#asktheexiledgeneral

[theexiledgeneral]

Prompts! 112: “ Why are you bleeding?” and/or 137: “ You’re an asshole.”

First off, THANK YOU for the prompts!

The night was quiet. Tamara shivered from her vantage point atop a tall ‘scraper and drew her cloak tight around her. The merchant she’d been eyeing finished up with his latest customer and she finally turned away from the railing and headed to his kiosk. She rifled through his stock, taking advantage of a sale he had on a decent lens and a few spare mechanical parts that would come in handy to fix various things on the Ebon Hawk. The man gave her a strange look but he sold her the small lens she found anyway. She put his curious gaze out of her mind; everyone on Nar Shaddaa had something they were hiding and if she thought too long about all of it she’d never leave this place. Tam turned away from the merchant and glanced around the courtyard, debating if it was worth stopping by a cantina or if she should head back to her crew on the ‘Hawk.

A few elevator rides down, several plazas later, Tam was still not sure what she wanted to do and was almost ready to turn back to the refugee sector. She had turned disappointedly into a smaller alleyway, heading back to the ship when a figure making his way past the crowd caught her eye. The padded shoulders looked suspiciously like the back of Atton’s preferred jacket.

She wove through the crowds until she found him again, a few feet in front of her, and tapped him on the shoulder. Atton twisted back in surprise, his grimace dropping once he realised who she was. “Hey Tam,” he said, glancing around them and turning to face her, his eyes skimming past the crowd behind her and not really taking her in. “How’re you liking Nar Shaddaa?”

“Hey,” she smiled at him. “It’s hasn’t changed since the last time I was here. I’m starting to remember why I left.”

“Yeah, me too.” They began to walk through the crowd. Atton grinned at her and then did a double take, stopping and turning to look at Tam, “Uh … hey, you alright?” he gestured to his face. “Why are you bleeding?”

Tam touched her face gingerly, her fingers coming back wet and red under the gas lamps.

“Here,” Atton rummaged in his pockets for something and handed her a clean white cloth, “hold that over it for a bit. Should stop soon.”

They found a less crowded alleyway and made their way over to a secluded set of buildings on one end of the street. They both sat down on a set of steps nearby while Tam held the cloth under her nose.

“I was thinking of hitting up an old pazaak den I used to frequent back in the day but it turns out the place was lost to a fire years ago,” he said conversationally, stretching his legs. “It’s apparently a luxurious high rise now, if you can believe it.” He seemed almost offended. “Now I’m out of places to go. No one had a deal like they did. Three hours of pazaak and you’d get a complimentary glass of ale. A whole glass! They just don’t make them like they used to.”

Tamara’s shoulders shook with quiet laughter, “It has not been your day today, has it?” Her voice was muffled behind the cloth.

“Hasn’t been my month, if we’re being honest. Things started turning for the worse about the time I got to Peragus.” Atton turned and smirked at her. “I guess all that money you’re paying me for my role as pilot is just going to have to stay in my pockets for a little while longer. It’s a real damn shame.”

The cloth hid Tamara’s guilty expression, but she wasn’t able to chase the guilt out of her voice entirely. “You know, I owe you a lot for sticking around. I’ll tell you what, if we somehow strike it big I’ll give you my share of the loot after we’ve split it between the crew.”

Atton rolled his eyes. “‘Between the crew’?? Tell me we’re not giving your fanboy a share.”

Tamara groaned, “You’re an asshole.”

“Hey, it comes with the territory,” Atton said, gesturing to the alleyway around them. He leaned back on his elbows and took a deep, dramatic breath, “Never a dull moment on the Shad.”

Tam glanced over at him, “I thought you couldn’t wait to get back here.”

“Not really. Just seemed like the right place to go after everything that happened on Peragus. Nar Shaddaa is a great place to hide. You could get murdered here and no one would probably ever know.”

“What a sad way to live,” Tamara said softly, sitting up and pulling the cloth away from her face.

“I suppose. Here, that’s just normal really. Only people here are the ones that can’t get out and the ones that don’t want to ‘cause it’s worse for them anywhere else in the galaxy.”

She twisted to look at him, “I can’t imagine that at all.”

“Yeah,” he said, a far-off look in his eyes.

She brought the cloth back to her face and they sat in silence for a little while longer.

“Well,” she made to stand up but Atton grabbed her elbow, keeping her in place. Tamara glanced questioningly at him and Atton snorted. “You’re really going to make me ask?” He nodded at the cloth in her hand.

Tamara took a breath and shrugged, settling back against the steps. “Sometimes it feels good to let loose.”

