Chapter 2
They were rousted to their feet and led from the building. Looking down, Cassian could determine that night had fallen, but with Jedha's shorter days that wasn't surprising. He could tell they were descending, which meant they were leaving the city. No doubt there was a long walk ahead. Rebels wouldn't have a hideout in an easy to find spot.
Their captors didn't stop often for rest. Clearly they were used to this trek. His fellow prisoners were in good shape so they didn't appear to be having difficulty keeping up. It was hard to tell time without his eyesight, but Cassian could surmise that several hours had passed. He had lost track of Jyn's location. The heavy tread beside him suggested it was the big man, Baze. Figuring he might know more of the planet than Cassian did, he asked softly, "We're a half day out. A shrine?"
"Probably," Baze rumbled. "There are many around the area. Abandoned now, they would make good hideouts."
Eventually, the desert had ended and they reached the rocky slopes of a mountainside. That slowed their progress more. Likely the rebels could have traversed the path much more quickly, but with four prisoners unfamiliar with the terrain and blindfolded in the dark, they had no choice but to reduce their pace.
Cassian wasn't certain, but he almost thought he could detect a faint glimmer indicating that perhaps dawn was approaching. Certainly it did not seem so dark as before. Judging by his tiredness, that would be reasonable. They entered into the echoing corridors of some sort of stone building. There were steps and it didn't have the dampness he would expect, so it likely was a building rather than a cave. That supported the notion of it having been a shrine of some sort.
They were taken fairly deep into the place, along winding corridors, until finally their hoods were removed and they were shoved into a cell. The others were handled roughly, but Cassian more so. He had fallen when they shoved him in, but as he got up, the guard knocked him down again before stalking out the door and securing it. Best guess would be they were still upset about his shooting one of their men, and maybe getting a couple of others blown up. He couldn't entirely blame them for that attitude.
Jyn wasn't with them. Just him and the two guardians. He took up a position by the door and watched the activity in the hideout, checking for anything that might be useful in the event they needed to and could manage an escape. The guardians settled down, taking some rest now that they could, but Cassian was too on edge for that. Where was Jyn? What was happening to her. He hadn't heard anything said among the rebels to indicate whether or not her identity had any weight here or not, or if they worried about her threat of angering Saw. He could only hope that Saw was pleased to see the girl. He wasn't so sure she was going to be glad to see Saw.
She had helped them get here, yes, but it had to do with her father, not a desire to see her former mentor. Whatever the breach between them years ago, she was still angry about it. He had seen it in her eyes more than once at the mention of Saw's name. She was good at hiding her feelings, he would grant, but he was very good at reading people. Saw was apt to get an earful from her. He hadn't noticed she much held her tongue when she had something she wanted to say.
The question was, if Saw cooperated and Cassian was able to talk to this pilot, what then? If he needed to go kill her father, he certainly didn't want her along, but it was unlikely she would allow herself to be left behind. She might want to confront Saw about any difficulties between them, but he was sure her ultimate goal was to find her father. She wasn't going to let Cassian get away from her until that happened or it became evident that it wouldn't. And he was certain she was more than equal to managing to not be left behind.
Part of him didn't want to leave her here, but that was only because they expected him to return her to base after the mission. There wouldn't be any other reason. Jyn Erso was nothing more to him than a means to an end. If the pilot was sent by Galen Erso as he claimed, he might only reveal his information to her. She was still necessary to make this work.
The cell had no windows, but in the open area he could see, light was filtering in from openings. It was definitely getting lighter, so dawn must be near. Likely that was when things would start to happen. One good thing, the rebels weren't paying much attention to the prisoners now that they were in a cell. They had relieved them of any weapons they carried, and their packs that might have contained more, but they had not searched him thoroughly. Which meant he still had a few tricks at his disposal.
"We haven't been introduced. I'm Chirrut Imwe."
"Captain Cassian Andor." He knew Jyn had spoken his name aloud so there was no point in using an alias. His rank could equally apply to his position as a starship captain so that revealed nothing of importance.
"This is Baze. Baze Malbus," Chirrut advised. Cassian glanced back and gave a tiny nod at the man, but then resumed his watchfulness.
Next thing he knew, Chirrut had taken up a chant. "I'm one with the Force, the Force is with me." He kept droning it over and over. Cassian ignored him, but his friend wasn't willing to let it go.
"You pray? Really?" Baze turned to Cassian. "He's praying for the door to open." Cassian glanced at them once more, but guardian mumbo jumbo didn't interest him.
"It bothers him because he knows its possible." Baze snickered at Chirrut's remark. Cassian ignored them both as he knelt down to begin his preparations. "Baze Malbus was once the most devoted Guardian of us all."
