Escape from Palpatraz

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Golden rays of sunshine reflecting from towering skyscrapers, glinting off of passing speeders, and filtering down through the windows of the classrooms at the Citadel had made focusing on lessons nearly impossible for Halajiin Rabeak, that morning. Instead of being sharp, involved, and occasionally joking as his Kyle Rayner identity had been so accustomed to, Hal found himself looking out the windows and daydreaming.


Ten years didn’t seem so long ago that he was sitting in class in high school, doing much the same as his teachers would drone on and on and on while he thought of the million other places he’d rather be. Life at the Citadel wasn’t bad, and he’d managed to make a few friends, but despite the complex’s massive structure, varied architecture, and the lovely gardens, it was still a prison.

A prison which most assuredly did not serve proper nerf cheeseburgers, golden-brown steak cut fries, or milkshakes. It was an injustice too far.

For over the last six months, Hal had observed guard patterns, spotted cameras, and taken stock of every security system he could identify within the Citadel, as he knew he would need to escape at some point. While opportunities had come along, he’d held back from taking them as he had a more grand scheme in mind. Such a scheme required a test run, and on such a beautiful, sunny afternoon, Hal knew the time had come to put it into action. He needed to get to the library.


The idea of escaping via the library was one which would seem ludicrous to most cadets, but most cadets did not have a nearly full, first-hand knowledge of the layout of the Citadel - Hal being the exception for having walked its halls and passages over a century before when it was still known as the Jedi Temple. It was because of such knowledge that he did not seek out the obvious points of exit, instead deciding on a far less conspicuous - though labyrinthian - route. Besides, he was in the library often enough after classes for his typical study and work sessions that no one would bat an eye at seeing him there.


But today he bypassed his usual table, instead weaving through rows of shelves of datapads and memorybanks. All the good stuff was locked away, naturally, but there was still a great deal of Empire-approved materials available to the Cadets and Imperial personnel alike stationed in the Citadel. Past the reference material, beyond the history section, and then around the bend to the self-help section, the yellow-furred Nehantite made his way. A subtle grin played upon his muzzle at how aptly named that section was, as he fully intended to help himself out of the library, and the citadel itself, via the old access door there.

Under cover of looking for material on overcoming lustful impulses, Hal had gazed beyond the walls themselves to study the locking mechanisms, and security monitors held within, and determined that this door had never been attached to the main security system, it was simply closed with a physical locking latch. Telekinesis having been hidden from all around him, for fear of it giving away his true identity, Hal glanced back over his shoulder before using his most powerful gift to locate and release the lock, then gently pushed upon the door before disappearing inside. It closed behind him, though the latch was not re-set, lest he need to return to the Citadel by the very means he used to escape.

[Onika Zepparah]

Libraries were perfect for people like Onika when they wanted to be left alone. They were quiet, both by design and by the iron-fisted fiat of librarians the galaxy over. They were full of blind corners and cul-de-sacs at the ends of stacks that no one had accessed since the last Sith War. And best of all, they were avoided by all but the loneliest and most unthreatening of students until exams rolled around, and by the same token teachers couldn't very well tell her off for loitering at the library.

The moment her final class of the day had ended (Imperial Governance and Political Theory), Onika had ducked Cadet Redsun's watchful eyes, sidestepped a spirited conversation between Cadets Wan and Par'Vizal, slipped behind a screen made of the lumbering Cadets Jolee, Catanna, and Moll, and broken free unnoticed down one of the lesser-used corridors that ran past storage rooms and custodial closets to the opposite end of the education complex. No one seemed to notice as she stepped through the massive library doors and walked with purpose toward a towering bank of shelves.

She followed them to the far wall until the silence surrounded her like a forest. Then she leaned against the wall, her heart pounding and her head swimming, and tried to focus on her breathing.

It had been a lively lecture for a government class. The psychology of rebellion. Some of the cadets had a lot to say. Jeryd, Khoovi, Jensen when pressed - he must have had some sort of history concerning the Rebellion, judging from the color surrounding him when he spoke. And then Gorm Jolee and Tyrell Catanna had gotten into it - it was rare enough for them to show enthusiasm for a lecture of any kind when there wasn't a promise of hitting something soon. But something about the idea of protecting the Empire from threats domestic seemed to appeal to them greatly, and each began suggesting signs of sedition they'd observed among their classmates, their sub-adult group fellows, and girls who had refused their advances, until the hapless Lieutenant Lavine, in a much-belated attempt to regain control of the classroom, turned to the one student who hadn't yet said anything at all and asked Onika what she thought.

She didn't even remember what she'd stammered out, and right now she didn't care. She slumped down to the floor, eyes squeezed shut, and simply felt the colors in the air stirring all around her, until they faded from a bright panicky orange to a steady, calming blue. And then she slipped her datapad into her lap and scrolled to the image she'd been working on piecemeal over the past few days, a Zabrak male her age with a crown of backswept horns and an impish grin, painted in tender shades of caf and butterscotch with startling yellow eyes.

She wanted to see him. Maybe she could? Maybe if she focused on his image instead of her breathing, she could--

No sooner had her senses opened up again than they were jostled, like leaves floating on the far side of a pool from a rock that has just been thrown in. She floundered for a moment, losing her tenuous grip on the Force until she could re-orient herself, and by then the disturbance was gone, save for a distant curling mist of... green. Frowning, she dismissed the painting from her datapad and crept along the back wall of the library toward the epicenter.

When she reached it she found a door marked RESTRICTED ACCESS: AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY. At first glance the door appeared perfectly secure, which was why Onika didn't stop at a first glance. Her second revealed a miniature hydrospanner expertly positioned between the lock and latch to keep it from sliding home.

Someone had figured out the locks. She'd been trying to find her way past them since she got here. How had they done it? She saw no evidence the panel had been forced by either a hacking spike or a hotwired datapad, and if they'd stolen an ID card, they wouldn't need to leave the door jammed. Why, anyone could come along and...

...slip her slender fingers into the crack just so, and work them in, painfully, until she had enough leverage to force the door aside against the whining servos. Before she'd thought about it a moment longer, she'd slipped through the narrow gap, and snatched the hydrospanner off the floor so she could carefully place it exactly as she'd found it. The door hissed back into place, stopped open, but just barely.

Leaving her shut in the restricted section with someone who knew their way around Imperial security. Heart pounding, she stepped silently away from the door. As long as she was here, she might as well have a look around.

[Halajiin Rabeak]

If one thing could be said for the Empire, it was that their frugality was legendary. If something didn't need updating or a good polish, it was left as it was, and such was the vista which lay before Hal on the other side of the door. How many times in his early training had he ducked out on Master Trevarius through this very same exit? His paw rubbed along the cool, duraplast banister which spiraled down with the staircase to the floor below.

"Hello, old friend," he allowed himself a whisper before hopping up to park his backside upon the rail, then rode it all the way down, his boots clomping to the expanded steel mesh of the floor below a bit louder than he'd have liked. How quickly he'd forgotten that he used to go around barefoot, back in the day. Remaining crouched in the position which had absorbed most of his shock from landing, Hal paused to listen, making sure no one had heard his follly and was coming to investigate. Ten seconds of pure silence followed, aside from the hum of power lines and the droning of the air conditioning system's ducts.

Even if someone did hear you, you've only made it one floor. How much trouble can you get in for one floor? His higher reasoning reminded himself.

But one floor was hardly Hal's goal, so he righted himself and continued upon his once-familiar path. A good thirty paces would take him to the access shaft he needed, yet by the time he got to fifteen he stopped again. Semi-round ears ticking back, he could hear the door being pulled open, and immediately his heart began to race. Who could have discovered him so quickly? Had he missed a silent alarm somehow? There was no time to panic, only time for action, and he ducked behind a column of pipes off the general walkway, to hide and catch his improbable tail by surprise.

[Onika Zepparah]

So it turned out, for all the marble halls and glittering spires that made the Imperial Citadel look like a mythic temple descended from the gods, it had the same rusty underbelly as every other stratoscraper in the city. The moment the access door clicked almost shut behind her, Onika found herself in a tantalizingly familiar warren of durasteel scaffolding, rumbling pipes, and blinking switchboxes. She'd slinked her way through passageways like these everywhere from her father's penthouse to Tarkin Memorial to her old stomping grounds in the Chiba District slums, and the biggest difference between them was the quality of slime that collected in the corners of the walkways. This place was... well, probably the cleanest of its kind she'd ever been in.

But that wasn't what had her heart pounding and her mind racing. Maintenance passageways didn't just service one building - they linked entire sectors. If you knew what you were doing, you could travel for miles in any direction - even down - without ever setting foot on a public street or lift. Even if you found a chained-off gate, that just meant there was a crawlspace to unearth, or a loose corner of fencing, or even an abandoned junkworm burrow that would get you across it. If there was any way to disappear from the watchful eyes of the Knights...

But someone else was already trying, weren't they? The air in here was thick with intrigue, though Onika didn't rightly know if she was sensing that through the Force or just projecting her own paranoia. She had an hour before her next class, before anyone would know she was missing. That was plenty of time to explore, to start forming plans of escape for that inevitable day when life as a cadet became intolerable. She couldn't let this opportunity go to waste.

Scarcely breathing, Onika carefully advanced down the spiral stairs, setting foot on each one so lightly that they didn't even vibrate. Her senses would tell her if she attracted someone's attention long before she put herself in danger.

She hoped.

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Closing his eyes would hardly make himself invisible, but Hal did it anyway, training his ears upon what sound could be made out which was not the tick-tacking of old gears and dials, or the rush of fluid through pipes, or the low whistle of air in ventilation shafts. But there was nothing to be heard. Whoever was following him was either very skilled at stealth, or could fly. In either case, his curiosity was piqued, and he dared to sneak a peek in different fashion.

Inaudibly, the Jedi Knight sent out a ping through the Force, pushing a thin wave of nitrogen through the air telekinetically, his senses following it as it rushed gently through the hall and up the stairs, mapping the outline of everything it came in contact with until he let the wave lose momentum. While not a live image, the three-dimensional still was enough to narrow down the list of subjects as to who his stalker may be, and a smile twitched at the corners of his muzzle, causing the fur there to bristle mildly.

It was a fellow cadet, female, likely a teenager, but beyond that he couldn't tell who. Using a second ping to actively follow her could give him away, if he were messing with the wrong person, so he opted for an alternative plan.

Hal remained stock-still behind the mass of pipes providing him cover, and listened instead, hearing the soft, slow padding of Imperial issue boots on the duracrete floor, and he waited until the footsteps were close, only a few paces away, before he dared to use his telekinesis once more. Locating the fabric on Onika's right shoulder, he quickly pushed it down twice in a small area, simulating being tapped on the shoulder from behind. As he heard her feet scuffle as she spun, he slipped out from his hiding place to stand, well, behind her now, and he simply smiled, waiting for Onika to turn back around.

