Qi'ra regained consciousness slowly. When she opened her eyes, she couldn't move. She was still bound, gagged and naked. She was sitting on a chair inside a large, strange-looking room. The walls were black, with tinges of green, and the ceiling looked like it was made of bone. Hanging from the centre of the ceiling was a large, shining green light. There were other things hanging from the ceiling: chains and manacles. There was also a table in the room.

"Ah, you're awake," said a soft, raspy voice. It was Asmodeus! He was sitting on a chair a few feet away from Qi'ra.

Qi'ra gave her captor a scorching glare as she tried and failed to lunge at him, held back by her cuffs. "Mmmmph! Whn nhh flnmln fmrpmnt-thnghmd jhggh!" She cursed through her tight gag.

Asmodeus watched Qi'ra, enjoying the sight of her naked, sexy body all trussed-up and seated in the chair, her bare breasts bouncing with every movement. Watching her struggle and gag-talk was making him so hard he could barely resist the idea of fucking her on the spot. But he did resist it. Instead, he just walked up to Qi'ra and grabbed her chin, holding it between a finger and a thumb, feeling the fabric of the kerchief which still gagged her. "I suppose you must be wondering where you are and why I brought you here, my pretty?"

Qi'ra tried to answer, but all that came through her tight gag was; "Mmmm, ummmph."

"I'm sorry I didn't understand that," said Asmodeus, mockingly putting a hand to his ear. "It's hard to understand you when you're gagged."

"Grrrmmmph," Qi'ra growled.

"Tell me, Qi'ra, how does it feel to be naked and tied up like an animal?" Asmodeus asked mockingly.

"Grrmph, ohhh, hhnmph," Qi'ra mumbled.

"It must feel so humiliating," Asmodeus said with a sadistic grin, still holding Qi'ra's gagged face. "Anyway, Qi'ra," he added, releasing her face. "Welcome aboard the Sanctuary. I brought you here for interrogation."

Qi'ra tried to answer, but again all that came through her gagged mouth were muffled mutters. "Whmph? Whh?"

Asmodeus paused for a moment. He loved hearing Qi'ra gag-talk, but he also wanted to hear what she had to say. "Oh fine," he groaned, and he pulled down Qi'ra's gag.

Qi'ra gasped and took a deep breath, relieved to have her mouth uncovered after so long. Then she glared at Asmodeus again. "Interrogation?" She asked. "What is it you want to know?"

Asmodeus paused again before replying, "Everything."

Qi'ra lifted an eyebrow. "Everything about what?" She asked.

Asmodeus stood up and circled around Qi'ra like a wolf circling its prey. He leaned in and whispered softly in her ear, his raspy voice sending chills down her spine. "I want to know everything you know about the Empire, the Sith, the New Republic, and of course, about any and all contingency plans you have."

"Contingency plans?" Qi'ra asked innocently. "I have no other plans, Asmodeus. You've destroyed all my ships and all my bases," she lied. That was a half-truth: Asmodeus had destroyed ALMOST all of her ships and bases; the Geonosis factory and the single ship that remained there were the only ones left.

Asmodeus grabbed Qi'ra's face and turned it so that she was looking him in the eye. "You're lying, Qi'ra," he said softly. "You may be arrogant and smug, but you're not stupid. On the contrary, from what I've heard, you're one of the smartest women in the galaxy. You caused the Empire quite a lot of trouble. And you erased the memory banks of your ship before I broke into it. There is something you don't want me to know, isn't there?"

My droid factory on Geonosis, Qi'ra thought, though she didn't dare say it out-loud. She could not… would not, let Asmodeus know about that. She glared at Asmodeus, her feigned innocence forgotten. "I won't talk," she said.

"We'll see about that," Asmodeus said menacingly. He let go of Qi'ra's face and stepped back.

Qi'ra looked at Asmodeus. She was feeling smaller and more humiliated than she ever had in her life. She was naked and tied up, and her captor was a ruthless, lustful, shape-shifting warlord who could turn into a towering, clawed, bladed Hork-Bajir and who knew what else? She sensed she stood no chance against him in a straight fight. And yet she showed no fear. Instead, she glared defiantly, hatefully at Asmodeus. "What are you going to do, Asmodeus? Torture me?"

"That depends," said Asmodeus ominously.

"Depends on what, odd-eyes?" asked Qi'ra with a slight laugh.

At that insult, Asmodeus's fists clenched for a moment and his eyes blazed with fury so impotent that Qi'ra's smile faded and she flinched.

"It depends on how hard it is to get you to talk," Asmodeus said slowly, his voice icy with barely controlled rage. "Or how I feel," he added, more calmly, silkily, his fists unclenching and a hint of lust entering his gaze again as he looked Qi'ra's naked form up and down.

Qi'ra shivered at the lust in Asmodeus's eyes. But then, a cunning idea formed in her mind. Maybe, if she chose the moment right, she could try to distract Asmodeus with her looks, like she did with Isdain, who had been so smitten with and distracted by her looks that it had been so easy to take him down.

Asmodeus looked more steadily at Qi'ra and he said slowly, more evenly, "Look, Qi'ra, we can either do this the easy way, or the hard way. I will give you this one chance. Tell me everything you know, and I won't hurt you."

"Never," Qi'ra said without a moment's hesitation.

There was a pause.

"I hate to admit it, but I kind of hoped you would say that," Asmodeus whispered, a mix of shame and excitement in his eyes. "Very well then, my pretty, let's do this the hard way… or as I like to call it, the hard and fun way." With that, he moved towards Qi'ra, his hands bared like the talons of a bird of prey…