Chapter IV: Prison
Prison.
It was common knowledge that prison could drive someone insane, but was that supposed to be true after only one day of imprisonment?
Probably not, but the confinement was driving me crazy. My cell was no wider than two metres across and approximately that in length. The décor did not help the feeling of being cramped. As if they would spend money on making prisoners more comfortable, had been a constant thought as I gazed upon the blank walls for what felt like hours.
Hours that were taking too long to pass.
I finally heard the noise of footsteps echoing from outside of the cell and found that I was almost relieved to have some more sort of action around. I pushed myself up into a crouched position and tried to rub the numb feeling out of my legs as the approaching pounding stopped outside of my door and muffled voices ensued. I could not make out any details from the words as the door of my cell shunted open, but what I saw before me struck more fear into my hastily thumping heart than mere words ever could.
My wife's limp form was dangling between the sturdy grips of two white helmeted clone troopers who were dragging her into a prison cell that was opposite my own. Her unfocused gaze fixed on me for only a brief moment before she was dumped roughly onto the cold floor. I scrambled forwards, pushing past everyone that stood in my way before dive rolling beneath the rapidly closing door and rushing to her side.
"Keisha," I muttered breathlessly as I looked down into her eyes, which seemed to take all of her energy just to remain unwaveringly locked on me.
Her voice came out as a silent whisper that I could not understand as if her vocal cords were even lacking energy.
It was at that point that the door rolled open with a sharp clunk and two fierce white gloves ripped me from my side and up onto my fumbling feet. A blaster pistol was driven so hard into my spine that as I lurched forward I was hardly aware of a stun bolt as it jolted through my nervous system and pitched me slamming onto the cold flooring of the Keisha's cell. My wife's reaction to the whole event was nothing more than her mouth forming a small "O" shape of shock: her whole body could perform nothing else.
My mind swelled at the detached feeling that stun bolt paralysis brought upon people to whom it was inflicted: cursing the galaxy that I had not been knocked unconscious. I tried to centre the world into some sort of order, but as I was dragged backwards up onto my feet by the one of the troopers my effort quickly collapsed.
All I was left with was the thought that I had been played. Clearly I was being taken for interrogation which would also explain the state the Keisha was in. Skywalker knew about our meeting with Master Kenobi - how, I have no idea - and now he was trying to use us to try and get to him.
By breaking our will power, apparently. Unfortunately, he had worked out the perfect way of doing that. My wife had some incredible mind powers - unrivalled among the Jedi Order - including Master Yoda himself. I could see why he had decided to drive Keisha to the point of physical exertion. He wanted to break her, wear her down until she cracked and gave him the information he needed.
Obviously, she had not succumbed to the torture: so he was going to try to break me.
I couldn't say that I had any particularly strong traits in the Force that Skywalker could manipulate. Unlike my wife, I had always been known within the Jedi Order as being a Corellian Jedi with a bit of an attitude - not known for any special powers. After some training quietly with Master Windu outside of the training from my original Master, I had vastly improved my mind skills, but still they were nothing spectacular. I tended to be better at the more physical abilities; moving large objects or repairing broken machinery. I had to admit, I was pretty good at mechanics.
So, how would he try to manipulate me? Somehow, I had a distinct and disturbing feeling that whatever I said to him would result in my death.
I only had one option, obviously. I had to die without telling him the location of Master Kenobi. It was my duty to not allow any more of the Jedi Order be slaughtered, and besides the ex-member of the Jedi Council was our best hope for any kind of new order in the future. But could I let Keisha go through the same thing, just to let one Jedi survive? Whatever choice I made would directly affect her, if Vader became so annoyed that he decided I wasn't worth his effort, and then he would choose the same about my wife too. And no amount of begging would spare her life, I knew it.
My only dearest hope was that she would understand my reason for protecting the future of the Jedi. On any other occasion, I had always put my family first, and nothing else could come above it. But now, I had no choice but to sacrifice the most important thing to me, all in the name of a greater good. Despite the situation, a sly, sardonic smile sneaked across my face: two of the only muscles that were now beginning to work after the stun bolt. After all, the time that I had spent training as a Jedi, this was the first - and ironically last - time that I had placed my duty ahead of everything else. I was finally the Jedi that I knew I should be.
