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Author's Notes:

Tails of the Old Republic is a crossover between the Sonic the Hedgehog universe and the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic video game.

Sonic and all related IP belongs to SEGA/ Sonic Team
SW: KotOR and all related IP belongs to Disney/ Lucas Arts/ Bioware Corp
No copyright or trademark infringement intended.

Series rated "Web-14" for violence, mild language, and suggestive themes.

Tails of the Old Republic

Chapter 044Upper City Taris — Reprimands

Damn him.

Tails thought he had been in control. Bendak was on his knees, helpless, and entirely at the boy’s mercy. But, then the man showed him how wrong he was — how little control he actually had. The boy thought he had beaten him at his own game. Tails had defeated him in single combat, weathering the man’s assault of heavy blasters, vibroblades, plasma grenades, sonic grenades, and even a Jedi-forsaken lightsaber, all the while chipping away at his defenses and wearing him down until the boy could deliver the knockdown blow. It had all worked perfectly, in spite of the injuries the boy had taken. Tails beat him, and the police arrived to arrest the man and everything!

Then Bendak still got the last laugh.

Now, in one of the beds of their party’s apartment hideout, Tails lay in a quivering ball, curled up tight enough to shut out the rest of the world, his twin tails wrapped up so tightly around him it hurt. He had stripped down to everything but the sock-like inner liners of his shoes and gloves, and stored away his clothes and his armor.

He was still dirty, his body ached from battle, and his ears were still mostly deafened from those accursed sonic grenades, but at least they had stopped bleeding, as had his tear ducts and nostrils. Nearly two dozen blaster scorches and lightsaber stripes were shared between the boy’s tails, his fur and skin charred from contact, but there wasn’t any lasting damaged — he hoped. Though the lightsaber failed to penetrate his armor on that first swing, there was still a singed stripe from his shoulder to his thigh were the blade arc had passed. Two of his teeth had been literally punched out of his face, and three more were loose in the boy’s jaw, but they would regenerate on their own — in time. A few days to re-set the loose teeth, eight to ten weeks to re-grow the missing ones.

When Carth, Bastila, Mission, and Zaalbar returned to the hideout around midnight, Tails failed to notice them come in. He was nearly asleep, his hearing was still shot, and even when the lights switched on, the boy was so tightly wrapped up his eyes never saw any difference. It wasn’t until someone touched him that he jolted awake and scampered right off the bed.

Tails groaned wearily as fresh pain danced throughout his body. Sheepishly, the face of Mission appeared over his head, and the girl offered her hand. Sighing, Tails accepted the lift. He saw that Mission was talking, but the boy didn’t catch her lip movements, and her voice sounded so quiet and muffled, like she was speaking through a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

When he was sitting up on the edge of the bed again, Tails pointed to his ears and said, “I can’t hear what you’re saying. Sonic grenades — they blew my ears out.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the girl said — Tails reading her lip movements this time.

Completely unexpectedly, Mission pulled him in for a hug. Tails squeaked as Mission hooked her arms under his armpits and clasped her hands behind his head and neck. Despite his sudden shock and embarrassment, the boy had to admit he desperately needed a hug right then. He found himself settling into the Twi’lek girl’s warm embrace, and he hugged her back tightly. He found the sensations from her heartbeat and breathing incredibly soothing.

Tails just tried to ignore the fact his nose was stuck right in the center of her chest.

The boy could feel Mission’s skin vibrating, and he figured she was talking with one of the others. Tails almost fell asleep mid-hug when Mission released him and, clearing the fog from his eyes, the boy saw Bastila standing next to them. He missed the first few words of whatever she was saying, but he read the words ‘hearing’ and ‘healing’. Tails blinked and his ears perked up — could the Jedi woman restore his ears and hearing? She had helped heal his leg before getting treated at Zelka’s, he remembered.

Mission stood off to the side, and Bastila took her place. Gently, the woman place her hands around both the fox’s ears, and the boy sighed and closed his eyes as her hands glowed with a bluish-white aura. He could feel her energy flow into and around his head, and Tails noted how similar it felt to the regeneration fields he was exposed to at Zelka’s clinic — and at the same time, how much different, too. And like at the clinic, the boy lost all track of time as Bastila used her Force powers on him. Eventually, Tails felt her move her hands away from his ears, and she clasped four of her fingers over the top of his muzzle, four just under his eyes, and her thumbs under his chin. The energy flowing from her didn’t stop, however, and Tails squinted a bit as the bluish aura leaked under his eyelids.

