Where Revan had gotten the torture droid, Keena did not know. It was of no design she recognized, and the only marking on it was the same one Revan´s forces seemed to have adopted as their own. The only thing she knew was that it was very, very good. And Revan gave it free reign whenever she couldn´t be there herself.
How long had it been? Keena´s sluggish, sleep deprived mind couldn´t seem to put any order or timeframe around the neverending misery her world had become. Days? Weeks? All that she was strongly aware of was that she was in pain and when Revan visited she was in more pain
She was manacled hand and foot to a cold and very uncomfortable table, naked to allow the droid full access to her defenseless body. She didn´t know where she was since the room only lit up when Revan came by. Mostly she was left in the dark with only her hearing, listening to the droid prepare whatever tools she was going to be introduced to next. As if the table wasn´t bad enough a place to spend all her time the droid kept giving her injections for various purposes. One drug she was becoming quite familiar with was some sort of stimulant that kept her from ever truly falling asleep, meaning she spent those rare occasions when the droid left her alone in a miserable state of almost-sleep, with her mind desperately in need of rest, but with her muscles jittering with nervous energy. That constant state of her consiousness hovering tantalisingly close to rest was giving the whole thing an unreal quality, with reality and thought blending hapasardly together in a confusing mix.
The only constant thoughts she managed to hold onto for any length of time concerned Revan.
Revan, the hero and saviour of the Republic. Revan, the beloved and compassionate leader. Revan, the Jedi she admired like no other.
How could this happen? Was this really happening? Her drugged, exhausted mind tried to make sense of it and failed.
She accidentally exhaled too hard and got a sharp jolt of pain from her stomach as a reward. Yes, this was happening all right. She had been given enough kolto to keep her alive, but just that. She still felt the wound acutely. The droid realised that all to well.
Keena tried to relax and use the respite she was getting from the droid´s tender mercies to rest. She felt her mind hover over the welcoming oblivion of sleep for a moment, but as usual a muscular spasm brought her back from the edge and kept her in this horrible reality.
She had tried meditating at first, both to block out the pain and to rest, but the combination of drugs, pain and exhaustion kept her from concentrating. And when was the last time she had meditated anyway? She had been very lax in her meditations lately, she now realised.
Her mind was starting to wander off again, to take some random trip through her uncoordinated brain, when she felt Revan approach.
There was no mistaking it. Even with her sense of the Force severly dulled by the drugs there was no mistaking the sick, dark aura.
The door slid open, revealing the hooded silhouette of the woman she had considered one of her most trusted friends. Keena´s pride had eventually gone the same way as her sense of time and she cringed as her torturer walked in and the dim lights automatically went on. She was afraid and she had lost the strength the hide it.
The table rose up into a vertical position, making the manacles even more painful as she now hung from them.
Revan took off one gauntlet and carefully stroked a strand of hair out of Keena´s face and tugged it behind her ear. Keena cringed at the touch; the hand was deathly cold.
´´Hello, Keena.´´ Revan said sweetly. ´´I was planning to continue our discussion from last time. I hope you´ve taken the time to think about what I said.´´
Keena managed to consentrate on the black faceplate, hating it, though she wasn´t entirely sure if she wanted to look the other woman in the eyes any more.
´´The Sith had it right the whole time, Keena. It´s time to face that. We, the strong, are not supposed to bleed and die to protect the weak. That simply is not the natural way of things. They exist to serve us. Why else would they exist, mindless cattle that can´t fend for itself? That is why there is distinction. The Sith way is the natural law of the universe.´´
Revan gently cupped Keena´s chin. ´´Why do you tell yourself otherwise?´´
Keena stared wordlessly at the faceplate.
´´All you have to do is free yourself from the shackles the Jedi Order has put you in, embrace your passions, embrace the true power of the Force and you will see I am right.´´
Keena´s sluggish mind felt Revan´s silken smooth voice slide through her defenses and plant something inside . . . as always. There was no denying it: Every time Revan came she tore down a little bit more of Keena´s conviction, planting ever more doubt and anger. And Keena hated her for it. And that hatred served Revan´s purposes perfectly, she knew that very well. But it didn´t make a difference.
