Open to 1 Broken Bonds, Spilled Secrets

[Merian Sere]

Follows Righting Our Wrongs


Three Jedi knights. Three padawans. And ten confirmed members of the Bastion resistance, from ringleaders and forgers to mere runners and collaborators. The padawans had cracked the easiest.

Even the forgettable freedom fighters, those without the Force, had put up some fight. They were older, for the most part, they knew the risks of the choice they’d made. They embraced them. Accepted them. With varying amounts of dignity. The unimportant ones didn’t even have much to offer, a few names and locations, but that would suffice to deal the insurgents another solid blow. No, the real treasure had come from the leaders. Faces of the entire network, procedures. And the news of an impending invasion.

Of course, most of them would rather bite off their tongues than talk. Not that it stopped Merian from getting what she wanted.

Today, the Knight-Captain would put the final piece in place. Knight Yix was drugged but conscious, still restrained by stuncuffs and a shock collar. Sleep-deprived. And only starting to realize the depth of his predicament.

Two figures entered the room and Merian shut the heavy door behind them with an ominous thud. Harsh lights flicked on. Their steps echoed all over the empty room. The Nautolan brought a hand to his head. The migraines were just starting.

“Good. You’re awake,” Merian began. A conceited smile. “I apologize for the accommodations. Jedi attempted your rescue, you see.”

 

[Jhaa Fott]

Standing behind the knight, Jhaa had gotten to know by reputation; she was confident and at ease; they would get the information they needed to subdue the resistance. The dimly lit room did not comfort the prisoner; this was how she preferred to perform interrogations.

When Jhaa entered the room, an integrator droid followed her before the door was shut behind them; while the Jedi was coming too, a smirk appeared on her face, "You see, Jedi, this droid is for you; if you don't feel like cooperating."

Interrogation rooms are not designed for comfort. They are meant to exhaust the subject. Jhaa was already perspiring and her tunic was sticking to her skin. She unhooked the fastener and took off her tunic, hanging it on a chair before sitting in front of the prisoner.

@Volene

 

[Merian Sere]

For a man drugged, the Nautolan seemed awfully alert. His eyes followed as she spoke, then the agent, and then to the droid, bespeaking a mind still working clearly. That damned Jedi spirit. His head subtly shot back as Merian made her reveal, only to immediately hang again in resignation. For if the Jedi attempted his rescue, and he was here...

“You’re lying!” he growled in his heavy accent. “They know the rules, and we know the risks. They would never risk themselves for me.”

Merian half-shrugged in the most apathetic way. ‘Believe me if you will, it doesn’t change the facts.’

“For you, perhaps not,” she agreed. “But for sixteen of you, including six Jedi? A prison transport full? Different matter, it would seem.”

“What happened to them?”

“You’re not asking questions.”

The alien’s jaw clenched, then relaxed as he breathed in. He placed his cuffed hands on the table.

“I won’t speak. My heart is pure, Imperials. You cannot break a Jedi like a paid-for Hutt ruffian. Bastion will be free.”

“That’s odd. The padawans gave us more than we dared dream of, when they finally broke. All three of them.” Merian studied his reaction for any sign of giving, a loose brick from which the entire wall would come down.

“Lieutenant?”

@SilentLeges

 

[Jhaa Fott]

Interrogations usually followed a pattern of predictability; they would always start by denying they were different or the facts presented to them were up for dispute. Most commonly, they would argue that they got the wrong person; someone else always had the information. In this case, Jhaa knew the Nautolan had the information she wanted, albeit differently; they were Jedi, and normal techniques for obtaining information were ineffective.

A more crucial weakness existed. One that could be exploited with relative ease. The Jedi were known for their compassion for all living things in the universe. Although they were trained to distance themselves from emotion, it still existed in their psyche.

During the Jedi's rescue attempt, security cameras captured the likeness of what seemed to be the Jedi's padawan; using old images, she clipped together a projection of an event that she hoped would break his spirit.

Jhaa spoke softly, "Droid, play the reel"

The droid beeped once, confirming the order. A light emanated from a large, black orb on the outer shell. The holoimage flickered to life, and the reel played out on the table before Nautolan's black eyes, illuminating with short bursts of light representing blaster fire directed at a figure standing with a lightsaber. After seconds had passed, the figure collapsed with the storm troopers closing in and surrounding the body.

@Volene

 

[Merian Sere]

The Nautolan’s eyes were like glued to the footage. He watched it once, twice. But then he sensed something was off, shook his head.

“I can sense her here,” he said. “I know what you’re doing to her.”

“Then—”

“There is no emotion, there is peace. I was always prepared to let my padawan go, Imperials. For that reason. I cannot let a single person cloud my judgement when the fate of a planet is at stake.”

“Then you know how little your resisting means,” Merian continued like she hadn’t been interrupted. But the man wasn’t watching her. His eyes were on Jhaa, and the droid.

“Your associates gave us more than we need to eradicate your cell for good. No, I had you saved for last because I’m curious,” she revealed. “We so rarely see Jedi taking any sort of action, these days. Answer our questions and the padawan may live. In a cell. I’m afraid that’s the only bargain you’re in a position to make.”

Then she looked to Jhaa. Until the prisoner spoke, the floor was hers.

@SilentLeges

 

[Jhaa Fott]

The room was silent, and the only sound was the soft hum of the air recycler. The droid hovered, and the Nautolan whispered, "There is no emotion..." Their words rose and fell, barely audible and overpowered by the air recycler. Jhaa, who was present in the room, knew that the Nautolan was close to breaking. She realized that if she pushed them too far, they would become useless.

Jhaa understood that the Padawan had fallen in battle. Revealing this fact would undermine the mission's success. Jhaa knew that keeping the other Jedi alive was necessary for the mission to succeed. She knew that she couldn't underestimate the Jedi's ability to sense even the slightest changes.

Jhaa pulled out the holo-projector from her utility belt, and the Nautolan's eyes were fixated on the device. The whispering stopped. A live image of a Jedi restrained to a steel bed appeared on the device. The Jedi was alive but not moving.

Jhaa spoke softly to the Nautolan, "You see, your Padawan is alive, but they are suffering right now. You can make it stop by answering our questions. As a sign of good faith, I will release her from the restraints." As Jhaa finished her sentence, the Jedi in the image was released from the restraints.

The Nautolan's face was etched with pain and sadness. They had been through so much, and Jhaa could see the tears welling up in their eyes. After a moment, a single tear slid down the Nautolan's face, and they said, "I'll talk."

@Volene