Then, as abruptly as it began, Bastila was done. “I did the best I could,” she said.

Tails’ eyes snapped open. “Hey, I heard that!”

Tails noticed everyone’s voices still sounded muffled like they had potatoes stuffed in their mouths, but at least he could hear again! His head wasn’t throbbing quite so badly now, and it felt like his nostrils and sinuses had cleared up a bit. And, after running his tongue over his teeth, he noticed the three loose ones weren’t loose anymore! The two missing teeth were still gone, sadly.

“Thank you,” the boy said. He then noticed everyone staring at him, Carth’s hard glare especially, and he sighed. “I guess this is butt-chewing time, then?”

Everyone looked at Carth Onasi, who, despite having a fairly calm look on his face, appeared like a bottle rocket ready to explode.

The man crossed his arms and inhaled, but instead of launching into a tirade, he said, “Why don’t you tell us exactly what happened today? You know, from your perspective. I’d certainly like to know why you seem so damn eager to blow our cover at every opportunity.”

Tails slumped, and he stared at the floor. “I just wanted to bring Bendak to justice,” the boy said. “I never intended to kill him! You must have seen those police officers — I just wanted to beat Bendak so he could be arrested.” He shook his head, then added, “I never suspected he might have a bomb in his armor — or that he would even use it.”

“So,” said Carth, “You would call obscene levels of attention to yourself, risk the security of our mission to escape this planet unnoticed, jeopardize your own life and limb and thereby making our escape harder if you were maimed or killed, all to get one man arrested for his past crimes?”

Tails balled his hands into fists, and looked back up at Carth. “I’m sorry, Carth. I really am. Bendak met me in the cantina after I had defeated Twitch, and when he told me about his death matches, I got madder than I had ever felt in a long time. When Zax finished the story, in our first day in the Lower City, about how Bendak continued to fight and kill people… I just lost my head. He was still a threat to people, and I had to stop him. But, to actually answer your question… yes. I would.

Carth groaned and facepalmed. “Damn it, boy.”

“In spite of the risks you took,” Bastila said suddenly, causing everyone to look at her, “I commend you in the sense that you did not use your death match to actually cause more death — at least, not intentionally. As I watched your duel on the monitors, I felt the light and dark sides of the Force battle within you, but the light always shone through. You used an amazing amount of restraint in your fight with Starkiller, even when it put you at the disadvantage.

“Bastila, please don’t encourage him,” said Carth. “His behaviors are exasperating enough as it is.”

“So you’ve informed me,” she replied. Turning back to Tails, Bastila continued, “Keep in mind, Miles Prower, that the path to the dark side is paved with good intentions. Though your intentions in dueling Bendak may have been honorable, you also witnessed the gory aftermath. Take this as an object lesson. You may have only intended to have Bendak arrested, but the fact remains that you still killed him — however indirectly. You must always be mindful of the unforeseen consequences of your actions.”

Tails wilted and whimpered.

“Tails, in the short amount of time I’ve gotten to know you, you’ve proven to be one of the most morally upstanding and self-sacrificing people I know,” said Carth, continuing his own tangent. “From what I’ve seen, you genuinely want to help everyone you can and see that justice is done. But, we have a small problem. You become so focused on what’s directly in front of you that you repeatedly lose sight of the larger picture. Between that, your complete lack of discipline, and reckless insubordination, I am seriously considering getting you drummed out of service the moment we’re off this rock. I honestly don’t know how you made it through basic without your drill instructors clubbing you to death in the first place.

“This is your last chance. No more excuses, no more ‘head injury’, no more pursuing your own agendas without my explicit authorization — or Bastila’s. You’re a soldier, you swore the same oath I did, and if you can’t handle it, tough. Shape up, get your act together, and actually behave like a soldier for once. Extraordinary talents and technical skills will only buy you so much leniency; if you’re so disruptive, disorganized, and undisciplined you jeopardize every mission you’re on, then the Republic can’t use you.”

The Mobian crumpled under the weight of Carth’s tirade. The man never raised his voice, but his stern tone hammered him relentlessly. His eyes watered, and he struggled not to break down completely — there was just so much the boy didn’t understand. Tails had never been in a military before. He still didn’t know how or why he was even in this situation, so far from home and his life as a Freedom Fighter. Nothing made any sense, but for nearly two weeks, the boy had been trying so desperately hard to adapt to his new life on this alien world. If his missing memories didn’t manifest themselves soon, Tails was going to have no choice but to ask — and risk making a complete fool of himself.

“Mr. Onasi,” said Bastila, “that’s enough.”

