Star Wars: Rebel Rising(15)

Reece rolled away, groaning, then stood.

Jyn let the rock fall from her hands, not breaking eye contact with him.

“That’s—” Reece started.

“Cheating?” Jyn said. “I wasn’t aware there were rules.”

She headed back to the outpost as Reece’s men swarmed him. When she passed Saw, he said in a low voice that only she could hear, “Nice pointed stick.”



Jyn stayed in her room until Reece and his crew left that evening.

Saw knocked on her door to let her know he was gone. When Jyn let him inside, she noticed that he had a dark greenish-brown cloth in his hand.

“What’s that for?” Jyn asked.

“You.” Saw draped the cloth around Jyn’s neck. “I want you to wear this from now on.”

She tugged at the durable carbon-cotton scarf. “Why?”

Saw’s gaze dropped. “I know you won’t take off that necklace. I know what it means to you. But Jyn”—he finally met her gaze—“you can’t let anyone else see it. Galen may have worked with kyber crystals, but they’re rare. And the fact that you have one, and that I’ve made it known I’m asking about them…” He ran a hand over his smooth head. “It’s not safe. We can’t let others find out who you are. Who your father is.”

“Reece works for you,” Jyn said in a soft voice.

“Reece works for payment,” Saw said. “And there are people who would pay him far more than I could if he knew you were Galen Erso’s daughter.”

Jyn tugged the scarf down, covering her neck and chest. She felt inexplicably exposed.

“He saw it,” she said. “He knew it was a kyber.” I told him it was a gift from my mother, she thought but didn’t say. She didn’t want Saw to know how foolish she’d been by just handing Reece another piece of the puzzle of who she was.

“And he knows that I’ve been very interested in Galen’s work, and figuring out just what it is he’s making for the Empire,” Saw conceded. “But Reece is also thickheaded, and I doubt he’s going to think about today beyond just how well you beat him. Still,” he added, readjusting Jyn’s new scarf, “just in case.”

She pressed the cloth to her chest. “Just in case.”

“Xosad and his men are still here. We’re setting up our next mission.” He spoke with an expectant tone that Jyn found curious. “Want to join in?” he asked, grinning.

Her eyes rounded. Saw had never, not once, allowed her to join him on a mission. He had ignored her pleading, eventually forbidding her from even asking anymore.

“If I had known you’d let me join you on missions as soon as I beat up a boy, I’d have done it a long time ago,” she said.

“It wasn’t that,” Saw said. “I already knew you were strong enough.”

He turned to her door. “Then what?” Jyn asked, bouncing on her heels. “What changed your mind?”

When he looked back at her, there was sadness in his eyes that belied his lingering smile. But he didn’t answer her.





Xosad and his crew were finishing dinner by the time Saw led Jyn into the room. She grabbed a plate for herself before everything was cleared away and ate quickly as the men started discussing the upcoming mission. The Togruta, Jari, slipped Jyn the last puff cake as Saw poured out the lum for the others.

“Did you hear about the T-7 ion disrupter rifles?” Xosad asked.

Saw shook his head. “Nasty business. Wish we could get our hands on some.”

“The Empire’s stockpiling. Have you heard from Idryssa?” Xosad meant to slip the last question in casually, but Jyn caught the sharp edge to it. The different people Saw worked with splintered off in ways she couldn’t always trace.

“She’s working with some other group,” Saw said.

Xosad snorted disapprovingly, then got up and started clearing the dishes from the table.

“There’s been a lot of movements around the mines. Mostly doonium and dolovite,” Saw added.

Xosad’s eyes shot to Jyn, then moved quickly away. “And kyber crystals.” He had been there, along with his men, when Jyn had fought Reece.

Saw didn’t miss the dig. “Leave my daughter alone,” Saw said. There was a warning in his voice.

Xosad glanced back at Saw as he set the plates by the sink. Huge dark Saw who looked nothing like small pale Jyn. “No, she’s not your daughter,” he said genially. “And it seems strange you’ve got a girl here on Wrea with a kyber crystal. They’re kind of rare, Saw,” he added sarcastically.

Jyn adjusted her scarf.

“Xosad,” Saw growled.

“I was there, too, Saw, at the Wanton Wellspring.” Xosad narrowed his eyes at Jyn. “Has was my friend, too.”

“Has talks too much.”

“So are you who I think you are, little girl?” Xosad asked quietly, leaning so close that his lekku brushed Jyn’s knees. She fought the urge to flinch away. “Because if you are, Saw’s hidden a pile of credits on this miserable little planet.”

“I told you,” Saw said, right behind Xosad. “She. Is. My. Daughter. ” He grabbed Xosad by the shoulder and yanked him around. His eyes were so narrowed that the scarred one had almost disappeared behind his squint. “Understand?” he growled.