Private The Dread Experiment

[Darth Insatious]

The ~ Dread ~ Experiment
Tag: Zoraya Ives-Ayres | Location: Star Destroyer

"Reality is never as bad as a nightmare, as the mental torture, we inflict on ourselves."​

"Open fire!" cried out an Imperial officer to his men, lighting up the darkened hallway. A singular crimson blade, humming, illuminated the robed figure in black and a bone-white mask formed in the shape of a skull. The entire hallway flashed repeatedly with blaster fire piercing the air, aimed to kill the intruding Sith Lord, who had already massacred half the crew on his way towards his goal. The Sith Lord moved almost like a blur, blocking and redirecting each and every shot that came his way while simultaneously cutting down the guards getting in his way. Some didn't even get cut down but had their chest burst open as if a grenade blew up from within, smearing the black robes and white mask of the Sith Lord.

The Officer just watched in horror as his men were cut down and began to back-peddle which quickly turned into a full-on dash for the door behind him only to feel the crushing weight of a thousand pounds of pressure crushing him, shattering his body and the door in a blood bath. The Sith Lord's clean black robe was tainted and smeared in dark red blood as a voice hissed in a monstrous otherworldly language. The guards posted there as the next line of defence only managed to look at the Sith Lord, before they all fell to the ground, covering and screaming as if they were in mortal pain, clashing their hands to their heads.

"Get ready men, protect Agent Ayres at all cost!" ordered the Imperial officer to the two squads of soldiers, all positioned in various positions of covers, all aiming their blasters against the singular heavy reinforced blast door.

It was quiet for a second or two, making a few men look at each other, but the quiet moment broke as a voice pieced everyone's mind, like hundred upon hundred of small tar-like spiders, violently invading every opening and hole in their mind, forcing his voice to fill everyone with doubt and dread. "I sssseensssee yooou Ayresssss. You can't hiiiiide for meeeee, little Imp. Their death is on your handssss" hissed the whisper of the Sith Lord Insatious, also known as the Lord of Hunger.

Zoraya might not have known it, but Insatious have had a personal interest in getting his hands on Zoraya after she ran from the fight on Coruscant. "Hold your ground, don't let it scare you!" tried the officer to tell the men, but the voice clearly scared the men deeply.

What happened next, happened in a blur as the heavily reinforced blast door was sliced into pieces by two crimson blades and blasted into the large crescent sized room with no way out. Shadow and darks expanded from the dark hallway where the door had been as dark smoke seemed to spread from the Sith Lord. It was a complete slaughter og life. Men were cut down ruthlessly, often in meaty lumps of unrecognizable pieces. Others fell to the ground, holding their heads, screaming as their mind was pushed to insanity.

Then it happened, and the Sith Lord showed the remaining people in the room, just why Insatious was called the Lord of Hunger as everyone except for Zoraya, fell to their knees releasing their last eerie breath. Zoraya would then witness an almost liquified ghost matter in the shape of the person it was torn from. The ghost-like matter screamed in agony as it cried and tried to claw its way back to its host, only to be absorbed and eaten by the Lord of Hunger.

What remained was a grey-skinned husk, hostless and soulless, drained of all life and denied the release of death.

Zoraya would feel her airway close until she couldn't breathe and all she could do was look at the monster before her, as voidless eye sockets stared back at the special agent and it remained like that until she went unconscious.

~~~Somewhere in space~~~​

The next moment Zoraya woke up and was in a metallic cell. The room was metallic grey and 8 by 8 in dimension with humming red lasers for a door. There was a metallic toilet in the corner but no bed. A singular light source burned bright above her.

 

[Zoraya Ives-Ayres]

A few nervous glances were exchanged around the room as the sound of blaster fire and panicked cries of their allies reverberated throughout the ship but the communications officer watching the security footage had an expression as close to terror as she had ever seen. Upon seeing his expression, she quickly strode across the room to see what had spooked the man. Her expression remained neutral, having mastered the art of façade, but she became acutely aware of the pounding of her heart in her chest upon witnessing the gruesome massacre.

"What does he want?" The officer asked, fear evident in his tone. With no answer, unable to clearly identify the figure from the recordings, she hesitated to answer but when the unpleasant sensation of the intrusive voice in her head provided her with an answer, she quickly realised she wasn't the sole recipient of the message as several pairs of scared eyes fell on her.

It had all happened so quickly that the remainder of them had been trapped, protected only by blast doors which were barely a deterrent for the intruder. The panicked scrambling for weapons and calls for back-up stopped as a silence fell over the room when the red blades pierced the final layer of protection between them and whoever was hell-bent on finding her.

