CHAPTER FOUR
( WELCOME TO HELL. )

BY the time the trio had finally left the hangars and made it to the runway Kitra had begun to calm her hammering heart. The fear was still there, of course, as well as the sick churning of her stomach that came with her father's name. But for now she was composed enough to hide it.

"Captain Andor!" A voice called out after them.

Cassian paused, mid-stride, to find the source of the yell — General Draven. Cassian sighed and readjusted the duffel bag strapped across his shoulder. "Give me a moment." He said, pulling his bag over his shoulder and handing it over to Kitra before hurrying towards Draven.

"No rush." Jyn drawled while Kit took the bag and slug it over her back and led the remaining duo on board the parked U-wing.

The ageing Rebellion cruiser was in need of a serious update, with crude welded marks and exposed wire-panels pockmarking the metal walls like the scars of a war veteran. It was clearly no where near Imperial grade, but it served its purpose. Kit set the bags down and drew in a long breath. She felt more at home here than she did in any Rebel camp.

"Kitra Erso!" Kit flinched and looked towards the sound of the metallic voice. Towering over the controls in the ship's cockpit was a metallic grey security droid, emblazoned with the white Imperial mark. The droid swivelled its white eyes towards Jyn, "And prisoner six-two-nine-five-alpha."

"Play nice, Kay-Too." Kitra warned as she headed up to the cockpit to check over the controls. "We don't want her dead—" she cast Jyn a sideways look, "—yet."

"I am Kay-Tooso." K-2SO told the newly founded Rebel, "I am a reprogrammed Imperial droid."

Jyn rose her eyebrows and gave Kit a look that said is this guy serious, before fixating her eyes once more on K-2. "We've met." She said tensely.

"I assume that your presence means you will be joining us on our trip to Jedha." K-2 continued with a sigh, or the droid-equivalent to it.

"Apparently so."

"That is a bad idea." K-2 said in a dark manner, apparently unaware of the sudden glare Jyn gave him as he continued. "I think so, and so does Kitra. But what do I know? My specialty is just strategic analysis."

Kitra struggled to suppress the amused smile that crept over her lips at the startled expression on her sisters face. Instead she occupied herself by looking outside the viewport of the cruiser, where Cassian and Draven were still busy talking together. It didn't take an expert to know that their conversation was not mean to be overheard. A deep curiosity sparked in Kitra's chest as the manner in which Cassian was standing, with a guarded sense of anger. What was Draven saying to him?

"Can you tell what they're saying?" Jyn asked K-2.

"Yes." The droid responded simply and walked off.

Jyn sighed at the droids lack of elaboration and began to search around the back of the carrier, supposedly for any available weapons. Kitra did her best to ignore it and went back to her pre-flight checkups. Only when she heard the sound of the exterior door closing did she dare to look up again. "You met Kay-Too?" Cassian asked Jyn as he entered.

"Charming." Jyn replied.

Cassian only shrugged, "He tends to say whatever comes to his circuits." He said, "Its a by-product of the reprogramming."

Ignoring the previous statement by Cassian, K-2 turned up to look back to the two in the back, his white eyes searching. "Why does she get a blaster and I don't?" He wondered innocently.

"What?" Kitra turned around suddenly and left her seat, advancing towards Jyn with every intention on taking back the blaster Jyn now had strapped against her waist. "You'd better hand that back." She warned.

Jyn shifted her stance so that the weapon was hidden from view. "I know how to use it." She said.

"That's exactly what we're afraid of." Cassian pointed out, considerably more calm than his counterpart.

"Give it to me." Kit demanded, extending her hand for Jyn to hand it to.

"We're going to Jedha," Jyn argued, "That's a war zone. You want me to risk my life to find Saw, little sister? Well trust goes both ways."

Kit scowled and prepared to take it by force, but was stopped by Cassian's hand around her wrist. "Don't, Kit. It's not worth it." He told her.

Kit grumbled something under her breath, which no-doubt contained a fair amount of hidden swearing, and fixed Jyn with a lasting glare. Without waiting she yanked her arm out of the taller boy's grip and marched back to the cockpit, not unlike a toddler would stomp back to their room after a losing their favourite toy.

Cassian sighed, giving Jyn one lasting glance, and followed her up. K-2 went to follow, but the door closed in his face, leaving the reprogrammed droid stuck in the hold with the now armed prisoner. "Well," he said in an offended manner. "That was rude."

• • •

As soon as the door slid closed behind Cassian he sunk into the co-pilots seat beside Kitra, who was staring resolutely ahead of her. Cassian sighed and raked his fingers through his hair, pushing it off of his forehead as he turned to see his very pissed looking pilot. "I know you don't trust her, Kit." He said, "But if we want her to trust us then she needs to know we don't want her dead."

Kitra ignored him, already sketching a flight course in her mind as the engines fired into life. "Kit?" He urged.

"What did Draven want?" She asked instead, moving off of the subject of her newly recruited sister. Her voice was cold. She was still pissed that her friend had sided against her, and she wanted him to know that. Was it childish? Probably. But, in many regards, including her age, Kitra was still a child.

