Bestine IV - Kyr'tsad Base - Day 4

J'oran was reading through a book in the room as two of his soldiers brought Marin into the chamber, stripped out of her armor and just in her overalls. She wasn't cooperating with them at all and one of them backhanded her before they attached manacles to her elbows and attached them to a harness that lifted her off the ground by a half meter. J'oran kept reading as they finished setting her up on the wall of the chamber and then stood on both sides of her before he finally looked up. "Decided if you would give me a hard time asking questions?" he asked as he kept reading through a few pages.

Marin hissed, struggling a bit as her feet left the floor. His question brought her gaze to him, and she glared. "I told you before: I'm not telling you anything." She stopped struggling for a moment, again trying to stay calm. Steffan's words echoing in her mind from when she'd tried to go after J'oran all those years ago.

He closed his book and set it down before he got up and walked towards Marin. He was without his beskar'gam and wore a set of black tunics in a cut that seemed so familiar to her in some way. It wasn't until he got close to her that recognition started to set in.

I promise you, young one, he said in Cataani to her as he looked her right in the eyes. I will have the answers I require...one way or another.

Her eyes widened as she recognized the tunics of a Cataani Marine. They bore no insignia... but she would know them anywhere. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from swearing in surprise. You will try…

Only those who believe they might fail try, girl, he said as he looked off to the right side of her face...noting that some of her hair was singed. "What's this?" he asked as he traced over the singed pieces. "Someone severed your braid, didn't they... your main connection with the praxeum...and her highness, eh?"

Marin swallowed. She'd tried not to think about that, for it caused a cold lump to settle in her stomach. She forced herself to not look away from him, but she remained silent. Inwardly, she was seething. What of it...? She asked as evenly as she could, already trying to figure out the shabla contraption that held her.

He looked behind him to the other that was there with him when they brought her in. "You did this, Larel?" When the man nodded, he couldn't help but grin. "A nice move... I'll be challenged with another way to see if she'll talk."

It was about that time the dart flew from his hand and imbedded in her forearm at a certain spot that he had picked out.

She hissed in surprise, feeling the sting. "Me'ven...?" She twisted, trying to dislodge the dart, but found it hard to move.

"Struggle as much as you want, little one," Danos said as he kept watching her. "No one yet has been able to make their way around that setup...especially once your hand starts numbing. Oh yes," he said as he held her hand out where she could see. "The needle is in a certain nerve area. You're not going to have use of that hand for a while once its removed."

A cold chill squirmed its way down her spine. From the way he was talking, she figured they were more specialized version of the ones Ethan used during her training. "And that will accomplish...what exactly?" She glared at him, her gaze shifting to the other man in the room... the same one who'd captured her.

"You'll regain use of it after some time," he told her again. "There are nerve clusters, such as this one..." Just as he said it, another needle found its way into the joint of her shoulder."...and you might regain use of that arm...if I decide to take the needle out before its too late. We have some time...so you can start talking to me."

She gasped before gritting her teeth. Shab, that hurt... at least until she couldn't feel anything. Her brown eyes bored into him. "Or what? You think that's going to make me talk?"

"What I'm demonstrating is an old Guild technique," he told her as he drew another needle from where he was keeping them. "The body has all kinds of nerves for different things...I'm only using the ones that will numb you, in the case of your hand, or permanently paralyze you, as your other arm if I don't remove it in time. There are also others, little one, that can cause extreme pain when attacked...such as this one."

The next needle entered her side, just below her shoulder at the point he intended. It would be excruciating, but not enough to dull her senses.

She gasped... a curse falling from her lips before she could stop it. She couldn't feel her arm anymore... but her side...She hissed curses under her breath.

He kept it there for the moment, reaching to pull her head back by the hair and got right into her face. "Now," he said, the smile on his face gone and replaced with something darker. "Do we have an understanding?"

She growled at him and nodded, her eyes wide. There was pain in her gaze. "Me'copaani..?"

"I imagine you have some knowledge of the Cataani fleet...maybe not as much as I do, since I was once part of their armed forces, but you'll have updated information. I'm told that new battlegroups have been constructed. We'll start with a simple question...how many groups do they have now?"

