Measuring Up

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[SIZE=11pt][member="Kurt Meyer"][/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]He didn't even know why but he felt disappointed. It might have been the shame he had sensed from Kurt. Perhaps just the come down from the adrenaline rush. Everything felt a little worse than it had a few seconds ago. And he had already started mentally preparing himself for what was to come. What had the man he had trusted based on almost no evidence done to be removed from the Republic navy? Had they both sold secrets to the enemy together? Trextan felt drained and hollow.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]He took his mind off Kurt and focussed on the path ahead. But how did you even start preparing to die? Everything he would want to do was out of reach. All that was left was resisting whatever torture they would prepare for him for as long as possible. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]There were too many people to disappoint or - worse still - put in mortal danger. His head stayed low as they were sent down different directions at a T-junction. Darth, Lord, or whatever-he-was Kivik stayed on the heels of is guard. At some point he had collected Trextan’s lightsaber. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]He could still sense that crystal. The one that Tatooine had offered up to him for bringing balance back to an area of the wastes. It became his focus for the time it took to let go of his feelings and try to clear his mind. He followed the mantras, followed the techniques. Despite his age and indecisive nature he was a much better study than Jacen had ever been. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“Put him in cell one and code the lock to me. No one goes in or out without my authorisation.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]At least Trextan now knew the Sith wasn’t [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]particularly [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]stupid[/SIZE]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

Kurt felt a nudge in his back, or rather, he felt the push from the Stormtroopers gun. He glanced at Trextan for a moment, catching the boys expression for just a brief few seconds. The former Courier felt a slash of guilt cut through him, knowing that he had dragged the kid into this.

The both of them likely could have made it off the station just fine. Had they not cared about the civilians, had they just moved for themselves...everything would have been fine. Instead he'd convinced Trextan three times to follow his plan, and each time it had gotten worse and worse. It was his fault, he knew that. That was exactly the reason why he would get them out of this, why he would do whatever it took to make sure they made it off this Star Destroyer.

No matter what.

His fingers tightened slightly, but he made no move to strike anyone just yet. Instead he moved out in front of the Trooper, Kurt and Trextan being separated. They were by no means fools apparently, and he heard the Sith give orders to his own men before he found himself completely out of earshot. Two other troopers had joined the first one that had been gathering them, all three as silent as could be. "So...how much do you boys know about your Admiral?"

The words came as the three troopers lead him into a lift at the edge of the Hangar bay.

"Shut up."​

The answer came quickly, and Kurt glanced at one of the troopers.

"Just thought you might find it interesting she used to work for the other side." He shrugged. "Killed a lot of you guys back in the war."

That wasn't exactly true, Sularin had always been somewhat of an...armchair commander. She had sat in the planning rooms and worked with intelligence mostly, never entering a combat zone or even a Dreadnought that might be in trouble. She had been a 'strategic' mind, and truthfully had been rather good at it, but she'd never directly been involved in combat operations. Another reason why he was surprised she was even here.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

The silence stretched out for some time. Rather than push himself into a corner of the room he sat right in the centre. It felt like a little act of defiance in of itself. It was well lit. He imagined they might keep it that way all through the day and night to try and keep prisoners tired and disorientated. He could stay in a light meditative state in almost any conditions and stay refreshed.

Time seemed to stretch out. It would have been easy to start thinking about what had happened or what was coming. He tried to keep his mind clear and open to possibilities. If they made a mistake he would have to be ready for it.

Trextan sensed the dark jedi approaching. The door slid open in a split second. The view was obscured by a heavy metal frame. Noting the restraints Trextan assumed it was for him.

"You missed my birthday I'm afraid," he called out.

"That attitude won't last long." Two troopers pushed the device into the room. It was bulkier than it needed to be. He wondered if it contained torture devices as well as formed a frame to keep him stood and bound.

Trextan didn't have anything to say.

"Are you going to get into it or do we need to stun you?"

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

Kurt had never experienced being captured before.

