espionage! → cassian andor

iii. the revelations

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CASSIAN ANDOR WAS IRRITATED—more with himself than anything else. While he was used to feelings of self-loathing following particularly dirty missions for the rebellion, this was different. This had all to do with the fact that he couldn't find it in himself to hate Mari Tam no matter how hard he tried. There was just something about her, a certain kindness he knew was there—and no, it wasn't just because she gave credits to a homeless being, there was more to it than that, he realized as he left the interrogation cell once more. She genuinely wanted to do good for the galaxy, and he had a feeling she knew nothing of the Empire's real actions beyond what they broadcasted. She may be innocent, which was far more than he could say about himself.

She could do good with the Rebellion...the question was, how was he to show her the Empire's true colors?

"You haven't asked her any questions yet." The voice of K2-SO pulled him from his thoughts, just as it so very often did. He spun around to see his droid standing there, giving him his ever-present look of curiosity.

"You were watching?" Cassian asked in mild annoyance, but he sighed upon realizing that it wasn't the droid he was annoyed with, but himself and his thoughts instead. "No, I haven't."

"You still have hope in her," the droid observed. Cassian opened his mouth, prepared to give a reply that had become automatic over the years, but K2-SO was ahead of him. He held up a mechanical hand. "Rebellions are built on hope, I know, I've heard you say that time and time again. But is she worth it?" Cassian nearly replied with a snappy remark, but the question kept him from saying anything at all because he realized he had no answer.

"Draven said we might need her for an upcoming mission," he finally said. "If we can get her to help us, then yes, she is worth it." There was more to determining her worth than just that, he knew it, but for now that would have to do. He wasn't ready to admit to himself that he had a soft side for people with genuine good in them.

"Ah," said the droid in a tone of realization. "So this is merely strategical. Using the information you have given me, I calculate a 36.2% chance of you successfully recruiting her. Good luck." Then, as he so often did, K2-SO went off without another word. Cassian wasn't sure if that was a droid thing or if it was just in his droid's personality. Either way, lucky him.

Cassian shook his head, forcing himself to focus on the mission at hand. He needed to show her the true nature of the Empire, not just for the Rebellion's sake but for her own as well (he still despised the fact that he cared, but refused to address it; he had other far more pressing matters to attend to). The question was: how the hell was he going to do that?

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MARI WAS STARTING TO WONDER about the Rebellion's intentions. Never before had she been captured during her time with the ISB, but one didn't have to go through the experience to know what to expect. Her training and instincts both told her that, in a normal situation, someone was captured for one of three reasons: to detain, to question, or to force cooperation. There were other more barbaric reasons of course, but those were mostly reserved for gangs and crime syndicates and even the Rebellion was above those.

The first reason was simple enough: the Rebellion wasn't known for taking many prisoners, but they did capture the occasional Imperial agent when the situation demanded it. For the most part, the Empire did far more capturing than the Rebellion did, but they were the governing body, wasn't it their job to arrest those who went against the law?