Here's chapter 4! It's longer, just like I promised :)

Thank you SO much for all the reviews I got! Each one means a lot to me

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING.

(Obiwan Kenobi)

"It was Anakin." Rayn told me.

I stared at her in shock. My mind was blown into turmoil and my mouth couldn't form words.

"He…he…" I stammered. "But…how?"

Rayn shrugged. "I don't know, but he's alive."

"What did he say?" I asked eagerly.

"Not much. He was captured by a witch for testing. I don't know what they're doing to him, but he was spitting out blood when he cut the transmition." Rayn explained. "That's all I know."

I sighed. Rayn was right, Anakin apparently hadn't said much, but I don't blame him. Someone was helping him, but for how long? Eventually, someone would figure out, right?

"Come with me." I told Rayn. "I know who we can talk to."

(Anakin Skywalker)

I sighed and leaned my head against the metal pole behind my head, wishing I had had more time to talk to Rayn. Granted, I still didn't know where I was or anything helpful, but maybe she or Obiwan could figure something out.

I tried for the hundredth time to draw the Force to me with the collar on and was surprised when I could barely feel it. Either I was getting stronger, or the Force collar was loose. Stix had had to put it back on in a hurry last time, maybe it wasn't completely on my neck.

I jerked my head forward as Shakira walked into my cell with four guards following behind. The guards were carrying something, but I couldn't see well enough to see what they were carrying.

"Good morning, Jedi." Shakira greeted me almost cheerily.

So it was morning now? How long had I been in this cell? I'd already had four of Shakira's experiments done on me and six beatings, but that didn't mean much in relativeness to time.

I didn't really care for her greetings; all I did was stare at her with a locked jaw.

"So that's how it's going to be?" Shakira asked me with a tilt of her head. "Fine." She began to walk around my pole, almost taunting me, challenging me.

"I will say that there have been four Padawans here, as you already know." Shakira continued. "Each of them are dead. I've kept a record of all of their progress, or lack thereof. The first one died in only two days."

The guard on Shakira's far left threw his baggage on the ground in front of me.

I stared down at the lifeless face of a young Twi'lek girl. She must have been the first Padawan.

"The second one died in five days." Shakira told me.

The next guard tossed a dead human boy's body on the floor.

"The next was dead in a week."

Next was a dead human female.

"The last one died in only eight days."

The last one was a Togrutan girl.

"You've lasted longer than the first one." Shakira pointed to the first Twil'ek girl. "But my employer wants to see how long a Jedi Knight can survive, not Padawans." Shakira leaned down and yanked the Twi'lek's beaded Padawan braid off her head before kneeling down in front of me. "Just as a reminder, keep this." She wrapped the braid around my right wrist and tied the ends together.

"If you survive long enough, maybe I'll let you go." Shakira shrugged before leaving the room along with the other guards, leaving the dead Padawans' bodies on the floor.

They seemed to stare at me, a silent plea for help still plastered on their faces.

I didn't know the Padawans by name, but I knew the human girl's Master. Her Master was Master Jundali Kaing. He and I were friends when I had first come to the Temple; I knew that he would be devastated over the loss of his Padawan…

I couldn't help but stare at the pale bodies of the Padawans. Each of them were below the age of fifteen…that's too young to die by Shakira's sick ways. It's also too young to be stuck in the middle of a war.

I closed my eyes as the Twi'lek girl's Padawan braid rubbed against my wrist again. I felt nauseous at the feeling. A Padawan braid was precious to every Padawan, and most Jedi still kept theirs even after it had been cut off during their Knighting. Now that this Twi'lek's was on my wrist, I couldn't help but imagine how she died.

Slowly. Painfully. In a way that no one should ever have to endure, especially a child.

I opened my eyes again as I thought of all the countless deaths I'd watched. No one really understands our side of the war.

Sure, there's the Senate complaining about lost battles, losing funds, and all that other crap…but there's also the side where men watch their brothers be killed mercilessly, where you have to close the eyes of dead men, where you have to pray that you'll live another day.