Not by Imperials anyway. There had been one incidents with the Hutts, another with black sun, but he assumed that Crime Syndicates likely weren't on the same level as the galaxies big bads. That was presuming that Sularin and her little fleet were a part of the Sith Empire. Kurt still wasn't quite sure about that fact, though given where they were and the design of the ships they were on it seemed the most likely option of the...three Empires that currently existed in the galaxy.

”So...you guys are First Order, right? He felt a hard impact between his shoulder blades, the butt of a rifle pushing him out of the lift and forcing a small ‘oof’ from his mouth as he stumbled. His fingers twitched, but he didn't move.

He guessed that was a no.

The three men walked for what seemed quite some time, though it really might have been only a few minutes. Eventually they rounded a corner and passed through a set of heavy blast doors. Kurt glanced at the mechanism and then found himself standing in front of a control panel, an odd looking droid behind it.

The Stromtrooper said something, and then the droid pointed towards the left.

A minute later Kurt found himself literally thrown into a decontamination chamber.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"So, do you have anything to say now?"

Trextan slumped, hanging limply from the restraints. Muscles twitched involuntarily as he gasped for breath. He was bare from the waist up his skin slick with sweat and marred by blackened burns. The entries contraption was a torture device. The heavy frame held compartments with small arms that could apply different sensations to different parts of his body.

Lord Kivik had started with small electrical jolts. Little arms would reach out and prick at the base of his neck and down his spine. That had been tolerable, barely bringing him out of his mental shell. Then they had escalated to flame. Different arms had emerged from the rack, the now dark room light by flames from orange through blue to white. His cries had filled the room along with the scent of charred flesh.

His skin seemed unnaturally tight across his muscles. They strained one final time against the restraints before returning to twitching from the electrical jolts that had seared nerves. The blackened line from the last act burned across his waist from hip to hip.

"Nothing to say?"

Trextan slowly lifted his head, neck straining just to meet the dark jedi's gaze.

"That tickled." The defiance didn't last long before he slumped again.

Lord Kivik snorted. He slowly stalked around Trextan, disappearing behind him. When Trextan felt something cold against his neck he isntinctively tried to pull away. There was nowhere to go. The strap was fastened around his neck and with a clatter of chains he was yanked back against the metal rack. Breathing was now strained and he was forced to look ahead, tensing his neck just to keep his airways open.

The dark jedi strode back around Infront of him and stepped right up to eye level. He had closely cropped hair and was clean shaven. Everything about him suggested a precise, disciplined nature. His nose was long with a prominent bridge. He narrowed dark blue eyes, searching Trextan's expression for something.

"Your father was the last one known to have the Great Holocron. You will tell me where he keeps it. Hours, days, weeks. It doesn't matter."

For the first time since he had started to prepare, Trextan felt a cold touch of fear spread up from the base of his spine. He had expected a swift end. Not this. Where the jolts had struck him little shocks of pain still spread out in little bursts from time to time. The burns were a constant throb that he could barely keep from his mind.

"There. Now you see," Kivik drawled when he saw what he had been looking for. "Take some time to let that settle in."

The dark jedi stepped back. He slid a thin metal knife from his belt. Trextan tried to focus on the spot of wall he was forced to face but his eyes betrayed him and went to the blade.

"You are my canvas. Black and soon red."

"Do you...even hear...yourself?"

Kivic raised a slim, neat brow. "I'll see you in an hour." The sith stepped back, the light increasing to an uncomfortable level. Only when the door slid shut did Trextan let a whimper escape his lips.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

While Trextan endured torture, Kurt was met with nothing but boredom.

He had thought that Sularin would at least come to speak with him, that she would want to taunt and do everything she could to have her fun, but he was left entirely alone. It was almost eerily silent within the cell, and at one point the former Courier found himself wondering if they might have forgotten about him. He frowned slightly, thinking about just how he would escape.

Kurt had made sure to pay close attention on their way down here. He knew the exact path back to the hangar bay and where every console was located.

