Alater darted a hand out and quickly caught Saphira as she fell. For some reason he'd always expected her, around every corner, as she made a habbit of running straight into him. She started to say something before her lekku twitched and she looked up to see that the hard hand wrapped around her wrist was covered in midnight black scales and the long white scars that covered the arms and bare torso attached to the large black lizard standing infront of her.

"Alater, I," She studdered, "Watch where you're going you big lizard!" With a vicious twist she recovered herself and came lose of his grasp. She followed the motion up with a friend punch to the chest that would have sent most men realling.

"Ha!" Alater chuckled with a booming voice that would have attracted attention from all around had the corridors not been almost completely empty of life. "If you were wondering, you've been transfered to Blackjack squad." He said, enjoying the look of astonishment on her face. Slowly he reached out with a claw and stroked one of her lekku. She grabbed his wrist and held it there, toothy grin matching unblinking stare.

"Very well." Alater said, suddenly leaning forward a little bit, and chuckling as she jumped back. A scowl crawled across her face as she realized the trick and she crossed her arms under her breasts in a very displeased manner.

"Our barracks are that way." Alater said, pointing off down a corridor marked Section-C. Instead of walking down the hall he instead started to head down a hall that lead towards the surface and a small residential complex.

"Where are you going ya big lizard?!" Saph cried as she jogged after him, suprised to find herself running towards him rather than away.

"Due to some, special activities, I have aquired a nice appartment of my own that is not on barracks." He said, continuing to walk towards the surface.

"Well, I'm coming to." Saph responded, falling into step with him. Her lekku twitched as she looked up at the big black trooper. He seemed different somehow, more fluid and less bruitish.

"I have a surprise for you." Alater stated simply as they passed through the last door and blinked at the switch from artificial lights to real sunlight.

"You are my personal life." Was his response, without breaking a stride. Saphira almost stuttered as she tried to keep up with him, his words catching her off guard.

"Still, there's no way a sergeant in the Corps could afford to have his own personal appartment, let alone furnish it." She said, switching the topic with tact only time and practice could perfect amongst women.

"You can dig all you want, you're not going to find anything. Everything I own is mine because I earned it, all in the service of the Empire." Alater grumbled as they approached the appartment complex.

The buildings were tall and uniform as almost all buildings were in militarized zones. Mostly serving to special personelle and officers the appartments were seperated in an almost indistinguishable code that could tell you who was in what part of the building, and almost down to their exact room. Alater used a passkey to open the door and then again as they entered the turbolift.

Saphira eye Alater as they rode up the elevator. He was obviously tense, but there was something else, something different, but she couldn't quite place her mind on it. As the turbolift opened she realized what it was: sleeves.

At the door Alater raised his hand over a section of wall and a retinal scanner appeared. Saphira's eyebrow raised as the scanned beeped and the door of the Barabel's appartment slid open.

"After you." Alater said, a slight pinch of sarcasm in his voice.

Alater ducked the blow easily, turning to lock the doors behind them. Another half blind strike swung out at him, but Alater's ultraviolet vision allowed him to move with impunity. This was his house, and he knew where everything was. With a cry and a small thump Saph tripped into a large pillow like cushion, one of many littering the main room.

Alater took off his shirt, revealing to himself the device that was implanted there on his left arm. It looked like some sort of large strange mutation, bonded as it was onto his skin and linked into the very base of his brain through the nervous system. With a push of one of the buttons on its console it sprung to life, light illuminating him, if ever so slightly.

"Alater?" Saphira asked, heading towards the light with real concern in her voice. She couldn't quite see him but she knew it was him that the light was coming from.

With a roar of pain Alater collapsed on the ground and one surge of bluish-white light flashed through the room before it dove into complete darkness again. The device had done its job and Saphira stood in the middle of the room, finding herself blind again. Alater stood up and walked to the door. There he turned on the lights and Saphira turned around.

"Who," She started to say before she say him fully. He stood the same height as Alater, almost the same in size, but he was human. Black hair was cropped short atop his head. Muscles rippled across his arms and torso, but these were not the tell-tale signs that she saw. It was instead the black lines all over his skin that looked like scales, and the feral yellow slits that were his eyes.

"Let's just call it a...bonus for a job I did for some people." Alater said, observing the changes in his own body. His stature and weight were about the same, but almost everything else about him was different.

"Some people?" Saphira asked, raising an eyebrow as she circled Alater, examing him.

"I work for the Empire, but that does not specifically narrow me down to working for the Corps." Alater responded, reaching out a hand to brush a lekku.

"So, is it real?" She said, running a hand down his arm.

"As far as I can tell, yes it is. It's painful enough it ought to be if it's not. I know the effects are more than temporary, it can actually be turned on and off at will, if you're willing to pay the price." He said, arm twitching a bit where her nails dug in a little bit.

"For you Saphira, for you. Everything I've done has been for you, in the long run." Alater rumbled, holder her tight. His large arms seemed to contain in inhuman amount of muscle, but he was very gentle. Saphira was no child by any means but he still had to be careful.

"Alater..." She muttered, looking down at her feet.

"Using this device gives me a large amount of pain, but it's nothing. Nothing compared to the lies we've had to tell ourselves, the half-truths we'e had to tell our friends. With this I can make you happy. Make you mine." He said, rolling up his sleeves as if to emphasize his point.