"I'm beginning to think the Force and I have different priorities," Cassian replied. He extracted the lock pick he needed from the set he concealed in his boot, then returned to the cell door to await an opportunity to act.
"Relax, Captain. We've been in worse cages than this one."
"This is a first for me." Cassian idly wondered how the man knew he wasn't relaxed. Nothing should have given him away, at least not to someone who was blind.
"There is more than one sort of prison, Captain. I sense that you carry yours wherever you go."
He looked back at Chirrut. What the devil did he mean by that? He couldn't know anything about Cassian. Even so, the remark left him uncomfortable. It hit too close to the truth for him to want to acknowledge it.
Baze only muttered, "Huh." Apparently he was used to Chirrut's proclamations.
That gave Cassian no clue to his thoughts on the subject, though. All the better if they would both just keep silent from here on. Despite all his watchfulness, however, Cassian had been unable to detect a weakness he could turn to his advantage. Time was wasting. Hopefully Jyn was doing something more worthwhile in the pursuit of their goal to find her father. His thoughts were interrupted by a question from Chirrut.
"Who's the one in the next cell?"
Cassian glanced back without interest. Unless it was Jyn, and he was sure it wasn't, he had no interest in other prisoners to worry about.
Baze was more accommodating of his friend and went to take a look. "What? Where?" A moment later, he exclaimed,
"An Imperial pilot. I'm gonna kill him!" He lunged against the bars separating their cell from the next one.
Instantly Cassian realized what was happening and rushed over. "No, no! No, wait!"
Baze was still trying to get his hands on the other man. "Come here!"
"No! Back off. Back off." He shoved Baze away, and fortunately the man allowed it, returning to Chirrut's side.
Cassian turned to the man in the other cell. "Okay. Are you the pilot?"
The man was in a daze, starring at his hands with a look of confusion on his face.
He tried again. "Hey, hey, are you the pilot of the…the shuttle pilot?"
"Pilot?" the man asked hazily.
Chirrut called to Cassian, "What's wrong with him?"
Cassian waved him off. There was no time for a discussion about this just now; he needed information.
"Galen Erso. Do you know that name?"
That seemed to sink into the man's clouded mind and get understood. "I brought the message, I'm the pilot." Then he repeated, stronger, as if just remembering, "I'm the pilot. I'm the pilot." He gave Cassian a pleased smile.
Not ideal, but it was a start. "Okay, good. Now where is Galen Erso?"
Just then, the earth began to shake, distracting Cassian from his interrogation. Something was happening. Rocks and debris started falling, both in their cell and in the open area of the rebel base. The rebels had noticed, too, and were visibly rattled by it. Most were on their feet, looking around uncertainly, jabbering excitedly in their different languages. As the shaking increased, their agitation moved into full scale panic. They grabbed their weapons and rushed out of the room. Cassian seized that opportunity to reach out and shortcircuit the cell door control panel. Quickly he and Baze hefted the door up out of the way. "Go, go!" Cassian yelled, racing for the pile of their belongings. He quickly found his comlink.
"K-2! K-2! Where are you?"
K's voice crackled back. "There you are. I'm standing by as you requested, although there's a problem on the horizon. There's no horizon."
"Locate our position. Bring that ship in here now!" He grabbed his pack and started toward the exit, as Baze was collecting the guardians' things.
"Where are you going?" Chirrut called to him, though he had no idea how the man knew what he was doing.
"I've got to find Jyn," he explained. He started off again, but then turned back long enough to instruct, "Get the pilot. We need him."
"All right. I'll get the pilot." Baze's acknowledgement sounded more like a threat than cooperation, but he had no time to worry about that.
Cassian raced through the corridors, calling out for her. "Jyn!" This would be a whole lot easier if the rebels hadn't kept them blindfolded when they brought them here. She could be anywhere.
He was moving so quickly, he almost passed the room where she was. He didn't know why, but she was on her knees and weeping. Just then he became aware of Saw Gerrera advancing on them, starting to raise his staff; Cassian grabbed for his blaster, still tucked into his pack. But Saw halted, so Cassian didn't draw the gun.
Going to Jyn, but keeping a wary eye on Saw, he said, "Hey. We've got to go." When she just looked blankly at him, he tugged at her arm and added, "I know where your father is."
Unexpectedly, Saw seconded his statement. "Go with him, Jyn. You must go."
She was still hesitating, turning back toward Saw, despite Cassian's efforts to get her moving. "Come with us."
Saw shook his head. "I will run no longer."