Carth turned to face her. “What.”

Bastila gave the man look Tails couldn’t quite decipher. “Your criticisms of Mr. Prower’s behaviors are perfectly valid; however, please bear in mind he was specifically chosen for our mission. Anomalies aside, he was hand-picked as a specialist. He isn’t just a garden-variety grunt. Miles was a model cadet with a unique skill set, and he never had any disciplinary marks against him. If he has suffered severe head trauma since the Endar Spire’s destruction, then these behavioral anomalies of his need to be dealt with properly, without resorting to court-martials and dishonorable discharges.”

The Republic officer glanced at Tails, then grumbled under his breath, dragging his hands across his face.

“Fine. One baby step at a time,” he said. Marching towards the bathroom, he added, “I’m taking a shower.”

Tails sighed, and he felt all his strength draining out of him.

“And, on a different tangent, I was quite impressed with the combat abilities you displayed. In melee, you fought like a skilled practitioner of Ataru — with some differences — and even incorporated elements of Shii-Cho and Soresu into your fighting style.”

“Guhwuh?” sputtered Tails, confused. He looked up at Bastila, and said, “Ataru? Soresu? I’m sorry, but, I have no idea what those are.”

“Really?” said Bastila. “Those are Jedi combat forms. More accurately, lightsaber combat forms. Which I found especially surprising, since you obviously don’t have one — but those tails of yours sure worked in a pinch. You’ve never been trained in the ways of the Jedi?”

The boy just shook his head.

“Wait, wait,” said Mission. She had kept her tongue bitten while both Carth and Bastila were both busy scolding the fox boy, but now her curiosity got the better of her. She looked at Tails, then at Bastila and said, “We all saw his powers back at the Bek base, but now you’re saying Tails fights like a Jedi, without actually being a Jedi?”

“As we all saw in the dueling ring, anyone can pick up a lightsaber and swing it in the hope of hitting something,” said Bastila. “Bendak might have had some practice with it, but generally such novice attempts are clumsy and more dangerous to the wielder than the prospective target. Years of training in specialized combat forms are needed to actually use one effectively…,” Bastila raised one eyebrow at Tails, “…or perhaps not. Your ability to wield your tails like living blades, Miles, is nothing but extraordinary. And, whether you realize it or not, your proficiency with the Ataru form is astounding.”

Tails was too physically and emotionally exhausted to really know what to think or feel right then. But, the more academically-minded portion of his brain was certainly piqued, and he said, “I still don’t know what ‘Ataru’ or any of those other terms mean. Like I’ve said before, this is simply just how I’ve been fighting all my life. Could you explain a bit?”

Bastila sighed. “There are seven lightsaber forms recognized as ‘canon’ by the Jedi Order, though there are variants of each. I’ll give you a brief rundown.

“Form One, Shii-Cho, was the very first lightsaber form developed, many millennia ago, back when the lightsaber hilt was hooked up to external backpack batteries! Slugthrowers were still common, laser weapons were rare, and blasters nonexistent. The form arose from older longsword fencing techniques, and it excelled at fighting off multiple opponents. The form is raw and unrefined, and weaker against strong duelists, but it’s the basis of all later combat forms. The wide, sweeping slashes you employed against Bendak while targeting the weak points of his armor exemplify this style. Especially how you destroyed his repeater rifle and his stolen lightsaber with the ‘disarming slash’.

“Form Two, Makashi, is a specialized dueling form that arose as lightsabers developed and dark-siders started battling their Jedi brethren. It still holds relevance today, but the form is weak against blasters.

“Form Three, Soresu, arose as blaster weapons proliferated while dark-sided duelists went into decline. Despite its cadences being based on Makashi, Soresu is an almost purely defensive form that sacrifices offensive power for near-total protection. It facilitates survival rather than victory, so it takes a master of great skill and experience to actually defeat your enemy with this form. The way you used your vibroblade to ward off Bendak’s blaster fire incorporated Soresu techniques.

“Form Four, Ataru, is the most acrobatic of all lightsaber forms. It was developed to answer the criticisms against Soresu, and it’s a tightly focused, aggressive style. Its practitioners call upon the Force to magnify their strength, speed, and endurance in battle. The form relies on the ability to run, jump, and spin using the Force, to appear as a blur to your opponents and cut through their defenses. It can be thought of as the ultimate refinement of Shii-Cho, and is very effective against single opponents.

