Star Wars: Rebel Rising(84)

And Jyn just stood there.

The stormtrooper approached with a third set of cuffs. “No,” Jyn said, stepping back and shaking her head.

Blue narrowed her eyes.

“Her too,” Admiral Rocwyn said idly.

“No!” Jyn said louder, jerking away from the stormtrooper.

“How did you find us out?” Blue snarled, wrenching against her cuffs.

The admiral smiled, her lips curving up slowly, maliciously.

“How?” Blue shouted. The other three stormtroopers marched back to the port, the rest of the crew cuffed, their heads low.

“That disgusting Rayeth gave you up before he died,” Admiral Rocwyn said. “But even if he hadn’t, Liana was kind enough to plant a tracker on you. We know everything. As captain, you’ll be executed for your treason.” She stated this in a mild, matter-of-fact tone that brooked no argument. “The others…” She shrugged.

“Traitor!” Blue screamed at Jyn.

“I tried to tell you,” Jyn said. Her eyes moved to Blue, and she saw only fury and distrust in the Devaronian’s gaze.

“You didn’t try that hard,” Blue snarled. There was such pure rage in Blue’s eyes that Jyn flinched. But there was something else there that she recognized, too, that reminded her of Saw. He’d had that same fury.

And Jyn realized with a shock, she had once burned with belief, too. Her heart thudded in her chest, hollow.

“Her as well,” Admiral Rocwyn said in an irritated voice, flicking her hand at Jyn. “Hurry up.”

“I did what you said!” Jyn said, whirling around to face the admiral. She was aware—and ashamed—of the plea in her voice, of the way the crew of the XO1 stood witness to her treachery.

“Do you think that protects you?” Admiral Rocwyn said, feigning confusion. “Don’t be stupid, girl. You’re a petty criminal at best. We have no further need of you. And besides,” she added, shrugging, “if I do, I know exactly where I’ll be able to find you.”

As Jyn stood there in shock, the stormtrooper finally clasped one of her wrists in a cuff.

“In one of the Empire’s glorious labor camps,” the admiral finished.

Blind panic surged in Jyn. As the stormtrooper reached for her other wrist, she swung around wildly, slamming her fist painfully into his helmet.

“Come peacefully,” the stormtrooper ordered.

“Like hell I will,” Jyn snarled. She kicked out, low, sweeping the stormtrooper to the ground. Another attacked her, twisting her cuffed arm painfully behind her, but Jyn wrenched free, pushing him away. Something primal within her roared in her blood, and she fought against the stormtroopers viciously, far more desperately than she’d ever fought before. She felt certain that fate had finally caught up with her, that if she didn’t escape now, she never would.

But it did no good.

With the help of a stun prod and a sharp kick in her ribs, a stormtrooper dragged Jyn, cuffed, over to the wall, forcing her to stand beside Blue as the admiral strolled back to her Star Destroyer and the troopers prepared to put them in the brig.

Jyn stared at the metal floor, her eyes stinging. She could tell that Blue was watching her, and she dared to look up at the Devaronian, over to Shawburn. They had accepted her. They had wanted her to be a part of their movement, their cause. They had put their hope in her hands.

And she had thrown it away.

For nothing. In the end, she hadn’t helped Blue or the cause or even herself. She had only wanted to escape this life, and now she was being crushed by it.

If I was going to go out like this anyway, Jyn thought as the troopers led her to the brig, it should have been for more than nothing.





IMPERIAL DETENTION CENTER & LABOR CAMP LEG-817

LOCATION: Wobani

PRISONER: Liana Hallik, #6295A

CRIMES: Forgery of Imperial Documents, Resisting Arrest, Aggravated Assault, Possession of Unsanctioned Weapon (two counts)





Her trial had been a joke. Admiral Rocwyn had passed down her sentence with barely a glance in Jyn’s direction. Jyn had not been permitted to speak for herself or to defend her crimes of forgery and resisting arrest. When she tried to protest that she had been committing forgery for the Empire and had been resisting an unfair arrest, Commander Solange had panicked, suggesting that the admiral fit Jyn with a muzz regulator. The cold steel wrapped around her head, covering her mouth, and Jyn had not been allowed to speak another word until after the admiral had passed judgment and sentenced her to the LEG-817 prison camp on Wobani.

She had two bits of luck. The first was that Admiral Rocwyn believed her scandocs were legitimate and that Jyn’s real name was Liana Hallik. The second was that when they scanned her for weapons, the stormtroopers in charge of inspecting Jyn had thought her necklace was a worthless piece of glass.

As she’d been led away, Jyn had wondered if she could effectively fight back. The muzz regulator around her mouth bit into the thin skin of her skull, and the binders on her wrists were heavy and unbreakable. When she tried to jerk away from the stormtroopers holding her elbows, their grip tightened, and one of them warned he had a stun prod in his other hand. He sparked it in front of her, and Jyn did not need a second warning. She did not see Blue or the others. She never saw any of them again. She liked to pretend that they had escaped, somehow. But she never really believed it.