Barryk slammed his fist down on the ships control panel and the indicator lights flared to life. He smiled triumphantly-and then they winked as if on cue. He rolled his eyes, shaking his head in frustration. It had been six days since their departure from Casaba, and he knew they were running out of time.
"Where did you pick up this heap of bantha shit?" he asked, looking in Kren's direction, his face a study in disgusted wonderment. "And you had the nerve to call my ship a 'bucket of mynock chow'!" Kren was half hidden under the ship's coolant exchange pump, covered in errant wires and grease, a hydrospanner resting on his chest. He twisted his neck and body around so that he could see his friend.
"Shhhh!" he said, putting a grease smeared finger to his lips, his bright blue eyes looking about him as though he expected some kind of horrible catastrophe to befall them. "Don't bad-mouth the ship, dude! She'll hear you....." Kren went back to his work mumbling "Don't worry, baby, he didn't mean it.."
Barryk was going to suggest to Kren that maybe he should have his head examined but knew it was a moot point. Kren wasn't crazy, but he did have a bizarre sense of humour. They had been virtually stranded on Dantooine after Kren's, the Arcapus, had blown most of the fuses in it's hyperdrive. They had been working almost around the clock for the last four days, trying to get it space worthy again. The ship, an ancient Corellian YT-1200 stock light freighter, belonged to the Alliance but Kren had 'liberated' it for their unsanctioned mission. The delay was frustrating, and Barryk knew they were running out of time. Kren's voice emanated from under the exchange pump, and Barryk flicked and ear in his direction.
"Give that panel another smack, would 'ya?"
Barryk was only more than happy to.
*********
The incoming com call woke him with it's first irritating beep. He had spent most of the day showing Rehn how to focus her negative emotions and call on the Force, and it had taken much of his control to keep her power in check. She was becoming powerful, and required more supervision than before. His voice was low and menacing. "If this is not a crisis, your life is in peril." The disembodied voice that replied sounded as though it were terribly bored.
"Garrison Security, My Lord. You said you wished to be informed if the prisoner.." The bored voice replied but never got to finish. It was nearing shift change, and it was obvious that this call was incurring unappreciated overtime.
"Pacing again?" the dark Jedi interrupted, rolling out of bed and grabbing the hand-held com unit as he threw on his clothes.
"She's.. well... here m'Lord, listen for yourself." the voice now held a degree of uncertainty, as though not sure what to make of what he was seeing. The officer on the other end of the com flipped a switch and audio from the inside of Rehn's cell was transmitted for Drakahn to hear. A scream of frustration and the sound of heavy, angry breathing came over his com. Drakahn's eyes narrowed.
"Inform the guards I'm on my way and to not interfere with her in any way."
This is it Rehn told herself it has to be now. She felt the power of the dark side obey her commands as she pulled in her anger and hate of both the Empire and her current situation. The nightmare had awoken her again, leaving her with a deep, seething and unexplainable hatred for Drakahn. Only two days before she would have been willing to let him .. ~What exactly were you going to let him do?~ an angry voice snapped at her in her mind and the thought of Drakahn touching her made her sick ~You are such a chump! He's playing with you.. seducing you. He is the enemy!~ She shook her head and screamed in frustration, trying go banish the voice. No more. She was not going to be manipulated any more, by anyone. If she didn't escape tonight, she would die trying. She took a deep breath and bellowed a challenge that rang off the walls of her cell like the peel of a great bronze bell.
Davin Felth watched the monitor as Gade paced the room. Pace was not quite the right word for it, he thought. She looked like the sand panther he had seen once at a zoo one his home world. She stalked, her eyes glowering, her head held low, ready to strike like a venomous serpent. Her soft fur was dark and patchy with a heavy sweat and anywhere where her clothing rubbed her hide it was churned into a thin white lather. It had been going on for some time now and he only hoped that whoever was watching the cell's security monitors back at the garrison was either too lazy or uncaring to report her behaviour to the Death's Messenger. He'd hoped she would calm down on her own, but her anger only seemed to grow and intensify. Even though most of his humanity had to be hidden so that his cover was not blown, he so very much wanted to tell her that he had gotten the word out, and that help was on it's way. He had not had any contact with her since the night he had seen the altercation between the Deaths' Messenger and Rage Vader, but it was apparent something had happened in that time. He was so busy watching cell's monitor he did not even hear Drakahn approach.
"How long has this been going on?" he demanded. Felth nearly jumped out of his armour and he spun in surprise to face the huge Thalcein.
"A-about half an hour, my Lord." Drakahn looked at the monitor, and was not happy. He closed his eyes, drawing the dark side to him, and opened the door, slamming it behind him. She stopped pacing and he looked down at her balefully. To his growing irritation she returned it unflinchingly, her ears flattened and teeth bared. The defiance and hate had returned to her eyes with a vengeance, and they seemed to blaze. He was not amused.
"You will cease this behaviour immediately." Drakahn growled. "I am most displeased." Rehn tossed her head and glowered back at him in defiance. Drakahn was quickly losing patience.