[Onika Zepparah]

It wasn't that it was too quiet. It was the wrong kind of quiet. A watchful quiet. That preternatural awareness that Onika used to dismiss as a streeter's intuition was prickling at the back of her neck all the way down the spiral staircase. And then something made her hold her breath and freeze. A hint of green, the same green she'd seen lingering around the forced security door, broke over her face like a subtle puff of perfume. She hadn't even sensed it until it had already passed. Was it an accident? Or was her mystery slicer on to her already?

Slowly she made her way down the corridor, waiting for the telltale pressure that always let her know she had someone's attention. If she crossed into the slicer's line of vision, she'd know it, right? Or was there a way her senses could be fooled? What if he was sensing her through the Force? Could she sense that? What if she--

A burst of green on her right, and she felt a finger tap her shoulder. She didn't look. Instead she dove forward and tucked into a combat roll over the metal grating, landing catlike on one knee and fingertips, facing back the way she'd come. Her crimson eyes locked onto her attacker, and--

"What - Kyle?!"

She rose to her feet, but she looked ready to bolt in any direction.

"What the frell are you doing here?"

[Halajiin Rabeak]

"Aw, no fair," Hal whined, his right paw smacking his side in frustration as he rolled his eyes. "You were supposed to turn and be all, 'Huh? What tapped me?' and I was gonna be all, 'I'm a ninja, ha ha ha!' and like, prank you and stuff."

Behind him, the Nehantite's tail flicked with mild annoyance as he composed himself enough to stuff his paws into his pockets and shrug. "I'm heading out, what's it look like I'm doing? Not like they give us day passes, so I'm making my own way. Better question is, what's a cadet like you doing following me? Easy to get lost in these passages if you don't know your way around, y'know. Hate to imagine what sort of trouble you'd be in if you took a wrong turn and we had to send a search party to find you."

A smile worked up his muzzle, and he reached up to smooth his oiled and combed headfur. "Heh, though I'd bet Vissica could sniff you out in a heartbeat, if she tried. Just gotta tell her you've got a can of sardines in your pocket, or something."

[Onika Zepparah]

Kyle. Kyle frelling Rayner had breached the Citadel walls before she did. She vented a sigh and gave him a withering look known to patronized teenagers across the galaxy.

"I can find my way around," she said, affronted. "Probably better than Darth Otter. Anyway, if you're planning on breaking out, you shouldn't have left the door propped open. If a cadet like me could find it, so can the Knights. Right?"

She tilted her head, studying him for any sign that his class clown veneer was cracking. Because there was more to Kyle than trading jabs with Redsun and giving long-winded smartass answers in class. Everyone knew he had his own quarters away from the rest of the cadets. Official word was he was a rehabilitated Jedi, and the Knights had separated him so they could keep a closer eye on him. But that story smelled, and Onika wasn't the only one to think so. Kyle knew things. Things a rube from the outer rim shouldn't know, even if he was trained by a wizard hermit on the run.

And here he was, breaking past security and playing it off as a joke? Right, and Onika had some lovely beachfront property on Mustafar to sell you.

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Another shrug, and Hal began to casually stride forward. Perhaps toward Onika, perhaps simply continuing on the path he had begun before being pursued.

"Who says I'm terribly worried about the Knights?" he replied with a wistful smile. "They still don't know how I evaded a firing like on Phindarr, or how I got past an entire battalion of troops searching for me there. Sure, I'll get in a bit of trouble, but just as a show."

By then he stood virtually toe-to-toe with Onika, just smiling, tail swaying lightly behind himself. Slowly he leaned in a whispered, "Besides, what's more knightly: doing what you're told like a common trooper, or showing a bit of initiative and letting them see what you're made of?"

A wink of his visibly damaged, pink left eye, and Hal pushed on past his fellow cadet, calling back over his shoulder. "You coming along, or are you gonna run back and tattle on me, Madam Zepparah? Righteousness may come from being a spoilsport, but divinty can be found in a double nerfburger with cheese, hot fries, and a cold, thick, rich, creamy buiberry milkshake!"

[Onika Zepparah]

Onika's cherry-red glare followed Hal down the corridor. A moment later, so did the rest of her, taking three hurried steps every time he took two.

"I'm not a narc," she protested. "But if you've got a way out of here, are you really gonna blow it on cheeseburgers?"

Though, even as she said it, her stomach growled. She hadn't had a buiberry shake in ages. But that wasn't the point.

Her eyes blistered against the back of Hal's head for a few moments, then she just settled into pace behind him, fists clenched at her sides. "So how did you get past a battalion, anyway?"

[Halajiin Rabeak]

With a glimmer of a smile, Hal stopped and turned to face his new escape companion, presuming she had made up her mind to follow him, at least. "Yes, I'm gonna blow it on a cheeseburger," he replied with a nod. "I intend to return, and I've built up enough good will that, yes, I can burn some on a simple lunch run, and still be in good enough graces when I get back that it won't matter too terribly much. You, I'm not so sure about, but if you think it's worth the risk, by all means come along. Sometimes you can break the rules and it's okay. Well, okay enough, at least. If I wanted to escape, I promise you I could have done it on my first day here, and the Knights know that all too well."

Turning back to the path ahead, Hal carried on. "As far as the battalion goes, I climbed a tree."

He could feel burning hot daggers being stared into his back, and he simply looked over his shoulder with a shrug. "It was a really tall tree."

[Onika Zepparah]

"Right."

How tall did trees get, anyway? There were a couple in the domed gardens near school that had to be fifteen meters. Onika had tried climbing one once, only to be shouted down by a furious groundskeeper who apparently thought a nine-year-old girl was a mortal threat to an organism literally made of construction material. Trees, in Onika's judgment, were nothing special, and neither were the rest of Kyle's outlandish boasts.

"So if the Knights can't keep you here, why are you here? It's not like they're paying us. Speaking of that, how exactly are you planning to pay for a cheeseburger and shake?"

[Halajiin Rabeak]

"Don't forget steak fries," Hal cautioned, as if there was some vital, cosmic importance about including steak fries along with a good cheeseburger and a milkshake.

"I'm here because I choose to be, at the moment," he carried on. "There are things to learn, and things to get. Also, sometimes they need someone to remind them that there's a way to accomplish a goal without killing. That they should serve peace, not domination. In my own way, I feel I've done well at that, so far. As far as money goes, though..."

Hal fished a yellow-furred paw into his pocket and withdrew a chitcard. An official, Imperial Knights expense account chitcard. "I figured I'd bill it to the Knights. Repayment for services rendered, and the like. You think I'd go out in uniform if I didn't have to prove I'm with the Knights? Seriously, these pants chafe my tailbase like nobody's business."

[Onika Zepparah]

Onika lifted her eyebrows at the sight of the credit chit. That... that was pretty impressive, actually. She didn't believe for a moment he'd get away with it, but she had to admire the nerve.

Unless... well. There was that one theory going around the ranks of cadets. One that explained why Kyle had his own quarters, why Kyle had skills and knowledge none of the other cadets did, how he got away with pushing the envelope so hard in class, and why he was a decade older than most of them. Onika had her own suspicions, but she wasn't ready to cast a verdict yet.

"You really had this planned out, didn't you?" she said, allowing a note of admiration to creep into her voice. She slowed to a halt behind the mongoose, just a few paces back, and swept her eyes over the path ahead.

"So what's your plan for getting by that laser grid?"

A dozen or so tiny emitters lay in a row beneath the floor grates shining invisible beams up through the gaps to hit receivers in the ceiling, squarely in the path of Hal's next step.

[Halajiin Rabeak]

"Laser what?" Hal asked, crimping his brow just before he saw it. His body jerked to a stop, his nose nearly brushing the mesh of sensors, and he looked around before gently easing back.

"Well, that's new," he muttered. Rubbing his chin, the Nehantite began to examine the frame for any kind of switch or convenient disarming system. Of course there was none, nor would any self-respecting security officer install one at a sensor point. Growling softly, the Nehantite knew he could simply cut the power, or push out the wall beside the grid and sneak around it, but both would be dead giveaways to the strength of his telekinesis in front of Onika. No, he had to find another way.

Immediately he began to kick himself for not watching more Escape Room videos on YouHolo. "Hang on, this might take a minute."

[Onika Zepparah]

Onika folded her arms and watched him stew, and she couldn't fight the grin curling up one side of her mouth. Hm, the way his tail jerked side-to-side, did that mean he was flustered? It reminded her of watching a stray lothcat in an alley chittering in frustration at a beetle moth fluttering just out of reach.

"Okay, give me that credit chit," she said, holding out an open palm. She saw the hesitation on his face and headed him off at the pass. "Come on. You want a burger or not?"

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Hal's pink eyes narrowed suspiciously, watching for any sign of trickery. Of all his fellow cadets, Onika had been one of the most difficult to get a bearing on, as she seemed to delight in being entirely unremarkable and unnoticed. Would she take his chitcard and run? Would she hold this over his head for the rest of his training? Would she fry the circuit printed on the card?

Who would win in a fight between a cybernetic shark with a stegosaurus tail, and fifteen ponies with knives for hooves?

The questions were endless, but his patience wasn't. Begrudgingly, he extended the chitcard, then pulled back momentarily. "You fry this sensor, and there's no happy meal at the end of this trip," he warned, then extended the chitcard once more.

[Onika Zepparah]

Onika shook her head, but her grin only deepened. "Frell no. This thing is way too valuable to wipe."

She swiftly pulled her datapad out of her messenger bag and keyed in a different passcode than she normally used to wake it up. It had taken a while to figure out how to load her favorite slicing tools onto the Citadel-issued 'pad, but she didn't spend all her free time drawing. It just took a few moments' work to isolate the security net among all the wireless signals pinging around the Citadel, and...

A circle appeared on the screen with the message, ready to receive authentication source. Onika pressed the credit chit against the circle, and the pad began processing.

"It's a maintenance tunnel, right? So the jumpsuits can't call security to shut down the grid every time they need through here. They carry badges, and the system recognizes they're authorized to be here."

The circle went green: authentication complete. Onika grinned in triumph.

"Whoever's supposed to have this credit chit also has at least as much security clearance as maintenance rat, which gives me the template to generate a security key, annnnd..."

She stepped past Hal and thrust her datapad into the laser grid, which winked out with a digital chime. Onika held the 'pad in place and stepped around it to the other side of the emitters.

"I like my burger with mushrooms."

[Halajiin Rabeak]

"That's because you're an uncultured heathen," Hall replied matter-of-factly as he quickly followed Onika through the grid, keeping his tail close. Plucking the card from her fingers, he pocketed it once more, for safekeeping.