The Senate's never experienced that. They've never had to lead men into a bloodbath. They've never had to try to stop the bleeding of a brother's wounds. They've never had to tell a dying man to hang on a little longer. They've never seen what war can do to people.

I have. I see it in each of the four faces of the Padawans.

War kills.

I clenched my fists together as I made a promise to Obiwan and Rayn.

"I will live to the end of the war."

(Guard 2765: Stix Korthen)

I stood outside Anakin's door, listening to the deafening silence of the prison. It was unusual for it to be so quiet, but Anakin was the only prisoner right now. The others had died off, not that it mattered to anyone. Besides the four Padawans, there were only two bounty hunters being held for questioning.

My senses snapped to alert when the door to the prison area was opened.

"Stix." A male's voice spoke to me. "You're being called for base patrol. I'll take over while you're gone."

I nodded and walked out of the prison area, starting to patrol the whole base.

The base itself wasn't huge, but it was big enough for Shakira's needs.

That's when an idea hit me: base patrol goes everywhere. Even in the experimental chambers. If I could figure out what Shakira was using Anakin's life for, maybe we could stop it.

I bit my cheek so I wouldn't smile like an idiot as I passed by the stock room and headed towards the experiment chambers.

(Anakin Skywalker)

I barely glanced up as the door to my cell opened and a guard walked in. I didn't recognize him as one of the men who had beaten me before, but I didn't like the look of excitement in his eyes. I glared at him for a split second before turning my gaze to the durasteel ground.

"Enjoying your new piece of jewelry, Jedi?" He sneered at me.

I kept glaring at the ground, staying silent.

"What's wrong? Can't talk?" He asked me.

I clenched my teeth together, not giving the guard any satisfaction.

The guard knelt down in front of me, right at my eye-level. "Can't I at least get a 'hello?'?" He asked cheekily.

"Get the hell away from me." I growled back.

"You're in no position for that." The guard said as he grabbed my chin roughly and forced me to look at him. "In fact, you're in no position for any retaliation. One wrong move, Jedi. That's all it takes."

I glared at him until he smiled and let go of my chin. "Is that what happened to the Padawans? They just asked for water or some form of relief and you killed them? Sleemo." I asked angrily.

I was rewarded with a swift backhand.

"Shut up, Jedi." The guard

"It's true though, isn't it?" I continued, letting my hatred for them seep into my voice. "You killed children because you had nothing better to do. I wouldn't expect anything less from a useless piece of crap like you."

"Those Padawans weren't strong enough to survive Shakira's tests. You'll be lucky to live, too. I doubt you'll make it much longer." The guard stood up now.

"Why? Are you getting bored again?" I sneered up at him.

The guard kicked me in the ribs, making me double over. "Not at all." He told me. "Really, the fun's just starting."

With that, he punched me in the jaw, causing my vision to swim and grow foggy for a second. Another backhand. Two strong kicks. An uppercut to my stomach. It went on for what seemed like hours, but the guard didn't let up in the intensity of his shots.

I tried to keep from screaming in pain, but it wasn't working well so far. That was when I realized how much Shakira's experiments had weakened me. When I was just sitting against a pole, I didn't notice how much they had taken a toll on me. But now that I was being beaten and forced to exert energy, I felt completely helpless; limp almost.

I cried out in pure agony as one of the guard's kicks broke some of my ribs.

I panted, trying to catch my breath and deal with the pain as the guard stood over me, smiling. As I leaned forward, gritting my teeth and trying to move my ribs as little as possible, the Force collar slid off my neck and to the ground.

I stared at it, knowing that I had been right earlier. Stix had made the collar too loose on me.

The guard knelt down and grasped it in his hand. He looked at me with a sickening smile on his face. "Someone's helping you, aren't they?"

I didn't respond, and kept trying to catch my breath despite the agony racing through my ribs.

"I was wrong earlier." The guard murmured. "Now the fun begins."

(Guard 2765: Stix Korthen)

I walked to the end of the rock-walled hallway to the entrance of a sealed door.

