When Cassian woke up late in the morning after his visit to Brasso, feeling a bit hungover (he'd drunk the remaining contents from the bottle of Corellian whiskey under his friend's unimpressed glare), he took some moments to notice that something was off. His befuddled brain struggled for some seconds to pinpoint the cause of that feeling.
But then, it hit him what was that had woken him: a cacophony of metallic bangings sounding outside. Cassian's mind cleared instantly. He, as all Ferrixians, knew what that noisy ritual meant.
It had been a very long time since he'd heard it before. He was reminded of Clem's last day.
He got dressed quickly and hurried to the living room, where an alert Maarva was staring through the window, leaning on the cane she favored as of late. Cassian didn't know why it was that precise moment that the crude reality of her decaying health made itself terribly evident to him, as if he had been reluctant to open his eyes to the truth until that morning in which Ferrix was clearly being threatened.
"Good morning, Cassian," Bee greeted with a small voice from his position almost always so close to Maarva lately. Bee was her lady master's shadow. Cassian knew that the shabby droid offered the weakened woman whom he loved as another son his support in the only way he could, and that touched Cassian deeply even in the current dire circumstances, whatever was happening.
Maarva didn't turn to look at him. "Tell him, Bee," she commanded abruptly, without further ado.
Cassian returned his puzzled stare to the droid, silent. "The Empire has sent a contingent of officers and stormtroopers and they're arresting citizens. These measures and others have been adopted immediately all around the galaxy after the garrison on the planet Aldhani was attacked yesterday and around eighty million credits destined for the quarterly salaries of an entire sector were stolen," Bee recited.
"A robbery on Aldhani?" Cassian asked in shock. "Why are they arresting people here? This is very far from that place."
Maarva intervened, with seemingly a blatant lack of patience for her son's obtuseness. "Don't you understand? They're punishing the galaxy for that. They're carrying out a show of force because they've been humiliated and they can't tolerate being put on blast. Now, things are going to be worse than before, as if they weren't bad enough."
Cassian shook his stupor and tried to think clearly. Who might they target in Ferrix City? No doubt many people had their back-street dealings. The Imps would have to arrest virtually most of the population.
The Empire didn't need proof to chase whoever it fancied. If it decided to show its thirst for revenge by bringing a whole city to justice if it wished to do so, they certainly could. What Cassian didn't doubt either was that the Ferrixians wouldn't make it easy for the Imps. His compatriots weren't the docile type. If they hadn't risen up yet, it had been because the Empire hadn't payed attention to them in a long time. But it looked like the moment to act had finally come.
Cassian thought about the most probable primary targets. Those who might have been traced. Salman. He had the radio unit. Bix. She had been using it, and most surely there were records of her conversations with the Fulcrum, even if they only gave away their illegal sales and didn't show evidence that the man led a rebel organization. Cassian would never peg him as a sloppy person, not after their encounter at the factory.
The Empire had the means to identify Bix if they put their considerable resources to it. As for the Fulcrum, he didn't care one bit for him, but he cared for Kerri, and he hoped that they were good enough at erasing their tracks.
And right then, a suspicion crossed his mind. Did they have anything to do with the incident at the Aldhani's garrison? Had all the current chaos been unleashed by their actions? If that was the case, Cassian didn't feel inclined to congratulate them, not if any of his friends were going to pay the price. There must be many other rebel cells in the galaxy, but if the one to which Kerri belonged was to blame for putting Cassian's friends in danger, then they would have to answer for any damage inflicted upon his people. He hoped that Kerri wasn't involved in the robbery, because that would create a conflict between them and he wasn't sure he could forgive her.
Even if he objectively understood their actions and motives, he wouldn't be forgiving if the people who mattered to him suffered for those actions.
He had to find Bix, make sure that she was alright and get her to safety. A cold determination kicked in and he turned into his implacable persona.
Maarva must have noticed the change in his demeanor, because she suddenly looked at him with fear in her tired, gaunt features. "Cassian, what are you going to do?"
"I have to check that my friends are fine. Don't worry for me, mom, I'll be careful," he tried to appease futilely, he knew. He leaned down and kissed her wrinkled, dry and cool to the touch forehead tenderly, and afterwards he patted Bee softly on his worn-out frame. The droid had remained silent for the whole exchange between mother and son and looked smaller than ever. Cassian shot him what he hoped was a reassuring smile.
"I always worry for you, son. That's a mother's job. But you do what you have to do. Perhaps it's damn time we all open our eyes, you, me, all of us," Maarva said almost in a whisper. When she looked up at him, the fear had been replaced with a fire he hadn't seen in her since his father was still alive. Cassian didn't know if feeling relieved or worried because she at last was shaking off her lethargy, a lethargy that had lasted for too long.
Anyway, he didn't have time to dwell on her visible change. He had to hurry up.
He strode back to his bedroom to retrieve his weapons and studied the state of the street through the transparinsteel before venturing out with steel in his veins.