"Order in the court!" 

"I repeat order in the court!"

My nails dig into the sides of my arms, piercing my uniform. The military court room in the Pia region of the SyStem can barely fit a thousand officers but today the court is teeming with Plutonians. 

One quick look around tells me there might be roughly more than double the capacity currently occupying the room. Plutonians squeeze into corners and line the walls, tiptoeing to see the procession while others pile onto the seats, packed together like cans of fish. 

Thankfully, I'm seated far in front, segregated from the rest by floor to ceiling laser reinforced barriers. Lucian is next to me and the judge sits on a slightly higher platform in front of us. General Lyra, Mondric and Aldric sit on the highest platform in the room, overseeing the rest of us as they play their roles as hosts. 

There's some scuffling from behind us and I can see one of the Plutonians holding up a large black and white banner with Lazarus's face plastered over it, the words innocent painted in blood red over his head. 

I never knew he held such support. He hasn't made an appearance in court yet but these past few cycles have shown me just how many officers are behind him, some borderline fanatical. The courtroom is piled up with officers today because he's scheduled to make an appearance in court, before Lucians statement. 

"Order in the court!" The judge calls out and his voice is amplified through the microphone fixed to his uniform. Two drones sit on either side of him, one to record the trial and the other acting as a scribe. The judge shifts uncomfortably between them.

The room quietens for only a second before someone calls out that Lazarus should be released. Someone else exclaims that this entire trial is blasphemy and I catch Lucian snorting from my side. At least one of us finds this funny. 

"To the soldiers in the back, you will be removed from this room if you do not act accordingly." General Aldric warns the officers through his mic and the chatter dies down. 

"As I was summarising, in the trial of General Grievous and Precursor General Lazarus versus the prosecution, we hereby start today's trial with a statement from a personal assistant who has worked with General Grievous previously." 

Numerous 'boos' echo from behind us and I hear Lucian snort again. I glance at him and notice he's suppressing a smile. 

"Is it really that funny?" I lean in to whisper and he nods vigorously. 

"Look at them. Everyone acts like a child when there is no order." 

I turn behind to see the Plutonian officers climbing over seats, some huddled on the floors because there isn't enough space for all of them.

"I never realised how many supporters he has." 

Lucian only shrugs. "I think he's going to walk free because of them." 

"They don't have a say." I tell him pointedly and he nods towards the rows of commanders lined up behind us. The war council members. 

"I'm talking about them." 

I resist the urge to turn behind and look. Lucian's right, even though General Aldric holds some influence over the trial such as appointing the judge and overseeing the case, at the end of the day the deciding vote will be cast by the commanders behind us. 

To ensure fairness, all matters regarding leadership are decided by the public and by public we mean war council members. The only problem is, half of these commanders lie in General Grievous's pockets and those pockets run deep, glistening with gold coins that grease their palms on the regular. 

It's because of this very reason that we haven't been able to prove much so far. All evidence from the labs were destroyed by the officers there before General Aldric could seize anything. The scientists were shot dead and the guards swallowed suicide pills upon arrest. 

The paperwork is all we have and all of them support the experiment's success rate. Most of the humans we brought back died from dehydration and the few who survived were barely able to give statements coherently, let alone take the stand at trial. 

Ron remains my greatest disappointment. He's currently in the medical centre, lying in a catatonic state, unable to speak or do anything else. Thankfully, he doesn't require life support or they would have pulled the plug on him days ago. 

There was one human who gave a statement regarding the poor living conditions in the labs on Earth and that none of her friends survived the cognitive transition. The problem is no one here bothers much about what a human has to say. Most of them don't even believe her. 

It's been three cycles since the case started and we haven't made much progress at all. I can see the frustration on the generals faces, mainly General Aldric and Mondric. General Lyra remains impassive as usual. 

My mother and General Xia only made an appearance on the first day. I don't see them here today even though the defendants are supposed to appear in court for the first time. 

My father's personal assistant is talking at the stand, answering questions about his work ethics. She's a stocky Plutonian with pale hair bunched on top of her head messily. It's very un-Plutonian to appear so unkempt. It surprises me that she appeared in court in such a state. 

She answers carefully, her words deliberately slow. 

"Like I said, General Grievous has never done anything that made me question his honour, your honour. I can vouch for it." She mumbles nervously and I notice that her eyes are blood shot. Did she take drugs before coming in?

I catch General Aldric rubbing his forehead with disdain from above us. As someone who should appear impartial, he sure doesn't look like it. He catches me looking and grins before looking away, making my stomach twist. 

Despite how the trial is going we both know General Aldric holds one trump card. 

Me. 

I'm the only witness to the smuggling of humans and I'm the only Plutonian here who has been down to the part of the labs where the real experimentations were carried out. 

The commanders can rebut a humans statement but they're not going to be able to do the same to me. 

