Note: I'm going away on a trip, so there will be no updates in a few days. :-)

All squadrons were already flying to Scarif, around which the Death Star had been orbiting for the last month and a half, according to the intel. The squadrons were traveling through hyperspace from a wide range of systems and were synchronized to reach the Scarif System almost at the same time, so the element of surprise added to their numbers would play in their favor to gain advantage against the Death Star's defenses.

They'd all agreed that the squadrons would act as covers for the best shooters, among whom Luke was. His excellent aim, enhanced by his sensitivity to the Force, turned him into one of their most promising chances to hit the target, so they'd focus all their efforts to clear the path for all the shooters, but especially Luke's.

Cassian's squadron was called Rogue (the name had been Bodhi's idea), and each member had been assigned a number. The best pilot in the squadron was number one, and the rest had correlative numbers. Thus, Luke was Rogue One, Cassian and Kay were Rogue Two (because they flew together), Han and Chewie flew in Han's Millenniun Falcon and they were Rogue Three, Bodhi and Tikus also flew as a pair and were Rogue Four, and there were other three more ships until Rogue Seven, with Rebellion's pilots.

In a few minutes they would jump out of hyperspace and the battle would begin. Cassian took some deep breaths to control his nerves and thought of Jyn, safely at Yavin. Her dear memory washed over him like a balm. She'd been furious and frustrated, but none of it was truly aimed at him. He recalled the plead in her eyes before he got into his ship with Kay. Come back. Please, stay alive.

He'd fight for the galaxy. But above all, he'd fight for Jyn. And to come back to her.

Jyn couldn't sit idly knowing that the battle would start any moment, but the worst would be not knowing anything about its outcome until the first reports began to reach the base's receptors when the survivors from the Rebellion were returning. The fighters couldn't risk contacting Base One during the battle in order not to get distracted or give away the base's location. So for the people at base, it would be a few hours of tension. Or of torture, like in her case.

She was pacing the hallways like a caged loth cat, too hyped up to be able to do anything else. To her surprise, she saw Leia coming from the other end of the corridor Jyn was strolling through, apparently having had the same idea. Jyn would have expected the young but seasoned general of the Rebellion to be doing something productive, but it seemed that nerves affected her the same way they affected Jyn. In those moments, Leia's worried expression betrayed her youth.

Both of them had met on base and Jyn had instantly liked the woman who commanded the Rebellion along with Mon Mothma. At first sight, no one would have believed that she was more than an innocent teenager. But her character immediately belied her looks.

"You too?," Jyn asked, smiling despite her agitated state.

"Apparently," Leia answered, returning the smile. "I just can't sit around, and there isn't much more to do, with everybody here on the lookout for news on the battle. It's almost intolerable."

"Yeah," Jyn agreed vehemently. "There is very little we can do in this case. I wish I had learned how to fly."

Leia smiled wistfully. "I think your father disagrees. Mine also suffers because he's raised a wiggler as a daughter, and I'd bet he's as relieved as yours because I'm not an expert pilot either, at least not the kind required for this mission. He never restricts my decisions and movements, but he doesn't fear less for my safety either. One would think that, having grown up as Bail Organa's daughter, to him is perfectly normal that I'm a rebel in so many aspects. But it's not like that, not at all. As fathers, both yours and mine, of reckless women of action like us, they're destined to worry for us a lot more than what they'd do with even-tempered children. That's life." Leia had kept in step with Jyn and they were walking in comforting camaraderie. "Did you know that our parents met, around twenty-five years ago? By then, your father and mother were young newlyweds. They looked very happy together, according to my father, and Galen was already showing his brilliance and kind nature. He wished to improve people's living conditions by designing affordable and clean means of harnessing energy. But unfortunately, he draw the Empire's attention. These are hard times for altruistic geniuses. Only the evil ones thrive." Leia walked in silence for some seconds. "My father never believed that yours truly gave in to the Empire's demands. He's good at reading people, and he sensed a heart that would hardly be corrupted. And he was right. The proof is that Galen has shown us how to annihilate the most destructive weapon in the history of the galaxy. The Empire would have built it anyway, with or without Galen, but with him in the project, now we have a chance. My father has had engineers analysing the designs Galen's been sketching, to check their accuracy and veracity, because we couldn't simply trust his word, he might have been fooling us if he'd been brainwashed by the Empire, so we had to be sure of his intentions. And the results were that they're marveled at his ingenuity," Leia recounted, to Jyn's pride and gratitude. She found herself with her eyes watering up and felt a bit embarrassed. She very rarely cried in front of others, especially people she hadn't known for a long time. But it was as if she'd known Leia for all her life, so Jyn supposed that it didn't matter.

