Song Wren bumped through the crowded street toward her destination, keeping her pistol close and her gilded knife closer. It was another night in Taris’ urban sprawl, and the air hung thick with the smell of spice and bilge water. Refinery smoke smeared the night sky in a briny haze, and pollution bled from every hole and burrow, tinting the city gray.
She wasn’t bothered by the bleak sights and the reek of human waste that slowly wormed its way into her nostrils. No, her eyes were on the building ahead. The reason for her travels.
The Knife’s Edge wasn’t much, just another Syndicate-owned establishment in the city’s cramped streets, crowned with a golden dome that glimmered in the dark. It was a casino, a bar and an arena all rolled into one messy pile of steel and duracrete. No windows, of course. What went on behind its walls was not something for the common crowd, nor for the Rangers that lurked about.
It was one of the many reasons Song decided not to bring Kanan along. Not that he couldn’t already handle himself, but this was dangerous territory to walk. Besides, it was about time she made new friends. She honestly felt guilty about dragging him across the galaxy on life-threatening missions he gained very little from. Let him rest.
Nearing the building’s front entrance, she brushed past the bouncer as if she owned the place. He made no attempt to stop her, either because he didn’t care, or he was too afraid to say something. Maybe both.
Immediately, Song was met with sparkling chandeliers, a swarm of drunk patrons, and the sound of laughter and drinks clinking together. None of them stared as she passed, and to her surprise. Mandalorians may be a dying species, but they weren’t so much a curiosity among places like these. It made sense. Only in a den of lions did a Mandalorian dwell.
She pushed through the gambling hall until she heard shouting and the roar of applause. Attracted to the noise, Song eventually found herself by the fighting cages, a series of arenas where men and monsters could compete for credits.
It didn’t take very long to find the woman she came for.
@Mockingjay