“With Ataru, your entire body is the weapon, which is why I think you represented this form so well — with your athletic physique, specialized Force powers, and your tail-blades as your main offense and defense, you and Ataru go very well together. It’s a very taxing and exhausting form, however, which limits its popularity amongst Jedi, and it’s less effective against multiple opponents or blaster fire. Both Revan and Malak held particular distain for Form Four and its ‘unnecessary’ acrobatics, though not all Jedi hold that opinion, of course.”

“Huh,” said Tails, as he tried to soak all this in. This ‘Ataru’ combat style certainly sounded familiar — it practically defined every way Sonic and Tails had fought through Robotnik’s machine armies: running, jumping, and spinning all the way! And, it was incredibly taxing to fight like that. The Blue Blur could spin-dash through robots all day long, but the orange fox boy certainly couldn’t. In prolonged combat, Tails generally went for a subtler approach while Sonic went along and smashed everything in sight. One of the principle reasons he upgraded his body with his cybernetic implants and bio-augmentations was so he could keep up with Sonic longer without dropping dead from sheer exhaustion, but, even they failed to truly close the gap between them.

The boy noticed the lightsaber on Bastila’s belt, and asked, “What form do you use?”

“Shien, the more defensive variant of Form Five. Like Ataru, it was developed as an answer to Soresu’s lack of offensive capabilities. It retains most of Soresu’s defensive techniques, including the ability to survive even swarms of blaster fire, but Shien doesn’t sacrifice offense — in fact, the form requires the user to counterattack and press one’s advantage whenever possible. This form isn’t as effective at dueling, however, which is why the more aggressive Djem-So variant was developed later. Djem-So can almost replace Makashi as the go-to dueling form, but it requires a much higher level of strength and stamina. A large and imposing man, Malak always preferred this form.”

“I see…,” said Tails. “And the last two?”

“Form Six, Niman, is the form that emphasizes moderation. It has no major advantages or disadvantages, and due to its more relaxed focus on bladework, it’s the form typically favored by ambassadors and diplomats. Jedi who specialize in this form are hardly incompetent with their lightsabers, and can still dispatch thugs and criminals with ease, but Niman is generally not recommended for the battlefield or for dueling.

“Form Seven, Juyo, is the most aggressive, ferocious, and chaotic of all lightsaber forms, and it is also the most physically and emotionally draining. Few Jedi are trained with it. This form sacrifices virtually everything for the sake of offense, and is practically Soresu’s mirror opposite. The animalistic drive it requires of its practitioners can easily lead to the dark side, and often has in the past. Jedi masters tend to be extremely reluctant to teach it. This…,” Bastila paused, “…Juyo was Revan’s preferred form.”

A deathly pall set about the room, and there was an awkward silence for about a minute. Tails gulped, and he remembered that brutally realistic nightmare from early this morning.

“Well, you’ve given me some things to think about and study,” said Tails, finally. He yawned, then said, “Right now, I just want to go to sleep.”

He looked around the room. “Well, at least there are four beds this time, even if they are smaller,” said Tails. “Someone will still have to…,”

He trailed off when he saw Mission’s face. The pleading grin plastered on her was too much. “I… uh… I could sleep, er, be with you — i-if you want,” she said nervously. “You look like you could use another hug, at the very least.”

Tails groaned. ‘Why me?’ he thought.

“Whatever. Just get in.”

Since Tails was already sitting on the edge of the bed, he just rolled over until he was laying on the opposite side, facing away from her.

“Um, Tails,” said Mission, “If it’s a problem, I can sleep somewhere else.”

The boy sighed. “Just lay down, Mission.”

He swore he could hear her squeak. There were some shuffling noises as the girl stripped off her body armor and day clothes, down to her socks, thigh-length boxer briefs, and a form-fitting tank top that still kept her decent. After climbing onto the mattress, Mission paused.

“Hey, there’s no sheets or blanket!”

“You’re noticing this now?” the boy mumbled, already half-asleep. “It’s a dump. Be glad there’s no stains on the mattress.”

Mission harrumphed, then hesitated.

“Um…”

“Whaaaaat?” the boy whined.

“Can I borrow one of your tails?”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake!”

Groggily, Tails sat back up. Keeping his back to her, he stretched out his arms and said, “Here, I already know what you want — I’ll be your pillow and blanket tonight. Put your arms under mine, and I give you permission to cuddle me.”

The blue Twi’lek girl’s face turned a bright magenta, as did the upper portions of her lekku tendrils, and Tails could swear his back was going to catch fire from all the heat she was radiating. But, still, Mission did as Tails suggested, and she hooked her arms under his armpits and clasped her hands around the boy’s chest. Then the fox started wrapping his tails around them both, forming a warm and airy sleeping bag around their bodies. The scorched scarring from his battle hurt, and Tails hissed a little, but when he was finished he plonked back down into the bed, carrying Mission with him.

