Last time: Sasha collapsed and Selina was arrested, but there was no sign of Cien.

Now: Viran and Scamp approach Selina.

Enjoy!

Chapter 2- Interrogating Her

Of all the times in his life where he experienced deja vu, this had to be the worst case of it so far. Unlike in other situations where one might try and recall why something seemed so familiar, like they've done it before, Viran had done this exact thing before. His mind kept going back to Polis Massa when he had brought Sasha in because she was fighting whatever torment Cien had been putting her through in the mindspace while he sat worriedly just outside her room, waiting on an update. Like he was doing again at this very moment. This time, though, it was aboard the Defiant and not at some hidden medical facility in the middle of an asteroid field.

That felt like a lifetime ago, and it had indeed been over a decade since they fled Vestora. But that whole experience, watching Sasha struggle to fight off a Sith in her mind had left a nice sized scar on Viran's memory. He had been so worried about her, fearing what might happen if she failed to fight off the mental attacks, because all of that was still so new to them. But the scar had healed over once he and Cien had made amends the last time they had to face Selina. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself at the irony of that.

However, despite the gallows humor the irony brought him, he was still worried about her. Except this time he knew whatever was happening she would pull through. He believed in her abilities in the Force and in the mindspace. And if this was anything like the last time, she was due to wake, hopefully, any moment now. But there was a lingering question in his mind; why was Sasha still in the mindspace but Selina wasn't?

The main entrance to the medbay opened, pulling Viran from his thoughts. He glanced over from his seat in the waiting area to see Scamp come in. The Clone walked right to him and came to a stop beside him. He pulled off his bucket and tucked it under his arm.

"How is she? Any updates?" Scamp asked, worry evident in his tone while his face was unreadable at the moment.

"Kelce is in with her now. He said he is going to run a series of tests and scans to figure out what's going on. He said it might take a while," Viran explained, surprisingly calm despite how uneasy this was making him.

"Well you know she's in good hands here," Scamp assured him.

"Yeah, I know," Viran nodded. He then looked back up at Scamp. "So how is… she?" He asked with a hint of bile in referring to Selina.

"She's down in the cellbay, not saying a word. Troy's got marines keeping an eye on her now. That's actually why I came up here," Scamp said, looking at Viran. "Kyr is still over on the Taipan looking for Cien with the others. But that man is going to tear that ship apart bit by bit until he finds his wife. So I was going to start interrogating her now to help move the search process along, and because we need answers to a few other things as well. I came to see if you would be interested in aiding me with this."

"Me?" Viran questioned with a raised eyebrow. "I'm not an interrogator. That's always been more of Oppie's thing than mine. Plus he and Kait are better at it than I am. So are Kyr and Sasha to a degree. Even Cien did that for a living before she met us. Why do you want my help?"

Scamp sat down next to Viran and placed his helmet in the chair next to him. "Kyr's my best friend, like a brother to me. I know he is the same for you," he started, glancing at Viran as he leaned forward in his seat. "And right now he is hurting. And he is going to keep hurting until he gets some proper answers. So we need to be there for him. Especially since his little sister and his wife have both been severely affected by Selina. And one way we can help him is by getting her to talk." He looked at Viran, meeting his gaze. "You don't have to be an interrogator or a negotiator to question someone. You just have to know what to ask and what not to ask. Plus I don't want to send Lieutenant Charin in until we get everything settled with the Taipan for the official interrogation. And we need to help Kyr now. So do you want in?"

Viran thought on that for a moment as his gaze shifted over to the door where Kelce was currently tending to Sasha. "I guess so. I do have questions of my own that I would like answered."

"And we can get those too," Scamp said, placing a hand on Viran's shoulder. "Besides, we can't wait for Oppie and Kait to get back here or for Sasha to wake up. And Kyr is in no condition to question her right now. Hell, I don't want him even going near her yet. Who knows what would happen then? So I really need your help on this one."

Viran looked back at Scamp and nodded. "Then what are we waiting for?"

Scamp couldnt help but smirk as he stood up, grabbing his bucket from the seat and tucking it back under his arm. "Kelce'll call when she's awake or ready for guests. And I don't expect this to take too long." He said as he walked towards the exit.

