The brunette stopped in front of the entrance to one of the many watering holes which dotted the streets of Kafrene.
"My friend owns this establishment and, like I said, he's very protective of me. The moment he notices my wounds and bruises, he'll want to know who hurt me, and his instictive reaction will be to suspect you and your friend. By the way, an Imperial droid won't be welcome, so I'll walk in first and explain the situation, if you're willing to wait here," she offered.
"No problem. Go ahead," Cassian agreed.
As soon as the woman disappeared on the other side of the entrance door, Kay wasted no time in making his opinion on the matter clearly known.
"We should leave. I see no point in prolonging this fool's errand."
Cassian sighed. "Kay, I won't ditch her. She's been attacked and hurt. You know how dangerous these streets are. I'll try to protect her for as long as she lets me. And that includes you. Unless you prefer to go back to the ship?" A bit of reverse psychology almost always worked with Kay. The droid never turned down a challenge and loved doing the opposite of what he was told, unless it was an unquestionable request or demand (for example, when something truly important was at stake). Only then did he obey without argument.
"I think I'll stay here. The ship is boring," Kay decided.
"Good. In that case, behave, will you?," Cassian asked.
"I will if she does as well." It seemed that was the most that Kay was willing to compromise. Cassian sighed again, bracing herself for his friend's worst streak of snarkiness. He became that way whenever he felt threatened by a new acquaintance who Cassian liked, what, luckily for the latter's sanity, didn't happen often. Cassian never saw the end of it in those cases. He still remembered his past affairs with a couple of his female contacts, and shuddered a little, smiling resignedly to himself. Kay would have never admitted that he was jealous, of course. He loved shouting from the rooftops that jealousy was a feeling completely foreign to a droid like him. It's a residue and an aftereffect of my former programming. KX droids don't harbor those kinds of feelings. Cassian left him be, accepting his droid's quirks patiently.
"Watch your mouth at least, as much as you're capable of. I don't wish to make enemies among her friends, and by extension, earn her enmity."
"That wouldn't be so bad. We don't need these people," Kay said dismissively.
"You're right, we don't need them. But I'd like to make new friends here," Cassian replied. "I'm allowed to have friends, am I not? They might even be persuaded into the cause in due time, like other informants I have," he added, because that was a very factible possibility and because it was easier to appease Kay with that argument.
"Of course you are allowed to make new friends. I'm not a crime lord who enslaves his captives. When have I prevented you from having friends?"
Such a nerve, Cassian thought."Oh, never, take it easy."
"You don't truly agree. I'm detecting your usual display of irony when you disagree with something I say," Kay pointed out.
Cassian ran a hand down his face. "You remember Kyla? And Reeta?"
"How could I forget them? You had sex with them and got distracted and a bit careless by your rushing hormones. It was only thanks to my unwavering alertness that you didn't step into trouble during those affairs. For starters, you didn't get caught by that gang of criminals on Corellia," the droid reminded him.
Cassian shook his head. "I was perfectly alert, Kay. And I'd noticed the criminals' presence well in advance. That's why we defeated them so easily." Cassian smirked and tried another usually infallible tactic. "Or is your memory failing as of late? You think you need a diagnosis to check over your system?"
"No, thank you," Kay replied in horror. Cassian almost felt him shudder and smirked secretly once more. "And you're right, you were quite alert despite your sexual hormones at their highest level. We defeated them," the susceptible droid admitted reluctantly.
Cassian chuckled softly and then, the brunette appeared at the door. "You have the all clear, guys." And she stepped aside to let them cross the threshold.
