Alexander Freed

Galen turned. Lyra’s lips curled until she smiled. She’d started smiling again the day they’d left Coruscant.

“Set the rendezvous and take Jyn,” he said. “I’ll finish here.”

Lyra abruptly stopped double-checking her bundle of provisions. “That wasn’t the plan, Galen.”

“I’ll meet you there.”

“You have to come with us.”

Her eyes were hard. Please smile, he thought.

“I have to buy you time,” he said.

The sensor light went dark. A fault seemed unlikely.

Lyra just watched him.

“Only I can,” he said.

“Jyn. Come here.”

He considered what he might say; considered what impression he wanted to leave Jyn if everything ended in disaster.

“Remember—” He spoke with deliberate care, hoping to etch the words in her bones. “Whatever I do, I do it to protect you. Say you understand.”

“I understand,” Jyn said.