She wondered how long it would be before doubt would feel like knowledge.
Keena didn´t notice Revan´s hand slide down to her vulnerable stomach until a stream of lightning hit her. As always she squirmed and spasmed as much as the manacles allowed, and as always Revan kept at it until her victim´s resistance broke down and she was screaming uncontrollably. At first she had been able to maintain some amount of serenity, of pride. But there just was no end to it.
The electrocution kept on going until Keena reached the point in the agony where she thought she would die . . . and then a little longer. Finally it stopped. She hung there limply and wondered, not for the first time, what exactly the droid gave her to keep her from blacking out.
The cold faceplate regarded Keena. ´´Have you ever felt your life so intensely?´´
´´You bitch!´´ It was meant to be a scream but came out as a weak croak. ´´You delusional, traitorous, lying Sith whore!!´´
A small chuckle escaped Revan´s lips. That now familiar chuckle was the only thing about her demenour that lifted the charismatic veil of her voice and revealed the sick infection underneath: Cold, empty and sadistic.
´´That´s better Keena.´´ Keena didn´t have the strength to recoil when Revan grabbed a handful of hair and held her head up to stare in her eyes. ´´That´s much better. Every time I come here you cast off a little bit of the pathetic padawan you were and move closer to the Dark Side. The TRUE Side. No delusions of serenity or self-imposed limitations or bucking and scraping to insects!´´
Revan leaned her metal-clad face way into Keena´s. She hated that mask. She truly hated it.
´´The Dark Side has it´s hook in you, my friend. And there is no escape, ever.´´
Another vicious stream of lightning followed, just as long and powerful as the last one.
´´Well, I´m afraid I can´t stop as long as usual this time. There is much to do and I can´t afford to leave it up my underlings to get it right. But don´t worry; my pet will keep you company.´´
Keena tried to form a reply, a curse, anything, but her sore throat wouldn´t allow it. She knew she would scream, though, when the droid got back to work, no matter how much it hurt or how badly her voice broke.
Her exhausted brain registered Revan´s parting words: ´´You´ll thank me for this one day.´´
And she was right. She was right about everything. Her resolve and conviction died away little by little, and in the foreseeable future nothing would be left but anger and hatred and doubt. And the darkness. The darkness that twisted Revan into a soulless, unfeeling monster.
It´s going to happen. I´m going to end up just the same. Darth Keena. And there is nothing I can do about it.
Desperation broke down her last remaining strength and tears slid down her cheeks.
And she heard the droid approach.
-------------------------------
Time passed. She didn´t know how much. Revan visited. She didn´t know how often. Another piece of her soul was lost. She didn´t know how big.
The droid was recharging and Keena was in her half-sleep state when she felt a rumble go through the ship. Then warning claxons and the distant sound of many running feet. Something had gone very wrong.
Some time ago she had hoped and prayed for some catastrophy that would take this blighted ship and everyone on it, before Revan mobilized her army against the battered Republic. And before the darkness would consume her. She had feverishly hoped she would get to die whole.
Now she didn´t care. Whatever would happen would happen.
If the ship went down it would at least take that bitch with it.
The next thing she was aware of was the familiar hiss of a lightsaber being activated, and a blue light illuminated the room. Keena turned her head just in time to see the torture droid get sliced in half. Too bad it couldn´t feel pain.
Four quick blurs with the lightsaber and she was free.
A face hovered over her and she was eventually able to focus on it.
´´Eskon . . .´´
´´Keena,´´ his voice filled with worry, ´´I found you. Just hang on, I´m going to get you out of here.´´
She felt him inject her with something. A familiar feeling, except this time she regocnized the effects of a powerful kolto shot as her abused body started mending. The pains in her wounds, and long time immobile limbs slowly faded. She had almost forgotten what it felt like to not be in pain. It felt like paradise.
