Interrogation Room – The Leviathan
Carth had been dead right about Karath's men, they were thorough and they had special orders to take him in. Pol and Bastila were given the same red carpet capture treatment, a shot of sedative and a blast from a neural disruptor. When he awoke they were in force cages on either side of his. They had been singled out, the rest of the crew were no where to be seen.
He called to them both but only managed to rouse Pol with his voice. She got to her feet shaky and nauseas from the tranquilizers. "Are you ok Pol?"
Pol brushed her hair back from her face and went to straighten her clothing out of habit, only to find she had none. "Marvelous, I don't think I have ever felt this good. Except for that time I cut off my leg to win a one legged race...ugh. I'm in my underwear AGAIN." She groaned weakly and looked at Bastila.
"Your leg?" Carth puckered his brow at Pol. She was joking, clearly, but her timing was awful.
"I sewed it back on. At least from the scar I have it looks like I did. How are you doing little brother?" Pol looked at the scar on her upper thigh.
"I'd feel better if Bastila would wake. You can't tell how she is doing can you?" The hope died from his eyes as Pol pointed to the neural dampener that nullified their bond. They set to waiting it out.
Bastila had almost no desire to wake, knowing even in her unconscious state, the predicament that would present to her when did was going to be unpleasant. She fought the lassitude and woke last, gaining her feet shakily.
Carth urged her on, "C'mon Bastila, we have to face him standing, let's not give him the pleasure of seeing us cower." Her blue eyes seemed vacant he longed to hold her; the neural collar she had been fitted with cut her from the Force as he understood it. It must be hell to be shut off when you are so used to it. He rationalized her sadness and hated to see her this way. "Are you ok Bastila?"
"No." she answered quietly and slowly.
Pol shook the fog from her mind. Feeling like a third wheel she broke the enduring silence, "'Better to die on your feet than live life on your knees…' I read that on a 'fresher wall one time. Why are all the best lines graffiti?" Her hands went to the collar again. Karath thinks he has left me with nothing; pfft Force-smorce I've worked with less. "How long have we been out Carth?"
"I have no idea, but you've both been out of it a full cycle longer than me. I only hope the others are ok." By others Carth meant HK-47 though a lump caught in Pol's throat. She didn't know if she would ever see Canderous again.
She stopped herself from fretting; it was half the torture process. Separating the subject from its cohort was the first step in the instruction manual for mass interrogation. Revan reminded her that she had used it plenty of times and that all she had to do was endure.
"No matter what he does to us it is vital that we don't talk." Carth said with an anxious look to Bastila.
"Thank you little brother would never have guessed that." Pol growled out the acerbic comment Revan had implanted into her mind. She was shocked at her callousness, the second it was out.
Bastila shot her an angry tear stained look, and Pol fended it off with an excuse. "Sorry Carth, but we are all winning a war of nerves here. I didn't mean it. Bastila are you ok? If we get a chance do you think you could fight?"
"I don't think that I could fight my way out of a wet paper bag in the present state I am in. I will be alright, just don't forget whose side you are on." Bastila's voice was strained; she hung her head and breathed deeply trying to push the grief from her already burdened mind.
………….
The door slid open and Saul Karath marched in backed by a team of Sith troopers. Carth greeted him with venom, "Saul you bastard!"
"Still mad Carth?" The quiet man taunted his former student. "I only did what had to be done to show my support for Malak. You had your chance when I asked you to join us; do you remember? What kind of hero will this make you I wonder?" His hands moved to the controls that managed the power to the force cages.
Carth spat angrily, "You killed my wife, my son and you destroyed our world! Millions were lost because of your allegiance!"
"You are an evil man Admiral Karath" Bastila whispered and a single tear escaped her eye.
Saul looked at the Jedi, "You will find out just how evil if you do not answer my questions." He stated with cool authority.
"You're wasting your time Saul, we will never talk." Cath said staunchly. His posture backed up his claims, Saul could tell by his stance, and experience as an interrogator, that Carth would not be beaten by pain. He wondered if the same would be said about the pain of his companions.
"So this is Revan?" Karath stood in front of the force cage containing Pol.
