Kiara bit back the chuckle that wanted to escape her lips when she led the others to Alex's room and found him fully dressed, including his boots, sitting in the chair that was beside the bed. She knew that he hated that she'd seen him in his weakened condition, and he didn't intend to let the others do so as well. She didn't say anything, but she did find it just a little amusing.
Before the crew returned to the Med-ship Kiara had made sure that there were extra chairs brought in so that they could all sit down during their visit. Of course, since Alex chose to take one of the chairs that the staff brought in that meant that there was one less than needed. She shrugged and sat on the edge of the bed to leave the chairs that had been brought in free for the rest.
The baby woke up on his own shortly after the group filtered into the room so the game of "Pass the Baby" started. One that it didn't appear that Alex wanted to join, he was perfectly happy watching the child from his place next to the others as they held the babe. It wasn't all that surprising. Kiara figured that he'd never actually been this close to anyone who couldn't at least walk, yet. Nor had he ever considered wanting to be, either. Still, he showed interest so long as he wasn't expected to hold him.
Kiara took her nephew from Sabine and held him as he seemed to be looking at and taking everything in. When she felt her arm grow a little warm, she made a face. "Alright, I'm done. He's wet. Or I hope he's only wet."
Kanan chuckled since he couldn't help it. "Not done, yet. You get to change his diaper since you were holding him."
"Um, no. I'll pass. Now take him."
Hera stood and took Jacen from the other woman and walked behind her to use the bed to change the baby. When the mother was tending to her child it became clear that the diaper wasn't just wet. Kiara made a mental note to go and change her top, just in case any of it had leaked onto her sleeve.
"So, Kallus," Zeb finally spoke up. "When do you get to bust out of here? I know that you've got to be going stir crazy looking at the same four walls."
"He's only been fully awake since yesterday, Zeb," Kiara reminded. Yes, Alex had been there for a couple of months, but he wasn't aware of nearly any of that time. "Let's not rush him out the airlock of the ship, shall we?"
"But I plan to leave as soon as I can," Kallus added in response to Zeb's question. "I've been told that as soon as I make sufficient progress that I'll be encouraged to leave."
Kiara snickered at the word encouraged. "In other words, in only one full day, he's been grumpy enough to scare the hell out of half the staff so they can't wait until he's gone."
The other men in the room both chuckled while Kanan said, "That's one way to make sure that they don't drag their feet on letting you leave."
"Not to mention, sometimes, a man can make more progress outside of hospital walls," Zeb added.
"Just figures that you two would find it funny," Kiara shook her head. "But I have been thinking ahead, since I already know that Alex will be going to the base sooner than later, regarding getting things set up. I'm going to assume that the hanger at the new base will be just as far from the main building as it was on Suaren."
Sabine tilted her head, "Its actually just a bit further. Why?"
Kiara jutted her chin toward Alex. "We all know that he'll be too stubborn to not jump back to work just as soon as he can. But it will be a while before he'll be able to make that kind of walk on a regular basis."
"I'll manage just fine," Kallus groaned.
"Maybe. But in the event that you can't, I think it would be better for the others to set aside a room close to the main building where we all know you'll be working at. That way you'll have fewer steps, especially at the end of the day, to put in."
Kallus worked his jaw since he didn't want the others to know just how much trouble he had walking at the moment. He had hoped that he'd be able to hide any discomfort that trying to use his newly healed limbs gave him. Still, he knew that in his present condition, just imagining trying to make it to the communications center from the hanger back on Suaren exhausted him.
"I'll see to getting things set up," Hera stated as she finished cleaning the baby up and walked around with him in her arms as he looked to be getting sleepy. "But there is one thing that I wanted to give you a heads up on. Mon Mothma and a few others are planning to come to see you tomorrow. That is if you think that you'll be up to it. She figured that it would be better to come and debrief you in person rather than wait and have you file a report."
Everyone in the room understood exactly what he'd be debriefed about. They wanted to know precisely what not just Kallus but any of the others that he was aware of had endured at the hands of the Imperials. The news seemed to suck the air out of the room as no one wanted to look at the man as they were reminded of the torture that he'd survived.
"I suppose it is for the best." Kallus finally broke the silence. "And perhaps now, Mon Mothma can learn just what kind of treatment the Empire affords their prisoners. For a rebel, she is still far too much of an idealist."
Kanan insisted on staying in Kallus's room since he doubted that man would let the leadership know if they pushed him too far. So instead, he'd keep his senses keen and decided that he'd speak up when he felt that the man had had enough.