Next followed a shot of some sort of stimulant. Her mind was forcibly lifted from the fog that had descended on it and her senses sharpened. The feeling was not a substitute for sleep and somewhat uncomfortable, but it also felt good to think more or less straight.
´´This should keep you up for a few hours at least. By that time I plan to have us both long gone from here.´´
Keena accepted the canteen he handed her and after some water her vocal cords didn´t feel quite so raw.
´´Thank you.´´ she croaked.
´´Anytime. Look I´d love to talk but we don´t have much time.´´
He handed her a bundle of clothes and started helping her maneuver her sluggish limbs into them.
´´I sabotaged the hyperdrive and targeting systems. We just need to make our way to the hangar bay and they won´t be able to follow us or turn us into space debris.
´´Not bad. What about . . . Revan?´´ The name tasted bitter and foul on her lips, and she had to hold back several colorful alternatives for her ´´friend´´.
Eskon´s face looked haggard. His small, alert eyes were tired and had huge bags under them. His usually neatly trimmed short hair and beard was filthy and tangled. His eyes seemed to shrink back from the intense gaze Keena fixed him with as she awaited an answer.
´´She´s . . . somewhere on the ship. That´s all I know. Making preperations for the . . . invasion.´´ He sighed deeply. ´´This just doesn´t seem real. How could this happen?´´ he mumbled, half to himself.
´´Well it happened. Make no mistake about that. That bitch betrayed us. She betrayed everything!´´ Keena fanned the fire of her anger, letting it overshadow the feelings of betrayal, humiliation and fear. ´´And she´s going to pay for it!´´
Eskon flinched at the venom in her voice and looked her in the eyes with something she couldn´t quite identify. Fear? Sadness?
´´Later.´´ he said, weakly. ´´Unless you´re willing to fight your way to the bridge in this state we´re going to head for the docking bay. The confusion won´t last for long. Not with Revan in charge. Our chances are slim enough as it is.´´
Keena scowled but didn´t have an answer for that. Right. Later . . .
When she finished dressing he pulled out a lightsaber from under his robe.
´´I believe this is yours,´´ with some of that old boyish glint returning to his eyes. ´´Try holding on to it this time.´´
Keena snatched it out of his hand and felt like a piece of her had been returned. She lovingly grasped the hilt made especially to match her grip perfectly. ´´Revan took it!´´ The anger momentarily took the backseat for joy and wonder.
´´What can I say? I´m talented.´´ The glint was followed by the rougish half-grin she´d grown so fond of.
She joke-punched him in the arm and felt some of the gloom lift from her heart.
´´Thanks for saving me, you jerk.´´
Maybe there was hope yet.
´´Let´s go.´´
The hallway was empty, with most of the crew being dispatched to control the fires Eskon had started. They both knew the Storm in and out and moved swiftly and silently to an elevator in a little used part of her. Two troopers were on guard there, but Eskon scrambled their minds and they entered without trouble. The two Jedi would be long gone before they realised anything was wrong.
Keena hit the button for the hangar in the ship´s bottom and leaned against the wall, wondering how long the stimulant would keep her on her feet.
´´She told me the others, all the others, have sworn alliagence to her as the new Sith Lord. Is it true, or was she just messing with me?´´
She allowed herself a moment of hope for her brother and sister Jedi, her friends. Only a moment. Eskon´s eyes told her everything she needed to know.
They were lost.
Revan had abused the trust they had placed in her and slowly twisted and perverted them into horrible mockeries of what they were. Of what they had stood for. And when they fell, either from the coming war, Sith infighting or simply age, the only thing left for them would be the darkness. Even in death Revan would damn the ones Keena had called friends.
´´I hate her Eskon. I really, truly hate her.´´
Somehow the look in Eskon´s eyes made the hurt even worse. He was saved from having to answer when the elevator doors slid open. Three troopers had been standing on the other side of it.
They simultaniously raised their blasters when Eskon and Keena simultaniously raised their hands and sent them flying into a wall, knocking them out.
