Chapter Sixteen: Interrogations

I waited patiently on the Republic ship, my eyes closed. I sat against the wall crates stacked in the hangar, focusing on my senses, rather than the bustling clones. According to Kenobi, Bane had already taken two children on the list from the memory crystal.

"Abducting children," I scoffed. "How far he's fallen."

"Anakin has gone to Naboo, where we believe his next victim resides," Obi-wan explained.

"How do you know that?" The jedi fixed me with a look. "Right," I sighed. "The force told you?"

"Guided us, Kida," he gently corrected. I wondered if he knew my lineage. He likely did, being on the Jedi Council. Was he attempting to teach me like a jedi? Not that I really cared.

"Whatever," I offered.

"Can you tell us anything that could help?"

I shrugged. "He won't pretend to be a jedi like he did on Rodia." I glanced at the jedi. "You've seen him do that, so he knows it won't work again. And obviously you know his targets, so he'll expect something." I sighed. "He'll try to straight up abduct the child. Most likely at night when she's been put to bed. She'll be alone then."

Obi-wan stroked his beard thoughtfully, nodding. "Good point. I'll contact Anakin and warn him. Thank you for your help."

"I didn't catch Bane," I said back, a bit of ice in my words. It wasn't directed at him, though.

"Perhaps not," the jedi said after a moment. "But neither did the entire jedi temple, or a highly trained battalion led by an incredibly powerful jedi." His gloved hand rested on my shoulder for a moment. "You're helping, Kida. And I'm grateful for it."

Any political ideologies aside, Obi-wan was a good man.

Windu- ever suspicious of me- and Obi-wan were somewhere around the ship, preparing a cell for Bane rather confidently. I tried to evoke the same amount of confidence. Then again, I'd felt the ferocity rippling off of Skywalker's padawan when they left for Naboo. It wasn't my injuries that kept me from joining them.

Both she and Skywalker were sure they'd catch Bane. I didn't doubt it with the fire surging off the young Togruta. She had a score to settle.

Something in my senses prickled. Bane.

They had him.

Just as I was letting my thoughts recede from the space around the cruiser, I felt another presence- this one strong and trained in the force- prodding at my mind. I recoiled, drawing inward. Windu. He was testing the waters again. Trying to see what I knew.

Oh, I know it all, I wanted to yell in my thoughts, but I kept my mind under lock and key.

"Miss," a formal voice stated beyond my closed eyes. I cracked them open, seeing the yellow-painted armor of the 212th Battalion. Kenobi's men.

"Cody," I said back, letting my rigid posture fall. He moved to explain his interruption, but I beat him to it. "They have Bane."

He paused a beat, his mind turning over how I'd know. I felt him toss it up to critical thinking. "Yes. They're coming in now, if you'd like to join Generals Kenobi and Windu on the landing platform."

"Thank you, Commander," I said back immediately, hopping off my perch stiffly. My body hurt, but the bacta treatments were helping. Besides, I often healed quickly. I wondered for a moment if that was my Sith heritage, but pushed the thoughts away so as to not let any slip out for the jedi to sense.

"Master Jedi," I greeted from behind them as I walked up.

"Kida," Obi-wan said immediately, his voice warm. "How are you feeling?"

He was referring to my injuries, but I shrugged. "Better now that we have Bane." I glanced between the two as I stood beside them. "He won't have the holocron with him, you know."

"We can only hope he does," Windu responded dismissively.

I quirked my eyebrow, looking back as a shuttle landed, the doors opening to reveal Ahsoka and Anakin. Between them, in binders, stood Bane. "He won't," I muttered, staring hard as he met my gaze.

"Kida," the Duros bounty hunter greeted as he was escorted off the shuttle. "I was sad to not see you on Naboo."

"You wouldn't have made it out alive if I was there," I bit back, my tone cold. The jedi all raised eyebrows at me.

Bane ignored them, giving me a mocking smile. "I certainly would like to shoot you again. And this time, I'll aim for your head." He growled at me as the jedi pushed him forward into the firm grasps of Cody and his men. The clones led him away towards the holding cells while the jedi conferred.

