Rogue One: Resurrection

[HeartbreakOne]

Chapter 10: The Victory They Died For

After the heated argument that involved a General being held at gunpoint by a female of lower rank inside the command room, Cassian follows Jyn, where she doesn't stop walking until they were at the end of the hallway. Cassian places his hands on his hips as he watches Jyn calming herself down; he wonders what was going through her mind then, and at the current moment.

"What were you thinking, hm!?" Cassian exclaims, almost shouting. "Do you want to get us killed!?"

"Sorry. I just...still can't get over his death." Jyn finally comes with an answer for him. She paces back and forth in front of Cassian, trying her best to chill her mood.

"Just don't do that again, okay?" Cassian asks more calmly this time. He eyes her, hard. "Understand?"

Jyn nods. "Yes, CAPTAIN."

Cassian smirks and pats Jyn's shoulder before walking past her towards the stairs. "Good girl."

Jyn pauses for a moment. She suddenly remembers something about the young man that they saw in the briefing room earlier. After thinking it over, Jyn turns around to catch up to Cassian at the stairs. "Cassian!" She gets his attention.

"What is it?" Cassian gives Jyn a curious look.

"That man in the desert robes at the briefing room...didn't we see him in a vision?" Jyn asks, looking up at her Captain and scanning every bit of his eyes for a reply.

"Vision?.....Wait a minute..." Cassian looks down at the floor, trying to clear his mind and recall the event.

"The vision. Right before we walked out that gold door and continued our lives. That man was in the vision, in the exact place, in the exact situation." Jyn informs.

After realizing what Jyn is trying to imply, Cassian widens his eyes and looks into Jyn's eyes with slight shock. "I-Is....is he the one who will-" He starts to ask.

"Destroy the Death Star?" Jyn finishes for him. There is a long pause between them before Jyn continues the conversation. "I think so. I have the feeling, just as my father has."

Suddenly, a distressed voice announces through the P.A. speakers.

"The Death Star will be in targeting range in approximately one hour. I repeat, the Death Star will be in targeting range in approximately one hour." The announcer informs the entire base.

At that very moment, Jyn & Cassian both look at each other with worried eyes and faces filled with fear. Mon Mothma never mentioned anything about the Death Star on the verge to destroy the Rebel base on Yavin 4. They felt their hearts drop with a bang. They felt as if time had frozen the moment those words from the P.A. speakers lingered through the air and haunted their minds. Realizing that the Death Star had found them yet again, Jyn immediately wraps her arms around Cassian, exerting much force around his torso. Feeling his heart sink in response, Cassian reciprocates the hug by wrapping his arms around her and holding her gently. Since Jyn is a lot shorter than Cassian, to further deepen the hug, Cassian rests his cheek on her head, and Jyn presses her head into Cassian's chest, feeling the warmth of his chest and hearing his smooth steady heartbeats.

They stay embraced like that at the stairwells for a very long minute.

Jyn eventually breaks the silence after feeling tears bursting from her eyes; the tears trickle down her cheeks slowly. "Did my father really do it....to protect me?" Jyn mumbles since she kept her face pressed into Cassian's warm chest. Cassian rubs her head gently in the hug to show some affection to accompany his answer.

"Of course, Jyn." Cassian whispers into her ear.

Hearing his reply, and while still keeping her head pressed into his chest, Jyn reaches for her kyber crystal necklace and holds it firmly in her hand, while her other arm remains wrapped around Cassian. The two Rebels feel the strong emotional bond between them at that moment.

"We're one with the Force, the Force is with us..." Jyn whispers quietly, but her voice sounds trembled, like as if she is about to cry from fear that the Rebel squadron won't be successful in destroying the Death Star. Cassian closes his eyes, and they remained gently embraced in each other's arms.

Were they going to face the face of death again? Will the Rebel squadron be able to destroy their biggest fear in time?

((()))

Mon Mothma, Princess Leia, and several officers stand around the central hologram table, staring at the speaker & waiting for any response from the Rebel squadron in outer space. The people in the observatory have just announced that the Death Star was going to be in targeting range in five minutes. They were on the edge of death.

Jyn and Cassian stand with them, with their hands covering some part of their chin, lip, or mouth, indicating that they, too, were waiting for a response from the squadron. Both of them were the most anxious and most frightened out of all the Rebels in the base. Cassian looks over at Jyn, who then crosses one arm underneath the other and grasping her kyber crystal necklace tightly with the other hand. Their hearts were beating rapidly in response to their fear and anxiety of the Death Star's attack.

The silence looms around the room for what seems to be the rest of the five minutes when...

"WOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOO! YEEEAAAHHHHH! WE DID IT!" A loud, happy, & excited voice exclaims through the comms radio. It is so loud that it stung the ear drums of everyone listening in the command room. "WE DID IT, BABY! THE DEATH STAR IS LONG GONE! TIME TO GO HOME, FOLKS!"

Mon Mothma, Princess Leia, and everyone else in the command room sighs loudly in what seems to be the greatest relief after they hear the voice of the Corellian YT-1300 freighter's pilot excitedly and loudly announce the good news.

"Death Star is confirmed destroyed. I repeat, Death Star is confirmed destroyed. Mission successful. Returning to base." The leader of the fleet informs the command center through the comms radio.

"We did it!" Princess Leia happily declares, approaching Mon Mothma and embracing her happily in a long hug. All of the other staff in the command room raised their hands in victory and celebrated with smiles on their faces.

But they weren't the only ones celebrating their big victory.

Jyn and Cassian, after hearing the confirmation of the Death Star's destruction, were in shock and awe simultaneously. They didn't know what to think or what to say at the current moment. They couldn't believe what they just heard. Cassian had his hands on both sides of his head in response and his eyes were widened and his mouth was open in awe, and Jyn let the kyber crystal necklace fall back down to her chest after placing her hands on her mouth, indicating that she was in shock and awe as well.

Deep down inside, they felt so happy that they wanted to scream all of the frustrations, worries, and fears out of their chests.

Cassian immediately, but quietly leaves the command room to head down to the main hangar. Noticing him leaving, Jyn follows him quickly without saying a word.

Cassian, now arriving in the hangar with his hand covering his mouth and his other hand placed on his hip, paced around excitedly. He wanted to let go of his fears already, and he wanted to express his joy in any way he could. Luckily, the main hangar was empty, and there was no one around at the moment. He also felt Jyn's presence behind him. He gathers the courage to turn around and find Jyn with a smile on her face.

"Jyn, we did it!" Cassian exclaims happily.

Jyn nods and grins so very happily. "Yes!"

"Now our mission is complete! Your father's plan worked!" Cassian tells Jyn with much enthusiasm, and he steps closer to her. Cassian places his hands on Jyn's hips, and Jyn places her hands on his shoulders. The two of them smile happily into each other's eyes like as if they were communicating silently through their minds.

"We did it, Cassian...We did it..." Jyn now says softly in a quieter voice.

"Chirrut...Baze....K-2....Bodhi....they didn't die for nothing. They didn't die in vain." Cassian tells her in a quiet, calm voice. He strokes her brunette hair gently.

Jyn nods, agreeing with Cassian, and tears begin to burst from her eyes. "This is the moment we sacrificed our own lives for...and we did it, Cassian. We did it..." Jyn says to him before eventually releasing her cries. She lets her head rest on Cassian's warm chest, and she also lets the tears fall down her cheeks. Her arms then wrap around Cassian in a gentle hug.

Cassian nods and returns the hug, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pulling her closer to his chest. He feels so warm with her. He felt that they were heroes for the Rebellion, and the trillions of innocent lives around the galaxy. Seeing his Stardust so happy and victorious made tears appear in his brown eyes.

The two Rebels immediately take the moment to look each other in the eye for a very long minute. They admire each other's beauty and each other's happiness. This was their moment now.

Jyn cries more tears from the happiness that she is feeling deep in her heart, and this now causes tears to release from his eyes as well.

"Now we're free....mission accomplished. Jyn..." Cassian says in a small whisper that is almost inaudible. He whispered Jyn's name after he says that because he clearly sees that Jyn has begun crying more intensely and has begun to hyperventilate: her breaths stutter in between small gasps of air in conjunction with her crying.

Cassian felt Jyn's pain. It was the pain of finally becoming truly happy and feeling free from the reign of terror after such great efforts, and it was a good kind of pain, a different kind of pain.

"Cassian...." Jyn mumbles. Her cries cause her to hyperventilate before continuing. "....w-we did it....f-for t-them...for Rogue One, Cassian..." Jyn says while looking up into Cassian's brown eyes with tears flooding her green eyes and tears trickling down her face. She hyperventilates while waiting for his response.

"Always....for Rogue One..." Cassian declares tearfully before pinning Jyn against a large stack of metal crates, and he made his move on her by removing her gray shirt, revealing her white tank top.

This was their moment.

Jyn and Cassian's moment was so special, because it honored Rogue One. They did everything for Rogue One. They risked everything, but it led to greater reward. They fought bravely in the end they thought was survivable, and their result was triumph, true victory. It was truly a joyful moment for Jyn and Cassian. The destruction of the very space station of the plans that they sadly & inevitably sacrificed their lives to send was the moment that they waited to bask in victory. It was for Rogue One. It was for Jyn's parents. It was for Cassian's parents. It was for the Rebels that assisted them and died on Scarif. It was for the Rebellion. It was for the people of the galaxy.

It was for everything.

That is what Jyn & Cassian happily died for, and were willing to live for again.

[HeartbreakOne]

Chapter 11: Team Victory

Their moment of deep feelings, happiness, and true love for each other masqueraded into the night. Jyn and Cassian felt so truly happy that their mission on Scarif led to a huge Rebellion victory, and it truly made them proud to be Rebels. Their sacrifice meant something honorable, and they knew it was all worth it.

Back up on their feet again, Jyn and Cassian have an arm resting on each others' shoulders. They were smiling and chattering happily, for the Force spirits of Rogue One stood before them. It was the two remaining living members, and the four deceased spirits alone in the main hangar, with no one around to witness their surprising gathering. Jyn grins through emotional tears, and Cassian's smile held slight laughs from the jokes Bodhi and K-2SO were telling.

"Thanks to you, Jyn, the galaxy just celebrated. They held on to the hope you gave them." Baze congratulates her with a slight smile, for his low-key personality always stuck with him like a needle.

Jyn shakes her head. "Well, I couldn't have done it without all of you. Really." The young twenty-one year-old replies with a slight shrug of her shoulders with an innocent-looking facial expression.

"Hey..." Cassian places a hand on her shoulder as she gazes up at his chocolate brown eyes. He looks into her mesmerizing green eyes, searching for her attention. "We're not just a team. We're a family."

K-2SO steps forward and raises a hand, catching Jyn & Cassian's attentions. "Yes. That is precisely right. Though, I would've said the same thing. If I did, it would be because the Captain said so..." The gray former Imperial security droid states. His robotic voice looms around everyone's ears, and they all laugh at K-2SO's joke.

Jyn shifts her eyes to the floor for a moment, before finally realizing what she wanted to say. "So this is what we died for?"

"Happily. And honorably." Chirrut answers for her, with his brown eyes accommodating the slight smile he forms.

"They're proud of you, Jyn. Your mother and father. And Saw." Cassian suddenly declares. Jyn looks up at him, knowing that he has more to say. "We're all proud of you, Stardust."

For some reason, Jyn's face wanted to form a smile. But she was unable to. Though, she was proud of their greatest achievement yet, she still felt a great, vast sympathy for Rogue One.

It was survivor's guilt that Jyn, but not Cassian, felt.

Jyn decides to speak up to get her team's attention. "I wish...that you were here. To celebrate with us all." Jyn speaks with a voice that almost sounded shaky, like as if it came from a guilty person whose vocal cords were affected by fear, shame and sadness. Her words get all eyes of Rogue One laid on her.

"Jyn..." Bodhi starts, with concern forming on his face.

"I sense that shame and guilt in you, sister. But that's not the truth. They only cloud your mind." Chirrut assures her.

"But..." Jyn tries to say back. She knew she and her Captain survived because of one special, powerful item that they were in direct physical contact with. She felt it was not fair to the four deceased members of her team standing right in front of her, and for that, she felt the guilt weighing down on her shoulders, despite the huge victory achieved by the Rebellion just earlier. Her heart was full of sorrow. Her heart was drowning in sorrow. And it was going to take over her feelings like a brain-washing virus.

"We are in a better place, Jyn." Baze declares with a full smile this time and his arms crossed. "We'll be waiting for you both." He says with a dirty, playful smirk.

