suitably_heroic | The Abandoned Warehouse District, Monday Evening

Sith	The Sith had been hunting Jaq for what felt like the better part of a day, but so far, his known associates had netted them nothing but dead colleagues. (Not that they cared about that.) Their last target proved slightly harder to find than the others, but now they had tracked the boy. They slipped quietly from shadow to shadow, closing in...
Sparkle	Well, this would sure teach Sparkle to go for a walk to get some freaking cat food. Velcro had to eat, after all, and so he was making his way across town to the animal shelter, because... look, that damn cat ate better than he did, these days. Today had kind of felt as though it was going to be one of those days when he woke up earlier, but besides that, he was completely oblivious to anything following him through the shadows. And why shouldn't he be? It wasn't like there were scorpions in the alleyways any more, right?
Sith	One Sith slid quietly past him in the shadows. Another, less so: her foot tapped against a can which went rolling out of an alleyway. Ah, well. So much for sneaking. Snap-hiss, said the lightsaber.
Sparkle	Ominous tin cans and snap-hiss sounds, followed by the vivid glow of a lightsaber? Were not Sparkle's favourite things to witness. Ever. "Uh. Hey, can I help you?" Backing away. Sparkle was backing away from the creepy lady in the alleyway, the hair prickling on the back of his neck. "You look lost. Kinda tense. I can recommend this place where you can get yourself a nice vibrator, help you relax..." Yeah, he was going to spin on his heel and try to just fucking run, now.
Sith	Snap-hiss. A second time. At least the unmasked Sith facing him on the other side looked... vaguely pleasant. "You could help us, yes," he said casually. "If you please."
Sparkle	'Vaugely pleasant' was still sort of a stretch when you were being threatened with lightsabers. Sparkle hissed between his teeth as he half-stumbled on his own feet, coming to a stop between the two Sith. "Fuck," he said, succinctly, looking back over his shoulder at creepy murderous freak number one, before levelling his gaze back at the one who had spoken to him. "You don't say?"
Sith	"We need some information," the Sith said, smiling past his lightsaber. "If we get it, we might consider leaving you alive. Specifically, we'd like the whereabouts of a friend of yours." Someone quiet slipped out the window behind the female Sith. His feet touched the ground with nary a noise. He left no ripple in the Force either, his mind a blank.
Sparkle	"Ah," Sparkle replied, mouth gone dry. Atton? Cade? Going by the weapons, at least, it had to be one of the two of them. "See, funny you should say that? I don't play nice with others. Like, at all. So when you say 'friend,' I really have like no fucking clue what you're talking about." Well. There were worse things to die for. Probably. He was trying not to shake too visibly, at least. That had to count for something. Maybe he'd even manage not to piss himself while he was still breathing.
Atton	The female Sith's body crashed abruptly to the floor, landing in a crumpled heap right behind Sparkle's ankles. She had a large blaster entry wound in her back. Close-range. "You want to track me down, so you come after my friends?" Atton asked casually. "Damn, Dorgan, you know you can't use Jedi-hunting techniques on everybody. I thought I taught you better than that. Guess not."
Sith	"Made you show up, didn't it, Jaq." Dorgan asked. While his smile didn't drop, his stance shifted subtly. "Didn't really expect it, I have to say."
Sparkle	"Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit-" Sparkle was going to take this opportunity to kind of scramble backwards, almost tripping over the fucking corpse at his feet, because Jaq or Atton or whatever he was answering to right then seemed like a far better bet to be near than-- Dorgan? He was going to get his ass killed by some asshole with a name like Dorgan? Ignoring the pot and kettle aspect of that situation for a moment... "-shit shit shit." That seemed like precisely the correct number of shits to give.
Atton	Atton took a casual step forward so he was covering Sparkle entirely. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking too," he said. "Thanks, Sparks." Shit shit shit shit had been where he'd been at for a while now, but he wasn't actually going to show that in front of a dangerous idiot like this one. "I would've gotten out of town, but someone parked a bunch of assassins on the causeway. You know you're going to piss off this island if you keep that up, right?"
