#sleepykalena

[andorerso]

Do you know any good “they each think the other is dead” RebelCaptain fics to recommend me??? That premise, for these two, it just does something to me and I want to read about it 😭 i’m sure it must’ve been done at some point by now at least once???

oooooh, there's more than one! well, it's not always both of them thinking it, but boy, you've come to the right person, because that's literally one of my favorite tropes! it's about the angst without having to fully commit to it, it's about the inevitable reunion 🤌 and it does work exceptionally well for them (I should write it one day… well actually I did, but it wasn't in canon-verse. I should write it one day in canon-verse)

anyway, here's a few I enjoyed:

grace will lead me home by @luciechat (TW: unplanned pregnancy which adds a bonus level of angst that I think was handled really well)

@moonprincess92 has two, bless her

182 days (my personal favorite, I think it was also the first fic I read with this trope so... thank you for making me obsessed with it)

and come home to me

Parka (The Only Thing She Had Left) by @sleepykalena (it's unfinished but it does end on a hopeful note and since it's a multichapter, it can really dig into the meat and bones of this trope. I know not everyone likes unfinished fics, but I highly recommend it, it will make you cry)

you must become an island (the horizon is all we have) by @callioope (Jedi!Jyn AU which I think is such an interesting concept)

The Sixth Mission: Undercover, Overwhelmed by @angel-deux-writes (it's a mission fic and a longer multichapter that's also part of a series, but the grief and emotions in this one... chef's kiss!)

a waking life by @singingfirefliess (also a multichapter! this one focuses more on healing and learning to be together, but it does have a plot point in which Jyn believes Cassian is dead)

and well, I may as well plug my own: i'm slowly drifting to you (it's a historical pirate au)

there's one more I remember but cannot find right now... something with Draven telling Jyn Cassian was killed and she's now in charge of Rogue One? if anyone knows, let me know!

[crazy-fruit]

Think it has been weeks since I talked with @melyzard and @sleepykalena about drawing Jyn once more to see how I draw her these days.

[ji-ang]

DRC Valentine’s Day Fest: A Rebel(CA)p(T)ain Reclist

Part III: Tumblr Content

Return to main post for other cat related rebelcaptain content! (this link is now fixed!)

In the spirit of clicking links, today and every day is a good day to click to freely donate ad revenue from this site to the UNWRA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East).

Recs below! 💕

Some of these are rebelcaptain and others are more general Rogue One related content that features tookas/lothcats/cats to help round out the list. :)

Alphabetical by creator!

I've tagged all of the creators that I am able to tag. If you're tagged and you don't want to be, just let me know. 💕

Art

Portrait of Jyn with cat by lazyweepingartisan

Rogue the lothcat and Cassian & Jyn with lothcats by @mitdemadlerimherzen

This tag of theirs also has a few other sweet ones!

Rebelcaptain comic by @ninsletamain

Jynmelshian comic ft. Wooly the tooka by @oatshow

There are others if you search his page as well, just not a consistent tag for me to link. :)

kids!Jyn and Cassian together with their plushies by @sleepykalena

Headcanons/cute text posts

Mountain Man Cassian by @jyndor

Jyn's catlike personality by @uchatadara

Rix the lothcat by @wandrenowle

Other

This post of content from the visual guide, which provides names for Jyn's tooka dolls by @gffa

This post of icons from Forces of Destiny by @kimbachan

Back to main post (this link is now fixed!)

[imgoingtocrash]

Hello there! It's your Rebelcaptain Secret Santa :) Hope you had a wonderfull week and that you have something great planned for the weekend. I'm probably around 1/3 into writing your gift, and I was just wondering: is there anything you absolutely DON'T want to see, any tropes that give you the ick, any characters you avoid? Also, on a completely different note: if you were to choose your top 3 favourite rebelcaptain fics, what would those be?

Oh hello!!! It's been a busy work week but that means money sooo we're going with it lol.

As for anything I don't want to see, I don't think there's anything?? I feel like my prompts were pretty vanilla so I can't imagine anything particularly shocking or appalling that you could do that would make me not want to read something. (And I love angst, so anything darker there is always encouraged rather than discouraged lmaooo)

Now asking me for my favorite fics on the other hand...I'm notorious for making detailed fic rec lists. That's dangerous.