"The Gungan child is safe," Ahsoka said smugly, before her face fell. "But the other missing younglings aren't in his ship."

"And the holocron?" Windu pressed.

Anakin shook his head. "Nothing so far, but he probably has a few hiding places to smuggle goods. We'll keep looking, Master."

"Good," Obi-wan said, his fingers tapping his chin. "While you do that, perhaps we should go greet our guest in his new room. Kida, care to join?"

"Is that wise?" Windu protested. "He may not talk with competition there. It's clear you have a rivalry." He spoke to me now.

"He won't talk if I'm not there either," I argued, rolling my eyes and moving past them towards the holding cells. "I may be able to piece together some hints he gives, since I know a lot of hiding places. If nothing else," I cast a smile back at the group of jedi. "I'll at least get to watch him squirm."

Windu conceded, falling into step beside me and Obi-wan as we made our way there.

"As much as I hate to admit it," Kenobi said. "He may be more resistant to interrogation if you're there."

"Jedi aren't ones to use violence, are they?" I asked vaguely.

"No," Windu answered. "We are negotiators. Defenders of peace."

I glanced at him. "Right." Yet they were generals in a war. "Well I'm not a jedi. And I certainly have no qualms against punching Bane in the face."

To my surprise, the two jedi chuckled as we entered the cell block. "While I like the enthusiasm," Windu said, his force signature relaxing slightly around me. "I think we'll use that as a last resort."

I smirked at him. Maybe he was suspicious of me, but I respected that he could enjoy a laugh nonetheless. "Shucks."

The ray shield fell, letting us enter Bane's interrogation room. He was seated at the far end, his fingers laced before his bound wrists. His red eyes followed me as I entered the room beside the jedi.

"Bane," Kenobi spoke, his voice having an air of amusement to it. "Are you enjoying your new room?"

Bane ignored the teasing, still focused on me. "Working with the jedi now, are you?" I didn't respond, my arms crossed before me. "Jango would be disappointed."

"Ne'johaa," I growled lowly.

"He, like any real Mandalorian, hated the jedi, didn't he?" Bane persisted, leaning forward and into the light. "He'd be ashamed of what you've become. Working with the very jedi that killed him. He'd-"

He didn't get to finish, my hand gripping the back of his neck and slamming him onto the table. I leaned down low, the jedi watching me warily. "Ni'duraa," I said softly through gritted teeth.

"I believe that's enough of that," Obi-wan chimed in. I let go after a beat, Bane growling lowly as he cracked his neck. Windu paced by me, giving me a look and a nod to stand on the opposite end of the table. I obliged.

Bane chuckled. "Republic dog," he mocked.

"I'll shoot you and they won't be able to stop me," I replied curtly, my arms crossed as I leaned against the far wall, smirking. I didn't let his words bother me. Jango's heritage hated the jedi, sure, but he did help make an army for them. I was following what he taught me. To take jobs I believed in. And I certainly believed in saving little kids who were kidnapped from their homes.

"You'd never know where the holocron is," Bane said back darkly. "Or the children."

"Kidnapping babies," I acknowledged. "It seems nothing is below you."

He growled, but Kenobi stepped in, leaning with his fists on the table to get in Bane's field of vision. "If you're quite done," he started. "We know you've taken at least two childen. Where are they?"

"Beyond your reach," Bane spoke easily, waving his hands before pressing his fingertips together casually.

"Who are you working for?" Windu added.

"I work alone."

I snorted. "And I'm not a bounty hunter. He asked who you're working for, Bane. Not with."

Bane gave me a look, but said no more on the matter.

"It is only a matter of time before we locate the holocron," Obi-wan tried. "Make it easier on yourself."

"What are you going to do, Jedi?" Bane asked, his expression unworried. "Torture me?"

"Actually," Windu spoke, rubbing his chin. "Kida volunteered."

Bane lifted his eyebrows, leaning back in his chair. "I'm trembling in my boots," he mocked.