Cassian swallowed deeply, a sudden spike of fear glowing in his normally composed eyes. "Oh, nothing. He just wanted to confirm the details."

Kit frowned, not buying he obvious lie. "Sure." She huffed.

Cassian swallowed deeply, unable to stop the guilt that crawled over his skin. If only she knew...

• • •

THERE was nothing remarkable about the small moon of Jedha. As a child Kitra remembered her father mentioning the world once or twice as a holy place, a focal point of the force. But if that once might have been true Kitra couldn't see it now.

"Welcome to hell." She breathed out a small sigh, "Or what the Empire left of it."

Jyn said nothing as she leaned inside of the frame entering the cockpit, watching the approaching planet with unveiled distaste. Cassian only pressed his lips into a thin line and geared the ship for landing.

The ship began to shake from the pressure of the wind as Kitra guided it into Jedha's outer atmosphere. All three occupants were jolted suddenly, Jyn's face growing pale and slightly green the more the ship began to sway. Kit and Cassian didn't seem to share the nausea.

By the time Kitra set down the old U-Wing in the rocky field behind the city Jyn had retreated to the hold once more to distract herself with gearing up for the mission. Cassian chose to subtly ignore the fact that the older of the Erso girls also slipped a pair of combat truncheons into her satchel behind Kit's back.

When Kit finally emerged from the cockpit her beige Alliance uniform was covered by Cassian's old jacket, the one she'd claimed after he'd leant it to her during a particularly cold night on Hoth stranded while they waited for reinforcements. "What?" She asked when she noticed the taller boy's staring.

"Nothing." Cassian quickly said, averting his eyes back to his hands as he pulled on a pair of threadbare gloves. Kit nodded and readjusted her scarf so that it covered the her hair and neck from the chill outside the cruiser.

The two of them made their way out of the old U-Wing, K-2 in close pursuit, to find Jyn perched on top of a rocky mount overlooking the distant city. Kit's eyes followed her sisters to land on the smudged view of Jedha City, the ancient stone plazas and golden-domed mansions obscured by a hazy, cold wind. But all the city's rustic allure was countered by the blackened belly of an Imperial cruiser hovering high over the landscape, the sleek metal image enough to send an icy rod of fear down the Rebel Pilot's spine. She fished out a pair of quadnoc's from her bag and held them up, gazing at the smaller cargo ships hovering around the Destroyer like flies.

"What's with the Destroyer?" Jyn wondered, shielding her eyes from the meek sun to get a better view.

"The Empire's been sending those since Saw Garrera started attacking their shipments." Cassian explained. Jyn nodded, unsurprised. Both the Erso girls knew all about Saw's unrelenting nature. Kit just wasn't sure whether to admire it or reject it.

"What are they bringing in?" Jyn asked.

"Not in, it's what they're taking out that matters." Kit responded darkly, handing her older sibling the quadnocs. "Kyber crystals. Any that they can get their hands on."

"We think that the Empire will probably use it to fuel their weapon." Cassian elaborated on his partner's behalf.

"For the planet killer?" Jyn wondered, her voice perhaps more grave than she'd intended.

"You still don't believe us?" Kit asked exasperatedly. Of her and Cassian she was far less contained with her emotions.

Jyn shrugged and handed back the quadnoc's to Cassian, who tucked them into his bag. "Maybe." The older woman said, "Like your boss said. It's the kind of thing the Empire would do."

"The natural culmination of everything the Emperor had done." Cassian recited with a bemused grin.

"The fact that the Empire wants a planet killer doesn't surprise me." Jyn went on, "It'd be more surprising if it actually works."

"It might not." K-2 chimed in cheerfully. "Not much crystals left at this point."

Jyn fixed the droid with an irritated glare, apparently still upset by his motor-mouth. Kit noticed the way her eyes lingered on K-2's Imperial insignia. "Maybe we should leave target practice here." Jyn suggested.

"I hope you're not talking about me." K-2 said in a hurt manner. Kit ground her teeth at the fact that Jyn already thought she had the right to be giving orders.

"She's right." Cassian agreed, earning another surprised glare from the pilot. "What? We need to blend in."

"I can blend in." K-2 argued defiantly. But Cassian had already moved on from the subject, his dark eyes raking the horizon to find the best route to the city.

Jyn snorted and rolled her forest coloured eyes at the droids remark, "With Saw's forces? Or the Imperials? Half the people here want to reprogram you. The other half want to put a hole in your head."

"I'm surprised you're so concerned with my safety." K-2 continued in a voice that might have been mistaken for sarcasm by droid standards.

"I'm not concerned." Jyn shrugged, "I'm just worried our enemies might miss you and hit me."

Cassian had already started walking away. Jyn and Kit followed. "What a tragedy." Kit mumbled under her breath as the group began to set off, the younger girl's finger toying with the trigger of the blaster on her hip.

• • •

WTH GUYS! This story had literally been posted for three days and it's already received so much support! Thank you all so much I'm scREAMING!!