Z-Z-Z-Z-Zap!
Nik shuddered as the electricity left his fingertips, but he felt better when it was over. He took a deep breath and met Moff Jakobi's firm stare with his own. "My name is Darth Tovecus. Peace is a lie. There is only Passion. Through Passion I gain Strength. Through Strength I gain Power. Through Power I gain Victory. Through Victory my chains are Broken. Long live the Palpatine Empire. "
"Very good, my lord." Moff Jakobi nodded as if the man had just given him an order. "Now I must speak with you about something terribly out of place. I understand you've been coercing I2 to refrain from your nightly medications."
Nik's eyes shifted around the suite still trying to remember where he was. "My name is . . ." He shook his head. "What medications?"
Jakobi didn't answer. His mouth was a scowl.
Nik blinked hard and searched the place. Gray. Dark Blue. Red Guards. Silver droids. He was supposed to be looking for something. What was he supposed to be looking for? His eyes focused on Jakobi and reared back at the anger emitting from the man. "What's your problem?"
To that, Jakobi broke the stare and nodded at a guard. Two Red Guards stepped to each side of Nik and grabbed him hard by the arms. This was a first. Nik struggled against the capture. "What the hell?"
The Grand Moff didn't answer. He gestured someone to go ahead. N4 came at him with the voicecap. Twin needles stung as they slid into his skin and rested on either side of his voice box. He tried to talk but his voice was missing entirely.
The helmet covered Nik's face, and this time the visor was blocked. He couldn't see anything.
No! My name is . . . my name is . . . what the fuck is my name?!
The guards dragged him ahead by the arms, practically picking him off the ground to yank him out of the suite. Nik struggled against it and tried to yell. He tried to remember his name. He tried to think of what he was supposed to remember. He struggled hard and fought against the handling, but the vice grips squeezed harder at every jerk. His feet tripped down a hallway and into a lift, then out again and down another hallway.
Nik tried to ask. He wanted to speak the words so they would stop. He mentally begged for forgiveness, but he couldn't remember the medication to which Jakobi referred. My name is. . . Darth something. Nik Darth? Darth Nik?
The dragging stopped him. . . . and the helmet came off.
Nik searched the round room quickly, white walls, several droids, Jakobi. Was that medical equipment? Brown eyes bulged as a large circular pool opened up in the floor in front of him. The liquid inside was almost black, rippling thickly.
Nik aimed pleading eyes to Jakobi and tried to talk. He could hardly whisper. "Please. My name is . . ." but he couldn't think of the name.
"These rules were placed for your protection, for your growth." Jakobi scowled, "But you're no use to me if you don't work with me."
"Please."
With that, Jakobi flicked his chin at the guards and stepped away. "Make sure the entire body is dissolved."
"What? Wait!" Nik tried to yell in his whisper. He tried to fight it, but the guards held him firm. A coreman stepped up wearing a white mask and began to unbutton Nik's tunic. Nik tried to plead with the medical stormtrooper. "Please don't do this. I'll do anything you want. Tell him I'll do anything."
The med trooper didn't seem to notice he was speaking. Other hands came to his aid from behind, unceremoniously stripping off Nik's clothes. Shoes. Socks. Undershirt. Pants. Underwear. Rough hands removed every stitch from his skin.
Nik was too frightened to be embarrassed by his nakedness. As soon as they were finished stripping him, the guards dragged him to the side of the pool. His struggled to press backwards but his bare feet slipped against the white floor. Med troopers wrapped clamps around his ankles, and Nik saw how the clamps attached to cables reaching into the depths of the black pool.
They pulled out his voicecap, and Nik screamed against the sore throat. "I don't know how to swim. What is that shit? I don't know how to swim!"
That didn't seem to matter to them. The guards picked him up by the arms and dropped him into the ink.
PANIC!
Nik reached out with both arms and feet, but the clamps on his ankles pulled him farther down into the dark soup. His hand could find no walls. His feet touched no bottom. And his eyes were losing sight of the lights and white room with several feet of black liquid overhead. He held his breath but didn't really know how. The liquid was warm and soft on his skin even as he fought it. It burned his eyes a little, but that passed quickly. Arms and legs waved and reached through the muck to get a grip on anything. He stared up at the hint of brightness above like it was his last hope.
Brightness.
The lid slid over the top of the pool, severing him from that too.
Don't kill me! Please don't kill me! His lungs screamed to breath. His heart beat like a rabbit. His fingers found nothing. His ankles yanked against the clamps holding him down. His arms slowed. His eyes stared at darkness. His mouth demanded oxygen.
Involuntarily, Nik sucked in a deep breath.
Pain slammed into his lungs. He choked and vomited, but what came out was only what went in. His body convulsed, instinctively drawing another breath. Wide eyes teared. He jerked like a dying fish.
Gina. . . . He cried in his mind. Ben. . . . But he knew they couldn't hear him. He was alone. So very alone. This was not how Nik wanted to die.
The convulsions began to calm. His lungs stopped trying for air. His eyes stared at blackness. He couldn't feel the warm liquid anymore.
With his last available thought, he thought as desperate and as hard as he could . . . Kay Kay, tell them I love them.
Twin suns began brighten over the Dune Sea just as he blacked out.