Finally an update. Enjoy!
I woke up, cursing whatever deity created life. My back was on fire, but rest of my body was freezing and for the life of me, I couldn't convince my eyes it was okay for them to open. For a few moment, I completely forgot I was a Jedi. I was terrified and had no idea what to do.
I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. Taking a deep breath through my nose, I willed its pace slower and it responded. I remembered the calming technique I often used before stepping into a room of strangers and began to run through it. I had done it so many time, I didn't need to think about it, just feel as the Force evened me out.
Once I had gotten control of myself, I began feeling out my surroundings with the Force. It was then I realized I wasn't alone. Wherever I was, there was another lifeform with me.
I finally managed to open my eyes, making sure to open them in the direction of the other lifeform. I was most definitely a prisoner and most likely had been relieved of my lightsaber, but I was prepared to defend myself with the Force, if I had to. Propelling objects using the Force wasn't one of my strengths, but I could do it.
Standing before me, leaning against the wall was a single male Chiss. His skin was a darker shade of blue than my own, but his eyes were the same. He was wearing some type of military uniform, though it was unlike any Imperial attire I had ever seen in pictures, having never seen an Imperial live and in person, until now. He had to be Imperial. He was too formal looking not to be. I was happy to discover I wasn't being restrained and struggled to pull myself into a seated position. My back burned and protested the movement.
"Nice to see you finally regain consciousness. I was being to worry my men had hurt you worse than I had thought." His voice was smooth and calm, having an Imperial accent, but also containing a hint of an accent I could not place.
"Where am I?" I asked, once achieving my hard fought seated position.
"You are in a facility call Zero Station." He said, still watching me closely. He wasn't angry or fearful, simply calm. Almost Jedi calm.
"Imperial." I said. It wasn't a question.
"On the contrary, this is a Chiss Ascendancy facility. Every soul living and working here is Chiss. True, we do support the Empire's operations on Hoth on occasion, but even they do not know where this facility is located."
"You still sound Imperial to me." I said. The pain in my back was making it hard to think. I needed to remain calm.
"Indeed I do, but I feel compelled to point out that you do not." This fact seemed to surprise him, like we was expecting me to be Imperial. Whatever this man's game, I figured I could speak about myself without letting slip any useful Republic information. There would be plenty of time during the interrogation for important information.
"That is because I'm not Imperial. I was raised on Coruscant."
This information really seemed to surprise my capture. I had thrown him a curveball and it took several moments for him to reply.
"Really? So you are not a defection." He said to himself.
"No, I am not a defection. Unless you think an infant less than a year old can defect." My words sounded snarky, even to me as I said them. I really didn't care. If this man wanted me dead, I'd be dead. I was unarmed and even with the Force as my ally, I couldn't hope to defend myself for long. Not to mention I was injured.
"Most interesting. And can I assume you are also a Force user, judging by your weapon of choice and your skill with using it. My men told me you threw it away and called it right back to your hand."
I nodded. "I am." I didn't bother to point out that I was only a padawan. He didn't' need to know of my limited experience. It was better if he thought a fully trained Jedi sat before him. If he had any fear of Force users, I couldn't detect it. He was still unbelievably calm.
"I'm not sure if you are aware of this, but Force sensitivity is a rare trait in our kind. I can think of only two in the last couple of centuries of written record, you making three."
"I wasn't aware. I had my suspicions but I was never able to confirm them." I couldn't stop the small smile that formed on my face at the information. This man had just answered a question I had wondered about most of my life. And he wasn't deceiving me, either.
The man stood up straight, no longer leaning against the wall. "Then am I correct in assuming, considering where you grew up, that your knowledge of our species is fairly limited? You act as though you've never seen or spoken to another of your own kind before."
I took a deep breath, trying to ignore the increasingly distracting pain radiating from my back. "Until I saw your men and spoke to you, I had not." I took another breath, letting it out shakily. "Speaking of your men, did they kill the two soldiers who were with me when I was captured?"
"No, once you were secured, your men were of no consequence, so they were allowed to return to their camp."
I nodded, relieved. It was a small consolation for being shot in the back, but at least there was one.
The man sighed loudly, acting like he wanted to continue our conversation, but realizing he had something more important to do. "You are in pain. Will you allow one of my doctors to come in and treat your wound?"
I nodded.
"I feel I must apologize to you. I told my men to bring you in alive. I'm afraid I choose relatively young, inexperienced soldiers to apprehend you. None of us realize you were a Jedi and I believe they may have panicked. It was not my intention for you to be harmed. We thought we were capturing an Imperial defector."
"What was your intention?" I asked.
"We will speak again later. First I will call in my doctor. Perhaps bring you something to eat." He turned, but turned back quickly. "And I feel I must point out to you, there is no point in trying to escape. This facility is in the middle of nowhere, on a planet with one of the most deadly environments you will ever find. Leave here on foot, or by speeder, and you will freeze to death before you find civilization, even if you knew which direction to travel in."
Without another word, the man turned sharply and left.
I sat alone in the room, taking in my surroundings. This was most definitely a prison cell. The only furniture was the cot I sat on. It was as if when they learned they had captured a Force user, they removed everything in the room they could, allowing me nothing I could easily use as a weapon. It didn't matter anyway, the man was right. I couldn't escape. Even if I did make it out of this cell, most of my heavy outerwear had been removed. I would freeze to death before getting anywhere.
I looked up when I heard the lock on my door click open and the force field deactivate. A Chiss woman came in and gave me a friendly, if not totally comfortable, smile. She was a pale, practically pastel blue, with dark blue hair wrapped into a messy bun on the back of her head. She wore what was obviously the clothes of a doctor.
"I was sent to treat your wound. May I..." She seemed to nod in my direction, asking permission to approach. Unlike the man before her, this woman was afraid of me.
I nodded. "Please." I removed the jacket I was wearing and helped lift my shirt up enough to expose the blaster wound.
The woman almost growled. "I don't see why the idiots had to shoot you, even if you are a Force user." Her head tilted to face me. "Are you? A Force user, I mean?"
I looked over at the far side of the room, creating a small snowball from the frozen wall. Once formed I gently lobbed it at the ground near the woman's feet.
She smiled at the display. "I'll take that as a yes. So, if you wanted to, you could probably kill me, right here where I stand."
I thought about it for a minute, then nodded. "Probably, but I wouldn't. It's not our way."
"I'm happy to hear that." She said, sounding relieved. "How does your back feel now?"
I was unable to prevent the audible sigh of relief which escaped my lips. The pain was gone. If I didn't think she would panic, I'd have hugged her. "Much better."
She lowered my shirt and helped me put on the jacket. "You'll need two or three more treatments before the wound is totally healed, but you should feel less pain the next time the painkillers wear off."
I wave of exhaustion hit me, either from the painkillers or the sudden relief of pain, probably a little of both. I was barely able to stay seated. The doctor saw my sudden fatigue and helped my lay back down. She even wrapped several blankets around me.
"Get some rest. I'll be back later to check on you."
She turned to leave, but I called out to her, making her turn back.
"Hey doc? Thank you."
She smiled at me. It was a truly genuine smile. "You're most welcome."
I barely managed to watch her leave, before falling asleep.
To Be Continued...