Disclaimer – all original Star Wars characters in this fanfic (excluding my OC's) are the property of Lucasfilm and Disney.
Chapter 20 "Prisoners of The Republic."
Imprisoned! Wanting to have a complete control over the younglings and Padawans, Chancellor Mace Windu sends them to the Citadel, a deadly prison which was built in mind to hold rogue Jedi Knights.
With the teachings of the Grand Master Yoda in their hearts, the Padawans struggle against the violent and ruthless ways of the warden, Osi Sobeck and the Jedi Master, Pong Krell, who plan to grind off any traces of demur from their behavior and turn them into obedient members of the New Republic.
Belderone Sector, Lola Sayu, The Citadel, Prison Block C, Barriss's Cell.
Lola Sayu was a sulfurous, cracked planet that resembled a beautiful glowing purple orb from orbit and was the site of an ancient Jedi notorious prison complex known as the Citadel. The planet was conquered by the Confederacy of Independent Systems early in the Clone Wars, placing the Citadel under Separatist control.
When the Separatists joined forces with the Republic against the Kingdom of the Force and lost the war, Osi Sobeck, the Phindian male, simply remained inside the isolated prison for his own safety until he received a call from the new Chancellor of the Republic, Mace Windu.
Windu invited Sobeck to join his new Republic and become the official warden of the Citadel, in exchange Sobeck was ordered to dispose of his tactical battle droid K2-B4, who acted as his second in command, to prove his loyalty. Having nothing better to do and since he would have new prisoners to torture, and most importantly have the support of the Republic in case of an attack, Sobeck agreed.
With the Republic soldiers, who came to the Citadel with the Jedi Master Pong Krell, and the Separatist battle droids who remained inside the facility with the warden, the prison once again became a nightmare for its inmates, who were brought to the Citadel by the Jedi Master.
The Phindian was very happy when the Jedi Master brought along young and fresh Padawans as prisoners. Since the smallest younglings, who's fresh minds were still like clay, could be molded into Windu's perfect image of a Jedi, he didn't send them to the Citadel unlike the Padawans and older younglings.
Barriss Offee and Caleb Dume were among the Padawans sent to the prison because of their rebellious nature and resistance to his teachings. Placed inside their cells, the Padawans were taken and tortured individually in a dark room by the warden and his torture droids. The pain was indeed effective and during the torture, the Padawan's fear and anger mixed together in a symphony that every Sith would love.
The young Mirialan was stripped out of her weapons and robes. In exchange, the droids gave her old, orange prison rags, that smelled and itched. A few minutes ago, she returned from a torture session. Despite the tremendous pain, which radiated throughout her whole body, she wasn't injured badly. Windu specifically said, the Padawans needed to be taught a lesson and not be permanently injured. The Republic needed strong and capable Jedi, not crippled Force-users.
"Ghh... it hurts like hell!" Barriss growled as she lay on the metal, cold bed. Aside from a place to sleep, the small room had only a water closet without a sink. One surveillance camera that saw everything which meant lack of privacy at all the time. No windows or bars, only a locked door with a small hole below for the droids or guards to give her food, which tasted awful anyway.
Barriss couldn't sleep because of the pain, but even if she wasn't, the screams would not let her fall asleep. Another Padawan was being tortured at that moment and the torture room was connected to all the cells in the block so that the sounds could be heard by all the inmates if the warden wanted.
"Damm him!" the Mirialan covered her ears, closed her blue eyes and curled into a ball on the bed. "I hate him! I hate this place!"
Master Pong didn't put the Arkanian collars around their necks because he wanted the Padawans to lash out at the soldiers or the battle droids. When they did, the Padawans were punished even more painfully. It was his way of teaching them self-control and obedience. Barriss herself attacked one of the soldiers with the Force and wanted to choke him out, it didn't end pretty for her.
"Barriss," a voice echoed in her mind. "Barriss can you hear me?"
The Mirialan opened her eyes as she recognized Caleb's voice. Throughout their training on Tython, she and the younger human boy created a Force-bond, which allowed them to establish a mental link with each other. Even though their cells were really far away from one another, they were able to communicate without any problems.
"Caleb?" Barriss was aware of the camera in her cell and decided not to give away the fact that she conversed with anyone. Are you okay?
"I've been better," replied the young Jedi. "But I think I have a plan on how to escape. Well, a part of it..."
Barriss almost chuckled when she heard that. "I tried a few times, but the security is too tight," she stated. "We won't reach the docking bay with the whole group and I don't plan on abandoning the others."
"Neither do I," assured Caleb. "We can't escape by ourselves, butthe Kingdom will surely help us, we just need to send a distress signal to Shili and inform them that we're here."
The Mirialan wasn't sure if this would work. "Do you have an idea on how to get to the Citadel control room?" she asked.
"Emmm... not really," admitted Caleb. "Like I said it's just part of the plan, but if we can send a signal from the Citadel to Shili, Master Yoda will convince the Kingdom and they'll come here to save us."
