Author's Note: To "Shaeril McBrown"...

Look, if you want to leave a review, then actually sign in and leave a signed-in review. Not a guest review. I can't trust your guest reviews at the moment. I have no idea if you're acting in good faith or not. It's just that simple.


"IIIIII love you mooooore! Than I did the week beeeeefore! Since I discovered alcohol!"

Tom's bar was positively filled to the brim with chattering and drinking and partying people, from left to right, top to bottom, the whole place was jumping as people sang loudly and proudly by the nearby karaoke machine. It displayed the lyrics to the songs in a holographic display as people clinked their glasses and their mugs, and smiled happily, but all the same, for many of them there was a…

Fakeness to it. A desperation. A NEED to be happy, to just drown out their current life in drink if only for a few hours so they'd feel somewhat better. You could see it in their eyes, you could see it in their smiles, and even the music they sang, in a way, contributed to this. After all, the overwhelming majority of the songs came in from the Dyad, who'd released them as singles for the people to consume. Even what they used to forget their crappy life...made them think about their crappy bosses.

Kendall couldn't help but notice that one guy was looking pretty cheery though. Genuinely cheery. It was a Trandoshan, a reptilian monster with clawed hands, scaly skin, horned head, reddish eyes and thick-armored frame. His name was Grohtk, and Kendall had treated him for two years.

As Han and Leia, disguised under their holograms, intermingled with the people, Kendall sat next to Grohtk. The music had now played to a metal song, "The Memory Remains", as Kendall ordered a drink for the Trandoshan.

"I've not seen you in a while. I take it you're not getting shot at as much?" He wanted to know.

Indeed, Grohtk was a very, very good security officer. But he had taken many a laser bolt blast for his clients, and sometimes his whole arms and legs had been blasted off, and Kendall had helped the good doctor put the limbs back on. Once, Kendall had even healed Grohtk's eye when the doctor had been out. It had been an INCREDIBLY delicate procedure, Kendall had had to be super careful he pulled the chunk of knife out just right or the eye would have been damaged permanently, but Kendall had hands that were steady and swift.

"I've gotten a job at the "penthouse" suites up at the Dyad's tower." He admitted in his growly voice to the Logosian. "I enjoy it...for the most part. They scare me, a TON, but...it pays well. Real well. Especially for me and my dad. I'm even going back on the dating scene."

Kendall smiled, patting Grohtk's shoulder as the Trandoshan grinned. "Heck, if you've got nothing you're doing tonight, maybe…?" He asked.

"Sure, I'll give you a call later. I'm game if you are." Kendall told him.

He and Grohtk shared something in common. Both of them were from races who did NOT treat gay people well. Or bisexual people well. Really, anyone who wasn't straight was looked up with scowls. For both, it was a matter of faith. For the Trandoshan, the goal was to adhere to the teachings of the Scorekeeper, who asked for them to track down and hunt particularly worthy prey. The current interpretation of the teachings was very conservative, stating that focus on such things took away from the hunt. Really, sex itself was almost demonized, and was barely tolerated in the name of propagating the race and, thus, the hunt…

Though plenty of the Trandoshan felt this was a stupid way to look at the teachings. Perhaps, soon enough, things would change. The grumblings on the home planet were getting louder.

For the Logosian people, it was their tight adherence to their holy book and to the teachings of the exceptionally beautiful prophet known as Ethos. Ethos had had long flowing hair like the river running down his back, and his heart had glowed like the sun, especially when he was laying hands on the sick and the dying to heal them. The teachings had told the Logosian people to love the family above all else. Well, since "family" had meant a mother, father and child, it hadn't been hard for anti-straight relationships to be demonized by them.

It wasn't perhaps FAIR to blame people like the Scorekeeper or God or Ethos. After all, people interpreted even basic things stupidly every day. But Kendall could no longer look at Ethos with his leafy Crown of Morality, and the soft white robes he'd worn, and that smile and...and, well, not see a representative of everything he despised. The same way Grohtk could no longer really look at his own kind and not see everything HE hated. He'd been relentlessly hounded and teased and mistreated by his species for years. Only amongst the aliens, the "other", did he feel happy. Well...there was also his Dad.

Sometimes Kendall wished he'd had Grohtk and Thwurl's relationship, the two really clearly loved each other. His own father…

No matter how kindly he'd been, and how much he'd tried, he couldn't truly remember his Dad genuinely smiling. Truly, utterly happy. Grohtk and his father, they always seemed to be.

"How come the Dyad scare you?"

"Well...okay, look…" Grohtk hesitated. "Promise you'll keep this quiet. But when one of the guards brought up the incident that got Darth Furiosa's grandmother killed, she shocked him so hard he was almost electrocuted to death."

