4 She lit a lantern and tried to keep her spirits up Eventually Eventually she would have to defy her parents orders but when Not until the storm had passed for sure Before that happened though she heard a noise above and froze This was not thunder but footsteps coming closer Someone had entered the cave A moment later the hatch opened and the man Lyra had been talking to on the comm unit stared down at Jyn Saw Gerrera Come my child he said as he offered her his hand We have a long ride ahead of us That had been many years before A lot of things had happened happened since then More things than Jyn cared to count They'd all added up to put her where she was now rotting away in an Imperial prison and wondering how she'd fought so hard and long just to wind up there
5 CHAPTER 2 CASSIAN ANDOR had done a lot of horrible things as a member of the Rebel Alliance all in the name of helping put an end to the Galactic Empire Rather than tossing him in prison for those crimes his Alliance commanders had promoted promoted him to the rank of captain and given him even more impossible missions He sometimes wondered if they secretly wanted him to fail so they could wash their hands of him but he remained too determined to give in to such wishes For his latest assignment they'd sent him to Kafrene a pair of gigantic asteroids that spun in tandem through a field of smaller rocks floating in space Long before someone had joined them and used them to establish the scummiest trading post in that horrible part of the galaxy There Cassian met a spy named Tivik who supposedly had some explosive news the Alliance needed from Jedha an ancient place known for worship of the Force They met in a dead-end alley Every bit of Tivik twitched except for his bad arm which hung limp at his side He seemed so nervous that Cassian wondered if he might bolt before he started talking but once he began everything spilled out An Imperial pilot one of the cargo drivers he defected yesterday Tivik reported He's telling people they're making making a weapon The kyber crystals That's what they're for He brought a message He's got proof
Suspicious Cassian squared off against the man What kind of weapon Tivik glanced around searching for a way out Look I have to go Cassian grabbed him What kind of weapon A planet killer Tivik cringed beneath Cassian's glare That's what he called it Tivik went on to explain that Galen Erso an old friend of Saw Gerrera's had sent the pilot Tivik was angry about the Alliance and how little it had done to help Saw in his fight Saw's right You guys keep talking and stalling and dealing and we're on fumes out there There's spies everywhere Tivik trailed off as he spotted a pair of stormtroopers entering the alley They walked toward Cassian and Tivik demanding to see their scandocs Cassian wasn't about to let anyone take him in He reached into his pocket but instead of producing identification he grabbed his silenced blaster and used it to put a hole straight through each of the stormtroopers Tivik recoiled in horror No What have you done A third stormtrooper appeared at the far end of the alley Rather than charge in to be shot he called for backup Troopers Troopers down Section nine Cassian scanned the alley for a means of escape and spotted spotted some easy handholds he could use to climb out With Tivik's damaged arm though he'd never make it Cassian couldn't leave him there to be captured The man would crack for sure and if he told the Empire what he knew Cassian had no choice He leveled his blaster and shot Tivik 6
dead The stormtrooper stood there stunned and watched the man fall Cassian took advantage of that moment to throw himself against the nearest wall and start climbing He had to move fast or he'd have to shoot himself too 7