As everyone around her collapsed to the ground, she backed away from the door, not that there was anywhere left to go, almost ignoring those around her with her attention on the being before her until it was impossible not to notice. Like nothing she had ever seen before, she witnessed an ethereal force escape from the bodies of her fellow officers with a horrified awe.

Her gaze shifted back to the Sith, now they stood alone in the room. She made no attempt to draw a weapon, knowing that any efforts she made now would be futile, nor did she plead for mercy which would be just as fruitless. If he decided to kill her now then there would be nothing she could've done about it and if so, she would go out on her terms.

However, it seemed he had different ideas. Feeling the invisible grip around her throat, she reached up with a hand as if to remove the obstruction but to no avail. Within a few moments, she was consumed by darkness.

****
​

She woke up with a gasp followed by instinctively raising her arm to protect her eyes from the light for a moment before she adjusted and pushed herself into a sitting position and then onto her feet, feeling particularly rough after being knocked out through oxygen deprivation.

After a brief inspection of the small room, or rather box, she peered beyond the lasers as far as she could see to try and get a better understanding of where she was. With little identifiable information, her attention quickly turned to pondering over why she was there. Typically, she could make the educated guess that she held some valuable knowledge that others would be keen to learn but she recognised the mask of the Sith who had attacked them and she wasn't so confident that intel was his motive.

With a sigh, and little else to explore, she resigned herself to sitting back on the floor and leaning against the wall.

​

 

[Darth Insatious]

Tag: Zoraya Ives-Ayres | Location: Star Destroyer

"For fear, you will be alone, you do so many things that aren’t you at all."​

Surprisingly, nothing happened to Zoraya as she sat with her back up against the wall. No one came for her, no one contacted her, and no one entered her cell. She was utterly alone in the blinding cell that almost hurt the eyes to look at. Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes merged into hours by which hours started to lose their meaning.

The eerie part was the fact that the room was soundproof, bouncing off every word Zoraya spoke into the void that now was her home for however long she stayed. Even the view past the laser cell door led to a nondescriptive dull grey wall no more than 10 feet away, which could mean she could be anywhere in the galaxy.

Depending on how strong Zoraya was mentally sound, the pressure of loneliness was ever-growing as she only had herself and her small cell to herself company. She could try and keep herself occupied with whatever came to mind, but even that was limited as she was dressed in a simple grey jumpsuit.

Her having no contact or change of action, would go on, until tiredness slowly crept in on her eyes. Maybe it was better to just fall asleep? Afterall, time would pass quicker, right?
Whether her constitution was high or low, the sheer boredom and loneliness in the small cell would no doubt catch her and it would only be a matter of time before sleep overtook the Special Agent.

"When are you truly awake? How do you know whether or not, it's a dream or reality?"​

Right, as Zoraya's eyelid closed, either through force by her own body or willingly, an ear-blasting noise went off, filling the room all around her, enough to jolt her right awake again. However, when she woke up, she wasn't in her cell, nor was she back at the ship attacked by the Sith Lord. No, Zoraya was actually strapped to a metal bed, raised as a platform, in a darkly lit room of white tiles. Her arms were placed down along her body, locked in metal cuffs. Her angles were also locked in the same manner as her wrists and to make it worst, her head was in a leather contraption, blocking the Special Agent from moving her head with the exception of her eyes.

If she looked around with the limited view she had, another bright lamp hang above her, shining annoyingly bright. Looking down, she would just be able to see a set of double swing doors. Looking to both sides of her, Zoraya would see old rusty meathooks hanging, having been unused for god knows how long.

 

[Zoraya Ives-Ayres]

After the first hour, she couldn't help but feel as though something was amiss when no one had come to speak with her. If she was alive this far then she knew it must have been for a purpose, though what that purpose was she didn't know. She expected a prompt interrogation, possibly followed by an execution, neither of which were ideal but there wasn't a lot she could do about it at present.

She remained largely in the same spot, shifting every so often to try and find some brief comfort on the hard floor. As someone who was used to being alone, content with her own company, even she couldn't deny the creeping feeling of discomfort as time continued to pass by while she was stuck in a void of her own thoughts with no distractions.

The silence was the most unnerving aspect of the room, so much so that even the sound of her own breathing became an irritation. Eventually, she sat in one of the corners, her head resting against the wall. Despite having no idea how long she had been there, the lack of mental stimulation and no judgement of time wore down on her until she closed her eyes.

However, as soon as she did so, she immediately woke with a startled gasp, followed by immediate confusion as to where she was. She knew she had lost concept of time but not a moment had passed between her closing her eyes and awaking - or so it felt like - she didn't know.

