Measuring Up

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"Kurt, go!" Trextan said again. He followed alongside him, walking at the same pace. "You can go right now and..."

Trextan trailed off and stopped walking. It had never quite looked as if his feet were matching the pace he moved forward at. His face contorted into a grimace and he doubled over. A low growl escaped his lips as he faded out.

He opened his eyes. A slender blade took up most over his view. Just the edge held a thin bead of crimson.

"See, that's you there. On the end of my knife."

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

By the time Trextan's voice faded within his mind Kurt was already in the turbo lift. He didn't care what the kid wanted, he didn't care what he said, he would get him out. Leaving the young Jedi behind just wasn't in any cards that he could ever play.

He knew that even if he made it off the ship, even if he got a fighter with a hyperdrive and even if he somehow managed to get back to the Alliance it wouldn't help. These Star Destroyers were already on the move, he didn't know where they were going and he highly doubted that Trextan would be alright when they got there. No, there was only one chance in getting the kid out, and he certainly wasn't going to waste that chance. Quickly using the officers code cylinder Kurt selected the right floor.

His fingers tightened around the blaster.

If he still knew his old Captain well enough Kurt would be able to find exactly where she had hidden her most precious posessions.

Back when he had been in the Republic navy Sularin had been a...confident woman, overly confident really. She had made every decision to favor herself, had always considered herself to be the top of everything and others to simply be...lesser. It was no surprise she was now working for the Sith, not when it gained her everything. Of course, she also had a rather large penchant for underestimating people.

People like Kurt.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Kurt had almost entirely vanished from Trextan's mind within a few seconds. Awareness of his physical self grew. The cold, clammy sweat, the aches and stings from before. The intense pain just below his ribs that assailed his senses.

It wasn't the worst he had suffered. The blade had only sliced just through the outer layers of skin. Yet that was where all the nerves were. Taking a wound in the midst of a battle was an entirely different experience to being restrained and having the entire focus on every little thing that was being done to him.

This is just your physical form, he told himself. To the Force blood and neurons and pain were just things.

"I am going to take you apart little by little until you beg to tell me where the holocrons are."

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

Kurt knew Sularin.

The woman and he had carried on an illicit affair for nearly a month before someone had reported them. It had been a fun time, though he'd been young and dumb as could be. The whole thing had been little more than a fling for both of them, but the then Captain had always considered Kurt as more of a 'thing' than a person. At the time the former Courier simply hadn't cared. Sularin was attractive, cunning, and the taboo of it had been more than enough to tempt him.

Of course throughout their affair Sularin had always disregarded Kurt, taking important calls in front of him, accessing documents with her password in view, a dozen other things that were born of narcissism and confidence. The woman had considered Kurt so far beneath herself that she refused to see him as a threat. Later when he'd refused to fight his Court Martial he'd proven her right.

Though, now that he was standing in the middle of her quarters Kurt couldn't help but he just slightly amused.

"Stupid Schutta, using the same keycode." Sentients, all of them, were creatures of habit, and Sularin was no different. She hadn't changed the keycode to her door, it was the same one that she'd used in her apartments during her tenure in the Republic Navy. She had given him the combination long ago to sustain their illicit activities, and now, now Kurt used it against her.

With a careful and practiced hand the former Courier began to search the room, peeking in every nook and cranny he knew Sularin would use.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"They're in space," Trextan sighed. His chest was rising and falling far more quickly that it should have done. Sweat beaded across his shoulders and chest. Little droplets that rolled down, crossing the lines of black and scarlet, becoming tainted along the way.

Kivik tilted his head to one side. It was clear the sudden admission confused him. There was a soft, wet sound that was followed by a strangled groan. Kivik wiped the blade down on a spare rag.

"What do you mean they're in space?"

Trextan didn't reply. Kivik opened his mouth to issue a threat. Then he reached out, grabbed a hold of Trextan's hair and tilted his head back. When he let go it flopped forwards.

"Get me a stim pack."

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

The search was about as intrusive as possible.

Kurt made no effort to actually hide what he was doing for when Sularin came back. He tossed the mattress off the bed, tore away at paintings, ripped ancient sculptures off the wall. He could have done it with more subtlety, he could have dug around and never have Sularin know, but it would have taken time. Time that Trextan didn't have. So instead Kurt ripped through the room, digging in every single hiding place that he knew Sularin used, until finally he found what he was looking for.