He was almost sure he could find his way around the ship, especially if he was able to reach the console that the odd droid had been stationed on. A frown touched his lips as a slight rumble resonated throughout the ship, a shake that would have been unnoticeable by most. His fingers tightened into fists.

They had just jumped into hyperspace.

Immediately Kurt stood from the heavy steel bed, his fingers flexing as he pounded his fist against the door. Whatever he was going to do to get himself and Trextan out of this he would have to do it before this ship got wherever it was going. He had no doubt that Sularin would see Trextan as a prize, and if she handed over a Jedi to whoever was in charge it would mean a promotion for her. That was all she ever wanted, rewards and promotions.

The former Courier began to scream, pounding his fists against the door. He would keep his promise.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

He felt as if none of his muscles were going to work again. Most of the damage was only skin deep so far but his felt more exhausted than he had in his life. What was worse was knowing that it had all barely started.

Maybe if he was lucky he could make Kivik angry and earn a quicker end. Whilst he was a long way from wanted that way out from the pain, he didn't see much hope ahead right now. As awful as his treatment had been in the depths of the Sith academy it was only partial training against this treatment.

In this moment of weakness he couldn't help feel resentment towards Jacen again. It was because of him that the Sith had taken him. It was because of him that Kivik was trying to force the location of his holocrons out of him.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

"HEY! HEY!" Kurt screamed at the top of his lungs, his fists pounding against the door again and again in an incessant repetitive trance. He didn't care who came his way, he didn't care what would be beyond that door, he just needed an opening. He needed something that would get him out of the brig, and if the way to do that was make more noise than anyone could stand? Well then that was exactly what he was going to do.

His tirade went on for ten, then fifteen, then twenty minutes. His shouts echoed down the halls and eventually he got exactly what he wanted. Over the sound of his yelling and banging against the door Kurt didn't hear the footsteps, but eventually the door slid open, causing the former Courier to suddenly fall forward onto the metal deck.

"WILL YOU SHUT UP!"​

​

The former Courier moved, faster than he had ever before.

Most of it was just luck really, the happenstance that his adrenaline was already rolling and his body was more than warmed up from the activity of the last half hour. He rolled to the side, from his stomach onto the back, a stun shot landing exactly where he had been just a few seconds ago. He saw the face of an Imperial officer, likely the man in charge of the brig, contorted with anger and rage. Kurt lashed out at him, foot kicking forward towards the man's knee. There was a loud crack as bone shattered, and the Officer fell.

Before he could move away Kurt crawled on top of the man, one hand grabbing the blaster and the other impacting the officers face again and again.

Blood splattered out from the Imperials face as the two tried to struggle, Kurt bringing the butt of the blaster down on the man until eventually he stopped moving. Silence reigned within the brig for the first time in twenty minutes, the only sound coming from the heavy rise and fall of Kurt's breathing.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

There was no use being annoyed. He could draw on anger, but he knew what laid down that path. Eventually it clouded all and when your sight was obscured it was easy to be misled. There was no need to give Kivik that opportunity. Jacen hadn't really wronged him in this. Kurt had just been lying to... Trextan still wasn't sure why.

It he put his full concentration into it he could probably have turned one of the guards. What good would that do when the dark jedi had the only code key that could open the door.

There would be ways to override that, but how far would he have to go? The bridge? Kivik knew the ways Trextan would try to use to escape. But perhaps he didn't know that the phrik arm would take barely a scratch tearing through the durasteel restraint. Would he still be able to break the others?

He took a long, slow breath and started to leave the pain behind. Kurt might have come up with a plan by now. Trextan slowly started to disentangle himself from the physical world.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

Plan?

No not much of a plan, but he was out of his cell, he had a code cylinder, and most important; a blaster. His fingers wrapped tight around last two, chest still rising and falling as his fists shook slightly from the adrenaline coursing through his blood. Eyes closed for a moment, and then he snapped back into life. He was still stuck in the middle of an Imperial Star Destroyer, more than that, Trextan was somewhere here too. He had made a promise, and he aimed to keep it.