Heedless of Cassian's increasingly frantic efforts to get her moving, she was still hesitating. Stronger shaking and the amount of falling debris left little doubt there was not much time to get out of here. "Come on!"
Finally she heeded him, allowing Cassian to pull her after him. Behind them, Saw called out, "Save the Alliance! Save the dream!" And at last she began to fully run of her own accord.
It was chaos once they manged to exit the hideout. Rebels were fleeing in every direction, trying to find a ship to escape in. Baze and Chirrut were already running for the U-wing that K was landing. As he ran past the pilot, who stood watching in abject horror the devastation rolling toward them from the city, Cassian smacked his arm. "Come on! Let's get out of here!" He and Jyn kept running, assuming the man would follow. If he didn't, he'd be dead very soon.
Cassian didn't watch to see if the pilot made it or not. "Get us out of here! Punch it!" he yelled, racing forward to join K in the cockpit.
"I'm not very optimistic about our odds," the droid informed him.
"Not now, K."
They lifted off and sped away, but it was taking too long. He shook the controls in frustration. "Come on!" Then to K, he repeated, "Punch it."
"I haven't completed my calculations."
"I'll make them for you," Cassian told him, punching in some numbers and hoping they were reasonably correct. Either way, they needed to be gone, now. An instant later, they had slipped into hyperspace.
As soon as they were safely clear, he finally allowed himself to breathe again. That had been much too close for comfort. He rose. "I need to report in."
"Understood."
In the back of the ship, the others sat in various states of disbelieving shock at what they had just witnessed, just narrowly escaped. But he had work to do. The Alliance needed to know about this. He quickly sent his coded message, then waited to hear what his orders would be now. He was uncomfortably aware of Jyn sitting morosely on a bench. Her asking Saw to come with them suggested the two had resolved any differences between them. If that was so, she must be taking his death hard after losing her parents.
Her parents. Her mother anyway. Her father they might well find. Cassian could wish his orders would have changed with this development, but he knew Draven too well to believe it. If anything, this would make the General even more bent on seeing Galen Erso dead, convinced it would somehow help their cause. He wasn't so sure of that. Before the weapon was confirmed, killing Erso might have prevented its completion, or at least delayed it. Clearly it was already functional – killing its maker wasn't going to change that.
The line crackled with the reply he had expected. Orders still stand – kill Galen Erso. Tiredly, he acknowledged receipt and closed the connection, then directed K to set course for Eadu. Even if he wasn't surprised by the reconfirmation of his orders, that didn't mean he had to like it. What would he tell her…
Jyn's voice cut into his thoughts. "No. We can beat the people who did this. My father's message, I've seen it. They call it the Death Star. But they have no idea…there's a way to defeat it." She turned toward him and added, "You're wrong about my father."
"He did build it," Cassian replied, on the defensive.
"Because he knew they'd do it without him. My father made a choice. He sacrificed himself for the Rebellion. He's rigged a trap inside it." She turned to the pilot. "That's why he sent you. To bring that message."
If they had that message, then perhaps he could make a better argument to Draven and change his mind about the assassination. "Where is it? Where's the message?" Cassian asked, unable to completely conceal his excitement at the prospect.
He knew from the look on her face that she wasn't going to give him an answer that would help. "It was a hologram."
He persisted in one last effort, grabbing at one last straw. "You have that message, right?"
"Everything happened so fast…" she stammered.
Maybe the pilot, was it Bodhi? "Did you see it?"
But, again, no luck. The man regretfully shook his head.
"You don't believe me," Jyn challenged.
She had no idea how much he wanted to believe her, but he wasn't the one giving orders. "I'm not the one you've got to convince."
Chirrut offered, "I believe her."
As though that mattered in the slightest. "That's good to know."
Baze took a different tack, wanting specifics to clarify the matter. "What kind of trap? You said your father made a trap."
"The reactor. He's placed a weakness there. He's been hiding it for years. He said if you can blow the reactor - the module - the whole system goes down." She looked back at Cassian. "You need to send word to the Alliance."
"I've done that." He couldn't give her false hope, and that's what this was. Nothing he could send in a message was likely to change Draven's mind.
"They have to know there's a way to destroy this thing. They have to go to Scarif to get the plans."
If only it were that simple. "I can't risk sending that. We're in the heart of Imperial territory." That much was true. Messages could only be encoded so well.
"Then we'll find him, and bring him back. And he can tell them himself."