For now, I'll do 3 all time favorites of MANY more, and 3 more recent reads (though some of them are older, because I'm back in the tag rn)

Top 3 All Time Favorites:

cassian andor nonsense + assorted nonsense timestamps by theputterer

I love this series. It's Cassian centric at first, and then it's about their relationship in the context of their pasts and I am just!!! Overflowed with love for it all of the time. I binged it when I first read it, and there are some oneshots in the verse that I come back to and re-read when I'm in a mood. (Blood Brothers, where Jyn gets to meet Cassian's Imperial brother, is a weird favorite, but I think I've re-read it like 4 times. I love that sort of 3rd person POV on a ship I just DO.)

only fools rush in by andromeda3116

I re-read this fic almost every holiday season, that's how much I love it. Fake dating trope, holiday vibes, bickering but well-meaning family that learns to come together. It's catnip to me.

Color My Cheeks by Copper_Nails (Her_Madjesty)

Another older but beloved favorite that I've re-read multiple times. One of the first fics I ever read in the fandom, and I think one of the first sex pollen fics I'd ever read. It's not just trope-y sexy fun, but the fact that it goes into the AFTER of a sex pollen event and what that means for them emotionally feels so unique and interesting. Now I'm thinking about re-reading it again. Sigh.

Definitely could give you more all-time favorite recs, but here are some more recent fics I've read:

Lost and Found by mosylu

As of today, just completed, and WOW what a journey! I left rambling, crazy comments on this fic almost every week for good reason. It was sweet, it was angsty, it was just!!!! Amazing. I'm probably going to come back to this one again down the road for sure.

Delivery Week by SleepyKalena

I've read quite a few Film/Production based fanfics over the years, but this one is for us post girlies!!! An edit bay meet-cute, bitching about color correcting/matching--truly this fic has it all and feels tailor-made to me as an editor, even if it's at an animation studio rather than live action.

spy games by skitzofreak

I'm basically reading through all of their star wars fics right now, so highly highly recommend this author as a whole. (The fact that I've apparently left kudos on some of them before and don't remember it at all is...funny.) This one is just a great, cute starter where Cassian and Jyn have an entire silent conversation in front of a bunch of recruits. So good.

Your asks remind me to send asks to MY giftee, so I'm so happy to hear from you each week! Have a wonderful week and good vibes to your writing progress! 💖

[melyzard]

Rebelcaptain Network Fanart Recs

this art by @spectral-musette

what I love about this art: the expressions on both Jyn and Cassian’s faces are quiet and evocative. I particularly love the way Cassian is looking at her, the light reflecting on his cheek and near Jyn’s eyes, and of course Jyn’s scarf tucked like a hood makes her seem like a wayfarer pausing for a moment’s rest.

naptime by @fukamidori-chan

what I love about this art: Jyn and Cassian getting a nap, resting against each other, still fully dressed and either prepping to go on a mission or just coming off one - it just feels like a very realistic scene for them, snatching what bits of peace and comfort they can in the in-between moments. The poses are sweet, the details are really nicely done, and I find it interesting that even in rest Cassian seems to have just a bit of a frown.

home by @spacepandar

what I love about this art: The subdued colors, the sketchiness of the line work, the empty background all add to the intimacy of this embrace. You get the impression that for Jyn and Cassian, there literally is nothing else in this moment but themselves. What little we can see of Jyn’s face can be interpreted as sad, tired, or at peace (which is one of my favorite qualities of any piece of art, the ability to convey powerful emotion while leaving some room for viewer interpretation). I particularly love how Cassian clings to her, as well.

headbonk by @sleepykalena

what I love about this art: Aside from the fact that it’s beautifully done animation of Cassian and Jyn interacting (seriously, it’s a fully rendered animation!), I love the absolutely adorable expressions on both of them at the end...and the beginning. And the middle. Look, this is Jyn and Cassian messing with each other and being cute. What more do you need?

it’s not a problem if you don’t look up by @jackalhands

what I love about this art: This is an alternate universe wherein Jyn and Cassian are on Kafrene together, and it’s such an incredible detailed, colorful, and fascinating setup that I wrote a 78,000 word fic that was almost entirely inspired by this image. The way Cassian is scanning ahead, tense and alert! Jyn immediately behind him, watching his back! The vivid colors of the golden banners contrasted to the unforgiving black and white of the city both around them and above them, almost caging them in as they hunt for a way through the crowds! Their postures, relative positions to one another, the perspective - all of it feels so very much like Jyn and Cassian’s entire lives encapsulated into one image...with a healthy dose of oh my god, they were partners!