“Not when half the galaxy’s after you,” he cautioned, “the whole point of coming here was that we could blend in and be invisible.”

“You sound just like Kreia,” she snapped. Tamara leaned forward and looked down the other end of the alleyway. “I can’t catch a break from her. I was hoping you’d understand.”

“Here,” she felt Atton’s hand on her shoulder, “let me take a look.”

Tamara turned to him again and pulled the cloth away. Atton seized her jaw and tilted her face up so he could see it better.

“Yeah. Looks better. Should probably get you to the ‘Hawk to clean up fully. Maybe he’ll have a time running through all your diagnostics.” Atton shrugged innocently at the glare Tamara shot him. “I’m joking. The crew will be worried though. Should probably tell them I didn’t do it just to be safe.”

Tamara chuckled, “Why, is that a worry the others have?” Something crept into his face, although he was still as unreadable as ever.

“Who knows,” he said finally. He lifted her chin to let her face catch more light so that he could inspect the cut. Her nose didn’t seem broken from this angle. “Now, who pissed you off?”

“Some Quarren doing a slave run,” she responded sulkily, making a face and wincing as he ran a thumb underneath the cut on her cheek. He shot her a questioning look and she shook her head, “No it’s fine, just sore.”

He let go of her and leaned back. “Well, it seems fine to me,” he said. Tamara shrugged and shook her head.

“I killed him but not before he got…” she took a deep shuddering breath and buried her face in her hands. “He got his guards to … shoot them all.”

“You tried to take them on alone? Come on, Tam.”

“Not entirely. I rigged a speeder to crash into them. I thought it’d take the guards out but it blew up before it hit the right target. Then everything went south.” She sighed.

“No shit-” he caught himself before finishing the rest of his thought out loud. This was probably the last thing she wanted to hear. He went for a more neutral response.

“Well, fuck.”

She sighed. “Yup.”

“Well, if it’s slavers you want I got a whole list of common routes. We could camp one until we see a few slavers and take them down, what do you say?” Atton stood up, not entirely sure why he was helping her instead of bringing her back to the 'Hawk and keeping her out of trouble long enough for them to leave Nar Shaddaa without incident.

Tam stared up at him, quiet for a moment. “I honestly thought you were going to drag me back to the ship.”

“I got more fun things to do,” he flashed her a quick smile. Tamara smiled back at him, her grin lighting up the rest of her face underneath the tiny gas lamps in the alleyway.

Atton suddenly realised why he was doing this, alarms blaring in his mind like a ship in combat. He ran through ways to backpedal out of this little adventure in his head, coming up short at her harmless smile. His brain felt like it had turned to jelly.

“You’re the best,” she grabbed his arm and started walking down the alleyway. She was so close, so warm.

“Yeah,” he said breathlessly.

Tamara led them down the alley and gestured for Atton to lead, “Let’s not keep them waiting then.”

[theexiledgeneral]

Prompt #37

"Atton?"

The silence of the comm poked and prodded at her worried heart until a few seconds later she heard the faint click of static and a rustle before: "... hey babe."

Tam swallowed hard, "Hey, just checking in."

"Comms're all fine. But we should probably have radio silence from now on in."

"Atton, I-"

"As much as I would give anything to be talking to you right now, whispering into my hand in a Sith Temple on Malachor isn't really what I had in mind for a romantic date."

"We haven't had many of those recently, have we?"

There was a soft chuckle over the comm and brief silence before he responded, voice cut down to the softest whisper now, "You're telling me that little tryst at Dxun wasn't good enough for you?"

"Hm." She hummed appreciatively, the sound catching at the back of her throat. "What I wouldn't give to be there now."

"Me too, Tam."

She felt something suddenly, a shift in the dynamic that set her heart racing. She hissed and grabbed at the comm on her wrist as if she could pull him back to her.

"Atton-"

"I know."

"You're in danger!"

"Yup, I can see that too," he said wryly. "Look, talking is probably gonna be really hard in the next few seconds so I may have to-" he swore loudly and there was the sound of a loud collision.

"Atton? Atton!"

"'m still here," he was breathing way too hard, "gotta go. Tamara I ... I'll see you around. Here or elsewhere."

She knew what he meant and wasn't ready to accept it at all.

"Atton-"

"I know, Tam. I do too." The call cut off and her screen flashed bright orange as it lost connection.

The door opened slowly and a robed woman entered the room, a trail of lightsabers cutting long lines of light into Tam's vision as they followed the old woman.

"I'm sorry," Tam said, rounding on her before the other woman could even open her mouth, "but we're going to have to make this quick. I have to go save someone."