Keena walked over to them and ignited her lightsaber. The soldiers were not Jedi. They could not excuse themselves by having fallen to the Dark Side. They were just traitors. She squeesed the hilt until her hand hurt and raised it for a sideways swing at all three of them.
No excuses. Just scum!
Eskon´s large hand clamped around her wrist in a drowning man´s grip. His face was an image of despair and sorrow as his other hand sought out the switch on the sabre and deactivated it.
´´Let´s go Keena.´´ His voice was horribly strained. ´´We´re almost there.´´
She let him lead her to the hangar. Something opened up a fresh wound deep in her gut. Eventually she recognized it as shame.
´´Look . . . Eskon . . .´´ she was losing control of her voice. ´´I just . . . I . . .´´
´´Save it Keena´´ He said tiredly as they made their way to a shuttle in the middle of the hangar, surrounded by sharp-nosed raptor fighters. It had been left with it´s engines running and the boarding ramp down. Most likely a result of Eskon´s sabotage.
´´Revan knows we´re here, I can sense it. She´s sending the whole ship down on us. Let´s just get out of here.´´
Keena managed to stretch her Force senses enough to sense pretty much the entire crew headed towards the hangar.
Eskon held her hand as they ran up the ramp.
´´We can talk when we . . .´´
Keena sensed a massive wave of Force power a moment before she was sprawled on the hangar floor.
A huge figure emerged from the shuttle and activated a lightsaber.
´´I´ve been waiting for you two.´´
Malak.
How he had changed in the months since she saw him. His skin had turned a ghastly pale colour, almost grey. His eyes had sunk into the back of his head, and seemed to be losing their colour as well. And he looked so old.
He´s in his twenties for crying out loud.
And the smile. The subtle little smile that had almost become his trademark was replaced by a horrible, smug grimace that could possibly be called a grin.
Keena tried to simultaniously force her battered body to stand up and her hand to snatch the lightsaber from her belt. She couldn´t help but think of their sparring sessions. Sometimes he´d won. Sometimes he hadn´t. But then she hadn´t been suffering the effects of long-time torture and sleep deprivation. She was very scared.
Eskon got to his feet and took a fighting stance with his twin lightsabers.
´´Malak! For goodness´s sake man! Think about what you´re doing! We´re Jedi!´´
´´No, Eskon,´´ he twirled his red sabre, ´´you´re a Jedi. For now, anyway.´´
Eskon´s face fixed in a grim scowl of determination. ´´You´ll never turn us Malak. Never.´´
Malak laughed, a gratingly ugly sound devoid of life. ´´Well, it´s either that or kill you. The woman you´ve been keeping your eyes on since the start of the war is halfway there anyway. Come now: Join us and be part of the birth of a new age of the Sith. Join us and live!
Keena felt Eskon draw the Force around him, ready for combat.
´´I´ll rather die, Malak. I´ll gladly die before I ever join you.´´
´´Well, you only needed to ask.´´
Instead of the expected rush, however, he sent out a bolt of Force lightning, straight into Keena´s chest. The bolt sent her sliding across the floor, and she was vaguely aware of Eskon charging him with a scream.
For a few moments her world consisted of blackness, and she was blessedly aware of nothing.
The sound of clashing lightsabers brought her back. She fought it at first, wanting to rest in the comforting nothingness.
Eskon.
She heard him scream.
He´s fighting for his life.
Malak laughed.
He´s figthing for both of us!
She forced her eyes to open.
Eskon´s left arm hung limply at his side, with a nasty lightsaber burn running down it. His remaining blue lightsaber was clashing with Malak´s red one. Malak was clearly winning.
Keena tried to draw upon the Force, to heal her body, to aid Eskon, to attack Malak. To do anything. But the Force seemed to run from her grasp like water.
She tried her body instead. It wasn´t much better.
Too much damage. Too much exhaustion. Too much torture.
No! I´ve lost everyone else! I´m won´t let this happen, I won´t! I just. need. a. little. strenght!
She discarded her mental discipline in favour of raw determination for herself, fear for Eskon and anger at Malak.