Jyn and Cassian in Jedha by @crazy-fruit

what I love about this art: Okay, I admit that this is a fanart for something I wrote and as such my bias is intense, but please take a moment to look at the incredible details and color usage in this image. Look at Jyn’s scarf, which contains brilliant nebulas and scattered stardust, spreading out to frame the ominous incoming Star Destroyer. Look at the details of Jedha City spread out before Jyn and Cassian, who are watching it from the relative shadows of the alley way. There is such an “us against the dangerous, uncaring world” vibe in this image. It will forever be one of my top Star Wars images of all time, let alone rebelcaptain!

[therebelcaptainnetwork]

February Fic Recs: Fluff!

Who doesn't love fluff? It puts a smile on our faces and a little squish on our hearts. Have one more taste before the Month of Luuuuuuurve is over.

A Custom of Poetry by imsfire / @imsfire2

One-shot, >1k, canon-verse

Jyn is attempting to write a poem for Cassian. It's . . . not going well.

As much as I enjoy Jyn kicking ass and not bothering with names, I also love Jyn struggling to be soft, to open up, to show Cassian how much he means to her. This is a perfect encapsulation of that, and Cassian's utter delight when he hears the eventual poem mirrors ours. 

Pillow War by @sleepykalena

One-shot, 3k, Modern AU

Cassian messes up and Jyn is salty about it. The only way to distract her from her annoyance is to attack her with something soft and fluffy. But of course, Jyn's not one to roll over at the first ambush, and the bed has lots more ammo.

Is there a more perfect ideal of fluff than a pillow fight? The inclusion of the Greek-chorus-esque group chat, all sharing their opinions of the goings-on, just adds to the fun. 

Ours by @grexigone

One-shot, 2k, canon-verse

Jyn finds a tooka cat in a marketplace, and while Cassian is a little leery of anything that can bite or scratch, he also discovers that he kind of likes petting something soft and cuddly - and he kind of likes how Jyn opens up a little more as he does.

This takes place in that breathless pause at the beginning of a relationship, where it's all uncertainty and taking each others' measure. Bonding over a small and fluffy animal, and deciding to bring her back with them, is one more baby step along the road to intimacy for our duo.

------

As always, if you’re one of the authors featured and would like me to change anything about the way I’ve listed your story, please drop me a line via PM or ask and I would be pleased to edit.

Next month’s theme is Modern AU! If you have a perfect story to rec, drop me a line via PM or ask with the title, a link to the story, and maybe a few words about why you liked it, and I’ll include it with your handle.

Happy reading! Love, @mosylufanfic

[woahpip]

Valentine’s Rec Week! Day 2 -- WIP

Parka (The Only Thing She Had Left) by @sleepykalena Rated M Summary:

“I’ve been given an assignment,” Cassian said without so much as a greeting, or even bothering to look up at her as he continued to look through all the shelves and closets to make sure every square inch of her quarters was clear of anything the Empire could use for themselves (assuming they decided to merely raid the base rather than destroy it outright).

Jyn wanted to go with him. She wanted to make sure that they left together so that they could watch each other survive. But if things go wrong and they don’t make it…

Cassian is sent on a mission while Jyn is ordered to stay behind with the Alliance High Command. It's just an extraction, she thinks, but the days keep passing and he still hasn't come back for his parka like he promised.

13/16 chapters

(click here to read on ao3)

I love this fic, I devoured the 12 chapters that had already been posted, and feel blessed with each new update.

The crux of this story is one of my favorites: they love each other but can they say it? And if they can’t, how do they show it without words?.

SleepyKalena built us a network of memes and man! It feels real. The references make me laugh out loud Wot! No snow??? is something I say out loud now and then have to explain to my partner what it means.

This fucking line is kind of spoilery but it’s important to me, and it’s what I think of immediately when I think of this fic:

“’The least the Rebellion could do for me in return is look after the people I love.’”

That’s fucking powerful! and something I think a post Scarif Cassian Andor would definitely say.

This story also has a little bit of mystery. It’s fun if you figure out before hand, but if you’re like me and am just as oblivious as Jyn, it’s amazing when you figure it out. Also, K2 and Jyn are buddies, taking care of each other. Their relationship is fleshed out and caring. I love it very much.

The rest of Rogue One also appear here rounding out a lovely story of healing, found family, and just telling someone how you feel DAMNIT.

(also there’s gonna be a sequel!!)

[thereigning-lorelai]

for @crazy-fruit from @sleepykalena who requested something along the lines of “in the face of terrible odds, I/we have hope” that focuses on images about togetherness (and i just took the line because it’s great). hope you like it.. ♥

[leaiorganas]

@sleepykalena I meant to post this ages ago (and I did not have the Cassian bag on me) but thank you so much for these! The silky pouches are my favs!!! You are talented and I love these so much!!

