doodly-squat – OMG YES THE SLOW REALIZTION IS GOING TO BE SOOOOOOOOO FUN AND AMAZING and I'm actually kinda low key terrified I won't be able to pull it off D:
Killerkitty641 – I'm going to wrap this up with the end of the Honorable Ones, so we'll see how many chapters it takes more me to do this. And mostly that's because this story is about Kallus's character and how it is affected by the Lasat – a Lasat put him on this path, and another one will help redeem him. ❤ I've been trying to get this chapter done fast, but more concerned with making sure I convey the emotion and changes well. Hope the wait wasn't too bad!
Lynn Friedman-kinsey – I think EVERYONE was waiting for the Honorable Ones! Hope you like it!
XinterestingX – Ha, I know… I basically just write during my free hour and then boom, post. So it's basically what I can get done in that period of time. Hopefully this one will be a bit longer 😉
Dragunz – Dude, super awesome insight into bad guys. And yeah – the show seemed to have forgotten Kallus had a broken leg too XDDDD
storyteller2899 – maybe as a one shot?
Eirian Erisdar – DUDE the crushing-head quote is SCARY when you watch it again… like, from Kallus's point of view. AND HE LOOKS SO TERRIFIED. Like literally the most scared he's looked in the entire show. And knowing his background… the poor guy. I honestly feel so sorry for him every time I watch this episode.
And… I had him bleed out (a bit) in Fulcrum's Fate 😉 Yeaaaaaaaah, broken legs… people don't think broken bones are life threatening… THOUGH DUDE I swear I should have Eli's leg get broken in T&O just FOR YOU XDD Though I've got better torture for him in mind.
Lamker – probably next chapter I'll go "off show" and add some more conversations… because yeah… they need to realize they were both there. Like, in the same room.
Molly – Nooooooooooo, this will end at the end of the Honorable Ones. This fic wasn't about Kallus being a part of the Empire, then the Rebellion, but about Kallus's character and how it's affected by the Lasat. So once he is redeemed, the story is over XDDD But maybe if I find myself with more free time I might explore, even in a one shot, how I imagine Kallus joined the Rebellion.
In just the last minute, he'd gone through three different outlooks on what his fate would be. At first, Kallus had given himself up for dead – helpless at the mercy of a Lasat. Then with the Lasat's taunting, he'd tried to coax it into killing him. After all, staying alive in a hopeless situation long enough for the Lasat to kill him later was only delaying the inevitable.
Then, with his bo-rifle in sight, Kallus's hope had been rekindled… long enough to have his weapon taken from him again.
But by then, the hope of surviving had taken hold. He had to find a way to keep the Lasat from killing him… to lower its defenses. Either long enough so that Kallus could gain possession of his weapon again and kill it, or until the Empire showed up and killed it.
Either way, Kallus was convinced that if the Lasat didn't kill him when it had the chance, then his redemption was close at hand. It was like fate had changed the beast's nature. To give him this opportunity. He couldn't mess this up.
"It'll be night soon," Kallus said.
The Lasat crawled back out of the escape pod, an infuriating smile on its face, a generator in its hands. "Don't tell me you're afraid of the dark."
Kallus scowled. "It's not just going to get dark. It's going to get colder. Too cold for that to keep us warm."
"And here I thought Geonosis was a desert planet."
The idiot, Kallus thought to himself.
"That is Geonosis," Kallus said, pointing above them at the orange planet clearly visible outside of their cave. "We are on one of its moons."
Trying to scooch closer to the generator – and warmth – brought a stab of pain in his leg. Kallus let out a growl of pain, which he quickly subdued. He noticed the Lasat turn slightly in his direction. Probably just seeing how weak and helpless he really was.
"How is it that you have bested me, even once?" Kallus said, to remind it that he wasn't defeated yet.
"Don't get a sense of humor, Agent," the Lasat said as it crawled back into the escape pod. Kallus looked around once again, hoping there would be some other means he could use to defeat the Lasat. But nothing jumped out at him.
At least they had a heat source. Kallus reached his hands out, feeling them warm. It wasn't going to be enough. He didn't want to admit it, but there stood a good chance of him freezing to death before the Empire even arrived. And then what?
A gruesome thought crossed his mind – what if he froze to death… would the Lasat… eat him?
Before he could chase that thought, the Lasat was climbing back out of the escape pod… in its hand was -
"The transponder," Kallus said. "Probably damaged in the crash. If you could repair it, reactivate it's signal, maybe the Empire will find us, before we freeze."
And then… a roar rumbled through the cave.
Kallus felt his stomach sink. "Or worse."
And then, as though Kallus had something to do with it, the Lasat grabbed his bo-rifle… and pointed it at him.
"I'll take my chances with the cold," the Lasat grumbled. "And whatever we're sharing this hole with. I know what happens to Lasat in an Imperial prison."
And again, it prodded at Kallus with its bo-rifle. The throbbing pain in his leg was no match for the stab in his chest as his heart rate spiked again.
Calm it down, calm it down!
"You don't know much," Kallus stammered quickly. "Cooperate and you'll get a trail."
Kallus hoped Lasat couldn't tell if humans were lying, because even he knew there would be no such thing. He himself wouldn't give the Empire a chance to put the beast on trial. But if it meant calming the monster down…
"Right," the Lasat said with a sarcastic laugh, but at least with a unknown threat, it took its sights off Kallus. Unfortunately, it grabbed the generator. As though the light it emitted would be enough to reveal the source of the roar.
"You better decide, soon," Kallus said.
"What, between the Empire and whatever that is," the Lasat grumbled, scanning the cave again. "I'll go with neither."
Kallus scowled. "Sitting here and slowly freezing to death is not a better option."
"Who said it was?" the Lasat sat down next to the generator, its attention on the transponder. "Why just stop at fixing this thing? All I have to do is remove the encryption chip and anyone can pick up its signal."
Kallus scowled. Having the rebels capture him wasn't going to help him kill the Lasat. He had to say something – anything – to try and convince it there was no point to remove the encryption chip.
"I told you, your friends fled," Kallus said, even though he really had no way of knowing it. But that's how rebels worked, wasn't it?
"You don't know my friends," the Lasat said. "They're looking for me."
"Why would they do that?" Kallus asked. "It's only a matter of time before the Empire sends reinforcements."
"They wouldn't leave me behind," the Lasat said, adding sarcastically."Don't you have friends, Agent?"
Kallus turned away quickly. There was no way for the Lasat to know anything about him, to know that Kallus had spent years of his life going out of his way to be cold and distant, but the jab hit home all the same.
That is what friends do, Kallus thought bitterly. Risk their lives for one another. Not just lay there and watch them get murdered.
And then another, more self-deprecating thought struck him. Did you just lay there to protect yourself? So the Lasat would kill the more interesting targets before getting to you?
And just when he thought he couldn't hate himself more, the thought took hold.
The Lasat noticed.
"Didn't mean nothing by that," the Lasat said, but Kallus wouldn't turn around. Because that tone on its voice. It was almost like … an apology. And apology from a monster that murdered helpless humans…
Kallus winced, glad the Lasat couldn't see.
The quicker he could get off this ice moon, the better. He though being trapped with this monster would end in his death, but this… this was worse than he could have possibly imagined.
So went a bit off script from The Honorable Ones for this one… exploring a little bit why Zeb's interactions with Kallus went from cold-hearted one scene to a lot nicer the next. Because Zeb realizes Kallus is a sad, lonely guy. :C