"Thank you," she said simply, because her emotions didn't let her say much more. "My heart always knew that he hadn't yielded, even if my brain pretended to feel betrayed. That was my defense mechanism to cope with loneliness. At the very bottom of my soul, I had to believe that he wouldn't have ever abandoned me, though my mind kept telling me that he had, and I had to move on."

"He never truly abandoned you. He did it all for you. He was giving you, and the galaxy, a chance to survive," Leia assured.

With that, both women shared a smile and went on wandering around. They crossed paths with Chirrut and Baze, and their soothing and quiet presence did a lot for Jyn's battered spirit.

"Rogue One here. I'm approaching the target," Luke said through his ship's communications system.

"Yeah, Rogue Two following you and covering you," Cassian replied, flying just behind the young pilot along the narrow tunnel.

"Copy that, fella. Go on, we have you," Han said from the Millennium Falcon. The old piece of junk had proved to be a very hard nut to crack. Han and Chewie had dodged and taken down a high number of enemy ships.

"Here Rogue Four bringing up the rear," Bodhi announced. The rest of their squadron, sadly, had been shot down while they were giving Luke leeway to sneak in the tunnels that led to the main reactor.

Behind Bodhi and Tikus, a couple of TIE's had kept a relentless chase, but luckily for Rogue Four, a few ships from other squadrons had succeeded in entering and not crashing against the narrow walls and had blown the enemy ships to kingdom come.

Outside the Death Star, the battle was at its peak. Cassian didn't want to think about their casualties. He'd experienced many battles and skirmishes since childhood, and he'd grown up hardened by all those horrors, but no one with a heart could remain unaffected by the loss of lives, no matter how seasoned oneself was. One simply learned how to keep going forward.

Now Luke had unobstructed passage to the target. Cassian had never met such a natural pilot. The young man flew with an ease and fluidity which made it seem like a walk in the gardens, when the truth was that Cassian was exerting all his expertise to avoid crashing against the tunnel's walls. "Target in sight," Luke announced in an exultant voice. "Shooting it." And he fired. If Cassian had been able to close his eyes in sheer anxiety, he would have, but the flight was dangerous enough even with his eyes wide open, so he kept firmly focused on his surroundings. "I think I've hit it. Hurry out of this hell!," Luke exclaimed, urging them all to go on flying at full speed to the end of the tunnel, where the black veil dotted with stars could be seen clearly.

If the shot had been accurate, then the whole station was about to explode in a few seconds, and it would sweep away everyone within it and those lingering close. So they had to get the hell out from there.

They'd all narrowly reached the open space and were widening their distance with the monster, when they felt the shockwave. It was silent, of course, as in space there wasn't an atmosphere to spread the sound, but the titanic blast could be fully felt as it rocked the ships as if they were sand grains. But luckily, they were already far enough. The errant debris, flying in all directions, was what they had to worry about now, but they were lucky once more.

Cries of joy could be heard in all the remaining rebel ships, spreading through the comms. Then, they all jumped into hyperspace before the significantly lessened enemy forces recovered from the hard blow of seeing their flagship, their pride, reduced to dust.

They had won.

And Cassian was alive, making good on his promise to Jyn.

Coming back to her.

So you'll be wondering: What about the Council meeting? What happened in it?
You'll have the answer in the next chapter. It will step back a few days.