I follow Mando down the mountain and through a wooded area to a settlement. I barely notice the cold in these clothes. He instructed me to remain quiet, so no small talk. But, when we finally come upon the settlement, Mando speaks up.

"Alright, there's a lodge down that road. We go in, get a drink, mingle around. See if we can find out anything about any Jedi movement without being obvious," he instructs. I remain quiet. He looks to me to see if I understood. I nod.

"If anything happens and you need to get out of there, the code word is bacta," he says. I nod again and he starts walking toward the lodge. I follow. 

This town is quite grimy. The ground is made of this dark blue sand, and the buildings are all the same brownish blue color. There looks to be either a lot of homeless people, or a lot drunk people sitting on the side of the road. I'm not sure which. Maybe both. 

Mando struts his way to the lodge confidently. I follow behind him, trying my best not to look like a lost puppy following its owner. A few vagrants jeer at us, begging for food and money. They must be homeless.

We get up to the door of the lodge. It looks dirty and dusty, like it hasn't been wiped down once since it was installed on the building. Mando turns the knob and steps inside. 

Inside, there are many round tables spread around the room, mostly filled with patrons. There is a large, long bar at the back of the room with many people sat at it. Two bartenders work the bar, serving as many people as quick as they could. I know that stress all too well.

The room is dimly lit with only a few sconces lining the walls. The wooden floor creaks as we step on it, and dust flies up with each step. There is a hologram playing what seems like news in the center of the room, speaking in a language I'm not familiar with. There are many species in here I am also unfamiliar with.

When we enter the lodge, all heads turn toward us. Mando's armor reflects the small amount of light that hits us, drawing attention. Conversations comes to a lull. Everyone looks like they've seen a ghost.

Mando brushes off the attention and saunters nonchalantly to an empty table near the edge of the room. I stay as close as I can behind him. He pulls two chairs out from beneath and takes a seat. I copy him.

"Alright, well let's get to business," I whisper to him. I stand back up, ready to go get a drink. Mando pulls me back down into my seat and leans toward me.

"Everyone in here has a weapon," he whispers to me. My eyes open wide as I sink into my seat.

"So, don't," he pauses between each word, emphasizing each syllable, "make it. obvious." 

"How do you know?" I ask.

"Helmet has scanners. Mostly blasters." 

"And all I have is a fucking dagger..." I trail off, sounding as pissed off as I can. I stand up once more, ready to get a drink. "Do you want anything?"

"No."

I walk away from the table slowly toward the bar. There are several large men sat at the bar, all engaged in conversation. Some are humanoid, but some are a breed I've never seen before. I walk up to an empty spot and tap the bar twice.

A bartender comes up, "What can I get you?" he says in the common tongue.

"You got any good prow?" I ask.

"The best in the galaxy," he responds in a gravely, hoarse voice. 

"I'll take one on the rocks," I request. 

The bartender turns around and places one large ice cube in a glass. Then, he goes over to grab a large bottle filled with a blue liquid. He pours the liquor over the ice and brings it back to me. 

"Six coins," he says as he sets it down on the bar in front of me. I slide six coins to him, grab my drink and make my way back over to Mando.

I sit in the chair next to Mando as he turns his head to stare at me. He doesn't say anything.

"... what?" I ask with a sassy tone.

"Is that straight prow?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you trying to get drunk?" he reprimands. I take one long gulp of the liquor and look at him. He shakes his head, scoffs, and stands up. I sit back in my chair, enjoying my drink. Prow is quite a strong liquor. It tastes very earthy with a little hint of sweetness. It's been my go-to drink for as long as I can remember. 

Mando walks over to the bar and takes a seat. I see him lean over to the man next to him and say something, but I can't hear all the way over here. The two engage in a conversation together. 

I keep my eyes on him to make sure nothing happens just as someone comes over to sit in the seat Mando once occupied next to me. I turn my head toward the stranger. It's a really buff-looking humanoid man with browned skin and long, braided hair. He drops his glass of golden alcohol next to mine as he sits.

"What's a little lady doing alone at night?" he smiles at me. As a well-seasoned bartender, I know how to deal with drunk men looking for a little something. I take it as an opportunity to fulfill the mission.