A panel within the bed frame, seamlessly hidden. Kurt dug his fingers at it, scrapping his nails and cutting himself on the sharp metal as he tried to peel the panel back. A curse left him, and then he sat down and sent a hard kick against the frame. There was a loud thud as the panel bent inward, falling off of it's hinged. Kurt eagerly pulled it free, ripping away the metal and digging out a small metal box within. The combination was a short few digits of numbers, Kurt rolling his eyes slightly.

"One, eight, nine, two." The former Courier recited the digits to himself, and then heard a soft click.

His eyes rolled for a second, and then he opened the lid. Within the small box were half a dozen different things. There was the spare code cylinder he was looking for, a few documents, a datapad, and lastly an old photograph of Sularin, him, and his squad. For a moment Kurt frowned, looking at the picture and staring at his younger self.

The Captain's arm was around him, his squad mates all looked happy, he looked happy. His hand started to shake, and then he scrunched the photograph. The piece of flimsy went falling back into the box, Kurt grabbing everything else inside of it and sticking it into his coat pocket. He needed the code cylinder to save Trextan, and everything else...he was sure there would be a use for it to someone. As long as that Schutta didn't have it.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Awareness came back a little at a time. Trextan found that he was alone again. The lights were once again uncomfortably bright. His head was pounding. Stims. They brought everything back into perfect clarity. The lights were brighter. The pain was more exquisite. The dull ache in his neck from flopping forward barely even registered.

Trextan could see blue lines across his body where he had been swabbed down with some kind of antiseptic. The wound just to one side of his naval where Kivik had pushed the knife deep had been stapled shut. Little beads of red still escaped, mixing with the blue ointment to make little lines of purple.

The door snapped open. The lights dimmed. Kivik walked into the room once again. A pair of men in black masks once again trailed him with a repulsors tray of instruments.

"I'm going to need you to explain that space comment Trextan."

His pride was gone. Trextan felt almost no shame this time as he physically recoiled when the sith took a slender pair of pliers from the tray.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

Kurt was moving fast now.

The clock was ticking in his head. He knew that they were still torturing Trextan and he knew that eventually Sularin would return to her room and see the mess he'd made. Both of those point stuck in his head as he made his way through the destroyer. Every now and again he would squeeze himself into a corner or a small nook, hiding from a passing patrol or a gaggle of officers that were cheering the latest success.

A plan had formed in his head, and he was attempting to follow it as best as he could.

It was frustratingly slow going, but eventually the Courier managed to make it to the large security door that he had wanted to find. His lips turned to a scowl as he pulled out the Admirals spare code cylinder, slipping the device into the access panel. He looked around nervously as the processor cleared the security codes, and then as the door slipped open Kurt practically hopped inside.

The armory was thankfully empty.

It was just one of the many hundreds that could be found on this ship, but Kurt had been afraid he'd find some canoodling stormtroopers or something like that hidden away within the secure locker. After peaking around a bit he found no one, and quickly the former Courier set to work popping open different secure lockers and crates. He found a dozen sets of stormtrooper armor, rifles, but it took him some time to find what He was looking for.

Eventually he opened the right locker, finding himself face to face with the black helmet of a special forces trooper. The green band and the snake head insignia on the armor marked it as Venom Squad, though Kurt had never heard of it.

”You'll do.” Kurt said as he began to pull on the armor.

Assembling the entire kit took him a while, but eventually Kurt found himself stepping back out into the hallway. This time.heading directly towards Trextan.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

His mouth formed a tight ring through which he breathed short, sharp breaths. With each one he tried to slow the rhythm, try to slow his racing heart.

Kivik barely paid any attention to Trextan trying to reduce the shock. He just casually tossed the bloody fingernail to the floor. Trexan tried to ball his hand up into a fist, but the sith had his two assistants rap his knuckles and prise his hand open. One fingernail and he had become a coward again. Trextan had met the sith's eyes and met the first one stoically.

"Trust me, the pads of the fingers are far more painful coming off than the nails."

"What...what do you think...you'll get some me..."

"The holocrons?"

"Only...Jacen..."

Come on you bastard, just a little closer.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

Kurt was rushing now.

He knew exactly where Trextan was, he knew exactly where he needed to go. It was just a matter of actually getting there in time. Whenever no one was around he ran. Whenever an officer poked around the corner he slowed to a laborious march. It was a spectacle, but Kurt knew that he had to do it.

There was only one thing on his mind; get the kid out.

His fingers righted around the rifle he was holding, his head held high. The former Courier moved through the destroyer as fast as he could until finally he reached the last lift. His lips thinned as he closed the doors, pressing the correct switch and once again inserting the code cylinder into place. The device spun for a moment, and then released itself as the lift began to surge up towards the secure floor.