He wanted to yell at her to wake up, to see the world as it truly was. She wasn't some naïve child – she knew life wasn't all sweetness and light. No matter how much she loved and believed in her father, there was no simple fix to this mess. That weapon was out there. It had already destroyed an entire city and a large area around it. It had been called a planet-killer, and based on what he saw, he believed that name was apt. It was too late for Galen Erso to make things right, and just like Draven, Cassian knew nothing Erso could tell the Senate was going to save a single life.
He looked at the others; they rarely had this many onboard. "It will take over an hour to get there. Rest while you can." He looked over to where the pilot was sitting. "Bodhi, in that compartment on your right. You'll find ration bars and waterskins." The man nodded and bent to the task.
Seeing to his passengers was done automatically; he didn't even have to think much about it. But when it was taken care of, he felt like they were all still watching him. What did they hope to see? Did they think to make him feel guilty so he would go along with anything Jyn said? It seemed like the three of them had rallied behind her, placing them in opposition to him. Couldn't they see he had no choice? He was a soldier. A soldier who followed orders. One last glance over them confirmed nothing remained to do and he returned to the pilot's seat, preferring to exit the charged atmosphere.
K looked up as he entered the cockpit. "Course is set. If you don't need me further, I'll power down and recharge while we travel. My power cells are uncomfortably low."
"Sure, go ahead."
The droid shuffled to the back, secured himself and plugged in, then went dark. Cassian already missed his company, if for no other reason than the droid was the only one on this ship who supported Cassian's actions. Why was this so hard? He had followed orders like this many times before; he understood what his job was. And if some of the things he was called upon to do came back to haunt him at nights, he figured he deserved that. It was for a good cause, a cause he believed in and had for the majority of his life. Nothing should be different this time. If anything, his skills were even more essential. If they couldn't completely destroy the Empire, they could at least remove some of their best men, the masterminds behind their evil. It might not stop them entirely, but it slowed them down. How many people hadn't died because Cassian had taken one life? It was an ugly business, he knew, but necessary. Those who didn't understand what they were up against had no business judging his actions.
He rubbed a weary hand over his face. He needed sleep, desperately. But he wasn't likely to get it any time soon, not with this on his mind. The best he could hope for was to relax enough to rest his body. He took a drink from the waterskin, wishing he carried something stronger on the ship. Probably not a good idea though. As tired as he was, strong drink would only impair him.
A noise behind him made him tense. Jyn was hovering uncertainly in the doorway. She glanced toward the co-pilot seat and asked, "Okay if I join you?"
Most likely a bad idea, but he nodded anyway. "Sure."
Her gaze wandered idly over the control panel, but he could tell from her expression that she really didn't know what she was looking at. It was maybe a safe subject, though. "Do you fly?"
She shook her head. "Probably should have learned by now. It would have made things easier, I guess. Still, I always managed to find a ride in the direction I wanted to go."
"It was one of the first things I learned to do, as soon as I could find someone to teach me. I loved everything tech – droids, spaceships, anything." Why had he said that? He didn't usually reveal anything that personal of himself. Oh well, probably harmless information. But he would need to be more careful.
"Did you reprogram K-2?"
He nodded. "I was on a mission and he was…trying to kill us. I managed to turn off his power and then reprogram him. It's come in handy having a KX unit around."
"And a friend?"
He glanced at her, then tried to shrug nonchalantly. "I suppose." He didn't need her to understand so much about him. He didn't need her to know anything about him. This was a mission. Nothing else.
"My father tried to give me little experiments to do, to get me interested in science, but I always wanted to be outdoors, moving. I was more like my mother in that regard. She didn't like being cooped up either."
"She gave you that necklace? The kyber crystal?"
Jyn nodded. "My father had long been studying them and their properties. Saw told me later that Krennic latched on to that potential and twisted it to his own uses. Father was a brilliant scientist, but I think he trusted people too much. Had it not been for my mother, I don't know how long it would have taken for him to realize what Krennic was up to. In the end, I guess it didn't matter. Krennic found us again on Lah'mu. He killed my mother and took my father."
"He left you there?"
"Not intentionally. My parents had planned for the possibility he would find us. There was a place for me to hide. Right before Krennic got there, my mother notified Saw and sent me to hide. Krennic had his troopers search for me, but I was too well concealed. Then Saw came and got me and…raised me." She gave him a sardonic smile. "Isn't all that in your file on me?"
"No, not all of it. We knew your mother was killed on Lah'mu, but the details weren't clear about the circumstances, or what had become of you. The rumors placed you with Saw, but no one knew for certain how it came about. Contrary to what you think, the Alliance doesn't know everything."
"I never thought that."
Which meant they were back to her father, even if she didn't mention him by name. He had sacrificed himself for the Rebellion? Yet he built that weapon? It was hard to reconcile those two acts. Building a flaw into it that could be exploited was good, but never having built it was better.