Keena´s abused muscles started to sluggishly respond. Her limbs reluctantly heeded her commands and she managed to tip herself over on her right side. Her right arm found the strength to push against the floor and her legs tensed to hold her weight. Next her left hand slammed into the floor and for a few precious seconds she lay there on all fours, with her limbs trembling under the strain. Then finally her legs started to raise her up.
She risked a glance towards the battle.
Malak´s lightsaber cut into Eskon´s right arm, nearly severing it. He screamed as his lightsaber fell to the floor. Next came a low chop, severing a chunk of his left thigh. Eskon screamed more and fell to his knees. Keena wasn´t aware if she was screaming physically or just mentally.
Malak laughed as he sheared off Eskon´s right ear and cheek, revealing his teeth. He then stepped back, his mouth still wide open in that hideous laughter, and raised his hand. Eskon´s two lightsabers activated and rose into the air.
Keena felt something inside of her . . . change, as they flew point first into his torso.
All the feelings of anger, doubt, and pain came flooding back, breaking the dams. All focused on Malak, and the excrement he served. She felt glorious life return to her limbs.
He was unaware of this as he swung his hand violently at the gurgling Jedi in front of him. Eskon, Guardian of the Jedi order, flew backwards into the nose of a raptor fighter. The conical tip entered his back and exited his chest.
A primal scream erupted from deep in Keena´s throat as she activated her lightsaber.
Malak turned, surprised, and barely parried the first attack.
She didn´t stop charging, just kept moving while hacking away at Malak´s defenses, feeling the Force fill her, granting her strength, granting her power.
Blue met red, again and again. Keena was barely aware of Malak scoring several glancing hits, she just flowed with the anger, letting it guide her saber in a mad rage.
Finally Malak let the Force propel him into a huge backflip, creating enough distance, buying enough time to go on the offensive. Keena had other plans.
Her lightsaber spun out of her hand, except instead of the traditional straigth line it went into the air and took a dive aimed at Malak´s head.
Malak let that hideous grin slither onto his face again as he blocked the projectile and sent it flying way off course, no doubt thinking the fight won now that his opponent had foolishly given up her weapon.
But with his saber held up high his torso was left undefended.
Keena raised her hands and let the sick, glorious anger mingle with the Force and pumped Force lightning into his chest.
He screamed. It was the most wonderful sound she´d ever heard.
She kept the onslaught going, sending him staggering backwards as he spasmed from the energy coursing through his flesh.
His back met a raptor fighter, and he stood dazed for a moment as the attack stopped. That moment was all Keena needed to call her lightsaber back into her grasp and slice it at Malak´s head.
His jaw flew through the air. Keena absent-mindedly caught it in her left hand.
Malak let out a horrible, unintelligible gurgle as he fell down, clutching the burned ruin that had been the lower half of his face.
Keena stood over him, thoroughly enjoying the sight.
´´What´s the matter, you maggot? You were laughing so hard a moment ago. How about it?´´
She met his gaze and waved the severed jaw in his face.
´´Well?! WHY AREN´T YOU LAUGHING?!´´
Keena found herself giggling. She felt drunk. Her lightsaber went over her shoulder, held for a downwards chop at his undefended head.
Keena . . .
It wasn´t a word. Not a spoken word anyway. But she found herself turning around.
Eskon´s eyes met hers. Open in a plea.
Don´t give in . . .
Why not?
His gaze lingered for a second, maybe two. Then the light in his eyes dimmed.
For a long moment everything seemed frozen in time. In a crystalline moment of horror, the only sound being Malak´s laboured breathing.
A blaster bolt flew across the hangar. It missed. Keena looked up and automatically blocked the next one. And the next. And the next.
Troopers were flooding into the hangar. Behind them Keena sensed strong force-users.
Her feet went off, sending her up the boarding ramp of the shuttle.
Keena was vaguely aware of closing it behind her and makin for the cockpit.
She raised the shuttle off the floor and turned towards the exit.
She hit the thrusters and blasted out of the Storm, into the dark depths of space.