"Ever been tortured at a Deathwatch camp, Bane?" I asked darkly from my place on the wall. Kenobi turned to me, shocked, as I continued. "You'd be surprised what you learn from them."

The smallest flash of concern blinked across Bane's face before he pushed it away. "You're welcome to try."

"I think," Windu breathed, his back to Bane. "That your fear of whoever you work for, outweighs your fear of us."

The bounty hunter's expression shifted dramatically, his cocky smile diminished. He leaned back into the shadows of the room. "This conversation is over."

Obi-wan gave the Duros a hard look before following Windu out through the door. He nodded his head at me, gesturing to follow. The ray shield activating again behind us, we were greeted by the approaching Ahsoka and Anakin.

"We tore the ship apart," Skywalker lamented. "There's no sign of the holocron, or the kids."

"Did you check the ship's navigation records?" Windu asked.

"They were wiped clean before he landed on Naboo," said the young padawan.

I sighed through my nose, glancing back through the ray shield at Bane. "Ever the thorough one."

"We'll have to use the force to make him talk," Anakin suggested. My eyebrows lifted.

Obi-wan hummed. "I don't think Bane is that weak."

"He's not," I chimed in. "A jedi mind trick won't work on him."

Ahsoka touched her chin with her fingers, not unlike the masters around her. "Maybe if we all concentrated on his mind together?"

"Hmm," Kenobi hummed again, concerned. "Using the force to compel a strong mind to cooperate is...risky."

"There is a danger that his mind could be destroyed in the process," Windu voiced.

I lifted my eyebrows. "That's too high a risk, isn't it? Destroying his mind would mean that you'd never find the holocron, or those children."

"Well," Anakin shrugged. "Do we have another choice?"

Windu glanced at me, lifting his eyebrow. I sighed. "Torture is always a possibility, but I feel the kids don't have that kind of time. I hate Bane, but I'll credit him enough to say he'd be tough to crack."

"Very well," Windu nodded to me, seeming approving of my evaluation. I was almost relieved, actually. Just because I could torture someone, didn't mean I wanted to.

The group reentered the cell, Ahsoka and I standing behind the three masters. Bane seemed unimpressed, but his expression shifted to a confused concern as no one spoke, the jedi concentrating.

Anakin lifted his hand towards Bane. "You will take us to the holocron."

Bane smiled. "Jedi mind tricks don't work on me."

"You will take us to the holocron," Anakin repeated, Obi-wan joining him now.

"Forget it," Bane pressed back. Still, I felt the quiver of the force in the room, pressing down on the bounty hunter. I shifted uncomfortably as he shook his head to keep them out of his mind.

Windu raised his arm, his eyes closed in concentration. "You will take us to the holocron."

"I…" Bane was breathing heavily now, his eyes looking a bit glazed. "I won't!"

"And you will take us," the jedi persisted. "NOW!"

Bane's eyes looked hooded. "I...I will take you-" He blinked, shaking his head. "No! Get out of my head!" His expression of fear rattled me, the pressure of the force in the room enough to even frighten me...and I wasn't even the subject of it.

Bane started screaming as the force pushed down on him, Ahsoka jumping slightly. She looked as concerned as me. Still, the jedi masters continued. I pressed my lips into a line, stepping forward as I started to feel Bane lose his grip, his head thrown back in agony.

"Alright! That's enough," I ordered loudly. The jedi's control of the force dropped off suddenly, their hands falling back to their sides. Bane fell forward onto the table, panting heavily. Windu and Anakin glanced at me with furrowed brows as I turned with concern to Bane.

I didn't give a shit about him, but the display of power was terrifying at the least. They could have melted his brain right there if they wanted to...and they almost did.

"Perhaps we should try," Anakin started, glaring at Bane. "Again." I looked at him in shock.

"I…" Bane panted, lifting his hand. "I've had enough of that. I'll take you to the holocron." Thank the force. "You'll get your children back." I breathed in a slow breath of relief, the room visibly relaxing.

"Let's go then," Obi-wan smiled, gesturing for Cody and his men to enter. They lifted up Bane immediately, the Duros casting me a side glance of hatred as he was led out.