[mosylufanfic]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Jyn Erso & K-2SO, Cassian Andor & K-2SO Characters: K-2SO (Star Wars), Jyn Erso, Cassian Andor Additional Tags: Droid Appreciation Week, Blaster Bros Bonding, Jyn is a clever gal, and K2 goes toe to toe with her, Favorite Relationship, Fluff, Humor, (has anyone ever seen any anime where people have intense reactions to food?), (consider this one of those moments), there IS a bit of a flaw here towards the end but, She means well Series: Part 2 of The "Pleasant Memories" Archives Summary:

Understanding flavor is difficult (if not impossible) when you're built without taste receptors. K2 didn't think it was a necessary function for a droid such as himself, anyway; only organic sentients developed emotional attachments to food, after all.

But then he sees the look of joy on Jyn's face as she savors every single bite of her frag berry, and he decides that maybe he's missing out on something.

He just had to know more.

from @sleepykalena

[andorerso]

which fic is the one where cassian does the tongue thing and Jyn freaks out 👀👀

it's from chapter 4 of Tension by SleepyKalena. I think it can be read on its own, but the entire story is great if you wanna give it a go! it's unfinished but honestly, if you don't mind the fact that the sexual tension isn't resolved, it works just fine as it is. basically, there's a lot of pining and lusting after each other. have fun <3

[crazy-fruit]

#絵かきがいいねの数だけ答える 質問⑫: Draw something from a high angle

7 months later I finally had an idea and went with my favourite pilot. ( @skitzofreak )

[callioope]

sleepykalena replied to your photo

“Life goal achieved this weekend!!! Had a blast hanging out with...”

I AM SCREECHING, red pandas are so fucking cute and you got to interact with one!? aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah <3

YES!!! It has been my dream since I was 13!!! They’ve been my favorite ever since I did a report on them for science class in 7th grade.

There are a bunch of zoos that offer behind-the-scenes encounters, although they can get quite expensive. We went to the Cincinnati Zoo because we thought they offered a good value comparatively.

There’s a thread on reddit that lists all the zoos that offer the encounters; it’s kept mostly up-to-date, although the Cincy info is outdated as of this weekend (it’s crossed off, as if it’s closed -- it’s reopen; and you can’t pet or hold the red panda).

[spacepandar]

Pallette prompt time! Cold shoulder + rebelcaptain pleaseeeeee

[rebelcaptain-fanfic]

Good Enough

Good Enough  by @sleepykalena

Author’s Summary:

Jyn Erso is one of the Heroes of Scarif, the ruthless fighter that gets the job done, the ever-swift force of nature that gets thrown into every risky situation imaginable for the Alliance, and makes it back alive. Beaten and battered, perhaps, but alive.

And yet-

It's not good enough.

Why, in spite all of what she's done and continues to do, does she feel like she's not worthy of praise?

Rating: Teen

Words:  9,802

[melyzard]

Jyn + testing weapons/weapon selection

“No, no, no, I can dothis, I can - hey, Sergeant, yes, you, hand me that spanner, uh, please.” 

Jyn stepped back toavoid the flapping hand that nearly smacked her in the face, scowling atthe Human fem hunched over the odd-looking console in the middle of thehangar. The woman had a mechanic’s bandana holding her curly dark hair backfrom her work, and it was the only article of clothing on her that didn’t lookslightly singed around the edges. Jyn narrowed her eyes and took a cautioussniff – electrical burns, it smelled like. And no grease stains or oil in thecreases of her hands. Definitely a tech and not hangar maintenance. A boredlooking Twi’lek leaned against the odd console, playing idly with some littlefloating drones that Jyn didn’t recognize off hand.

“She means that one,”the Twi’lek sighed, pointing to a tray of tools set haphazardly on the benchnext to Jyn’s hip.

“Yeah, if you couldjust – look, I can’t let go of these wires or we’ll have a, um,” the tech withthe burnt clothes made an impatient gesture, “explosion, and I’ll lose all mywork.”

“Also blow up thehangar,” the Twi’lek drawled. “Maybe breach Home One’s hull, blow some peopleout into the cold unforgiving reaches of space,” he grinned at Jyn and shruggedwith elaborate indifference. “Terror, destruction, general death.”

“Yes, yes, that,” thetech snarled. “Will you just hand me – thanks, Sarge, you’re a gem.”