"But, damn if you're not a clever uncultured heathen," he grinned. "Where'd you learn how to do that? I was gonna, um, I dunno, short it out or something. Good trick."

[Onika Zepparah]

Onika smoothly stowed her datapad back into her satchel and carried on beside him, watchful for any other hidden traps. The laser grid marked the Citadel perimeter, so all they really had to do now was find access to the surface. Preferably out of view of any CCHN cameras.

"A friend of mine back home is really good with computers," she said. "She showed me a few tricks like that." Her mind drifted back to Brekka, explaining in animated Shyriwook while wielding a slicing spike in each paw, moments before shutting down every single security grid in the Starlight Mall. They'd only had twenty minutes before the CPD spotted the blackout and sent a response, but the short-lived shopping spree was glorious. Onika still had that sunstone necklace.

Well... no, she didn't. It was back home in an old stim tin with the rest of her meager jewelry collection, if her mother hadn't already confiscated it. And she still didn't know if she'd ever see Brekka or any of her other friends again. Her smile dimmed.

"It might not work again," she said. "If they know we took this tunnel, and they know you have that chit, they'll put two and two together and close that loophole. You sure you don't want to escape today?"

She said it with a one-sided smirk that could have made it a joke, or wistful resignation, or a strangled plea.

[Halajiin Rabeak]

"Oh, I fully expect our entire route to be closed, after this," Hal replied with a carefree shrug. "They don't know I have the chit, yet, but they will, and I'm prepared for that."

His stride remained casual as he maneuvered through the tight confines of the access tunnel, possessing a vague memory of where to go, though he could see much had been changed. Had things not changed in over a hundred years, Coruscant would either be a miracle of engineering, or home of the laziest technicians and servicemen in the galaxy. "Not that way," he minded Onika as she peered down a side tunnel they passed. "That goes to the water reclamation channel. And not the nice, clean water, either."

The Nehantite continued to lead, taking Onika well beyond the perimeter, through twists and turns in the access tunnels, even heading down a level via a service ladder, before coming to an unfamiliar forking path. There he stood, eyeing each direction as if attempting to recall some tidbit of information that would tell him which way to go, or spark some memory of the correct path. For some time, only his tail flicked, growing uneasy before Hal eased down to one knee, placing his right palm on the floor in front of the fork, and closed his eyes.

From his paw, he directed a pulse of energy through the Force, into the floor and surrounding walls. It raced forward, rippling over every surface before him at breakneck speed, and in his mind's eye he watched, mapping everything as he reached out further and further down each channel, studying the twists, turns, and doorways as he registered their molecular structures. At last his eyes snapped open, and his pulse of energy ceased as he stood up, dusting off his paw upon his thigh before picking the doorway to the right. "This one," he announced, and set off without giving Onika a chance to argue.

[Onika Zepparah]

It had been a joke. Funny how something like intent could be determined retrospectively. If they ended up caught, then Onika will have been coming out of adolescent curiosity, or maybe just to keep an eye on the troublemaker the Knights obviously had singled out for special surveillance. If they didn't, and she spotted a lane to cut and run, well...

She'd been considering the water line. Really considering. It was the fastest way to the underlevels where there would actually be access underneath the skylanes to the next district. Yes, it would be disgusting, and her uniform would be only fit to burn afterward, but she'd have to do that anyway, right? But she pulled away and let Kyle continue to lead her wherever he was heading. He seemed to know these tunnels well. Surprisingly well, actually. It wasn't like he was recalling blueprints, but like he remembered being here. But that wasn't possible, was it?

And then he knelt to the floor, apparently stumped. Onika folded her arms, another smirk on her lips. Like this choice even mattered - either way was away from the Citadel. What was he gonna do, put his ear to the ground to listen for a hovertrain?

No, that wasn't what he was doing. It was... something Force-y. Onika narrowed her eyes, focusing in with her second sight, curious what she'd--

A starburst of bright green exploded from Kyle's paw through the floor, through the walls, through her, and she swore she saw every surface ripple like a pool disturbed by a stone. She clutched at her stomach, half-expecting it to be turned to mint jello, then spun around to watch the wave race down the corridor they'd just come. She felt stunned, her senses buzzing, as if she'd been peering through a telescope at a flashbang, or straining to listen to a firecracker. She almost didn't notice when Kyle started down the right path.

She stumbled after him, still feeling a little less than solid. "What did you do?!" she hissed. "Are you crazy? They probably saw that green flash all the way back to the Citadel!"

[Halajiin Rabeak]

"Huh?" Hal turned and shot a curious, yet suspicious look at Onika, his brow crimped. "Green flash? What green flash?" He then glanced around, closing his left eye to see only with his right, in case there was color somewhere his left one had missed.

"I asked the hallways where they went, and they told me. That's all," he replied with a shrug, as if it were nothing. "What the heck did you think I was doing?"

[Onika Zepparah]

Onika shook her head, incredulous. "Come on, don't tell me you didn't see it! It was like, blinding bright green. Big pulse from your hand, went everywhere. I saw it before, on the door out of the library, but it was nothing like that. I mean, if I could see that, I'm sure the Knights..."

She trailed off. He was staring at her as if she'd sprouted pink fur and started speaking Shyriiwook, and it was making her uncomfortable.

[Halajiin Rabeak]

"Blinding bright green?" Hal asked, thoroughly nonplussed. "And you saw it on the door? You can... literally see the Force?"

In an unusual circumstance, it was a first for Hal. Even in his searches of old and obscure Force technique, he'd never heard of anyone visually seeing a Force effect. Sensing, sure, but seeing? That was some new shit, and Hal didn't know if he was comfortable with it.

Still, it needed to be tested. Taking a deep breath, Hal attempted a skill he'd been working on which wasn't related to his telekinesis, just in case he could only see the residual effects of that ability. Instead he focused strength into his paws, ready to clench them into fists. If he were doing it correctly, he could punch a hearty dent into the durasteel plate paneling alongside the wall, but he kept himself still for now.

"If you can see it, what am I doing now?" he asked, suddenly unsure if it was wise to continue associating with Onika, lest he be found out.

[Onika Zepparah]

Onika's first impulse was to step back, as if from a snarling massif, though she didn't really know why. Kyle's fists and forearms were coated in shimmering green, very close to his fur, like some sort of protective gloves, and at first she thought that was the extent of it. And then she squinted and saw the green wrapping itself around his muscles, his tendons, and his bones. Her stomach twisted when she saw his muscles shift beneath his skin.

"I don't... I don't know what I'm looking at," she confessed. "It's in your arms. Uh, your muscles and bones. What, does it make you stronger? Protects you? Can the Force do that?"

Then it dawned on her, and her face paled. "Wait, you're saying you don't see that?"

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Raising his paws for a good look at them, attempting to focus hard enough to see... anything other than his paws, but that was all he could see. Allowing his focus to fade, he could feel the Force leave him as he dropped his arms once more, shaking his head. "Nope, I got nothing," he shrugged.

"Do you, like, always see the Force in use? Like, say, even in training and stuff, with the other cadets?"

A thought dawned on him, and he dared to use a skill he knew that neither of them were going to enjoy terribly much. Focusing, he allowed his next words to be projected by thought instead of his muzzle, telepathically focusing upon Onika with a brief message which should only cause the mildest of headaches.

"What do you see now?"

[Onika Zepparah]

A green haze closed in around the edges of Onika's vision, and she winced and rubbed at one temple. "Gah. Thought you weren't supposed to do that? I see..."

Her vision cleared, and she stopped, regarding the Nehantite with suspicion. Old walls slammed back down into place.

"I'll answer your questions if you answer mine," she said. "Where'd you learn how to do that?" She pointed at the floor behind them, the spot where he'd pinged the whole tunnel system.

[Halajiin Rabeak]

"Nar Shadda," Hal replied without hesitation. "From my old master, Abin Sur. Basically you just connect with a place, and ask it where it goes. Ask the right way and it'll answer you."

The Nehantite knew most of the tricks in his bag relied on interesting applications of his telekinetic abilities, but in order to mask his mastery of such things among the Knights, he had developed lies to cover for them. Onika simply managed to ask about one skill he had a ready-made answer for.

Reaching up to rub his head where it still ached, he then chuckled, "And, I'm not supposed to do telepathy. Heh, big difference between that and not being supposed to be able to do it."

[Onika Zepparah]

Even before he finished speaking, Onika was shaking her head. "That's not what it looked like to me," she said. "I saw a wave. Like ripples in a pool. It moved through everything, even me."

[Halajiin Rabeak]

"Of course it moved through everything," Hal snorted. "That's the Force. It's a non-physical energy, moves kind of like neutrinos. Passes through solid matter. It's in everything, so when I pinged, it all answered. I know that's kind of weird to wrap your head around. I know it took me a while to get it, but that's how it works. That's how you and I can do what we do; because we have access to that power."

He took a step forward, towards her, as he continued. "Of course, there are different ways to use it. I was trained in the light side. You ask, rather than command. That way, if you can convince the Force that you are just, the power it returns you is amplified. Through the dark side you demand, and you burn through the Force against its will, exerting your dominance over it. That can give you power as well, though it takes a toll on you. Look at Alexia, for example. I dunno about you, but I like keeping my boyish good looks, so I stick to the happy friendly rainbows and unicorns light side approach."

[Onika Zepparah]

Kyle's explanation still didn't ring true... about half of it, sure, and the rest clashed with her own perceptions. But then, apparently those perceptions were a lot different from Kyle's. Maybe even unique? Onika had no idea. This wasn't just learning a new language, it was like learning for the first time that language exists.

She opened her mouth to ask more, when she realized her quid was looking paltry next to Kyle's pro quo.

"I don't see it all the time," she confessed. "Usually just when I'm focused on it. I see it in class if I pay attention. Everybody has a different color. Except me. I can't see my own, uh... Force. Weird, huh?"

Slowly she fell back into pace next to him. "So what was it like? Learning from a Jedi? Was he super-religious on you?"

[Halajiin Rabeak]

"Nah," Hal shook his head. The conversation turned at that point as if it had been about little more than the weather, nothing truly important at all, and his casual, jovial self emerged once more. "It's not actually a religion, you know. It's more like... a set of life values? Not that I would have changed religions, anyhow," he shrugged. "I believe in Garfife, after all. He created all things, and eventually created Nehantites. I see the Force as His power that He allows me to access. That's why I ask for things instead of demanding them. I don't want to know what would happen if I demanded things from an almighty god, after all. Oh, we take a right, here."

He angled down a side corridor, then continued his rambling. "He didn't make us perfect, of course. Lots of problems with us Nehantites, but that's just a challenge to overcome, y'know? Kind of like being here, in the cadet program. It's not perfect, but it's a challenge. Gotta keep trying, push yourself, and adapt to overcome. The fact that we get these super-sexy uniforms for free is just a bonus."

