suitably_heroic | Nar Shaddaa, Some Time After Last

Atton	"Hey, look!"
Meetra	Meetra twisted around just in time to catch Atton running towards her. She blinked. She'd only said her goodbyes five minutes ago - was there something he'd forgotten?
Atton	Atton came to a stop, his breath coming out a little faster than usual. Maybe pushed himself a little too hard to reach her, but when somebody had the Force to propel them forwards, well, it required some extra legwork to catch up. "I forgot to tell you," he said, "Be careful?" He searched her confused expression. "...I won't be able to contact you via the comlink if anything happens," he explained. "And I'm betting that squid-head knows it."
Meetra	Meetra's expression softened. She still wasn't sure what to think about everything she'd learned about him, but his concern for her was true, if nothing else. So she smiled a little. "I appreciate the warning, Atton. Thanks. I'll be careful."
Atton	Atton reached into his pocket and pulled out a couple of the medpacks he'd been squirreling away for a rainy day. "Take these," he said, passing them over. "They're healing packs. If your suit gets breached, you'll need to inject them if you don't want your lungs to seize up." He hoped she got the severity of the situation. "And trust me, once the seizures start, you'll be dead."
Meetra	"That's comforting," she said dryly. "But thanks."
Atton	He let out a sigh. "Watch yourself," Atton advised. "And don't be too long. I'll keep an eye out here until you return." He set his jaw, thinking back to the cantina he and Sparkle had made such a loud show of drunkenness at. Not without the possibility of this in mind - at least not for him. Always had to think ahead, especially about your bad behavior. "And I know just the place."
	-
Atton	A couple of days ago, Atton and Sparkle had spent about fifteen minutes at this cantina before Atton had provoked the bartender until he got his ass thrown out onto the street. An expression of his mood with some stupidity attached? Sure - but he'd also figured it wouldn't strictly be a bad thing if bounty hunters had a particular place they'd start looking for him and the people he traveled with. It also wouldn't be a bad thing for them to think of him as a drunk and an idiot. "This sure beats staying on the ship," Atton told the bartender jovially, slipping into a seat. Luckily, it wasn't the one from the other night. "A few drinks to keep me on my toes, a few games of pazaak to keep the mind alert... should be enough to keep me out of trouble until our fearless leader straightens things out." He smirked at the bartender. "Give me a hit of juma, and keep 'em coming."
Twin Suns	Two Twi'leks stepped out of the darkness. Yes - this was the one they remembered. The one who traveled with the beautiful Exile. The scruffy drunk human. The weak link.
Atton	Atton felt them before they'd even taken a step towards him, but he still made a show of turning around and eyeing them up. "Well. Looks like staying on the ship was a bad idea indeed." He let out a happy sigh. "That's what I love about Nar Shaddaa - the company." His gaze lingered somewhere that wasn't their faces. "So... I don't think I caught your names... Uh, do you two work here, or...?"
Twin Suns	The human spoke. A lot. Seer'aa tilted her head. "We are dancers, yes." "Slaves once, now no more," Teer'aa added.
Atton	"Yeah?" Atton asked casually. "What happened to your master?" They were armed with vibroblades, but wore little armor. He just needed to make sure they underestimated him enough that they'd try to be quick about it.
Twin Suns	"He was made deceased," Seer'aa purred. "We serve no one... but ourselves." Teer'aa played with the very tip of her left lekku. "And you, of course. Tell us... why did you come to the smuggler's moon?" Seer'aa smiled. It was predatory. "Perhaps you were looking for something... perhaps us?"
Atton	Trying to get him with sex appeal? That was cute. Exactly what he invited - on purpose - but cute. Atton leaned back against the bar, his fingers brushing casually against his blaster without making it obvious. "No, actually, I'm here protecting someone," he said. "Keeping them out of trouble - by acting like a distraction for people looking to harm her." Y'know. Like you two. He shrugged casually. "Because with assassins like you two running around Nar Shaddaa, I think you're another problem my friend doesn't need."
Twin Suns	Seer'aa blinked. That was... not what she had expected. "Assassins?" she tried. "He means one who kills for money," Teer'aa interjected. "He doesn't understand." "We only wish the Exile," Seer'aa drawled in her high-pitched Twi'leki. "Submit, or we will kill you and find other bait."
Atton	Atton's expression shifted into something of a more predatory nature, too, and the pretense dropped out of his tone. "Why don't you two schuttas try it, and we'll see what happens?" He drew his blaster and fired.
