Jyn had been assigned quarters in a wing of the Massassi temple intended for accommodating guests or temporary refugees. She thought that she couldn't complain. It was hardly much more spacious than a closet, and there were two communal refreshers for twenty rooms, though they were all rarely occupied at the same time, according to Cassian. But at least she had lodgings exclusively for herself, they were clean and she was in a relatively safe environment with strict rules of coexistence, without sordid or criminal activities around or the constant noises of prostitutes and their clients having sex, or of people fighting or speaking or singing aloud in their inebriated or drugged state. Luckily, she had kept herself very far from all that seediness for the last five years, and she wouldn't go back to that lifestyle for anything in the galaxy.
She would meet the leaders of the Rebellion as soon as she set foot at the rebel base on Yavin IV and hunkered down. Cassian had contacted the Commander through the coded rebel frequency while he, Jyn and Kay were flying from Takodana and informed Mon Mothma about Jyn's acquiescence to help the Rebellion as well as her conditions to do it, and an official meeting had been agreed for when the ship landed on the planet and Jyn was brought before Mothma and Organa themselves, along with several Council members and high-ranking officers, like Cassian's immediate superior, General Davits Draven.
She and Cassian had talked during his overnight stay at her cottage (he'd declared that he liked her small house very much, and that had pleased her more than she would admit) as well as on the trip to Base One, trying to make up if only a bit for all the time they'd been apart. Her previous defensive attitude had eased up a lot, aware that her fears for her father's fate had made her take it all out on Cassian unfairly, when in truth he wasn't the reason for her mistrust. She'd told him about her simple and quiet life on Takodana (omitting the part concerning her failed dates and one-night stand), and he in return had told her about his most recent work for the Rebellion, without much detail of course (he'd been appointed as captain quite soon after joining, and earned a post as an Intelligence officer, one of the hardest positions in the Rebellion, and Jyn could tell, judging by his tired features and slightly haggard appearance), as well as about the latest developments regarding his family and friends. Jyn hadn't heard a word from them in the last year and was eager to know about their fates.
Kerri had specialized in recruitment and teaching and training the new additions to the Rebellion. A few times a year, she traveled throughout the galaxy to seek potential members. The Rebellion was in constant need of new recruits and Kerri was good at swaying hesitant candidates to the cause. And during the periods she remained on base, she'd proven good at performing as a drill instructor. Jyn could relate to that, as she herself trained the children and teenagers at Andui's orphanage.
After Maarva Andor's death around three years earlier, as a consequence of her decaying health (and whose mass funeral, because she'd been very much appreciated and respected in the Ferrixian community, and which Cassian and his friends had attended under disguises because of the heavy Imperial presence, had resulted in the worst riot since the Empire had overtly occupied the city, due to the incendiary message Maarva had left for everyone to witness at the same spot on Rix Road where Clem had been executed), Bix and Brasso had adopted the droid B2EMO. The couple had started to bond romantically shortly after their escape from Ferrix. They'd served in the Rebellion for a while until they decided to get married and search for a planet to settle. And when Maarva died, they agreed with Cassian that they'd take Bee in. They offered to take care of him and give him a home, though they couldn't guarantee that said home wouldn't change its location from time to time. And finally, in the middle of so many changes, chaos and turmoil, there was also happy news: Bix and Brasso were expecting a child, a baby boy, and Cassian truly looked forward to meeting the little one, even though that wasn't the best time to bring a new life into that berserked galaxy. But then, there had been rarely a truly good time for that in history, and nonetheless people kept birthing children, because newborns were also a new hope, and hope was something very hard to steal from people's spirit.
Cassian had described, with tears in his eyes, the emotive moment when Maarva's hologram, projected by Bee, had come to life in Clem's square, as Cassian called it, in the middle of an awed crowd of citizens and unpleasantly surprised Imperial officers and soldiers. Her amazingly powerful speech, which incited the citizens of Ferrix to wake up and fight for their freedom, was her last, definitive and incredible act of defiance, and that had been the spark which ignited the fire of revolution among the Ferrixians. Sadly but unsurprisingly, the revolt had ended up with hundreds of casualties all around the city and a lot of fugitives, many of whom had engrossed the ranks of the Rebellion eventually or had joined other rebel cells, the Partisans amog them.
As for Salman Paak, about whom Cassian had told her a few stories, had sadly died in the line of duty, in the course of a mission that had ended very badly. Cassian had become a sort of surrogate parent figure for Salman's son, Wilmon, who was only eighteen when his father passed away. The boy had refused to leave the Rebellion and therefore Cassian kept an eye on him whenever he could, which wasn't often. Being an Intelligence spy was a full-time job. But he'd promised Salman a long time ago that he'd look after Willie, and he was trying to fulfil his promise to the best of his capacity.
Yavin IV was a tropical moon with a much hotter and more humid climate than Takodana, and the forests were lusher too. Upon her arrival, Jyn had already started to feel sweaty, but fortunately the interior of the huge ziggurat where the base had been established had been pleasantly climatized.
Shortly after Cassian and Kay left her in the process of placing her meager belongings into her room, someone knocked on the door, and Jyn wondered who it might be.
She was surprised to find at the doorway a young woman who looked a lot like Cassian.
"Glad to meet you, Jyn. I'm Kerri." And she offered Jyn her hand to shake, to which the latter responded swiftly and firmly. "I heard that my brother was coming back with you, and I had to see you. It's not often that I happen to be on base," Kerri supplied airily.