I bat my eyelashes. "I'm just trying to relax after the hard day I've had," I say in the most annoying voice I've ever used. "I've been looking for work, but I can't find anything that pays well." I paint a huge fake frown on my face.

"You shouldn't be workin! Yer so delicate, I would ne- never make a lady work," he says through a few small burps. He's definitely drunk.

"I'm just looking for something where I can get paid a lot of money for doing just a little work. Maybe something... off the books." I'm hoping he works in the slave trade and can offer me a job. I take a seemingly long sip of my drink while maintaining eye contact with him.

"Oh, yer lookin for somethin..." he leans in and speaks really softly, "somethin illegal?" I nod my head and configure my face to look pleading and innocent.

"I specialize in... illegal work. If you know what I mean," I tell him as I give an obvious wink. Drunk men always want the same thing. It's easy to appeal to their sexual desire to get information out of them.

His eyes widen and a lazy smile appears on his face.

"I could probly put in a word wit my boss... we do some people movin... if yer interested in that kinda work," he stumbles over his own words. He lifts his glass and takes a long swig of whatever he's got in there. I do the same to make him feel comfortable.

"Slave trade? I thought that was just a myth here? I was looking for a brothel!" I looked shocked. This is too easy.

"No no, but it's a secret so don't go round tellin anyone!" he warns. I can smell the alcohol with every word he drags himself over. It's kind of gross.

"Oh, I won't. Do they pay well?" I ask.

"A thousand coins per slave."

My eyes widen to seem surprised, "A thousand per slave?"

"Indeed lil miss."

"Do you get any... special slaves?" I lower my voice to seem actually interested.

"Sometimes we get some kidnapped military officers or somn."

"That sounds like hard really work... How do you deal with that every day?" I make puppy-dog eyes at him.

"I usually come here and look for some pretty ladies like yourself to take the edge off," he winks at me. I gag a little internally. 

The man raises his hand and touches the side of my face gently.

"You could come back home wit me if you wanna-"

Mando slams a cup down on the table to interrupt the man. He takes a seat in the empty chair next to him. The man drops his hand from my face and turns to see who interrupted him.

"Hey buddy what're ya doin? We're havin a conversation 'ere," the drunk man slurs his words.

"Not anymore," Mando says. He looks at me and asks, "I think we forgot to pick up the bacta at the market this morning." He emphasizes the code word to make sure I got the message. I grab my drink to down the rest of it, and put my cup back on the table.

"Thanks for the chat, but I've gotta go," I tell the drunk man. I give him a little wink as I stand up.

"Wait a second there lady," he tries to stand up, but wobbles and sits back down.

I turn and walk out of the lodge, Mando trailing right behind. I step out into the cool air once again, feeling amused. 

Mando pushes me against the wall of the lodge. "What the hell was that?" he asks me, sounding upset.

"What?"

"You were flirting with that guy."

"I was getting information out of him."

"It didn't sound that way."

"You were listening to our conversation?"

"Audio filters in the helmet."

"Dude..."

"What the hell, Koda? What if he was dangerous?"

"Drunk men are easy."

"Easy to what?" he asks. He sounds concerned, and a little... hurt?

"Easy to get information out of, Mando," 

Mando lifts his hand, which still has a cup of alcohol in it. He looks like he wants to drink it, but the helmet is in the way. "Stay here," he barks and disappears around a dark corner for a second. When he comes back, the cup is empty. He places the glass on the stoop of the lodge and starts walking aggressively in the direction of the ship.

"You didn't tell me what I could or couldn't do. What are you angry about?" I ask, trying to understand him. He walks very quickly. It's hard to keep up. The alcohol is starting to set in, too. 

He doesn't respond.

"You just told me we wanted to find information about the salve trade here," I explain myself combatively, "That's what I did. If you didn't stop me, I could've learned the location of it, or who's in charge, or-"

"I told you everyone had a weapon in there," he turns and yells at me, "I can't afford to have you potentially start an argument with a huge drunk man who just wanted to fuck you!"

I stop in my tracks. I'm feeling the effects of the prow now. I think Mando's also feeling it. 

"I didn't mean that," he says with a sigh of frustration. He puts his hands on his head. "Let's just get back to the ship."