​

It quickly became apparent from the brief lurching upon waking up that she was restrained and again there was little else she could look to but the old, hanging hooks certainly held her gaze for a few moments but it didn't immediately strike fear into her heart.

As someone who had witnessed interrogations and been trained to withstand them, she at least had an idea of what to expect and that was half the battle. She was certainly on edge, though, but didn't convey as such in her expression. Although... There was one inkling of doubt in her mind. What if it wasn't an interrogation? In an interrogation, she would have some tricks to pull but if it wasn't then she would have no idea what to expect and no hope of survival.

"Hello?!" She called out, almost impatiently. She didn't wish to prolong whatever situation she had found herself in.

Darth Insatious

 

[Darth Insatious]

Tag: Zoraya Ives-Ayres | Location: Star Destroyer

"Pain is always accompanied by emotion and meaning so that each pain is unique to the individual. The word pain is used to group together a class of combined sensory-emotional events. The class contains many different types of pain, each of which is a personal, unique experience for the person who suffers."​

As Zoraya was laid out on the cold metal table, locked from moving the constant dripping of water in a corner she couldn't see as she was waiting for... something, or someone? At least something to happen. Laying rather uncomfortable on the table, half an hour went by with that same constant slow dripping of water, until she could hear wheels behind the door followed by a loud thud as a metal cart bumped into the doors, making them swing open. it was difficult to get a clear view of who was pushing the cart in the dimly lit room apart from her position.

The cart was pushed all the way up to the metal table Zoraya was strapped down giving the Special Agent a much better view of whoever it was that entered. As Zoraya look to the side, her eyes see a slim masculine build wearing a white lab coat, however, instead of a face, her eyes were met with a completely faceless head with the exception of black eyesockets without eyes.

The being didn't speak, because it could as it grabbed a small handheld hook, examining the tool, before taking hold of the part of her clothes that covered the top of her stomach. Collective and expressionless the being pierced the raised piece of cloth and then began to rip a straight line down with the hook, exposing Zoraya's skin and stomach.

No matter what Zoraya did, she got no reaction from the thing as it meticulously operated on her grey jumpsuit to cut open a rectangle-shaped opening, completely exposing her stomach. With much care, it took each flap of ripped cloth and moved it to the side followed by placing the hook back on the table.

The next tool the horrifying being plucked from the table, was of an equally horrifying nature. Holding onto a knife-like handle, the blade wasn't shaped like a straight blade, but of a crescent form along with sawteeth all the way along the inner edge of the crescent blade. No amount of reasoning, begging, or fighting stopped the being as it placed its icy cold hand upon her upper part of the torso and preceded to pierce Zoraya's stomach. Unimaginable pain exploded as the crescent blade split the flesh of Zoraya's stomach as her torturer started to saw in a vertical line down her stomach.

Despite getting gutted alive without any form of anaesthetic, Zoraya's mind was denied its way of escaping the pain by causing her to blackout the moment it became too much.

And then everything went black and the Special Agent would find herself in her own quarter, lights turned off and alone, completely drenched in sweat.

 

[Zoraya Ives-Ayres]

As time passed by, she became increasingly agitated, trying several times to free herself from the restraints but to no avail. Even reluctantly attempting to use the Force with what little knowledge she had proved fruitless. Frustrated, she gave up and waited for whoever would be joining her with nothing to do but listen to the gradually irritating dripping.

The loud noise startled her after getting so accustomed to the eerie quietness and her gaze immediately shot downwards to try and see the figure that entered but it wasn't until he got closer that she realised the situation she was in. After freezing for a few moments as she stared at his face, or rather lack thereof, she tried to free herself with more panicked movements than before.

It was very apparent that this was no interrogation. No amount of training could have prepared her for this situation, not that she even understood what situation she was in exactly and the unnatural being before her didn't offer much in the way of an explanation.

Her breathing grew ragged as her heart rate increased with his selection of a blade. "Don't..." She told him, her eyes briefly rising to meet where his should have been before falling back down to his hands. "What do you want?!" She asked in exasperation only to be met with silence in the moments before she screamed once the blade made contact.

Each second of the blinding pain felt like it lasted an eternity before it was over and the room faded to black. No more than a moment later did she awake in a different room, just as confused as the first time. After the initial panic subsided, she began to grow angry. Why would someone play such twisted mind games? Or was she going crazy?

The lines between reality and fiction were becoming blurred. It felt real enough but that didn't mean it was so.

While she was not someone who was particularly known for her kind and just treatment of others, she was not inhumane and if someone was responsible for what was happening then it was far beyond the realm of what even she would consider acceptable.

Still uncertain if she was truly awake, she pushed herself up onto her feet and reached for the light switch.

