Two days later, Cassian was summoned to Draven's office again. If the research team had already digged key information, Cassian was glad that they'd been so swift. He was dying to know whatever they'd discovered.
Draven was straight to the point as ever. "Captain. Please sit." Cassian complied. "Our research and other sources have revealed that the intel your late informant passed you about the deserter pilot being kept as a prisoner by the Partisans is correct. In addition, Galen Erso, who has remained under the radar since his disappearance from Coruscant eighteen years ago, has indeed been working for fifteen years in a top secret project for the Empire. Our best hackers haven't been able to find anything about that project, and that points to the veracity of the pilot's affirmation about a weapon of mass destruction. Otherwise, the Empire wouldn't have been so intent on preventing any leaks." Draven paused for a couple of seconds and then went on. "We need to make contact with Saw Gerrera and the pilot. And to accomplish that without the Partisans killing or imprisoning any of our envoys, we've found an alternative. Erso's daughter is alive." Draven handed Cassian a datapad. "In this datapad you have all the details concerning what we've called Operation Fracture. The daughter's true name is Jyn Erso, but she's been using aliases since Saw Gerrera rescued her as a child and raised her as another Partisan until she became a liability because of her origins and was abandoned. You can see her hologram pushing that button. Her current alias is Liana Hallik and she lives in Kafrene, a place you're well acquainted with."
The name Liana had already set off Cassian's alarms, but when he displayed her hologram, he positively paled, dumbstruck. "It can't be."
Draven raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong, Captain?"
Cassian swallowed to clear his dry throat. "I've met her before. On Kafrene."
Draven's stance didn't change, pragmatic as ever. "Good. Then you'll contact her again and tell her that we know who she is and we need her help. Bring her here so we can interrogate her and in the meanwhile, you'll get everything ready for a mission to Jedha, where, as you know, the Partisans' headquarters are presently. You'll reach the dead Partisan's sister, who is also in Gerrera's team. You're also acquainted with her, so it won't be so difficult to arrange a meeting in Jedha City. Take Jyn Erso with you. She'll be the best safe-conduct we might have found to knock at Gerrera's door. You're dismissed now. Read the whole details of the mission in the datapad and depart for Kafrene this same afternoon. Use any persuasion or coercion methods to bring Jyn Erso into the mission. She's vital."
"Yes, General." Cassian gave a nod and left the office, feeling almost dizzy. Of all the millions of women in the galaxy, he'd met (and developed impossible feelings for) the only one who could aid them in what had become the most important and urgent mission in all the history of the Rebellion. And probably in the history of the galaxy.
Cassian once again wondered in passing if the Force had something to do with all that. He shook his head, casting aside the ridiculous notion. Focus. Force or not, now you have ahead the most pressing task of your unworthy life.
If the existence of that planet destroyer was true, and it most probably was, then no other weapon had ever been so threatening for the galaxy. It had to be eradicated.
And the first step was to meet again Jyn Erso, alias Liana Hallik, and persuade her to join a mission that was much more momentous than any of them as individuals would ever be. Failing was not an option.
Tikus's bar was within sight, and Cassian was taking deep breaths to encourage himself. The task ahead of him wasn't easy. He could only imagine that Jyn's reaction wouldn't be of joy.
"You're nervous," Kay stated next to him.
"I don't need you to remind me of the obvious, Kay," Cassian replied, rolling his eyes.
"In order to calm you, I would remark that you've never had significant issues in your interactions with women since I know you. But of course, this situation is very different, so you can't rely solely on your charms. Persuasion will be required greatly. You've recruited people before, so I don't think you have to worry much about convincing her."
"Well, we'll find out in a short while." Cassian took another fortifying breath. "Let's do this." He pushed the door and stepped into the establishment, with Kay at his heels. Cassian immediately spotted Jyn behind the counter, attending a couple of clients who in all certainty visited the bar regularly and were the sensible type, as Jyn seemed to be comfortable with them. Tikus was wiping the tables unhurriedly, and he was the first one to notice Cassian's and Kay's presence. He paused in his task and nodded at the newcomers. "Glad to see you again, Jeron and Kay. It's been a while."
Cassian returned the nod. "Hi, Tikus The matter that has brought us here today can't wait, I'm afraid. I need to talk with Liana privately. I'm aware that it all sounds strange and suspicious, but what I have to discuss with her is of the highest priority. It's not what you're surely thinking. It's nothing personal, but as I've said, it's crucial." Cassian paused, bracing for the zabrak's reaction.
"What do you mean? Why are you in a hurry? And why is it not personal?"
Jyn was approaching them and Tikus trailed off, shooting Cassian a hard look.
"Hey, Jeron. Kay," she greeted with a smile. That smile which lit up the whole room. "I had started to think that you two had forgotten us. Looks like you've been busy."