The place had more the appearance of a dive than anything, but then, surely most bars and clubs on Kafrene were that way. The only presence of Imperials on the linked planetoids was just military, with a few garrisons and stormtroopers patrolling the streets. But no Imperial civilians lived there, or at least, not the ones who belonged to the rich elite, because there were no elegant neighbourhoods in the heights of the Ring of Kafrene, as in the case of Coruscant, Hanna City or Cloud City. And Cassian also doubted that middle-class sympathizers of the Empire would lower themselves by settling in such a place, so devoid of any glamour. So that ruled out the existence of luxury establishments. Everything was made and built for utility and practicality, not for the frivolous delight of the senses. The most you would find there were extremely modest places, and you could feel lucky if such places were at least reasonably clean and tidy. In addition, no one with the intention of staying on Kafrene for a while could be too picky with food and lodgings, unless they carried their own ration bars and slept in their ships. Anyone who ate in any of the street stalls or food places, or slept in the local pensions, was well aware of the quality of what was offered, and knew to keep their mouths shut and not to pry or complain.
As a seasoned Intelligence officer, Cassian had seen, tried and tasted almost anything the galaxy had to offer. He'd slept on the hard ground and in holes, and eaten junk, all for the sake of his missions, to blend in, to chase the Rebellion's goals. Everything for the cause. Even prostituting himself when necessary, using his body to gain access to the secrets of the Empire.
Kafrene was not a place he visited often, but he had valuable contacts there, and that was precisely why he'd landed there that same day, in search of one of his informants, but the guy hadn't appeared at the meeting point. There was an agreed code among all the spy network which dictated that, after the stipulated waiting time ran out, better be safe than sorry, so the dumped party did well to vanish without trying to contact the missing party, because said party might have been caught and anyone trying to contact them could be monitored.
Cassian was no new to being dumped by an informant, but that was always a loss of time and resources, two things he didn't have in abundance. He and Kay (who he sometimes took with him as reinforcement and cover depending on the missions) were returning to their ship when he heard a female voice groaning loudly in pain and some hoarse grunts throwing insults like little whore and threats the type of wait until we catch you, bitch. Some female was in serious trouble and that was the clue for Cassian to act. He truly ignored if all that was a ruse to trick passersby into believing that someone was genuinely in trouble, and incite them to offer help to the assumed victim. It wouldn't be the first time that dirty tactic was used by crooks to steal and kill saps. That was why people in places like Kafrene minded their own business and very rarely intervened in street scuffles.
But Cassian's wretched conscience roused with a vengeance in those situations. He couldn't allow someone to be raped and tortured to death. Ruse or not, he knew that, if he didn't step in, his damned inner voice would bother him and keep him awake all night. He already usually had trouble finding sleep as it was, with the terrible things he'd done. But telling himself that it was all for the cause helped and did the trick. However, not intervening when someone needed help, wasn't something he could ascribe to the cause. It was cowardice and slackness, pure and simple.
So he'd instructed Kay to follow him, silencing his protests (the last thing he wanted was to lose the element of surprise), and then he'd spotted the injured but resilient brunette ferociously standing up to those four niktos who weren't unscathed either and who obviously intended to turn her into their sex toy. She'd looked magnificent, ready to die fighting.
After the skirmish ended with his intervention and he interacted for the first time with the pretty woman, he felt in his gut that he couldn't leave her there alone and exposed. There was a blaster on the ground which he hadn't noticed before, and he in one glance guessed what had happened. The blaster must have gone dead and became useless, so she could only rely on her truncheon and vibroblade, which clearly weren't enough to deal with a gang of four niktos hungry for sex and blood. As much strong and skilled as she evidently was, without a working blaster she was no match for that deadly scum.
That had been a rookie's mistake, forgetting to charge or to swap the spent blaster, but Cassian was careful not to mention it on their way to her mentioned friend's place, and thank the Force, Kay didn't tackle the issue either, though who knew why, because the droid had the biggest mouth among everyone Cassian had ever met.
The brunette must be reproaching herself well enough, with no need for adding the shame of being told off by strangers.
Cassian knew what it was to make rookie's mistakes, he'd had his share, so he'd spare her the embarrassment of admitting it out loud.
He was glad that she at least seemed to have someone out there who cared for her wellbeing. But Cassian was determined to serve as her escort for as long as she allowed him. After the failed rendezvous with the missing informant, he had some rare spare time.
Now he was in one of Kafrene's nondescript bars, face to face with the zabrak who looked to be the owner and the woman's friend.