In My Time of Need

Overview

 * Prerequisites: Complete Main Quest: Dragon Rising. (In all of my games, I've triggered this quest after the Bleak Falls Barrow quest. Seems to be triggered after Irileth leaves with the guards and upon reentry.)
 * Quest Giver: Alik'r Warrior
 * Reward: 500

Quest Objectives

 * Find the Redguard woman
 * Speak with Saadia or Inform the Alik'r of Saadia's location
 * Talk to the Alik'r Prisoner or Inform the Alik'r of Saadia's location
 * Kill Kematu or bring Saadia to the stables

Quick Walkthrough
Speak with Saadia inside The Bannered Mare. OR
 * Help Saadia:
 * 1) Speak to an Alik'r Prisoner in the Dragonsreach Dungeon.
 * 2) Pay the fine for the prisoner and receive the location of the assassins' hideout.
 * 3) Head to the Swindler's Den to kill Kematu.
 * Turn in Saadia:
 * 1) Tell the Alik'r at Rorikstead where Saadia is.
 * 2) Return to Saadia and have her meet at the Whiterun Stables for an ambush.

A Wanted Woman
After completing the quest Dragon Rising, two Alik'r Warriors appear at Whiterun's main gate in a heated discussion with the city guard. The Alik’r have already been banned from most of the city after an incident and jailing, but the men are determined to try and find a Redguard woman somewhere inside the walls. Upon speaking to one of them, the player is asked to help.

The woman in question is Saadia, a barmaid at The Bannered Mare. After telling Saadia about the two Alik'r Warriors looking for her, Saadia becomes agitated and asks to speak privately. At this point, the player can follow Saadia and speak with her privately or head straight back to the Alik'r and inform them of her location.

Siding with Saadia
Speaking with Saadia privately, she reveals she is a noble from Hammerfell who fled to Skyrim and has been forced into hiding after an attempt on her life for speaking out against the Aldmeri Dominion. She goes on to explain that the Alik’r Warriors are mercenaries led by a man named Kematu. Remove him and the remaining forces are likely to scatter. Saadia also tells the player about an Alik'r Prisoner in the Dragonsreach Dungeon who could help in locating Kematu. Inside the Dungeon, speak to the prisoner through the bars. He agrees to help if the the player pays his fine. After paying the prisoner's 100 gold fine to the guard, the prisoner reveals Kematu is in a cave west of Whiterun called Swindler's Den. The prisoner will not be released even after the fine has been paid, though, as the guard only taunts the prisoner that he must have lost the key to the cell.

Not Just a Pretty Face
Swindler's Den can be found due west of Whiterun, at the base of a rocky hill in the middle of the plains. To reach Kematu, the player must fight the bandits inhabiting the den regardless of siding with Kematu or not.

Once the player reaches Kematu he does not attack on sight, allowing the Dragonborn to speak to him. Kematu side of the story is that Saadia betrayed her Hammerfell and a Redguard city fell during the war against the Aldmeri Dominion. Kematu explains that the Redguard houses wish to bring her back alive to face justice. At this point, the player has a pivotal choice to make: Kill Kematu or talk to him.

Siding with Saadia
To save Saadia from the clutches of the Alik’r, the player may simply attack Kematu and his guards at any point. The guards line both sides of the room, take care not to be surrounded. It is possible to exit the dialogue with Kematu and keep advancing forward to where he is, giving you a better chance to hide. Just walk straight forward, up the hill, once on top turn back and kill all the guards including Kematu from a sneak position. After the battle, loot the corpses and return to the Bannered Mare in Whiterun to inform Saadia of the end of her problem.

Alternatively, if you return to the previous room, you can use Battle Cry to cause all of the Alik'r to run straight towards your. By standing at the exit to the narrow passageway, you can light all of the Alik'r on fire, as they get caught up in a bottleneck, by blocking the passage while hurling flames at them.

Siding with the Alik’r
Kematu informs you that his troops aren’t assassins, but agents acting on behalf of the Redguard Houses and are tasked with returning the fugitive (Saadia) to Hammerfell. Ask what he wants the player to do, and Kematu asks you to return to Saadia and convince her to meet at the stables, where she’ll be ambushed and brought to justice.

Head back to the Bannered Mare and lie to Saadia - tell her the player failed to defeat all the Alik’r forces, they are coming for her, and the player has a horse ready for her to escape. Exit Whiterun with Saadia following and head to the Whiterun Stables. Around to the side of the stable house, Kematu is waiting. He immobilizes Saadia and the player may speak with him one final time to collect the reward.

Bugs

 * After completing the quest, the two Alik'r Warriors may appear at Whiterun's main gate and just stand there. This doesn't affect gameplay, but it can get annoying having to walk past them every time you enter the city.
 * If you talk to the Alik’r warriors in Rorikstead after you've killed Kematu and tell them you've found her (before finishing the quest), they'll tell you to lure her to the stables. If you now try to enter the Bannered Mare Tavern, your game crashes back to the desktop.
 * (PS3) If you side with Kematu it is possible that a clone of Louis Letrush, at the Whiterun stables, will become hostile towards Saadia as she attempts to escape. If this happens the quest will become impossible to complete, as Saadia and all other nearby NPC's will engage in never ending combat with Letrush, who cannot be killed.
 * If you use a fury or frenzy spell on kematu before speaking to him, he will begin attacking all of the alik'r warriors. If kematu dies by the alik'r, the quest will be stuck, saying "kill kematu or talk to him".
 * When attempting to pay the fine, no matter which gaurd you talk to, the dialogue may never show up.
 * If you choose to talk to the two Alik'r Warriors the icon shows them at the front gate but they are not there.