Sith	Dorgan took a couple of steps forward. It didn't seem threatening, but Atton knew better than that - he had a couple of seconds, tops. Maybe half a minute. "No, I think I'll take your head right now and we'll be off," he said. "Shame it had to end this way, but it's all to my benefit, I suppose."
Sparkle	Really, there wasn't much that wasn't threatening about Dorgon, from where Sparkle was standing. He could climb onto a nearby dumpster and sing Hello, Dolly, and so long as he was threatening to decapitate people while holding that lightsaber, Sparkle was going to be able to scrounge up some reason to find the guy intimidating. This was not going to stop him from trying to peer over Atton's shoulder at the guy. It wasn't like he knew how many more of these crazies there were out there. He wasn't going to go running off now. "Sounds messy," he intoned. "I mean, you know, maybe it seems like a great idea in theory, but just imagine the dry cleaning bill, man. Nobody wants that."
Atton	"Ah, he's not going to decapitate me," Atton assured him. "If he's as terrible with that lightsaber as he used to be with a vibroblade, he's afraid he'll shake and mess up my face and make it impossible for the big guys to identify me." Sparkle might be feeling a casual poke in the thigh right now - because of the blaster Atton was quietly pushing at him, not just because Atton was happy to see him. He had a plan, but it was always good to have a back-up.
Sparkle	Sparkle could be back-up. Sparkle could be back-up like... well, not like a pro, exactly, because he was still more like an enthusiastic novice. But he was taking the blaster, at least, without so much as looking down at the weapon, and he was holding it tightly against his hip. Okay. Okay, he could do this. Wouldn't even be the first person he shot at, if it came to that. This fucking island.
Atton	With the blaster firmly secured in Sparkle's questionably-capable hands, Atton was free to move. He didn't like fighting Force-users this up close and personal. It usually didn't end well. But Dorgan wasn't going to just let him run away and throw grenades around, so he was forced to improvise. He dashed forward, ducking sideways and low suddenly - knew Dorgan wouldn't predict that so easily.
Sith	The first slash of the lightsaber went skimming over Atton's head. The second struck truer, the blade skimming along his side. Dorgan twisted around to face him as Atton went crashing down to the ground. Now he could smell his own skin where it'd been burned through. Oh, great. "Now who's forgetting all of his techniques?" Dorgan asked, taking a step closer. He wasn't worried about Sparkle.
Sparkle	Which, really, was a stupid thing to do. Sparkle wouldn't have dreamed of shooting if Atton was still on his feet where he could potentially get shot too, but with him on the ground and out of the way? Sparkle was going to worry about the ethics of shooting a man in the back after firing off the blaster a few times. That seemed like the only sane thing to do, here.
Sith	Dorgan would've rolled his eyes if he had the time, but he didn't. He had Force senses to tell him when danger was coming, and reflexes to go with them. He spun around again, catching the blaster bolts effortlessly with his lightsaber. Atton'd been clipped deep, he had a moment. "Really?"
Atton	"You're an idiot," Atton informed Dorgan's back, tossing a grenade towards his feet. "I don't know why I ever trained you. Good thing it didn't take." The grenade exploded.
Sparkle	Yes! Go Team Distrac--SHIT. Sparkle managed, at least, to dive for cover before the grenade went off. At least one of the two people still on their feet was too busy trying to keep alive to gloat too much. "I hate everything," Sparkle screamed into the ground as shrapnel and bits of Dorgan rained down on top of him. "I fucking hate everything!"
Atton	"I have a hole in my stomach and a bunch of Sith on my ass," Atton said, pushing up to his feet. Sure, that thing where his body never seemed to want to let him die was great, but it hurt like hell. "You, you have nothing to whine about." He limped towards Dorgan's remains and started digging around. Maybe he had some kolto patches on him...