[Onika Zepparah]

Onika was fairly certain she wasn't even a little bit religious. Her mother burned incense for the Twi'lek goddess every night, for all the good that did her, and her father's household, though secular, held the Empire in such high esteem it might as well have been a religion. Onika had never seen a point to devoting herself body and soul to something so vast and incomprehensible when it couldn't be bothered to help her with her own problems. Of course, now her problems included the vast and incomprehensible Force. She dearly hoped gods weren't next on the list.

"'Not perfect,'" she repeated. "I mean, you get your choice of service or get hunted down like a roach-rat. What's not perfect about that?"

A soon as she'd said it, she bit her tongue. What was happening here? What had happened to staying quietly compliant, not making any waves? Here she was, breaking out of the Citadel with a known troublemaker, just to get lunch with a stolen credit chit, and now she was getting dangerously close to actually speaking her mind!

And yet she was finding she didn't care. Creeping through maintenance tunnels, slipping past security nets... this was the closest she'd felt to home since she'd started at Tarkin Memorial. So what if Kyle really was a mole for the Knights? She wanted... no. She needed a break from all the pretense.

"Did you want to be a Jedi?" she asked, not meeting his eyes. "Or did someone make you do that, too?"

[Halajiin Rabeak]

It was a question which stopped Hal in his tracks, hitting him on a deeper level than even he could have anticipated. In all his life, no one had ever asked him that, and over the past few years he had been too consumed with trying to remember what a Jedi should be, to think on whether that's even what he wanted.

His paw came to rest on a pipe strapped to the wall as he considered his answer - not only for the sake of cover, but to determine how he truly felt.

"I didn't really get a choice, no," he replied at last. "I was different, and because I was different, I was told I needed to make something of myself. My master and I didn't always get along. In fact we were at each other's throats fairly often, but we needed each other, so there we were. Until he wasn't there anymore, that is. Then I was on my own, having to take what I'd learned and try to survive. Jedi, Imperial Knight, they're not diametrically opposed. The Knights have a poor view of history, but what they're becoming now is much like how the old Jedi Order used to be. Except fascist. But I can play along as best I can, as long as in the end it helps people."

Hal turned to Onika, honest sadness reflected in his eyes. "That's what we should do. More than following orders, more than some religion or code, we should help. Help those who can't help themselves. Defend those who need it, even if it's from ourselves. I've broken rules, or bent them to the point of breaking when I knew it was better to save a life than take it. I don't want to be an instrument of hate. I'm not one. I stand for hope, and for justice. The Empire does many things wrong, but so did the old Republic. There is no perfect structure, but we, with our abilities, can do more than most to stand up for what is right. Even if we have to do so within the confines of a system we may not thoroughly enjoy."

His shoulders squared as resolve filled his lungs, voice growing firmer as he continued. "I was not meant to be a Jedi, I was made one. I was not meant to be a Knight, but I am one of those as well. Perhaps I am both. Perhaps I am neither. But I do know that I am not someone who wishes to harm another. Knights Vissica and Alexia have both accepted too much of the Dark Side, and it will be their downfall. Knight Baastian and I see things in some similar lights, but disagree on others. Knight Jibral sees things in a different way as well. Just because we are Knights doesn't mean we all have to be the same. I simply hope for more... hope... in the current class of Cadets. The Imperial Knights can be a force for good, provided we maintain a morality which will not allow us to simply be a weapon in the Empire's arsenal."

His pink eyes turned to lock on to Onika's own, as he concluded with, "That's where you and I come in. We must remain ourselves, and not become a part of the soulless machine. And I, for one, choose to maintain my individuality through a nice, juicy nerfburger with cheese, and one is waiting for us just on the other side of an access hatch ahead."

Seriousness melted away with a smile, and the old Kyle Rayner was back, pressing on before mounting a ladder with ease. The hatch above was sealed with a four-piston lock, opened by a specific physical tool from the other side, and Hal did not possess that tool. What he did possess, however, was a means to reach into the unit and spin the lock tumbler, disengaging the piston locks, and granting entry to the free world beyond. Placing his paw upon the hatch, he closed his eyes, located the tumbler, and grumbled, "Open, Sesame!" before it clanked open, and he pushed up.

The warm, fresh air of Coruscant's surface rushed down the hatch and into the tunnel as a welcome breeze, and Hal grinned while squinting against the sudden, bright light of day. There, about forty yards away, gleamed the chrome and neon trim of the diner he had so often spied from his room in the Citadel. Scrambling up out of the hole, he then moved aside and offered his paw down to assist Onika with her exit as well. "Lunch awaits us, madame," he grinned.

[Onika Zepparah]

That was... a whole lot more involved than Onika was expecting. When she'd been in school, Jedi and Sith were just terms from her history textbook, as far removed as the Rakatan Infinite Empire or wooden sailing ships. Joining the Knight-cadets brought them only a little closer, as alternate approaches to harnessing the power that she was just beginning, haltingly, to understand. But she didn't really know what they meant. They were other factions, sure. The enemy, according to the Knights. But what did they want? What was different about them, other than which side of the border they stood on?

Kyle seemed to know, and what was more, he seemed to care. And he hadn't let it go, even now that he was a Knight--

Onika sucked a breath in through her teeth. He'd said he was a Knight. Not Knight-cadet.

But she held her tongue and let him lift her out of the hatch, moving gracefully to keep her pristine white jumpsuit from brushing its filthy edges. The garish, flickering glow of the neon signs ahead and the distant smell of fryer grease set her stomach rumbling again.

"So how long were you with your... um... master?" The word felt dirty on her tongue, given her people's history with slavery. "Sounds like you learned a lot from him."

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Relying solely on his own body strength to lift Onika from the hatchway, Hal surprised himself with how much stronger he'd grown since arriving. Yes, he'd been no stranger to the gym, but it was the first time he truly could tell a difference in his own natural ability, not augmented by his predisposition to use the Force.

Tipping the hatch closed with his booted footpaw, he thought for a moment, then replied. "It was about five years or so. Maybe six? We moved around a lot, it's hard to remember. I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to do, at first, and, heh, I blew up a lot of stuff. You've seen me at telekinesis, right? Seems I haven't gotten much better," he chuckled. In each attempt at TK thus far at the Citadel, Hal had obliterated whatever it was he had been assigned to lift or move, to the point where he was banned from attempting telekinesis any further. "He was a hard man, but I knew he was a good man when he had us step in to protect people, even if it brought danger on us. It's what ended up killing him, and starting me on my own journey."

The explanation had taken them from the hatch to the diner's front door, where Hal scooted ahead to open the door for Onika, as a gentleman should. "Ladies first," he smiled.

[Onika Zepparah]

Onika stiffened, if only for a moment before she reminded herself that some men were simply polite.

Her senses burned from dozens of directions the moment they stepped into the diner. Strictly speaking, aliens weren't an uncommon sight in the Government Sector, but a hybrid was generally an embarrassment to be kept hidden, and something as furry as Kyle was to be kept on leash. Onika acutely felt every single stare, ranging from bemused to disgusted, and she tightened her fists as the air began closing in, thick and cottony.

The handsome chestnut-skinned man at the host station paused at the sight of them, then glanced at their uniforms and smiled brightly. "Good to see you, cadets!" he said. "Table for two?"

The air turned fluid again, and she breathed out in relief. "Yes, please," she said. "Near the jukebox?"

They slid into a booth next to a technicolor display boasting over six million forms of musical entertainment, but more importantly, it was against the back wall and not in easy view through the windows from outside. The waiter, Ando, took their orders - for Onika, a medium rare nerfburger with sauteed mushrooms and onions and crumbles of houjix cheese, and a buiberry milk shake with whipped cream in a tall, frosty glass. In moments she was drawing hard at a thick metal straw, and her efforts were rewarded with a gush of thick, fruity, frozen ambrosia against her tongue.

"Mm. Mmph!" She swallowed, eyes closed, savoring. "Oh gods, that's good."

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Hal placed his own order, a medium rare double nerfburger, with cha'dar cheese, tomato, hardwood-smoked bacon, a fried egg, Kashyyk lettuce, grilled onions, Trandoshan pickles, and a slathering of mustard and spiced mayonnaise. His fries were ordered extra crispy, and he passed on the additional whipped cream on his own buiberry shake. While they waited for the shakes to arrive, Hal tested the chitcard on the jukebox, drawing up an old funk favorite (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs069dndIYk), grinning as he sat back down.

"Worth the risk?" he chuckled, then took a hearty pull at his own chilly straw. In a wave of cold, creamy sugar, fat, and fruit, he knew his own answer was an emphatic yes, and he let the magical concoction roll around on his ample, flexible tongue, before leaking back against the creaking, glossy vinylplast covers of the booth's seating. "Oh yes, I have missed you, but daddy is home," he murred to his milkshake.

"Don't go too fast," he then warned Onika as she went in for another pull from her own shake. "This is something to be savored. And, you don't want to get a brain freeze, either."

[Onika Zepparah]

Onika winced even as he warned her. "Don't care," she said. "It's just too good to stop."

But she did about a third of the way in, shivering from a pleasant chill all the way down into her chest, and licking some purple pulp from her lips. Only then did she realize the tension had all gone out of her shoulders. She was leaning forward, elbows on the table, not caring who was looking at her, or who was looking for her, or where she was supposed to be in an hour. She knew it wouldn't last. She just wanted to enjoy it while it did.

There was just one small thing. She should wait, she knew, until the meal was over and paid for. But it was on the front of her mind, and she was done holding in her thoughts.

"Kyle, what do you want from me?"

[Halajiin Rabeak]

The question was one Hal had been expecting, yet he had not formulated an answer for it ahead of time. Instead, he leaned back, examining Onika for more than just her appearance. Her demeanor had always remained understated, her answers short and simple, never revealing. She seemed afraid to show her true self at all, while Hal allowed parts of him to shine through his Kyle Rayner persona, knowing that some elements had to remain genuine in order for his cover to be believed. But Onika? Onika locked herself away as if in a vault.

"Just to get to know you," he replied at last. "We've trained with each other for months, I see you every day, and yet I have no idea who you are, or what it is you want. I hope it's something good. I hope that maybe it's something I can help you with someday. But so far, I really can't tell. So, let me ask you, why are you here? Like, right here, at this table, with me? You could have run, you could have escaped. You know I wouldn't have stopped you. But you're here, and I don't think it's just for a nerfburger and a shake, either."

[Onika Zepparah]

Onika lightly stirred the wet-cement remains of her milkshake with her straw as he spoke. When he finished, her red eyes came back up, like deflector screens.

"You're too old for me."

