CHAPTER NINE

The holographic image of a young woman crouched in a defensive position played in the air above the holoemitter. Ysanne Isard watched the woman fire a shot, the blaster bolt coming at the helmet cam in slow motion before abruptly ending, replaced by the feed from another stormtrooper.

Three dead stormtroopers and two more wounded to capture one woman. Her heterochromatic eyes burned and froze at the image on her holoscreen. Three dead to capture one woman that was surrounded by Imperials in the first place.

"How could you have done this better?"

The holographic image of Leco stood still and quiet. Isard stormed closer to the projector.

"You've had four hours to think of something! Tell me!" The agent at the other end shrank slightly at her words.

The lump in Daam's throat rose slightly as he swallowed. "I made the decision to approach at night, while Ors was likely sleeping, in order to minimize the risk of casualties and collateral damage. She was aware of us."

Isard looked down upon her errant pupil. "And how was she aware?"

"I'm not sure," Daam said.

"Don't give me that!" Isard's voice was as frozen as her eye. "I'm warning you and that is far more than some of the agents that have failed me have gotten. Don't make me realize that I've wasted my time with you for these past few years."

Leco Daam lowered his eyes slightly before raising them to meet hers. "I added extra security for myself when I was running. She must have been watching."

A faint smile curved its way onto Isard's lips. "Your own paranoia cost you the lives of three men and taken two more out of commission for at least two weeks. Was that a fair trade for the extra protection you had?"

"No, Madam Director."

"You think like an intelligence agent at the times you should think like a general. The Emperor is heirless and old and I need people who can think like both when the time comes. Every half-brained officer with a Star Destroyer will make their own bids for the throne and I intend to beat them all for it. Do I make myself clear?"

Leco stood as straight as he could and gave a confident nod. "Perfectly, Director Isard."

"Good." She stood from her chair, the floating holocam following her every move. "Get what you can from her and then send her to me." The conversation ended and she walked over to the large viewport that looked out over the Coruscanti skyline. The spires of the Imperial Palace rose large in the distance. Isard stared at the building and all it represented: an entire galaxy united under the order of a single being. Some day it would be hers.

She walked back to her desk, covered with datapads and reports from thousands of agents throughout the galaxy. Walked past the diagnostic screen on the wall showing the status of every system on board the 19 kilometer long Super Star Destroyer that was Lusankya, the most feared prison camp in the Empire.

The alarm blasted it's shrill shriek with the ferocity of a Nexu that jolted Jan Ors out of what brief nap that she had been able to get. She waved her hand above her head, setting the alarm's motion detector off and killing the sound.

She stood up from the metal cot that she had been sitting on and stretched her legs. She had awakened from the stun grenade she had found herself in this 3 meter by 3 meter room, still wearing her Imperial uniform but everything other than the cloth tunic and pants were gone: her belt, rank insignia, code cylinders and even her hair tie. Anything that may have helped her take her own life in captivity had been stripped from her.

She walked from one side of the room, taking only two steps to reach the durasteel wall that held a primitive combination of a refresher and a sink before turning back and walking to bare wall. At the intersection of the wall and the metal door were five empty tubes of nutrient paste that was her only clue as to how long she had been in her cell.

Five days or one and a half? For one of her only clues, they meant next to nothing. In addition to the sleep deprivation they had to have been staggering her feeding times to keep her disoriented. All of it was standard Imperial tactics for softening up a prisoner for interrogation.

She sat down on the cot and rested her head on her hands, the wish that she could just shut her eyes and be able to really rest at the edge of her mind. At the other end of the cell, the empty food tubes blurred before returning to focus.

With a hiss that jolted her out of her thoughts, the door to the cell opened and a single stormtrooper walked into the room with his blaster drawn. Outside of the door she could see another standing a meter away from the entrance. "Get up!" The Imperial motioned towards her with his blaster.

Jan took a deep breath to calm her nerves the best that she could before standing up, steeling herself the best she could for what was to come.

"Let's go, keep moving."

The two stormtroopers flanked her as she walked along the corridors of the academy's detention center. The dark walls with red lighting gradually changed their tone to grey as they passed through doorway after doorway. Jan turned her head slightly as they passed a corridor, looking for any sense of bearings in the labyrinthine hallways.

"Eyes front." She felt the rough shove of the side of a blaster rifle hit her in the back and sent her stumbling forward before catching herself. She followed the stormtrooper in front, eyes moving around the area to survey the area as best that she could.

She was led through several corners and doors, each one just as unfamiliar as the other one. Entrances to unknown rooms passed by before a familiar sight finally reached her eyes: the red-lit hallways of the detention cells up ahead before she was led down the path to her right.

She was led through several other hallways, each of them slightly familiar as her captors attempted to disorient her, before stopping at a very recognizable door: the interrogation room. The lead Imperial opened the door, revealing a room just slightly larger than her prison cell. A metal chair was secured tightly to the floor, restraints on the arms and legs, next to a durasteel table. A large mirror spanned the entire width of the wall and half of its height.

"Sit in there." Jan took her seat and stared into the mirror, imagining that she could look past it and into the observation room beyond it. Leco Daam was certainly in there, watching as his soldiers restrained her to the chair.

It was her eyes that unnerved him. The thought invaded his mind even as her brown eyes seemingly stared straight into his soul. It was impossible, of course, for her to actually see him. The highly polished transparisteel was reflective on the other side and the rebel agent was merely staring at herself.

Leco Daam tightened his jaw and turned to the three students in the room with him. Cedral, Newo Tenes and Donlat Tascel were some of his better students, each one with promising careers ahead of them.

"I want you to pay attention to this," he said. "She will be a tough person to crack. She's had Imperial Intelligence training before coming here, as well as whatever training the Rebels have on their own."

"How should we approach them?" Newo crossed his arms over his thick chest and looked into the room. "Standard methods wouldn't apply." His lips moved downward into a slight frown. "Would they?"

"Actually, just the opposite. We exploit what they know because they know it. They have our techniques down so they expect what's to come and most of them fear it."

"She doesn't look scared," Donlat said in his high voice. The young man from Giehl had an unnerved look upon his face, not used to having to view the interrogation process.

"She will be." Leco walked the few steps to the door and opened it, the light from the hall pouring into the dark room. "Sooner or later, everyone here cracks."