"I don't really give a shit." she replied sarcastically. Her voice had such vehemence, yet a smile twisted her dark lips. "What did you trade besides your soul and your people to be the Emperor's pawn? Maybe you provide him with a little extra entertainment? I'm sure his human concubines get a little tiresome after a while."
"You have taxed my patience to the limit, young one. I have treated you well, shown you things about yourself you never before knew.." he growled, his voice angry and disgusted "And this is how you repay my kindness?" She was going to learn not to speak to him in any tone other and respectful. She tossed her head in his direction arrogantly, her feet prancing and the attack came so quick he nearly missed it. She leapt, her leg lashing out, her spur cutting the air where his throat had been only moments before. Her lethal spur grazed his cheek, making a deep laceration. He reached up and put a hand to the wound, then looked at the dark blood dripping from his fingers. His angry green eyes shifted back her.
"Kindness?!" she snapped in contempt "You're old enough to be my father and you tried to seduce me! If Barryk were here he'd hang your head from the palisades, you sick bastard."
"Seduce you?" Drakahn asked, sounding incredulous "I did not hear you protest that night I took you from this cell and to my quarters to give you some freedom. It was rather apparent that you would have given yourself to me had I asked you to." he studied her and felt her wince inwardly, knowing he was right "Perhaps you are not as innocent as you seem. Was Gellan more than just your superior officer?" he asked accusingly, looking down at her as if she were somehow tainted. "Did he maybe teach you a little more than was in the training manual?" By the look on her face Drakahn knew he had found the right button to push. Incensed, Rehn drew hard on the dark side, focussing somewhat clumsily for her next attack. "And what of your brother? If he was going to come for you, he'd have done it by now. No one is coming for you, Rehn. Not the Rebellion, not your brother.. No one. The sooner you accept this, the easier it will be."
Rehn shook her head in denial. No… Barryk had to be coming for her.. He wouldn't just forsake her… would he?
Drakahn's teeth ground in anger. He had expected her to rebel at some point, when she had begun to realize her power and would try to slip her leash, but he had not expected it quite this soon. He could feel her draw the dark side to her and could feel his throat constrict as she focussed on him. He blocked the attack easily. She blinked and shook her head as he used the Force to suppress her ability. Her control was shaky, her concentration easily broken and it was then a simple matter to then block her ability almost completely. Gade looked at him in surprise as the Force abandoned her, and Rehn knew she was in serious trouble. Drakahn approached her, his ears flattened, his eyes fierce and lashed out with a vicious back hand that hit her in the mouth and spun her around. Rehn's head rocked back from the blow and she was thrown into the wall. She began to slide to the floor, scrambling to stay upright as blood filled her mouth. He moved in on her with an angry snarl. Grabbing her by the throat with a massive hand, the Messenger lifted her from her feet and pinned her to the wall. He licked the blood from her lip and gave her a sadistic, narrow eyed smile as he pressed his body into her, delighting in the look of terror that flashed in the young prisoners eyes. His frustration and aggression were about to be alleviated.
Felth stood outside the door, listening through the sensors in his helmet. Oh gods.. Felth didn't know what to do, and stood looking helplessly at the door of the cell with a sick feeling in his gut. He heard Rehn's choked, terrified and pain filled screams that eventually became little more than broken whimpers. Davin thought he would be sick, and turned the external audio sensors in his helmet off, unable to listen to her desperate struggles any longer. Forgive me, Rehn. After what seemed like an eternity, Drakahn opened the door and stepped into the hallway, his face a cold, emotionless mask, his chest heaving. He was sweating heavily, as though he'd just finished a vigorous workout. Davin noticed the long, deep cut to his cheek, but the huge stallion seemed otherwise unharmed. Drakahn straightened his clothing and didn't even look at Felth when he spoke.
"Summon the garrison medical staff." was all he said, and then he walked away. The rebel agent waited until the dark Jedi was gone before slipping into the cell. Rehn lay on her left side in a crumpled heap on the cement floor in a pool of her own dark blood. The front of her bloody shirt was torn and vicious tooth impressions marked her shoulders and neck, particularly behind her ear where her head and neck joined. He knelt at her shoulder and lay a hand on it reassuringly. Her eyes were closed and she was bleeding from the nose and mouth. It turned to pink froth as she tried to breath.
"Hang on Rehn, help is coming." he wished he could tell her more, that someone was probably coming to get her out, but he couldn't. Something was very different about her than the first time he had seen her. He couldn't quite put his finger. He had seen her with Drakahn, and no longer thought she could be completely trusted. He sent the priority message direct to General Ranikin, who had a shuttle sent to Drakahn's fortress to collect Gade. Her pulse was thready and weak when the med personnel arrived and loaded her onto a stretcher and hustled her to the shuttle. She had five broken ribs, a punctured lung, a broken arm and had almost bled to death by the time she was taken to the garrison. She was stabilized and dropped into the bacta tank for a three day stay in the med ward.