JYN AND CASSIAN made it down to the ground level of the tower and outside of the building without anyone trying to stop them. The rebel commandos were all dead. Bodhi’s stolen cargo shuttle was still burning out on landing pad nine.

Anyone who had survived the battle on the main island had already taken to the skies if they could. There would be no escape for anyone else.

Jyn helped Cassian limp away from the tower and toward an unspoiled stretch of beach. When they reached the shore, his legs finally gave out on him, and he fell to the sand.

Jyn knelt down beside him, and they gave each other weary smiles. Cassian looked out at the water and the wave of destruction heading for them.

“I’m glad you came,” Jyn told him.

As they watched the Death Star’s massive beam cut toward them, trailing a wake of world-shattering destruction, they held each other’s hands. Soon they found themselves embracing as they waited for their end.

“Your father would be proud of you, Jyn,” Cassian said.

Those were the exact words she needed to hear at that moment. They’d done what they set out to do, and with luck their efforts would give the Rebellion a chance to take the Empire down.

They couldn’t ask for anything more than that—and there was nothing they could do to stop what would happen next.

The green beam fluoresced brighter and brighter as it approached, driving the front edge of a spreading explosion before it. The last thing Jyn saw before the blast enveloped her was the color transforming into a cleansing white.