[Halajiin Rabeak]

"Oh ha ha," Hal groaned. "You're too young for me. Besides, everybody knows it's Lady Vissica that I'm after."

Shaking his head, he then glanced around the diner with an annoyed sigh before coming back to Onika, much of his humor lost. "I run my mouth the whole way out here, and you come back at me with that bullshit? Have you even been listening to a word I've said, that you'd think that is what I'm after with you?"

[Onika Zepparah]

Her eyes didn't waver, but she settled back into her seat.

"People lie," she said. "I had to be sure."

Onika's fingers slipped off the tip of her straw and came to rest on the tabletop, drumming. She carefully wet her lips with her tongue.

"I was listening, by the way. You were talking about helping people. About standing for hope. You want to be a hero. But that's not me. I just want the people I love to be happy and safe. Well, right now they're a thousand miles away, and they might as well be on the Outer Rim. 'Cause even if I do run off to be with them, I'll just be leading the Knights straight to them."

She lifted her eyes again, fingers curling at the edges of the table. "So here's the part where you say I should protect other people, just like I want my friends to be protected. But that doesn't help them. Because no one ever does. No one cares about aliens in the undercity until they want something from them. It's the only reason I'm in the Citadel. It's the only reason I even exist."

Onika slumped back against the patched and peeling bench seat. "So why am I here? Because you're nice, and you offered me food, and I just needed a frelling break."

[Halajiin Rabeak]

In the tense silence following Onika's tirade of hard truths, their waiter arrived with a full tray. "Double nerf with the garden on top?"

Hal simply raised his finger, and their two plates were set out before the respective diners. Waiting for the waiter to go, Hal leaned forward, staring at Onika across a table exploding with heavenly scents.

"Then why not fight back?" he asked. "If you don't like it, why not fight it? Take your training and turn it against them, become a weapon instead of a tool. Find your own reason, show them who you really are, instead of being just a droid to accept their programming. Killing's easy. I've done it. It's so, so easy, Onika. So easy that it scares me."

[Onika Zepparah]

Onika shuddered, and that was as good as an answer.

"Fighting the Empire gets people killed," she said, her voice low. Her mouth opened again, as if she were on the verge of saying something else. But at the end she bit down on it and lifted her head.

"Put it that way, and it sounds like I've already lost, huh?" She flashed a melancholic smile, then looked down at her steaming burger. It smelled like paradise. "Honestly, I'm just trying to keep my head above water until I can figure things out. I will. I always have."

She lifted the burger and took a big bite. A few stray mushrooms and onions slopped out the other end, followed by bloody juices. Her eyes widened.

"Oh godff. That'ff really goodh."

[Halajiin Rabeak]

There. There, in that moment, Hal glimpsed the tiniest view of the real Onika, only for it to vanish once more. Still, it was the closest he had come yet to learning what made her tick, and for today, it would be good enough. Lifting a fry, he sniffed it, then applied some more salt before popping it into his mouth, savoring the instant bliss which rolled across his tongue in hot, starchy, oily, and mildly crunchy heaven.

"You've only lost if you decided you have," he chuckled. "Otherwise, you're just biding your time, waiting for the right moment to strike. But in the meantime, it doesn't hurt to make a few friends. I'm not supposed to tell you this, but... Jeryd rather fancies you. He's been trying to keep it a secret." He winked, lifting his own burger.

It sagged in his paws, and he could feel the grease seeping into the fur of his fingers from its two patties, cheese, bacon, and fried egg. Pink eyes locked on target, he chose his own moment to strike, and his jaws opened wide, exposing perfectly white, animalistic teeth before sinking deep into a tower of surefire cardiac arrest. Upon impact, every neuron in his brain told him it was worth it.

[Onika Zepparah]

Onika had gone for another sip of buiberry, and had swallowed in the last critical moment before she would have snorted it up the back of her nose. She covered her nose and mouth with one hand, eyebrows high, her lips momentarily caught between a smile and a sneer -

It was the wink that did her in, and she burst out laughing.

"No, really?" she said, theatrically. "Oh my gods, I had no idea. If only he weren't so shy."

She lifted her burger to her lips, and paused there. "Okay, I'm sorry, but I have to ask... Lady Vissica? Seriously?"

[Halajiin Rabeak]

In such a moment of meaty, cheesy bliss, Hal's mind flung itself back to teenage days back on Nehantish, hanging out at similar diners with friends. It was hope, friendship, happiness, and joy in every bite, and Onika's laugh further fueled his cheer as he doped himself up on another injection of addictive nostalgia. "Mmmf, yeah," he nodded, then swallowed before washing down the mouthful of near-orgasmic delight with the cool, thick rush of sugary milkshake.

"She's gorgeous," he sighed wistfully. "What a woman. I know she's just playing hard-to-get, but I'll be in there someday." Plucking a long, thick fry from his basket, he pushed it deep into his buiberry shake, then popped it into his cavernous muzzle. "Of course, Baastian's a hunk I wouldn't mind getting a piece of, either."

[Onika Zepparah]

Onika wrinkled her nose as the fry went in the shake. That... that couldn't work, could it? But Kyle looked so enamored with it the sensation. But then... Vissica.

She twisted her mouth at his next hypothetical paramour, too. "Mmmm, a little too soldier boy for me. Though Knight Jibral... you know, in a hot teacher kinda way?"

A shadow fell over the table. Onika looked up, surprised her senses hadn't warned her that the waiter was back. But it wasn't the waiter. Her pink face went ice-pale.

[Baastian Cain]

"Cadets."

Baastian Cain towered over the table, one eyebrow lifted. His duty uniform was crisp and sleek as if machined out of blue steel, his black-gloved hands clasped behind his back.

"Sorry to interrupt. I was in the neighborhood and couldn't help but notice that... so were you."

A chair began scraping across the floor toward the booth. Baastian caught it with an outstretched hand, turned it, and sat on the open face of the table, effectively locking them in.

[Halajiin Rabeak]

With only half of his burger remaining, Hal took another bite, then waved a brief, casual greeting to the Imperial Knight. He'd been expecting someone from the Citadel to show up soon, though Baastian was not the face he had anticipated. Still, the Nehantite remained casual, chewing and swallowing before taking another pull from his shake.

"Heya, Baas," he nodded. "Yeah, cafeteria menu wasn't looking too good, so, thought I'd eat off-campus, today. Onika decided to join me."

A fry was plucked from his basket, taking a dip in more buiberrry shake before being tossed into his snapping jaws. "You eaten yet? Still got time to join us. Fries are as bottomless as Lady Vissica!"

[Onika Zepparah]

Onika shrank into the bench seat, her mouth dry. She'd known it wouldn't last. She'd known someone would come along. Why hadn't she prepared? Why had she agreed to this? Stupid!

Dozens of morbidly curious pairs of eyes settled on her and politely flitted away, only to return. Whispered voices pounded in the back of her head. She remembered Palara making an idle gesture and dismissing every prying eye on the train. Why didn't he do that? Send them away, please!

[Baastian Cain]

"Filled up at the commissary," Baastian replied. "More's the pity. The burgers are really good here."

His eyes flicked from Kyle to Onika, who appeared to be trying to disappear into the crackling upholstery. "The real crime would be losing your appetite. Don't let me stop you. That was some nice work on the detection grid, Cadet."

[Onika Zepparah]

Onika's crimson eyes flashed for a moment of defiance. Then she picked up her burger and mumbled, "Apparently not good enough," before taking another bite.

[Baastian Cain]

Baastian spread his hands magnanimously. "Oh, we'd have tracked down the unauthorized access, definitely, but we already had eyes on you at that point. Cadet Rayner knows why."

He lifted a hand, and one of Kyle's fries floated into the air into his waiting fingers, where he took a satisfied, steamy bite.

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Hal gave a defeated, yet satisfied smile as he shrugged and held up his left wrist, waggling it a bit. "Gee, Knight Baastian, whatever could you mean?" he chuckled.

The Nehantite's humor did not so much fly in the face of the seriousness of the situation he and Onika found themselves in, so much as it admitted fault, but fault with no true ill intent. With his right paw, he fished the chitcard from his pocket, then extended it like a playing card between two fingers toward their superior officer. "Oh, thanks for lunch, by the way. It was really generous of you. I was gonna go for some pie, too, but that'd just be greedy."

Across from him, it was impossible not to see Onika's panic, and all Hal could do was continue to smile and act as if nothing was wrong, in an attempt to keep her calm, to prevent her from doing something rash which she would later regret. He could handle is own punishment, but he would be damned if he saw the girl get herself into further trouble.

[Baastian Cain]

"Well, it's good to know you've learned the meaning of restraint."

The rest of the fry disappeared, and he rubbed the salt from his leather gloves. Through some miracle of textile engineering, the grease didn't smudge or stain at all.

"In any case, I'm glad to see our cadets watching out for one another. Security wanted to dispatch a recovery unit right away, but I managed to stand them down. I knew we didn't have anything to worry about, even if our biggest flight risk had just crossed the perimeter, because..."

Again he turned his sights on Onika. "You were there to keep an eye on him."

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Danger, Halajiin Rabeak! Danger! The old, corny robot voice shouted inside Hal's head.

He had just opened his mouth to object, before realizing it was a trap, as Baastian surely knew that if Hal wanted to escape, he could have done so long ago. No, his muzzle busied itself with another bite from his burger instead - no less delicious now with additional company than it had been some few minutes earlier. It was a tell, and Hal simply shrugged as his response to the accusation while glancing to Onika. She was the flight risk, it seemed. New information, it took time to process, and Hal let his mind do its thing while his tongue reveled in a form of pleasure palace it had been denied so long.

So, she's a runner, huh? Yet she feared going back to her people, lest the Empire harm them. Interesting, he thought to himself. Where would she have gone, then, if I'd truly let her go? Or was she even interested in running? She didn't bolt when we got out of the hatch, instead choosing to stick with me. If I were her, I'd have only done that if I was actually considering that the Knights were where I belonged, and I needed to test myself. Is that what she did? Was she even aware of what she was doing? Or did it just happen? I wonder where the term burger came from. It's a funny word, burger. Burger. Burger burger burger...

[Onika Zepparah]

Onika straightened up and managed to hold Baastian's gaze, even as her heart thundered in her narrow chest. What was he trying to do? Give her an out? Kyle had said he could escape any time he wanted, but she didn't see how that could be true if he really had a tracking implant in his wrist. Was he just avoiding a scene in public until he could get them back behind the walls of the Citadel?

She glanced Kyle's way. Even if he was a Knight undercover, he hadn't planned for her to tag along. He'd welcomed her as a co-conspirator. And there was something... honest about how he'd dealt with her. It was refreshing. And, true to her word, she was no narc.

Without a word, she took a steak fry in her fingers and dipped it delicately into her shake. Then, eyes on Baastian, she took a deliberate bite.