Darth Insatious

 

[Darth Insatious]

Tag: Zoraya Ives-Ayres | Location: Star Destroyer

"What do we do, when imagining monsters can still hurt us?"​

The chamber Zoraya woke up in was very nondescriptive with grey walls, a standardized Imperial bed, a small squared metal table in the corner along with an equally designed chair to go along with. Once the Agent had managed to calm her heartbeat down enough to focus and headed for the light switch, nothing happened. No matter how many times she spammed the switch, she was still in pitch darkness. She would also quickly pick up on the dead silence around her, and unlike the usual busy Imperial base that she had been to, no noise or voices could be heard.

However, she was able to actually push open the door if she grabbed the handle and exited the room. She would find herself in a hallway of a rather recognisable hallway of Bastion, but more precise, her old academy. The moment Zoraya left the room she woke up in, shut the door behind her with a loud bang as it remained immovable for the Special Agent.

The hallway split into two directions from her position, with the right leading down to a pitch-black void at the end, whereas the left continued with a singular door at the end slightly ajar with white light beaming from the opening. In the ceilings were lamps, though over half of them didn't work the few that did work, flickered every so often, casting temporary light below them. The special agent was completely alone with only the flickering lights breaking the silence.

A low growl cackling filled the hallway down the hallway to the left from the pitch-black end. Exiting out of the pitch-black void was the same eerie and monstrous being without a face with the exception of empty eye sockets. Holding in Its hand, was the same knife with the crescent blade that had gutted her on the table no more than what felt like a few seconds.

Cracking its head to the side mechanically, the being stood. Right as the light flickered, casting the hallway back into the darkness where it had lit before, the being charged Zoraya silently. In a flash, the monster had closed almost 50 feet of distance to the special agent but stopped as one of the lamps flickered back on saving the woman just in the nick of time.
The special agent could now see the being in a clear light. The being stood almost 8 feet tall, the body structure was thin and slender like it hadn't eaten in weeks. A tie match the black suit and long thin boney clawed fingers that were longer than any normal fingers one would find on people.
The eye sockets were not even real eye sockets but deep darken indents where the eyes would have been.

Its skin was of leather-like white and now that Zoraya could see the being up close, the skin actually looked more like had been stretched over the head.

The monster looked with a tilted head at Zoraya again, standing completely still, waiting. And waiting it apparently didn't have to do long as the light started to flicker again.

 

[Zoraya Ives-Ayres]

Feeling along the wall in the darkness, her fingers ran over the light switch and flicked it several times before she quickly resigned to the fact the light wouldn't turn on. Still, even from the brief stumble to the door she recognised the room from its layout and would have almost felt comforted if it weren't for the same eerie silence as she had experienced in the cell.

The sound of the door slamming shut behind her startled her as she was already on edge from her previous experience which lingered with her, even if it had just been a dream - which she was still yet to determine.

Upon stepping out into the hallway, her gaze rose to the lamps which provided insufficient lighting and made the whole place seem neglected, before her attention was caught by the light protruding from the door at the end of the hallway. If she knew anything then she knew that it was likely to be a trap but the void opposite it didn't seem too welcoming either.

The growl from the darker side prompted an instant reaction as she tried to re-enter the room she had just left but to no avail. She began to back away towards the light, keeping her eyes in the direction the growl had emanated from as she did.

With an involuntary gasp, she saw the creature ahead of her as it came into the light, horrified not only because of its morbid appearance but also because she recognised it and the blade it was holding but there was no point negotiating as she wasn't sure if it was even sentient and negotiating didn't seem to get her far last time.

The fear almost made her feel sick but still she showed little indication of such feelings other than the fearful look in her eyes as she scanned the grotesque body of her pursuer.

Realising that it was almost frozen where it stood, she looked up at the light and then glanced to the light emanating from the door behind her and once the lights started flickering again she made the split-second decision to run for the door at the opposite end of the hallway.

Darth Insatious

 

[Darth Insatious]

Tag: Zoraya Ives-Ayres | Location: Star Destroyer

"When are you truly awake and how do you actually know, whether or not it's not just another dream?"​

As Zoraya ran for the door with white light beaming from it, she could hear to light stopped flickering and didn't take much time to know that the protective light had ceased. Crackle grew louder and louder as the being came closer and closer and right as Zoraya entered the door, she would just see the crescent blade going for her as an elongated arm came over her shoulder.

However, it never pierced her. The monstrous thin-man disappeared, dissolved in an instant when she entered through the door.

