The Final Battle: Part 24
Tanya slowly opened her eyes, feeling someone damping a cool cloth on her forehead. She tried to sit up but the pain was so great she almost blacked out again.
"Stay still Tanya. You're too weak," came a familiar, far off voice. "You're safe. There's no need to strain yourself." Tanya tried to reply that as long as she was on a Separatist ship, she was as far from safe as anyone could be, but was in too much agony to even try to open her mouth. So she lay there, her head in the lap of a person she could not identify and she was the more venerable she had ever felt in her life. The person would occasionally put a small metal vial to her lips and have Tanya drink some the liquid inside. It was difficult for Tanya to even think but she believed it to be water with some sort of powder mixed in. Slowly, but surely, Tanya's vision cleared and she was became enough to sit up. She was lying in Barriss' lap with Ahsoka sitting next to them.
"What… happened?" were Tanya first words to the pair of them.
"Dooku, Grievous, and Ventress tortured you with that evil little black ball of a droid. It must have been hours but you never gave in. You screamed a few times but you were defiant until the end," Ahsoka explained wearily. She looked as though she had aged three years in three hours. Barriss looked even worse.
"Did they-? "
"No," Barriss interrupted. "They didn't touch us. They taunted us a bit but nothing more. They were more concerned with breaking you."
Tanya breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm guessing you were the one nursing me while I was unconscious?" Barriss nodded. "Thank you." Barriss half smiled but it slipped off her face instantaneously. "Can I ask, what was that stuff you were giving me?"
"Crushed pain killer pills in water," Barriss answered.
"How did you get those?"
"I carry them in my belt," Barriss said, pointing to the little metal vials attached to her belt. Tanya nodded.
"Ah. Thought so."
The trio slipped into an awkward silence.
"How long was I out?" Tanya inquired.
"I don't know. A few hours I think, but no more than three," Ahsoka replied.
"And how long was the torture session?"
"About the same."
Tanya nodded grimly.
"Why do you need to know?"
"I'm trying to figure out how much longer it'll take for the rescue to come."
"And?"
"It's not looking too good." Ahsoka and Barriss slumped in disappointment. Before they could reply, the door opened to reveal three MagnaGuards. The leader stepped toward them and muttered some garbled noises, which the padawans remembered as the order for the trio to follow them. Tanya rolled her eyes at them and attempted to stand up, only to fall down. Ahsoka and Barriss caught her, and slowly helped her up to her feet. They continued to aid Tanya in walking until the MagnaGuards stopped walking and opened a door. Inside was some sort of laboratory, with Dooku, Grievous, and Ventress waiting inside. Tanya shook Ahsoka and Barriss off of her and walked inside on her own.
"I admit, you are stronger than I anticipated. But, my patience has worn through," Dooku said malevolently. "I will give you one more chance to relieve yourself of the burden willingly. Where. Is. The. Information."
"After living through that torture, do you really think I'll surrender to your pathetic little threats?" Tanya scoffed. "No amount of torture will ever convince me to give you the information." Dooku leered at her.
"Perhaps. But, what we have in store for you is not exactly torture," he explained, before nodding to the droids. The MagnaGuards immediately grabbed Tanya's arms and threw her onto the metal table. Tanya screamed in shook, kicked at the drones, and tried to pull herself out of their grasp but they were too strong. They grabbed her arms and legs and bound them to the table. A brace came out of the slab and clamped itself around her neck, effectively constraining her neck and head. She continued to struggle against her bonds, until she noticed a device directly above her. It looked like some sort of helmet connected to a large computer system, with pins and needles sticking out of the helmet's interior, which would probe the brain of anyone who wore it. The MagnaGuards grabbed the helmet and began to lower until it was a foot above Tanya's head.
"What is this? What are you doing? What's going on?" Tanya shouted but the droids remained mute.
"This, Miss Tanya, is the latest in brain scanning technology. This equipment, when attached to the head of an organism, can read its memory and turn it into computer memory, which can be read on this monitor," Dooku explained, motioning to the computer screen. "However, our test subjects, mostly captured clones, all ended up going mad after the information extraction and many died. We, however, are prepared to take the risk." Dooku, Grievous, and Ventress all howled their hideous laughs. Tanya's eyes widened and she looked to Ahsoka and Barriss, silently begging them to stay silent and strong, while wishing them well and saying goodbye.
"Well, I believe we can get started now. Is everything in place Doctor?" Dooku asked.
"Yes sir. We are ready to begin," replied a medical droid of the same type as Grievous' doctor.
"Good. Begin the procedure," Dooku ordered. The doctor droid pulled down a lever and the machinery slowly began to lower itself into position on Tanya's head.