Jyn was shaking to the roots of her bones. Her father's ethereal figure in the hologram together with his voice, so laden with love and longing, had almost undone her. She'd spent the last fifteen years pretending that he was dead to her, telling herself that he'd given up on her and she on him, that he'd left his true self behind and had become just a shell, a brilliant mind at the service of the Empire and nothing more. It was easier to cope with her loneliness that way, with the shards of her destroyed life.

Then she realized that she wasn't the only one shaking. That her whole surroundings were rocking violently, and a loud rumble was filling her ears. She only had time to wonder if that was all being caused by an earthquake, when Cassian came running into view, but her grief seemed to have paralyzed her. Cassian knelt beside her and took hold of her arm, to help her stand up, though it was Saw's commanding voice what succeeded in piercing momentarily the veil of her numbness.

"Go with him, Jyn!"

She turned to Saw, stretching an arm to him. "Come with us!," she pleaded.

"I won't run away any more. But you must save yourself. Save the rebellion! Save the dream!," he shouted vehemently, with a wild spark in his dark eyes.

Cassian urged her to run, and they barely escaped the headquarters before the whole building started to crumble. Everything around them was collapsing and shaking horribly. Far away, a monstrous round object was eclipsing the sun, and Jedha City, along with all its inhabitants, had been reduced to million tons of dust flying to the sky.

Jyn thought of the little girl she'd risked her own life to save hours before. She was dead now anyway. A horrible tightness pressured her chest.

Jyn was sure that a few seconds earlier, after leaving Saw behind, hadn't it been for Cassian encouraging her to run at full speed, she'd probably have fallen to her knees and let the destruction engulf her, the same way it was going to engulf Saw. But the sight of the Death Star unleashing its power (and that was just a fraction of it, as that thing could pulverize an entire planet) seemed to awaken her definitely and take her from her stupor.

We have to blow up that monstrosity at any cost. I have to share what papa told me in his message.

And right then, she realized that she hadn't thought of taking the holodisc with her father's message. But she didn't have time to dwell on that slip, because they were literally running for their lives. Cassian's ship was landing a few meters from them, and the other members of their group were reaching it too. They all jumped inside and Cassian occupied his seat beside Kay, while the rest watched the collapsing landscape through the windows. The ship took flight, barely eluding falling rocks and debris. Chirrut, with an upset expression for the first time since Jyn had met him, was asking Baze if the whole city had been destroyed, and his friend was answering him affirmatively. Jyn looked at Saw's headquarters being reduced to dust as if they were sand. She knew that her former friend and foster father was already dead, but her mind, heart and soul were too overwhelmed with horror because of all that had happened to be able to cry. The sorrow was too much for tears. She could feel a hatred against the Empire so deep that there was no place left for anything else. Mourning the dead would have to wait.

She'd noticed the presence of another person in the ship, a young man around her age with a shabby Imperial pilot uniform. She hadn't payed attention to him before, but now, she mentally slapped herself. Of course he was the pilot her father had sent! Jyn started a conversation with him, feeling momentarily relieved and hopeful. His name was Bodhi, he was Jedhan (so he'd lost his home and possibly, his loved ones if he'd had any in the disappeared city) and he looked like a good person. That must have been the reason why her father had chosen him to carry the message. Bodhi told about how her father had encouraged him to follow his heart and do what was correct. That sounded very much like something her papa would have said to a boy who, despite finding himself on the wrong side of reality, like other Imperials in his same place, had his heart in the right place and only wanted to do something good for others.

Jyn then, carried away by her hatred and her drive to inflict a hard blow on the Empire, began an impassioned speech about what her father had revealed, affirming that the weapon could be taken down, that the ones who had killed the people of Jedha City could be defeated. She explained that the weapon was called Death Star and she told everything she knew about the flaw in the main reactor.

Cassian had arrived and listened to her in silence, and then asked if she had the holodisc with her. She shook her head in denial, alleging that it had all been so crazy and everything had happened so fast for the last hours and then, the blast from the Death Star had made them run for their lives. And Saw meeting his death on his own terms. She hadn't even remembered to take the device.

"Well, anyway, holodisc or not, we only have one alternative left, the one that Mon Mothma proposed. Taking your father to the Rebellion's Council. But without tangible proof, they will be hard to be persuaded into action. And even so, I don't know if they'll believe your father. Willingly or not, he's been working for the Empire for the last fifteen years. They won't trust his word easily."

"He'll convince them," Jyn asserted with absolute confidence. "He's brilliant, one of the most brilliant minds in the galaxy. I'm sure he knows the designs of the Death Star by memory. If he's been working in it and building it for so many years, then he'll know even about every screw it carries."

Cassian seemed to reach a decision. "Well, what the hell. Rebellions are built on hope after all." He smiled at her, reminding her of that moment in Jedha, before everything had started to fall apart around them with the battle around the tank carrying the kyber, when he'd told her that same sentence after she'd teased him about hope. "We'll have to devise a plan to rescue your father from the base on Eadu where he's being held prisoner. Bodhi told me about his current whereabouts." Cassian then addressed the young man. "You know the place, don't you?" Bodhi nodded in answer. "Could you guide us to the base?"

"Yes. But it won't be easy. Eadu is a hell of a mountainous planet with a horrible climate. Very stormy and rainy. We'll need all our skill and good luck to land in one piece," the pilot warned.

"Then we'll have to keep our eyes wide open," Cassian commented.

"Count on me for anything," Tikus provided. He'd been a constant source of solace for Jyn during all that damned trip. The zabrak didn't talk much, he preferred to observe and take action. He always had her back and Jyn couldn't be more grateful for his presence in her life.

"Thank you, Tikus," Cassian replied respectfully. He then turned to the ex Guardians who had just, like Bodhi, lost everything they deemed dear with the destruction of their temple and their city. "What about you? We're going to return to Base One to get ready for our next mission and think of a plan to rescue Galen Erso with the Rebellion's help. We can provide shelter for you two if you need it, but you're free to go wherever you want."

"We'll go wherever Jyn and you go, Captain," Chirrut said without hesitation. "You need us."

Jyn felt a shiver of emotion. She'd instantly liked those two from the very first moment, but now she positively felt a rush of affection. It all felt strangely like family. She, Tikus, Cassian, Kay, and now Chirrut, Baze and Bodhi.

She couldn't have counted on a better team.