Twin Suns	They rolled out of the way as one. "If that is what you wish, we will end you!" Seer'aa sneered. "It has been too long since we have killed!" Teer'aa added.
Atton	But Atton had taken advantage of their moment of distraction to flip over the bar, shoving the bartender out of the way. He fired a few more blaster bolts in Seer'aa's direction as soon as she came upright. The bolts buried themselves in her shoulders and stomach, knocking her over onto the ground. From his estimation, out for the count.
Teer'aa	Teer'aa had taken advantage of his focus on her sister to come barreling at him, covering ground towards the bar. She lashed out at him with her vibroblade, snarling, trying to take his head off.
Atton	Atton dodged back and out of the way, slipping along the length of the bar until he got a clear shot. He fired off a volley and kept moving.
Teer'aa	She deflected the first two bolts, but the third caught her across the chest. Teer'aa snarled out a Twi'lek curse and leaped onto the bar, trusting her speed to keep her from harm long enough to bury her blade in his shoulder.
Atton	Atton had always been a fighter whose main asset was being nimble, not being strong - the blade went just past his shoulder, scratching the surface of his jacket. He took advantage of the situation by firing a close-range bolt into her knee. As it buckled out from under her, he fired another one - again into her chest.
Teer'aa	That was too much - pain overtook her and sent her sprawling off the bar onto the ground. The world faded from her vision. No-- she needed to--
Atton	Well. That had worked out okay. Atton reholstered his blaster and took a quick glance across the den. Most of the locals were already turning back to their pazaak games. Good. He activated his comlink and sent a message to the Ebon Hawk. "The bounty hunter truce is off," he reported. "That means this place is going to get real bad, real fast. Get ready." If the bounty hunters were operating independently, and they heard about this - they were going to find out about the Hawk sooner rather than later.
	-
Visas	"I don't know why a Jedi would come here," Visas said quietly. She stepped off the Ebon Hawk's ramp and onto their landing platform. "There is so much noise on this moon."
Kreia	"Of course," Kreia said, tilting her head up at the skies. "It makes detecting a Jedi difficult."
Visas	"But to be in a place where one drowns in the Force," Visas said, "Why would a Jedi wish that?" Even her Force sight was growing distorted by the sheer life of this moon.
Kreia	"A simple question," Kreia noted. "To which I ask another - why should a Jedi want to hide?"
Atton	"Hey," Atton called as he came running up to the platform. Not that he wanted to interrupt Kreia's latest bout of Jedi mumbo-jumbo-- well, actually, he did. "We need to move out."
Visas	Visas' mouth did the frowning for her. "What do you mean?"
Atton	"I told you, the truce between the bounty hunters is up," Atton said, fidgeting with the hair at the back of his neck. "There's going to be a war. And a trap in the Jekk'Jekk Tarr is bad enough, but having a hundred bounty hunters on your back is something else."
Kreia	"She was told to meet alone," Kreia said pointedly. "We cannot disrupt their meeting until the alien reveals the information he has."
Atton	For the love of-- "Look, we need to move," Atton snapped. "They're coming after us, not the exile."
Visas	"These hunters will be tracking the exile as well," Visas said, alarmed. "We must warn her."
Atton	"You're right," Atton said, dropping his arm alongside his body, "But we're in a lot more trouble than she is--" Barely had the words come out of his mouth, or he heard some pretty damned uniform footsteps behind him. He turned around and caught sight of a large group of bounty hunters. Well. Poodoo. "Ah, look," their leader drawled. "Refugees. Here. On the landing pad. Are you lost? Or perhaps you have lost your criminal Jedi exile leader. Perhaps that is more likely, yes, very. I am Azanti Zhug, leader of Zhugs, very powerful, very skilled hunters." He held up his gun. "It would be very smart of you to tell me where the criminal Jedi has gone. And do speak very quick, my patience is very low." Atton tilted his head. "Anybody here catch that?" he called. "All I understood was 'very'."
Bao-Dur	Bao-Dur casually drew his weapon. "I think he wanted us to give up the General to his poorly-trained collection of bounty hunters."
Atton	"Ah," Atton said, also drawing his blaster back out of his holster. "That would explain it. Which one do you want?"
Bao-Dur	Bao-Dur pursed his lips. "I'll take the stupid one who decided to threaten us rather than shoot us when he had the chance." And lo, it was so.