Everyone smiles and chuckles to Baze's comment on that matter.

As Rogue One laughed on and conversed, Jyn looks over her shoulder behind her to see Mon Mothma standing near the entrance to the interior of the base doors. She stood there, watching them. Everyone but Jyn was unaware of her presence one-hundred feet behind them. She watched them: her Rebels who went rogue to finish the Rebellion's mission that resulted from a new hope. The Rebel leader had a proud smile on her face, and she just smiled. She didn't say a word to attract their attention. She only smiled. Jyn locked eyes with her leader for a long moment: it felt as though their comments and emotions were given to each other through the air from a distance. They both knew how the other was feeling. Mon Mothma knew just how important Cassian Andor, K-2SO, Chirrut Imwe, Baze Malbus, and Bodhi Rook were to Jyn. Mothma finally realized that they were the sole reason why Jyn wanted to continue living her second chance the kyber crystal gave her & Cassian. Eventually, Jyn gave a slight smile, and Mon Mothma gave one happy nod before turning to her left to quietly exit the hangar.

Jyn turns her attention back to the team and forms a small smile on her face as she leans her head against Cassian's shoulder.

((()))

Mothma was about to enter the elevator to head back up to her office when she heard rapid footsteps arriving behind her. She turns around to see Jyn approach her with innocent-looking eyes and a face of confidence.

"Sergeant." Mon Mothma starts off. "I see you're enjoying your own little celebration."

"Y-Yeah..." The twenty-one year-old former criminal replies.

After watching Jyn for a few long moments and not hearing a word from her, Mon Mothma tilts her head to the side in curiosity. "What's on your mind?"

Jyn just shakes her head, unsure if she even wanted to say anything to her leader. "I-I just want to say......thank you."

Mon Mothma smiles and nods at her. "They really mean the universe to you, don't they?" She asks her Sergeant.

Jyn only nods a 'yes' in response.

"Well...mission....FINALLY....complete, Sergeant Erso." Mothma declares. "You do remember what we told you, yes?" She asks. This causes Jyn to nod again. "You would walk free when you've done your mission." Mon Mothma reminds Jyn, referring to Jyn's life before she was captured by the Rebellion: a prisoner at the Imperial prison camp on Wobani.

"Well, I..." Jyn starts off, but is cut off by the Rebel leader.

"You know, everyone has at least someone to fight for. We all have a reason to fight, and rebel." Mon Mothma says calmly, with a smirk on her face.

Hearing those words from her, Jyn knew what message Mon Mothma was trying to deliver into her ears, as the thought of Rogue One came to her mind. Jyn smiles a big grin.

Mon Mothma says in a calm and friendly manner. "You may continue your service with the Rebellion for as long as you desire, Erso."

Jyn immediately felt a burst of happiness and excitement flare up under her skin. She nods with a huge smile. "Thank you." She thanks her leader happily, and Mon Mothma returns the nod before watching Jyn turn around to run back to the main hangar. Mon Mothma then turns around to enter the elevator.

((()))

The P.A. speakers blared loudly. "ATTENTION. RED SQUADRON RETURNING TO BASE IN APPROXIMATELY FIVE MINUTES."

With the spirits of the deceased members of Rogue One vanished back into the afterlife after saying goodbyes to Jyn and Cassian for the night, the two Rebels put back on their jackets since they had them off during their desperate love moment in the main hangar earlier. The surviving pilots from the operation of destroying the Death Star were going to arrive any minute. Jyn and Cassian wanted to see the man who successfully destroyed the very thing they feared, the very thing they died to protect the galaxy from.

[HeartbreakOne]

Chapter 12: The Real Heroes

Red Squadron has just landed. They took to the deep depths of outer space and into enemy Imperial territory, and came back home with the eventual destruction of the Empire's Death Star: the super massive planetary weapon that the Rebellion and the entire galaxy greatly feared. Some pilots never made it back, but they were one with the Force, and they were already celebrating in that 'special place.' Just inside the main hangar, every Rebel celebrated with loud cheers and raised hands. The pilots in Red Squadron were appraised and welcomed back with happy, open arms. They were hugged, kissed, patted on the backs & heads, and congratulated by every leader of the Rebel Alliance present in the base of Yavin 4.

But the most congratulated pilot in the spotlight was the very man who shot the proton torpedoes into the Death Star's reactors himself: Red Five. Tall, slim, young, blonde hair, blue-gray eyes. Yet so young, he had the tenacity of a soldier. It would be unknown to everyone. Maybe the Force was strong with this one...

"You saved us all, Luke!" One of the pilots congratulated with a happy smile and a manly pat on the shoulder. So that was Red Five's name...

"Thank you, thank you!" Red Five responds with pleasure and a polite smile.

A brunette man and a brown-haired Wookie approached the pilot from behind, and he wrapped one arm around his shoulders and took his other hand to rub the top of the blonde's head playfully, expressing gratitude. "I knew you could do it, kid! Chewie had doubts about you!" The man smiles as the Wookie roars in annoyance to his comment when he actually did believe in the young pilot.

"If it wasn't for you saving my ass out there, I wouldn't have done it." Red Five shakes his head.

"Ahhh!" The brunette man with a white long-sleeved shirt, black vest, and scoped blaster pistol yells out and points at him playfully before walking away.

Red Five's celebration only lasts for a few minutes when he turns around to walk to the briefing room alone when he sights two unknown people to him, couple, rather: people that he hasn't seen nor met on the base yet.

They stand about 10 feet in-front of him, side-to-side, shoulder-to-shoulder. One is a tall man with black hair and the other is a brunette woman who is much shorter than him. They eye the young blonde directly with a sense of coldness plastered on their faces. Instantly, Red Five felt nervous the moment he made direct eye contact with the two Rebels standing in-front of him. He knew exactly who they are, and he just did not know what to say at that split second.

"Umm....uh....wait.....you're..." The blonde tries to speak, but his nervousness already takes over.

The two Rebels still have the cold, emotionless faces.

"Cassian Andor and Jyn Erso!" He finally realizes their names. His heart skips a beat as his nervousness spikes and degrades. "Oh my.....It is an honor to meet you two! I'm Luke Skywalker. They told us about you and Rogue One's plan!"

The young Skywalker smiles in confusion and his eyes fill with awe when he notices that Jyn and Cassian wouldn't say anything back. They both look at each other in the eyes, to which Luke knows that they are conveying messages to each other through their minds, before Jyn rests her head on Cassian's shoulder and shifts her eyes back to Luke.

Cassian's lips form a tiny smirk, and he finally speaks out to the young man who destroyed the weapon of the plans they sent. "Yes, Luke. It's us: what's left of Rogue One..." He says in a soft, almost inaudible voice.

Luke blinks a few times, for he still can't believe that the couple is standing before him. "B-But how....!? How are you....still alive!? All of Rogue One was killed on Scarif."

Cassian starts squeezing Jyn's shoulder softly and affectionately when he wraps an arm around her. ".....We all have our secrets." He manages to get out of his mouth.

Luke nods. However, he does notice that they did indeed seem a bit cold. He didn't expect that from them. "Um..." He mutters under his breath in a confused state.

Cassian shifts his eyes over to the other side of the hangar where everyone else was still celebrating. "Well, congratulations, Skywalker."

Luke accepted the gratitude, but he knew very well what to say. He shakes his head. "Oh, no, no, no. I should be congratulating both of you. You're the ones who sent those plans. We wouldn't have destroyed the Death Star without you."

Cassian nods. "I guess." Then, he looks down at Jyn, who smiles up at him, then he shifts his eyes back to Luke. "Enjoy your night, Luke. And thank you..." He says softly before turning away while holding Jyn firmly to his side and walking away towards the elevators.

"W-Wait! Captain! Where are you..." Luke asks confusingly when Cassian and Jyn suddenly decide to walk away from him. He sees that it's no use and lets them do so, so he just sighs and looks down at the floor in dismay.

'Thank you.'

'THANK you.'

'THANK YOU'

Those two words struck Luke like a lightning bolt. The moment he heard those two words sound from Cassian's mouth, he felt his throat tightening. It was the guilt that was weighing down on Luke's shoulders. Luke may be the one who destroyed the Death Star, but ultimately he knew that, deep down in his heart, that Jyn and Cassian were the true heroes in this whole operation, not him. They were the true victors that led this victory for the Rebellion. Luke knew exactly what Cassian was thanking him for: that 'Thank you' was not for the congratulations, but for destroying the Death Star and finishing what both of them started when they inevitably could not. THAT is what struck Luke's heart. Cassian was saying thank you on behalf of Jyn, and the rest of Rogue One. Realizing the meaning, Luke couldn't help but feel happy, confused, sorry, and guilty simultaneously. But he realized that at the very least, he just helped bring happiness & peace to the couple, and the spirits of their four deceased friends that they called family, and he felt proud of himself. It was truly one of the best things he has ever done for anybody thus far, and he bet that Jyn and Cassian never thought that anyone would end up doing that just for them.

[HeartbreakOne]

Chapter 13: The Right Place

"Sergeant Erso! Captain Andor!" An astonished-sounding female voice calls out to the two miraculous survivors of Scarif.

Jyn and Cassian are surprised when they turn around to see that a woman dressed in a white long dress is smiling at them. She has brown eyes and brunette hair that are rolled into two buns on both sides of her head. Jyn and Cassian knows who she is: one of the key leaders of the Rebel Alliance.

"Princess Leia!" Both Jyn and Cassian say at the same time.

Leia Organa approaches them with a happy vibe: her presence surrounds them with a powerful energy that they've never felt from her. Though, it is their first time meeting her. But any member in the Rebellion were required to know who the leaders were, not to mention that Jyn had to know just hours after swearing her allegiance to the Rebellion, and her mission of finding Saw Gerrera several days earlier. Leia knew of their return and their second chance at their lives, and she is more than happy to have them back in service.

"Princess, it is an honor to-" Jyn begins, but Leia cuts in the way.

"I think it's better if we talk here." Leia points towards a very familiar disc-shaped ship isolated away from the other starfighters in the main hangar.

It had the words 'Millennium Falcon' written on its side.

Jyn and Cassian look at each other curiously before Jyn nods in agreement. "Of course."

They sense as though Leia was either in a hurry or wanted to talk to them in private.

((()))

"It's extraordinary." Leia commented with enthusiasm as she held Jyn's kyber crystal necklace and examined it closely. She inspects every inch of it as she becomes so very focused and interested in its craftmanship and its powerful, miraculous capability that it gave to her two Rebels.

Cassian had the biggest urge to give a smile to Jyn, and she returns the smile, this time twice as powerful, for it made him blush through the feelings of butterflies in his belly. He loved the great benefit that his Sergeant's necklace gave them, and he felt like kissing her passionately at the moment.

"We're thankful for it. We've my mother to thank the most, after all." Jyn has a slight smile when she mentions her mother, as the flashback of Lyra passing the necklace on to Jyn in Lah'mu replayed in her consciousness.

Leia looks at Jyn and smiles as she hands back her crystal necklace. "And we have both of you to thank more than anyone else!" The Princess exclaims with much joy and pleasure in her voice. "You have no idea how much of a positive impact this operation had on our progress to restore peace. The Rebellion can't thank you two enough."

"Thank you, Princess. It was an honor. The Empire will have more things to worry about now.." Cassian falls silent suddenly, which catches Jyn's attention. She got a little clue of how he was really feeling in the inside. And Leia even noticed him as well.

"Look, both of you." Leia catches their attention. Jyn and Cassian both look up at the Princess from their seats at the small round table in the main center cabin of the Millennium Falcon. "I am terribly sorry for the loss of your friends in Scarif, but there are still important matters at hand. The Empire's garrison may have diminished today, but all we did was anger them. They're going to come back with more force soon enough, and we still have to defend ourselves against them in the near future." Leia explains, then observes her two Rebels' facial expressions. Jyn and Cassian look at each other with blank emotionless faces. Of course, they knew that the war between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire was still ongoing. The destruction of the Death Star was just the tip of the iceberg for them, despite all the hard work and sacrifices they made the past several days. It was the price of being a Rebel, after all, and they didn't mind.

"We know, Princess Organa. We just felt as though the war did end..." Cassian responds with this statement, on Jyn's behalf as well.

Leia shakes her head in denial. "Well, in the meantime, we have Rebel intelligence teams out there retrieving intel and making predictions on the Empire's next moves. As a personal reward from me, I'll grant both of you some rest time. I'm sure you needed it after Scarif's incident. Most of your duties can be at this base if you want." She smiles.