Fruity-sweet on salty-starch. Hm. Actually not that bad.

[Baastian Cain]

Baastian raised an eyebrow at the Twi'lek halfbreed. "Well. Hopefully you haven't picked up too many bad habits."

---

The barracks door shot open with a hiss of pneumatic fury. Eighteen inspection-ready bunks stood inside, corners tucked with clinical precision - even Nebbil's. Baastian stood to one side of the door and gestured toward Onika with one black-gloved hand.

"It's laundry day, cadet," he said. "Sheets, blankets, and pillowcases go in the chute. You'll find fresh bedclothes in the closet. All eighteen bunks will be inspection-ready by fifteen hundred. Then we'll discuss remediation for the classes you've missed. Understood?"

Onika squared her shoulders, trying to mask her surprise, and hoping the Knight's leniency didn't conceal something worse. "Yes, sir." She stepped inside, and the door hissed shut, sealing her in.

Baastian turned to Hal and, with an outstretched arm, directed him toward the private quarters.

"So, you want to tell me what you were doing?"

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Hal could still taste the lingering ambrosiac flavors of his burger as he re-entered the Citadel through its main doors. It was, in fact, the same entry he had planned on using, though he had to admit that having Baastian there made re-entry smoother than it would have been otherwise.

Onika's punishment was light, even Hal had to admit, though he did sneak her a smile from behind Bastian's shoulder before the doors shut, leaving him with his Knight emissary.

"I went out for lunch," the Nehantite replied with a shrug. "Thought that was pretty apparent."

[Baastian Cain]

"And let me guess, you didn't have change for a taxi?"

Baastian turned and held up his own personal expense chit between his thumb and forefinger, charges pending for two burgers and two shakes.

"Oh, that's right, you did. You know, you could've asked."

[Halajiin Rabeak]

"If I did, you wouldn't have seen what I can do, and I wouldn't have finally started to connect with Onika," Hal countered.

The Nehantite found himself saved from an immediate reply by the arrival of a turbolift, and he stepped on first in order to alleviate any concerns that he might bolt once Baastian boarded. Once the doors slid closed, leaving them in privacy, Hal sighed and dropped his bravado.

"I didn't know who was following me, at first," he said at last. "When it turned out to be Onika, I thought it was best I keep my eye on her, and keep her from getting into more trouble. I take responsibility for her continuing to follow me, sir, and I request to take whatever punishment she is due, for her, on top of my own."

[Baastian Cain]

Baastian pounded the all stop with the heel of his fist, and the lift lurched to a halt between floors. There was no humor in his eyes when he turned on Hal - only outraged disbelief.

"Responsibility?" he repeated. "Responsibility would've been taking her back as soon as you found her. Not letting her hack the grid and make herself an accessory. You don't get to absolve her of a class four security breach just because you're the one who put her there. Yes, she was your responsibility. And you failed her."

[Halajiin Rabeak]

"I protected her!" Hal snapped back. "And I protected this order!" His pink eyes flared red, willing to counter Baastian, anger for anger. "If she was going to make a break for it, she would find a way eventually! I kept her in my sight! I stayed close, and I was already going to bring her back! You really think I wouldn't have tried to stop her if she tried to bolt?"

He could feel his hackles raising, and he gave in to his own self-righteous tirade. "How long has it been since you were a scared, alien kid, having a new life thrust upon you that you didn't ask for? Do you even know what that feels like? I do! I know it all too well! And you know what made me realize I had to grow up and get with the program? Learning I had someone there for me! Someone who had my back, not a monster who would punish me if I stepped even slightly out of line! She learned to trust me, today. To see that she could trust the Knights, and maybe, just maybe she could be loyal, here! A bond made out of respect is stronger than any made from fear, and that is why I let her follow me. That is why I am asking, no, demanding to take her punishment for her! So she can see that someone here gives a motherfucking damn about her, and she doesn't have to be afraid! I didn't fail her, Baastian! I may have just saved her!"

[Baastian Cain]

Baastian nodded, his lips pursed. "Okay. Decent attempt at rationalizing your actions after the fact, marks for effort, but it doesn't change a damned thing."

He turned again with fury in his pale blue eyes. "You didn't set out to help Onika. You were on an ego trip. You wanted to show you could beat our security. We knew that already - why do you think you have a tracker? Your freedom to move about the Citadel is a measure of trust, not a miscalculation of your abilities."

[Halajiin Rabeak]

"Would you prefer if I just did everything I was told, and showed no ambition?" Hal sneered. "When change presented itself, I adapted. And if you expect an apology for being clever, you're going to be waiting a very long time."

[Baastian Cain]

"I would prefer you consider the consequences of your actions, especially when it comes to the wellbeing of your fellow cadets," Baastian fired back. "You might have had the best reasons for taking Cadet Zepparah out of bounds. Hell, I might even believe you. But that doesn't matter."

He leaned closer, heedless of the bared fangs centimeters from his face.

"Because I'm not the one who sets punishment for cadet infractions. Lady Vissica is."

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Any wind in Hal's sails gutted completely as the shoe dropped.

Sailing metaphors and noisy neighbor metaphors in the same thought? Is that where we're really going with this? Hal's higher reasoning butted in at a very serious point in the thread.

Shaddap, yew. His base natures minded them.

He'd thought he had it all planned. He thought he'd found a way out, a method by which all parties could be satisfied, while strengthening bonds instead of frying them. And then Baastian had to go and ruin it all, because the Knights had no clearly-posted department structure, which Hal considered a gross oversight when it came to a large corporation such as the Empire.

Lips coming down, and shoulders sinking, he could feel his ears dipping in fear as well. "Lady Vissica?"he asked, a twinge of whimper in his voice. Panic set in, and his thoughts ran about wildly within his head, crashing into furniture and tripping over ottomans and the cat, in search of the correct response. As they flailed, he simply added, "Wouldn't she accept the counsel of a fellow Knight, on such a matter, though?"

[Baastian Cain]

Baastian eased back. If nothing else, Kyle's reaction appeared sincere. If not penitent, then he was suitably sobered. Baastian disengaged the emergency stop, and the lift glided up a few more levels. It had stopped short of Hal's floor.

"That's what I'm hoping."

---

Baastian and Kyle approached the door to Lady Vissica's quarters like two men condemned. Baastian raised his gloved hand to the door chime, then paused.

"I shouldn't need to tell you, no nerfdren. Follow my lead, and do not contradict me."

He tapped the chime and stood back to wait.

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

Seated on her haunches, Lady Vissica reviewed an intelligence briefing projected into space by hologram. It was the sole point of illumination in her sparsely-adorned quarters. The sound of the door chime caused the Selonian's small ears to twitch. A moment later, she deactivated the projector, bringing the room's standard cool illumination back to full.

"Enter."

Vissica rose to two feet as the heavy composite doors gasped open. She pivoted on her feet to regard her guests, tucking her fingers under the bottom seam of her armored cuirass.

"Comrade. Cadet."

There was something charged in the air, and the Selonian's whiskers quavered slightly. She could feel emotions, or at least their traces, still hot on the skin.

[Baastian Cain]

Baastian stepped into the spartan quarters, which, true to Selonian sensibilities, contained little other than the necessities for sleeping and grooming. Even he had a holo of his grandmother on his dresser and a shuttered display case bearing his mission ribbons and Imperial Cross from his days in the 509th Legionnaires. Relics of a life long past, but relics nonetheless, kept for sentiment's sake and not for any practical purpose. Sentiment would not be their ally here.

"Vissica. I'm afraid there's some unpleasant business to attend to."

He allowed Kyle to fill in the space beside him. "Cadet Rayner... and I... both have confessions to make. Cadet?"

Baastian turned toward the Nehantite, throwing him firmly under the spotlight.

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Hal stiffened at the sight of Vissica, though it was a different sort of stiffening than his usual reaction to seeing her. While the Selonian has been in his own bedchamber, visiting hers evoked a far more unpleasant sensation, and he stumbled while searching for the correct words.

"Lady Vissica," he started, hoping that would give himself enough time to think. It didn't, and so he simply poured out the limited realm of honesty he felt willing to admit. "Today, slightly before noon, I breached Citadel security, and used the maintenance access tunnel system to leave the Citadel grounds, and visit a nearby diner for lunch. While I did not intend for it to happen, Cadet Onika followed me, and once I realized it, I made sure to keep her close, maintaining watch over her until Knight Baastian located us. We then returned peacefully to the Citadel, as was my original plan. I know that I am not allowed to leave Citadel grounds, but it was only my intention to send a message that I have more to offer than simply being a student, and I knew I would be tracked the entire time. I accept any punishment for my actions, but I would request to also take Cadet Onika's punishment for her, as I should have sent her back when I discovered her following me, yet did not, and that is my error, not hers."

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

There was no outward tell of emotion on the Selonian's face, even if they emoted in ways unlike humanoids. She glanced only briefly at Baastian, but otherwise kept her full attention on Kyle Rayner.

"You knowingly violated the rules concerning cadet leave from the Citadel, because you wished to provide a demonstration to leadership? I assure you, you have our full attention, Kyle Rayner. When you discovered that Cadet Zepparah absconded with you, did you inform the Citadel?"

[Halajiin Rabeak]

"No," Hal replied flatly. "I feared she might run. Despite my abilities, I do not know if she possesses a skill which would allow her to elude me, so instead I made sure to befriend her, to gain her trust. I knew I was being tracked, and it was a calculated decision to remain in one place with limited exits until a pursuit force arrived. I had no comm system by which to contact the Citadel, and you yourself have cautioned me against using telepathy, as it... isn't terribly pleasant on your end when I do so."

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

Vissica approached Hal by a couple of steps.

"Cadet Zepparah did not detect your deception? You seem less concerned of the possibility that she might."

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Lies upon lies, woven into not just a web, but a blanket of shimmering deception, all hiding the true Halajiin Rabeak beneath. Each of his next words were chosen carefully, though, as truth meant more to Vissica than most, so it was truth and truth alone that he would give her.

"She didn't entirely trust me at first, no, and I doubt her trust is complete now, but is stronger than it was before. I have presented myself as an ally among the Knights. A demonstration that we can, in fact, have each other's backs, and that someone else might know what she is going through. Connecting with her was important, as it is vital she feels she belongs, and can stop fighting us and open up instead. I did not approach it lightly. But, as you pointed out, I was concerned more with her safety than I was with her opinion of me. This is a good place for her, she just needs to realize that, as I have. But had she seen through me, you have my word I would have done all in my power to keep her from running. I am glad things worked out as they did, though, and I see this as a potential way to help bring her into our fold more fully."

