CHAPTER TEN
( DON'T TELL ME THE ODDS. )

"YOU'RE showing indications of stress," K-2 declared from his position beside Cassian in the cockpit. "You should be careful — you're a much worse pilot when you're stressed."

"Really?" Cassian asked dryly, "What gave it away?"

"You overcorrected with the throttle control," K-2 pointed out. Cassian repressed the urge to roll his eyes as his droids static nature. "Perhaps we should let —"

"I can fly my own ship," Cassian finished the sentence before K-2 could even mention her name. They both knew that compared to Kitra Cassian's piloting skills were mediocre at best. But Cassian had too much pride to admit that now.

It didn't take a genius to know that Cassian was furious at the youngest Erso sister. She had openly argued with him in front of the entire crew, and on top of that pointed out the one thing that Cassian had been denying for as long as he'd been with the Rebellion; Cassian Andor was a puppet. He was doing exactly what General Draven had asked him to do on Yavin IV.

He was going to find Galen, and he was going to kill him ... behind Kitra's back.

From he beginning Kit thought the mission was to bring Galen back for trial. Draven had convinced Cassian to keep her in the dark, to protect her from the truth. But Cassian knew as well as anyone that Kit didn't need protecting from the truth. He just didn't tell her because he was scared of what she might do if she found out.

Kitra Erso was an inferno. She had been since the second he'd met her. But unless she was controlled, Kit would burn them all.

"We're approaching Eadu," K-2 said. "Exiting hyperspace in four minutes."

Cassian sighed and leaned back in his chair, running his fingers through the dark strands of hair falling over his forehead. "Get Bodhi, I want his eyes on the landing zone."

K-2 looked at him expectantly, and Cassian let an irritated groan pass his lips. "Our chances of surviving the landing will increase by twenty-seven per-cent with Kitra as pilot."

"Do what you have to, Kay-Tu," he snapped. "What does my opinions matter anyway?"

• • •

EADU was a dark, miserable lump of a planet. Even during the day the sky's were drowning in the thick obscurity of storm clouds, and the towering rock faces were weathered into to steep, jagged inclines under the torrential rain.

As the U-Wing broke through the planets cloud cover heavy gales buffeted the ship, water falling as thick as snow over the viewport of the Rebellion cruiser.

"Low," Bodhi hissed, his fingernails digging into the back of the pilot's seat. He was freshly scrubbed and bandaged now, the sheen of fear formerly clouding his eyes scrubbed clear. "Lower!" he insisted again.

In front of him Kit angled the ship downwards again, taking it as low as she dared. Her heart ached with every heavy beat against her ribs while her eyes raked the landscape for a safe passage through the foreboding Eadu valley. Her mind kept reeling back to the damage the ship had sustained escaping Jedha, and the exposed electrical wires now writhed with rain.

The ship emerged from the fog to overlook the landscape; tall spires of obsidian coloured stone and broad canopies of rock woven across the terrain like an intricate mountain tapestry. "There, the canyon," Bodhi pointed over her shoulder to the barely discernibly valley ahead. "They have landing trackers and patrol squadrons. You've got to stay in the canyon, keep it low."

Kit nodded and drew a shaky breath past her lips. She was one of the best pilots in the Rebellion. But this ...this was testing even her limits.

The ship sunk over the back of a retreating gale and K-2 went to adjust the thrusters. "Watch it, Tooso," Kit smacked the droids skeletal fingers out of the way before he could throw the whole ship out of the air.

K-2 sulked and leant back in his chair. "If we proceed there's a nineteen percent chance of failure." He pointed out.

Cassian leaned frustratedly over Kit's other shoulder, boxing her in between Bodhi and the Rebel captain. Kit swallowed deeply when his breath grazed the back of her neck. "How much farther?" He asked.

"I don't know," Bodhi answered. "I'm not sure, I never really come this way. But we're close, I know that."

"Now there's a thirty-two percent chance of failure," K-2 adjusted.

"Don't tell me the odds," Kit snapped without glancing in the droids direction.

"I understand," K-2 went on. "I would prefer ignorance myself."

"Just shut off the landing lights, would you?" Kit said as the droid moved to comply with her command.

The bottom of the canyon fell away, going deeper and longer than Kit wanted to go. She took the ship lower, the base of it skimming less than ten metres off the rocky base as the wind tore at the exposed flank of the U-wing. "We should slow down," Cassian commented, unnerved.

"If we slow down any more we'll be at the mercy of the storm," Kit retorted and yanked the ship off a shallow rise of stone. Pyres of rock reached out like shadowed fingers to grasp at the ship, making Kit jerk sharply to avoid them.