She smirked at him, "That's Ms Valor to you sunshine." She quipped vehemently.
Saul laughed, "A bold one aren't you, Though I was expecting something more impressive. The rumors are true you have changed, and for the worst, they say you are insane, but Malak will be pleased to see you regardless."
Pol continued her charade hoping her insolence would catch him off guard and divert his attention from Bastila. "Great that bastard still has my copy of 'Bolger's Gutter Rhyme for halfwits'." she cracked her knuckles nonchalantly and gave their interrogator a wink.
Karath snorted dryly at her bravado and paced away from the cells. "Where is the Jedi Enclave?" He left the question open, not expecting any immediate answer, nor strictly needing one, but setting it free for any taker. The prisoners stayed silent. "Who shall I punish first?" He asked with a greedy smile.
"We will never talk!" Carth yelled valiantly.
"Ah Carth since you are so eager; you can be first. I must admit these torture booths have been overused in recent times. I wonder how long before you crack." Saul tweaked the controls sending a blinding charge through Carth's body.
The pilot shook and screamed as Karath increased the power with practiced discernment, his face devoid of emotion as his former colleague thrashed in pain. He watched the Jedi. Revan betrayed nothing but his torture of Carth had Bastila squirming. A weakness to be exploited he annotated his train of thought.
Admiral Karath powered down Carth's cell, before permanent damage could be done. "How are you feeling?" He asked conversationally pulling up a chair beside the dashboard of controls.
"Damn you Saul. You can give me your worst I won't talk," Carth spat blood and stood shakily, his arm folded across his stomach.
"How rude of me, it is supposed to be ladies first is it not?" Saul charged up the Jedi's cells and blasted them with electricity. Pol was grateful for the effect of the neural disruptor. Without the Force Bastila wouldn't have to endure a secondary surge of pain through their bond. The waves of searing agony coursed through her body. Distantly she could hear Saul interrogating Carth as he tortured them. Revan called to her a mental 'over here' directing her to a space in her mind that was comparatively free of pain. She holed up with the ghosts of her past to wait out the torment.
Carth looked on in horror at the Jedi, their twisted eyes bulging with the electric ache that besieged them. "No! NO! I'll never talk; no matter what you do to them I won't betray the Republic!"
"Very well. Ladies, how do you feel? Better? Perhaps one of you would like to tell me where the Enclave is?" Saul resumed his walk and talk, pacing the killing room floor deliberately. "Nothing dear Bastila?" He paused by her cage.
Bastila shook her head. She looked a broken woman, her hair in rags about her elegant face. "You are wasting your time Karath, none of us will talk." She said in a low voice.
Karath paced back to Pol's cell, "What about you Revan? Feeling chatty?"
"I'll let you know," Pol drooled blood and grinned manically. "Meanwhile hit me again," she dared.
Saul obliged; he took a seat again and isolated her cell for torture. As the ex Sith lord writhed in agony, Saul spoke at length to her companions. "I feel I should be honest with you as there is a scarcity of candor at this point in time;" he folded his arms across his chest and sighed capriciously. "You see it has been weighing on my conscience. I already know where the Jedi academy is. Or was…" He smiled quietly gauging their reactions.
"You're lying!" Carth shouted.
"It's true, Carth. I felt it… before they captured us." Bastila shed another tear. The reason for her quiet since docking had been exposed. She looked away from Pol, who was still being torn apart by the electric pulse of her cell and faced Karath boldly. "Where's my hit you wretched pansy!" She asked angrily.
"Bastila no!" Carth yelled.
Saul sighed, "Ah see now you've gone and put me in quite a spot. You all want to be punished. What a conundrum. I don't have enough power to run all three cells at one time. And you Bastila… My instructions were to keep you in one piece, but now you've made me quite cross." His fingers flicked the switch, driving a savage current through Bastila's body.
"Stop this you monster!" Carth yelled; he could see Pol failing, she had been blasted by the energy field for far too long. Bastila was wracked by the pain, but Pol was suffering the worst of it.