Cassian nods and glances quickly at Jyn, ensuring that she followed the conversation, before turning back to Leia. "Much appreciated. Jyn and I have our....own agendas to attend to anyhow."

He looks back at Jyn, and he senses nervousness under his skin as she gives him a weird look. Her green eyes gave the 'What the hell?' stare. Cassian didn't mean it THAT way. So, he raises his eyebrows and tilts his head slightly, sending her a message that meant 'Not like that!'

Leia, unsure what Cassian meant by that, shrugs her shoulders and chuckles with a smile. "Well, I have to get back to the briefing room with the other leaders and officers. You two make yourselves comfortable here. We'll need you soon enough. Captain. Sergeant." Princess Leia declares and turns to leave, but suddenly Jyn and Cassian sights a man that they had seen earlier in the base.

It is the man with brown hair, white long sleeve shirt, black vest, and a scoped blaster pistol, accompanied by a tall, huge, brown Wookie with a Crossbow blaster slung over his back.

Jyn and Cassian widen their eyes before standing up with Leia.

"Well, if it isn't the Princess of the Falcon onboard!" The man says with a mischievous smile, and the Wookie behind him gave a roaring laugh.

"Han..." Leia mutters with a bit of anger and annoyance under her breath. Though, she still realizes that her Rogue One members were present. "Captain Andor, Sergeant Erso, this is Han Solo and Chewbacca. Han, Chewie, meet Jyn and Cassian."

Han is astonished the moment he lays his eyes on the two fellow Rebels. His eyes widen with excitement as he holds out a hand to Cassian for a handshake, to which Cassian accepts. "The prodigy survivors. Talk about miracle. We have you to thank for giving those Rebels the plans of that Death station, brother. Hell of a job you guys pulled off!"

"Welcome aboard, sir." The Intelligence Officer replies with slight gratitude.

Chewbacca roars before sitting down at the round table. Leia shoots Han a small glare before proceeding to stride through the Falcon's loading ramp to exit the ship. Her white dress glides with every stride, and follows her fluidly. Han places his hands on his hips and focuses his attention back to Jyn and Cassian.

"She doesn't take jokes lightly, to tell you the truth. I'm beginning to wonder if she gets that from her mother." Han scoffs.

"No, she does not..." Both Jyn and Cassian say at the same time while shaking their head side to side, saying 'no.' They knew what Princess Leia liked and disliked, and they were careful not to bring up anything she dislikes whenever a conversation occurred with her.

"If you don't mind, Solo, Jyn and I have somewhere to be. It was good to meet with you, and welcome to the Rebellion." Captain Andor gestures to him.

Han shrugs his shoulders. "Well, I came for the fight. Chewie and I never thought of staying."

Cassian stares at Han for a moment before nodding once, accepting his statement despite being dismayed. Cassian loved the Rebellion as much as he loved Jyn, and he would take in as many recruits as he could, no matter who it was. He would recruit the whole galaxy if he had to, just to defeat the Empire. "Let me know if you change your mind. Good day." Cassian says before exiting the Millennium Falcon.

"Hey!" Han calls out behind them, grabbing a bottle containing a drink. "I'll stay just a little longer! Chewie and I have a celebration of our own!" He laughs as he pops open his bottle, and the loading ramp closes.

After walking a few paces away from the Falcon, Jyn and Cassian stop in their tracks. Jyn smiles slightly, as so does Cassian. "Lovely people." Jyn points out.

"Except you." Cassian shoots back at her, which causes Jyn to nudge him in the abdomen in response, and Cassian let out a small groan. "Okay, just kidding."

[HeartbreakOne]

Chapter 13 (Part 2)

Jyn stood there, in front of the bed that was already prepared for her with pillows and bed sheets. Since she is a new recruit in the Rebellion, despite her huge surprising victory on Scarif and the greater victory it led to earlier tonight, the officers were kind enough to give her a room in the crew's quarters to live in, which is located on the 2nd floor in the crew's quarters building. She takes one good look around her. All she had was her bed, a closet, and a desk. There were no windows, just lights. She could hear other Rebels around her: on the other sides of her room walls next door, down the long corridors, even above her ceiling and on the 3rd floor. She felt lonely and annoyed. She felt the past weighing down on her shoulders again. 'This reminds me of Wobani prison camp...' Jyn thought to herself, despite being in a Rebel base and having a much better, bigger room than a prison cell. She did her best to shake off the memory because she was tired of being a prisoner. It would be annoying like this every day, she guessed, but at least it was better than being in a prison cell with worse entities. She could get used to it. She was tired of running as a criminal and living as a prisoner. This time, she wanted to try a different path that her kyber crystal granted her.

Moments later, her room's door slides open, and Cassian appears in front of it wearing his usual brown jacket and pants that served as his uniform. His arm rests against the doorway, and he smiles his handsome smile that Jyn saw so cute with his black beard. "Hello, Sergeant."

Jyn looks up at Cassian from the middle of her room. She never moved an inch from where she was standing. "Captain..."

Cassian looks down at the floor, trying to hold in a chuckle, before smiling up back at her again. "May I come in?"

Jyn pauses for a moment, then answers him. "Yeah."

"I see you settled in here pretty quickly." Cassian notices. He sees a holographic image on Jyn's desk that showed the same photo she had in her house in Lah'mu: the family photo of little Jyn and her mom & dad. And another holographic image next to it showed a copy of the photo Cassian always kept in his wallet, a photo that was so very sentimental to them both: a photo of Rogue One before their mission on Scarif, where they died heroically to save the galaxy from a planet destroyer.

"You know, my quarters and office are up on the 8th floor. So, if you need anything, just come and let me know." Cassian informs Jyn. He scans his brown eyes all over her innocent-looking face. "We're just sitting tight until duty calls."

"I know, Cassian." Jyn acknowledges & nods. Her heart skipped a beat when she realizes that Cassian bent down to place a gentle kiss on her lips. Then, he begins to walk away; he was about an inch away from the door when something stopped him.

"Cassian."

The Rebel Intelligence Officer stops and hears the young, soothing, female voice that stopped him. Cassian turns around to look at Jyn with curiosity. "Yes, Jyn? You alright?"

The young 21-year-old female Rebel just stares at the 27-year-old Intelligence Officer straight in the eyes, where their eyes locked in harmony and deep focus. Cassian wanted to say something again, but for some reason he could not. They just stood there in Jyn's room, with nothing but their eyes seeing the love that was blooming behind their minds, like an animal waiting to pounce at its prey. Silence filled & lingered the air amongst them. Time froze between them.

And then all at once, Cassian turns around to see that Jyn's door closes suddenly. "Huh!?" He mutters confusingly after turning his attention back to Jyn. He didn't know how the door closed, for the buttons were on panels inside and outside the room. Cassian starts to get nervous as Jyn takes a step closer to him with the blank expression on her face. "Um....Jyn?"

Jyn keeps her silence in. She took a few steps closer, where she eventually approaches him at about a half foot away so that they were face-to-face with each other. Cassian looks down at her, Jyn looks up at him. Jyn's chest expands rapidly from the increase in heart rate. Cassian now notices that Jyn looks like she is about to tear up and cry. But there are no tears present in her eye tear ducts. He only sees the sad-looking face that he believed to be beautiful to him no matter what. Before Cassian knew it, Jyn places her hands on his shoulders, and she pushes up slightly on her toes to reach her lips to his lips, and she places a very passionate kiss that turns him on instantly. Cassian's heart skips a beat, then beats faster than before. His hands start to shake from excitement and tiny bits of nervousness, because he knows that butterflies were forming in his belly.

After returning the kiss, Cassian opens his eyes and smiles at Jyn. He knew nothing was wrong. He knew she wanted him right now, and he knew she wanted to be held close by the man who survived the bloody mess with her.

But what now surprises Cassian is that he frowns when he suddenly notices Jyn removing both brown gloves off her hands and letting them drop to the floor. Then, she proceeds to remove her brown vest that she wore over her gray jacket. This sparks a new level of excitement, as well as a bit of shyness, in the Captain.

"Uh....J-Jyn!? What are you....doing?" Cassian asks with much confusion as his smile fades away. He blinks several times, rapidly.

Jyn then completely removes her gray jacket and lets it fall to the floor, revealing her in her white tank top. She wraps her arms around her Captain's neck, and tilts her head to the side, further reinforcing her showings of affection for him. Cassian blinks rapidly and tries to push her arms away.

"Jyn! Remember, I'm your Captain, I'm your boss. No one here should know about this, about.....us." Cassian warns Jyn in a quiet whisper.

Jyn ignores Cassian's warning, instead pressing her chest against his gently to deepen the act of affection. "Then we don't tell anyone. This is only between us, my Captain."

She plants a soft kiss on his lips, with her eyes closed, and Cassian attempts to object. But, he finds himself moaning into the kiss with his eyes shut too. He feels every bit of love through the power of their lips exchanging kisses. Once his eyes shut, he was already in a void he felt he couldn't help but remain in: a void of love. It felt like ages, but the next thing he realized when he opened his eyes was that Jyn was straddling over his laps, on her bed. Jyn pushed Cassian to sit on the bed while they kissed deeply, so that she was sitting on his laps in her black slacks and white tank top.

Cassian is about to say something.

His attempt is interrupted when, right in front of his eyes, Jyn quickly strips off her white tank top, revealing her bare chest, her bare breasts.

Cassian's heart jolts in a flash: his heart rate increases more rapidly, and his breaths become shaky from becoming blushful. Jyn notices that her boss's cheeks are light pink in color, and she takes that as a sign that indicates he loves her more than anything.

"Mmmm......just between us. Yeah....I can do that." Cassian whispers back while staring into his girlfriend's forest green eyes.

Cassian was supposed to stay up in his own quarters and office on the 8th floor since he was an Intelligence Officer with a higher rank than Jyn. But for other Rebels to see a higher ranked Rebel with a lower ranking Rebel together, not to mention sleeping with each other, it would be a bad sign.

But, did Cassian believe he wanted to be alone up in his own quarters?

No...he believed he was already in the right place.

[HeartbreakOne]

(Now, this chapter...you are in for a mindblowing surprise!)

Chapter 14: Ephemeral Nightmare

It was blurry all around. The captive couldn't make out a single shape or person in his sight; all he could see was just blurry light. Not only he could barely see clearly, but he could hear sounds also: the sounds of a woman screaming both in pain and anger, not to mention that he was also on his knees, and he could barely move. It distressed him. It worried him. He made an attempt to free himself from the wrist restraints behind his back, but it was no use. He & the unknown woman were completely helpless.

The prisoner heard the sound of a punch on the face, and a groan indicating the reaction of the woman, who turned out to be the other prisoner in the cell with him.

But why was he in the cell with her?

It became a question of curiosity to him. He couldn't remember why they were there, or how they got there. All that conquered his mind was confusion. He kept asking himself unlimited, endless questions until he heard a male voice in the room with them that both surprised him and confused him even more.

The voice sounded calm: calm, but sinister. It had a heavy accent. His voice was deep, with anger. He sounded like he was demanding things from both the prisoner and the woman. 'This didn't happen by chance,' the prisoner thought to himself. 'This was set up.'

There was a moment of silence before the prisoner heard the woman shuffling away from the captor. Apparently, she was sitting on the floor in wrist restraints too. She was as helpless as the male prisoner, and he could feel the impatience and pain already through her.

"You're going to make a choice, and you will decide right now!" The captor yelled violently at the female prisoner. However, that voice sounded familiar to the male prisoner.

"....No.....that's not going to happen! Not now, not ever!" The woman yelled back aggressively, fighting her captor verbally. Her rapid breaths could be heard from the male prisoner across the cell.

The man laughed hysterically. "Oh, really? You're just like your mother and father! Rebellious, unfaithful, stubborn, backstabbing low-lives!"

This insult about the female's parents sparked much rage in her blood that she immediately snapped back at the man so loud, at the top of her lungs. She was furious, and she felt as though she could break free from the restraints and beat the life out of the man. "DON'T YOU SAY THAT ABOUT THEM! YOU CAUSED EVERYTHING THAT THEY WENT THROUGH! EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED TO THEM WAS BECAUSE THEY RAN FROM THE EMPIRE! BECAUSE THEY RAN FROM YOU!"

Surprised. That was exactly how the male prisoner felt the moment he heard the woman retaliate with her words through his still-blurry sight. But since things were heating up, and afraid that the captor was going to do something painful back to them, the male prisoner thought of injecting his own voice into the fray.

"Well, they're both dead now, orphan girl!" The captor laughed again, insulting and taunting the woman. He rubbed her chin, to which she pulled away defensively from the anger that built up in her.