Sparkle	"Are you shitting me?" Sparkle pulled himself to his feet, eyes locked on what was left of the guy who had just a moment ago been waving a lightsaber at him. The blaster was still gripped firmly in his hands. It would take a small army with a crowbar to pry it loose, now. "They came after me to get to you, over... like, what? What shit are you in, Atton? I think that gives me the right to bitch just a little."
Atton	"I thought I told you this already." Sure, in the vaguest way possible, Atton. "I'm a deserter." He picked some kolto out of the wreckage. Thank space. "You mind-- oof-- if we relocated to that warehouse over there?"
Sparkle	"Actually, I was thinking we could just stand here with the fucking corpses some more," Sparkle snarked, making his way over to Atton to offer him a shoulder to lean on, if he wanted it. He was shaken and he was pissed, but damn it, he wasn't going to just let him drag his injured ass back there, either. ... He was going to kick was was left of the Sith's steaming body, though. It left a nasty smear across his boot, but all things considered, that was the least of his concerns right now. "Come on. Let's get the hell inside."
Atton	That was the problem with Atton's weird-- thing. It kept him alive, sure, but it didn't keep anything from hurting like hell. He leaned on Sparkle all the way back to the warehouse. "There's gonna be more of them patrolling the area," he said, "Best thing we can do is bunker down." He finally let go, flopping onto his ass on the floor in the empty expanse of the warehouse's ground floor.
Sparkle	"Great," Sparkle grumbled. "At least there's something I'm good at." He plunked himself down not far from Atton, still white-knuckling the blaster he'd been handed. For all the good it would do him against a pack of Sith, it still helped him feel a little better. "You know how many there are out there? Anything?"
Atton	"There's a couple at the causeway," Atton grunted, taking a moment to apply the kolto. It'd be embarrassing if he got out of this just to bleed out during the night. "Cade, Sia and Skywalker took care of a few in town. Otherwise, I have no clue."
Sparkle	"Fucking fantastic," Sparkle grumbled, pulling his knees up to his chest and kind of hugging them as he sat there. "And I don't even know if I should thank you for saving me back there, or punch you in the dick for being the reason they came after me in the first place." He wanted to do both, a little. "So, is there a brilliant plan beyond 'bunker down,' yet?"
Atton	"We sit here and wait and hope the Jedi does the Jedi thing and kills all the Sith at the causeway," Atton said. "And then I'm gonna sit here some more and hope they didn't tell anyone about me, because I really don't want to leave this island." He knew Sith. The chance that anyone had phoned home to tell the higher-ups where he was was negligible - there'd be far greater rewards for whoever hauled him in.
Sparkle	Sparkle's jaw clenched a little at that. "You figure it'll come to that?" He kind of didn't want Atton to leave, either. His list of friends that actually got it was... small.
Atton	"If the Sith get their way, they'll drag me off kicking and screaming," Atton said. He shrugged one shoulder. "...Or if Skywalker finds out they have anything to do with me. Probably." Stupid Jedi.
Sparkle	"You've been a student here for like two years," Sparkle noted. "If Skywalker sells you out, people here are going to fucking riot. It's supposed to be this, like, safe fucking oasis where anyone can go to escape their pasts. Or, you know, so they tell me." Sparkle didn't buy it. But he figured enough people did that it would cause problems if people found out.
Atton	Atton let out a snort. "You're clearly not from my universe, kid," he said. "Jedi don't take too kindly to Sith. Not even ex-Sith." Might as well. Sparkle was the one person on the island he was friendly with who wouldn't put a lightsaber through his skull for this one.
Sparkle	Though really, Anakin was probably the last person around here who ought to throw stones. "... Ah." Sparkle swallowed, giving Atton a thoughtful looking-over. And then he shrugged. The guy hadn't brutally murdered him in the couple of years since they'd met. Sparks wasn't going to start hating him over some nebulous thing that wasn't even a part of his own reality now. "Well, to hell with the Jedi. And the Sith. Nobody likes them anyway." You tell 'em, Sparks.
