Maysh'la strained against her cuffs, tripping slightly as the Hapian guard encouraged her forward. Bao Dur was next to her, followed by Atton and Mical with Mira bringing up the rear. The Captain of the Guard was a tall, powerful blonde in heavily gilded armor and an impressive helm. It was ornately decorated with leaves in varying shades of gold and it covered most of her face with the exception of her two, piercing blue eyes. They all carried what appeared to be ceremonial spears but the sharpened tips glowed ominously and the Exile knew that they probably functioned much like shock sticks.

They had traveled in a secured elevator straight down from the Throne Room to a darkened, holding level. It was the antithesis of everything they had witnessed on Hapes so far with varying shades of black and grey stone comprising the flooring and walls. There was no decoration; no Hapian flourishes and the acoustics of the area amplified every cry and every whisper of the prisoners within. By her estimate, they had traveled down eight levels and the only way out seemed to be via a small key that the Captain was holding on her person.

Her thoughts swirled as she headed towards their destination. She didn't know why she'd ordered the others to submit to capture. Certainly nothing in the outward behavior of the Queen Mother had led her to believe that they were safe. It was the opposite as a matter of fact but there was something in her eyes…in spite of all reason she knew that there was more at work. Canderous must have known it too…under any other circumstance he would have happily killed anyone who dared to knock his helm off, royalty or not. She had looked at him so…ODDLY. There really wasn't any other description for it as it was impossible to determine her intentions. It really could be anything and the Exile hoped he would not be too outnumbered to defend himself if it came to that.

She snapped back to reality as they were led into a small chamber that had a faint, sweetly floral scent. Backing out, the Captain switched on a smoothly glowing field that covered the entryway. Almost immediately, Mical moved in to where she stood, sliding his large hands under her jaw and tilting her head slightly upwards.

"What are you doing?" she asked, jerking back slightly.

"Please be still," he replied gently, "I am examining you. I have certainly treated your battle wounds before but I have never witnessed you physically ill. It was quite dramatic considering the setting and I would like to get to the bottom of it."

"I just can't believe that you lost it in the Queen Mother's prize Kibo plant," Atton sighed, eyeing her with bemusement, "I mean you really flooded that thing."

"Oh be quiet!" Mical snapped.

Maysh'la peered at the young, blonde Jedi. She had never heard him speak to someone like that before and she could see an intense concern in the depths of his azure eyes.

"You got something to say?" Atton snarked from behind.

But Mical's attention was entirely devoted to his master. When he finally answered his voice was distracted, "I apologize for my tone, Atton but even you must realize that this is unusual and I would like to get to the root of the cause as quickly as I can."

"Yeah…well…okay…" he conceded his concern palpable.

She could feel him as he examined her systems through the Force, asking her questions as he went. She moved her hands to his and lowered them away from her gently, "Please," she said, "I'm fine…"

"Are you absolutely certain?" he asked, as his pale blue eyes bored into her own, "This is most important, if you have been somehow poisoned or…"

"I was attacked," she said, cutting him off but squeezing his hands gently.

Bao stood as closely behind her as he dared. She could feel his silent, powerful support as it flowed towards her. The others stared at her, bewildered and oddly, Mira yawned.

It seemed that the late nights and early mornings were catching up with all of the crew members. Atton was slouching against the wall and the normally keen spark in Mical seemed all but extinguished. Maysh'la found that her own thoughts were beginning to swirl but she inhaled deeply, enjoying the soft scent in the air and re-doubled her efforts to focus.

"It was the Queen Mother…it felt very much like being attacked by the dark side…having terror thrust upon you but it was fundamentally different somehow. Did any of you feel anything?" she asked.

They all shook their heads – a resounding negative.

"Do you think she's a Sith?" Atton asked.

"No," she replied, "I think that she does wield the Force but she is unaware that she does. She probably thinks it is the power of the Hapian god flowing through her and I have to admit, her powers are certainly different than what I'm used to. But she knew what I was and she tested me to prove it. I'm generally quite immune to fear but there was another element there…an extreme panic…it was interesting..."

"Interesting?" Mira cracked with an eyebrow raised, "Look, she just made you ruin a perfectly good plant and she moved so fast up there that I didn't see her until Mandalore was on his back. She's more than just interesting."

"She is very powerful," the Exile conceded, "But also untrained and considering how Hapians view Jedi she is likely to remain so. I can only imagine how quickly we would be executed if we even suggested that she might be Force sensitive so for now, let's just keep that to ourselves."