With a gritted determination I raised my head and felt my grin widen all the more when my chin did not sag back down against my breast bone. I was even beginning to feel a sensation of the clone troopers' firm grips upon my upper arms, and even the dull ache that my trailing legs were enduring as I was dragged along to where they were taking me. We were certainly no where near the prison cells any longer, the bland, grey walls had been replaced with the dazzling white gleam of the more presentable corridors of this stardestroyer. A door loomed slightly ahead and on the right hand side of the hallway and towards its end. From the pulses in the Force I could only guess that this was an interrogation...and Darth Vader was inside.
What happened next is all a bit of a blur. I can't remember entering the room, nor being strapped to and bound to a chair in its centre.
Once the darkness had in my head had cleared, I opened my eyes to a blinding light that seemed to be surrounding me, but was most likely suspended somewhere above my head. I could see nothing but a white blur, not even the shadows of the other objects in the room, nor my own for that matter. I shook my head and blinked rapidly to try and get my eyes to adjust to the light, but it failed miserably.
"Is anyone there?" I croaked, my throat grinding like sand as I realised how long it had been since any form of liquid had touched my lips.
I got no reply, but the familiar sound of heavy, wheezing breaths that were as artificial and mechanical as they were sinister echoed forth.
"Skywalker?" I groaned, hoping for a deep growl that would diminish the cold sense of fear rumbling in my stomach. Unfortunately, I just sounded more and more afraid.
It was at that point that I began to feel uncomfortable and had no idea where I was or who was in this...place with me or how I had ended up here. When had I arrived? What was going to happen?
Suddenly, the area around me erupted into unidentifiable shapes, curved, sloping grand stone walls that formed the beautiful architecture of our beloved Jedi Temple. I looked down at my hands, surprised to find that the black jump suit I had been wearing since Tatooine was now replaced with the multiple layers of my normal khaki-coloured Jedi robes. I ran a hand back through my hair and felt the shoulder length, black mane that I had fashioned throughout the Clone Wars bristle against my probing finger tips.
I hadn't adopted an appearance like this since the eve of the Jedi Temple attack almost a month ago, when the circumstances had forced me to change in order to survive. This had to be a vision. But, everything was so realistic. This couldn't be a vision, could it?
As I was pondering this, I felt a firm grip take a hold of my shoulder.
"Darklighter?" Came a strong question that caused me to look over at the person who was addressing me.
The voice's owner had a bald head that not even stubble could touch, the only hair gracing his head were a small goatee at the base of his chin and eyebrows that were a chestnut brown in colour. The latter were locked into a look of concern, though his piercing brown eyes exuberated the normal cool, calculating calm that resonated from this man's being. He pointed down the corridor with a black, leather gloved hand that was clutching the hilt of his double-bladed, distinctive lightsaber. "Skywalker is in the Archives. He has Keisha and her apprentice cornered. We need to help them."
I barely registered retrieving my lightsaber from my belt and snapping it on in a sapphire brilliance. I thudded a heavy hand down on the Jedi's shoulder and nodded in understanding, "Right behind you, Master Meji."
Jedi Master Senu Meji gave me a grim smile and sprinted ahead with me trying to keep up the pace close behind.
Further down the corridor the hallway opened up into one of the many suspended walkways that linked the areas of the great building together. As we both reached the intersection where the walls parted us, we were both frozen in our tracks. All around, above and ahead, below and behind were the lifeless bodies of members of our esteemed order, littered amongst the limp and burnt out corpses of the traitorous clone troopers who were storming the Temple. Even as we stood completely motionless, small battles between multiple soldiers and single Jedi were erupting: constant victories by the former rather than the latter. Some Jedi were murdered on the spot as they tried to attend to fallen comrades. The clones were far different. If one of their brothers was plummeted to the floor injured, then none would try and save that clone's life. It disgusted me, and I could sense that it angered Master Meji even more.
The double blades of his purple lightsaber sizzled into the air in with crackling snap hisses as he awoke from the horror of our reality. Spinning the blade between his fingers as he stormed forwards, he deflected a blue bolt from a clone that squeezed off a shot at him, then proceeded to block three more shots in rapid succession in right-left-right motions. When he was close enough, he flipped his lightsaber into a one handed grip and outstretched a hand, enclosing a clamping, invisible fist around the enemy's neck in an unshakeable choke. He took one further step closer and then with one swift and elegant stroke he relieved the clone of the need for a head.
