Getting much closer now to the high point of this fan fiction.
Marik only had two fears: needles, and thunder storms.
The Lizards had used both in their private interrogations.
Marik could feel himself shaking almost uncontrollably in his chair, his wide eyes staring at the bloody floor as horrific images replayed themselves over and over in his mind.
Screams.
Pain.
Blood.
Death.
It was always the same sequence, over and over, but the images themselves differed slightly. Sometimes it was a brother, or a Jedi General, or even a civilian that would be screaming in agony in his mind.
His shaking continued.
The supervising Lizard walked in slow circles around the chair the male was strapped to, listening to the heavy and ragged breathing that pulled itself from his lungs.
Da'rim absolutely loved the plethora of torture devices at his disposal—specifically, a new electronic device that, when used correctly with the right amount of drugs, would pull loved ones' faces out of certain areas of the brain and twist them into terrifying and unbearable images. No matter who it was, even someone that may have been seen in passing, they were going to experience agonizing pain.
The victim, in their own mind, was helpless to stop it.
The machine itself was hooked up through wires connecting it to the temples of the victim's head. Electrical pulses were sent through these wires along with special drugs to ultimately destroy the victim's mind.
Perfect for slow and torturous breaking, Da'rim thought, cracked and thin lips stretching into a malicious smile across his face. He wasn't an expert on how the machine worked exactly, but he knew how to read the brain waves flowing almost passively across the screen of the computer, and he knew when a particularly terrifying sequence would play out due to the jump in frequency. He could control what exactly would flow into the prisoner's body and how much.
Marik had been in that room for three hours.
His frail body sat huddled in the wooden chair, hands bound behind his back and feet tied to the legs. Despite his best subconscious efforts, his shoulder continued to shake with a nearly seizure-like fervor. He seemed to be muttering to himself, eyes opening wide and then squeezing shut again as if against a particularly gruesome memory.
Just for fun, Da'rim typed in the code to send a loud crack of thunder through to the male. He almost chuckled as he watched the weak prisoner jump in his restraints, a small cry of terror echoing through the room.
Da'rim decided to turn the machine off, remembering that his favorite torture device drained power from the entire underground system. It took a lot of electricity to run.
He didn't really feel like dragging the piteous creature back to his cell with the rest of the captives, but he knew he would be yelled at later for leaving the male here, so he began with the arduous task of removing the bonds and dragging the male back to his cell.
Prisoners were known to begin resisting once their hands and legs were free—he'd gotten a black eye from the female—but this one remained completely unresisting, letting his hands be chained as he was half-led half-dragged back to the main cell.
Kanari stared down at the dirty silver cylinder, almost instantly recognizing whose it was.
"That's General Jorani's lightsaber!" Dice spoke up, picking up the weapon in his hand. He gave Ri'van an almost apologetic look.
"I guess that means that we can believe him now…" Kanari said, wary as to how the sergeant would react.
It was a moment before he answered. "Have we gotten communications with any other men?" he asked the soldier next to him.
"Negative, sir," he answered. "We're all that's left."
Sergeant Salis swore under his breath. "I guess that means we have no choice but to follow the Lizard." He didn't look happy at the prospect of having to follow a sworn enemy, but he swallowed his comment and nodded to the men. "Alright, gear up—and if you even hint that you're leading us into a trap, that shabla brain of yours will be blasted to Tatooine, got it?" Salis said, spinning on Ri'van.
Ri'van gulped nervously and nodded his head, the tip of his chin hitting the ground. "I promise, I'm not trying to trick you or anything," he rushed out, scuttling back a few feet. His tail still hurt, and he knew that it would hinder his movement as they made their way to the tunnels. "Are you guys ready?"
The sergeant pulled his helmet onto his head, and the female fixed the straps of the rifle at her back. "We're ready," she answered, cutting off the male.
The male grumbled, but otherwise didn't say anything as he started after Ri'van.
Ri'van slowly crawled through the underbrush of the thick forest area, keeping in mind that bipedals tended not to be as fast, and that he had a burn across his tail.
Kriff, that hurts, he thought, sparing a glance back at the injury before quickly hurrying on. From what he could tell, the scales would be badly scarred and malformed at best.
At worst, he wouldn't have a tail.
His tail twitched with every step on habit, occasionally whacking the base of a tree or rock.
Kanari watched it move stiffly back and forth, keeping an eye on her surroundings to make sure they weren't being led in circles or toward an area she knew had poisonous plants. Her footsteps cracked over the dried out twigs and leaves on the ground, and she flinched at the noise their group was making.
