Rehn lay quietly on her side in the cell. Her head ached from the blow she had taken from the one called Rage. The young rebel rolled into a seated position with a grunt. Leaning against the wall behind her, she reached up with a long right leg hooking the blunt, leading edge of her spur under the tie down of the blindfold. With a growl Gade threw her head back, yanking the hood roughly from her face. The young Thalcein came to wish she hadn't been so hasty though, as her eyes were assaulted by harsh white light. She had not seen illumination of any sort for over a week, and she squeezed her mismatched eyes shut in pain and it took almost ten minutes before her eyes acclimated. The muzzle that held her powerful jaws shut was another matter, and try as she might, she could not wrestle it off. She got to her feet, stretching out cramped and bruised muscles, her long neck and back making cracking sounds as she did. The binders she wore kept her shoulder joints bent back and they were starting to ache fiercely. The cell was bare, except for a shatterproof glow panel.
What the hell is going on here? Rehn thought. Why am I still alive? By all rights, she should be as dead as poor Gellan. The loss still hit her hard. He had been her first partner- her mentor, but she knew she could not dwell on his death. The best way to grieve was to escape and rejoin the Alliance and continue to fight the Empire. That's what she had been taught - you aren't beaten until you are dead.
Her angry mind focused on her surroundings and she began to take stock of her situation. Cell- she couldn't hear anything, and could only feel the vibrations of the ship itself -soundproof she concluded. One door, one glow panel, otherwise featureless and sterile. Why wasn't she being interrogated? What were they waiting for? Those were the next question. The Imperials were usually not courteous enough for the subject to awaken on their own terms, usually just shooting them up with enough stimulant to bring them to painful, nauseous consciousness. And who was the woman in charge? She had faintly heard Fett say 'Rage'... The woman's smooth voice played over in Gade's head like a corrupted holo file. It came to her slowly, a briefing she'd had over a year ago about the major players in the Imperial hierarchy. Rehn's heart grew cold in her chest. Lady Rage Vader...the adopted daughter of Darth Vader.. Gade couldn't recall the particulars about the Sith Princess, but knew that she was in a galaxy of trouble. There was something about the young woman that made her skin crawl, though she couldn't put a finger on it. Rehn's head began to spin, and she leaned heavily against the wall opposite the cell's pressure door. Her mouth was dry and her tongue grated like sandpaper in her mouth. She made a mental check of her physical condition next, and realized had not eaten in a while, long enough to make the hunger pains go away and had dropped some weight. She was also dehydrated, which accounted for the dizziness and nausea. She was not in the best of condition, and that would only make escape more difficult. Add to the fact she was being held on an Imperial-Class Star Destroyer, and the odds were beginning to look pretty bleak. Don't think about that her mental voice chastised you'll either escape or die trying.
The door opened with a 'whoosh' of pneumatics abruptly enough to make the young agent jump, her head snapping in it's direction. She straightened herself, breathing in deep, angry rhythms and tried to look more intimidating than she felt. She gave an explosive snort, her cold, mismatched eyes fierce. Two large men stepped silently through the entrance, their eyes not wavering from her. They wore the commando style crimson uniform of the Royal Guard and were at least a head taller than the young Thalcein. Rehn's eyes narrowed, her ears lying flat against her neck, teeth bared despite the muzzle as she backed into a corner of the cell. Her feet were set apart, shoulder width, knees bent, her toes seeming to knead the durasteel under them. The fear she felt was an almost tangible thing, raw, but hidden under her natural aggression. The Imperial Guard where the elite of the elite, and tales of their skills legendary in the rebel Black Ops community. This was the first time she had seen a Guardsman, and while even stormtroopers would think twice about attacking her in less than squad strength, the two Guardsmen in her cells seemed unconcerned. Another figure stepped through the door. Tall, athletically built, with raven hair and fierce black eyes that reminded Rehn of a serpent's, the woman fixed Gade with an appraising look.
Gade's skin began to twitch fiercely as though it would crawl off her body and her heart hammered in her chest. Sith.... Rehn remembered stories of the Sith, and the rumours of power that both Vader and this woman wielded. You'll either escape, or die trying... Gade snorted again harshly, tossing her head and shaking the crest of her neck in threat, her matted black tail lashing like an angry living fire.
"If I wanted you dead Gade, you would have been stuffed and mounted on my wall when you first got here. Just be a good little shrag and come along quietly." Rage could feel the Rebel's hate and fear rolling off her like a delicious wave. A cruel smile touched her lips as she reached out with the Force to touch Gade's mind, to see if she could turn they young warrior's fear into a weapon. Rage knew the young rebel was going to be difficult to control. The Thalcein did not adapt well to captivity and even though Rehn was dehydrated and weakened, it apparently was not enough to snuff, or even dim, her fire. It was a thankfully short walk to the medical bay, and Rage intended to get her there if she had to drag Gade by the tail. Lord Vader had been adamant - Gade was to be kept alive, and no failures would be tolerated. "Take her to sick bay." she instructed the Guardsmen, as Rage reached into the young Thalcein's mind, intending to tweak her fears until she became a paralysed by them. Rage wanted to see the young warrior cower in fear, like other rebels who'd been unfortunate enough to enjoy her hospitality. This open defiance and aggression was most irritating.
As the two Guardsmen approached, Rehn felt something cold, like a dead hand, touch her mind, unlike anything she had ever felt before and Gade fought down a sudden, inexplicable surge of panic that threatened to make her shrink away from the two advancing men. Mind tricks...don't give in.. You aren't beaten 'till you're dead... She gave a bellow, a noise that sounded like two rusted hunks of metal grating against each other and shook her head violently, squeezing her eyes shut as her head began to ache.
The mental blow may as well have been physical. Rage felt the wind driven from her lung as if she had just been hit by a speeder, as though Gade's mind had just slammed shut to her, shoving her violently away in an effort to protect itself. Rage staggered and fell from the power of the mental blast, and Rehn, eyes now open and angry, saw her opportunity as one of the crimson uniformed Guards turned to help the fallen Sith. Gade struck like a diving falcon, lunging forward with frightening speed, her right leg slashing out in a blur, her spur catching the advancing human across the belly and felt her weapon cut through his armour as though it were paper. She ignored his screams of agony, bolting headlong for the door and out into the corridor.