plainly on his features.
Son saw father, father saw son, and that was that. Rein did not speak, standing resolute.
Orson shoved his partner away and drained the bottle in his hands before straightening his uniform. Rein turned on heel, waiting in the blue striped corridor.
He let his head tip back and rest on the walls. He could feel the building shake with dance, song, and perversions of all kinds.
He felt dirty through the whole night, in the silence in the hallway, in his father's apartment, and in the air taxi home.
He scrubbed at his hands with soap, decided it wasn't good enough, and tore his clothes off. He stepped into a tempered glass box and let the heat of the water wash away his disgust.
It wasn't as though he was not associated with raves and parties gone wild.
He was raised on Coruscant, the planet which pleasured the rich and starved the poor.
In ways, he lead a life quite like his father's, only he was discreet. Orson had money enough to waste his reputation. Rein did not.
Never be caught drunk in public.
Never be seen with anyone.
Never lose face.
He could justify his own hypocrisy, but when it came to others and their moral shortcomings, he was quick to act - especially when it had to do with his father.
Rein quickly dressed in his own uniform, buttoning it at his neck and donning the face of a soldier.
His hair was still wet, water trickling down the collar. Taking pomade he combed it back. Satisfied with his appearance, he left the apartment for work.
He was raised in a military family.
He had no time for sleep.
Jyn jolted awake.
Something was wrong. In no more than two seconds she left her seat, and dashed through the closing doors to her left - and stopped.
The sky flushed blue above her.
The sky.
She whirled around, and still patches of blue yawned above her. She could see the tops of buildings and apartment complexes. Traffic stretched and lurched to a stop above her head.
A smile broke her lips. She had fallen asleep in the underworld, and had woken up at the surface.
Reality drained her smile and forced her forward.
She could not hide in a crowd because there were no crowds to hide in. She would stick out like a sore thumb, anyway. Jyn could not help but feel out of place - her clothes were heavily layered for the cold of the undercity, and her face held lines of worry.
As much as she hated to face it, a ticket back to her level would cost her much more. The security was tight on the surface. They would imprison her the moment her face came up on their systems.
So, as every step she took from the station took her further from home, and deeper into the surface layers of the city, she began to plan.
It was time that Jyn enacted her plan to leave Coruscant.
It would take time, but change had thrown her a window of opportunity - and she would take it.
Everything was cast in light. It felt like emerging from staying indoors all winter; she could breath at last. She could be free. In a few weeks she would be off-planet for good. She needed money - fast.
Jyn knew exactly where to look.
Hello readers! What did you think? I am trying my best to stay within canon, but since we don't really know what happened to Jyn between the time Saw abandoned her and where we first see her in Rogue One, I'm letting my imagination fill in the blanks. Rein Krennic is the only character I own. Please rate and review!