As Kallus began his report, he explained the events of the day when the Imperials raided the base. He told them that he'd seen to it that the self-destruct on the equipment was triggered, and he'd tried to help the others in the base get to their transports. He described wave after wave of troopers approaching the hanger and he knew that he wouldn't have been able to get to the Shadow Chaser before the ship was overran. It had been then that he instructed the others to take off.
With the survivors who had been assigned to the ship gone Kallus explained that the rest were all lined up to be identified. He was the highest ranked individual who remained when the only other transport left had been shot down. He then informed those gathered that the Imperials knew who he was before they had ever left the surface. He was beat with the butt of a rifle twice and the troopers pulled his name out of him to confirm it by threatening one of the young women that had been left behind as well. He was then stunned and didn't regain consciousness until after he'd not only left the surface but also was in the detention cell. That meant that they must have stunned him again when he first showed signs of waking up while on the shuttle on the way to the Star Destroyer.
Kallus then described his own torture with detached detail. He explained the electrocution, the breaking of his bones, and the drugs that had been given to him to try to induce the man to give up the secrets that he held. At that point, he took a moment to gather his thoughts. To brace himself.
Kanan thought that would be the extent of it but he was aware already that both knees had been shot with a blaster, so he knew that there was more. He was tempted to tell the leaders that the other man had had enough for the day, and they would need to pick up the rest the next day, but something told him that Kallus needed to go ahead and push through. His audience was captivated and waited patiently for him to continue.
"That's when the Moff decided to take a different approach. Figured that I may not be able to endure the pain of others as much as I did my own. So, he started to bring the other prisoners in one at a time. He let them know that they would be tortured because I hadn't told them what he wanted to know. That it would only stop if I broke my silence." Kallus swallowed hard.
"The Moff even pressed them to beg for me to let him know what he wanted. Especially when he took his blaster and started to fire one at a time in every non-vital location on the prisoners' bodies. Each of them was tortured in that method, one by one, for hours before they were finally executed. When he killed one prisoner, he simply had the troopers haul the body out and bring in a new one until all of them met with the same end. Somewhere along the way the Moff shot my knees so that I could feel what the others were feeling in their final moments."
Kanan was shocked at the treatment that Kallus had endured. Not just the physical torture but psychological as well. Forcing him to live through the torture of the others right in front of him. He knew that the Empire could be heartless, but this surpassed even his imagination of what to expect. What was worse, while only Kallus knew the truth, Kanan was aware that the man who had done the contemptable acts was actually the Jedi's own father. Was this the kind of blood that ran through his veins? Surely not? This was the man who had raised Kiara while he'd been lucky enough to go to the Jedi temple on Coruscant.
After a moment of allowing the rest to absorb what Kallus had told them he looked up and glared at Mon Mothma. She was always so quick to push to work through the appropriate channels and when others were captured, she'd said that she would work with the Empire to ensure the civil treatment of the prisoners. With his face taking on a hard look he spoke up once more.
"This is the Empire's version of fair and just treatment of their prisoners. Because in their mind, this is what is fair. No one but those who serve the Empire matter to them. And if they need to torture someone to get what they want, then so be it. Never forget that. The only reason I'm alive is because he wasn't able to break me. He wanted the information that I had and wasn't willing to give that up. Otherwise, I would have been executed just like the others."
"When we got to him, he was nearly dead, as well," Kanan added. He already had sent in his report during that first week when they'd brought Kallus here to the Med-ship, but he figured that a reminder didn't hurt. "He had multiple internal injuries, including punctures to both of his lungs. He was barely breathing and had to be hooked up to the emergency respirator on the ship and he barely had a pulse. He wouldn't have survived the night if we hadn't had pulled him out. Whether the Moff returned to interrogate and torture him or not."
"I'm aware of your report, Master Jedi," Mon Mothma replied curtly. She had for so many years tried to abide by certain rules and had always believed that those rules were universal. Yet now, she was faced with the brutal reality that the Empire doesn't follow the same rules as the rest of civilized society. "I must ask, was there anything that you were forced to divulge while being questioned."
Kallus raised a brow at the tame way to refer to his torture. "No."
"Nothing at all?" Mon Mothma prodded once more.
"Nothing. It was one reason why the Moff was so irritated. One reason why he kept killing more prisoners. If I had told him anything the rest may not have died in the way that they had. They would have still died, just not in torment as they had."
