Star Wars: Rebel Rising(70)

But then it hit Jyn what Commander Solange was asking her to do. “You want me to forge credits?”

The commander nodded.

“Counterfeiting these would be as difficult as counterfeiting real credits,” Jyn said, analyzing the gambling hall chip.

“Not really,” Commander Solange said. “There is less security on one of these. The Empire is slightly better at protecting its funds.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm, but Jyn had to admit that she was right.

“If I’m caught, the gambling lord will—”

“I’ll protect you,” Commander Solange said, but they both knew that wasn’t true. If Jyn was caught, she’d be on her own.

“It’s too obvious if you just show up with a pile of chips and pay off your debt,” Jyn said, thinking aloud.

“So make me a portion of them, and I’ll win my way out of debt.” Commander Solange’s voice was impatient. She leaned over her desk again, closer to Jyn this time. “Will you do it?”

Jyn’s hand tightened around the chip. “I’ll need supplies,” she said. “And payment.”

“Clearing your name of possession of forged documents is payment enough.” Commander Solange narrowed her eyes.

“No, it’s not,” Jyn said. “I want a thousand credits.”

“A thousand?” Commander Solange laughed.

“That’s a fraction of your debt. A fraction of what I’ll be counterfeiting for you. A thousand.”

“Fine.” Commander Solange waved her hand again. “But do it quickly.”

“I also need a place to work.” Jyn spoke in a rush. She was pressing her luck, and she knew it.

Commander Solange cocked her head. “You can work here. I have business on Uchinao; I will be gone for a week. You may use my office. There’s a suite there that’s stocked with whatever you might need. We have a deal?”

Jyn’s mouth slid into a smile. “Deal,” she said, shaking the hand of the Imperial officer.





It was little wonder why Commander Solange had been assigned to Five Points station. There was nothing there that the Empire wanted, so it didn’t matter that she was utterly incompetent at her job.

Once Commander Solange had set Jyn up with all the supplies she needed, she left, stating clearly when she’d be back and that all droids and other officers had been banned from her office. As long as Jyn was quiet, she’d be fine. Jyn waited several hours and immediately turned to Commander Solange’s databanks. She was no slicer, but it was easy to break through the commander’s meager protections and scan the least secure files. She flashed everything to a portable datapad she stole from the commander’s office. Maybe Commander Solange had thought that Jyn’s forgery skills were outdated, but Jyn had just downloaded clearance codes for any ship she wanted to steal in the future.

It’d be easier to get paid than to steal a ship, so Jyn focused on the task at hand. Forging the Pso’s Palace credit chips didn’t prove as difficult as she’d feared. A replicating holograph provided her with the casing image, and while the internal security of the chips was complicated, it was nothing that a little patience couldn’t solve. Jyn created a pile of Pso’s Palace credit chips, all of varying amounts, and even scuffed them up to make them look older and used.

As with any counterfeit, a close examination of the credit chips would prove these were false. But Jyn had had Commander Solange buy up a couple thousand legitimate chips, and when she mixed them together, it was impossible to tell which were real and which were not by sight or scan.

When Commander Solange returned, the chips were done. “Oh,” she breathed. “These are marvelous.”

“Remember the plan,” Jyn said. It was Commander Solange’s own strategy, but she didn’t seem eager to follow through. “Use these to win a little. Stick to games of skill, like sabacc, and not just chance. The wheel of fate never plays outside the house’s favor.”

Commander Solange nodded, but she was distracted, her eyes glued to the credit chips.

“A little at a time,” Jyn reminded her. “Don’t blow it all at once.”

“If I do, you can just make more,” Commander Solange said.

“That’s a bad idea,” Jyn snapped back, but she wasn’t sure the commander heard her. Flood the gambling hall with fake chips, they were sure to be caught. The whole scam relied on Commander Solange winning in a slow and steady way.

“Right, well,” Jyn checked her own credits—real, Imperial credit chips. Commander Solange had paid her a thousand credits, as promised. “I’m gone.”

“Not off the station,” Commander Solange called.

“What?” Jyn whirled around. She’d intended to use the credits to buy passage on a ship—any ship.

“At least for a few standard weeks,” Commander Solange continued. “I’ve banned your scandocs from leaving Five Points, and I’ve posted your picture in case you try to bypass that. Must be sure this works and that I have no future use of you.” She tossed Jyn a communicator. “Just in case.”

Jyn ground her teeth. There was no point arguing. This was what you got when you dealt with the Empire.



Jyn rented a bedroom from an older man near the wall of the main floor of the station. He left her to her own devices, and the rent was both cheap and accepted on a weekly basis. Vegetable protein straws and nutritive milk was a bland diet, but it kept Jyn from bleeding funds. She only had to survive a little while longer, and she could escape.