The assistant finishes with her statement and I can hear the commanders muttering about what a waste of time that was. The defence has been calling in all kinds of Plutonians, completely unrelated to the experiments, making this trial look like a joke. 

She's led out through a side door and the judge clears his throat, pulling at the neckline of his uniform before casting a paranoid look at the drone next to him. I understand his fears. Drones can be hacked with proper technique but the judge shouldn't worry. This entire room has been bugged from corner to corner and lined by guards. We should be safe here. 

Judge Freqa squints at the tablet before him and announces that they will be bringing in the defendants now. I catch Lucian straightening in his seat, he's due to make a statement right after. The sleeve of his uniform rises, exposing his forearm and I catch a dark blue wound on his skin. 

"What's this?" I turn his arm over and he pulls away violently, making me flinch. 

"It's nothing." He says, looking at the judge as he pulls down his sleeve. 

"It's a fresh bruise." I say. "Did he do that to you?" 

Lucian looks up at his father and shakes his head. "No, it was an accident, Luna. That's it." 

No accident could have caused a bruise like that but I'm interrupted by booming cheers from behind us when the door opens and Lazarus walks out. He's got his hands bound in front of him and they have him in a plain white shirt and pants. 

He looks behind me and the shock on his face is apparent when he takes in the crowd. 

"Lazarus, we love you!"

"Lazarus is innocent!" 

The chants soon become deafening, their echoes bouncing off the walls, creating a staccato that causes goosebumps to erupt across my skin. There's a crash behind us and I whip around to see a fight at the back of the room. 

A group of Plutonians have started a brawl and guards bulldoze their way through the crowds towards them. 

"Silence in the court!" General Mondric booms. The Plutonians at the back are escorted outside but it still feels like the courtroom is too stuffy. Or maybe my breathing is the problem. My breaths become more laboured as I turn back to face Lazarus. 

He stares at me as he takes a seat near the stand but I can't read his expression. I know he must hate me for exposing him. Hate might be putting it mildly and yet he hasn't admitted to my involvement. 

Why? 

His every action remains a mystery to me. My throat tightens the longer he stares and it feels like he's squeezing it with his bound fingers. 

He mouths something to me and my eyes crease together in focus. 

"I've missed you."

I stare at him in surprise, wondering why he would say that considering I did this to him. 

"We now call upon Precursor General Lucian to give his statement. I must insist that we maintain decorum. Please, silence in the court." The judge says and Lucian stands up. 

Lazarus doesn't bother acknowledging Lucian. He's focused on someone behind us, mostly likely one of his doting supporters. 

"I hereby come forthwith with my findings upon our excursion to General Grievous's and PG Lazarus's lab last week." Lucian lists down the series of events that occurred from the time we learnt of the death count and failure rate of the experiments till we broke into the labs to rescue the remaining humans. 

"Semantics." Lazarus mutters and the crowd booms behind us. 

Lucian's supporters antagonise them and soon another fight starts. Lazarus looks at me again and I resist the urge to squirm. He looks at the door to our right and I frown in confusion. 

Lucian finishes with his statement and walks back to his seat but a large tremor from the ground stops him. Suddenly the wall on our left shatters into pieces as an explosion carries through, the sound threatening to burst my eardrums. 

I look up at Lazarus and watch him being dragged away by guards. The judge bolts from his seat but the drone next to him shoots him between the eyes, all I see is the splatter of blood before he falls to the floor.

There's a ringing in my ears as gun shots echo from behind us. I turn around to see Plutonians shooting at each other, while some lie wounded under the rubble from the explosion. 

Lucian grabs my arm and leads me out past the others rushing to the exits. He takes me through a side door and I don't realise my heart is beating so fast until we reach a smaller room in the Arachnoid region. 

"Are you okay?" He pats my arms, shaking me as I stare up at him blankly. It slowly dawns on me that I wont be making any statements tomorrow because of this. The stars have bought me more time to figure out how to save Lazarus.

Maybe I can keep us together after all. 

I lean forward and kiss Lucian deeply, the adrenaline rush making me feel like I can do anything. He must be experiencing the same rush because he responds with equal fervour. He presses me against the wall and kisses me like these are our last moments together. 

"I love you, Lucian." I say again and this time I'm not running away from this, us.

"I love you. I've always loved you. Marry me, Luna. Let us make this planet a better place together."

I stare into his icy blue eyes and find myself nodding. Lucian feels the same way I do. Being with him wont be like swimming against the current. It won't be like it is with Lazarus. Maybe this was how it was always meant to be. 

Lazarus by my side as a comrade and Lucian as my husband. Maybe the three of us can coexist despite whom I choose. 

"What do you say?" Lucian asks, face flushed and eyes wary. 

My heart feels heavy as I think of Lazarus and the promises I made to him but I say the word anyway. 

"Yes."