Jyn took a healthystep back as the tech plunged back into the console, which hummed ominously asshe worked. “You should secure that equipment, Ensign,” she said, because shewasn’t much of a mech herself, but she knew that Bodhi never worked on a pieceof hardware unless it was not only powered off but detached from it’s powersource entirely.

The Ensign merelyshrugged. “Can’t, Sarge. That’s the problem.”

“It’s a FedukowskiTraining Simulator 288, Sarge,” the Twi’lek informed her, as if that meantanything to Jyn. “Uh, a projection-based simulation generator?” He squinted ather blank expression, apparently not picking up on her total lack of interestalong with her lack of knowledge. Impatiently, Jyn debated shoving past theTwi’lek, who was blocking the narrow space between the big console and thenearest X-Wing. “It makes touch-responsive semi-corporeal holographic enemiesthat you can practice combat against?”

Ah. Jyn had heard ofthings like that; she’d floated the idea of getting one past Saw at one point,a way to train without risk of their people hurting one another. Saw had…notbeen impressed with her arguments, the matter had dropped, and Jyn had put itfrom her mind. Apparently, the Alliance was more interested in the possibilitiesthan the Partisans had ever been.

“They have,” Jynfrowned, hunted through her memories, “safeties, right?”

“Oh, for sure, Sarge.”The Twi’lek rubbed at his lekku absently. “If you take a headshot, thesimulation shuts down. If you get more than three direct hits to the body, itshuts down. If it detects blood, shut down. And if you leave the range of theprojectors, shut down.”

“And those aremalfunctioning?”

“Oh no, the safetiesare working just fine, Sarge. The problem is the difficulty-” Something sparkedin the console and the tech reared back, cursing, and Jyn tensed. Just howserious had the Twi’lek been about that whole “general death” thing? The manhimself eased slowly away from where he’d been leaning, but otherwise didn’tbolt for the hangar emergency doors, so Jyn stayed too, her curiosity gettingthe better of her. “The problem,” the tech continued through gritted teeth,patting at a small stream of smoke coming from her sleeve until it ceased, “isthat the difficulty setting got damaged when this thing was stolen from theImps.”

“Acquired, Misha,” the Twi’lek corrected her in mock-serious tones.“Alliance doesn’t steal, we rightfully acquire spoils of war.”

“Whatever,” Misha thetech waved her hand dismissively. “So now that damn thing is stuck on theExpert setting, and it’s got some subprogram running where it won’t let mereset it unless the program runs a full five minutes. Think some arsehole binnesh’ka drevil ba,” she paused andspit over her shoulder, then continued in a normal tone, “left it on hisfavorite fancy training program, and now I can’t turn it off. And turning theconsole off and on doesn’t help, if that’s what you were about to suggest,” sheglowered at Jyn, who held her hands up peacefully.

“Can’t just… run theprogram for five minutes?” she ventured thoughtfully. “Then it would mark theprogram complete and let you change it?”

“That’s just it!” The techthrew her hands in the air. “We can’t.If no one’s in range, the thing resets to the start of the program. If we standwithin the parameters, the holo-soldiers try to kill us, and the second we get clonkedin the head or whatever, it resets! And I can’t work on it with the power off! ButI can’t realign the sensors without accessing the power core!” She gave ashort, incoherent shout of pure irritation, and then slammed her fists down onthe surface of the console.  Then shesighed, and dove back into the console’s open panel, muttering under herbreath.

The Twi’lek folded hisarms and flopped against the X-wing’s landing struts. “We asked a couplePathfinders to run the gauntlet for us,” he told Jyn. “So far no one’s lastedlonger than two minutes. This thing is brutal, Sarge. Three of them are in themedward now, and that big scary general of theirs came marching down to tell usoff for,” he held up his hands and adopted a terrible false-bass voice that Jynassumed was a mimicry of the Pathfinder General. “Damaging my valuable assets.” He sat back and folded his armsagain. “He ordered us to stop challenging his people. Like we were dangling a greenflag in front of a bantha bull or something.”

“Pathfinders andchallenges,” the tech grunted, her voice echoing a little inside the console.“Same thing.”

Jyn hesitated. Cassianwould kill her if she got hurt doing something stupid like this, for a thingthat wasn’t a big deal. Command probably didn’t think much of their chances ofgetting this thing running, or they would invest more than a couple techs in it(well, one tech and one guy who apparently was just here for commentary). Kaywould lecture her for hours if shedamaged herself doing “non-essential recreational activities.” Bodhi would sayit was her choice, but he would look sad while he did it. Baze wouldn’t sayanything at all, but he would give her a look that was just as bad as Bodhi’ssad eyes.