"YOU BASTARD!" The female screamed with fury.

"H-Hey...w-what's going on here!?" The male captive finally spoke, much to the unknown man's surprise.

The mysterious captor chuckled and slowly approached the male prisoner. He could see him coming closer through his blurry vision, and his heart skipped beats rapidly with each step the man took towards him. "Well, well, well, look who decided to join us. Such a sleepy one, I presume. But he's good. He could make such a lovely Deathtrooper to my collection!" The man taunted, further angering the woman.

"NO! He will not!" The female defended.

The male prisoner suddenly realized something. That woman's voice....it was very, VERY familiar.

And his vision was slowly and gradually becoming clearer by the minute. He could see the captor. He was a tall, old man with gray hair. And he was wearing a white uniform with a white cape...

He also sees that the woman was wearing a gray jacket with a brown vest over it, and black pants. Her brunette hair was tied in a bun on the back of her head and fringes that hung on each side of her face. She looked very, VERY familiar to him.

"Then declare to me that you will join us! Join the Galactic Empire, and destroy those Rebel scums that you call friends!" The man demanded out of the woman.

The woman was struck. Now, her anger reached a full level.

"NEVVVVVERRRRRRRRR!" She angrily forced the rejection from her lungs through barred teeth and shook her head, with a furious-looking face. She briefly licked the small spot of blood on her bottom lips, which resulted from the physical abuse inflicted by the man in white.

The man in white chuckled upon hearing that.

The woman, with her blood mixed with her saliva in her mouth, spat her blood on the man's white uniform. This caused him to jerk back, and surged angry feelings through his veins.

"Alright then, Jyn Erso. Let's see if your partner in crime joining us will make you join, since you're as defiant as your mother was." The white-uniformed Imperial declares. He turns to the male prisoner, and he dashes towards him in a flash. The male prisoner widens his eyes in surprise and confusion.

Jyn's anger levels instantly drops, and she widens her eyes in concern as she watched. "What? Wait! What are you doing to him!? Orson! Orson Krennic!" Jyn attempted to catch his attention, but it was no use. He already grabbed ahold of the male prisoner.

Orson Krennic violently and aggressively stood the male prisoner up on his feet, then gave him one punch to the abdomen. He groaned in pain, and Jyn screamed in response and sympathy.

"Guards!" Orson yelled towards the cell door, and two of his Deathtrooper bodyguards entered the cell and took the male captive by the arms. The male prisoner was powerless: he couldn't move nor fight back. Krennic most likely drugged him with a powerful sedative that inhibited his senses. All he could do was observe, hear, and think.

'N-No...I will not...join....them.' The prisoner said to himself in his own mind. His eyes began to close slowly, for he was about to drift into a deep sleep again. 'J-Jyn...' He called out to himself silently.

Jyn's voice rang out loudly through the air.

"NO!!!!!! CASSSSSIIIIIAAAAAANNNNNNN!"

After that, a very long ten seconds passed before a sound is heard in pitch black darkness. It was a deep, sinister-sounding breathing sound, and it sounded like it was a breath emitted through a mask...

Inhale.

Exhale.

Then a low-pitched, sinister voice speaks.

"Join the dark side. Together, we'll rule the galaxy..."


((()))

His eyes fly open instantly. His breaths are rapid and shaky. His heart is pounding forcefully against the inside of his chest. Cassian gasped loudly and INSTANTLY sat up in the bed, forcing the blanket off his bare, topless torso, for he is sleeping without a shirt. He hyperventilates relentlessly: inhales and exhales exchange through his lips every quarter of a second. He feels so scared at that moment. Sweat drips from his face and chest, slightly wetting the bed sheets underneath him.

Cassian just had a nightmare.

"Oh my...oh m-my......oh my gosh...." Cassian's shaky, trembling voice whispers in the room. Ignoring the sweat drenched all over his body, he looks over to his left to see Jyn sleeping on her side, topless, and her back faced to him. He sighs a big, much-needed sigh of relief before getting up from the bed, and he slips on his shirt before exiting Jyn's room in a hurry.

Unbeknownst to Cassian, Jyn was wide awake, with her eyes open staring at the wall. She did indeed wake up to Cassian's awakening, but she didn't want to alert him to her presence. After hearing Cassian leave her room, she slowly sits up, shifting both eyes towards the automatic sliding door. 'What's wrong with him!?' she thought nervously. Jyn is now greatly worried by Cassian's sudden awakening and his behavior. It did not seem normal, she concludes.

Cassian stands at a balcony overlooking the sea of trees below, and stares into the night sky. He watches as a comet flies downwards through the night, and he watches the stars twinkle with their radiance. Cassian has questions on his mind, since he is in the 'thinking posture': one hand in his pocket, the other hand grips the metal railing in front of him. Something is on his mind that is making fear conquer his emotions.

Only a few minutes allow Cassian silence all to himself until he feels a presence behind him: a presence that he knows so well already. He knows that Jyn is standing just several feet behind him. Luckily, it was only the two of them together at the balcony; the other Rebels were either asleep or on night duty in the other parts of the base.

Cassian breaks the awkward silence between them. "What?"

Jyn stares at him, stares at his back. She has on her tank top, and she has her arms crossed as well, further expressing her mood of concern for her lover. "Is that all you have to say? After what happened back there?" The worriedness can be sensed in her slightly shaky voice.

Cassian waits for a quick moment before speaking. He didn't really want to tell her anything, despite knowing that it would aggravate her. "I'm just getting some fresh air. Maybe you're sleepwalking."

Hearing Cassian's ridiculous, mediocre excuse, Jyn shakes her head side-to-side slowly and furrows her brows. "Really!? Does gasping for air desperately in bed sound like getting fresh air!?" She snaps, raising her voice just a little bit. The hint of aggravation can be sensed already in her voice.

Cassian wanted to tell her, but he didn't have the guts to. Inside, his mind was in a battle between truth and lie. So, he refused. "It's nothing..."

"Like hell, it's nothing!" Jyn snaps louder.

Cassian stays quiet for a moment.

Jyn stares at his back hard, waiting for an honest answer, but she gets impatient with him.

"Eadu." Jyn says. This makes Cassian turn his head slightly, emitting a least response for Jyn. She knows she is getting some sense into him now. Cassian's heart skips a beat when the memory of their argument in the stolen Imperial ship on Eadu over the assassination of her father, Galen Erso, flashed in his eyes.

"Don't lie to me, Cassian. You can't lie to me again. You've done it to me once, I won't let you do that again. I know you well enough already, Cassian. TELL ME, NOW. WHAT'S WRONG?" Jyn's voice is aggressive in those words, especially with the last few words. Cassian can tell that she is very serious with her concern over him. Remembering that Jyn is reckless, aggressive, and undisciplined, he guesses that he couldn't stand a chance withholding things from her.

"I'm...worried about you." Jyn declares in a softer voice this time.

Feeling some shame over making his girlfriend's worriedness and anxiety increase, he sighs heavily and turns to face her. She still has her arms crossed and her face still has the look of concern.

"I....I had a dream. A very bad dream, Jyn." Cassian finally tells Jyn the truth, to which her hearts rises to her throat, creating the feeling of a lump and tightness in there. She gets more nervous hearing what Cassian has to explain.

"T-That man we encountered at that tower on Scarif....Krennic, is his name. I saw that he was alive." Cassian says with fear in his words. He frowns slightly to accompany his fear.

Jyn widens her eyes as her heart beats a bit faster than normal upon hearing that. "Orson Krennic!? But he was killed in that Death Star blast! Everything on those beaches were wiped out that day! There's no way he could've survived that."

"Jyn, he tortures us. In the dream, he interrogates us and hurts us. We were....his prisoners." Cassian explains more, while watching Jyn's face closely to observe some sort of reaction. Jyn tilts her head to the side, curious, but still growing more concerned and anxious.

"P-P-Prisoners?" Jyn stutters in disbelief.

Cassian nods as in 'yes.'

"W-What did he say?" Jyn asks.

Cassian looks down at the floor in dismay, nervous of what he wanted to say next. Jyn observes him, and she gives him time to pluck up the courage to speak the information. "He made insults about your parents. A-And...he.....he....." Cassian struggles to say the very thing that he feared of telling Jyn about his nightmare. Jyn stares at him directly in the eye, urging him to go on.

".....He manipulates you in joining the dark side by forcing me to join them." Cassian finally spits the truth out. He clenches his fists as tight as he can, he stands up straight, and calmly observes Jyn as he breathes smoothly to keep his nervousness at level.

And with the truth finally revealed, Jyn is shocked, and she looks down at the floor confused. She did not understand his dream either, but whatever it was, it was bothering her Captain, and it was her obligation to care and maintain his well-being. "The....d-dark...s-side?" She whispers quietly so only they hear.

A very long moment of silence occurs before passing when Cassian decides to ask a question.

"What if the dream is real, Jyn? What if what I saw is exactly something that will happen to us in the future?" Cassian asks, with anxiety at its highest in his voice. Jyn looks up at him and they make eye contact full of concern and curiosity. But Jyn decides to approach Cassian so that they were face-to-face with each other, and she places her hands on his arms to express her confidence in him.

"Cassian, it's just a dream. Dreams can't be true. It's just....involuntary imagination. Maybe it's not real." Jyn suggests.

"Do you believe so?" Cassian injects.

Jyn places her hands on his cheeks instantly, and nods confidently while gazing innocently into his brown eyes. "Yes, I do, Cassian. Real, or not real, whatever happens along the way, I'm with you all the way. I love you, Cassian. We're in this together, no matter what."

Cassian nods and reaches behind her to gently stroke her brunette hair. "I guess so. It's just a dream..."

Jyn smiles and places a gentle kiss on his cheek before wrapping an arm around him. They turn around and head along the corridor back to Jyn's quarters. "Come on. Let's get back to bed."

Although, he was still paranoid by the nightmare, Cassian greatly trusted his Sergeant, his 21-year-old lover., his ultimate partner in crime. He believed in her, and he had faith in her and himself, and in the Rebels around him. 'It's nothing to worry about then,' he thought.

Or was it?

[HeartbreakOne]

Chapter 15: A Clear Message

Jyn and Cassian smiles their biggest smiles up to date, because they were so proud of what they helped accomplish: the destruction of the planet destroyer, the Death Star. They stood up on the stage with the other three members of the team that took the battle to space: Luke, Han, and Chewbacca. They held their heads high, with joy visible on their lips & cheeks as they watch the Rebellion happily applauded them for their heroic efforts the other day.

Princess Leia was among the people on stage, and she gave Jyn and Cassian the highest honor, for she placed them higher on the stage than Luke, Han, and Chewbacca. She couldn't be prouder. She smiles joyfully at the crowd as they continue clapping.

Jyn tried her best to resist the urge to fiddle with the gold medal around her neck. She hasn't felt this excited and this happy in ages, given her past. Cassian quickly turns his head to smile down at her and wink, to which Jyn reciprocates with a small, soft curve of the corners of her lips. However, she knew this moment of achievement was temporary, because she knew this war with the Galactic Empire was still ongoing, and this destruction of the Death Star was just the tip of the iceberg. Jyn knew she couldn't smile for long. There was still much ahead of them.

((()))

"A dream, you say?" The voice of Lyra Erso's Force spirit lingers the air. Galen and Lyra's spirits stand in Jyn's room, where they take conversation with their daughter, their only child.

"Yes....it was more of a nightmare. A very bad nightmare, by the way he woke up." Jyn explains with her arms crossed, for she paces around her quarters with concern filling her head about Cassian's bad dream the other night. Galen and Lyra takes a long moment to think rigorously about the thought, but there wasn't a good clue about it.

"And Captain Andor says he saw Orson Krennic too?" Galen asks. In response, Jyn nods, and Galen looks at Lyra with concern. "Did Orson say anything in the dream?"

Jyn stops her pacing so she faces her parents. "Krennic said that he...." She pauses to observe the facial expressions on her parents' faces. "....wanted us to join the Empire, or he would kill us."

Galen and Lyra sigh at each other with a sense of concern as well, despite it being a dream. They could sense the fear in their daughter's consciousness, and, as the Erso family tradition goes, if their child is in fear, then they are in fear as well.

"Look, Jyn, I know this is all too much for you right now. But it was just a dream. Orson was killed in that blast." Galen says.

"We cannot see nor predict the future, dear. The present is what matters most." Lyra adds to her husband's sentence.

"What if it is true, father? I don't want anything to happen to Cassian, or me." Jyn asks desperately, clasping her hands together as she takes many steps closer to her parents' spirits.