"What did he say?"

"Well, after Darth Furiosa brought up how her mother had died, fallen to her death during the fight, and everyone had been all quiet and nervous and unsure what to say, well...one of the guards said "I guess Mr. Solo should have given your grandma a "head's up". The guy always was making bad jokes and they never minded it before, but when he told THIS one, she immediately electrocuted him. He almost died."

"Damn…" Kendall cringed. "I get it was insensitive to say but you don't almost kill someone over that." He mumbled. "They should be able to control their temper! That's disgusting. You FIRE someone for stuff like that, or dock their pay or something, you don't FRY THEM WITH A LIGHTNING BOLT!"

"And yet they get away with it because of who they are." Grohtk muttered.

"Ah, to be rich and powerful." Kendall sighed as Han and Leia walked over.

"We actually got them to talk a bit. They want to come over for drinks." Leia admitted as she looked at Kendall. "They also seem to like you a lot. You've treated so many of them for wounds. I'm surprised."

"Our clinic was really close to where they worked, and we're free. So...we got a lot of business." Kendall confessed with a grin.

"How come you never became a doctor?" Han wanted to know, looking interested. "You seem smart enough."

Kendall hesitated. "I...I choke up all the time when it comes to actually remembering the terminology you need to pass the license to become a doctor." He muttered as the other workers walked over to sit down by him. "Thing is, I'm good at recognizing obvious wounds and treating them. I know all the basics easily. I can fix them super quick and do it really well, but anything more complex is...a crapshoot for me. Sometimes I'll remember, most of the time, I don't. I mean...I mixed up a trytophatic nerve with a angliatic point." He groaned as he hung his head. "Three times. And it'd be like mixing up your arm with your leg. I mean...yeah! They're both limbs, but that's about it! No real doctor should make mix-ups like that, you did that, you'd kill your patient."

"Hey, you're the best nurse WE had." One of the workers said. "And you didn't treat us differently because we were soldiers for the Dyad." He added as the others nodded. "We get a lot of side eye and worse because we work for them, it was nice to just go somewhere where there was no judgment."

Kendall looked up at them and smiled a bit. "Well...I'm a nurse. If someone's hurt, I try to help them. I always thought it was that simple." He admitted.

"They actually agreed to do us a favor if we'd do THEM a favor." Leia admitted. "They're going to give us access to the camera system in the building that analyzes and records everything inside. We'll be able to spy on the Dyad whenever we want. But they DO want us to break up a protest going on at the docks."

"We'd go but...well…" The guards standing by their fellow Dyad workers gulped a bit nervously. "They uh...the protestors kinda...outnumber us this time." He muttered. "And we just had to shoo protestors away from the docks yesterday and they threw bricks and stuff at us."

"We're really, really getting sick of them always screaming at us and tossing things at us." Another guard admitted. "It isn't like we can just take another job. Nobody else would hire us. The Dyad paid us really good wages for people like us, we barely completed our college education and nobody wanted to hire us because our degrees don't mean squat on Nar Shadaa. It was either work for them or be janitors somewhere or be on the streets."

"It couldn't have been THAT bad, what were your degrees?" Han asked. "Art?"

"Yeah, man. ART." Said the guard from before as Han looked stunned. "You think Nar Shadaa gives a s-t about analyzing interior design and comparing the different pillar structure types of the ancient sith? Only the rich assholes care about that stuff because they BUY the art. But they weren't going to have some kids out of college working for them, they'd fly in professional art critics with snooty monocles and stuff who did their stints on Coruscant. And we didn't wanna work for the Hutts anyway, we heard they occasionally ATE people who pissed them off! Gross, man!"

All of them nodded, several workers nearby enthusiastically saw. "Yeah, I SAW them do it. Twice." One of them confessed. "I used to do electrician work for them before I switched to the Dyad, I thought a couple of lesbian Sith would be WAY less scary to work for. I was barely right."

"SHHHH." One of his friends shoved a hand over his mouth. "Be careful about what you say. Even mentioning that they scare you can get you in trouble." He whispered. "We've ALL got to be more cautious, we dunno who'd be listening."

"I wish I could say far worse about them." The guard who'd spoken before muttered. "But they've done some sick things to people who insult them to their faces."

"Like what?"

The guard hesitated. He seemed to be chewing on the words, but then he explained. It had been the day of new hires. The Dyad had been speaking to all of the new guards they'd brought in and were doing some additional background checks by asking some personal questions. Like, for example, would they be comfortable working for two Lesbians. Luckily, all of the guards didn't seem to mind. But unfortunately, the man who'd brought in the new hires on his ship was getting impatient.