Kanan was impressed. He was able to endure torture when captured in the past, but he had relied on his Jedi training for that, though his experiences hadn't been nearly as harsh as the former agent's. But Kallus was not a Jedi. Didn't even have the slightest force sensitivity. Yet he'd been able to remain steadfast. His level of respect that he had for the man just increased ten-fold.
When the leadership left Kallus's room Kanan asked him if he was alright. What could he say? He briskly nodded and glanced covertly toward the bed. As much as he hated it, the debriefing wore him out. He wasn't sure if it was physically or mentally but he was exhausted. When Kanan spoke up again, Kallus was reminded that the man didn't need to see with his own eyes to see what was going on around him.
"You want any help getting back out of the chair and on to the bed? You need to get some rest."
"I'll manage," Kallus shook his head before adding, "But thank you for asking. I'll be fine, though."
"If you are sure..."
"I am."
"Alright," Kanan figured he'd leave the man some pride by not insisting that he needed help. He would advise the medical staff to come check on him when he left. "I'll go ahead and leave. I'll see you tomorrow morning."
Kallus watched as the Jedi walked out and sighed. He then braced himself for the task of trying to stand up on his weakened limbs and climbed onto the bed. It was harder than he remembered but he had done it and this time without any help from either the medical staff or well-meaning friends. Once on the bed he pulled off his boots and figured that he was as undressed as he needed before he leaned back onto his pillow and fell into a deep sleep before he had time to relive, once more, the report that he'd given earlier.
He hoped that by the end of the week that he'd be leaving the Med-ship. That meant that tomorrow would be another busy day of trying to strengthen his muscles so that he could move around easier.
The Shadow Chaser and the Ghost both received clearance to land at the new base on Vilte III within minutes of one another. The crew of the Ghost were eager to show their two friends the new base. For Alex, Kiara knew that he wasn't happy that he would be moved to a room in the barracks close to the main building so that he'd be able to better navigate his life until his body was strong enough to handle the trek from the hanger to the main building and back several times a day. He had his belongings that he'd want for the foreseeable future packed and ready for the others to help him move them over.
He glanced around his cabin on the Shadow Chaser and was determined to be back in it as quickly as he could. Maybe a month. No, make that three weeks at most. He'll work to see to it that he'll rebuild his strength in record time.
"Ready?" Kiara asked as he stepped out of the cabin carefully. She waited until she sensed a buckle of his knees before she reached forward and put an arm around his waist. She'd lightened the gravity on the ship while in transit to help him but now that they were on the planet the slight reprieve that she'd given him was over.
"As I'll ever be," Kallus groaned when Kiara had to help him not fall flat on his face. He wasn't ready for the rest of the base to see him being practically carried through the hanger.
"Relax, people will just think that we can't keep our hands off of one another. Not that you are being helped across the way." Kiara pointed out and joked. "Now, let's go meet with the others. They will help with your stuff."
Kallus nodded. "Just don't get into your head to use that cabin for anything else. I will want it back."
Kiara laughed. "Trust me, that cabin will always be yours. Even if you aren't using it. In fact, if you want, you can even lock it. And I promise not to go in and mess with any of your stuff."
"No, I trust you. I've never considered you to be too curious or nosey, anyway."
Kiara helped Alex down to the loading ramp and followed Hera and Sabine toward the barracks where they had a room waiting for him while Zeb and Kanan went in to get his belongings. As she did so she took in the dismal appearance of the new rebel base. It was on a desert planet so there was nothing around for kilometers other than sand and sand dunes. As the heat caused sweat to drip down her back before she'd even gotten all the way across the hanger, she wished that she would have changed into a lighter jumpsuit. She thought that this was just one more reason for Alexsandr to be closer to where he'd be working. He won't have to endure the intense heat as much as if he'd had to make this walk both day and night.
By the time that the small group made it to the barracks Kiara was supporting more of Alex's weight and Sabine had even joined her on the other side of the man to help. Neither of them said anything since acknowledging it would just make it worse for him. They just concentrated on helping him get to where he could relax.
Once in the room that had been set aside for Kallus he practically fell onto the bunk and took deep breaths while trying to ignore the burn in the lower half of his body from his thighs all the way down to his ankles.
"I think I'd best go see if Kanan and Zeb got lost. They should have gotten here before us," Kiara said as she glanced around the room before setting her eyes back toward Alex.
"We'll keep Kallus company until you get back," Sabine said as she took one of the chairs in the room.
Kiara nodded and then headed back to the hanger. She had something that she needed to do. Then... Then she was going to make all of them very angry with her.
