A Doctor's Request

*Atton had become very familiar with the doctors office over the past several weeks during his recovery. But after all that time, after all the weeks spent rehabbing(with an emphasis on cardio of course), today was the last check up. After this, he was free to do...something. Honestly, he had been so focused on his rehab and recovery than his next move. But even then, with the visions he had been having gave him something to investigate at least. First things first, though.

He took his usual seat in front of Lucien's desk and leaned back, just as the doctor himself entered. Lucien wasn't accompanied by the usual retinue of nurses with all the various devices and scanners, another sign that Atton had completed his road to recovery.

The doctor sat down at his desk, setting down the datapad he had been carrying.*"Atton, I'm sorry to say this, but this is your last visit to my office."*The doctor couldn't help but smirk.*"I can tell that you're devastated."

*Atton smiled and shook his head.*"Yeah doc, I'm real broken up."*He leaned forward in his seat.*"Right then. Anything I need to sign?"

*Lucien shook his head.*"Nope. But..."*The doctor's smile faded.*"I'd...actually like to ask a favor of you."*He put his hands up.*"I'm not trying to be mercenary about saving your life, Atton. But I don't exactly have a lot of people to ask about this sort of thing and I'm running out of options."

*Atton's brow furrowed as he started to contemplate just what exactly could be troubling the doctor enough to actually ask him for a favor.*"You in some kind of trouble, doc?"

*Lucien shook his head.*"Oh no. At least...probably not in the way you're thinking."*He cleared his throat.*"I recently lost contact with a long time associate of mine. It's normal for him to drop out of contact for brief periods of time, given the...nature of his dealings."

*Atton raised an eyebrow.*"I take it this 'associate' of yours is up to no good?"

*Lucien shook his head.*"Well I wouldn't put it like-...er...*The doctor stopped himself, thinking it better if he was honest about this.*"Well I guess I would also put it like that. He's not the nicest fellow, but my alliance with him has kept away other...interested parties, if you catch my drift."*He sighed.*"I trust you can see why his disappearance would have...consequences for me."

*Atton heaved a sigh and leaned back in his seat. To say he didn't like where this was going would be a bit of an understatement...*"I...see. So you want me to go and find this guy? Does he even have a name?"

*Lucien shook his head.*"I don't know his real name, just an alias. And I'd actually like you to find Ninian, his bodyguard. She was the one who contacted me about his disappearance and we were able to set up a meeting place."*He pushed forward a datapad.*"I put everything on this datapad. Take it to Ninian and she'll fill you in when you meet her...er...that is if you choose to help me. If not, I understand completely."

*Atton was at least grateful that he had choice in this matter. It would have been quite easy for Lucien to play the 'I just did you a favor' card, though often the doctor had said that him saving Atton's life made them even. He was about to reply when a shipwide alarm sounded. An alert then came over their comms.*

Hostile vessels inbound! They're heading for the hangar!

*Atton grimaced as he felt a disturbance in the Force. He quickly got to his feet, hoping that he was indeed cleared for combat.*"I guess we'll talk later! I need my lightsabers!"

*Lucien also got to his feet.*"They're in your locker! Let's go! Quickly!"

*Fortunately, the locker containing all of Atton's effects was just a short journey down the hall and Lucien's clearance got them in with no difficulty. Atton grabbed his lightsabers and turned to Lucien just as he felt another disturbance in the Force. A dark presence was approaching, and his years of experience told him it could be no one else besides a Dark Jedi.*"So...is this possibly related to the matter we were just discussing? Because there's a Dark Jedi on one of those ships."

*Lucien's eyes widened.*"You can't be serious! Oh gods this is worse than I thought..."*He took a breath in an attempt to calm himself, then turned back to Atton.*"I'll explain everything, but first, we need to get somewhere safe!"

*Atton nodded. He really didn't like the idea that the doctor was keeping something from him, but with a Dark Jedi on the way and him being quite out of practice at fighting, this wasn't the time to be arguing.*"Right then. Stay close to me."

*Atton entered the hangar just as the shuttlecraft landed, lamenting the lack of weapons on Lucien's ship. Sure it was a medical vessel, but surely even a few anti-ship batteries would have likely prevented this landing or at least made them think twice? Then again, if the ship was armed, then maybe the bad guys would have brought bigger ships. Dark siders were crafty like that.

He watched the shuttle land and took a step back towards the hangar door. If they came out shooting, then he would have to make a quick escape. Hopefully whoever was on the shuttle would be in the mood for negotiating. Or at least talk long enough for the rest of the security team to get in position.

To be honest, Atton wasn't looking forward to this fight. He had been out of action for quite awhile and had only recently gotten back into fighting shape. Then again, his old master had told him that lightsaber fighting was like learning to ride a speeder bike. Once you learned, you never forgot. Hopefully that was the case here.

The sight of the shuttle's exit ramp lowering snapped Atton back to the present and he steeled himself for whoever or whatever was about to come out of that shuttle. To his surprise, only one figure emerged from the ship, a woman dressed in black robes. She was pale skinned with raven black hair, and as she approached him, Atton could see that her eyes were red, almost as if they were glowing. Definitely a dark Jedi...

The woman drew her lightsaber as she approached him, and Atton took a step back.*"Um...so negotiation is out of the question, I take it?"

*The woman sneered as she pointed her weapon at Atton's chin.*"Don't play games with me, fool. Give me the doctor and you'll walk away with your life."