"Can we hurry this up? I got other places to visit. The Hutts want me to bring in some off-worlders for security. And hopefully they won't smell as bad as this batch." The Rodian remarked as Darth Furiosa looked at him, Darth Raize raising an eyebrow. She was sensing something from him, and her eyes narrowed slightly before she spoke in a calm, cool voice.

"Are you not comfortable with lesbians yourself, sir?"

"...I don't really see how that's relevant." He remarked stonily as Raize nonchalantly walked over to Furiosa, and sloooooowly put her arm around her beloved.

"Oh, well that's good. You know, my wife and I were just discussing our planned vacation to this charming island planet. Long, lush beaches, soft wind, the rolling waves. We'll just eat barbeque on the beach...play some volleyball, and ah...well...take nice, long swims." She intoned in a husky tone as the Rodian visibly flinched.

"...can you please keep the...sex stuff to yourselves?" He asked. "It's creepy hearing you humans talk about it openly. YECCH."

"Ohhh, so it's not us being LESBIANS that's really what turns you off, it's us being humans, is that it?" Raize asked as the Rodian frowned.

"You humans act like you're so much better than 90 percent of the species here on Nar Shadaa, so forgive me if I think that, though well behaved, you're at best all monkeys shaved." The Rodian captain of the taxi ship the new hires had arrived in intoned.

SCHWISH!

Something red flashed through the air and the man's head plopped down. Several of the guards screamed in horror as Furiosa lowered her lightsaber, and Raize turned to the other guards. "Just so there's absolutely no mistaking this, let us make something very clear. If you're really concerned that we may, perhaps, be making a mistake in how we handle our security, by all means, you're welcome to let us know. We're not going to punish you for little mistakes. Nothing will be off limits. Except the kind of bigotry on display moments ago, either towards ANY species, or ANY sexuality. Because the price of doing that…"

She lifted up the Rodian's severed head, and shook it in front of them all. "Is that we will use your skull for a DECORATIVE BIRDHOUSE. So if any of you have any niggling little biases you've been keeping from us that you want to get out of your system, either do it now and then leave, or we collect. your. fucking. head. WELL?!" She roared out, her eyes flashing like lightning as the new hires all gulped.

Then somebody spoke up.

"Uh...is...being afraid of Hutts...does that count? I've never liked them because my dad owed a bunch of money to them and they decided they'd make him pay it off by eating him and my mom in front of me, then saddling ME with the remaining debt."

"...you know what, that one's fair." Furiosa confessed. "You can stay."

Han and Leia's mouth hung open. Kendall flinched. "I can actually testify to the...behavior...of some of the Hutts. We once had a Hutt come in. An off-worlder who thought he could get in on the action. He failed miserably, got beaten very badly in a fight, and he oozed his way to our free clinic. We did our best, but...well, we couldn't save him. When we did the autopsy, we opened his stomach and...well, we...we found half-digested guards inside. So evidently they really AREN'T above eating people in a pinch if they're super mad or desperate."

Leia shuddered and shook, shaking her head back and forth. She looked positively horrified, and Han had to give her a deep, passionate hug. "Hey. Hey, it's okay. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here." He spoke lovingly as Kendall looked at the two. He had a feeling that Leia was suffering from some sort of PTSD herself that pertained to Hutts, but he thought it best not to ask. She didn't look well at all.

"Let's just get the business at the dock over with." Kendall sighed as he put his hands in his pockets after lifting the hood to his blue, slightly puffy jacket up over his head. He and Han and Leia shook hands with the patrons they'd been speaking to, and then made their way back out, heading for the docks.

Sure enough, it was a most unpleasant scene. A VERY clearly outnumbered small security force was trying to guard several of the Dyad's ships, but a large crowd of angry, righteously furious protesters were holding signs up. Some of them were normal, written down on big thick white paper in large letters. Others were holo-signs, held up on pen-like emitters. A few were tossing tomatoes and other types of fruit at the security force, and many were chanting.

"Hey Ho! Dyad's Got to Go! Hey Ho! Dyad's Got to Go!"

"The Dyad are Shit! Trash their ship! The Dyad are shit! Trash their ship!"

"Our taxes pay your salary! Our taxes pay your salary!"

And a few others were singing, pushing up against the security officers. Loud cries of "Move, bitch, get out the way, get out the way, bitch, get out the way" echoed through the air as Kendall dryly chuckled at how the security force was trying...and failing...to look stoic. They were getting more and more antsy, a few of their legs were jiggling, some of them were casting furtive, slightly worried glances at one another.