I followed his example on the opposite side of the walkway, though my moves were far less brutal but no less lethal. We made quick progress across the path, exchanging places on either side constantly as we covered each other's backs and disposed of the troopers with graceful lethality. It took only a couple of minutes before the Archive entrance was looming before us. It was then that the fear for my wife's life took over me and I thundered ahead, stabbing out to the right hand side of me and beheaded a clone that was standing guard at the doorway's edge in perfect synchronisation with Senu as he approached at my left hand side.
And there ahead of us, stood Skywalker. His cloak hood covered most of his features in multiple shades of shadow, but a single shaft of light high-lighted the purely evil smirk that donned his expression. I forced myself to stare into the man's manic, raging blue eyes and not down at where his lightsaber was pointed.
I shook my head as my jaw line hardened, "Let her go, Skywalker!"
My wife turned her head slightly, staring at me with eyes that were so wide and scared that her fear bored into me and sent a jolt of anger rushing through me. Skywalker snapped his blade in close to her neck, causing her to yelp and drop to her knees as she cowered on the floor beneath him.
Please say this was a vision! Oh please say this was a vision!
No amount of pleading could stop the next few events. Thinking that Skywalker had been distracted by me, my wife's apprentice, Lena Arano, pounced forward, her scarlet lightsaber sizzling and slashing at the air as she tried to attack the fallen Jedi. The dark man did not even turn to face her. He raised a hand and made gentle flicking gesture with his fingers. Who knew that such a simple movement could cause so much havoc. The Force shove caught the young padawan directly in the stomach - before I could even cry out her name in utter horror - and sent her flying through the air and thudding hard against one of the Archive book shelves with a sickening thud. To finish it all off, the shelf came crashing down on top of her, leaving only her arm exposed as she had tried to reach for her lightsaber that was now as lifeless as it's owner.
Grief poured through the Force like a leaking wound into my being as Skywalker turned back towards me with a sick and twisted smile on his face. I could feel the agony pulsing off of my wife's soul, burning into the air with a passionate hatred that made the fallen Jedi's smirk widen even more. Her apprentice's blade began to tremble, and before anyone could protest, the hilt was in her hand and leaping forward to slice open Skywalker's robes at his mid-section. He yowled in pain at the burning scar exposed across his stomach, causing my grief to blossom into a lust for vengeance.
It was at that point that time seemed to slow.
My wife gradually burst up onto her feet to continue her hate fuelled attack against the sick and twisted murderer. The scarlet blade of energy thundered slowly against his defense, drumming his blazing blue blade closer and closer to his own body. I could feel his anger rising and building up amongst my wife's. He wasn't angry at her in particular, just the fact that a "lowly Jedi Knight" was being able to hold up such a fight against him and perhaps even defeat him. The more the fury within him grew, the more my confidence shrank.
I tried to shout out to her, to get her to stop and back away. But my vocal cords felt heavy, like they were caught in some kind of vice that they could never escape from and refused to work.
Skywalker's saber slashed my wife was not quick enough to stop the attack. A deep gash dug deep into her arm, causing her lightsaber to thud to the floor as the Dark Jedi advanced, another stab crippling both of her legs as she dropped to the floor on her knees as she keeled over to the floor in blinding pain. The man fixed me with a dastardly and sickly smirk as he carefully poised his lightsaber directly above her writhing body, preparing to end her life like he had done to so many others.
My lightsaber thrummed to life as I screamed, "NO!"
The clone troopers quickly descended upon us, surging against Master Meji and I. The Jedi Master's lightsaber immediately swished and swooped as it chopped down the forming onslaught: but even he was taken back precious footsteps away from Skywalker, unable to help.
But nothing was going to stop me. I ran through the crowd, removing limbs and weapons amongst heads as I thundered towards her, no other objective than to save the woman that I loved. Skywalker was waiting for me to get closer...close enough so that I would be able to touch her as he cut her down.
I
was going to make it! I was! My foot suddenly erupted into a
blast of pain and sent me tripping and crashing towards the cold,
stone floor. With one final, evil grin I was forced to watch as his
humming sword pitched deep into her abdomen and sucked all of her
life energy from her.
I couldn't move! I couldn't breathe! I couldn't scream!
I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting back tears, scolding hot tears that dripped down onto the floor that caused my breathing to increase rapidly. I don't remember ever opening my eyes again...
It felt like hours had passed until I found that my spirit was still inside of my body and I was able to think clearly.
