You get another Anakin perspective in this chapter, yay! Anakin is a fun character for me to write. He's very in-your-face, which, personal opinion, gives him an odd combination of psychopath and cheesy 90s movie villain in scenes like this. Let me know if you feel his portrayal is accurate in this chapter, and enjoy!
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Chapter 4
"I don't need mind tricks to make you talk."
In the detention block of the Resolute, Anakin held Poggle the Lesser by the throat, pulling him up the wall of the cell. He growled. Worthless scum. The bug wriggled against his Force grip, speechless. Annoyed, Anakin threw him to the ground with a shout. He didn't have time for this. Ahsoka needed him.
"You'll tell me what I need to know!" Anakin's voice was deep and demanding. Poggle clutched at his throat with his hands, breathing hard. He looked up at Anakin with a grimace and spat at his feet.
Anakin squeezed his hand into a fist until his knuckles cracked. The toe of his boot smashed into the bug's spittle and ground it into the tile, determined to morph the glare on Poggle's face into… something else. The Force crackled around him, and Anakin felt it burning within himself in a way he knew well. He knelt to the floor with one knee, his actions far too calm and collected for the fire welling in his chest, but he simply cocked his head and smirked. If it wasn't for the murderous look in his eyes, Anakin supposed the gesture might have been playful. Maybe that's why Poggle's eyes narrowed.
"Talk fast, vermin." He dropped his voice an octave. "Or you never will again."
Anakin barely bothered raising his hand. He kept the Force pressure low, just enough to make Poggle uncomfortable, but increasing each millisecond the bug didn't rattle off a disgusting cycle of clicks. He hated Geonosians. Ever since that old padawan mission with Obi-Wan. The only good thing to come out of that near-execution was his wedding.
Thinking about his wife nearly made Anakin drop the Geonosian. He doubted Padme would approve of this form of interrogation. Even when they'd tried everything else. Even when lives were at stake. Anakin grit his teeth. But this was Ahsoka's life... Between his ribs, the fire sprang up again, urging him forward, grounding his reasoning. This was for Ahsoka. She'd die without answers. Anakin glared at the bug and pressed harder on his fleshy throat with the Force. He could feel Poggle's windpipe writhing in his gloved hand. The Force burned withing him. His grip tightened ever so slightly. It'd be so easy… So easy…
Poggle clicked hoarsely. Anakin stiffened; his dark expression remained. Poggle clicked again. The protocol droid in the corner translated in a flat, monotone voice.
"Stop. I will answer your questions."
Anakin flexed his hand, easing his grip… to a degree. The bug was still plastered against the cell wall, his wings splayed, his legs trembling, his finger-like digits clawing at his throat. The armor he wore was made of some precious metal and inlaid with several large gems, a getup that would have paid for countless freedoms, like his or his mother's. But it was more likely that it was purchased on the backs of those types of beings.
Poggle made a sound like a cough and gasped in a strained breath.
"The worms on my Padawan's ship." Anakin snapped. "How did they get there?"
The archduke clutched at his throat with one hand, clicking, almost… chuckling? Anakin stared icily. Despite his staggered speech, Poggle clicked again, his mandibles flicking together.
"You blasted Jedi raided my Queen's temple. It seems your precious padawan will become a new host..."
Anakin's eyes spit fire, but the Geonosian continued. "She will make the new hive an excellent slave—"
Anakin tightened his grip once again to the breath-crushing, throat-grabbing variety, even as the bug was still speaking. Poggle squirmed. Anakin held on, unspeaking, watching from beneath his brows as the bug's kicking began to slow, the eyes widening in desperation, the hands drifting to his sides, the black of his pupils rolling back in his skull… And then Anakin let go.
Poggle fell to the ground, choking and gasping. One hand returned to his throat, his forehead scraping the tile floor. The Geonosian spit on the ground again, this time between his own stubby finger-like digits. Anakin smirked. The blaze alight in his chest thrummed with an edge of satisfaction, the heat simmering down into a smolder.
Poggle clicked again, slow and hoarse. His bug eyes remained trained on the tile. The protocol droid recited in a robotic tone.
"The worms are parasites from the Temple. They needed new hosts after you destroyed their previous vessels."
Anakin sneered at the bug disgustingly. "Those 'vessels' were your own people a short time ago."
Poggle cackled once. "You Jedi and your values. Geonosians are far less sentimental with life."
Anakin growled. "Though it seems you care for yours."
The bug stroked his throat almost subconsciously, glaring daggers into Anakin's boots. Anakin clenched and unclenched his metal hand at his side. The joints were stiffening up again. His tight fist was straining the prosthetic's artificial nerves. But Ahsoka was still waiting for answers.