Chirrut, on the otherhand, would probably have already volunteered by now.

Jyn cleared herthroat. “I can give it a try.”

The tech yanked herhead out of the console and stared at her. A faint wisp of smoke spiraled upout of her thick hair, the faint smell of burning hair wafting towards Jyn. TheTwi’lek laughed, and then seemed to realize that Jyn was serious. “Uh, Sarge,like I said, this thing is brutal.Seven Pathfinders couldn’t get through it.”

Jyn shrugged. “What’sthe range?”

The techs exchanged alook. “We’ll have to clear the space,” the Twi’lek said slowly.

“Do it, Rasif,” thetech snapped. “If she pulls it off, I can finally get at that karking liminalprocessor.”

“And if she doesn’t,”Rasif bounced to his feet and delicately snuffed the smoking end of Misha’sburning hair, “at least we won’t have disobeyed General Cranky-Ass. I mean,you’re not one of General Madix’s people, right?”

“No,” Jyn agreed,biting back a smile as she imagined calling Draven something like ‘GeneralCranky-Ass’ to his face. “Definitely not one of his.”

It took the techsabout ten minutes to clear away tool benches and loose wires. Jyn used the timeto stretch, warming up her muscles, checking that her boots were laced tight,her scarf tucked in neatly. A few other hangar crew and techs, plus a coupleastromechs trailing behind, caught sight of the setup and wandered over to seewhat was happening. When Rasif the Twi’lek explained, a couple pitched in tomake the space, and one pulled a bit of maintainer’s chalk from her pouch andsketched out the parameters of the console’s range on the hangar floor. Morepeople drifted in, drawn to activity, and Jyn’s shoulders started to tense alittle, but she blocked it out. Whatever. All she had to do was last fiveminutes without leaving the simulator’s range, or taking a head shot, or morethan two direct hits to the body. Or bleeding, right, it could sense blood.  

“Okay, Sarge,” Misha positionedherself behind the console and pointed at the center of the marked out space.“Ready when you are.”

“Five minutes,” Rasif reminded her.“The enemies vanish when you’ve hurt them enough that the computer thinks you’veincapacitated or killed them. There’s no kill counter goal or benchmarks to hitto end the program. All you gotta do is survive.”

Jyn took her place, pulled hertruncheon, and nodded. “Go.”

A faint whine of the console was heronly warning, and then a stormtrooper was standing in front of Jyn. He glowedwith a faint blue light, but otherwise, he looked surprisingly solid,surprisingly real. Semi-corporeal holos, right. The crowd around them gasped atthe suddenness of the enemy’s appearance, the sim-trooper raised his rifle and pointed it at Jyn’s head, but shewas already moving, dropping her center of gravity down low and bringing hertruncheon up in a hard, tight arc that slammed in between the sim-trooper’slegs just as the blaster fired over her head.

The blow felt a little squishy, likethe ‘trooper was covered in a thick coat of foam, but the physics were prettydamn realistic because the simulated man’s body jerked up a few inches and thendropped like a sack of pta fruit. The second he hit the floor, his body dissolvedinto a shower of blue lights and then vanished. Jyn had no time to appreciatethe somewhat pretty effect, or to pay much heed to the pained hisses of the menin the crowd, because two more sim-troopers appeared behind her, and she had todrop and spin, lashing out with her leg to knock their ankles out from underthem. Both fell hard, but apparently not hard enough to “kill” them, becausethey rolled back to their feet faster than she had ever seen any real stormtroopermanage. Expert level, huh. No time to worry about it. Rifle shot, skimming pasther left ear as she threw herself to the right, rifle shot whistling over herhead. Duck, crab left, forward, and Jyn smashed her truncheon into one helmet asshe kicked out at the kneecap of the other. Helmet-strike vanished in a showerof blue sparks, but Kneecap merely dropped into a crouch and fired up at her.The bolt passed so close to Jyn’s face that she was temporarily blinded by thelight, but she was close enough already that it didn’t matter. She backhandedthe second sim-trooper on the downswing from the first one’s killing blow, and hishead (and then the rest of him) shattered in a satisfying shower of blue.

Shouts from the sidelines, cheering,but no time because there were two deathtroopers behind Jyn and one of them hada rifle, the other long, heavy truncheons – straightsticks, standard deathtrooperarmament, probably electrified at the tip – and Jyn rolled backwards, stopping herselfjust shy of the chalk parameter. The rifle blasts were coming too fast for herto stand still, one shot every two seconds, standard deathtrooper load out indeed,so Jyn lunged for the dual wielder to put him between her and the shooter. Itbought her a few seconds, circling the dual wielder, but now he was on her, left blow aiming for herhead, right blow for her gut and Jyn blocked the head blow with her truncheonand allowed the right to connect with her ribs, tightening her core to absorbthe blow.