"Just take precautions. Somehow...I sense it too. I can feel something is a bit out of place. Just be careful, my Stardust." Galen warns her before wrapping an arm around Lyra, and Jyn nods in confirmation. Then, she watches her parents' spirits fade away.

There are so many questions in the former criminal's mind, but she is interrupted in her thoughts when the electronic panel to her door beeps, and the door slides open. Her Captain strides into the room in a casual manner, and he looks as lively as ever. Jyn forms a small smile as she takes his hand and kisses it. "It feels great to be honored by the crowd, isn't it? Cassian says, fiddling with the gold medal around his neck. It would make a great addition to the walls of his office, for sure.

"Yeah...I guess." Jyn mumbles while pressing her face into Cassian's shoulders.

Cassian notices and frowns. "Jyn? What is it?"

Jyn just shakes her head. "Just worried about you and your nightmare, that's all."

"Jyn..." Cassian sighs and places a hand on her shoulder. "Don't be afraid. I'm right here, with you. There's still a war going on, and we can't let fear conquer our well-being. Alright?" He advises her before placing a soft, gentle loving kiss on her forehead. She loves the feeling of his kisses, and she could bask in that feeling for eternity.

Suddenly, something at the door caught Jyn's eye. She pulls herself away from Cassian's embrace and eyes the entity. It is a small, white & blue service droid. It apparently rolled its way into Jyn's quarters quietly & slowly, and it appeared to greet her.

"Well hi, there." Jyn smiles at the droid.

The droid beeps as its response.

Cassian points at the white & blue droid. "Oh, that is R2-D2! He's one of the best servicing droids at this base. A good little mischievous companion to have around..." Cassian jokes after chuckling. R2-D2 beeps very loudly after hearing that insult from Cassian, and Jyn turns to glare at him. His laugh fades instantly. "Just kidding."

R2-D2 beeps a few more times at Jyn.

"Why, thank you! We've done it for all of you." Jyn bends down and pats the top of R2-D2's dome-shaped 'head.'

"You understand him!?" Cassian asks in much surprise, for his eyes widen and his mouth drops open a little bit.

Jyn nods as she examines the front of R2-D2's metal body. "Of course. Living with a farming droid for four years can pay off."

Cassian slaps his forehead in a facepalm since he realizes that Jyn developed skills in understanding droid language when she was a little girl on Lah'mu. "Right." Then, a blue blinking light flashes in R2-D2's 'eye.' "Look. I think he has a message for you."

R2-D2 opens up one of his compartments to reveal a metal 'arm' reaching out to Jyn with a white piece of paper with a written message on it. Jyn curiously examines the paper in her fingers, unwrapping it until she can clearly read the sentence through the many wrinkles & creases on the paper's surface.

Jyn reads it out loud with Cassian listening carefully.

"Congratulations. You have my honor. The Force was truly with you. Luke."

Suddenly, Jyn feels a surge of energy boost in her, for her kyber crystal necklace glows under her gray jacket. She folds the message and twirls it between her fingers, thinking about the young pilot she just met the other day, Luke Skywalker. She doesn't really know the young man, but she is impressed by his achievement since he was the one who finished the job for her and Cassian.

"Huh. That young Skywalker kid probably looks up to us. I'm beginning to wonder if it's a mistake..." Cassian mutters.

Suddenly, Jyn looks up to see another droid appear, this time, a human-looking droid. It had a shiny gold finish, and two circle-shaped lights on its face that appeared to be its 'eyes.' She immediately stands up to appear to the droid.

"Why, hello!" The droid says. "My name is C-3PO. I'd like to thank you and Captain Andor on behalf of the 5,000 Rebels at this base! It truly is a pleasure to meet you, Sergeant Erso!"

Jyn smiles, but Cassian points at C-3PO and whispers in her ear so that C-3PO couldn't hear. "Annoying one." He whispers.

C-3PO tilts his head in response. "Oh, how rude, Captain! Come on, R2. Let's get out of here." He exclaims as he and R2-D2 leave the corridor of the 2nd floor.

Cassian was about to laugh when he noticed that Jyn was in deep thought, because she immediately paced around her room, with her finger rubbing her chin. She was thinking about something, and Cassian was wondering what she was thinking or planning. "What is it? Jyn?"

Jyn takes a long moment pacing around before answering him. The moment she's seen C-3PO, a splendid idea arrived in her mind. She wanted to enact the plan right away, because she felt a great need to. "Cassian, what if..." She starts off, but is cut off by a familiar robotic voice that she knows very well.

"Oh, dear....you're not seriously thinking of doing that, are you!?" The voice of K-2SO's spirit questions loudly. He appears right behind his two leaders, much to only Cassian's surprise, while Jyn isn't startled one bit.

"Yes..." Jyn quietly whispers to herself so Cassian could not hear.

"What? What is she thinking about?" Cassian asks in confusion, looking at K-2SO for answers.

K-2SO shakes his head as he angles his face towards the floor. "Now that answer is clear and convincing, this time. How dare you, Jyn Erso..."

Jyn then forms a mischievous smile on her face. "Yes, it is..." She mutters through barred teeth.

Cassian repeatedly switches views between K-2SO's spirit and Jyn, much to his frustration. "W-WHAT!? WHAT IS IT!? What did Jyn say?"

Cassian takes a very long moment to try to put the pieces together. Remembering that he saw C-3PO a few minutes ago, and his resemblance to K-2SO, and Jyn's deep thought, Cassian eventually finally realizes what Jyn is planning...

Cassian shakes his head and yells loudly.

"OH, NO....!"

[HeartbreakOne]

Chapter 16: Clear and Convincing

"No....no, no, no. You couldn't possibly do this! Not to K-2SO!" Cassian yells out as he follows Jyn out to the main hangar, where the Rebel pilots and infantrymen were servicing the X-Wings and Y-Wings for the upcoming patrol duties. Apparently, Cassian was shocked and furious when he realized what Jyn was planning to do earlier in her quarters.

"There's nothing wrong with that, Captain." Jyn says calmly while keeping on the mischievous smirk as she continues walking towards the front opening of the hangar.

"Jyn!" Cassian screams behind her as he moves to the side to allow a couple of Rebels carrying some crates pass by.

Cassian realized that Jyn's intention was to travel to an Imperial encampment and procure the exact same security droid that they had, and reprogram it with K-2SO's digital memory and protocols.

In other words, Jyn wanted K-2SO's revival.

Or, 'reboot', in that sense.

"You...y-you are being reckless again, Jyn." Cassian comments behind her as they approach a new, freshly built U-Wing with blue stripes, which indicated that it was built for the Captain after its destruction in Eadu.

"I know." Jyn smirks as she climbs aboard.

Yes...

Reckless.

One of the words that described Jyn Erso's personality and behavior. Her ethics seemed to gain her a reputation amongst the other Rebels by now, and Cassian knew her well enough by now that she is indeed a reckless twenty-one-year old youngling. Whether he wanted to stop her or not, it frustrated him just being dragged along into whatever mess the former criminal could get herself into, and out of. Maybe this was the kind of woman Lyra Erso was too...

"Jyn, I find this a bit disrespectful to K-2SO. Even he would feel it is. Replacing him just.....just does not feel right to Rogue One." Cassian tries to reason with his Sergeant. He never understood her mentality nevertheless. "Even though he was just a droid, he was....h-he...he was my best friend! He was like a brother to me!"

Down on one knee, Jyn held out her A180 pistol and examined it for any abnormalities. "At least getting a new K-2SO will get us half of Rogue One again. Right?"

Cassian thought for a moment. Perhaps she was right. "True...I-I guess so...I hope you know what you're doing, Jyn. You're about to take us into another war zone, and you've got a knack of getting yourself into a lot of dirty situations. I've read your records."

Jyn scoffs and looks up at him after holstering her A180. "Then you'll just have to trust me again, Captain Andor." Then, she gives him a dirty smirk.

Cassian sighs and steps onboard into his new U-Wing, and then he mutters quietly under his own breath. "How did I end up with this little girl...?"

Jyn immediately stands up and turns to him with a face that gave the 'You will pay for that!' expression. "What was that!?"

"Nothing." Cassian mumbles innocently, turning away to hide his face.

A few minutes later, a voice calls out to them nearby. It appears to be Luke Skywalker, dressed in an orange Rebel pilot uniform. It looks as though he wanted to say something important, but he just appears casual. "Captain Andor!"

Cassian and Jyn focus their attention to Luke, who has such an innocent face.

"Mr. Skywalker. Good to see you." Cassian says with a small smile as he leans against the door of his U-Wing.

"The Red squadron and I are just about prepared for orbital patrol around Yavin. I just wanted to let you know that we're ready to take off at your command." Luke informs his superior as he stands upright with chest puffed out like a real soldier, further reinforcing his appearance to his Captain.

Cassian chuckles and looks away into the hangar, where he momentarily watches some pilots chattering near their X-Wings. "My command? Yeah...then you're cleared for takeoff."

"Yes, sir." Luke replies. "So, you have some duties of your own?" He asks, noticing that Jyn and Cassian were preparing for some destination he wasn't aware of.

The two Rogue One members look at each other, with Jyn giving Cassian a facial expression that meant don't let anyone know about their secret agenda. "It's just something that Jyn and I must handle on our own. This is Rogue One business. We're inseparable, if you haven't noticed by now." Cassian lets out a small laugh.

Luke smiles and nods. "May the Force be with you, Rogue One."

Cassian nods back. "And may the Force be with you, young Skywalker."

Luke begins to walk away when Jyn looks down at her glowing kyber crystal necklace. It was giving off a strong sense of the Force, most likely due to Luke's presence. Somehow, Jyn felt that Luke is the key to something bigger, a matter much more than just shooting Stormtroopers and destroying space stations. Out of politeness and respect, Jyn grasps her kyber crystal in one hand and calls out to Luke.

"Thank you!" Jyn calls to him. This catches Cassian attention, and he looks at her.

Hearing her words, Luke turns around to look directly into Jyn's green eyes from twenty feet away. Their eyes lock stares for a very long moment; it's as if gratitude was being appreciated through the air. Luke knows exactly what Jyn is thanking him for. All that Luke does is smile at her and nod before continuing to his X-Wing.

"So now you have a heart." Cassian remarks as they both turn their attentions back to the interior of their U-Wing. Jyn scoffs and shakes her head just as she hops into the pilot seat on the right.

Suddenly, K-2SO's spirit appears right behind them just as Cassian hopped into the pilot seat on the left, usually where K-2SO sat. K-2SO speaks out to both of them. "I can't believe you're about to do this! This really is clear and convincing..."

Cassian scoffs when flicking on some switches on the ceiling. "Well, we could sure use another Imperial security droid in our unit."

The spirit of K-2SO shakes his head. "Captain Andor, I thought I was the only droid you ever cared about?"

Cassian sighs in frustration as he begins the liftoff of the U-Wing. "Well, you were the most annoying one..."

"Oh, dear..." K-2SO mutters in dismay as he looks down at the floor of the cabin.

Jyn gives Cassian a vicious mean glare after hearing his remark to their deceased security droid.



K-2SO then remembers the day they were in Jedha City...

K-2SO blurts out. "I should've slapped you harder."

[HeartbreakOne]

Chapter 17: Replacement

"Replacement"

1800 hours

Rogue One

Sgt. Jyn 'Stardust' Erso

Imperial local encampment, (Fictional planet of...) Yucoban

Rogue One arrived at an Imperial-conquered planet, the Yucoban, that they suspected to have an adequate amount of security droids that K-2SO originally was. Cassian was careful to land the U-Wing far enough from the Imperial encampment so they were not detected. It was just the two of them, after all, and they were going to do this quick.

Cassian puts on his blue jacket with its white fur collar, then holsters his A280-CFE blaster pistol. "There's plenty of them here. We're just going to grab one, and get out. We don't have reinforcements with us, so we're not going full on attack here. Understand?" He eyes Jyn to make sure she followed his instruction.

"Yes, sir." Jyn calmly replies with a deep, but serene tone after she wraps her long gray scarf around her neck, and the rest of it hangs down behind her back.

It was about a ten-minute walk into the encampment. It felt just like Jedha City: civilians and alien humanoid entities inhabiting the area, Imperial troops and droids patrolling the perimeters, and a melancholy, gloomy setting. It was like déjà vu.

Before Jyn and Cassian begin to come out of an empty alley way and into the main streets, Cassian grabs her wrist, immediately catching her attention. She looks up at him with determined eyes, and it is a clear message that she is listening.