Kurt slipped the Code cylinder into his jacket pocket, keeping the blaster in his hand as he grabbed the Officers corpse and dragged him into the cell. There was a loud thunk as the man fell onto the floor, Kurt watching him for a brief moment before he closed the door and turned.

He still remembered the way back, though the droid would be a problem. The code cylinder he'd taken from the officer would allow him to get past most doors, but he'd have to make sure not to run into any troopers on the way. Briefly the former Courier glanced at the blaster in his hand. The weapon wouldn't be enough to take on an army, but it was something at the very least. With a final look at the cell door Kurt began to jog down the hall, his boots making a steady thump noise against the metallic deck. Eventually he took the few turns he'd needed and reached the odd cross-section.

His head poked around the corner, spotting the droid at it's console.

A brief frown flashed across his face, but slowly he crouched down. His foot falls became deadly quiet as he moved forward, sneaking towards the droid until eventually he stood behind it. In one quick move he stood and wrapped an arm around the automaton, his hand reaching into the things torso and ripping out a chunk of wiring. There was a loud pop and then a spark before the droid suddenly rag-dolled and tumbled onto the floor out of his grasp. "Now...lets see..."

Kurt said to himself as he slid the code cylinder into the console.

He'd never been good with computers, something Kaile had made fun of him for, but finding where Trextan was on the ship shouldn't have been too hard. He was important after all.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

How did you get out?

His voice sounded distant and far at the same time. His form faded in and out of sight as he stood over Kurt's shoulder. It wasn't easy to maintain the level of concentration it took to do this.

At the same time this disconnected him from the pain back in the cell. There was a vague awareness, that tether to his physical self couldn't be broken. Not until death.

Following the Force towards Kurt, Trextan had been expecting to find the pilot in a cell, not working at a console. The smashed droid suggested he wasn't supposed to be here.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

"HOLY KARKING POODOO WHAT THE KARK?!" His voice echoed through the empty halls as the former Courier half jumped over the console in an attempt to get away from the ghost that had suddenly appeared behind him.

Kurt girlfriend was a force user, a Jedi even, his best friend was a force user, but neither of them had ever appeared to him as a ghost. He had absolutely no idea what was going on, and almost immediately he was forced to revert to ancient superstitions that had been told to him by his parents back on Tatooine.

"Sweet Danger Arceneau I'm too late." Invoking the name famed Trade Queen Kurt let out another string of curses. "They killed you. I'm too late."

His fist slammed into the console. "Force damn it."

None of his emotion was fake, and Trextan would be able to tell the former Courier was genuinely upset by the 'loss' of the young Jedi Knight. For him, the force projection was not something that Trextan was doing, but instead he was a ghost, one of those old stories that his parents had told him as a child. He'd never really believed them, but he knew enough information about the force to figure that after death something like them could exist.

Probably anyway. "I'm sorry kid."

Kurt continued to lament.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Trextan took a step back, holding up his hands. Kurt's reaction took him by surprise but once he realised the misunderstanding he wasn't sure how to go about breaking the good news.

In other circumstances he might have found this amusing. The last hour had drained all potential joy away. Even disconnected from his physical self he still felt emotionally drained, almost numb.

"Calm down. I'm not dead. Not yet. But I am still in my cell. What's your plan?" Trextan braced to be blown away by whatever Kurt had thrown together this time. He was free though, so perhaps he really had gone into this with an idea of how to escape.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

Not dead?

Well that was good news at least, though just how he was appearing here...Kurt decided not to think about it. If University had taught him anything it was the fact that sometimes you shouldn't try to learn things that were beyond your scope of understanding. The force was most definitely one of those things for him. Particularly when it came to people magically appearing as ghosts.

”Well I'm going to find you.” That was step one.