Our group followed behind, my eyes downcast in thought.

"Are you alright?" Ahsoka said gently from beside me, her wide blue eyes filled with concern.

I nodded slowly, but looked her up and down. "That didn't...freak you out at all?"

"What?"

"Your masters almost destroying Bane's mind?"

She turned forward, thinking for a moment. "I suppose. But I trust them not to do anything harmful. They knew when to stop."

I hummed, but wasn't convinced. "I guess...I've just never seen a jedi do that before." Ahsoka didn't know how to respond, so she didn't just giving me a small smile in an attempt to be reassuring. I appreciate the effort, if nothing else.

We entered the hangar, clone helmets turning our way to watch Cody escort Bane towards a shuttle. I could feel Bane's mind racing. Almost decimated by the force and already he was concocting his escape plan.

"The chancellor wants a report on our progress," Windu announced to the other jedi. A shiver went up my spine at his mention. I couldn't put my finger on it, since I couldn't get a good read on him, but something about him screamed trouble.

Maybe it was because he was a politician.

"Tell him this is not Republic business," Obi-wan responded, making my eyebrows raise. "It's an internal Jedi affair."

"I'm sorry to disagree," Anakin sighed. "But so long as the jedi are acting as a military, we should report to the chancellor. Even on internal matters, such as this."

Obi-wan stroked his beard in thought. In reality, I sort of agreed. Sure, the chancellor skeeved me out, but the jedi were using Republic troops, ships, and resources for their little manhunt. Not to mention they were technically generals in the Republic army.

Kenobi grinned, putting his arm around Anakin's shoulders. "Well then, I guess you've just volunteered to go." His former padawan looked shocked. "Give the chancellor my regards."

"Now wait a minute," Anakin tried as Obi-wan walked away.

"I agree," Windu cut him off. "Report back here when you're finished." The two jedi walked after Bane, a smile gracing my face at their apparent capability for humor.

"This could be a trap, Master," Anakin persisted. "Are you sure you don't need us to go?" Ahsoka looked concerned beside her master.

"Of course it's a trap, Skywalker," Windu smiled back at him.

"I will contact you when we find the children," Obi-wan called in an attempt to put them both at ease.

I smiled at them, taking a step after the two jedi masters. "Relax, kid," I offered to the concerned Ahsoka. "I've got their backs."

She smiled, but I could tell her concerned laid elsewhere. "Keep them safe."

I winked at her before I hurried after the two jedi. I fell into step beside Obi-wan, who gave me a look of surprise.

"I assure you that we can handle this."

"Forgive me for doubting you," I returned, giving him a smile. "But Bane has slipped through our fingers too many times already. I'm not about to let him out of my sight, especially if we haven't recovered the holocron yet."

Windu cast me a glance as I boarded the shuttle, leaning casually on the back of Cody's chair, who sat beside Bane. Obi-wan joined the other jedi, taking his seat in the copilot's chair.

"We have an extra member to our party," he joked as he sat.

Windu hummed, but said nothing to me. Instead, he turned to Bane with a harsh look. "The coordinates."

Bane feigned thinking for a moment, making me roll my eyes. "The coordinates are… 673117 cross 7rb71." I crunched my eyebrows in thought.

"That will take us out into the far outer rim," Kenboi voiced. "Neutral space."

"Do you want your holocron?" Bane taunted. "And your kids? Or not?"

The two jedi glanced at each other briefly before Windu placed his hand on the hyperspace lever. "Brace yourself, Kida," Windu said lowly before engaging the hyperdrive. I stood silently behind Cody, watching the stars fly by the viewport. Cody moved to get up and give me his seat, but my firm hand on his shoulder kept him in place. He looked up at me, but I shook my head.

"Sit," I whispered. He obliged, leaning back on the chair and resting for a moment. I wondered how quickly they mastered taking short naps. They weren't given them on Kamino, but I didn't see them get a whole lot of sleep once they entered the war zones. They always looked tired, despite having so much training for peak physicality.

I supposed a war did that to someone.

