“Any questions?” Jyn asked his team. They were in the meeting room on the ship, and he could tell by the concerned frowns on their faces that they had some. He’d avoided disclosing anything related the truth behind what they were doing, fully aware that he couldn’t afford to put his team in shock before combat.

  “Is that High Command’s final stance on the matter?” Rann hedged. That the Tribunal was risking such fanatics coming into armed contact with Adrian made her wonder just what was said for that to be the solution. “We eliminate them without mercy?”

  “Yes,” Jyn responded heavily. “We now find ourselves in a highly volatile, potentially ruinous situation. Threats need to be neutralized if we’re to stand a chance.”

  “A chance at what?” Rann replied.

  “At averting disaster,” Jyn said carefully. “The Rukkan have threatened war should they not be permitted to meet Adrian.” He eyed Tassie, who wore a deeply concerned expression. No doubt wondering just how much the Rukkan truly knew.

  “Is killing them all the best way to avoid that?” Rann asked.

  “Hopefully so,” Jyn said.

  Rann remained unconvinced but held her tongue. Reya and Adrian were going to be at risk once the shooting began, and she doubted their ability to protect both of them if Adrian was alone with the diplomat.

  Sensing that there were no more questions at the moment, Jyn proceeded to explain each person’s roles regarding their mission update. By the time he was finished, the crew wore hard expressions. Jyn felt bad for keeping such vital information from them, but he needed them at their best. Lives were on the line and though they may hate him for it later, that was simply the nature of his job.

  He just hoped they would understand his secrecy when the time came for them to learn the truth. “Rann, I’ll leave it to you to talk to Reya and Adrian about this,” he said. “You’re all dismissed. We don’t have much time to prepare. Tassie, I need you to remain behind for a minute.”

  Everybody stood and left, with only Rann throwing one last glance towards Tassie and Jyn as the doors slid shut behind her. Now that they were alone, Jyn could discuss several topics he wasn’t at liberty to before the others. “I know you’re wondering why the Tribunal is permitting this situation to happen,” Jyn began. “The Rukkan have learned of the purple chemical,” he said bluntly. Tassie flinched. “They have video proof of one of Adrian’s experiments. The very same one I saw, I suspect.”

  “How’s that possible?” Tassie asked, shocked. “We’ve been so careful with the information. Not even you guys were allowed to know of its existence. Apart from me, you’re the only one that knows. The others still aren’t aware that it exists.”

  “I don’t know how it came to light. Since there are so few people with the security clearance required to know about the chemical, the list of who could’ve leaked the knowledge is extremely short. Unfortunately, you’re near the top of it.”

  “What’s going to happen to me?” Tassie fretted.

  “I wasn’t told,” Jyn said. “Since High Command is trusting you with this mission, I’m guessing nothing for now. Although you’ll be investigated at some point. There’s no way the Tribunal is going to let this go.”

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  Tassie eyed Jyn warily. “What do you think of this?” she asked, Things had been difficult with Jyn for months and while it wouldn’t come as a surprise if he thought she was involved it would still hurt knowing he didn’t trust her.

  Jyn took a deep breath. “I think you’re innocent,” he said. He smiled bitterly when he saw the look of surprise written all over her face. “I know we’ve had our differences lately, but I trust that my teammates wouldn’t commit treason.”

  Tassie was at a loss. She was certain he had no faith in her anymore after her decision to abandon Reya to her fate so long ago. “I thought you hated me,” she said. Jyn’s eyes drooped downwards. “You’ve even said you don’t want me as a teammate anymore.”

  “I was angry that we abandoned Reya when I thought we still had a chance to save her. Then when we finally did, she wasn’t the woman I remembered her as. She’s changed so much since that mission. It wasn’t fair of me to blame you like that. You made the call I should have. I’m sorry.”

  It was the apology she’d been waiting for all these months. Now that she finally had it, Tassie didn’t find herself quite as forgiving as she’d anticipated. His words sounded hollow. “You antagonized me for months!” she threw in her Captain’s face. “Made me feel awful beyond the emotional turmoil abandoning our friend took on me.” Feelings she’d buried and repressed for months exploded out of her and she didn’t even bother trying to stop them. “And now you’re sorry? After all the shit you pulled and all the things you said, why should I accept a token apology right before our mission? Do you think it’ll magically make things better between us?”

  Jyn gave her a long, searching look before responding. “I know I’ve blamed you for things beyond your control and that wasn’t right of me to do. I can’t go back and change the past. But I can start making amends now.”

  “And why now?” Tassie said, still angry. “We have an urgent mission to prepare for, and you’re wasting precious time talking about useless feelings.”

  “I’ve had my security clearance upgraded,” Jyn replied. “I might not know the same things you do regarding your research, but now I know some of the secrets you’ve been keeping. There are things even you haven’t come to learn and in light of them, all my past arguments and squabbles seem so petty. So pointless. I’ve spent a long time wondering where things went wrong. No matter how I look at it, it all points back to me. I was the problem, and it took me this long to realize it. I don’t want to go forward carrying all this animosity towards me.”

  “Animosity that was well-earned,” Tassie sneered.

  “I know,” Jyn said sadly. “I’m trying to make amends for how I’ve wronged you. I don’t expect you to change instantly, but I’m trying. That’s a start, and it’s all I can offer you right now.” He ran his hand over his face. “I can’t talk to the others about the purple chemical yet, which made it hard to justify the actions we’re going to take during this mission.”

  “You mean the cold-blooded murder you’ve ordered us to commit?” Tassie said derisively. “I didn’t say much during the meeting, but what’s really going on? Surely, the Rukkan learning of the purple chemical doesn’t warrant such a response. I don’t understand what game the Tribunal is playing at.”

  “It’s not a game,” Jyn said seriously. “And that’s why we have our orders. We can’t afford to be pushed around by other factions right now. We have more important things on our hands than dealing with petulant children. We need to show the Rukkan that war with us would be a bad idea to deter them from that course of action. Our resources are stretched thin.”

  “I still think that killing the diplomatic envoy and keeping their High Diplomat hostage is going to trigger a war,” Tassie said.

  “He’s dangerous,” Jyn said. “He knows too much and after his discussion with Adrian, it’ll be even worse. We need to keep as much information contained until the time is right.”

  “And when will that be?” Tassie asked.

  “Whenever the Tribunal tells us.” Jyn leveled her a look. “This is bigger than all of us. More than you know. Weakness isn’t a luxury we can afford.”

  “Killing a bunch of innocents shows how weak we are!” Tassie retorted, upset. “The strong don’t need to project their power on the helpless.” Logically, she knew they were soldiers and needed to follow their orders for the sake of the faction, but for the first time she couldn’t help but feel disgusted by their orders. “They haven’t done anything to us! Give them a chance, at least.”

  “We only have one chance to teach the Rukkan an abject lesson as to the consequences of their threats,” Jyn intoned. “This is it.”