[theexiledgeneral]

So, got any stories about the crew? Promise I won't tell.

“Well, I’m not sure if it counts, but back in the ‘Wars Bao-Dur was even more of a tinkerer than he is now.” She laughs softly at an inside joke, “Well. He probably cut back because of this, at any rate.“Now, don’t bring this up with HK unless you want your ears blown off. And various other extremities. But Bao-Dur was trying this experiment out and it went just about as well as you’d expect. By that, I mean, he accidentally set off an ion-charged pulse that brought down the whole base for days.

“HK was still in his infant stages at the time. He, along with every droid in the vicinity was shut down almost on impact. It took a whole week to get them back up and running. We had to do everything manually. Ships were down. Shields. Most turrets. If those Mando assholes had come within that time we’d’ve all been wiped out instantly.”

Tam snorts, “Rev was furious. I took the heat but she never let Bao within ten feet of the engineering room at that base after this incident. Anyway, HK had somehow found out who was responsible for setting the charge— we’d had to keep it a secret in case anyone else thought he may have been a traitor — and decided Bao was a threat to Rev’s life. He set up so many traps for Bao that one day it’s a miracle he got out with all four limbs. At the time.

“HK wouldn’t stop up to the point that Rev and I had to bring him back down again and reprogram him to not see Bao-Dur as a threat. Now — and keep in mind, it’s only been tested tangentially — I have a theory that’s slightly backed up with data that because of that HK is actually almost a whole percent less effective if his target is a Zabrak.”

She shrugs, “Is that cheating, since he wasn’t part of our crew at the time? There was that time Mira helped me give that slimy bag of slugs Vogga his comeuppance after he tried to make me dance for him. She kept me from killing him but that was mostly it.”

[theexiledgeneral]

What's the most annoying thing about traveling with Atton? He always seems... a little highly strung.

“You know, when I first met him I thought he was just paranoid. Paranoid I can deal with, right? Then it turns out he was a lot of other things too. But none of them really annoyed me. I guess you kind of understand where he’s coming from once you know what he’s been through. Took a while for that, though.

“I guess that wasn’t really an answer. Most annoying? I mean I guess the whisky always disappears faster when he’s here. And yes, he can be more stubborn than a wild nursing bantha if you try to get him to do anything he remotely doesn’t want to do. Especially if it involves convincing him you’re okay to go out on your own in the middle of a shady city, or chase after one of your best friends that may have left you alone to die. Stars, those times it’s almost like he doesn’t have ears and I’m talking to a stone wall.” 

A smile tugs at the corner of her lips, and she adds, “That and sometimes having to go and pull him out of a pazaak game when the whole crew’s been flight-ready for at least the past hour or so.”

[theexiledgeneral]

(Angstenfluff prompts #37 and/or #38!)

The cheap whisky stings as it slides down her throat but it takes her mind off other things. Like where she is now. In front of a metal door that won’t open. That she will tear down if she has to before she leaves. A sounds clangs against her consciousness. It’s her, knocking hard on the door. She doesn’t stop.

A man opens the door, surly and livid at being disturbed. “Fuck do you want?” His voice is rough and coarse, grating over his tongue and throat like the matching bottle of whisky he holds in one hand.

His face and body are in shadow but she’s memorised every inch of him already to know the expression that matches his tone, sunken eyes glaring hard out from under his brow, the twist to his mouth that is about the only expression he ever shows clearly. But he stands casually against the door, arms loosely dangling against his side like he’s ready for anything. Like he’s ready for a fight.

Fuck if she isn’t going to give him one.

“You could have told me.”

“It was none of your fucking business,” he snarls right back.

“Well you don’t have to deny it now.”

“I’m not denying a damned thing. I did it. All of it. And more. And I don’t regret a damn moment of it. The only thing I regret is meeting you after my retirement.”

There’s a pause. She came to play a game way out of her league and he knows it. Her anger drains for a second and the righteousness takes over. The incredible sense of loss and confusion. Of sadness.

“I can tell you’re lying.”

“Take your pick, Jedi. This discussion is over.”

The door moves forward, covers his face and stretches out to reach the other side.

She reaches out with the Force.

The metal screams at first and then bends and breaks away from the wall. She tears it right off its hinges and sends it careening off to the side in the hallway. He stands there dumbstruck, his gaze slipping between the door and her, trying to make sense of what he’s seen.

“You’re not the only one with powers,” he says, holding a hand out towards her. Crudely he pulls on something, and a knife flutters to his hand.

But she is already wrapping the Force around him, around his throat like a cocoon.