Well, clearly was an overstatement. I could feel a burning, damp sensation on my cheeks tingling and irritating. The death of my wife may not have been real, but my tears certainly were. And yet, I refused to open my eyes and seek comfort in the blinding light that lacked all shadow. Vader was putting these images...these visions...these old possibilities into my mind: trying to get me to crack beneath his unyielding mental torture.
Did he hate Kenobi that much? Did he hate him with such a fiery passion that he would stop at nothing to find out where the Jedi Master was hiding and grab the revenge that he thought he deserved? I was almost shocked out of my own pain by that revelation. He needed us. We were the closest and only link that he had left to finding his old master.
I could feel my good old Corellian ego swell in pride and confidence as the mechanical rasping of his voice echoed through my ears. At one point, I would have recoiled, but not now. I had found his shatterpoint - as Mace Windu used to refer to our deepest weaknesses, "It seems that we do not share the same optimism for what should have been the true outcome of our battle."
"No kidding, Aruetti," I growled and felt my confidence heighten as the strength that had miraculously returned to my vocal cords. For effect, I added a bitter sounding laugh. "And this is how you repay me for saving your wagyx back at the Temple."
I could feel the dark side pique around me. I was now viewing it like a sheet of delicate transparisteel, wherein the centre had begun to splinter by the most miniscule of cracks. Vader: the shatterpoint. I found myself praising Master Windu and anything that he had ever taught me.
But, the next event proved that I should have spent some time learning to guard my thoughts too.
"Your overconfidence is your weakness, Master Darklighter," Vader purred once again, his voice taking on a tone that was a slick and as dangerous as a nexu. "You place praise upon those who could not save themselves from my blade."
I opened my eyes, squinting against the light in search of his ghastly, black form. "What do you mean by that, Vader?"
I could feel the Force coil up into the expression of a man raising a patient eyebrow. I knew what he meant. Vividly. Clearly. Far too clearly.
I shook my head vigorously in silent protest, a sharp hiss escaping me. "No! You can't have! Master Windu took three other masters to arrest Palpatine! He can't be..."
My mouth was unable to form the last word. Skywalker had killed Mace? Impossible! He was a leading member of the Jedi Council, a master of the Force and tamer and wielder of the lightsaber form Vapaad. How could a mere...kid...end his life? One name sprang into my head: Palpatine.
I was finally becoming aware of events in the galaxy, and if Kenobi had been right about the once kind and caring Chancellor being a powerful Sith Lord, then it had to have been him who had taken down Master Windu. Skywalker could not have been that far gone by then to have mastered the dark-side enough to kill such a great Jedi.
He was dead. I knew it. My mentor and life long friend had finally found some peace. That thought did not ease my pain, however, it just concentrated it into a higher medium.
Vader spoke after a long silence had ensued, "Do not let any more of your friends suffer in such a manner, Darklighter. Tell me the location of Kenobi."
A laugh escaped me. An unnatural sounding chuckle that caused visible cracks to appear in that transparisteel. "You think that I believe you will simply let us walk away once I have told you where Master Kenobi is."
The Sith lord said nothing for a moment, but the cracks in the Force were beginning to repair themselves as I dropped a hint of where Kenobi might be. "You have my word."
Another laugh. "And your word is about as useless as Rancor spit." I grinned impishly. "If I go, then the whereabouts of Master Kenobi go with me."
There was an awfully long silence where narrowed, confident blue eyes met ferocious, tinted red lenses, sizing up each other. Vader knew that I had nothing to lose and yet he could lose everything that had made him so powerful to this very day: his hatred for a former brother.
"So be it, Jedi," came a final reply before the luminous light vanished and was replaced by a darkened blur.
I blinked rapidly to try and get my vision to adjust to the new level of ambience and was barely in time to catch the flash of brilliant white clone trooper armour. So Vader had decided that I was worth something to him. A good sign, to say the least.
Two gentle hands gripped my shoulders and I instantly felt a spark of recognition jolt through me as I pushed up onto my feet and lead away. It was only a single trooper, I noticed, and although to anyone else he may have been an anonymous face, but to me he was a breath of relief.
"Thrix?" I whispered my voice barely audible but I knew that his helmet speakers would be able to pick up what I was saying. "Is that you, old friend?"
I had to use the Force to amplify his voice in my mind because his response was even quieter than my question. "Fierfek, Darklighter. You need to learn when to shut the osik up."