"I'm surprised the Dyad didn't just get a bunch or robots to do this for them." Han admitted as they approached the crowd of protesters.

"That's one of the ONLY things we're really glad they didn't do." One of the protesters said, the twi'lek shaking her head. "They try to hire local all the time to boost the economy and give the average person a job, and they didn't replace people with machines either. We used to appreciate that, sure. But now we see it as a double-edged sword. If it's our friends and neighbors hired as their goons, WE'RE less likely to get really wild with them the way we would with a robot."

"Let us by! The Dyad have been bossing us around long enough! Its time we sent a message!" Said one protester, who finally decided that tossing crumpled up paper, or fruit, or vegetables wasn't enough. He shoved one of the security guards. The guard decided this was enough. She slammed her baton into the guy's stomach, knocking him back.

"That's it, get them!" She yelled out as the security force raced forward. The protesters were caught off guard, it was turning into a madhouse. Leia and Han and Kendall tried to help the protesters, to tug them away from sweeping batons and electro-stun staffs, Kendall yelling for everyone to please, try to calm down!

It wasn't working. It was turning into chaos. People were yelling angrily, attacking the guards, who were beginning to get overwhelmed. They punched, they kicked, they even tried biting a few times. Loud THWAK-THWAK and crunches and cries of pain were echoing through the air, but then there came a very loud, horrible, wet noise.

That horrifying wet noise stopped everyone else in their tracks. They all turned to see what had happened and they saw that one of the security guards had gotten their electro staff stripped from them, and one of the protesters had struck them so hard...they'd cracked their helmet...and their skull open.

People reeled back as Kendall raced over, carefully removing the the helmet as he looked down at the guard. He'd been hurt badly, the unfortunate human guard had cracked his head badly. Kendall could see the BONE. "Oh no, no, no, no." Kendall's eyes went wide. "I need a towel or...or something soft! Somebody?!" He cried out.

Everyone looked around. But nobody moved forward, out of a mixture of shock, of fear...and in some cases, a sense of "let the pig die". Kendall frowned furiously at the faces who looked down at the security guard with disdain, spitting on the ground as he ripped his jacket off, and got his undershirt off. "You're PATHETIC!" He snapped as he wrapped it around the man's head "Get the FUCK out of here if you're not going to help!" He roared. "I'm a registered nurse, so get out of the way, and let me do my job!"

People stepped back as Kendall looked at the man's eyes. "His pupils are dilating. He's sweating heavily, his breathing is getting more difficult. I need to get him to a proper place to treat him. Does anyone have any Bacta or Kolto or any medical packs?"

Leia, luckily, stepped forward. She pulled out a small medical kit, kneeling down as she administered the liquid within the pack to the man's lips. He was barely breathing, he struggled to gulp it down as Kendall examined the wound. The med-kit liquid was working, the man was stabilizing, but barely. "I need to stitch his head up." He murmured as he tried to lift the security guard up into his arms and then turned to the other security guards. "I can't carry him alone!" He insisted. "Help me get the armor off at least!"

The guards glanced at each other, then began to help get the armor off. Soon, at last, the poor man was almost utterly naked, but easier to carry as Kendall helped carry him off to Leia and Han's vehicle. The guards glanced at the protesters, then quietly, somberly, stepped away from the Dyad's ships. The protesters looked at each other, and then moved quietly to the ship, and began to push it over silently, saying nothing as they did so. It finally flopped over, onto its side, with a loud THRAKKA-THA-SCHOOOOM. Now the ship finally laid on its side, some windows blown out as the protesters stared at the thing. It laid on the floor of the docking bay like a dead beast, and they began to quietly head out, each returning to their homes.

"Okay, keep the vehicle steady." Kendall said as Han and Leia drove back to their hotel. "We need to get him more proper medicine. I'll have to check the wound to see if any parts of the weapon got stuck inside him like shrapnel." He told the two. "...I don't suppose...Leia, could you, like...force heal him?"

"Unfortunately, I don't know that skill." She confessed. "Jedi do heal naturally faster than most, and we can heal ourselves fairly easily but when it comes to other people, that's a bit harder. I don't know that technique yet."

"Damn." Kendall hesitated. "Well, then I'll just have to examine the wound and hope basic bacta will be enough. I've never treated a head wound as badly as this. In THEORY the bacta should do it. But...well, what works in theory and abstract isn't the same as what actually works in real life." He muttered.

"Hey. It'll happen, kid." Han said gently, looking up in the mirror. "...you're gonna do fine." He told Kendall, who tried to smile back, though he could barely return the smile.