"Oh no, not now Carth; You see now I'm just playing. And Malak wants Revan dead or alive, so it really is all the same to me." Saul Karath broke into a maniacal laugh and directed more power to Pol's cell, increasing the voltage until blood welled in her eyes, blinding her.
As the pain encroached on the borders of her mental refuge, Revan departed leaving Pol alone. With no psychological space left to hide from the pain and no way of denying the damage it was inflicting physically Pol surrendered to it. She welcomed the last bastion of the beleaguered and lost consciousness.
Holding Cells
The lights flickered as the power to their wing was drained by Saul's torture devices. Juhani held a vigil for the survivors of Dantooine; she had felt some resistance had been given in the surprise attack. Now she prayed for the Jedi remnant; leaving Jolee with the unenviable task of calming Canderous.
Mission trembled, in the Wookiee's arms and tried to hold down her last meal. Zaalbar comforted her, trying to block her view of the rampaging Mandalorian with his shaggy bulk.
"Canderous just sit down," Jolee held his hands together in a reverential gesture of peace, "this achieves nothing. Please you are scaring Mission." Canderous looked at the ex Jedi with distaste. Jolee struggled on, "What would Pol want you to do?"
"That's a cheap shot old man." Canderous turned his back on the crew, and faced the purple energy shield that confined them to their shared cell. It flickered slightly, pulsating with the power drain he knew to be responsible for the torture of his woman.
The fluctuations are enough to weaken the field, but not enough to shut it down. The Mandalorian wondered, if he timed their attack right, whether he and the wookiee could bust it open. Their burns would be severe but the rest of the crew might be able to get away. Mandalore's balls. I should have ended this when I had the chance, we shouldn't be here now. If that droid comes through I'll kill every last one of them.
Droid Bay
HK-47 online: Run diagnostic. Results functionality/ 67. Run auto repair. Completed, time elapsed 43 minutes. Scanning vicinity: No organic life forms detected. Artificial intelligence detected. Hypothesis: location, droid bay. Startled recognition: Astromech unit T3-M4 the contemptible can-opener is operational.
Actuating vocabulator: "Derisive command: Move it shorty, the Master needs us."
Aural sensors report T3: "Boopee dwoo"
Actuating vocabulator: "Unnecessary threat: I don't care how you 'feel' disable the security door or I will blast you a new storage compartment."
Aural sensors report T3: "Beep! Whirr dee beep!"
Actuating vocabulator: "Begrudging approval: That's better."
………….
HK- 47: location: Barracks: Scanning, scan completed: Results: Life forms detected. 7 meatbags status: Hostile. Course of action: Gleeful gratuitous terminations. Objective 1: Procure weaponry for self and obtuse T3 unit. Objective 2. Employ weaponry to eradicate remaining meatbags. Objective 3. Locate and free the Master and meatbag companions.
Actuating vocabulator: "Eager bluff: kneel and heel or you'll feel real durasteel through your last digested meal meatbags!"
Aural sensors report T3:"Beep glee beep doo!"
Commencing eradication: Target found. Target status: Annihilated.
Target found. Target status: Terminated by T3 unit.
Actuating vocabulator: "Irritated declaration: Find your own targets Bothan gum-dispenser."
Target found. Target status: Dismembered. Result Satisfactory.
Target found. Target status: Running from HK unit. Course of action: follow and snuff the meatbag before it calls for backup. Update target status: Target terminated. Goal achieved.
Actuating Vocabulator: "Delighted announcement: Yippee!"
Target found: target status: Attacking T3 unit. Course of action: assist T3 unit /resentful inner cognition/. Target status: Eviscerated.
Target found: Target status: Disarmed by Hk-47: Course of action: Turn Aratech Heavy Repeating Blaster Rifle Mark III against its former meatbag owner.
Approach T3 unit offer blaster pistol to accomplice /overrides/ Playback: "HK what did I say about bullying T3? Play nice ok?" End playback. Amendment: Offer blaster pistol to T3 unit without malicious intent. Course of action: Cancel threat of deactivation.
Objective 1 accomplished. Resuming eradication. Target found: Target status: Attempting communications with HK-47. Aural sensor report: Subject is begging for life.
