Title: Sentinel Fans are the Worst Author: rktho_writes Characters: Original unnamed character, Spoiler Sentinel (Star Wars: Hunters,) Grozz (Star Wars: Hunters,) Zaina (Star Wars: Hunters) (mentioned only) Genre: Short story Timeline: 9 ABY Summary: A Hunters of the Outer Rim fan attempts to strike up a conversation with someone he believes to be a fellow sports enthusiast. —— “Hey droid. Jawa juice.” The bartender droid hands over a cup of ardees. A young man in a leather jacket with a military haircut grabs it off the bar, tattooed knuckles white against the cup as he saunters over to the tables looking for company. He sees a large, tanned, muscular man, sitting alone. He’s scarred and stubbled and looks to be a kindred spirit. “Hey.” “Hey.” The young man doesn’t notice the edge in the older man’s voice. “How about that match, huh? Pretty wild.” “Sure was.” The older man gives the younger man a wary look as he sips his drink. “I got front row seats,” the young man boasts. “I saw the whole thing up close. What about you? Did you get a good spot?” “Pretty good,” the older man grunts without elaboration. A moment passes in silence. “Who’s your favorite Hunter?” the young man asks casually, confident he already knows the answer. “Zaina.” “Haha, good one!” The young man punches the older man on the arm. “You’re clearly a Sentinel kinda guy.” “Sentinel’s a meathead.” “I like Sentinel,” says the young man. “That stormtrooper armor is badass.” “You’re not supposed to like him,” the older man says. “He’s the bad guy.” “Right,” the young man winks. “That’s what they have to say, right? But guys like us, we know he’s the real deal. He’s not afraid to stand by his principles.” “It’s just a game, kid.” “You can’t tell me that guy’s not ex-military,” the young man scoffs. “You know I almost enlisted myself? Lied about my age. But then Jakku happened before my application went through.” “What makes you think I care?” “That tattoo on your arm,” the young man grins. “C’mon. You can’t tell me you’re a Zaina fan with ink like that.” “I got that a long time ago.” The older man sips his drink with a glower. “Hey, I get it,” the young man replies reassuringly. “It’s not politically correct to say you support law and order anymore. But that’s what I like about Sentinel. He’s not afraid to stand up for his values in public.” “I don’t think you know what ‘in public’ means,” the older man retorts wryly. “Gosh, I wanna meet him,” the young man gushes, seeming not to have heard. “I just wanna tell him how much I admire him for what he’s doing.” “He’s not doing anything, kid,” the older man snaps. “It’s all pretend. For show. In fact, I bet chuckleheads like you who don’t know any better are the reason he never takes his helmet off when the holocams are running.” “It’s not fake,” the young man insisted. “Everyone says that, but they’ve never seen a real arena fight.” “For kriff’s sake, kid, it’s a kriffing costume!” the older man slams down his drink. “Will you get a kriffing life?! It’s not real. Sentinel’s a made-up character and if he ever was a stormtrooper, that’s all behind him now. The Empire’s gone, and good riddance.” The young man stares at the older man in disbelief. “What’s your kriffing problem, man?” The young man hears a growl behind him and feels hot breath on top of his head. He turns to see a massive Wookiee towering over him. “H-hey,” the young man stammers. “Grozz, right…? B… big fan… Can I get an autograph…?” Grozz roars in the young man’s face and sends him scampering off to the refresher to change his pants. The man at the table sighs gratefully. “Thanks, Grozz. Appreciate it.” Grozz nods. There is no camaraderie in it. Just understanding. This does not make them friends. Sentinel has made peace with that. He’s not proud of what he’s done. Just because he left that all behind doesn’t mean that everyone has to forgive him. The Wookiee in particular has reason not to like him, even though that was all before they met. Sometimes Sentinel wonders if wearing the armor is a mistake. If playing an Imperial loyalist flies in the face of everything he’s done to atone. But he knows that if he doesn’t do it, someone else will. And whoever gets cast in that role… Well, it might be someone who doesn’t have a reason to hate the character they’re playing. Someone who wants an outlet for their real feelings, the ones they can’t express in public. Someone that dumb little wannabe fascist punks could actually look up to. He looks at the tattoo the kid pointed out. He’s kept it as a reminder of his shame. But maybe he doesn’t need a reminder anymore. He only kept it to let people know what he used to be. So that people like Grozz can keep their distance if they’re not comfortable with it. But maybe he doesn’t need to warn people anymore. Maybe they don’t need to know. He finishes his drink and leaves the cantina.
OK, so I don't know Star Wars: Hunters and these characters at all, but I can definitely tell what's going on here and why, and it's very effective. What started as a two sports fans bickering turned out to run deeper than that when we find out that the older guy is, or was, Sentinel himself and that there may be more to the younger man's enthusiasm for Sentinel than just fannish infatuation: does he really yearn for those "law and order" days when there were too many real Stormtroopers around? Of course, given that the young man still is young, one will hope he has time to learn and turn things around, and hopefully not the harder way, as was the case for the older man. His learning and turning around came at great cost—and in a way the cost is still being paid on a lesser scale, because this younger dude is probably not the only similar person he's had to deal with, and of course there's still a certain amount of tension between him and his fellow fighters like Grozz, for very understandable reasons. I have to say I'm impressed with the way you addressed these pretty heavy issues in a short story about characters from a Street Fighter-type game; very nice work!
Thank you! The man is indeed Sentinel. Sentinel’s in-game bio would lead one to assume that he’s an Imperial loyalist trying to relive his glory days, but supplemental material reveals that he actually left the Empire (for reasons which are not elaborated on and which I’ve elected to keep similarly vague.) However, the fact that he’s not really an Imperial loyalist apparently doesn’t endear him to his colleagues. The rivalries are fabricated, but there’s real discomfort there. Though this naturally can’t be explored in the game itself, the hints we get about these characters’ backstage lives are very interesting, especially because some of the other Hunters’ backstories— have fewer lies of omission tied up in them, since their personas are a little more palatable. Nobody thinks Rieve is actually a Sith Lord because they’re mythical/extinct (as far as anyone, including Rieve, knows,) and nobody has a problem with Imara Vex using the arena to advertise her very real bounty hunter services (except Aran Tal, who considers mercenaries dishonorable.) But Sentinel very well could have been a stormtrooper for real (and we know he was,) and a person who doesn’t find that idea uncomfortable is someone to be worried about. Of course, most people assume that Sentinel’s just playing a bit, but sometimes you get the odd fanatic who at least wants the fantasy to be real and rather misses the point. Thanks for reading!