"Remember what I said. Blend in." Cassian whispers quietly to her, to which she nods and covers her head with the scarf.

The two Rogue One survivors proceed to walk into the filling streets of the slums-like premises, walking along with the flow of traffic and being careful not to accidentally bump into any Imperials. As Jyn and Cassian look around, they observe that the conditions there are worse than what they had seen in Jedha. The place looked filthy compared to Jedha, people were ruder to each other, such as pushing and shoving when walking past each other, or making horrid remarks, and it looked as though there was no signs of some form of rebellion.

This encampment is heavily influenced by the Empire, and it has taken total control of this particular area, possibly the entire planet of the Yucoban.

And they treated their locals horribly and cruelly, by the looks of it.

Cassian quietly whispers to Jyn as they turn a corner. "This place is already giving me the creeps. I knew this was a mistake."

Jyn ignores his statement and moves past a tall humanoid creature. She then whispers back to him. "Are we not the best Rebels in the Rebellion?"

Cassian sighs in frustration as he follows Jyn from behind. Up ahead, he can see a couple of Imperial security droids walking along the street.

'K-2SO!' was the first thing that came into Cassian's mind. But, he forgot that his beloved security droid was destroyed.

After turning into an alley way & making their way through it, they eventually come up to a large, four-way intersection where a group of Stormtroopers were dealing with some civilians who apparently had a commotion with each other. Jyn and Cassian notice that one of the Stormtroopers brutally beat one of the people in the head with his baton.

'This damned Empire needs to be brought down!' Cassian thought in his own consciousness. Seeing cruel acts like that fired up the hatred Cassian had for the Galactic Empire. Speaking of hatred, Cassian notices from the corner of his eye that Jyn's fingers almost reach for her A180 blaster pistol. Luckily, Cassian grabbed her wrist, preventing her from equipping her weapon and blowing their cover.

Suddenly, the two Rebels hear a pair of robotic voices behind them. As they turn around, they glance at each other's eyes before focusing their sights on two things that brought small smiles to their lips: two Imperial security droids conversing with each other. Jyn knew instantly that seeing them made Cassian a little bit happy, since a security droid was basically K-2SO.

Jyn and Cassian decide to stand against the wall of a nearby building and observe the situation.

"That's eight prisoners captured so far today. They were fighting over what appeared to be nothing but supplies." One of the droids says.

"Who knows how many more will be imprisoned? They were right about this place. It wreaks of filthy, undisciplined, stubborn people." The other droid horridly remarks.

"I am going to report these captures to the officer." The first droid declares before turning to walk away down the small Imperial transport vehicle up ahead.

"Affirmative." The second droid replies. Now, it is left alone. It then begins to walk towards a discrete, empty alley way that is positioned away from the big crowds. Jyn and Cassian saw this as their opportunity.

"Now's our chance. Go!" Cassian whispers in command. In a flash, they reach the alley of which the security droid entered through. Luckily, the droid hasn't turned its back, so they took this opportunity to strike.

"Now, Cassian!" Jyn mouths the words silently.

And with one strike, Cassian stuns & incapacitates the droid with his electronic disabler rod. The droid's internal systems instantly shut down, and the droid begins to fall to the floor like as if it fainted. But luckily, Cassian catches the droid in-time before it could hit the ground, which would draw unnecessary attention.

"Okay, how do we get him out of here!?" Jyn asks while kneeling down next to Cassian.

"I'll drag him and say he malfunctioned, and needs to go to repairs." Cassian says, believing he planned the right thing at the top of his head.

"REBELS SIGHTED!" A robotic voice rings out from the other end of the long alley. Unfortunately, another security droid happened to spot them, and recognize them, as it walked near the alley. And now, Rogue One's cover is blown.

Jyn immediately takes out her blaster and shoots a single blaster bolt into the droid's head, dropping it instantly. Her heart was beating rapidly, her blood was flowing, the fear was building, and the adrenaline was flowing, all at once, all at that instant. The female Rebel looks at her Captain wide-eyed.

Cassian looks up at Jyn too with wide eyes, and he did not hesitate to give the command. "GO! BACK TO THE WING!" He yells out loudly, since they were already alerting the Stormtroopers and security droids to their presence.

((()))

Blaster bolts dart right at Jyn and Cassian from behind as they near-miss it by turning a sharp corner out of another alley way, and they impact the walls of a building. Jyn leads the way through the streets, with Cassian treading behind as fast as he can, with the disabled security droid on top of his shoulders; the weight reduced his speed about a quarter of his overall full speed. Jyn pushes and shoves everyone blocking their way, causing the civilians to yell at them angrily as they run away.

"To the right, to the right!" Cassian yells to Jyn, confirming the way that they came from.

Jyn turns right and leads the way, but a Stormtrooper appears just several meters away. Before he could raise his assault blaster, Jyn fires at his torso a few times, ensuring that the bolts penetrated and dealt enough damage to kill him; and she did it successfully. "Come on!" Jyn yells, running into another street full of people. Both panting heavily, they continue sprinting down the long main street where the entrance to the encampment was near.

From the right, a Stormtrooper pops out all of a sudden and attempts to knock Jyn out with the butt of his blaster. But, being the quick, strong, former criminal she is, Jyn whips out her truncheon rod and delivers a quick, hard strike to the trooper's head, rendering him stunned temporarily.

"It's just right there! Go!" Cassian screams and points at the exit.

The closer they got to the encampment's gates, the more blaster bolts came jolting past them like rain. More and more Stormtroopers inside the camp were gaining their tail, but Jyn and Cassian were quick to evade the blaster fire and certain capture.

A few minutes have passed when they finally reach the U-Wing, where they hop into the cabin and prepare for the security droid's extraction. The two Rebels were both heavily exhausted from their escape, and so they prepared the jump to hyperspace in to flee from the premises as fast as possible.

"Jyn, get us out of here! Come on!" Cassian commands his Sergeant as he lays down the disabled security droid on the cabin's floor. Jyn nods and assumes the pilot seat instantly, obeying her Captain right away. She turns on the buttons and switches to activate the U-Wing's engines and flight control; therefore, the ship starts hovering some two-hundred into the air.

Cassian stands beside the cabin's sliding door, where he looks down at the entrance of the Imperial encampment. He can see that Stormtroopers were gathering at the gate, and were shooting at his U-Wing, with no shots being landed.

However...there appears something at the gate as well. It catches Cassian's eye so easily because it stands out from the rest of the Stormtroopers. It is a person, not in body armor, but in a more formal uniform....

A white uniform.

With a white cape.

And black pants.

And gray hair.

Cassian's eyes widen as he observes the figure, dressed in white, locked his stare with the U-Wing. Cassian felt as though his body depleted of energy on the spot, all of a sudden. He felt weak, and his heart rose to this throat, giving him the tightened throat feeling. He was shocked at who he has just seen.

The man in white looked very, very familiar...

Suddenly, Cassian frowns & furrows his brows in confusion when the man in white turns around to walk back into the encampment, but not before raising his hand to signal something to one of the Imperial troops.

"Huh!?" Cassian mutters.

Suddenly, the U-Wing's incoming warning sound rings out of the pilot's cockpit, catching Cassian's attention towards the cockpit where Jyn is. Jyn looks around confusingly, unsure as to why it is making the loud beeping noise.

"What's happening!?" Jyn exclaims as she gains altitude.

Cassian immediately refocuses his attention back to the gate below, and what he sees sparks fear in himself. A missile was launched from inside of the Imperial encampment, and it was headed straight towards them. Cassian shakes his head and does not hesitate to close the cabin's sliding door.

"THEY LAUNCHED A MISSILE! GO JYN! GET TO HYPERSPACE!" Cassian screams at the top of his lungs.

Jyn took a little bit of time to set the U-Wing's hyperspace bearings. "Damn it!" Jyn mutters in frustration as she flicked on a few more switches before, eventually, the hyperdrive sets its hyperspace traveling ability.

Cassian looks back, seeing that the missile is now catching up to them from behind. "ANY TIME NOW! HURRY!"

And all at once, a white flash appears in the sunset sky, and the U-Wing finally dashes out the planet and into hyperspace, avoiding the missile that was tracking them.

((()))

All was calm. It was silent because the U-Wing was traveling in hyperspace, and a bluish 'void' dashed past the windows. Cassian sat there, on the cabin floor, breathing rapidly while wide-eyed, much to Jyn's concern. She heard him breathing the exact same way he breathed on the night of his nightmare, and she just couldn't help but question him again. Standing up from the pilot seat, she walks right in-front of her Captain and kneels to him.

"Cassian?" She asks, with concern in her eyes. "What happened? Did we forget something?"

Cassian just looks up at Jyn with the familiar eyes of fear that Jyn knew. "I-I saw....him."

Jyn frowns and gets closer to him, and she places a hand on his arm. "Who, Cassian!? Who?"

Cassian takes a very long moment to respond to her. His heart is a-beating. ".....Krennic."

Cassian said it. It became true. Director Orson Krennic is indeed alive and in the flesh, just as Cassian saw & feared in his bad dream. He could not believe it, and Jyn as well. She stares off to the side in space, trying to process what Cassian just witnessed. Now, Jyn has confirmation that her family's archenemy, Orson Krennic, is still alive, somehow.

But how was he still alive? Was he not killed in the Death Star blast on Scarif?

"Krennic..." Jyn mutters under her breath. The haunting memory of her mother's death flashes in her eyes, and she instantly feels some bit of anger and vengeance rising in her blood, for she clenches a fist as tight as she can.

There were so many questions filling up in their heads that they want answered. But now was not the time. While Jyn kneeled right where she was, still thinking about Orson Krennic, Cassian eventually stands up and holds the Imperial security droid's head in one hand, and then takes a small storage device out of his pocket that was about the size of a thumb. Then, he inserts the device into the back of the droid's head, where he installs some kind of software.

"Erasing current memory..." Cassian mutters. "Reprogramming security protocols..." He whispers.

After several minutes of waiting silently, and impatiently, Cassian removes the tiny device and observes the reprogrammed security droid from head to foot. Cassian is unsure of what is going to happen. Was the droid completely changed? Was the droid still Imperial? Or was the droid going to attack him and Jyn? Cassian keeps his stare of fear at the droid, with his heart beating from nervousness and anxiety.

But Cassian sighs a big sigh in relief, because the Imperial security droid was Imperial no more. It is now one-hundred percent Rebel. The first words from the newly reprogrammed security droid pretty much confirmed that they had just 're-booted' K-2SO back to 'life.'

"Oh! Where am I!? Ah!" The new K-2SO exclaims excitedly and happily upon turning his head to see Cassian. "Captain Andor! I am glad to see you again! Wait...." K-2SO pauses for a moment, realizing where, and when, he is. "...Were we not in the tower on Scarif, trying to unlock the vault doors?" K-2SO asks, confused out of his digital mind. "Where are we? How did we get here all of a sudden?"

Cassian shakes his head and closes his eyes. Apparently, the device Cassian input into the droid's head had the memories and digital protocols of K-2SO where and when he was last alive before he got destroyed, which was by the vault door controls in the archive tower on Scarif. Cassian simply just brought back K-2SO's 'consciousness' in another Imperial security droid that looked exactly like him.

K-2SO looks left and right, switching views between Jyn and Cassian. Both of them look confused and exhausted. K-2SO also notices they are traveling in hyperspace. K-2SO is now confused as well. "Something happened. What happened?" He asks. But neither of his two Rogue One teammates replied.

Now, half of Rogue One existed at the very least; they knew that they couldn't bring the other three members back. But then there were questions that needed assessment, and those questions were about the very man that almost killed them in Scarif, the very man that killed Jyn's mother and used her father as a tool, the very man that was now haunting their consciousness and Cassian's state of mind:

Orson Krennic.

[HeartbreakOne]

Chapter 18: An Enemy Reborn

Rebel Base, Yavin 4

The U-Wing slowly descended to the ground below, right in front of the main hangar, and upon landing, the only surviving half of Rogue One gloomily vacates it and slowly make their way inside the base. Jyn nor Cassian did not have the urge to speak to each other, even K-2SO. The one thing that caused their intertwining silence was Cassian's witnessing of Orson Krennic, the Imperial Director of the Galactic Empire's weapons division, and it was already haunting Cassian and Jyn. His nightmare finally became real after all, unfortunately.

"Everything looks untouched! I'm so glad the Empire did not discover our base after our recent mission." K-2SO comments to try to break the silence between them. "Speaking of recent mission, how is it that I'm still alive? Care to explain, Captain Andor?" K-2SO increases his walking speed a little bit faster to catch up to Cassian.