The Special Agent would find herself waking up from the floor of her cell, her metallic grey cell that she first had awoken in up until she fell asleep. Over by the laser beams in her cell stood a small plastic bowl with some kind of brown sludge for food and water. She appeared to be alone on her side and if she waited to see if anything else happened, the Thin-man didn't appear and no change of sudden location, no shadows or darkness.

The cell was as bright as it was when she woke up the first time finding herself in the 8 by 8 cell. Even when or if she dared to take the bowl of food, standing ever so innocently on the floor of her cell, did nothing happened. In fact, nothing happened for what could only be described as hours of waiting for something or someone to appear.

~~Somewhere not far from Zoraya~~​

"I appear subject 1A37 have a stronger will than anticipated, my Lord"

"Will it be a problem?" inquired Insatious, looking at multiple screens from different angles of Zoraya in her cell.

"Oh no, my Lord, I will simply just increase the next dose" explained the doctor with a neutral facial expression.

 

[Zoraya Ives-Ayres]

There wasn't even time to panic about the light disappearing. She was in a fight or flight situation and she had no means by which to fight whatever was chasing her so every instinct within her told her to run, even if it amounted to nothing.

Upon seeing the blade again, her eyes widened in horror but the revelation managed to spur her onwards and no sooner than a moment later was she through the door and into the black abyss.

She awoke suddenly, breathing heavily. Her eyes quickly scanned the small room to establish her whereabouts and she placed a hand on the wall to try and ground herself, not that it would make much difference since everything she had previously experienced felt so real.

It took several hours for the anxiety to fade but she remained on edge and unwilling to close her eyes in fear of repeating the experiences. She still didn't know why she was there but she didn't care enough to ponder on it anymore.

For a long while, she stared at the bowl of food, wondering if it was some kind of test and if she was still not back in reality. In the role that she was in, a healthy level of distrust was always wise but now she was starting to creep into paranoia.

She was still feeling sick to her stomach after what she had experienced so she wasn't too desperate to pick up the food any time soon. Instead, she sat in the corner of the cell and pulled her knees up to her chest, staring blankly ahead.

Darth Insatious

 

[Darth Insatious]

Tag: Zoraya Ives-Ayres | Location: Star Destroyer

As Zoraya sat in her corner, staring at the bowl of food, placed in front of the cell door, seconds turned into minutes which merged into hours. Nothing had changed around her after what must have felt like an eternity but was only really an hour or two that had passed. She was still in the cell she woke up in, after losing her consciousness from Insatious' force attack. Same four soundproof walls, same bowl with food and the same knowledge of being alone in her cell.

No matter how long she waited, no matter how much she tried to keep herself awake, her body required rest and the moment she would close her eyes, she would find herself, waking up in another bed. The trouble with this was that Zoraya would know that she closed her eyes, but her surroundings felt, looked and sounded real as well.

The room she was in, was a rather nice apartment, one big room. In front of her, her eyes would fall upon a massive window with a view directly out to the bustling daily day of the average citizen of Coruscant. Lines upon lines of different altitudes in the city could be seen as far as Zoraya's eyes looked. The sun looked to either be setting or rising on the horizon.

To the right of Zoraya, was a decent-looking kitchen with coffee brewing on a counter and past the kitchen, was a door leading out to the restroom. To the left of Zoraya was a living room with a crescent sofa and a holo screen situated in front along with a radio behind the sofa on a counter playing a talkshow on low volume.

On the far end to the left, past the living room, was a door leading out of the apartment. Zoraya herself would find that she had her mission suit on but without any of the gear that followed.

 

[Zoraya Ives-Ayres]

Despite her quickly learned fear of falling asleep, the lack of stimulation from the room combined with the never ending hours of waiting for nothing eventually wore on her and her eyelids grew heavy. There was no way of knowing how many days she had been there, assuming it had been days based on how long it had felt like.

It was difficult not to feel hopeless, knowing that no one was coming for her. She had always known that would be the case but she hadn't expected to find herself prisoner to a Sith and now that she was it was beginning to seem like this would be her life now, or whatever remained of it, since she had no control over that either.

She awoke with a jolt and immediately got out of the bed, anxiety rising quickly despite being in a relatively safe-looking environment as she established by looking out of the window and slowly walking out of the bedroom into the rest of the equally as uneventful apartment. Still, it wasn't enough to calm her. She had learned very quickly to expect the worst and that nothing was as it seemed. At least it was light which provided a small amount of comfort, but not enough to calm her.

Before leaving, she quickly rummaged through drawers in the kitchen in search of a knife, anticipating an attack, but was unable to find one. Walking towards the door, she glanced over her shoulder once in a paranoid manner, expecting the being that had followed her last time to appear from anywhere at any moment but when it didn't appear from nothingness behind her, she pressed the button to open the front door.