*Atton scowled.*"A simple no would have sufficed..."*So they were after Lucien after all, though he couldn't imagine why a Dark Jedi would be involved. In any case, Atton wasn't going to just let her waltz in and snatch him.*

The woman narrowed her eyes."I have no patience for games. You have one chance. Hand over Lucien Darius. Now."

Atton had heard enough. There was no way this ended without a fight. His left hand shot out and he launched a Force Push, sending her flying backwards. He drew his lightsaber, cyan blade alight.

The robed woman landed on her back, but she quickly sprang to her feet, the sneer still on her face."A simple no would have sufficed."*She ran forwards, but Atton was there to meet her and their blades clashed. The sounds of lightsabers crashing against each other soon filled the hangar as Jedi and Dark Jedi fought each other. The long weeks Atton had spent in endless exercise had paid off, and he hadn't forgotten how to fight after all, the motions coming to him as easily as they did before. That was a good thing, as this woman was no slouch in a fight herself. Her attacks were aggressive, but precise as she drove Atton backwards with a relentless stream of blows, but he responded with the steady defense that the Soresu form provided.

As the woman swung her saber low, Atton jumped backwards, avoiding the attack altogether and giving him some space. Before he could think about his next move, he was sent flying through the air as she sent her own Force Push. Caught off guard, Atton landed square on his back, his lightsaber flying out of his hand and skittering across the floor of the hangar. In an instant, the woman was upon him, her saber just inches from his chin.

She smirked in triumph.*"Ready to die, Jedi?"

*Despite the sudden grave turn of events, Atton wasn't quite done yet. Though his lightsaber was close enough to him to summon to his hand with minimal effort, it wouldn't get there quickly enough to stop the woman from stabbing him in the face. There also wasn't enough time for him to draw the saber he still had on his belt. He always carried two weapons for the sole purpose of having that option available in case of a situation like this, but this time it wouldn't do much good. With his opponent focused solely on the kill, it did leave him an opening to try something else.

Atton concentrated hard, closing his eyes as if accepting his fate, but in reality, he was using the Force to grab a hold of a toolbox he had spotted moments earlier. With all his might, he used the Force to hurl it towards the Dark Jedi. It impacted just as she was prepared to strike. The distraction was just enough for Atton scramble to his feet and summon his lightsaber to his hand...

...only to take another powerful Force Push. He landed hard on his back again, but this time managed to keep a hold of his lightsaber. Feeling more than a little irked now, he rolled to the side as the woman's lightsaber stabbed through the floor where he had been just a second before. Seeing an opening, Atton aimed a kick at the woman's knee. She cried out as it connected and she dropped to the opposite knee. He took the opportunity to scramble back to his feet, just in time to notice that there were several heavily armed figures marching off of the shuttle. That was probably his cue to exit.

The woman was just getting back to her feet as Atton made a hasty retreat out of the hangar. With a sigh, she turned to the lead soldier disembarking from the shuttle.*"Ready your weapons. We're going to have to do this the hard way."

*It took Atton a moment to get himself out from underneath the collapsed shelf, his efforts made all the more frantic by the sounds of Lucien's pained gasps. Atton rushed over to the doctor's side and knelt down, noticing the spot where he had been stabbed by the Dark Jedi's lightsaber. Atton knew all too well how much damage a lightsaber could do, a lightsaber wound nearly having killed him. Lucien had been there to save him, but Atton feared that there was nothing he could do to return the favor.

Lucien smiled slightly as Atton knelt beside him.*"I did something quite rash, didn't I?"

*Well no arguments there. Atton could have probably figured something out if the doctor had just stayed put. Nothing he could do about it now, of course...*"Yeah, doc...just...hang on. I can probably..."*Atton's voice trailed off as he racked his brain for something he could do to try and help. But there was nothing...

Lucien shook his head.*"I think it's...too late for that."*Lucien reached into his pocket and withdrew a small data file. With shaking fingers, he handed it to Atton.*"This file...take this to Ninian...Ninian only. Trust no one else!"

*Atton could feel the doctor's hand shaking as he took the file and quickly pocketed it.*"Y-yeah."

*Lucien sighed.*"That file...I think that was...why they were after me...it's...everything I have on...*Lucien pointed to Atton's chest.*"...that...the technology used to repair your heart..."

*Atton knew that there had been some advance tech used to give him a second chance at life and it was reasonable to assume that it would be worth a lot of credits. It would be worth far more than that to a follower of the Dark Side...

Before Atton could say anything else, the voice of the mercenary captain came over the comm.*Doctor! They're falling back but the bridge crew is saying that there's another ship coming in!

*Lucien closed his eyes. With a shaking hand, he took the comm and raised it to his face.*"...Captain....give the order to abandon ship..."*His hand dropped, the comm clattering to the floor as the doctor's strength began to wane.*"Atton...."

*Atton leaned in closer as Lucien's voice dropped to a whisper. He knew the doctor didn't have long now.*"I'm here, Doc."

*Lucien managed to open his eyes.*"Use my old Y-wing in the back hangar...and get to....the....Outlander Club on Coruscant....you'll....find Ninian and Nils there..."

*Atton nodded.*"I got it, Doc..."

*Lucien smiled and closed his eyes.*"Thank you....I'm...sorry to....put all of this...on you..."

*In any other circumstance, maybe Atton would have felt put upon by such a request, but not here. Not when Lucien had already done so much for him. He shook his head, trying to hold back the tears in his eyes.*"Don't sweat it, Doc."

*Lucien sighed.*"You'd....better get going....don't waste...your second chance, Atton..."

*Atton nodded.*"I won't, Doc. I promise!"

*Lucien smiled and breathed his last.*