Kurt's heart began to thunder in his chest.

”You can do this.” He told himself quietly, voice distorted through the helmet. ”You can do this.”

He wasn't a soldier, but just maybe once he could be a hero.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"So they access the most sensitive holocrons remotely?" Kivik asked, after being given a brief explanation.

Trextan nodded. His little finger and ring finger were dripping with blood now. The pain from having the nails ripped off seemed to lessen quickly. It wasn't much of a relief. All the other wounds started to vie for his attention instead. He could push past the actual damage to his body. He could probably shut off the pain with a few minutes reprieve. After Kaeshana he had come to terms with having such a large part of his body taken away and replace. Those fingers, made of phrik and electronics stayed quite still, despite how much they wanted to move.

"What gives them access?"

"A library card." Trextan almost had his breathing under control once more. The Sith was an idiot. There were thousands of people aware of the library system. There was probably even information on the holonet. He just needed to try and spread this out. Formulate a plan. Go and save Kurt who had no doubt been caught and locked away again by now.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

The security door to the lift fell open, and beyond sat just another empty hallway.

For a moment Kurt's heart skipped a beat, but it didn't last long. His fingers tightened one more time, and then he stepped out. There was no turning back now, there was no running away. He either had to save Trextan or get killed. There was no second option for him. The former Courier relaxed his grip on the weapon, and then quickly he marched forward. The map that he had seen earlier echoed in his mind, and within just a few moments he found himself directly in front of the cell he knew Trextan to be in.

Go. His own voice echoed in his head.

The code cylinder slipped from his hand, falling into the slot on the side of the door. For a few seconds there was nothing, the device spun, and then finally a green light popped up. Kurt took one last breath as the door opened, one hand falling down to his belt loop. He grabbed a stun grenade, slipping it into his palm as he stepped in side.\

Almost as soon as he opened the door Kivik turned.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YO-"​

Kurt didn't let him finish. The already primed Stun grenade was mid-air by the time the man spoke, his eyes bugged out of his head and then the device exploded. The noise resounded and reverberated within the small chamber, the flash blinding the Sith Lord and Kurt's own visor darkened for a brief second. The rifle that he'd taken leveled itself, and half a dozen shots exploded from the barrel as he squeezed the trigger.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

A bar of bright red light snapped into existence. One of the assistants was down. The other was on Kurt's left, blindly reaching for the repulsortray. There was a metallic clatter as his hand crossed over the bloodied implements.

Several holes in Kivik's armour faintly smouldered. The sith had fallen back against Trextan and the frame he was restrained against. The air became heavy with malice as his rage altered the Force itself. The lightsaber swung up towards a defensive position as the sith righted himself.

Then it fell to ground. A hiss and it extinguished itself.

Kivik's head was twisted to one side awkwardly. He crumpled to the floor. Trextan's artificial arm had broken a restraint easily enough. The Sith's neck had been tinder by comparison. He had finally come close enough, turned his back on the Jedi. Trextan looked up at Kurt once and then slumped against his restraints. Even if he could have summoned the will, his prosthetic couldn't have released his other limbs without causing himself serious harm.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

The rifle swung to the left, his finger squeezing the trigger two more times.

Everything happened so fast, events falling into one another more rapidly than he should have been able to account for. Everything from basic training came back to him. How to control his breath, the odd sort of calm that fell during combat, the clear line of sight. All of it crashed into him at once, and with a ruthlessly swift motion the former Courier stepped forward and executed the remaining assistant before swinging his weapon back to the first and sending another round into his skull.

There was a brief pause, and then he did the same to the Sith.

The act was harsh, almost out of character, but Kurt wasn't taking any chances. His face behind the helmet was made of stone, never relaxing even as he stepped towards Trextan and half caught the boy. With a gentle hand he pushed the Jedi back against the table, making sure his wrist was away from the restratint as he shoved the blaster against the side of the metal and once again squeezed the trigger. There was a bright burst of sparks, and then Trextan fell free.

Kurt caught him, supporting the kid's weight.

"Come on." His voice was distorted through the helmet, Kurt using his off hand to grab the boys cheeks and shake him slightly. "Come on Kid, I need you awake."

He reached back, letting go of Trextan and pulling the small waterpack that had been attached to the back of the armor free. He used a small notch on his leg to pull the bottle open, squishing it's sides to send a spray of water into the Kid's face.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Just being strapped to the rack has taken a toll on his body. Wrists, ankles and neck restrained he had been held upright for too long. His prosthetic arm wrapped around Kurt's shoulders but his legs barely had to strength to hold him upright.

