To say that Princess Kijani was distraught was an understatement. 

After having to leave her Tantive 4 and her compatriots behind, her head was reeling with fear and anger. They had been close, so close to getting the plans to the Rebel base, and now what? Was it all for nothing? As they saw the Empire bearing down on them, they took one last risk. Princess Kijani held the plans herself, and they sent her off spiraling down to whatever planet was closest. 

“They’re probably all dead, R-2.” She turned back to the lovely blue and white droid that had been her companion through it all. Due to some last second maneuvering by one of their engineers, it had been R-2’s signal that they had read “I have to carry this mission out, for them. For Rogue One, and everyone else that we’ve lost in this war.” 

She unbuckled her belt and climbed out of the ship. Earlier scans had shown this to be Tattooine, a mostly desert planet full of farmers. However, just by going outside the ship she could have guessed that it was a desert planet. 

She was absolutely surrounded by sand.

There was nothing around her visually, besides more and more of the hot golden dirt, and when she lifted her macrobinoculars and scanned around, nothing else appeared. 

“This is… not good, R-2.” 

R-2 gave a worried whir and beeped in reply. 

“You’re right. I’ll just have to pick a direction and pray it’s the right one.” With that, she took up what little gear she had, including the precious plans, tied her white skirt off at the knee, and started walking.

-

Another hour in and Kijani was beginning to feel like she had made the incorrect choice. Walking had gotten her nothing but sand. Sand in her shoes, sand in her skirts, sand in her mouth, eyes and every known and unknown crevice. After a time, she’d gotten smart and wrapped her gold cape around her head and eyes. But that didn’t help the winds that would blow through, kicking up grit and making her even more disoriented and hot. Her skin was blazing, and she glared at the high twin suns with her golden eyes. 

“I had to land on a desert planet.” She complained to R-2. “It could have been an ice planet, though I’d probably be in the same situation, just freezing. It could have been a nice waterworld, with beaches and fish and tourists and-” Was that a figure in the distance? 

She rubbed her eyes and squinted, but the sand just made them watery. When she tried to clear them out with her cape, and look again, the figure was gone. 

“Oh no. I’ve heard of this. Mirages. They say it’s a sign you’ve gone crazy in the heat. I’m not crazy. Am I, R-2?”

R-2 beeped back at her, dutifully whirring along in the sand behind her. 

“Oh, not crazy today, thank you very much for that.” 

-

The second hour was possibly worse. Her skin was bone dry, her emergency water had run out somewhere in the last click or so, and she was starting to become woozy with heat exhaustion. It was getting darker now, she was no nearer a destination, and now she was distinctly aware of figures following her. It could be more mirages, or it could actually be real danger. 

“Please. R-2 – I can’t go on anymore. I can’t...” She reached into her bag with shaking hands, and pressed the plans onto the droid. “If I die here, find a way to get back to the Rebel Base. No matter what, R-2. No matter what.” 

She slumped to her knees, and was unconscious before her body hit the ground.