As though she read his thoughts, Jyn told him, "He didn't have a choice. They would have built it without him. At least with his working on it, playing the good little Imperial, he was able to sabotage it. If they had built it without him, that wouldn't be so, and the Alliance would be faced with an invincible killing machine. He couldn't prevent it, so he did what little he could do."
It did make sense, too much sense, what she was saying. Dying a martyr might only have delayed it a few months or years, but the Empire would have found a way to complete their prize. Galen Erso's death wouldn't hinder them too much. And, yet, here he was on his way to do just that – kill the man who had given them some tiny chance.
"You should try to rest," he told her, hoping to end the conversation. Nothing she had said changed anything. He had orders.
She gazed at him for a moment, then nodded, and headed into the back of the ship. He closed his eyes, wishing they had never had that talk, wishing he could simply forget everything she had said. It would make it easier.
TBC
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I'm not totally satisfied with this, but it will have to do:
FYI, the 'days' things are happening are merely used as a convenient reference in timing things out, and figuring out when things happened on any given day.
1) Monday: Bodhi defects
2) Tuesday: Tivik tells Cassian about defector
3) Wednesday: Jyn rescued from Wobani (DAY); delay but eventually taken to Yavin
if trip to Jedha is going to take 1 day, they may not have eaten or slept, figuring to do that on the flight;
[maybe get her on Wobani early morning, make it back to Yavin by late afternoon, immediate interrogation,
eat, rest, supply them for trip and depart Thurs am (maybe 7 am)]
[distance between Wobani & Yavin unknown]
4) arr Jedha Thur abt 9 am Y time/1 pm J time [2 hr flight - fighter]; walk to city (3-4 hr walk) & arrive abt 4:30 pm J time
[if walk took 4 hrs, K-2 would have had to follow them shortly after they left to arrive when he did]
if assume takes twice as long to get to Jedha from Yavin as to get to Scarif from Yavin, then Y to J = 2 hr
captured in late afternoon/early evening J time (6-6:30 pm) on Thurs, maybe holed up in Jedha waiting for things to settle
down and cover of darkness to head for hideout – depart city abt 8:30-9 pm J time,
5) reach Saw's hideout very early Fri am (6 hr trip arr abt 4:30 am or so) [that would mean trip took abt hr]
Friday – in Saw's hideout only abt 30 min before DS strikes & they escape (abt 5 am J time);
go straight to Eadu ; [distance from Jedha to Eadu unknown, but less than time it took to reach Jedha from Yavin,
so maybe 1 hr 30 m][arr E abt 6:30 am J time = 5:25 am Y time, so still dark (very early am + storm)]
maybe arr Eadu very early Fri am (maybe 5:25 am Fri Y time) – only there abt 1 hr tops (dep abt 6:15-6:20 am Y time); return
to Yavin – short distance (abt 30 m, but shuttle takes longer so 1 hr) (arr Yavin abt 7:30 am Fri)
6) maybe takes til late Sat for other Council Members to arrive for meeting (held Sun am, maybe 9 am);
7) Rogue One departs right after Sun am meeting for Scarif (lv 10:30 am); arr Scarif 12:30 pm Sun
shuttle takes 2 hr for trip; fleet takes 1 hr ?
fleet comes to help – dep Y abt 1:00 pm, arr S abt 2:00 pm
If Jedha has a 20 hour day, an "hour" would be shorter (abt 50 mins)
.83 factor; 50 min hrs
Jed -xxxxx- Yav -xx- Jed/Yav
1 am 50 m 0:50 am dark
2 am 100m = 1h40m 1:40 dark
3 am 150m = 2h30m 2:30 dark
4 am 200m = 3h20m 3:20 dark
5 am 250m = 4h10m 4:10 light/dark
6 am 300m = 5h 5:00 light/dark
7 am 350m = 5h50m 5:50 am light/dark
8 am 400m = 6h40m 6:40 light/light
9 am 450m = 7h30m 7:30 light/light
10 noon 500m = 8h20m 8:20 light/light
1 pm 550m = 9h10m 9:10 light/light
2 pm 600m = 10h 10:00 light/light
3 pm 650m = 10h50m 10:50 light/light
4 pm 700m = 11h40m 11:40am light/light
5 pm 750m = 12h30m 12:30 pm light/light
6 pm 800m = 13h20m 1:20 pm light/light
7 pm 850m = 14h10m 2:10 dark
8 pm 900m = 15h 3 dark
9 pm 950m = 15h50m 3:50 dark
10 midnight 1000m = 16h40 4:40 dark