"Now!" Bodhi shouted, his palm slamming against the back of the seat. "Put it down now!"

"But the wind—"

"If you keep going you'll be right over the shuttle depot. Put it down now!" Bodhi squeezed between K-2 and Kit, gesturing wildly as a tiny glimmer through the rain.

Kit swore and abruptly jerked the controls a second before the dark viewport melted into a series of distant floodlights highlighting the soaked landing pad for an Imperial spacecraft. The ship shuddered at the sudden loss of speed, and almost immediately the wind grabbed the bulky ship from beneath.

The U-wing veered towards the canyon's edge and before Kit could take the controls a sharp ridge of stone and slammed into the ships side. Kit flew forward in her restraints as Cassian and Bodhi were rocked off of their feet. The sharp twang of metal on stone screamed through the cockpit, sparks lighting up the dark scene as the ship began to fall, the dashboard a flood of warning lights.

"Hold on!" Cassian shouted from behind her as a hand clamped down on her shoulder hard enough to leave bruises.

Kit worked madly to salvage as much as she could, reversing the retro-rockets and slamming the landing gear in to place to reduce speed. When the ship slammed onto the rocky surface the U-wing screamed violently as it's metal underbelly was dragged across jagged stone. Kit's restraints snapped as she was slammed into the viewport screen, her skull cracking loudly against the glass. Her vision went fuzzy as she tilted forward, resisting the urge to vomit.

When the U-wing finally dragged itself to a stop the cockpit glass was cracked and buried in gravel.

She knew then that her ship wasn't going to fly again.

  • • •

KIT sat in the beaten, humid hull of the U-wing while Cassian left to inspect the damage. She had wanted to go with him, to salvage what she could from the wreck, but as soon as she tried to stand her feet gave out from under her. Kit was no doctor, but she knew that she had a concussion, and the nasty gash from her head hitting the viewport was enough for Jyn to practically tape her to the ground while she bandaged the wound.

Kit felt like a thirteen year old again, having her older sister tend to her wounds after another near-miss with Imperials. It made her stomach churn, and not just from the concussion.

The door to the hold hissed open to reveal a wet, sour looking Rebel Captain. He stomped a few feet through the door and slung his blaster over his shoulder, making a point of avoiding eye-contact with Kitra. Rainwater strung his hair across his forehead and dripped off his clothes, forming a pool on the cabin floor. "Bodhi," he looked at the Imperial defector. "Where's the lab?"

Bodhi cocked his head pointedly, "The research facility?"

"The place where you made deliveries and met Galen Erso. Where is it?" Cassian snapped.

"It's just over the ridge." The pilot answered, making sure to keep his words steady under the face of the Rebel.

Cassian nodded curtly. "And that's a shuttle depot straight ahead of us? You're sure of that?"

"Yes," Bodhi said.

Cassian sighed and risked a glance in Kit's direction. "We'll have to hope there's still an Imperial ship left to steal. The U-wing is scrap."

Kit's heart sank a little lower. She'd known already that the chances of saving the ship were low. But hearing it out loud made the situation more real. She knew that Rebel ship's were made to be expendable; the computer was programmed to remove all navi-records and identification was scrubbed long ago. But it still felt like she was leaving a piece of herself behind in the shattered, rain-soaked hull of the Rebellion craft.

"Grab anything that might be useful," Cassian went on. "Kay-tu will burn anything sensitive. After that, here's what we'll do."

He looked at Kit then, as though he expected her to argue with him. Kit didn't give him the pleasure, crossing her arms over her chest and turning away. "Hopefully," he continued, "the storm keeps up and keeps us hidden down here. Bodhi, you're coming with me. We'll go up the ridge and check out the research facility."

"I'm coming with you," Kit piped up.

"No," Cassian interjected quickly. "You can't even walk."

"Then I'll go," Jyn spoke for her.

"Neither of you are going," Cassian snapped, earning as equally poisonous glares from them both. "You two saw the message, we can't risk losing you."

"That's ridiculous," Jyn snapped at him. "We all got the message. Even your stupid droid."

"One blast to the reactor module and the whole system goes down." K-2 repeated Jyn's information pointedly.

"You just work on fixing the comms." Cassian pointed at the droid, then turned to face Jyn and Kit. "All I want to do right now is get a handle on what we're up against. And even if I were ready to extract your father, I wouldn't be stupid enough to try on my own. I need you for firepower; and at this moment, I need you protecting the ship."

Kit narrowed her eyes. She knew that Cassian was lying, but through her muddled thought's she couldn't figure out what he was lying about. Cassian took her silence as confirmation and turned back to Bodhi. "So, we're going to go very small and very carefully up the rise and see what's what. Let's get out of here."