No. 23—At the End of Their Rope
Forced to Kneel | Tied to a Table | "Hold them down."
"Anakin Skywalker." The Imperial officer strolled across the dead brown dirt, his shiny black boots clipping across the dust. He smirked at Anakin pinioned between two stormtroopers.
Anakin bared his teeth, panting hard. Blood trailed down his face. He had run until he couldn't run anymore. And now he was here. "I don't…know who you are."
"And yet, I know you." The Imperial smiled, clasping his hands behind his back. "A Jedi. Full of compassion. Unable to leave people alone."
"Why don't you let me go and we'll see how well I can leave people alone?" Anakin challenged.
The Imperial laughed. He snapped his fingers. "On your knees."
Anakin spat blood from his mouth onto the Imperial's shiny boots. "No."
The stormtroopers kicked his legs in and pushed his shoulders down. Anakin crashed his knees.
"Better." The Imperial peered down at him. "The Emperor's prize. We've got special instructions for you." He gestured to the speeder nearby that was filled with stormtroopers. Two troopers brought out a crate and laid it at the Imperial's feet.
Anakin's breath quickened. The Emperor. Palpatine. The bane of his life. He had had to leave his family behind some months ago to keep them from being caught along with him. That horrible man that wanted to use Anakin's strength, manipulate his powers to control the galaxy. Make Anakin his slave or kill him so Anakin didn't fulfill his destiny.
And the diabolical Sith had sent a capture kit to all the Imperials in case they ever found Anakin.
The Imperial drew out a metal band from the crate. "Hold him down."
More troopers rushed forward and held his head and shoulders steady. The Imperial stepped forward. "Open his mouth."
One of the troopers squeezed Anakin's cheeks with his gloves. The Imperial fit the band to Anakin's mouth. The band extended metal into his mouth and clamped down on his tongue. The Imperial fastened the band on the back of his head.
Anakin glared at the Imperial. A gag. There went his chances to mind trick himself out of imprisonment.
The Imperial took another metal band out of the crate and clamped it around Anakin's neck.
A low-level electrical current shot through Anakin's body. His muscles locked up, pain spreading throughout his body. He couldn't even move on his own.
Were they going to leave him like this? All the way back to Imperial Center? He couldn't take this constant pain that long.
The Imperial pulled out a small metal armband, an automatic drug dispenser usually used for invalids. "Pull his sleeve up."
No. Anakin wanted to protest and pull away, but he couldn't move.
The stormtroopers pulled up Anakin's left sleeve, exposing his bicep. The Imperial fit the armband around Anakin's arm and pulled the sleeve down.
A needle shot into Anakin's bicep. A fog crept over his mind.
A gag, an electrical collar, and a drug. Palpatine really wasn't taking his chances. A tear slipped down Anakin's cheek. He just wanted to be able to live with his family and be left alone. He never asked for this.
"Cuff him and throw him in the speeder," the Imperial ordered.
The stormtroopers cuffed him and tossed him like a sack of flour into the speeder.
Anakin shuddered. Obi-Wan, where are you? I need you. He tugged on their long-dormant bond, searching out the man he hadn't seen since before Order 66. Obi-Wan, help me. Please. You're my only hope.