Darth Insatious

 

[Darth Insatious]

Tag: Zoraya Ives-Ayres | Location: Star Destroyer

Finding nothing in the drawers, in a matter of fact, they all were utterly empty, Zoraya would find herself weaponless. She was pulled through the opening and into a black empty void upon opening the door. Falling... falling... falling... and falling she continued to plummet until she wasn't. Zoraya would feel the hard metal floor of the very room she and the men under her command were attacked by Insatious. The special agent was incorporeal, like a ghost, watching herself, but more importantly, her alive men.

It appeared to be right before the attack happened. The moment she heard and saw the red blades melt through the reinforced blast doors, she got to watch the slaughter again, but almost from a third-person perspective. Witnessing the Drain Life that the Sith Lord did, getting a much clear view of what actually happened to all her men's souls getting devoured by the Sith Lord.

At least Zoraya could feel a sense of safety and security in the knowledge of it being some weird form of reliving memories... and memories can't hurt you, right? Watching her own memory getting choked into unconsciousness by Insatious and then carried away by two very familiar monstrous Death Troopers in red flesh armour and skull helmets, the real Zoraya was now alone with the Sith Lord.

Though something was off, Zoraya knew it was a memory, but her memory of Insatious started to look around where he stood before turning to completely face Zoraya is a chilling display of a dread aura. In a split second, the agent heard the ignition of a blade and then felt herself get pierced by a memory of Insatious all the way through her stomach. With a gruelling and icy hiss, her memory of Insatious grabbed her throat, holding her in place.

She would feel her entire being burning up by the lightsaber blade melting away flesh, muscles, and bones and would keep adding more if she moved. The worst part of it all was the fact that she couldn't even close her eyes, staring directly into the black empty abyss of madness the eye sockets of the bone-white skull mask of the Sith's eyes should have been.

A voice then pierced Zoraya's mind like a needle. "You are miiiiiine" hissed the otherworldly eldritch voice, ringing louder and louder before the bone-skull mask grew bigger and bigger. Zoraya watched as she was getting eaten, drained of life and energy, before the girl woke up again drenched in sweat, yet again.

Unknown for how long she was passed out. The same dreary bowl of brown mess for food, stood close to her cell entrance, almost taunting her. It was almost as if the bowl itself was laughing at her, taunting her, teasing her that she was going mad... no that's stupid, bowls can't talk or form thoughts, a bowl was an Inanimate object.

 

[Zoraya Ives-Ayres]

She was hesitant to open the door, and rightly so as she soon found herself inexplicably drawn into the opening and plummeting towards where she could only imagine the ground was. If this was how she died then it wasn't the worst way to go, not after what she had experienced leading up to this moment. A few moments later though and that was revealed not to be the case as she suddenly felt the familiar, smooth metal of the floor.

Opening her eyes, she faced reliving the scene that had caused her to find herself in the Sith Lord's grasp, at the cost of many allies. The feeling was much worse than discomfort but rather she felt sick to her stomach. While not known to be the most empathetic of people, she could at least recognise that no one deserved to go out that way - that is, no one but the Sith whom enacted such inhumane punishments on others.

With a gasp, her eyes widened and she looked down, feeling the lightsaber through her abdomen. She stayed completely still, in shock at the horrific burning sensation like none other that accompanied the attack. Her gaze slowly rose to meet the hollow mask's eyes, or lack thereof, and her legs threatened to give out a moment later as the pain began to consume her entire being. Even though she knew it wasn't real, the pain very much was.

The voice instilled an instant fear within her for she knew this being's power, his ability to enact a death beyond what she had imagined possible and she was helpless to do anything to stop him. She had come to accept her death back in the situation the memory replicated but this fate was far worse than any death. A hopeless loop with no escape and a blurring of the lines between fiction and reality. It was more like limbo than hell.

Upon waking this time, she quickly reacquainted herself with the situation she found herself in and got to her feet, this time more angry than fearful. Angry that she was being toyed with. "What the hell do you want from me?!" She exclaimed to no one, hoping at least someone would take notice.

Darth Insatious

 

[Darth Insatious]

Tag: Zoraya Ives-Ayres | Location: Star Destroyer

As Zoraya's frustration and anger filled her room, screaming into the silent air, as expected, nothing was returned in kind. She was alone again. Time went by and soon her body would cave, no matter how much she wanted to fight it. However, right before her body would give in to the dreaded nightmare filled dreams, an explosion went off. While Zoraya couldn't hear the explosion, however, she could feel the vibrations and shake of her entire cell.

