Moving on and settling in

Niko figured his days were numbered. Heck, his minutes. He'd never considered himself a sympathizer of any kind. Why had he stepped in like that then? Before he could think of an answer, Inna's head popped into his mind. He'd known her a while, seen her around, and had never really felt much for her. Sure, she was attractive and Twi'lek's had a certain sensuality about them. Did he actually have feelings for her? He was lost in the memory of their single kiss when his door opened and Abalam came in.

"Well, let yourself in why don't you? I could have been indecent?" Niko said with a grin.

Abalam didn't speak, just produced a vibro-baton and whacked him with it. The force alone hurt but he had the shock setting set high on this one and his body coursed with agony. "Lucky for you, we've been ordered to Cerea for reasons I won't honor you with hearing. That's lucky for you only because I'll be too busy to see to torturing you personally and I'm sick of smelling you already. As chance would have it, we'll pass near Balis-Baurgh and there's a wonderful, orbiting retreat there. Being that the facility is overseen by mostly droids, no human will have to endure your filth. But I do know the warden and he's agreed to make your stay as uncomfortable as possible."

"I'm disappointed I won't be able to see to your torture and execution personally, but duty calls. That doesn't mean though I'll be leaving empty handed..."

Without another word, Abalam struck him again, harder this time. He produced a regular knife and sliced off one of Niko's ears. Even wracked with pain already, this was excruciating. Niko could only whimper in pain at this point. Time escaped him. He was in too much pain to do anything but lay there. So much so, he even soiled himself, unable to move.

The troopers who came into his cell rebuked and insulted him, kicked him in the ribs and dragged him around roughly, not caring that he banged into things. He was hosed down, set on a cart meant for cargo, handcuffed, and set on a platform. "Enjoy your stay!" he could only hear Abalam shout as the transport left him on some sort of platform. Then he felt droid arms take hold of him.

"If you resist me, you're likely to endure pain up to limb sprains, dislocation, or dismemberment. I suggest you do not," the droids voice recorder stated - part of his programming. Niko had worked on a few of these units over the years, seeing them as laborers. If he'd been fit, he might have been able to do something, anything, but not now.

He was placed in a cell and a holographic image displayed before him of an imperial officer. "I am Warden Nuoctan. Your stay here will likely be brief. Many inmates kill themselves, are killed by other inmates in the limited interactions you have with each other, or are sold off to labor camps. You," and a voice not the warden's repeated his name, "have been selected to remain here until your death, a time not to exceed "5" years (again, the filtered in voice stated). If you remain alive till then, you are to be executed. Special considerations have been requested to keep you alive until that point."

Great, Niko thought, he gets a holograph and not a person, and only a prerecorded message with inserts for the individual. And, Abalam had seen fit to keep him here - alive - until he could be executed. He had no chance of escape if sold offsite or transferred. Even if he tried to kill himself, they'd stop him and fix him up. Great...

Five years of waiting for death....

~ ~ ~

Lana was moved back to the Imperial ship and given the sort of medical care and attention usually reserved for officers of a rank much higher than her own. She would recover, but it would take several days. She had severe damage to one shoulder, the medical droids would need time to restitch knew skin, muscles and tendons.

The staff was considerate but clearly surprised every time she had a new one come in, read her chart, see her rank, and he surprised she was in a private room. Lana overheard one nurse grumble about it but within minutes, the head nurse was there, berating her for it, and informed her that she would be getting transferred to a different ship. It sounded like a severe demotion.

The drugs they gave her helped tremendously and she slipped in and out of consciousness, dreaming sweetly. She felt like, on several occasions, someone was sitting by her bed keeping watch on her. Finally, she was able to catch her caregiver and was surprised to see it was Commander Luando.

"Commander," she said trying to sit up and salute, forgetting that it was her primary arm and in turn hand, which was immobilized while the stitching droids mended her wound. Trying to do so hurt. Before she could speak, Commander Luando did first.

"It's okay, captain," Luando said, but this time the word had a certain gentleness to it she'd never heard from her before, "you need to relax. I've seen that you get the best care available on this ship. They'll have you up and taking down rebels again in no time."

Lana was stunned that Luando actually placed her hand on Lana's arm and gave it a bit of a squeeze.

To be continued...