"Hopefully," Viran added quietly to himself as he stood.

He followed Scamp out of the medbay and through a series of corridors to the lifts that led down to the brig. They rode the lift down in silence as the anticipation grew in Viran's chest for how this might go down.

As they reached their intended floor, Scamp glanced at Viran. "You ready?" He asked as the lift came to a stop.

"Yeah. So what are we planning to ask her?" Viran asked as the lift doors opened. He glanced out to see a receiving room then down the corridor to see a series of cells stretched out before them. He had never been down here before so it was interesting to see what a Republic cellbay was like. It was definitely brighter than the cells on the Bloodstorm.

"Right now, we just need her to tell us where Cien is, why she took her, and where the rest of Jiardon's fleet is. And whatever you want to ask her about," Scamp said as they walked down the corridor towards the two Marines that were posted outside one of the cells.

"Okay. I'll let you take point then," Viran said, nodding.

Scamp nodded as they reached the cell. He looked at the Marines. "We are here to see her."

"Yes, Commander," one of the marines said as she reached over and unlocked the cell using an access code on the control panel.

As she did that, Scamp slipped on his bucket and glanced at Viran. "Showtime," he whispered as the door slid open.

Inside the cell was a rather simple set up with a singular bunk on the far side of the room and a small standing area before a red ray shield that blocked off the rest of the cell preventing anyone from escaping or entering further. On the other side of the ray shield Selina was placidly sitting on the bunk, her eyes watched their movement but otherwise she paid them no mind.

The door slid shut behind them as they stood in the space between the exit to the cell and ray shield.

"I'm just going to jump right to the point," Scamp said, folding his arms across his chest. "Where is Cien Xiv?"

Selina's eyes looked up at Scamp and she rolled them slightly. She glanced at a corner behind them and her eyes flashed with annoyance before she just looked straight ahead.

"Don't make this difficult for yourself. Tell us where she is now," Scamp demanded. "We know you are the one responsible for taking her."

"I will only speak with the Mandalorian." She stated simply.

"He's a little busy at the moment," Scamp responded curtly. "You are stuck with us for now. So I suggest you answer our questions. Now. Where is Cien Xiv? Where are you hiding her?"

Selina glanced up at them and looked back at the corner behind them as she ground her teeth in annoyance before looking stiffly ahead. "I will only speak with the Mandalorian." She repeated.

Scamp made an annoyed expression under his bucket. "Alright, then let's try a different question. Where is Moff Jiardon? Are you working with him? If you tell us, I might be able to convince the New Republic to give you a… shorter sentence in a nice holding facility."

Selina looked upwards in a slight roll of her eyes before looking sharply at the corner behind them with an annoyed glare and said nothing.

Scamp stared at her, annoyed at her stubbornness. He walked over to the ray shield and leaned in close. "I know you want to talk to the Mandalorian, but do you really think we would let you near him after what you did to him last time? After what you've done now? It's either you talk to us or we leave you here to sweat until you are ready to talk, and to someone probably a lot less pleasant than us," he informed her in a low and stern tone. "It's your choice, but we are not leaving until we have answers."

She looked up at him and she looked sharply at the corner, again. A flash of absolute hatred crossed her face before she spoke again in an almost growling tone. "I will only speak to the Mandalorian."

Scamp huffed in annoyance and looked at Viran. "You want to try?" He asked while he subtly waved his hand.

Viran knew what Scamp was referring to since the Clone had years of experience working with Jedi. He nodded and walked over to the ray shield. "Selina, what did you do to Sasha? You're not a Force sensitive yet somehow you came out of the mindspace and she didn't. Care to explain yourself?" He asked, waving his hand before her and using the Force in an attempt to Jedi Mind trick her. However, something caused his attempt to bounce back, some strange feeling in the Force that took Viran aback slightly.

"No." Selina said. "I will only talk to the Mandalorian." She reiterated with annoyance lacing her voice.

"Did you place the bounty on her?" Viran asked, ignoring her statement as he also became annoyed with her. He felt like he already knew the answer. He just wanted her to admit it.

Selina ignored him and instead looked at the corner with a glare, then her gaze drifted over to Viran's shoulder. She closed her eyes and looked downward with an annoyed sigh and a grimace as she clenched her jaw.