"Agreed," Bao said softly and he wavered slightly where he stood.

"I asked you all to give in upstairs and allow capture because I really have no idea what she's capable of, or if she's light or dark. She may possess powers we've never heard of and as a matter of fact I think that she may be what the Sith are after." she said.

"But what would the Sith want with her?" Atton asked, peering at her through lowered lids.

"Isn't it obvious?" Bao said slowly, "She possesses power that is different from anything we're used to…May didn't have any defense against a simple fear attack…if she could be turned; she'd be a powerful ally with an entire planet behind her."

"Hey…is it just my imagination or is that smell in here stronger?" Mira asked sleepily, kneeling down on the floor.

"Mmmmhmmm…s'pretty though," Atton replied, slowly sliding down the wall into a sitting position.

It felt like drowning…Mical's voice seemed to come through in slow waves, cresting on some words and ebbing on the others. She couldn't understand what he was saying but his speech was interrupted by a loud crack as he hit the floor. The room began to swirl and finally, the word that she had been forcing to her lips managed to escape, "Gas…" she whispered and collapsed. The last thing she heard was the sound of Bao's heavy body as it fell.

Everything went black

Hours later

"Jin…"

"Jin…"

The Exile lolled her head drunkenly as a rough, warm hand gently patted her cheek, "Come on…speak to me…" he whispered.

A seed of sensibility from deep within her consciousness pushed forward and forced her eyes to open, struggling to focus on Bao's face. "Are…are you alright?" she croaked.

She felt his warm lips as they brushed gently on her temple, "I'm fine…I'm actually more concerned about you at the moment…can you stand?" he asked.

"Not just yet," she whispered, finally managing to focus on his dark eyes, "But give me a minute…I can't believe I didn't see that coming…that I didn't engage my Breath Control abilities…why can't I THINK here?"

Bao Dur sat, pulling her into his lap and stroking her hair as she leaned in limply against his neck, "Maybe you can't," he said softly, "I think that that we're being suppressed somehow…I mean not one of us thought of it. We haven't had much sense at all since we arrived. If it was just you or just me that would be one thing, but all of us? I really think that the Queen Mother is doing something here and we are going to have to start fighting it if we're going to get out."

"You're right," she replied and as her eyes focused she peered around the room, "Wait…where are the others? What's happened to them?"

"I don't know," he replied, "When I came to, they were gone. I called one of the guards and she told me not to worry. She said that the Captain is speaking to Mira and that Atton and Mical have been taken for some kind of screening. When I asked what she meant by that she told me that it was routine for all human male prisoners that come through here and they would be returned within the hour. That was about 30 minutes ago and I have a bad feeling about all of this."

Maysh'la frowned.

"Me too," she whispered, her voice turning to steel, "And I've had just about enough of this! Help me up, will you love?"

Bao smiled at her and gathered her up close in his big arms. Raising one knee and sliding his other leg behind he braced his foot against the wall and slowly stood. It was a subtly impressive display of strength and balance and the Exile smiled as he slowly lowered her into a standing position. She stood for a moment, her arms locked behind his neck, bathing in the new heat that radiated from his eyes. Slowly, he leaned in…

The air was pierced by an agonized scream.

Atton!

Maysh'la flew apart from Bao Dur, shouting for a guard and attempting to disrupt the field through the Force. "Bao, your arm! Can't you take care of this?" she asked frantically.

"I tried while you were out," he replied, "It's at a frequency that's out of range of my capabilities. If I had some tools a simple alteration would do the trick…"

Atton screamed again.

"Dammit!" Bao hissed, focusing his own efforts on the shield.

"Guard!" she cried, returning her focus with Bao.

Feeling someone approach she raised her eyes and dropped her arms limply to her side. The Captain of the Guard was approaching but she was out of her armor…as a matter of fact, she was wearing very little at all and it seemed that she was being closely followed…by a shorter, armored version of herself.

Bao had noticed as well and they stood aside as the glassy-eyed Captain approached and opened the cell. She strode vacantly in and the Exile smiled as she noticed Mira's green eyes peering out from the heavy helm. "Come ON," she hissed, beckoning them sharply with her free hand and they complied, shuffling quickly out into the hall.

Mira leaned in and kissed the blonde Captain gently, "Thanks for everything, beautiful," she whispered and took a short step backwards, lowering the field in front of the Force stunned girl.