It had a red circle painted onto it with a cross inside it. It indicated that inside the door was the experimental room.

I took a deep breath as put in the code for unlocking the door and cautiously walked inside the large room.

It was jammed full of random machinery, containers full of glowing golden life, and scientists doing random tests and putting life into machines and testing equipment.

I walked up to the nearest table, noting how the glowing life swirled around in the multiple glass containers sitting on the metal table.

I was mesmerized by the life and began to wonder what Shakira could use such a precious thing for.

"Do you like it?" A woman's voice said behind me, making me jump.

"I…I…" I stammered as I stared at Shakira's cold, black eyes.

"What are you doing down here, Guard 2765?" Shakira asked me by my military name.

"Base patrol." I stated with confidence.

Shakira barely grinned, but it still failed to reach her coal eyes. "Would you like a tour?" She asked me.

"Yes ma'am." I told her and she ushered me to the machine to our left.

"All of the life here will be used to make biochemical weapons. Missiles releasing poisonous gas, completely tasteless, odorless, clear, reversible liquid poison that can be used to make nations bow to the Separatists. These weapons could bring the Republic to their knees and end this war." Shakira explained to me.

The reality of her words struck me as we passed a large glass pin full of lab rats. Shakira and I watched as a scientist pumped golden mist into the closed off container. The rats all stopped scurrying to sniff the air. One rat suddenly starting scratching at one of the glass walls as he began to foam at the mouth. I watched motionlessly as the rat's eyes were wild with fear as the fur on the rat began to fall out and its skin began to slowly burn away. I closed my eyes as all the rats were soon in this state, squeaking for help. After what seemed like ages, the rats fell silent and I opened my eyes to see a dozen rodent skeletons.

"Think of the potential of this on a whole planet." Shakira said, excitement evident in her voice. "The Republic will be crushed."

I became nauseous as I thought of a whole planet going through the pain of the rats. People; living beings would be going through this sort of inhumane death…

"It will bring great victories to the Separatists." I said, trying to convince Shakira that I was as much a Separatists as any other guard here.

Shakira smiled, a cruel and unforgiving smile, as she turned to me. "Yes, it will."

She showed me another machine that created bombs that were filled with more life.

"With this bomb, it's easier to fill the air with more of the life and cause more damage easier." Shakira told me as she gently brushed her fingers against the silver covering of the bomb.

"How does the life work as a poison?" I asked hesitantly.

"You see, midichlorians can be used as toxins as well as for control over the Force, too. The midichlorians in the Jedi's essence can slowly rot away the body of another if used correctly with the right chemicals. The small amount of chemical mix we put in with the life agitates the midichlorians, and makes them destroy life instead of creating it." Shakira explained.

I was about to respond when another guard came over and tapped Shakira's shoulder. She followed him to just out of my hearing range and began to speak in hushed voices.

After a few minutes of them talking while I pretended to be really interested in the deadly life, Shakira walked back over with the guard.

I turned to them and was going to ask Shakira another pointless question about the life when her and the guard's expressions made me keep my mouth shut.

"You forgot something, Stix." The guard said as he tossed something at me.

I caught it and stared down at a Force-restrain collar… Anakin's Force-restraint collar.

(Anakin Skywalker)

I spat out the last of the blood in my mouth as my cell door opened again and the same guard from earlier came in with a man held in his grip. He threw him to the ground and the man looked up at me with apologies written all over his face. It was Stix's face…

"Alright, Jedi." Shakira said as she walked in with her billowing black cloak. "My testing from when you got here to now have been…inaccurate." She glared at Stix as she continued. "I assure you that now they'll be correct."

The guard grabbed Stix by his head and held it in place. Shakira pulled out a syringe full of swirling golden life.

"Stix got to see how I'm using your life, I figured I should give you an example of its power." Shakira knelt down and slipped the syringe into Stix's neck.

So I hope y'all enjoyed chapter 4! It's getting more into the story, and it'll get even better very soon :)

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