CASSIAN STARED in horror and frustration as the death troopers gunned down the engineers. For the past several minutes, he’d been watching the entire scene play out through the scope on his rifle, waiting for a clear shot at Galen Erso. He’d gotten one just a moment before, but he’d balked at taking it.

He didn’t know what had stayed his hand. He’d killed many people before, all in the name of the Rebellion. If blasting away one man would save millions of lives, the answer seemed clear.

But it wasn’t, and Cassian knew it. Galen had already completed his work on the Death Star. Killing him now wouldn’t stop the Empire from using the battle station again.

On top of that, Cassian had watched Galen try to sacrifice himself for the other people on his engineering team. He didn’t know how he could shoot a man right after witnessing such a selfless act.

There was also the fact that the man was Jyn’s long-lost father. Killing him would shatter her, he knew. They might have been apart for years, but she still loved him. Cassian could see it in her eyes every time the man’s name came up.

Cassian grabbed his quadnocs again and zoomed in on the slaughter happening on the landing platform. Galen stood there gawking at the death of his compatriots. As the last one fell, he turned toward Krennic, who backhanded him across the jaw.

Galen fell to his knees, holding his hand to his injured face.

Cassian lowered his quadnocs, and as he did, he spotted Jyn. She was just beneath the edge of the landing platform, climbing onto it from below, but she didn’t seem to notice the stormtrooper wandering toward her.

He didn’t know what he could do to help her. If the stormtrooper spotted her, she was done for. If Cassian shot the stormtrooper, the blast would draw attention to Jyn, as well.

The stormtrooper moved closer to the edge of the platform and stared out into the rain. All it would take was for him to glance down, and he’d spot Jyn in an instant. Then he’d take the rifle he was carelessly toting around and shoot her dead.

Jyn saw the stormtrooper. Rather than crawl back and try to hide, though, she reached up and grabbed the end of the stormtrooper’s rifle. Then she hauled backward with all her weight and pulled the man out and over the edge.

The stormtrooper disappeared, flailing, into the stormy darkness. If he cried out, no one seemed to notice. Perhaps they were too busy listening to Galen’s anguish.

Right then, Cassian’s comlink came on, and K-2SO spoke. “Cassian!” the droid said. “Cassian, can you hear me?”

Cassian grabbed his comlink. If the stormtroopers couldn’t hear their friend fall to his death, then they weren’t going to be able to hear Cassian speaking into the comm from so much farther away.

“I’m here,” Cassian said. “You got it working.”

“Affirmative,” the droid said. “But we have a problem. There’s an Alliance squadron approaching. Clear the area!”

Cassian almost dropped his comm. He glanced down to see Jyn still under the platform. She was creeping around to where she could climb up on it and not be seen.

“No, no, no, no!” he said into the comlink. “Tell them to hold up! Jyn’s on that platform!”

Cassian grimaced. He knew how these kinds of attacks went. The squadron would maintain radio silence after a certain point. They didn’t want the Empire to know they were coming, after all.

No matter who might be trying to shout at them to stop—from General Draven on down—it might already be too late.