”Then…” He leaned over the command console to punch back in a few more controls. The search was a narrow one thankfully, a star destroyer only had so many secure areas. ”Then free you.”

He continued towards the ghost.

At the same time a map came up on the screen, his eyes flirting over it for just a moment as he tried to find the secure cell that they must have stuck Trextan in.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

The plan was as thorough as he had expected. Trextan stopped short of making a sarcastic reply because he had nothing better to suggest. Kurt had made it this far. Judging by his reaction he was determined to her Trextan out in once piece.

The Jedi watched, letting the pilot get his bearings from the map. Whilst Trextan had a vague sense of where the tether to his physical form led he hadn't walked here. His consciousness had sought out Kurt and moved her through a plane where things like bulkheads didn't even register.

"The Sith has to key to the door. Might have some kind of override. He'll be back before long."

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

"This one." Kurt tapped the screen once or twice, pointing to a secure room in a distant section of the ship.

It was the only place that really made sense, and from what he'd heard before being dragged away it was a good enough guess. There was no telling if it was actually true until he got there, but it made sense to him. Particularly given just how Important Trextan likely was to the Sith and the Admiral herself. The young Jedi was a prize, and keeping him with the rest of the rabble would be dangerous. A frown touched the former Courier's face for a moment as he heard Trextan's comment.

Getting the key from the Sith would be impossible. Kurt wasn't a soldier, and he most certainly couldn't fight a Sith, even if he wasn't that powerful. "I have an idea."

He told the ghost.

"There's one other person who will have an override." He glanced back at the map, noting that the secure room Trextan was located on was just a few decks below the Officers quarters. "I can get it...but you'll have to endure another round of torture."

Could Trextan manage that?

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Trextan looked over the map. Once he worked out the orientation he nodded. It wasn't the most accurate comparison but that was definitely the direction he was in.

"I think that's where I am."

A grimace crossed Trextan's face. He didn't have much of a choice on the torture. Even removed from his physical self thinking about it brought phantom pains.

"Kurt, can you get a ship off this destroyer?"

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

"Yes." Kurt was sure of that at the very least. His fingers tightened and he pulled the Code Cylinder free from the console. There was a slight beep, and then he turned around to face the ghost. His expression was a stern one, far more serious than he usually wore.

"I'll get us both off this ship." He told the Ghost. "No matter what it takes."

Eventually the Imperials would discover that he had managed to break out of his cell, but by then Kurt planned to have Trextan free. The plan after that was something he'd actually already thought about. The cell they were keeping Trextan in was closer to one of the aft hangar bays, and there they would most likely find ships faster than just a shuttle.

Once Kurt had one of those, he could get them out. "Just hang on a little while longer."

He meant it, he would get the kid out.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"Good." Trextan gave a sharp nod. It seemed so obvious what had to happen now.

"Get to a hangar bay now and go." Trextan managed a very faint smile. "You need to go now. Contact the Alliance and tell them I'm on this ship. I've got two stormtroopers at my door and Kivik will be back soon."

The smile didn't go, but his expression seemed to freeze. Trextan's form became slightly more transparent.

"There isn't a way off this for me."

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

He frowned. "No."

That wasn't happening. Not in a million years. Kurt had a history with losing friends, squadmates, whatever you wanted to call them. Half of his squadron had been shot down by the One Sith during the war, and more than a few times the Republic had forced them to retreat before they could assess if their friends were even alive. That chip still remained on his shoulder, and there was no way in hell Kurt would be leaving this Star Destroyer without Trextan.

"I'll get you out." He told the boy.

Kurt wasn't exactly sure how he was going to pull it off, not yet, but he knew that he could. Star Destroyers were huge, he had time to get everything he needed and even when the Sith noticed that he was out of his cell he could move around without much worry about getting caught. At least intitially.

Without waiting for the ghost to reply Kurt headed off towards Sularin's quarters. There would be an override key there, and with that he could get Trextan out.

"Just hang on!" He told the ghost. "For a little while at least."