We could wake up the dead with all this noise, she thought, casting a glance back to the clone named Dice behind her.
"Are you alright, ma'am?" he asked, stepping up closer to her. "If you're tired—"
"I'm fine, thank you, Dice," she said, smiling softly at him. Kanari could feel the ground slowly begin to descend, the dead leaves and twigs rolling down as she kicked them up with her sturdy leather boots.
They arrived at the mouth of a tunnel, dim glowing light spilling out into the small surrounding clearing.
"Here we are," Ri'van said.
A small fire burned the discarded infected tissue in the center of the camp from Alick's shoulder. Alick lay a few meters from the fire, small roots and vines cleared away for a makeshift bed that he was on. His breathing came out in raspy puffs, his fever having spiked over the past hour. The upper half of his armor lay in a neat pile beside him.
Aella sat cross-legged by his head, refusing to leave his side even for water. Continuously, she stroked her hand down the side of his face as he muttered incoherently in his sleep. He wasn't having a nightmare, but some of the things she could pick up were disturbing enough.
The medic squatted beside Aella and said, "Princess, you have to take a break. You've been here for three hours—"
"No," Aella interrupted stubbornly. "Not until he gets better." Or until he dies, she thought. She rubbed a damp cloth over Alick's glistening forehead, watching as his troubled movements still for a moment.
The medic sighed and squatted next to Alick's arm, rolling up the sleeve and injecting a shot of antibiotics into the crease in his elbow. "Princess, there's no telling that he'll be better soon."
Alick flinched and muttered more nonsense before settling back into his blanket.
"I know…" Aella sighed dejectedly. "I just…I don't want to leave him…" Her hand curled around Alick's, and his twitched in response.
It was two more hours before his fever broke.
Alick groggily opened his eyes, immediately hissing at the early evening sun. "Wh…what happened?"
"You had an infection," Aella answered beside his head, relief taking over her voice. "Looks like your fever's broken. How do you feel?"
"Tired…" Alick muttered, rubbing his hand over his sweaty face. "And hungry." To prove his point further, Alick's stomach let out a loud rumble.
Aella chuckled and got up, dusting dirt and plant leaves from her pants. "Okay, I'll be right back."
The medic that had been treating Alick jogged over, his med-pack slung over one shoulder. "Has his fever broken?" he asked, kneeling beside Alick and placing a thermometer between his lips. Satisfied at the temperature he got, the medic gave Alick another shot. "Just to make sure it doesn't come back."
"I was going to go get him some food," Aella said, looking to the medic for permission.
"Not just yet," he replied, packing up his tools. "Just water will be fine."
"H-Hey!" Alick said, mustering up energy to sit up a bit. His head swam, but he ignored it. "I'm the one who wanted it."
"Water is the only thing you can stomach right now," the medic answered, not looking up. "Trust me. And stay down!"
Alick grumbled and resettled into his bed, watching as Aella went to a trooper to ask for water. He didn't want water, he wanted food. Alick tried to swallow and couldn't, so he decided that water wouldn't hurt.
But later on he was going to get food, even if he had to wrestle someone for it.
"I'm back, Alick," Aella said, settling down beside him again. She looped her arm under his neck and partially pulled him into her lap. The stump of his left shoulder pressed into her diaphragm, his head resting softly against her chest.
Alick could feel a blush begin to creep from his neck to the backs of his ears. The mouth of the bottle was pressed to his parched lips, cool water running down his throat and almost choking him.
"Alick slow down!" Aella said, forcing the bottle out of Alick's hands. Alick groaned and reached for it again before feeling his stomach turn. He rested back to his position in Aella's arms, his hand pressed over his eyes.
"Told you the only thing he could stomach was water," the medic said.
"Mrm…shut up!" Alick snarled sharply.
Aella sighed, a small smile forming on her lips. "You need to rest, Alick."
"But I—" The water had helped with his throat, but he was still hungry.
"No. Rest first, food later," Aella said, seemingly reading his mind. "I promise."
Alick grumbled as Aella rested him against the blanket spread across the jungle floor. His eyelids grew heavy as he watched the evening sky darken, and a fire was lit in the camp circle.
Sorry this was so late. I haven't been able to do as much writing as I would have liked over the past few weeks. The next chapter, however, should be out sooner. Meanwhile, our Aella/Alick story is coming to a close.
~AAx