She looked away for a moment, trying to think past the pain. "Seven? I really don't know, Don't have much interaction with the armed forces.."

"At only fifteen, I'm sure I can rely on that answer," Danos granted her. "I have my own sources for that, so that is no worry of mine. However, I believe you have intimate knowledge of Mt. Adan."

She swallowed. "What concern is that of yours..?"

He only responded by twinging the needle in her side.

"Aaaah!" She yelped, sweat beading on her forehead as she bit her lip. She had no way to block the pain, at least with the Force. She lifted her gaze, glaring at him.

"I ask the questions now," he told her as he let go of the needle. "Now...how many have attained knighthood through Mt. Adan? How many is he training now?" She knew exactly who J'oran meant by 'he'.

Marin swallowed. "I... " She stopped, honestly trying to think. She spent more time way from the praxeum than in it these days due to her advanced training with Ethan. "That I know of? Two recently... though I'm sure there's more. I don't honestly know how many he trains these days." She glared again, still conscious of the other in the room.

"Oh, I know you can do better than that," Danos said as he drew yet another needle. "You spent the better part of 3 years in that old monastery, perhaps longer. How many students?"

She glared. If looks could kill... "Fifteen or twenty.. it varies."

"On what?"

She gritted her teeth. "On if they decide to stay or not.."

He nodded at this and made a few mental notes. "How intense is the training...does it follow the standard practice or his more martialist views?"

She frowned a moment. "We learn standard Jetiise philosophy as well as saber training and swordmanship..."

"Rumors float, little one," Danos told her. "It is said that a jetii that comes from Mt. Adan is one that is not to be trifled with."

Her teeth grated every time he called her that, but she didn't let it show. "Don't believe everything you hear.."

"Oh, I have heard of the prowess of your teacher," he told her with a smile. "Just the tales one hears of the great battles of Rhen Var and Msst...and that is only the most recent of his great battles. No, dalyc, I believe there is truth to what is said. However, I know things have been gatherings lately...who has been meeting?"

She frowned inwardly. His intel was good then. "The Marines have been out on exercises... as to the rest, I'm not invited to such things."

Danos laughed at that answer. "All schools have rumors...I'm sure there was talk of the great gatherings that have been happening near the school."

"Doesn't make them true..." She shrugged. "I've heard of them, yes. But don't know details."

He leaned forward, holding the fresh needle in front of her. "Enlighten me."

She swallowed. "I...I've seen a lot of the Council come and go lately... He never says what they discuss."

"Just the council?"

She looked up for a moment, the strain showing just a little. "Some of the other allies too. Though I only know them by sight, not name..."

He nodded at this, knowing she was still under the pain of the needle in her side. Knowing he was getting the truth, he pulled the one from her shoulder so she would retain use of that arm...but kept the other two in place. "Now...where is Ethan?"

"I don't know... last I'd heard he was out on a contract." That was the truth at least.

"Do you really expect me to think he's letting you take missions on your own already...that the princess would?"

She nodded. It was true, they were.

He thought about it for a few moments, then reached and withdrew the needle in her side quickly.

"Take her to her cell," he told the two next to him. "She can rest; then bring her back when I am ready to continue."

Marin swallowed, gasping as the needle was removed. Her face was pale, and sweat beaded on her forehead as she tried to fight the pain.

The two let her down on the floor, unhooking her from the harness and started to lead her out as J'oran began to consult with his other man.

Marin had lost track of time. The only indication she had was her meals – what little they gave her - and the interrogations by J'oran. Her teeth grated every time she thought of him. But she supposed that was how he wanted it. She lay still, conscious of the cool metal of the cuffs around her wrists. If she moved, she'd get jolted full of electricity again.

She could still feel the slight heaviness of her left hand and arm, which told her that she'd not be able to use that arm much. 'Chakaar…' she thought, her thoughts dark for a moment before she breathed evenly pushing that thought away. She knew she'd been here maybe two or three days… that was on top of the two days she'd been on recon. Almost a full week.