Actuating vocabulator: "Insincere apology: You should have thought of that before you interfered with the Master! Gleeful declaration: Die meatbag!"
Eradication complete. Time elapsed 4 minutes 32 seconds. Accuracy: 97. Satisfaction rating: 9 out of 10. Theory: the T3 unit is to blame for the inaccuracy. Course of action: Resent T3 unit - to the power of / 88
…………………..
Actuating vocabulator: "Query: Have you acquired the access codes yet?"
Aural sensors report T3: "Beep dee dip bip."
Learning protocol initiated: Course of action: Scan record and amend estimation of T3 Unit. Goal: lower resentment factor by 3. Resentment factor reset to /85
Actuating vocabulator: "Pleased acknowledgement: It seems you serve a purpose after all lunchbox!"
Aural sensors report T3: "Beep dwoo Frotz"
Actuating vocabulator: "Placating qualification: Well there's no need to be nasty."
Aural sensors report T3: "Beep weeee!"
Scan: results access to cell block attained. Scan: Life forms detected pleasing observation: It's the Masters companions:
Pattern recognition. Female Twi'lek/ designation: Mission Vao. Overrides, MAN OFF
Protocol: Protect.
Classification: Scoundrel, and a favorite of the Master.
Estimation: Mostly harmless, prone to irritating sonic outbursts, suspicion responsible for attaching wad of gum to chassis, whilst HK unit was offline. The cunning little meathag Cheats in Pazaak. Resentment factor/ .6 . Respect factor/ 45
Status: Uninjured. Is the source of irritating sonic disturbance associated with happiness?
Speculative theory: She is pleased to see me.
Pattern recognition: Female Cathar/ designation: Juhani. Overrides, MAN OFF
Protocol: Protect.
Classification: Jedi, the Masters ethereal physician.
Estimation: Deadly, threats of deactivation against HK unit 4, the Cathar meathag is responsible for the Masters mental health regime. Resentment factor/ 33 Respect factor/ 25
Status: Uninjured.
Pattern recognition. Male Wookiee/ designation: Zaalbar. Overrides, MAN OFF
Course of action: Added to safe list.
Classification: The Master's mammalian counterpart – Companion by Wookiee Life Debt.
Estimation: Valued and obedient companion to the Master. The wookiee is a capable technician. Resentment factor/ nil. Respect factor/ 30
Status: Hirsute and odorous; otherwise uninjured.
Pattern recognition. Male Human/ designation: Jolee Bindo. Overrides, MAN OFF
Course of action: Added to safe list.
Classification: Jedi /overrides/ Playback "ex Jedi sonny!" End playback. Amendment Ex Jedi. Cantankerous coot; meatbag companion of the master.
Estimation: Deadly, threats of deactivation against HK unit 1. Kill count since first contact 5. Resentment factor/ 21. Respect factor/ 12
Status: Arthritic, otherwise uninjured.
Pattern recognition. Male Mandalorian/ designation: Canderous Ordo. Overrides, MAN OFF
Course of action: Begrudgingly added to safe list. /EMERGENCY OVERRIDES/ Playback: "Objection: Master, I don't like this new Override. Query: is it really necessary?"
Aural sensors report The Master: "HK, if I'm not around, you answer to him. No belligerence either, between his cybernetic implant and your auto repair functions, it wouldn't end quickly."
"Graphic reassurance: It would end quickly if I barbequed him Master."
Aural sensors report The Master: "HK, just add the damn override or I'll hardwire it in." End playback.
Classification: Warrior, war veteran. The Master's favorite. Kills frequently and with finesse.
Estimation: Deadly, threats of deactivation against HK unit 17. Threats of damage to HK unit 47. Kill count since first contact 29. Resentment factor/ 98 Respect factor/ 98
Status: Uninjured. Provisional Master during emergency procedure.
Aural sensors report Mission Vao: "T3! HK! Man are we glad to see you!"
Run EMERGENCY PROTOCOL. Actuate Vocabulator: "Proud declaration: I had guessed as much. Query: Master Ordo" /resentful inner cogitation "- What are your orders?"