“I know,” she says, almost sadly, “but it won’t save you this time.”

[theexiledgeneral]

Hell, I would've paid to see that go down. Talk about dinner and a show. You get involved in the fight at all? By the way, if you ever wanna let off some steam I've got some practice starting cantina brawls. Anyway, moving on. Next question: is there a weapon or fighting style you haven't trained with/in that you'd like to learn?

Well, if you’re ever interested I could always blow off some steam in a … healthy … manner. Nothing like standing in the middle of a room of enemies with someone to watch your back to keep the adrenaline going, hm?

I didn’t get involved in the fight, but I definitely took advantage of the food. They had this aged Alderaanian brandy that was probably one of the best I’ve had.

Weapons, yes. Rev used to use a dual-saber and I’ve always been fascinated by the sheer elegance of the weapon. I tried to use a dual-staff once but it did not go well. So for now, I’ll just stick to my two separate ‘sabers.

In terms of styles, well, the Echani style wasn’t something I was aware of and learning it back on that base on Telos was eye opening. I’d always focused on and excelled in combat during my training on Dantooine so I learned the styles I wanted to, but the idea that there was more … that our styles weren’t the end-all of weapons training. That was certainly a humbling experience.

I guess something I’ve never learned but felt I should was the Mandalorian style of fighting. Their nets and flamethrowers worked on many a Jedi before me … I always was curious if learning the style would help me counter it better. But the ‘War ended and I had other worries.

[theexiledgeneral]

Hey Tam. You don't have to answer this if you don't wanna but I was just wondering... what's the craziest job you had while you were traveling around on your own?

You’ve done hunting work before, you know how that line of work can be sometimes.

I think the craziest was when this one angry noble on Alderaan decided he wanted to hire not one, but at least fifteen different bounty hunters to take care of a man that had slighted him somehow. Of course, none of us knew he’d hired more than one person so initially the attitude was somewhat casual as hunters focused on their marks - until, of course, we realised there was only one mark.

That wasn’t even there highlight of the day, though. It turns out this mark was a well known second cousin to an Alde favourite. And he had with him his own personal Jedi guard. Just the one, and he was young enough that he wouldn’t know me by gaze but I knew he’d put two and two together the second we fought so I decided I’d put myself out of the running and stay there, enjoy the food. This was to happen at a very expensive dinner party celebrating both nobles’ ‘newfound friendship’ by the way. So I got to watch the fun unfold.

Within the first hour or so, three or four hunters are dead. The host starts getting suspicious and moves into the throne hall of his house while most of the guests enjoy the the party outside the doors. He orders the Jedi to leave the dead bodies of any new offenders around his throne as a deterrent.

Now by this point we’ve all got an idea of what’s been happening, but the bounty was still too high to just let go. About six or seven of the hunters hired happen to be Mandalorians, so the Jedi doesn’t scare them. They team up and turn the party into a pseudo-hostage situation, just making as much noise and trouble as they can.

Now the party members don’t know any of what’s been going on inside so you can bet the reporters are having a field day with the fact that the Mandalorians have returned to this little party on Alderaan so soon after the ‘War.

Eventually, with the help of a hunter on the inside, they make their way indoors. There’s a huge battle, carbon scoring and toppled statues everywhere in the room. Finally one of the older Mandos gets the jump on the Jedi and shoots him in the back of the head. They make quick work of the host and turn to our lovely benefactor sitting calmly beside the throne in the guest of honour seat. He of course tells them only one of them will get paid, as the job only needed one person. The poor girl that helped the Mandos get in makes the mistake of taking that literally and turns on the closest hunter near her. They shoot her down instantly then turn on the host and kill him too. Then they end up raising the house for goods, leaving with some valuable art and sculptures.

Here’s the best part though. With both nobles and the Jedi dead to gunshot wounds the story was marketed as a Mandalorian uprising and so the Jedi, wanting to prove to Alderaan - and the Republic - they had this under control, sanctioned a mini-war on Alderaan against the Mandalorians. Obviously those hunters had left by then so they were targeting the few good ones that had opened up mostly-legitimate businesses in Alderaan and shut down about seventy-five percent of those merchants, making it harder for a Mando to get work anywhere in Alderaan. They all fled of course, and the best job they could find was one that used their skills well enough, so the Jedi just added to the bounty hunter issue that was already getting increasingly unstable.They ended up sorting it out themselves, to be fair. The older hunters didn’t appreciate the sudden influx of new blood and by the end only the best were left. I’d quit well before then, thankfully, but it just goes to show you what happens when the Jedi try to help.