"Perfect timing," Maysh'la said, beaming at her, "Let's go!"

They ran down the hallway in the direction of the noise, as they rounded the corner they nearly collided with two more guards who quickly found themselves on the end of a stasis field. Moving past, they pushed their way into the small room and were struck by an absolutely sickening sight.

Immediately Bao Dur turned his back to the room.

Atton and Mical were strapped to a sort of gurney that hung on an angle from the ceiling with their heads slightly forward. They had been stripped from the waist down and the lower half of their bodies hung over an array of needles varying in gauge and function.

Both men were bleeding slightly...

The Exile immediately looked upwards to Atton, locking on his own dark green eyes, her face a mask of forced calm. Mical was still unconscious but it was obvious that the guards had engaged the use of their machinery on both of them regardless of their state. Atton's head lolled, he was semi-conscious from the pain, pale and sweating and it was obvious that he had vomited at least once. His humiliation permeated the air in the room and her heart broke as she fought the pity that was threatening to shine through in her expression.

Taking the utmost care to not break contact with his eyes she moved forward with Mira who headed to the controls of the machine. Engaging them, the gurney moved slowly away and began to straighten as it lowered to the floor. As it moved the Exile threw as many Force heals on them as she could. When it finally touched the ground, she reached for the restraints, freeing only his wrists and allowing him to take care of his ankles on his own. Keeping her head high she moved to the lockers in the corner of the room and retrieved the clothing that had been taken from them, returning silently and handing Atton his gear.

She turned to Mical as he dressed, loosening his wrist and ankle restraints and covering him with his own gear.

"Dress him," Atton muttered.

"What?" she said.

"Dress him," he croaked, "No way does he need to know about this when he wakes up."

The Exile nodded and with Mira's help they cleaned the telltale pinpricks of blood from his newly healed flesh and wrestled Mical back into his gear.

There was a disturbance in the hall and she saw Bao's mechanical fist as it raised high in the air and landed just beyond the doorframe with a sickening crunch. By this point Mira was mad for a fight and raced to join him in the hall.

"Atton…" she began.

"Don't say it," he whispered, "Just…don't…"

She moved to where he sat and stood in front of him, "What did they do to you?"

His green eyes clouded with rage, "Did you notice that there aren't a lot of men on this planet?" he asked quietly.

She nodded in reply.

"Yeah, well, it turns out they aren't big fans of men…the few that are here are no better than slaves. No opinions, no status…"

She nodded again.

"Still, they need their race to carry on so they…they were forcibly taking…" he stopped, his hands in fists and his knuckles white.

Her eyes widened, "I understand," she said quietly, "You don't have to continue…I know what they were after…"

His head snapped upwards as he turned to the machinery and with a vicious snap of his right hand he brought down the most powerful Force Storm she had ever witnessed. The needles were vaporized in an instant and the remainder of the mechanism imploded on itself, scattering sparks and collapsing in a heap of twisted, molten durasteel.

Atton's eyes dropped once more to his hands which were now clenched tightly in his lap.

The Exile reached out and tentatively ran her fingers through a few stray strands on his head.

He jumped back as if burnt.

"I'm sorry," she said, pulling her hand sharply back as guilt permeated her consciousness.

"No…" he replied, "Touch me."

"What?" she asked, her confusion apparent.

"Touch me," he repeated firmly, "Please, I need you to…it's kinda like falling off a Dewback and getting back on. If I delay it…I don't know if I'll be able to stand it later…"

Maysh'la nodded slowly and moved in nervously, raising her hand to his cheek and stroking it gently. She could feel his emotions as they warred with one another – his common sense as it wrangled with his fear.

He opened his arms and pulled her into a hug, resting his head just over her heart. She held him tightly and stroked his hair, "I will kill her for this," he whispered.

There was no shock, no surprise, no admonitions or mention of the path to the dark side…she just held him protectively, squeezing him in fierce agreement and listening as Bao and Mira battled outside.

Mical began to stir and slowly she moved away from Atton, as he smiled sadly at her.

"Where am I?" Mical asked groggily.

She leaned over him until his eyes focused, "They were taking you for some sort of medical exam but Atton and I got here just in time. Can you stand?" she asked.

"I…believe so…" he replied, slowly raising himself into a sitting position and swinging his legs towards the floor. Taking a few slow breaths, he stood. Shakily at first but soon steadied.

"Excellent," Atton said smoothly, his face masked in its usual calm, "Let's get Mandalore and get the hell out of here."