For the first time, since she arrived, the silence had been broken by other than herself. Red coloured blaster fire filled the corridor outside of her laser covered door. Another set of explosions went off, followed by an Imperial soldier went flying into the edge of Zoraya's cell door and landing with a thud on the floor right in front of the door. Smoke rose from the Imperial body, showing clear signs of getting his by a thermal detonator.

Another Imperial appeared in front of Zoraya's laser filled cell door, wearing what appeared to be an officer's uniform. "We don't have much time Agent Ives-Ayres" explained the officer, swiping a card on a small terminal near her cell and deactivating the lasers. The officer looked down the corridor for a second, before looking back to Zoraya. "Some of my men are distracting Lord Insatious, but it won't be long before he figures out that you were our real target" explained the officer, handing her his officer hand blaster. If she took it, he would scan the corridor, waiting for her to follow him, otherwise, if she didn't take the blaster pistol, he would still scan the corridor.

The corridor running along the cells went on 100 or so feet long with rows upon rows of cells just like Zoraya's to the right, while a plain boring grey metallic wall to the left. Spanning two cells apart, were dark grey pillars built out of metal the cells were made off. A lot of damage and destruction could be seen from grenades going off or blaster fire scourge marks, blackened the walls.

If Zoraya followed him by her own desire, he would lead her away from her cell towards the exit of the prison, if she didn't he would grab her and start to drag her away. Nevertheless, they only managed to get a few cells down the corridor, before prison guards opened fire on them. Pushing Zoraya behind a pillar, the officer returned fire at the guards.

More explosions could be heard around them, shaking the part of the ship they were in. "By the way, I'm Agent Kellon, you probably don't remember or... shit" Kellon cursed, getting cut off, by a blaster's laser bolt almost hitting him. Returning fire again, he continued, "I graduated with you five years ago at the academy" finished agent Kellon, managing to kill one of the guards.

 

[Zoraya Ives-Ayres]

The fear of sleeping had begun to set in and she tried to delay it for as long as possible, to no avail. This time though, a peculiar rumbling of the entire room alerted her to there being something wrong. She rather sluggishly got to her feet but quickly perked up upon seeing the exchange of blaster fire outside the cell.

She moved as close to the laser as she could but was startled by a soldier that had been thrown against the edge of her cell. A moment later, she found herself face to face with what appeared to be an ally but instead of relief, she remained confused and was not very receptive to the man, looking down at the blaster he handed her as though it was a foreign object and she didn't know how to act.

"Me?" She replied, evidently confused. After an unknown amount of time without so much as hearing another person, at least not truly hearing one, she acted as though she had forgotten how to be one and was slow to react to everything.

She had never expected that they would even attempt to rescue her. It was such a dangerous mission with so much to risk just for her which only amplified her confusion. She had resided to the fact that she was trapped here and she had never expected to see a friendly face again.

After a few moments of hesitation, she followed the man but did not prove herself to be very useful as she barely raised her weapon in time to provide any meaningful cover and so was pushed behind a pillar.

After introducing himself, she searched her memories, trying to find any recollection of his name or face. "I remember..." She breathed, looking over to him. She knew she was being useless but could not bring herself to move from where she stood.

Darth Insatious

 

[Darth Insatious]

Tag: Zoraya Ives-Ayres | Location: Star Destroyer

The second guard finally got shot by Kellon, giving them a breather, at least for a few seconds. Looking at Zoraya, the officer-dressed man gave her some worried eyes, seeing how big a mess she was in. Placing her arm around his shoulder, he placed his own around her back and then pulled her up on her feet. "Come on, I am not about to leave and let that monster toy more with you Agent Ives-Ayres" expressed Agent Kellon and started to pull Zoraya along the long corridor towards what hopefully was an exit.

A couple of times, they had to dive for cover and fire their way through more prison guards, but Agent Kellon's aim was true whether or not Zoraya was mentally capable of helping, though if he did it alone, it would take a bit slower than if they had been two.

Soon Zoraya would find her tired body placed up against a corner wall in cover by a large blast door. Agent Kellon was working as fast as he could to spike the terminal. "Hold in there Agent Ives-Ayres, I'm almost... there!" said her rescuer with a short cheer as the blast door slid open revealing a team of five other Imperials.

For a second it looked like everyone was about to shoot, but then Agent Kellon grabbed the soldier in front of him in a handshake. "We managed to shake the Sith sir, but we got to move now, and I mean right kriffing now" explained the soldier, looking over at Zoraya. "Can you run, or are we going to carry you?" Asked the soldier with nervousness in his voice, clearly not wanting to stay on the Star Destroyer any longer than necessary. If she declined, the entire group would nod and then start to quicken their steps towards the turbolift that would take them down to the level, which would be a straight run to the hanger. If she accepted the aid, much wouldn't change other than the speed it would take them.