[Baastian Cain]

Baastian listened intently as Hal spoke his piece. It seemed his heart was in the right place, even if his mind was as slippery as a Carnovian eel, and his ego was somewhere in the stratosphere. Placing him among the cadets seemed to have given him some measure of focus. The question was what effect he was having on the other cadets.

"I would add that there's no evidence that Onika's objective was ever to escape the Citadel," he said. "She followed Kyle through the maintenance hatch, yes, because she saw it had been opened. Given her history, I believe she could easily have hidden in the crawlspaces, then slipped away unnoticed, or eluded Kyle at any time after he discovered her. She stayed by his side the whole time, of her own volition."

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

The Selonian's blunt-tapered muzzle swung in Baastian's direction as she listened to what he had to add. Once finished, Vissica turned back to Cadet Rayner.

"Why did the Cadet remain with you? You stated you wished to gain her trust and friendship. Did you succeed? What do you know of Cadet Zepparah's motivations?"

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Despite effectively being in an interrogation, Hal felt his fear melt away. He was speaking from his heart, even if it were to the enemy, and he would continue to do so.

"I believe I did succeed," he nodded. "At least in opening the door to that trust. Onika feels lost, here, unwanted and unloved. I feel she's had issues with that in the past, as have I. I used what I've learned to provide a sort of connection with her, to try and understand her. I believe her motivation is to have somewhere she truly belongs. A way she can know she is keeping her loved ones safe, even if she can't be with them. With correct handling, she could be a strong asset to the Knights. But that handling must be an outstretched paw, not an incoming fist. She knows how to put up walls well. We can't let her slam shut the door I've opened."

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

"You are impudent, Kyle Rayner. Impudent and arrogant. I did not ask for your suggestion of counsel nor do I require it. You think that Cadet Zepparah is the first cadet to be recruited who wished another path for themselves?"

Vissica growled low and soft, then turned to Baastian.

"Why is Cadet Zepparah not here?"

[Baastian Cain]

"She's currently confined to barracks performing duties I assigned her," Baastian replied. "I thought you'd want to interview the guilty parties separately. I also wanted to inform you of my own responsibility in this incident. I was monitoring Cadet Rayner's escape, and in the process became aware that Cadet Zepparah had joined him. I could have intervened earlier. Instead, I chose to wait and allow Kyle to handle the situation on his own terms."

It was a play at spreading out the blame. Baastian's actions weren't directly under Vissica's jurisdiction, but interfering with cadet discipline certainly could be seen as stepping on her toes. Kyle was a gray area - part prisoner, part cadet, part active operative for the Knights. He was under special surveillance not just because of the potential threat he posed to Imperial interests, but because he was so damned unpredictable.

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

Vissica saw no fault in Baastian's handling of the situation. The simple difference between Baastian and Kyle was a matter of experience and responsibility.

There it was. A look of clarity crossed the Selonian's features. She nodded to her colleague, before turning back to Kyle. Vissica raised a paw to the Nehantite's muzzle, fingertips carefully parsing their distance along the cheekbone and jawline, as if searching for a proper place to rest.

"Cadet, I want you to listen carefully to me. Do not resist me, or I will kill you."

[Halajiin Rabeak]

At her touch, Hal stiffened. It was not the first time she had touched him in such a way, his mind flinging itself back to that day on Phindarr, almost a year before, where she and her men captured him inside a sawmill. It was compassion for others which put him in that position, and he found it only just that it would result in the same action once more.

Clearing his mind, the Nehantite nodded lightly against her touch, in wordless compliance.

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

After a moment more of searching, the Selonian's hand froze in place, pressing firmly against the side of Kyle's head. When she next spoke, it was an octave deeper, an oily and alien sound.

"Have you been truthful to me?"

[Halajiin Rabeak]

An explosion of questions burst through Hal's mind, like a runaway train through a cinderblock wall. First and foremost was the scope of Vissica's question. Did she mean overall? Just in general? Or did she mean in the context of the current conversation. Immediately he sprang to the easy loophole of the current conversation, but that would be too easy of an out, so he dug deeper.

Had he told her he used to be a Jedi? Yes, he had.
Had he said his master was dead? Well, after so long he surely was, so that was true as well.
Did he tell her he wanted to mate with her? Not specifically, but the hints had been nothing short of painfully clear.
And what of Onika? Did he believe that the Knights were a good place for her? There he ran into his largest stumbling block, and he thought upon it. The Knights were all he stood against, yet he could still see them being a force for good. And, with upcoming Knights who could care about people, they could truly be good, despite their masters. So, in that sense, yes, they were good for Onika.

It all happened in a split second. While he had not told the whole truth, what he had told her, specifically, had its roots in truth, and that was being truthful. Keeping his pink eyes open, locked onto the black pools of her own, he spoke calmly.

"Yes."

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

Vissica continued with one further question.

"What did you hope to demonstrate to us by leaving the Citadel?"

[Halajiin Rabeak]

"That I can be more than a cadet," Hal replied, nodding against her paw. He immediately felt a surge of pain, and he winced before quickly whimper-yowling, "And I really wanted a burger! The food in the commissary is fucking awful!"

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

Lady Vissica separated her link, withdrawing back to a less intimate distance. Again, her hands returned to hook her fingers underneath her cuirass.

"Cadet, I am going to follow your suggestion. You will endure the punishment I had intended for Onika Zepparah. Return to your quarters. You will be summoned when punishment is to be meted out."

[Halajiin Rabeak]

"Gar-fucking-fife..." Hal groaned, reaching up to rub his head where it ached as if he'd been hit by a sledgehammer. The pain and disorientation caused him to look at both Knights, confused for a moment before Vissica's instruction set in.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, still blinking his left eye in an attempt to get it to focus. It wouldn't, so he simply dealt with blurry, monochromatic vision on that side as he stood straight, then turned and exited Vissica's chambers. The thought to rebel and make another escape, just for the hell of it, crossed his mind, but this time he resisted. His burger, fries and shake had been accomplished, and he'd hopefully made a friend of Onika in the process. So, it was back to his quarters, to stare out his window at the city he was not allowed to venture out into.

[Baastian Cain]

The summons came almost two hours later. Report to Classroom GH-31 immediately. It was buried deep in the underbelly of the Citadel, and well known among the cadets as the site for Lady Vissica's most infamous course: Interrogation Application and Resistance.

There were no students in the amphitheater seats today, which were shrouded in dungeon-like shadow. The overhead floodlights were all directed to the center of the podium, on which sat the horrible assembly of straps, ratchets, and neuroelectrical probes that made up the Arakyd GXR-19 Compliance Regulator. Lady Vissica stood to one side of the stage. On the other, Baastian stood grim-faced with his hand on the shoulder of a very pale-looking Onika Zepparah. A pair of Stormtroopers stood guard at every exit. There was only one player yet to arrive.

Then the door to the hallway hissed open, and two Stormtroopers stood aside, E-11 carbines upraised, to let Kyle Rayner enter.

[Halajiin Rabeak]

In all his life, Hal had determined that fear and worry over something you couldn't control did you no good, and were pure wastes of time, just like watching daytime soaps. So instead of worrying, Hal took a nap.

The summons was a rude awakening from a pleasant dream, and he looked out his window to see that Coruscant itself wept for him, its scheduled rainfall hammering against his windows. For good reason, he presumed, knowing just what was contained in Classroom GH-31. Pain. It housed pain. Nothing more, nothing less. Pain as a science, pain as an art. And there could be no resisting it, so like worry or fear, Hal accepted his fate and marched along with his armed escort, until at last he passed through its doorway, nodding hello to Onika as he approached Baastian and Vissica.

"You rang?" he asked, a hint of a smile showing through it. It was for Onika's benefit, if anyone's.

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

"Cadet Rayner, Cadet Zepparah, you have each been found in dereliction of your posts at the Citadel, and you both stand in insubordination. Your punishments will now be meted out."

Vissica turned to the Human-Twi'lek hybrid.

"Step into the compliance regulator."

[Onika Zepparah]

Onika took in a sharp, shuddering breath. She felt the impulse to run, but the hand on her shoulder was as good as a set of stuncuffs. She gave Hal a brief, desperate look, then took a faltering step forward toward the terrible machine.

[Halajiin Rabeak]

"No!" Hal called out, raising his paw toward Onika for her to stop as he jogged up to the table. Eyes hard, he turned his attention to Vissica. "You told me I would take her punishment, and you don't lie!"

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

Vissica intercepted Kyle by catching two paw-fulls of his cadet jumper, hoisting him off his feet to eye-level.

"Of course I don't lie!" She snarled, flews drawn back to show teeth. "You are taking her punishment, and in exchange, she is taking yours!"

The Selonian dropped the Nehantite to the ground.

"Now take your position at the controls, and prepare to administer Cadet Zepparah's punishment to her!"

[Onika Zepparah]

Onika froze, seriously reconsidering that whole running thing, but she feared Vissica's wrath even more than the fiendish torture device standing on the platform. But now she felt as if the planet were dropping out from under her.

"Wh-- I don't understand. Kyle's punishing me?"

[Baastian Cain]

Baastian's hand did not move from Onika's shoulder. He squeezed it subtly, almost a fatherly gesture.

"Kyle requested to take your punishment in addition to his," he said. "What he didn't realize was that your punishment was to watch him suffer on the regulator."

He lifted his eyes to meet Kyle's, a silent apology. He hadn't known, either.

"We talked about responsibility. Unfortunately, this one is yours."

[Halajiin Rabeak]

"This is nerfdren!" Hal snapped. His eyes blazed red once more, and he shook his head. "If her punishment was to watch me suffer on the regulator, and I'm taking that punishment, that means you need to mount a damn mirror on the ceiling, not have me inflict this hell on a teenage girl!"

Spinning to face Vissica. "You may not have lied, but you know you have twisted things to the point of mistruth, here!"

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

Vissica squared to Kyle, thumping her tail audibly against the ground.

"If you do not submit to your punishment, then I will administer the regulator to both of you myself."

[Onika Zepparah]

Onika didn't dare even to breathe as Kyle pled her case, as powerless as if she were watching a holofeed. But Vissica's tail pounded like a judge's gavel, and the matter was settled. The Empire won. The Empire always won. Either one of them would suffer, or both would.

"Fine," she said, her voice as hard as Mandalorian iron, and she glared at Vissica as she stepped up to the regulator. Then, with a swallow, she turned and settled back against it, finding that it cradled her effectively even though it was built to accommodate beings much larger than herself. The restraints seemed to find her arms and legs by design. A single button press on the control panel would bind her there.

She used her last moments of freedom to turn her head back toward Hal, crimson eyes bright with fear. "Let's just get this over with. Please."

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Hal fumed with anger. He had been played, and not only that, he had been played in a way which would cause injury to someone he had stepped up to protect. Still, he had no choice, and he took his place at the controls, hesitating before pressing the button to bind Onika to the Table of Extreme Unpleasantness. In a flash, the restraints locked down, binding Onika firmly to the device, and Hal closed his eyes wishing he could be anywhere else.