‘Maybe I need her here more than I think,’ the boy thought with a sigh. ‘I don’t want to be left alone right now.’

“Comfy?” he asked.

Mission inhaled and clutched him tighter, then squeaked out, “Very.”

“Good,” the boy mumbled. “No feeling me up in the night, or I’m kicking you off the bed.”

“ACK!”

Bastila wrinkled her nose at the pair, unsure what to think of two teenagers occupying the same single-sized bed. She wasn’t going to voice her objections just yet, so long as they behaved, but she would make sure there no funny business between them.

The sun’s first morning rays were filtering through the window when Mission awoke. She stretched and yawned, shifting to a more comfortable position and snuggling tighter against the Mobian fox. He was so warm, and despite all his fur and fluff, he radiated heat like a blast furnace, and the Twi’lek wanted to soak up as much of his warmth as she could. The boy’s tail-made ‘sleeping bag’ had unraveled some in the night, exposing them both to the chilly, unheated apartment air, and Mission adjusted the fox’s tail fluff to cover herself up again.

Mission had wanted to punch him for making his last comment, but the boy was out like a light literally two seconds later, and she couldn’t bring herself to wake him up again. The pair had moved very little in the night, with both of them still laying on their sides almost exactly as they had fallen asleep. Mission still had her chin resting over the top of Tails’ head, still had her arms clasped tightly over his chest and stomach, the front of her body pressed into his back, and her legs wrapped around the boy’s butt and thighs, his tails spiraling around them both.

She didn’t want to admit it to anybody, least of all herself, but she could really get used to sleeping like this.

The girl had to ponder some of the things Carth and Bastila had said. Was this boy really a soldier for the Republic? Mission had some vague memory of Tails saying he was the same age as her. Since when did the Republic accept fourteen year olds into its armed forces? Sure, it might be desperate for skilled troops after being ravaged by the Mandalorians and then the Sith right after, but weren’t there, like, restrictions on hiring child soldiers? Child-snatching was more the Jedi’s reputation, as far as she was aware. Then again, Mission had never met any of Tails’ species before. She couldn’t remember if he had mentioned his homeworld or his species’ name. Tails could be legally an adult, for all she knew.

The thought of it made her cheeks blush.

An adult or not, cuddled up against him like this, is was hard to miss how small he was compared to her. He was nearly half a meter shorter in comparison, and despite how delightfully well-cut Tails’ muscles were, the short and slender boy was at least twenty kilos lighter. Asleep as he currently was, completely relaxed and oblivious to the world around him, Mission noted how frail and vulnerable he felt to her. The scars on his body told her of a lifetime of battle and hardship, the most recent from being torn up by the rakghouls and the rancor, and scorched by Bendak’s weapons.

She still couldn’t believe the man had a Jedi’s lightsaber, of all things, or that the fuzzy fox didn’t get his tails hacked off by it!

Bastila was right about one thing: Tails had fought amazingly well in that duel. Mission didn’t know a ‘taru’ from a ‘she-cho’ or a sore ‘resu’, but the boy’s acrobatics in the ring were a sight to behold, and those whip-like tail blades were a blur on the cantina’s monitors! The girl sighed as she regretting scolding Tails in the cantina. Granted, she believed he was going to kill Bendak as everyone else thought, and the boy had been awfully mum on his true intentions, but she didn’t need to add to his anxiety like that.

She guessed it didn’t matter anyway, though, seeing as how Bendak blew himself up to prevent his capture. Mission wondered how Tails really felt about that. Killing the man didn’t seem like it was something Tails was particularly proud of.

The boy twitched in his sleep, then shifted into a slightly different position. He mumbled, but it wasn’t in any language she could understand, and the girl wondered if it was his native tongue. It certainly sounded alien. Mission wiggled to try and get a better look at his face, and partly succeeded despite his tails tangling her up.

She tried not to squee.

Tails was the living embodiment of adorableness, halfway curled up as he was, and while his muscles and his scars made him more rugged-looking than some generically cute critter, it wasn’t hard for the girl to imagine him being someone’s pet. No, she wasn’t the least bit attracted to him. At all. Whatsoever. Why would anyone think that?

Mission sighed, and the blue Twi’lek felt herself slipping back to sleep. It wouldn’t last, not with the sun coming up, but even a few minutes longer snuggled with her fuzzy fox boy would be worth it.