"Best settle in," Obi-wan sighed, leaning back in his chair. "It will take some time to get to the outer rim."

"The binders aren't incredibly comfortable," Bane tried, knowing we wouldn't take them off, but trying to irk us nonetheless.

"Good," I growled, earning a dark look from him.

"Don't think that you should feel comfortable either," he responded. "Jango is turning in his grave." He paused, thinking. "Did he even get a grave? Or is he still rotting in the sun on Geonosis?"

I felt Windu's thoughts spike at Bane's words, his mind monitoring my own. I took a slow, deep breath, before pushing off of Cody's chair.

"I'll be in the back," I announced, casting a vulgar gesture Bane's way before leaving the cockpit. The jedi's gazes followed me as I left, slipping into one of the only other rooms in the shuttle.

It wasn't incredibly spacious, considering it was designed for Jedi Ambassador uses. At least...they were before the war. Thus, the only other room that wasn't a bed built into a wall or the cockpit was the engine room-cramped, hot, and roaring.

I sat heavily on some of the piping, letting the heat running through them warm my cold muscles. I loved space. It was endless and dark, but stunningly beautiful. Still, I preferred ground. The massive waterfalls of Naboo. The towering forests of Kashyyyk. The night skyline of Coruscant. Even the endless oceans of Kamino.

Of course, one had to travel through a hell of a lot of space to get to all those places.

I lifted my mind from my thoughts as I felt a nearing presence, my eyes lifting to see Kenobi enter the tiny room.

He gestured to the pipes opposite me. "Mind if I join you?"

"It's not terribly comfortable," I replied with a shrug. "But do as you like." The jedi sat, stroking his beard for a moment before regarding me with light blue eyes. I lifted my eyebrows as he said nothing, merely sitting and staring at me. "I'm assuming you're here with jedi wisdom or something," I teased, but still sighed as I prepared for the philosophical lecture.

"You don't like Master Windu," he started surprising me.

"Nor does he like me."

Obi-wan's eyebrow lifted, but he didn't argue. "Is it because of Jango Fett?" What a weighted question.

I sighed lowly, leaning against the wall. "Maybe a little. Anyone will have dark feelings towards someone who killed their father, right?"

Obi-wan seemed surprised. "He was your-"

"No," I interrupted. It seemed the clones didn't disclose everything. I was glad for it. "Adoptive," I explained vaguely. Luckily, Obi-wan accepted it as an answer.

"The closest thing I had to a father was my master, Qui-Gon." I lifted my eyebrows at the jedi.

"I thought you couldn't have attachments? As a jedi."

"You can't," he clarified. "But we have bonds. Our philosophy is about the ability of letting go, not the lack of love."

I hummed, regarding the man in a new light. Despite his preaching about letting go, I could feel him lamenting, deep down. "What happened to this...Qui-Gon?"

"When Anakin was just a boy," he breathed. "I was still a padawan, about to take my trials to become a knight." He paused. "Do you know anything about Anakin's past?"

I nodded grimly. "Padme mentioned he was a slave on Tatooine. Sold by the Hutts." I shrugged slowly. "It was before I was ever there."

"We had only just found him," Obi-wan sighed. "We were helping Padme when she was the Queen of Naboo. The Trade Federation had blockaded her planet and the Republic was taking too long to step in. As jedi, we were charged with protecting the queen, but we couldn't fight her war."

"She banded together with the Gungans," I completed, knowing the story vaguely from Padme's handmaidens. "They were her army while she cornered the Viceroy."

"Yes. And while they did that, my master and I had to face a sith warrior." My heart skipped a beat as I regarded the jedi. His eyes flicked to me briefly, likely due to my own heritage. Maybe he was trying to see if I knew. I kept my face placid.

"People tell me that you were the first jedi to kill a sith in over a thousand years." He seemed surprised, so I shrugged casually. "News gets around fast on Coruscant. Especially when I'm asking for information," I added cheekily.

Obi-wan chuckled, but his face was still sad. "Qui-Gon and I were separated during the battle. I had to watch him die."