Barriss had to admit the idea wasn't stupid but getting to the control room was a hard task. Plus if the warden or Master Krell were to discover that they sent a message to the Kingdom, the Republic would send an army to defend the prison or they would relocate the Padawans.
They were in block C and the control room was on the top floor of the Citadel. The only 'easy' way to get there was via the ventilation system. In every cell there was a sealed ventilation duck. Of course one needed to use the Force to rip it open, but the camera was right there so the guards would immediately notice. However, Barriss suddenly had a bold idea.
" I think I have a plan Caleb, but must inform the others and create a diversion," said Barriss. "Listen closely..."
Twenty minutes later -The Citadel, Control Room.
"Everything under control?" asked Jedi Master Pong Krell as he entered the control room. Republic soldiers and B1 battle droids were occupying the chairs in front of the surveillance monitors and other security consoles.
"Of course," replied Osi Sobeck, who sat comfy on his chair in front of the large display screen with a smug expression. He turned around to face the Jedi Master and went on. "The Padawans are too scared or exhausted to try anything. They're under our control."
The tall Besalisk with four arms leaned back his head and closed his eyes. "I can feel their anger," he stated. "Anger could drive them to desperate measures. While they're still Padawans, we cannot push them too far since we can't kill or cripple them which would put us in a disadvantage position in case of a fight."
"Even if they do try something we have enough security here to stop even the Jedi Knights," assured Sobeck.
Pong hummed and approached the surveillance monitors. "What about the old stasis chambers we found on the lower levels?" he asked keeping his yellow eyes on the monitors.
"The people in stasis are alive but the databanks don't have any specific information about them," replied the Phindian. "I only got one name we managed to recover, Jaydon Lawson, doesn't ring any bells, but I decided to keep him inside stasis, at least for now."
Since the warden had more time without the war against the Republic to keep him busy, he managed to explore the Citadel more thoroughly, which resulted in finding a hidden room filled with old stasis chambers. Some of them had living people inside that were preserved in suspended animation. The warden still needed to figure out what to do with them.
"Emmm... sir, we have a problem in the prison block C," announced a B1 battle droid. Pong Krell looked at one of the monitors and noticed that a Rodian Padawan used the Force to knock over the door out of his cell. With enough time, a mere Padawan could lift an object that weighted a couple of tons with the Force, so knocking over a door wasn't that hard even for a tired young boy. Many Padawans in their cells began to do the same and some remained in their cells and began to destroy the interior, but the rest clearly began to riot.
"Send the guards and the droids!" ordered Sobeck.
Pong Krell noticed that five Padawans were sitting cross-ledged in the middle of their cells and meditated. Amongst them, he recognized Barriss Offee and Caleb Dume.
"I would bet everything that they would join the chaos and help their friends," he stated suspiciously. "I'm going down there."
The Besalisk Jedi Master left the control room with a few battle droids and guards, leaving Sobeck with human soldiers to keep an eye out for everything.
Sometime later - The Citadel, Prison Block C.
Using telepathy, a basic ability of every Force-user, Caleb, and Barriss contacted other Padawans and told them their plan.
Every Force user, Jedi or Sith, was potentially able to use this ability. The range of telepathy itself was theoretically infinite, but the telepath must have been able to sense the presences of those he or she wished to contact, which was a different thing than a much stronger Force-bond.
Since almost every Padawan was filled with anger or fear, or both at the same time, Barriss and Caleb could sense their presence with no problems.
The B1 battle droids and the Republic soldiers, armed with stun blasters, engaged the young Jedi, who came at them boldly and full of emotions. Despite their advantage of having not to worry about being killed, the Padawans were exhausted and outnumbered.
The young Jedi managed to destroy quite a few battle droids and knock out a few soldiers, but the odds were turning against them. Sobeck didn't even need to use the traps in the corridors, not if he could anyway since it would more than likely kill the Padawans.
When Master Krell reached the block C, over a half of the Padawans lay unconscious of the floor, while the rest still struggled. The Jedi Master didn't reach for his two double-bladed lightsabers, instead, he simply pushed them away with a telekinetic shove.
"This is pointless," he said straight out with a grave expression. "If you'll surrender now, your punishment will be less... painful."
The soldiers and the battle droids behind him aimed at the Padawans, who didn't reply, but instead charged at them. With the Jedi Master in front of them, the soldiers and the battle droids could easily shoot the Padawans, who were not able to get past the large Besalisk.
One after another, the Padawans were hit and fell to the floor motionless. In less than a few minutes a silence filled the corridors.
"Stupid children," stated Master Krell. The alien looked over his shoulder at the troops behind him and ordered. "Take them back to their cells and check the rest."
While they began approaching the Padawans, Pong Krell walked towards Barriss's cell and opened it. The Mirialan sat in the middle of the cell with her legs crossed and meditated.
"I must commend you Padawan Offee," said the Jedi Master. "I was sure you and Padawan Dume would join this stupid attempt to escape, but I see you managed to grasp how things work around here."
Barriss smiled slightly and responded. "Oh, I know how things work here, I know exactly."