Nevertheless, they would quickly find themselves exchanging fire with the Imperial troopers like themselves. More rumbles, sound very much like some sort of chain reaction taking place throughout the Star Destroyer.

After maybe half an hour of fighting-stopping-fighting, they would meet another blast door, much like the one at the prison exit. "Keep a lookout, the turbolift is just on the other side of this door" explained Agent Kellon and went to work on the terminal.

2 minutes went by...

5 minutes went by...

"What's happening Agent Kellon, we're sitting ducks here!" Asked one of the soldiers, right before getting his head blown up by a laser bolt.
"Take cover!" shouted another, as everyone dashed for whatever little cover that happened to be at the end of the corridor, which wasn't much to almost none.

"No no no! I'm locked out!" shouted Kellon frustrated, slamming the bottom of his fist down on the console.

Sparks filled the corridor as blaster bolts connected to the wall, door and floor, only increasing the absolutely desperate situation they were in. To make matters worse, more Imperials guards started to appear to kill them and while the little group of rebellious Imperials helping Zoraya handled them, it wouldn't continue.

"I thought you knew the codes inside out Kellon!" called one of the Imperials of the little group, ducking just in time behind a small crate before a bolt flew over his head.

"They must have changed the codes or shut the global connection in the area!"

"This was your plan, get us a way out or we'll die in the bloody hallway!"

Both men just started to shout in a desperate attempt to figure something out. All of them were completely occupied with the firefight, and none of them had time to inspect the surrounding walls, but if one were to inspect the surroundings of their location, a squared metal grid could be seen to the left. Behind the plate grid was a dark ventilation shaft leading down to wherever it might lead to.

 

[Zoraya Ives-Ayres]

She wasn't one who was well-known for her manners but she appreciated his help nonetheless, even if she didn't thank him, and gave a brief nod of acknowledgement at his encouragement. Ordinarily, she would feel self-conscious about being so reliant on someone else but all her thoughts were focused on survival and escape and anything beyond that scope was not worth worrying about at the moment.

After a few rusty minutes to get them to their current position, her fight or flight response took effect and she assisted in clearing the path to their destination, wherever it may be. She didn't exactly have a say in the situation but she rather blindly followed her ally with no other option but to trust him.

There was a moment of hesitation after she was spoken to as everything was happening so quickly compared to the slow and isolated lifestyle she had become accustomed to, but she nodded a moment after, giving a delayed response. "I can run." She assured him, following the group to another blast door where she waited for her companion to unlock the door.

Without so much as saying a word to her allies, she fired her blaster at the grid to the side and peered into it before climbing in, still not saying anything to her allies. She figured they would have enough sense to make their own decision on whether to follow or not but she felt like none of them had a lot to lose at this point.

Darth Insatious

 

[Darth Insatious]

Tag: Zoraya Ives-Ayres | Location: Star Destroyer

As soon as Zoraya managed to get far enough into the ventilation shaft, she heard some of the others follow her, however, only two managed to get in after her, while the remaining was shot down before getting away. The one finding Zoraya in her cell was, however, the one right behind her. Crawling through the ventilation shaft of the Star Destroyer, they quickly found them being forced one way for more than a couple of minutes having to plant themself on their stomach when moving when the shafts narrowed.

"Turn right, up ahead, if my memories serve me right, it should lead us in the direction of the hanger" explained the officer following Zoraya with the only other member behind him that have managed to survive so far.

True enough, after what felt like a couple of hours of climbing through a dark, dusty and small ventilation shaft, Zoraya found herself in front of another metal grid with a bright light shining into the shaft. Coming up to the metal grid, Zoraya could see directly into the hanger's left side. However, they were also incredibly high above and falling directly down you most likely break their legs without any gear aid.

Luck, however, was with them. "Here, use this and hope to whoever is watching us, that you won't get notice" stated the officer and with a bit of trouble, handed Zoraya a blowtorch for cutting metal while holding whipcord in his other hand. Surprisingly, no one noticed them as the alarm sirens already had gone off.

Once the grid was off, the officer behind Zoraya handed her the whipcord to tie to the edge in order for them to get down.

The hanger was on full alert as guards were on full sweep mode to find the attackers and Zoraya. The hanger itself was long and had multiple ships parked on the floor, while many were hanging from the ceiling to catwalks. Right below them on the floor were crates bunched together that looked to have recently been offloaded from a freighter, which also had its ramp down but no workers from the angle Zoraya were in the ventilation shaft.