Fuck, it hurt, and distantly she heard a buzzer indicating one body shotgoing off (and accompanying boos and hissesfrom the crowd), but Jyn was fast and she looped her arm over the truncheon,trapping it against her side. She could hear the end of it sparking just behindher back – yes, they were electrified, just like in real life, shit -  but when the deathtrooper jerked on thetruncheon, Jyn held it fast and twisted her wrist deftly, bringing the lefttruncheon down and away from her head. In the same smooth motion, she slammedher own truncheon up and into the sim-trooper’s chin, and the fucker’s headsnapped back (wow, she could even hear the crack of his fake neck breaking,this was a damn good simulator) and then he dissolved into blue but Jyn had notime to be satisfied about it because Fake Deathtrooper Two now had a clear shoton her. Jyn rolled forward and into his legs, and when the sim-trooper pointedhis rifle down at her, Jyn slapped her truncheon over the top of the blasterand locked it in place with her elbow. It gave her control of the barrel point,which was a fucking blessing because yet another deathtrooper had just poppedup in the same spot as the one she’d killed, so Jyn twisted and aimed the boltthat was meant for her face right at the new ‘trooper’s chest. He vanished asquickly as he’d arrived, without even a shot fired, and Jyn twisted to her feet,using her momentum to wrench the rifle from the sim-trooper’s hands and spinhim around in the process. To her pleased surprise, the glowing gun actuallycame away in her hands, and Jyn raised it and fired point blank into the deathtrooper’sback. The man exploded into sparks, but so did the rifle in her hands. Alright,she could work with that.

Something behind her – more deathtroop-no, battle droid, BX commando, an early prototype of K2SO’s kind, except thisone moved fast, faster than it should, and it charged her with it’s headlowered like a battering ram and it’s servos whining with deadly intent. It hadtrapped her against the side of the chalk, she realized, if she leaped to theside she would step out of the parameters and the program would reset. Only onething to do. Jyn dropped her chin and charged right back, her arms up in frontof her face like a shield, her teeth grit. Someone screamed in the crowd, alittle shriek that drowned out in the roar of the crowd, and just before the heavymetal droid smashed into Jyn like a runaway speeder, she flung herself onto herback and slid neatly underneath it’s bulk, spun on her hip, and lashed out withboth feet. The bottoms of her heavy boots connected with the back of its kneejoints, and the force of her blow combined with the droid’s abrupt attempt tostop itself before it ran right over the chalk line and out of the consolerange made it teeter alarmingly backwards. Jyn scrambled back to avoid beingcrushed, then hopped to her feet and brought her fist down in a hammer blow onthe sim-droid’s bent back, tipping it past the point of recovery. It crashed tothe floor in a clatter of fake metal, and vanished.

Something rammed into Jyn’s back,sending her skidding across the floor (a faint buzzing sound over the bellowingcrowd and her own pounding heart – that was the second body blow, couldn’tafford more), and Jyn rolled up just before the Chagrian could stomp hismassive boot down on her head. The sim-Chagrian roared, all four of his horns markedwith warrior-runes (great, a Servant of Storms, one of her least favorite berserkershock troops), and swung his great vibro-hammer at her again. Jyn darted in close,too close for a good hammer swing, and jammed the end of her truncheon into BigBlue’s solar plexus, several centimeters lower than it was for Humans. Big Bluegrunted but didn’t stumble, and grabbed for her neck. Jyn dodged the grab andonly just twisted out of the way of the hammer hilt as Big Blue tried to crackher skull open with it. More shrieks from the crowd, but she couldn’t interprettheir warning and didn’t have time to try, because Big Blue dropped the hammer and fuck, that was cheating, Servants of Storms never dropped their hammers, simulatedson of a karking b-

Big Blue’s hand closed over Jyn’sface, and it felt a little like a thick cloth pressing against her face, but thesim-Chadrian lifted her as easily as a real warrior might and flung her again.Jyn gasped as air rushed into her face again and wrenched her body to orientwith the floor. She had to land on her feet or the stupid fucking sim would probablyread it as a damn body blow and then –