I smiled and barely refrained from gripping him in a tight embrace. "You know me, when I am threatened I am never able to judge a situation well."
He ignored the comment. "You must be doing something right if you have survived two encounters against Vader." I knew what he was going to ask next. "Is everyone else alright? Kendari, Meji, the wookie?" He paused, as if gathering some bravado. "Lena?"
I nodded and almost tripped as he shoved me roughly in the back. "Everyone except the Kid, yes."
I could sense that his jaw was held firm within his helmet, but his shoulders sagged visibly in relief. "I'm sorry to hear that. Kendari was a great man. Where is everyone else?"
I shrugged. "I have no idea what happened to Meji after the attack of Coruscant, or Xavieron. Lena went home to Alderaan. Said she needed some time alone."
The clone nodded in understanding and was about to reply but I added a question quickly. I had to know why the clones revolted. "What happened, Thrix? Why did you turn against us?"
Thrix made a sound that sounded like the grinding of teeth. "An order came through from command that the Jedi were to be killed immediately. Apparently they were trying to overthrow the Republic and they needed to be stopped."
I looked back over my shoulder at him and felt a lump rise in my throat and threatened to clog up my next words, "Did...did you kill any...Jedi?"
The man's grip on my shoulders amplified. "No. I was a part of the medical teams aiding the wounded from Coruscant."
I could have hugged him. He was an ARC, one of the best trained by none other than Jango Fett himself. His genes had not been altered that much unlike the other clones. He was able to make up his own mind, meaning that the answer to my final question would be his own opinion and not one that had been tampered with by Kaminoans. "Do you believe it? Do you think that the Jedi would try to overthrow the Republic?"
He spun me around to face him with incredible strength, and I thought that I could see right through his helmet. "I couldn't believe it then, and I can't believe it now."
I smiled in a mixture of relief and gratitude. "Good to know. I am glad that not all of our friends have betrayed us."
Although his visor was tinted midnight, I caught a hint that he was smiling. His voice was still very hushed but I could gather that he was happy. "I am glad that you still consider me to be a friend after all that has happened." He released his grip on my arm and clobbered me hard across the back of the head to make it look like I had been resisting. He should have felt lucky that I was had let the action pass in this current situation; normally I would have retaliated - much harder. "And I will try to find a way to get you out of here - you and Master Farlander - I promise."
I rubbed the back of my head and felt my stomach drop as I recognised my cell door. "I would greatly appreciate any help that you could provide, Thrix."
"Then you have my word..." His voice rang with ironic amusement as he replied, "...and it is much more valuable and reliable than Vader's."
As we approached my cell, the door opposite to mine rose open and a woman with medium length brown hair and even deeper and darker brown eyes was dragged out, her resistance genuine and not at all half-hearted like it had been earlier on.
We locked gazes, and I did not need to make any kind of gesture before she over-powered the guards that were restraining her and wriggled free of their grip. I knocked Thrix back a step with a hefty shoulder tackle and rushed forward to meet her. The ARC made no attempt to stop me. Before the clones had so much as exclaimed in frustrated protest she had met my lips and was currently locking me in a deep and hypnotic kiss that lingered and increased in passion, so much so that my stomach fluttered and my brain was over-loaded. And still, I did not pull away until Thrix and her escorts dragged us apart.
The ARC yanked me backwards, trying to make it look like he was putting some effort into restraining me, and I was more than willing to lash out and try to escape from his grasp to keep up this impression. One of the other clones that were helping to drag Keisha along came up behind me and sharply fired a stun bolt into the backs of my legs, crippling my balance and causing me to flop down to the floor on my knees as I lost all of the feeling within them. My wife tried her best to rush forward and see that I was alright, but she too was pelted by a low energy stun bolt in the centre of the back of her neck and went as limp as the bottom half of me. I could feel the tension that Thrix had in my shoulders intensify as they dragged her away.
I was pulled into my own cell by the ARC, who I immediately began to yell at, "Where are they taking her, Thrix?! You've got to find out!"
Thrix looked tentatively over his shoulder to see if anyone had heard me call him by his name - I supposed - and then raised his hands and patted the air to try and get me to calm down, "Relax, Darklighter. I'll take care of it."
He raised two fingers to the top of his helmet and flashed me an informal salute and turned and left the cell, leaving me feeling totally helpless...