Atton	The wonderful thing about being Sith was all the Hypocrisy 101 classes, honestly. "Definitely not me," Atton agreed. "The further away I am from that poodoo, the better."
Sparkle	"Now if only it agreed with you," Sparkle noted, glancing toward the busted boards that they'd come in through. "One of these days, someone is going to figure out how to leave the past back in the past and make it stick." Whoever managed it first, Sparkle hated them. A lot.
Atton	Atton snorted. "Someone," he agreed. "I don't know. Some parts I don't want to forget. Some parts deserve respect. Revan does, anyway." He wasn't exactly going to go begging for the Jedi's forgiveness, either. They'd deserved what they'd gotten. Didn't think Skywalker would like to hear that.
Sparkle	"Revan?" That one managed to pique Sparkle's curiosity, at least. He looked up at Atton and tilted his head a little. "Yeah?"
Atton	"Revan was a Jedi once," Atton explained. "When the Council decided they'd rather let the rest of us rot than face the Mandalorians, he rebelled. He took a group of like-minded Jedi and they came in and saved us." He shrugged. "After the war he decided to turn against the corrupt Republic and the Council that abandoned us. Deserting the Republic Army and joining him didn't seem like such a weird idea. Space, no matter how things have gone, I'm still not sure it was."
Sparkle	Sparkle nodded at that, a little more mollified now that he was starting to form a better picture in his head of where Atton had been before Fandom. "Yeah, I can see how being left for dead might have that effect on someone," he murmured. "So, you left the Jedi. Why are the Sith after you?"
Atton	"You're looking at that from the wrong perspective," Atton said, shooting him a look just laconic enough not to be called sharp. "Revan's forces, his Jedi and us-- we followed him. He started disseminating the Sith teachings through the ranks, and we just... kept following him." He shrugged, then winced as that pulled on his stomach too much. "That's the problem," he said. "People in my universe always think they can just go 'they're Jedi, they're good' and 'they're Sith, they're bad' and that explains everything."
Sparkle	Sparkle needed another moment to pick at that. The politics of long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, were not something that Sparkle really had much familiarity with, but that explanation seemed to help sort it out for a bit. All the same, he made a snorting sound. "It's like everything's in black and freaking white," he noted. "Shades of grey. Those are a thing, too. Shit, but it's the same anywhere. It's always either 'us' or 'them,' and if they're not with you, they're probably against you, the Jedi and the Sith, queers and immigrants and people who worship a different god or a different fucking hockey team. People love their excuses to shit on someone else, don't they? Fuck that."
Atton	"This is why I hate Force-users," Atton said. "They're so focused on their excuses to shit on someone else, they forget there's billions of us ants roaming around in between getting the worst of the blowback. They don't even care." A beat. "So yeah, fuck that. I would've stayed with the Sith if someone hadn't shown me that the blowback was about to come back on me with a vengeance."
Sparkle	"Sucks they found you here," Sparkle offered, demonstrating his occasional gift for understatement. It was a rare thing. But sometimes he managed it. "I... hope you don't end up having to run."
Atton	"Me too." Atton blew out a breath. "I like it here. Free food, free board, and not everyone's an asshole."
Sparkle	"Yeah," Sparkle replied. "Only most people." There was a moment's silence before he added, tiredly, "Anything I can do to help you with that chunk he took out of you?"
Atton	"I just need to sit here for a while," Atton muttered. Right now, focusing on breathing in and out seemed like a real good idea. Or at least the only one he was capable of examining in detail. "We should probably haul in one of those bodies sooner or later," he muttered, "I could use the outfit."
Sparkle	"You threw a grenade at one of them," Sparkle noted. "Kind of limits our options. But yeah. When you can move again, we'll do that." Idly, Sparkle wondered when the hell he'd gone from the sort of punk that would help a person stash their weed to the sort of punk that would help a person stash a body. And then he decided, he didn't want to know.