Viran narrowed his eyes at her as she looked past him. He slowly glanced over his shoulder to see what she was staring at only to see the door to the cell. He looked back at her. "What are you looking at?" He asked.

"Nothing." She growled. And then she flinched as if she had been struck. "I will only speak to the Mandalorian." She repeated.

Viran and Scamp exchanged a confused glance before looking back at her. Viran recalled Cien mentioning that she had left Selina to die in the mindspace. Maybe this is a side effect of that? He thought to himself before shaking the thought away and returning his attention to the matter at hand. But that doesn't explain the strange presence. He continued as he could still sense it. "Where is Cien? Where is Jiardon? And what have you done to Sasha?" Viran repeated the questions in a hard tone.

Selina closed her eyes and looked downward with another grimaced sigh and didn't respond to him.

"Where is she?" Viran pressed. "Tell us now! Enough stalling!" He barked.

Scamp glanced at him, but didn't say anything. He looked back to Selina to see how she would respond.

She flinched but kept her eyes closed and her face downward. "I will only speak to the Mandalorian." She repeated again, in a quieter, resigned tone.

"The answer is still no," Scamp responded curtly. "We are not letting you speak with him."

Viran looked at Scamp and then at Selina. "Why do you want to speak with him anyway? To toy with him? To hurt him? Haven't you already done enough?" He asked vehemently.

Selina took several deep, fuming breaths before she looked up at Viran directly in the eyes. "I…" She started cautiously before she swallowed. "I can only speak to the Mandalorian." She said quietly, before throwing a worried glance at his shoulder and then looking downward and shrinking into herself.

Viran narrowed his gaze again. He took a step closer before kneeling down to try and meet her gaze. "What do you mean you can only speak to him?" He asked quietly. "What do you have to tell him so badly that you can't tell us? Or will you only admit what you've done to him?"

Selina looked up at him, meeting his gaze. She glanced up behind him before flinching back down to meet his gaze. Her eyes were pleading, like she was being made to say the words. "I will only speak to -" She squeezed her eyes shut and shuddered as if someone had hit her with an electric prod.

Her eyes opened, looking at Viran with a face of determination as her entire demeanor completely changed to a much more regal and confident presence. "I will only speak to him." She stated.

Viran was taken aback by that. He tried to keep the confusion from his face as he stood up. He walked over to Scamp and leaned in close. "Did you see that?" He whispered to him.

"Yeah," Scamp answered from under his bucket as he muted his outer amp. "That was strange."

"Agreed." Viran nodded. "What do we do now?"

"Leave her. She is obviously not going to answer our questions," Scamp said then turned his amp back on. "The answer is still no. And to get that through your head, you can enjoy the next several hours in solitude." He said before turning and knocking on the door to the cell. "Let's hope the next time we see each other you are willing to answer our questions."

Selina shuddered again and curled in on herself with a grimace, glowering at them as she watched them go.

The door slid open and Viran and Scamp walked out. Once in the corridor, the marines closed the door and resumed their positions.

"Stay here and keep an eye on her," Scamp ordered.

"Yes Commander," the other marine said as they both saluted him.

Viran and Scamp walked back towards the lift. Scamp hit the call button on the control panel once they approached.

"What the hell was that?" Scamp asked after a moment. "One second she is stubborn and almost frightened. Next, she is cool, calm and collected. Did she do that before?"

"Hell if I know. This is the first time I've met her," Viran said, staring at the door to the lift. "But something is wrong with her. I could sense it in the Force, but I couldn't explain it right now even if I tried."

Scamp bit the inside of his lip as the lift doors opened. They stepped inside and he hit the button for one of the higher levels. As the lift took off, he removed his helmet and scratched at his head. "That's… unsettling."

"Yeah." Viran agreed then sighed. "Do you think she will ever talk?"

"No, I don't think so. I think she will continue to be stubborn," Scamp admitted.

"So what do we do now?" Viran asked, glancing at the Clone.

"I hate to say it, but we need to report this to Kyr," Scamp answered simply.

Viran nodded and went silent for a moment. "Let's hope they found her." He said quietly, worry lacing his tone.

Scamp breathed out as he slowly nodded. "Yeah. Let's hope."

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