Ethan would be out looking for her surely. He knew if she didn't check in, it meant trouble. A few slow breaths calmed her nerves as she lay there, the faint breeze ruffling her hair in the darkness. The air was damp, and smelled slightly salty. 'Close to the ocean…' she told herself. There were few systems near Tanagis that held planets with that much saltwater. It wasn't Galan… the Cataani Navy still had the system blockaded.

Marin frowned, trying to remember her astrogation lessons from Ethan. The only systems close to Tanagis that had saltwater were Eriadu and Bestine. But the air smelled too clean for Eriadu. She'd been there on a recon before. And the entire planet reeked of starship fuel and garbage… and not in a good way. The salty tang of seawater made the air feel a bit clammy against her skin. It had to be Bestine.

She lay there for several minutes, flexing her wrists carefully. Master Karrde and Ethan had tried to prepare her for the eventuality of capture, and she was glad they had... though she was kicking herself for revealing as much as she had. She flexed the fingers of her left hand, trying to restore feeling as she felt something shift inside her sleeve. After a few more minutes, she felt a slim object fall into her right hand. This wasn't going to be easy.

Shifting the small tool around in her fingers, she slowly began wedging it into the edge of the cuffs where she knew the electricity emitter to be. Stun cuffs were predictable in that they were all constructed the same way. She knew guards were close, but she'd not heard movement inside her cell since they'd brought her back last time. After several long minutes, she felt a faint jolt of electricity and then a faint click as the cuffs fell away. Now, could she get past the guards and away from the base…?

Bestine – Aboard the Werda

"I don't see a place to land," Ethan said as he looked over the terrain on yet another area of the islands that was mainly large rocky spires.. "Never knew what this planet's terrain was like and I sure don't like it right now."

Callista frowned, tapping away at the sensor console. "Doesn't seem like a very friendly place..." She sighed. "How about there...?" She pointed to a flat patch of ground slightly to the east.

Ethan looked it over carefully, judging the space. "Maybe just enough...hold on..." It took some delicate maneuvering, but he finally felt comfortable enough to finish the landing and started to settle the engines down. "Hope our taking the time to find a spot didn't alert them."

Callista frowned, rubbing at her visor for a moment as she looked over the sensors. "No movement I can tell... but then... I'm starting to get fuzzy on sensing things..."

He looked over to her. "Same thing someone tried to pull on that trail we were following...or something else?"

She frowned a bit. "Some of both... but I feel a bit of a void to the west... there's just... nothing there in the Force..."

"Nothing?" he asked as he looked in that direction. "I hear tell that there's only one sort of creature that does that...and it ain't native to here."

She frowns. "Ysalamiri..."

"Now why, do you suppose, someone would have a ysalamiri here?" he asked with a grin as he got up and started to go to his weapon's locker.

She chuckled a bit. "Only one reason I can think of...which means we're in the right place. But if so... that means they were expecting us too..." She rose and checked her rippers.

"Trap?"

"For sure..." She sighed. "Almost wish Jarius had known before..." She cut that thought off before it went further.

"He knew something was up," Ethan said as he checked weapons and started to load up. "But even he wouldn't have thought they'd just bring the building down on him...hell, I wouldn't."

She chuckled a bit. "First time for everything. Wish we had more backup. Any luck on reaching the Marines?"

"I got ahold of Taylon and relayed the word, but I know they're expecting trouble from the Imps...maybe the Reps too," he said as he slapped in a fresh cell into his carbine and pulled the charging handle. "Got Sharon to alert the Mando'ade too."

"Aye, good idea that... though I know they have some problems of their own." She slipped a few spare cartridges into pouches on her belt, checking her saber. "I'm ready if you are..."

He grinned inside his helmet as he looked at her. "Let's spring a trap."

She smirked a bit. "What do you have in mind, Ethan?"

"First thing is first. We need to scout and find them."

"That could take time... or not. Don't think heading that way right off would be a good choice."

"We'll skirt around it, get a lay of the land before we settle into an idea. Come on."

"Lek.. Lead the way. I'm not as familiar with the area. I'll keep an eye out as well."

dalyc - girl

lek - yeah