"I reprogrammed another droid with your memory, end of story." The shaken-up Intelligence Officer briefly answers for K-2SO as he leads Jyn to the elevator.

Allowing some Rebels to pass before entering the elevator, K-2SO stands between his two squad mates as the elevator closes and makes its way to the top floors where the command center is. During the ride, K-2SO repeatedly shifts views between Jyn and Cassian, neither saying a word since the return trip from the Yucoban. He was growing utterly curious. "Did we win the battle?" K-2SO asks out of nowhere, referring to their mission on Scarif.

Annoyed twice as much than earlier already, Cassian answers immediately for him by countering with a question rather than a simple statement. "What does it look like?"

"I'll take that as a yes. Though, I haven't seen the others..." K-2SO looks up at the ceiling, wondering where Baze, Chirrut, and Bodhi were. Cassian and Jyn glance at each other, with Jyn shaking her head slowly with a face of secrecy. Cassian got her message clearly: she didn't want them to let K-2SO know their teammates' fates. K-2SO was still very clueless about what went down at the beaches during and after the three of them entered the archive tower in Scarif. Jyn signaled Cassian that it was best not to let their reprogrammed friend know the truth. Who knows how hostile and enraged a former Imperial security droid could react if provoked.

It wasn't long before they reached the command center, and the key people of the Rebellion they saw in the center holographic round table appeared before them: Mon Mothma, Leia, Luke, and General Draven. They were about to smile in response to their arrival, but they kept concerned looks as they notice Jyn and Cassian's faces mirrored theirs.

A few minutes passed, and the Rebels were already well into the conversation.

"What do you mean Director Krennic is still alive!?" Asked Princess Leia, wide-eyed and shocked at Cassian's report.

Cassian shakes his head, trying his best to put together words. "I saw him....in my nightmare. And it became real. He was there at that Imperial camp. I saw him! I swear!" He almost yells much to everyone's surprise. Jyn nudged Cassian in the leg to let him know not to overreact, especially to his superiors, his leaders.

The three leaders, and Luke, all exchange looks of worry and concern, for the silence between them loomed so much it's as if Cassian was talking to himself in the command room. Mon Mothma decides to break the silence and keep the conversation going. "Our official reports indicate that Director Orson Krennic of the Imperial weapons development division was killed in action by the Death Star blast on Scarif."

Jyn looks at Cassian for a response. "B-But I saw him! He ordered one of his troops to shoot our ship down. We were lucky to get out of there in time and bring back this...." Cassian points at K-2SO. "...this piece of junk."

K-2SO raises his arms and shakes his head. "Captain, damn it! What's with you!?" He exclaims loudly. Jyn sighs, but a part of her did want to release a small laugh.

"I-I don't know how he is still alive. But he is." Cassian declares before letting his head hang so that he is staring straight down at the floor. Feeling his anxiety, Jyn gently places a hand on his lap, trying to comfort him a bit.

Leia and Luke exchanges looks for a moment. They both got a clue of exactly how Cassian and Jyn were feeling about this incident. Luke knew Cassian's fear and anxiety. He felt it through the Force, inside the Death Star's trench section, right before one of the TIE fighters could get a shot at his T-65 X-Wing. Somehow, he felt a very strong feeling through the Force at that moment after the TIE fighter was staggered away by Han's intervention. Luke felt like as if he knew who that specific TIE fighter pilot was, and that's what was worrying him lately. Yes, Luke did indeed feel what Cassian felt. "Captain Andor." Leia catches his attention so that he focuses back on her. "The man you saw. He was wearing a white Imperial uniform, correct? White Cape? Gray hair?"

Cassian nods in assurance and no question.

The three key leaders all nod in agreement before Mon Mothma dismisses her three Rebels. "We will investigate further into Director Krennic and his current operations. Captain, please have full confidence that you have our support, and keep faith in us." Cassian nods while eyeing Mothma directly in the eyes, showing his confidence and confirming her assurance. "Dismissed." Mothma dismisses her three Rebels, and they exit the command room.

With Mon Mothma, Leia, Luke, and Draven left in the room, they still exchange concerned looks with each other. Though, it was just one man, they, too, feared the future actions of Orson Krennic now that he is still alive.

"If Director Krennic did not die in the Death Star blast, then how..." Leia starts off, but is cut off by Draven.

Draven speaks out with a serious look. "It doesn't matter. Krennic, just like Galen Erso, is a vital key to the Empire's galactic imperialism and weapons management & production. The longer that man is alive, the longer the Rebellion will endure the Empire's fear. All Director Krennic is best at is advanced weapons development, and we don't know if he is currently in the process of constructing a new supermassive weapon or not."

Luke gives it some thought. "At least he is furious now that I destroyed his space station."

Mon Mothma shoots Leia and Luke an assuring gaze. "Our clock's ticking faster than time itself."

"Captain Andor seeing Director Krennic again has already shaken him quite much. Maybe we should ground him and Sergeant Erso from infantry operations for the time being." General Draven suggests, to which Mon Mothma nods in agreement.

Leia then speaks in. "You know, I can tell that just by talking to Captain Andor and observing his eyes..." She pauses for a moment, feeling all three pairs of eyes on her urging her to finish her sentence. "...that this sighting changed his mood so quickly and so negatively."

Luke looks down at the floor, acknowledging Cassian's flaring emotions. "I hope he and Jyn will be okay."

Leia turns to Luke with a face of determination. "We need to get forces out there immediately and gather more details about Krennic's intentions. The sooner we do, the sooner his future operations will halt."

"I'll get right on it!" Luke says before jogging off and exiting the command center.

Mon Mothma shoots General Draven a serious and very worrying gaze. "It will be just a matter of time before the Empire starts destroying more Rebel planets. Next thing you know...they will come back here to Yavin 4, and vanish us along with this entire planet."

((()))

Outside the command center, Jyn and Cassian were still clueless as to what to do at the moment. All they could was stand around and try to figure out questions that kept popping up in their minds. Jyn turns to Cassian and observes his anxious figure; though, she, too, was anxious about the entire thing.

"Cassian..." Jyn softly whispers so that only he hears her. "Are you....okay?" She asks while touching his arm.

Cassian didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to think. The sight of Orson Krennic physically abusing Jyn in his nightmare kept replaying in his eyes. He felt angry, yet very scared at the same time. He didn't want anything to happen to her, to his Sergeant, to his partner, to his squad mate, to his twenty-one-year-old girlfriend. It wasn't long before he finally replied to her. "Yeah...I guess."

"Well, I'm off to take a nice, clean wash." K-2SO blurts out, then jogs to the staircases.

As the elevator dinged and opeed its doors, Jyn entered it by herself and tells Cassian. "I....I need to clear my head..." She says in such a way that catches Cassian sudden attention. He eyes her directly in her green stardust eyes. "Meet me in my quarters tonight, Cassian. Please." Jyn says before the elevator doors close.

Cassian replayed the way she said 'Please' in his head a few times. For some reason, this made him curious, because she said that in such a way that she sounded like she was about to cry, like as if her voice began to choke from emotions piling up in her veins, causing her throat to tighten. Cassian was worried about Jyn, just as she was about him.

[HeartbreakOne]

(Many things will be referenced from the canon book Rebel Rising)

Chapter 19: A Rebel's Past

"Hey, Jyn. I'm here. What do you want to talk about?" Cassian asks when he enters Jyn's quarters as he promised earlier when she requested him at the elevators.

It was later, in the evening, and Jyn was roaming around the Rebel base, her head full of thoughts and mixed emotions. She didn't know what to think, but if she did come up with the right words, she would be nervous however. And that was exactly how she felt at that moment when Cassian stood in front of her, gazing into her beautiful forest green eyes that had the so-called stardust. She didn't smile; she just stared up at Cassian with a serious face.

"Jyn...what is wrong? I'm not sure if you are okay. I know we've both been quiet earlier, which I understand. But you called me in here in private, so..." Cassian shrugs.

However, Jyn did not hesitate to start the mysterious conversation.....

"Cassian..." Jyn says in such a soft voice that she sounds like she is whispering, despite only the two of them present in her quarters with her door locked shut. But she only says her Captain's name.

Cassian tilts his head to the side curiously. "Yes?"

After not hearing anything from her, he is beginning to worry and getting creeped out. "Jyn, what?" He asks, raising his voice a little to make her speak out loud. And he is successful in doing so. She finally talks.

"C-Cassian....have you ever felt.....true pain?" Jyn asks all of a sudden.

This surprises Cassian greatly, because this is an unusual question that he has never heard from anyone, let alone from Jyn. "Uh...what do you mean?" He widens his eyes slightly, showing his seriousness in the matter. Jyn does not answer him again, so he pushes on. "Pain from the death of my parents when I was a child? Yes, Jyn, I know what it feels like. Um....why are you asking me this?"

"No, Cassian." She answers, and she turns away from him so her back faces him, and she faces the opposing wall. Her arms are crossed, and her head angles downwards so that she appears to be staring down at the floor. "I mean, true pain. A life full of all kinds of.....pain." She almost whispers, though, her voice sounds shaky, which catches Cassian's attention even more. He didn't like where this conversation was going, but he urged himself to keep listening to Jyn.

"Jyn..." Cassian mutters, knowing something is bothering Jyn.

"I've had my parents taken away too, Cassian. I saw them taken away...in the blink of an eye...just like that, with my very own eyes." Jyn feels her eyes stinging. She begins to feel tears rising into her eyes. "But do you know what it feels like to be left behind, Cassian? Left behind by someone you trusted your life to?"

Cassian is getting confused now. "Um...J-Jyn...what is all this!?"

"We may be soldiers for the Rebellion, Cassian. We kill Imperials. " Jyn continues, but this time her voice trembles. "...But could you ever bear to witness death every day?"

Cassian shakes his head and takes a step closer towards Jyn's back, and he frowns. "Why are you talking like this!?"

Jyn shakes her head and keeps her back facing to Cassian, and this causes him to stop walking towards her. "I've been taught survival. I've been taught to kill in so many ways. I trained. I followed orders. I met strangers who I doubted were my friends or not. I've witnessed death worse than you've probably ever saw...it's terrible, Cassian." Jyn could feel a tear leaving the duct in the corner of her eye.

Cassian wanted to say something back to Jyn, but he was beginning to gain interest in her monologue, and so he kept silent and listened.

"I've been hurt from the feeling of wishing my parents came back to me, but never did, and I lived every single day coping with it...but it still hurt. Then he...." Jyn said the word 'He' right as a tear trickled down her cheek. She could feel the emotion, hurt, conquering her heart. "....he left me....he left me to....die."

Cassian tilts his head to the side, wondering who she is talking about. "Who, Jyn?"

"Saw. Saw Gerrera." She answers, with a hint of hatred in her voice. "I remember that day...I was fifteen, completing some heist against the Empire...but they attacked us. He was injured and told me to hide. The last thing he did was leave me with a blaster and a knife." Jyn closes her eyes as more tears were about to burst from her eyelids.

Cassian stays silent.

"I was left alone. I've been alone since, Cassian..." Jyn felt the tears now: they fell like rainfall. Her hurt, her pain was beginning to take over her. "Do you ever know how it feels to be treated horridly by random strangers all day, every day, no matter how unfair and hurtful it is, Cassian? I've seen terrible things with my own eyes, Cassian....I was only a girl, but it all seemed....normal...to me. Thinking back to it...I don't know how I was able to live like that."

For once, the Intelligence Officer feels his heart sink, and he gulps. His mind imagined everything that Jyn said, and he already did not like it by the time he started imagining horrid, absurd things that happen in war.

Jyn wipes a few tears off her face and continues, with her back still facing Cassian. "Have you ever wondered how...terribly boring it is to....to sit in a room and alter Imperial codes all day long, just for someone else's benefit? It felt like exactly what I became: a prisoner. All this time, I've been living a crime." She admits with much regret. Jyn felt more tears flooding her eyes and rolling down her face, but she decided to just let them flow. Cassian soon felt a feeling that he never wanted to occur: he felt some pain. Emotional pain. Jyn continues speaking. "I've had no home, Cassian. Since the day Saw left me, I've had no home to go to, no home to look for. All I was, was a drifter: constantly moving anywhere I felt that was safe from the Empire because no one was to know who I truly am. The only home I found was...." Then, Jyn remembered something, or someone, perhaps, the moment she stopped in mid-sentence. She held the thought, and went on. "I was all alone, Cassian...for six years, never knowing what to do, who to trust. No one was ever coming back for me. All my life...has been a deception. The people around me, deceiving me for their own gain. I despised that...but somehow I managed to live through the hurt." Jyn was now sobbing out loud. She didn't care that she was, because she allowed her mind to speak itself to the twenty-seven-year-old man behind her that she called her boyfriend.