Cassian acquiesced heartily. "Yeah. You can say that." Cassian felt as if he were going to dive from the top of a very high cliff into a turbulent sea. "And that's also what has brought me here. I have to talk to you in private." He watched her puzzled expression and raised a conciliatory hand. "As I've already told Tikus, it's nothing personal. But it's of the utmost urgency, and I'd rather nobody hears us, with the exception of Tikus, of course, as I know you have a close relationship and he'd find out anyway. So I trust that you understand that secrecy here is crucial."
Jyn addressed a knowing look and a subtle nod at Tikus. "Okay. We'll go to the storage room. Tikus, stay here and tend to business. I'll catch you up later." Tikus's reluctant expression spoke volumes. "I doubt Jeron is going to try any foul play here. The storage room has no rear exit, he'd have to come back here to escape, and there are a few eye witnesses in this room, some of whom wouldn't remain idle. All people here are armed." Indeed, everyone had blasters, vibroblades or truncheons on their belts. Kafrene wasn't the safest place in the galaxy.
"And the droid?," Tikus asked, still unconvinced.
"You aren't going to try any foul play either, are you, Kay? Because some of the people here know very well how to defuse a KX droid in the blink of an eye," Jyn warned with a hard smile. A threatening Jyn was a sight to behold.
"My boss doesn't have any intention of harming anyone, and he's ordered me in advance not to intervene. I'll obey as long as you don't pose a threat to him either," Kay clarified.
"Kay, you stay here and behave. Remember that right now our priority is my conversation with Liana," Cassian reminded his droid.
Kay moves his eyes in a gesture looking suspiciously like an eyeroll. Cassian almost smiled. "Go. I'll wait for you here," the droid assured.
Jyn turned to the side door and walked through a short corridor, where another side door led to a refresher, and he guessed that the door at the end led to the storage room. She opened the door and gestured at him to go in first. He complied and entered the crammed room. There were crates and almost unidentifiable piles of things by the walls, which had no windows. Jyn switched on the light and closed the door, leaving them trapped inside the narrow space. "And well? What is that so important?," she asked without wasting a second.
He inhaled deeply. "First of all, my true name is Cassian. Cassian Andor. Jeron is an alias. I work for the Rebellion and I know who you truly are, Jyn." He paused and watched her eyes go wide. He regretted that it all had to be that way.
She instinctively rested her hand on her blaster. Cassian didn't move a muscle in order not to upset her more. "Did you know who I am the first time we met?" Of course, it was reasonable that she would think that. Too much of a coincidence, even for a nonbeliever like him.
"No, I swear that that was pure luck. I was here to meet a contact who didn't turn up and then I heard you groaning in pain," he explained plainly.
"Why is the Rebellion interested in me?"
"Because of your father."
Her expression turned to shock. "What about my father?"
"We believe he's been working in a project to build a weapon of mass destruction. A planet destroyer. There's an Imperial cargo pilot who supposedly has deserted and who claims that your father sent him to Saw Gerrera with the information. The Partisans keep him as a prisoner. We need you so we can deal with Gerrera and verify the intel. If that is all true, then it's only a matter of time that that weapon is used against planets and systems which have rebelled against the Empire. So I hope you understand how important this mission is. It's about saving billions of lives." Cassian expounded as simply and persuasively as he could. If Jyn was how he believed she was, she wouldn't look the other way knowing that very possibly billions of lives were being threatened.
Jyn visibly deflated and looked down, with wet eyes. "I haven't heard a word of my father in fifteen years. And Saw ditched me seven years ago. I don't know if he'll want to see me again. I became a burden because of my surname."
"But he was like a father to you. And he has the pilot and has listened to his message. I don't think he'll ignore all that," Cassian ventured.
Jyn shook her head. "You don't know Saw. He was a paranoid already during the years I lived with him, and I don't believe that's a treat which diminishes with time. He surely hasn't believed that pilot, unless he carried with him proof of what he claims. And even in that case, Saw is very hard to persuade about anything. He only does what his own conscience, or lack of it, dictates him."
"I've read in the mission's files that he and your parents were friends. That's why he took you under his protection when your parents were taken. Your father must have known Saw well. I doubt that he sent that pilot without providing him with evidence," Cassian argued.
"Maybe." She trailed off. "My mother wasn't taken. She was killed by one of Krennic's death troopers when they took my father. I witnessed everything from afar."
Sympathy washed over Cassian, despite his hardened soul. She had been another child with a destroyed childhood, like himself. "I'm very sorry, Jyn. Truly. I also know how it is to have your family snatched from you."
They both kept silent for a while. "I'll do this because of that supposed weapon. I couldn't live with my own conscience thinking that there could be a monstrous thing threatening entire planets. I've just minded my own survival for years, always looking down. Keeping a low profile. But perhaps it's time to look up." And she lifted her head, looking straight into his eyes.
Cassian shivered. The light in her eyes was blinding.