Leviathan Rescue
Canderous delegated tasks without question, "Blue, Z, Jolee head back to the Hawk. Blue – knock out the security, Jolee - prep the Hawk, Z - kill stuff. Juhani take T3 - search the Starboard wing, HK we'll do a sweep portside."
"Understood," Juhani nodded and departed with the astromech droid.
"HK come with me, the rest of you get going." Canderous pushed them to action.
Zaalbar groaned, (I'm going with Canderous.)
"What did he say?" Canderous looked at the recalcitrant wookiee.
Mission beat HK to the translation. "He says he's going with you C-note I wouldn't try to change his mind if I were you."
Canderous sized up the wookiee and took her advice. "Bah, lets go then." The team split and went about their tasks.
"HK shoot to kill on sight," Canderous commanded as he led HK and Zaalbar down the hall out of the prison block.
(When we find Pol I will tear limbs from her captors) Zaalbar roared angrily.
"Z, I got no idea what you just said, but do it a lot and to anyone we find. Let's start with these guys." The Mandalorian set upon the first guard and seized him from behind. He grasped the Sith troopers rifle and thrust it upwards his victims chin. With a single shot to the head the trooped ceased his struggles leaving Canderous with a shiny new gun. He kicked the corpse aside and checked his companion's progress.
The assassin droid had dispatched a second trooper and Zaalbar, a one wookiee army, had the third in a headlock. The wookiee beat the man to the deck and crushed his chest cavity with a blow from his foot. The trooper died to the bubbling sound of blood filled lungs being pierced by snapping bone. Canderous admired the speed at which the end was achieved but viewed the mess with contempt.
"HK give Zaalbar your rifle, don't sulk, I want you to fry the next lot anyways."
"Delighted acknowledgement: With pleasure Master Ordo." HK surrendered his weapon to Zaalbar, who was relieved not to have to use his claws in battle.
When they burst into the next room HK spewed forth a stream of fire from his wrist singing and blinding the five men therein. Canderous and Zaalbar stood shoulder to shoulder behind the droid mowing down the Sith troopers with a spray of heavy blaster fire. When the room was cleared Canderous searched the corpse of a commander, claiming his slightly melted keycard, radiation shields and a schematic of the level. He threw one shield towards Zaalbar who caught it deftly and enabled it as he dragged the last of the bodies out of view.
(That worked well.) Zaalbar said referring to the roast and plug technique they had just employed. HK translated for Canderous who was studying the map he had found.
"Yeah. We need to go right at the end of this next corridor. Get moving!" The trio was halfway down the hall when Canderous was paged on his comlink. It's beeping alerted a guard who came running about the bend, only to be clothes-lined by Zaalbar.
"Eager Plea: May I shoot him?" If HK was human he would have been jumping from foot to foot in excitement. Fortunately HK wasn't human, because in human years he would have been the equivalent of a homicidal 4 year old.
Canderous ignored the droid and answered the call "Yeah," he said as a pixilated rendition of Juhani streaked into view.
In that same instant, HK slew the unarmed guard with disruptor fire, intentionally misreading Canderous's 'Yeah' to Juhani as permission to kill. Zaalbar couldn't be certain as his ears were still ringing from the blasts from the droids freshly acquired disruptor rifle but it seemed to the wookiee that the red droid had given a distinctly evil cackle as the man died. Canderous didn't seem to have noticed so Zaalbar dismissed the notion.
(I can't believe Pol built you.) He said as he shoved the cadaver out of the passageway. With a delicate curl of his great arm Zaalbar tossed it into the room they had just cleared.
"Incredulous observation: I can't believe the Master tamed you."
"Pack it in fellas'; I'm trying to talk to Juhani."
"They are not here but I have recovered our weapons. Shall I join you?" Juhani asked with her heavy Cathar accent.
"We' got it under control I'm nearly at the detainment center now; head back to the Hawk, make sure the other two are ok. Out." Canderous put away the personal communicator and motioned for his company to follow. "What the frack was that about? Just keep a lid on it and remember who the enemy is here." Amateurs.