"How can the worms be contained?" Anakin demanded. The Geonosian clacked noisily.
"We are a species of heat. The worms are of the same blood. They are feeble in the cold."
"The cold?" Anakin supposed that made sense. He smiled smugly. He could work with that information. "Thank you, Archduke. Your compliance is noted."
He turned to the protocol droid in the corner, dropping his venomous expression into one more professional. "As is yours. Kindly take yourself to maintenance now. You are free to shut down for a while." Anakin casually walked to the cell exit, his hands folded calmly behind his back. "Oh—and ask the maintenance droid to wipe your memory servos of Poggle and I's… discussion."
"As you wish, sir."
Anakin grinned, the ray shield igniting after his and the droid's exit. With a final, lofty nod at the cowering Geonosian, the Jedi knight strode toward the bridge.
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Ahsoka was back to crawling through the vents, alone this time, much to her dismay. Bariss had been turned by the worms. The clones must have caught her on the way to the reactors. She'd attacked Ahsoka, which to her surprise, didn't blindside her as much as she'd expected. She thought of Bariss' bitterness and passion, and their conversation in the cafeteria.
A group of "shinies" passed by the vent beneath her, and Ahsoka stilled. "Shinies." That was a Rex-ism, his name for new soliders. Ahsoka winced. More of the captain's brothers dead… or brainwashed. She wasn't sure which was worse, especially if she couldn't figure out a solution to this mess.
She scrubbed at her temples with her forefinger and thumb. The Force had been blaring warnings in her mind for hours now—Ahsoka nearly rolled her eyes at the ridiculousness of it. Like she didn't know about the danger. And yet, still the Force echoed, Keep your guard up.
Which reminded her. If she had any hope of not becoming a mind-controlled slave herself, she needed Anakin's information from the head bug. Ahsoka peered out the grate in the vent, letting her montrals stretch her hearing capacity to the fullest. The heavy footsteps of the passing soldiers from earlier echoed further down the corridor, and she could hear Bariss' flightier ones in the corridor adjacent. Thinking the coast was clear, Ahsoka activated her comm device.
"This is Ahsoka. Come in!" She whispered urgently. To her great relief, Anakin answered almost immediately.
"Ahsoka! Listen—"
"Thank the Force, Master!" Ahsoka nearly rambled. "Bariss has been infected and—"
Anakin cut her off, impatience saturating his voice. "Ahsoka, listen to me! I interrogated Poggle about the parasites. The worms are affected by the cold."
"The cold?" Ahsoka questioned. Suddenly, a door from the barracks opened, connecting to the corridor below. Ahsoka drew back into the dark vents, slapping a hand over the comm and muffling Anakin's voice. The clone trooper gazed into the vent's grate where Ahsoka was hiding. She froze, but Anakin's voice still rumbled over the comm. Ahsoka silently shot a thousand Force "shut up's" through their bond, despite knowing they were too far apart for her master to hear them. Ahsoka watched as the trooper stared… and then passed on down the corridor. She nearly sighed in relief.
When she pulled her hand from the comm's receiver, Anakin's urgency came through clear and demanding. "Did you hear me? Rupture the coolant system!"
Ahsoka tapped the communicator to return a response. "Rupture the coolant system." She repeated. "Got it."
She switched the comm off so Anakin couldn't catch her unaware and accidentally alert troopers or Bariss, then she pulled the grate away from the vent, slipping down to the floor and around the corner. The coolant system's controls were just a short sprint away.
Keep your guard up.
Ahsoka groaned, pushing the warning to the back of her consciousness, and shoving herself inside the Interior Controls Room anyway. Flush against the wall, she surveyed the room, clear of any persons. The center console contained all the frigates cabin pressure systems, including the coolant system. It was easy to find. Her master had forced her to memorize the ins and outs of Republic ship designs. It was a punishment, at the time, for one of the instances where she'd gotten a little too snippy while Anakin was a little too grumpy. But now, Ahsoka was grateful for the extra training.
She disengaged the automatic temperature settings, opened all the coolant air ducts, and pulled the lever to full cold blast. Immediately, the room filled with a chilled fog. For good measure, she ignited her lightsaber and slashed the emergency valve shutoff. No one could stop the cold now. Already her breath puffed before her face in a cloud. Ahsoka crossed her arms over herself.
There were times when she regretted her not-quite-Jedi-regulation tube top and mini skirt, and this was one of those. What she wouldn't give for a full-length robe! She hoped that Bariss' own heavy robes would still be thin enough for the cold to affect the parasite.
Ahsoka trembled, the chill raising goosebumps over her orange skin.
Keep your guard up. The Force murmured. Ahsoka grit her teeth.
It was time to get to the bridge.
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Thanks for reading! Chapter 5 coming soon.