When Kurt released his weight he dropped to one knee. "I need..."

He made a noise of surprise as the cold water was thrown across his face. Trextan waved a hand in front of his face to try and put him off from doing it again.

"Was that...necessary..."

It was just flesh and blood failing him. On Skor he had felt thousands of souls passing across to the other side. Some had gone peacefully, others in anguish. Trextan wasn't ready to go yet.

Every fibre complained as he reached out to Kivic and took back his saber.

"Just...help me back up."

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

"I need you awake." Kurt explained as he propped Trextan up on his feet, still holding him for just a moment to see if the kid would fall down onto his face as soon as he let him go. It was his hope that the Jedi could at least walk, that would make things a bit easier.

It was obvious that he'd been through a lot. Torture at the hands of the Sith was never a pleasant experience, and he doubted Kivik went any easier on Trextan because of his age. His fingers tightened for just a moment at the thought of enduring the same treatment, noting in the back of his mind that he very likely wouldn't have lasted. After a few seconds he took half a step back away from the boy, still holding on to him with one hand to make sure he didn't teeter over.

"Can you walk?" He asked. "It won't be long until they notice what I did."

It had only been about twenty or so minutes since he'd broken free from his cell, and if his guess was right they would do checks every thirty minutes or so. Someone would see that droid, his empty cell, or Sularin would return to her quarters. They had been lucky so far, but that was about to run out.

He glanced around to the door. "There's a hangar bay three floors down. We need to get there."

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

Trextan couldn't even look at Kurt. Lips pursed as he fixed his new nemesis with a determined glare: the floor.

"We'll find out."

Two steps and he gripped the frame of the cell door with enough force to dent it. He muttered something under his breath to himself and straightened up.

The damage was, for the most part, skin deep. Kivik had wanted to work his way up with each stage of torture. It was being dangled from the rack that was stopping his muscles and joints from functioning properly.

Though he could feel something had been broken inside him by that knife there was nothing that could be done here. If he didn't keep putting one foot in front of the other he would never leave this ship. Trextan didn't have many friends and loved ones, but the thought of being kept from them for the rest of his days was a strong motivator.

"Which way?"

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

"Left." Kurt said as he leaned down and scooped up the Sith's lightsaber.

He had absolutely no idea how to use the weapon, not effectively anyway, but he figured that it might come in handy. Slipping the hilt into a small compartment on the armors back Kurt straightened himself and quickly fell into step behind Trextan. Before he left the security room the former courier took the powerpack from his blaster and tossed it onto the floor, slapping a fresh one into the rifle and shifting his weight. His eyes darted to the left of his HUD, watching the small map that had been pulled up there.

Saying nothing he moved behind Trextan, watching the kid struggle to even walk. "Lift is just down there."

They moved quietly, Kurt jogging ahead a few times to check around corners and make sure that no one was coming towards them. The secure floor was thankfully quiet, likely a byproduct of the fact that Kivik had wanted to be left alone. Nobody wanted to mess with the Sith. As soon as they reached the turbo-lift Kurt pulled out the code cylinder from his belt, sliding it into the security lock.

A moment passed, and then the lift zoomed up towards their floor.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Walking was an effort that required constant concentration. Each step became a little easier as his muscles stretched out or tightened back to their natural posture from before the rack. But the pain in his gut was also growing.

He leaned against the wall beside the lift, closing his eyes and trying to draw some more strength from the Force.

"There are people in the lift," he murmured. "If we get out of sight...they might keep going up," he reasoned. But every second was more time for the break out to be discovered. Trextan didn't have the mental capacity to make the decision.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

"We don't have time anymore." Kurt said as he nudged Trextan to the side.

The push wasn't hard, he knew that the Kid very likely couldn't handle any more than just a gentle touch. For a moment he said nothing, flicking the switch on his rifle and turning the weapon to stun. These men didn't deserve that in the least of course, but it would be faster.

A heartbeat past, the doors opened.

An officer and a trooper stood waiting within the room, both of them directly facing Kurt standing in his Venom Guard armor. Their expressions changed rapidly, from panic to anger and then quickly to fear. Before they could even open their mouths Kurt squeezed the trigger twice, the odd blue wave of stun energy washing over them and crashing down. The two men went falling down onto the floor, their bodies turning into ragdolls in an instant.

"Come on." He turned to Trex. "We don't have time."