"I'm sorry." There was nothing else to say.

The jedi glanced to the ceiling before lowering his voice as if he was going to tell a secret. He was. "I was overcome with grief. Rage. I attacked with power I'd never had before." He paused. "It nearly got me killed. It wasn't until I focused and let my anger go, at least for that moment, that I could defeat Maul."

Something sparked in my mind. "Maul," I repeated, teasing my lip. "Was he a Zabrak?"

Obi-wan seemed surprised, his hackles raising. Wonderful. Good thinking, Kida. Raise more suspicion about your Sith heritage and how that immediately makes you evil. The jedi nodded slowly, giving me a look.

I chuckled lowly. "A Dothomarian Zabrak? With Sith tattoos?"

"How do you know this, Kida?" The jedi was on edge as I shook my head with another laugh.

"I'll be damned. He was a Sith. It explains why he wanted a jedi."

"Wanted a jedi?"

I glanced at the jedi with a smile. "Relax. I didn't know the guy. When I was still owned by the Zygerrians-in training, I guess you could say-I was taken to an auction. Not to be sold, but to be tested, in a way. I was with a group of slaves, all under a few Zygerrian guards. We were to be serving at an auction on a space station in the Drazkel system." I chuckled darkly, glancing back at the door to the cockpit. "That's where I first met Bane and Aurra Sing, actually. They were working for Maul...helping him get a jedi padawan that was being auctioned there."

Obi-wan seemed distressed. "How did you meet Maul?"

"He asked me if I knew where Xrexus, the host, was. I didn't know, but he gave me a strange look before he thanked me. Weird...that a Sith would thank a slave, even when I didn't help." I mused on it, wondering briefly if Maul had sensed something in me as the jedi had. Windu had said he could feel my presence when he boarded the medical frigate. Had Maul felt it too?

"Did he get the padawan?"

I shrugged. "You tell me. Did a padawan named Kaitis die?"

His eyes widened. "She went down with a Republic ship…"

"Yeah," I conceded. "That's where they found her before the auction." Obi-wan was quiet, likely thinking about how good it was that he'd put Maul down. "I'm sorry about your master. I know it isn't easy. But…" I tested the waters. "You got your revenge."

"Revenge is not the jedi way," he answered immediately.

I lifted my shoulder. "Maybe. But you got it anyways." I sighed slowly, leaning back again. "But to answer your question, no. I don't dislike Windu because of what he did to Jango. Jango knew the risks of his job. We all do."

Kenobi seemed glad for the change of subject. "Then why don't you like him?"

"For the same reason he doesn't like me," I admitted, looking the jedi in the eye. "Trust. He is suspicious of me."

"He doesn't know you."

"Nor do you."

He frowned at me. "We've spent time together. I like to say that I do."

I smiled, catching him off guard as I leaned forward. "You know what I want you to know. That's my job." I felt his apprehension spike, feeling my own powers ripple in the tiny room. I schooled them down, but was growing tired of this secrecy. Let them fear me. But enough of this guessing game. "And whatever you may think you know about me…" I sighed. "Know that I already know. So stop tip-toeing around me." I felt the ship shift under me, the engines slowing slightly. "We'll be dropping out of hyperspace soon," I said, looking around at the engines. "You should get back to help Windu."

He stood, but regarded me warily. "Kida, what are you talking about when you said I'm tip-toeing?" He was testing me. Trying to make sure he wasn't going to blow his secret, in case I was talking about something else.

I fixed him with a hard look, crossing my arms. "You know exactly what I mean, Kenobi."

His heart spiked, so much that I could feel it in the force. I rarely felt a jedi feel fear, but I felt it in that moment, even for the briefest of seconds. He swallowed, but said nothing as he walked out.

I breathed out slowly through my nose, settling in for what remained of the trip. Maybe it was stupid to let him know that I was aware of my heritage. Still, it felt good to show that I was one step ahead of the jedi. Maybe it would knock Windu down a peg.

But it was probably just stupid.

MANDO'A

Ne'johaa- Shut up!

Ni'duraa- You disgust me.