Krell narrowed his yellow eyes. Something was off with her behavior. "Master Krell!" called out one of the soldiers. The Besalisk stepped out of Barriss's cell and looked at him. The soldiers responded quickly. "We have a problem!"
In front of Caleb's open cell, a guard and a B1 battle droid argued. "I'm telling you he's meditating, are your sensors fried or what?!" asked the soldier.
"Well, I'm telling you the cell is empty, maybe one of the Padawans hit you in the head," replied the B1 model.
When the Jedi Master approached them with the other guard, he quickly looked into the cell. Caleb, just like Barriss, was meditating in the middle of the small room in a cross-legged position, but the experienced Jedi sensed that something was off.
He entered the cell and approached the young boy. Without any words, he reached out but his hand went right through him. "It's an illusion!" he stated clenching his teeth. "Those sneaky brats!"
"Ha, I told you!" the B1 model said triumphantly to the soldier, who only rolled his eyes.
The Citadel, Control Room.
"Our forces have captured the rioting Padawans," said of the guards, who sat in front of the consoles and observed everything. From their point of view, everything was fine because a Force illusion would not be stopped by surveillance. Even viewing it through an electronic system such as a cybernetic eye or camera was of no use if the person was within the range of the illusion during its duration; the person would 'see' it with the system as if the illusion were actually there.
"Something is not okay in Padawan Dume's cell though," said another guard as he pointed at the screen where Master Krell reached out towards the Padawan.
As Sobeck sat on his chair, he heard a sound above him where a ventilation duck was located. As he looked up, the cover fell down and a young boy clothed in orange inmate attire jumped down. It was Caleb.
"How did you get here?!" asked Sobeck.
The guards quickly reacted and reached for their blasters, but Caleb used the Force to yank one of the weapons into his hand. Before Sobeck could react in time, Caleb dashed towards him and grabbed him from behind, placing the blaster's barrel to his temple. Despite being lower than the warden, Caleb jumped and simply pulled him so that the Phidian leaned back.
"Everybody get out or the warden will have a hole in his brain!" demanded the young Padawan.
The guards aimed at them, but Sobeck extended his hand. "Don't shoot you idiots!" he ordered. Droids that stood outside of the control room and heard the commotion, entered it and also aimed at Caleb and Sobeck.
"You'll be in a world of pain brat!" threatened Sobeck. "If you let go of me and surrender..."
"Shut up!" Caleb interrupted him and pressed the barrel against his temple. "Order them to leave or you'll never get the chance to make good on your threat!"
Sobeck growled but he had no choice but to comply. "Everyone get out!" he ordered.
As the soldiers and droids began to slowly back away and leave the control room, Caleb pushed the warden forward and began to walk with him. When the last troop left the room, the young Padawan let go of the warden and immediately Force-pushed him out of the room and into the troops.
Caleb quickly closed the doors to the control room and shot the control panel.
"I got little time," the Padawan said to himself and dashed towards the other door, that led to a small office, which served as Sobeck's communication room. Caleb quickly began to establish a transmission.
Ten minutes later - The Citadel, Outside The Control Room.
Pong Krell stormed out of the cell and ran back towards the control room. When he reached the doors to the room, he noticed a group of droids and guards as they tried to open them with Sobeck.
"Move aside!" said the Jedi Master. Extending his fours arms, he used the Force to force open the doors to the control room. The droids quickly ran inside and opened fire on the young boy, who was immediately hit and stunned.
Sobeck and Krell entered the room and noticed the unconscious Padawan. "How the hell did this happen?!" Sobeck growled. "How did he manage to get in here without us knowing beforehand?!"
"The group of Padawans created a riot, while Padawan Offee and the other four Padawans used the Force to project an image in Padawan Dume's cell to hide as he escaped through the ventilation shaft," explained the Besalisk Jedi Master. "The droids could surely see through the illusion at the start, but because the other Padawans began to wreck havoc inside their cells, they didn't focused on him. Despite everything it was an admirable attempt."
"I'll skin this brat alive!" Sobeck stated angrily. He looked at the droids. "Get him back into his cell and check everything, I wanna know what he managed to do here!"
"Roger, Roger," the droids nodded.
When Caleb was taken back to his cell and the droids finished checking the control room, one of them approached the warden. "Sir, the young Padawan tried to open the docking bay but he failed. On the downside, he crippled a decent amount of our equipment, maybe out of anger."
"Damn him!" said the Phidian. "He did it on purpose! Then again, all their efforts were in vain, heh. Still, I need to teach that brat a lesson, he'll never forget."
The Citadel, Prison Block C, Caleb's Cell.
The droids simply lay the young Padawan on the floor and left his cell. As he slowly regained consciousness, he heard Barriss's voice in his mind. "Caleb, are you alright?" The older Padawan asked worriedly.
"Ughh..." Caleb groaned and slowly got up from the floor. He sat on the edge of the bed and exhaled. "That was intense," he said through their bond. "But I did it. I've called the Kingdom of the Force and told them anything I could in the short time I had."
"Good job," replied Barriss. "Now we need to wait and endure."
"That's right," replied the young Padawan. "We will be saved!"
Please R&R ;)