As he opened them again, the table's probes slowly curled around on their articulating arms, as if some massive, twelve-legged spider were reaching out to grab Onika and hold her to its belly. Their chromed tips may as well have been scorpion stingers, for all the pain they would deliver, and the machine lowered them down into place. This was going to hurt.

...or not. Hal glanced between Baastian and Vissica for a last-moment reprieve, yet none was granted. "What setting should I use, and for how long?"

[Baastian Cain]

Baastian stood with arms clasped behind his back. His eyes drifted from Onika to the Nehantite at the controls.

"Use your discretion, cadet."

There was a warning in those words. And Vissica was positioned to see every move Hal made on the control panel.

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Hal's ears wilted at effectively being told to pick his own branch from the tree to get whipped with, and he looked down at Onika. There he hesitated, fingers on the dial.

The Dining Table of Doom had 36 different flavors of pain settings, each more intense than the last, and he had only seen it turned up to twelve before its subject passed out. That subject had been a large, square-headed hunk of manflesh, which was a far cry from the girl strapped down before him. Still, he had to pick something, and so he sighed before gently easing the dial up, hearing it click with each step, until he settled on six. Six seemed like it would be painful enough, without being overkill for the reason of punishment.

[Onika Zepparah]

One... two... three... four... five... six. Each click sounded like a hammer blow in Onika's throbbing auricle domes. Her fingers curled into her palms, hands bound too tightly to tremble. She tried to think of the lessons she had learned in this room, how to be brave in the face of agony.

But instead she found herself thinking of Kona. Of her friends. Even of her mother. She heard their voices, telling her to be strong. She would. She would try.

Oh gods...

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

Vissica inspected the setting on the device, glanced from Onika to Kyle, and nodded.

"Proceed."

[Halajiin Rabeak]

His furred finger hovering over the switch to activate the machine, Hal looked Onika in the eyes, an apology written upon his face. But he could not seem to focus there long, instead allowing his gaze to look over the Credenza of Calamity, and its twelve Arms of Agony, before nodding and flicking the switch.

[Onika Zepparah]

Onika felt the switch snap, like a shock that went all the way through her spine and down to her toes, making her flinch in her restraints. A low, malevolent buzzing, like the drone of a thousand viper wasps, rose up all around her, and the twelve probe arms surged with a baleful green glow. She felt them pulling at the fabric of her jumpsuit, making her skin prickle over with gooseflesh. Any moment the pain would begin... any moment...

Any... moment.

Her chest shuddered with shallow, panicked breaths, and she stared down at the clutching arms as they drilled into her body. Green glow...

Each probe was wrapped in a thin cocoon of green light, shimmering against the neuroelectric wrath of the Regulator, but holding them at bay, millimeters from making contact with her body. The pull she felt on her clothes was the same force that held them up. But if she could see it, then surely the Knights...

Her wide eyes flickered toward Baastian, who stood like a statue, watching in stony complacence. Then to Vissica, who stood with her flews pulled back, vigilant, but satisfied. And then to Kyle, who stared at her with what might have been impotent rage, or perhaps... intense concentration.

She understood. Her mouth fell open, letting her gasping breath be heard. Then a strangled sob, like the first breach in a crumbling dam. Then she twisted herself back and forth against the bonds, tears bursting from her eyes, fingernails digging at her palms until they bled, and she screamed herself hoarse until at last she heard the switch again, and the machine went silent. Then she collapsed, utterly spent, heaving with ragged breaths, unfocused eyes wandering the ceiling.

She only hoped she'd given a passing performance.

[Baastian Cain]

As soon as the machine spooled down, Baastian moved to the girl's side and pulled the probe arms away. He swiftly tugged the glove off his right hand and pressed his fingers to the side of her neck. He waited the space of a few breaths, counting.

"Pulse is steady," he said. "Breathing strong. Onika, can you hear me?"

He was rewarded with a glimpse of her hazy, crimson eyes. He let out a long sigh and straightened up.

"I think we're finished here," he said, and he looked to Vissica. "Don't you?"

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

The Selonian nodded in response to Baastian's question.

"Release her bonds."

She moved to the side of the device, standing over Onika.

"Cadet Zepparah, you are released. If you can walk, return to your quarters."

Vissica turned her attention to Kyle.

"Cadet Rayner, do you find your punishment fitting?"

[Halajiin Rabeak]

If ever Hal was grateful for acting, it was there, on the Desk of Ill Omen, as Onika played out a near-perfect replica of what they had witnessed in class some time ago. Watching as Onika continued to sell the performance with a shaky stand, he hung his head before finally glancing up to Vissica.

"I took no pleasure in it, if that's what your'e asking," he replied.

[Onika Zepparah]

Onika slid off the angled table and nearly collapsed as her knees folded under her. She caught herself with one hand on the edge of the machine and felt a strong hand under her other elbow.

"I'm fine," she snapped at Baastian, with a little more venom than she should've been allowed. But he stepped away respectfully, and she straightened herself and turned to face Hal. She said nothing. Just stared him in the eye. Let them interpret it how they wanted to.

Then she made for the door with cautious steps and disappeared into the corridor.

[Baastian Cain]

Baastian waited until the door had slid shut behind her, allowing Onika the dignity of a private retreat. Then he turned back to Hal.

"I know you would have taken her place in a heartbeat," he said. "Discipline is to supposed to be hard. But it serves a purpose. She'll see that in time. And I'm sure you'll have the opportunity to earn back her trust."

[Halajiin Rabeak]

"You seriously think she'll trust anyone here after that?" Hal sneered. He didn't know if his turn on the Motel Bed of Average Comfort was next, but by that point he didn't care. The Knights could be a force for good, if only they could get their heads out of their collective asses and realize true strength doesn't come from discipline.

"I'll be lucky if she so much as looks at me again. Did you forget we may someday need to rely on each other in the field as Knights?" He stared at the pair of Knights in disbelief, then shook his head. "Am I supposed to hop up here and take my turn next, or are we done here?"

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

"One thing is clear," Vissica said, scratching her chin fur, "You do have more to offer the Empire than to simply serve as a cadet. I will petition the Knight General to raise you to the rank of Knight."

From her tone, it was clear that the idea of a promotion wasn't necessarily cause to celebrate.

"You have tasted responsibility, and how bitter it turns when you betray it. Remember, because the consequences for you will be worse from now on."

[Baastian Cain]

Baastian couldn't disguise his surprise at Vissica's pronouncement. But not because he disagreed.

"I'd support that petition," he said. "Kyle, you have skills and experience that we need in the field. You've grown a lot since we took you in. And the cadets need to see that kind of growth is rewarded. I would be honored to serve the Empire alongside you."

He offered Hal his bare hand for a shake across the control panel.

[Halajiin Rabeak]

"What?" the word fell out of Hal's lips like one grape in a mouthful too many. Eyes of heavy skepticism traveled back and forth between the pair, and he did not move to take Baastian's hand.

"You have me inflict incalculable pain on a girl, through a trick of your own invention, then offer me a promotion because of it?" He asked. "Is this some kind of joke?"

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

"The pain inflicted on Cadet Zepparah would never have happened if you matched the talent you possess with the responsibility it requires."

Vissica was particularly unmoved by the Nehantite's outrage, regarding him with a cool expression.

"Now you have the responsiblity, and the accountability. If you fail, you will not only fail yourself, but you will fail those who look up to you and follow you. Tread carefully, Kyle Rayner."

[Baastian Cain]

"You said you wanted to show us what you could do," Baastian said. "You're going to get that chance, whether you like it or not."

He leaned forward over the control panel. Seized by a vice grip, Hal's paw suddenly leapt into his open hand, and he clasped it there with his other, squeezing hard.

"And all eyes will be on you, Cadet. You can take that to the bank."

He released Hal and turned for the exit, waving the troopers to return to their posts.

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Hal watched him go, resisting the urge to squeeze and flex his paw to alleviate the painful tingling left in it by Baastian's crushing grip.

All eyes will be on me. His higher reasoning scoffed. As if they weren't already. I've been watched every moment I've been here, and you lot ain't got shit on me, and you know it. I'll play your game, Blondie. And what's more, I'll beat you at it. Imperial Knight Kyle Rayner has a nice ring to it. Almost as nice as the ring in the bowl of my 'fresher.

A glance back at the Platform of Living Hell, and the Nehantite shook his head. If it were this easy to become a Knight, how much harder would it be to corrupt things from within? He'd already made a dent in the indoctrination of several cadets, so perhaps being promoted could grant him further ability to sow seeds of curiosity and questions which the Empire would prefer its little pawns not to ask. Garfife knew that Onika was already asking them, at least to herself.

It was settled, then. Hal would play along, acting the man that the Empire thought they had made him, while continuing to twist the rules just beneath the surface of it all. He needed a few more weeks, at minimum, before his escape plan would be ready. He only prayed that his actions would secure Onika's compliance in it, or at least her silence, should she suspect.

---

The following week proceeded as Hal imagined it would. Classes continued their schedule, training and exercise were observed, and meals followed their clockwork timing. But all was not the same.

The rumors which had circulated that Hal was in fact an undercover Knight, meant to spy on the cadets, became louder, as many joked that he was so obvious that clearly the Empire had to fake a Knighting ceremony just to pull him out of his "cover." It was a rumor Hal had done nothing to counter, and he inwardly enjoyed the many conspiracy theories he'd overheard about himself. What he did not enjoy, however, was the cold, bitter looks he received from Onika each time they crossed paths, though those looks were brief as she avoided him as much as possible. He couldn't blame her, really, even if it had been an act, there were elements of his deception which she might have taken to be true, so he respected her privacy, and refrained from attempting to socialize with her.

Until one evening, ten days after it had all gone down, Hal couldn't stand it anymore. He had to speak to her. He had to know, and the perfect opportunity opened before him.

Off of the library's south end jutted a small balcony, a former stim-smoker's hangout, back in his day, and one of the few places in the Citadel which wasn't bugged - he knew, having studied it intensely - and there he spotted her, standing alone, likely just getting some air. His booted footpaws clipped along the low-pile carpet, until he reached the door, where he paused, then opened it slowly before taking a breath and walking out to lean on the railing.

"I'd say it's a lovely night, but you and I both know it was engineered to be this way," he said, not looking at Onika, but out to the cityscape beyond.

His head lowered, eyes closing, as it wasn't the view he had come for, but the company. "Please, don't go," he asked, feeling Onika ready to pull away. "I... I wanted to apologize. I was wrong to let you follow me. I was wrong to put you in danger. And I was wrong to mislead you like I did. Can you forgive me?"