"Somehow....I survived. I've been beaten by many. I've beaten them back. I've seen people who suffer under the Empire. I've been a prisoner of the Empire for half a year while being treated brutally by them. I survived with what little I had. I've been used. Abused. But somehow, I still survived all alone, just a girl." The twenty-one-year-old female Rebel mumbles her words just as tears reached her trembling lips. She sniffles, and Cassian urged himself to comfort her, but it was as though his legs froze, like as if his legs didn't want him to go anywhere but listen to Jyn.

Finally, Jyn turns around to face Cassian. Her eyes are reddened from crying, her tears leave wet streaks along her face, her tears slide down her cheeks, and her lips are quivering from the sadness inside her. It is at this moment that Cassian truly saw all of Jyn's pains and hurt being released from within her, right in front of his very eyes. He wanted to embrace her, tell her everything will be alright. He wanted to plant the desperate kiss that would save the day. But he still couldn't at the moment.

"Have you ever clung to hope, but it never came your way, Cassian? I've tried." Jyn stares into Cassian's chocolate brown eyes through teary, blurry vision despite the stinging pain of the tears on the surface of her eyes.

Cassian felt his lips quiver. "But...you gave your Rebellion hope. A new hope, to a peaceful future."

Jyn ignores Cassian's reply, and continues speaking what her mind wanted. "The reason I'm telling you all this, Cassian, is because...." Jyn can feel the emotions rising up to her throat. Her voice cracks, her voice tightens. ".....now that Orson is still alive, I don't want anything to happen to you!"

Jyn sobs the tears fully.

And it struck Cassian like a blaster bolt: the sympathy and the guilt weighing on his shoulders.

There was a very long moment of silence between them looming around the air in Jyn's room before Jyn continues speaking.

"When I first saw you in the command room...all I could ever think about was...." Jyn pauses because she feels her heart rising to her throat. Her voice cracks as she says the words that finishes her sentence. "....how much you reminded me of....him." Jyn covers her face with both hands, crying tearfully, and her hands catch her tears.

Cassian's eyes widen, and his legs finally enable him to approach Jyn and place a hand on her shoulder. "Him? Who are you talking about, Jyn? Jyn, please..." Cassian asks, but the tone of his voice indicated that he was now getting very emotional. He wanted to cry with his lover. He wanted to sympathize all day for her.

Jyn continues crying for a long moment.

"Jyn..." Cassian says impatiently, feeling his eyes starting to release his own tears. He never liked seeing Jyn sad. He didn't want to see her in pain, nor anyone else. He didn't like to hear the sounds of pain and cries from his Sergeant.

"Hadder." Jyn mutters under her breath just enough that Cassian is barely able to hear the name. But he didn't want to have Jyn repeating words, so he accepts her reply and just watches her sob. But then, Jyn looks up at Cassian through her tears and places her bare, un-gloved hand to his cheek, and she gazes directly into his eyes that boosted his full attention. "You look just like Hadder..."

[HeartbreakOne]

Chapter 19 (Part 2)

Flashback

5 years earlier

A few months has passed since the sixteen-year-old Jyn Erso took up refuge in the Ponta's residence after Saw Gerrera abandoned her upon failing their heist on planet Tamsye Prime. Akshaya Ponta allowed Jyn to live with her and her son, Hadder Ponta. She was in the planet Skuhl, a planet that is thought to be hidden from the Empire's reach. For the past few months, Jyn spent most of her time either alone or with Hadder.

Jyn and Hadder were in the plains, in broad daylight, just the two of them alone. They had a picnic.

"'I've been thinking of joining a group that fights the Empire." Hadder says. If there was anything that Jyn expected, it was that. "What do you think?"

"Why are you asking me?" Jyn eyes him with concern.

Knowing that she was a freedom fighter, or a rebel, Hadder wanted to get her opinion. "I'm asking what you think."

Jyn pretended not to care. "Do what you want." She says.

All his life, Hadder was very passionate about flying ever since his father died when he was young. He wanted to be a pilot in whatever rebel force opposed the Empire. But no matter what, Jyn wanted him to stay. She didn't want him to face the pain that she felt when she rebelled with Saw Gererra. A recruiter was in the town's bar trying to recruit Hadder into his rebel force, and he tried to get Jyn's opinion. "There was someone I met at the diner. He was putting out feelers for people who may want to fly." Hadder explains.

Jyn's face showed dismay, and she drew away from him. "Fighting the Empire is about more than flying..."

Hadder closed the distance between them, pressing his lips against hers. The kiss startled her, but it felt natural, as if they'd been doing it for years. Then, he finally pulls back from the kiss. "If you're not going, then I'm not going. I'd rather have you than the chance to fly." Hadder confesses to Jyn faithfully.

Jyn could feel her heart rise to her throat. She thought she felt a tear in her eye. "I can't take that away from you..." She says in what almost sounds like a soft whisper with a hint of sadness.

"And I can't take myself away from you." Hadder declares. He kisses her again, harder, and she could taste the longing within him, the feelings he'd tried to keep in check. She returns every passionate, gentle kiss he laid on her lips. She strokes Hader's black shoulder-length hair, then she wraps her arms around his brown-skinned neck while deeply persisting with the kisses. She understood why he'd wanted to take her outside the town and away from their home to say THIS, to do THIS. They could be honest out there, under the open sky, in a way they never could with a roof over their heads.

They could pretend they belonged to forever just as much as they belonged to each other.

((()))

Flashback

Some months later

Jyn was devastated. She was shocked. She was mad. And she was also sad, mostly. She had every reason to hate the Galactic Empire. The Empire began to take over their town, their home. They weren't looking for the Pontas. They were looking for her. She was the target.

Right when the Stormtroopers busted through into the Pontas' home, Jyn escaped through her bedroom window, and escaped in an airspeeder with its own hyperdrive. The plan was for she and the Pontas to escape in separate aircraft through hyperspace and away from Skuhl, where they could avoid the Empire's grasp. But, unfortunately, Jyn was the only one to make it out of there.

And what she realized had broken her forever.

Hadder and his mother, Akshaya were blasted away inside their freighter ship in mid-air accidentally by a rebel Y-Wing trying to dogfight an Imperial TIE fighter.

((()))

Cassian finally realized who Jyn was referring to. Before him, she also had a lover. Her first true love: Hadder Ponta. And for Jyn to tell Cassian that he reminded so much of Hadder made him feel broken as well. He could understand why she was crying, breaking down right in front of him. He finally felt what pained her the most. He knows that pain hurt her ever since, but he felt partly proud that he was the man to fill the open void in her heart and continue to occupy it for life.

Cassian now embraces Jyn tightly with both arms, and rubs her gently, comforting her as much as he can. He could feel tears leaving his eyes and rolling down his face. He feels what she feels now, and he sympathized. He rests his cheek on top of Jyn's head. They stayed embraced for a very long few minutes, with only the sounds of Jyn's sobs filling the room.

"I miss him...so much..." Jyn whispers, her voice muffled from her face buried into Cassian's chest. Cassian understands, and he gently rubs her back as the embrace lasts for a couple more minutes.

After a long while, Cassian pulls away from the passionate hug and looks down into Jyn's forest green eyes. Jyn returns the gaze, and her tears continue to flood her eyes. She hyperventilates, which accompanies her crying.

Suddenly, Jyn proceeds to remove all of her clothing, letting every single bit of clothing fall to her feet, so that everything except her mother's kyber crystal necklace were on the floor. Her slim, short body revealed an abundancy of scars and burns all over her torso and limbs from incidents encountered in the past. This frightens Cassian, but also makes him slightly angered at the sight of it.

"Can't you see, Cassian? I've been through hell!" The naked twenty-one-year-old woman almost yells loudly, her lips quivering after she had spoken those words. And all Cassian could do was stare at her, admiring the beauty of her sobbing face. But in his head, he was summing up everything Jyn said about herself and what she's been through. Yes. His girlfriend has been through rough hell worse than he's been. He stares at the scars and burns on her body. It was very obvious.

"I'm just as dangerous as Orson...or even the Emperor." Jyn says coldly, with more tears trickling down her face. "What if I did end up doing something horrible to you, Cassian?"

Those words struck Cassian again, this time harder. He felt his heart sink, and he felt the urge to deny it. "No. No, no, no. That will never happen. I promise you, Jyn. You're not as evil as they are. We know that." Cassian explains to Jyn and consoles her; he comforts her by placing both hands on her shoulders, and they lock gazes into each other's eyes. "We've all lost someone, and something, that we love. But Jyn..." Cassian rubs the tears away from Jyn's face. "...you can't let the past haunt you. The past doesn't have to make you a horrible person in the present, Jyn."

Jyn's hyperventilating breaths gradually comes to a halt, and she listens to her Captain closely through wet eyes.

"What matters the most is the present. You don't let the past make you a horrible person. You let the past prevent you from becoming one, and change for the better, the future. The past doesn't matter." Cassian tells his Sergeant, rubbing her face softly with a thumb, and then brushing one of her side fringes behind her ear. "All that we've done in the past...led us here together. I don't care what you've done in the past. I only care about you, and who you chose to be since we met." Cassian tries his best to form a small smile with his lips. "Stardust."

Jyn's lips wanted to form a smile from those caring and comforting words, but they couldn't. She was flattered and touched, though.

"Jyn, the true home..." Cassian touches her chest where her heart is. "...is where the heart is. You choose your home. And...I think it's fine to say that the Rebellion is your home. Our home."

Jyn's heart is struck by emotion and feelings of joy. Home is where the heart is. Jyn knew that her true home was Cassian, the man she truly loves. She is proud to have a man who accepts her for who she is. Despite continuous waves of tears releasing form her eyes, Cassian keeps rubbing them away just so that he could smile at the sad, but beautiful face in front of him. "I love you, Cassian. You...have no idea how much I truly do." Jyn declares in a grateful tone.

She lunges in, planting passionate kisses on Cassian's lips. It was a very strong moment for both of them, and they could feel the power of the Force working around them. Cassian notices that Jyn's kyber crystal necklace begins glowing. Cassian embraces Jyn's naked body gently. The naked female body in front of him is all that he truly, passionately cares about. After all the rough things she has done and that she has been through, he realized that throughout her whole life, a rebel was rising in her up until the day they met. Her body may be scarred from her experiences, but to Cassian, she is beautiful to him, in the inside and outside.

Jyn looks up at Cassian with her sad face, and mouths, "I love you," quietly.

Cassian smiles at her and whispers out loud. "I love you more."

Since their resurrection, Jyn didn't have to be alone anymore. There came a man who would care for her, love her, be with her, protect her, and fight her battles with the Empire with her. Jyn knew that Cassian is the one, the true and rightful love of her life. Her soulmate. Her partner. Her other 'half' that she would be with for an eternity.

"Everything will be alright, Jyn. We will take down Orson Krennic, again, this time, together. Just trust the Force." Cassian assures Jyn, repeating her mother's last words to her. Jyn nods while she buries her wet face into his warm chest, with her eyes closed.

Unbeknownst to Jyn, Cassian's eyes are open as he held naked Jyn in his arms, and he notices from the corners of both of his eyes blue glowing auras: glowing auras that were from the Force spirits of original K-2SO, Chirrut Imwe, Baze Malbus, and Bodhi Rook. The four deceased Rogue One members stood around their two live teammates, watching their Captain embrace their naked, crying Sergeant.

Then, they huddled into a group embrace as well, with Jyn and Cassian in the middle.

[HeartbreakOne]

(As of 10/21/2017 this story has been updated to Chapter 19: A Rebel's Past and I will update it when I am not so busy. To be continued in the next chapter...)

[HeartbreakOne]

The picture that serves as my story's cover and representation. Credit goes to artist Sempaiko from Deviantart and Tumblr.

[TheDutchman]

Wow HB1. First off, you are a prolific writer . And you still ended on a cliffhanger!  This story must have taken you a long time  . I applaud you with your writing.  One of the things that I appreciate about our community is the disparate genres that shape the individual narratives.  On that point: HB, you are a romantic 

I would never have considered a story continuing the Rogue1 theme^^  But, as I said, it enriches the SW universe  . One thing that I was wondering: how did K-2 become one with the Force?  It's an interesting concept, regardless 

BTW: how in the heck did Krennic survive?!  I can't wait to see! 

And that art is perfect HB!  Superbly beautiful 

Until next installment friends