She landed hard on the balls of herfeet, the impact jarring all the way up her legs and spine, making her teethclick together painfully. She breathed through it, and used the coiled impactto launch herself back along the floor, her truncheon low and at the ready. BigBlue swung for her head, bellowing, but Jyn dropped to one knee and crack, crack, took out both his knees. Sherolled to the side as the screaming warrior crashed to his shattered knees.There was no time or room for a good truncheon swing, so instead Jyn grippedthe lower horns, and then rolled over the sim-Chadrian’s shoulders, letting herweight pull her sharply down his back. The sudden, extreme angle of the weighton his horns wrenched the sim-Chadrian’s head back at a bad angle, snapping hisneck instantly. The warrior shattered into light, and then reformed immediatelyinto three Humans in flowing robes. The blue glow made them look more like the purple-redof an old bruise than the crimson flood of new blood that they usually invoked,but Jyn knew Imperial Rotal Guardsmen when she saw them. One pulled a blaster, butthe other two had bladed staves. Jyn grimaced, because seriously?,  but there was notime to whine about it, because the blaster was already firing. Jyn charged thenearest staff-wielder, aware that the second was hard on her heels and theblaster-armed guardsman was moving sideways, surrounding her. For the nextseveral long, breathless seconds, Jyn’s world narrowed to the sharp edge of twoblades, the irregular firing patterns of a heavy blaster pistol (DT-57? Hard totell), and the hard side of her truncheon. It became a dance, a rhythm, duck, slash,backstep, twist, and she gave no ground because there was no ground to give.Here was all she had, here was where she would stand, and all around her shecould see only the flow of red cloth, the edges of blades, the flash of a redblaster bolt. Dodge, roll, block, lash out with truncheon and fists and feet andyour body is a weapon Saw thunderedin her head, distant as an oncoming storm but she remembered, she remembered, there is no part of you that cannot beturned to your advantage, for every part of you is yours to command and Jynslipped up close to the blaster-wielding guard and pressed her back to hischest, her fingers around his, and fired and fired until the bladed staffs (andthe bodies attached to them) exploded into stardust.

She felt the guardsman at her backdrop the blaster, give it over to her, but nothing came for free in war so she knewit for the trap it was, felt the shift in his stance as he raised his newlyfreed hands high over her head (blade, he had a blade in those flowing robes,she knew it, they always did and she would certainly would have done the same)so Jyn spun on her heel and the blade of her own vibroblade slipped as easilyinto the sim-Guard’s glowing ribs as it would have cut through flesh.

The Guard froze, his blade a merecentimeter from Jyn’s right eye, and then exploded in a flash. Jyn spun, hertruncheon up in a reflexive block and her blade ready to strike –

Nothing.

Nothing?

The crowd was shrieking and dancing,dozens of rebels crushed against each other along the chalk outline, some evenstanding on top of X Wings and whooping, and Jyn blinked because – oh.

Five minutes. It had felt…faster.

Someone shouted kill those Imperial fuckers, Sarge! over the approving roar of thecrowd, and several people seemed to be exchanging credit chips and vouchers. Atthe console, Rasif the Twi’lek was chattering in cheerful rapidfire with someother techs, gesturing wildly at Jyn, but Misha was bent over the console withher hands flying furiously across the controls. At her touch, the lights of theconsole controls flickered, and then seemed to settle into a steady blue glow.The tech grinned in triumph and looked up at Jyn, giving her a massive thumbsup.

Jyn cleared her throat, tucked hertruncheon and her knife away, and nodded shortly to the tech. She spun on herheel, intending to march through that crowd and perhaps go cool off in herquarters, and found herself face to face with a blank-faced Cassian Andor.

Jyn froze like a womp-rat in asearchlight.

Cassian’s arms were folded, his eyesdark. To everyone else, he looked calm, almost relaxed, but Jyn could see hisfingertips were digging into his forearms a little too tight, the lines aroundhis eyes just a little too tense. Behind him, Kay was standing in a very smallbut still distinct empty space in the crowd, none of the cheering rebels willingto push too close to the droid. His yellow optics glowed at her disapprovingly,and Jyn could practically see the lecture he was queuing up in his processor. Ifshe was lucky, Cassian would let Kay harangue her for awhile and leave it at that.

She looked back at Cassian, and watchedas his eyebrow slowly arched.  His eyesflicked down to her torso, clearly marking the two places she’d been hit, andthen back to her face, tracing a quick path over her forehead. Jyn guessed thatthe sim-Chadrian might have left some bruises on her face after all, where hismassive fingers had dug into her skull when he threw her. Cassian studied themarks with a detached air, and then met her eyes again, and no, no it did notlook like he was willing to leave it to Kay, after all.

Well, Jyn thought with an internalsigh.

Shit.