To Break a Rose

[Valik]

Valik had been staring at the holoscreen in front of him for nearly seventeen minutes now. The woman was bound to wake up at any moment. She was the most powerful test subject Valik had acquired thus far, and as such required far more attention than his usual subjects. He didn't know much of her skillset, only what he'd seen when he managed to obtain her. Normally when containing a Force Sensitive he'd hook them up to an IV full of concentrated Ixeltal Cilona but that would have hindered the variable that he was trying to observe. The Force itself, how she used it, how it reacted with her body. How it could be measured when not in use, how did it change when using one force power in comparison to another? With the IME he'd put under her neck, without causing any scars as it happened, monitoring her midichlorians hopefully he'd get a plethora of data, he did need it after all.

When she finally did awake she'd find herself in a cell padded with terentatek leather, to prevent telekinesis or lightning from ripping apart the walls. There'd be a plate at her feet with bits of nerf, mashed protatoes, and a glass of red wine at the right side, a spoon it's foil on the left. A nice surprise perhaps, but it's cheer would likely be diminished when the woman realized that he'd broken both of her hands. As he hadn't put her hands in any sort of splint or wrap, nor provided her any pain killers actually eating the food or holding the spoon or glass would be difficult to say the least. With luck she'd have skill in healing to fix herself up, or perhaps Crucitorn to help deal with the pain, or perhaps telekinesis to move the food to her without using her body. Any application of the Force would do, it was merely a matter of giving her the right environment to force her to use it.

Hopefully alone in a padded cell with broken hands would do. He'd discover soon enough as she awoke, but he had limited time. He didn't have the feeling this woman was a loner as he, she'd have friends coming for her soon. Just not soon enough.

[member="Rosa Mazhar"]

 

[Rosa Gunn]

Rosa's eyes snapped open and she drew in a gasping breath, scrambling to her feet. Eyes darted around the room wildly as she tried to process everything at once. Where was she? How did she get here? Why was she here? Why was there food and wine? Why did her hands hurt? She closed her eyes and steadied her breathing from panicked and erratic to steady and calm. She opened her eyes again and processed the information again, slower this time and starting with the things she could answer immediately.

She looked down at her hands, fingers bent at awkward angles. Seeing them seemed to increase the pain and she let out a soft curse. Someone had shattered her hands. Why? No, don't ask why, that can come later. Healing broken bones was not out of her skill set, but the human hand was made up of twenty seven bones and that took time. She sat down again, crossing her legs and resting her broken hands on her knees and closed her eyes, reaching beyond the pain she felt and to the bones she began to run along each one, knitting them back together. Joints popped back into place as she did, sending fresh waves of pain through her. She bit her lip to prevent her from crying out and continued.

She stayed like this for at least half an hour, until she was able to flex her hands, then she sank back against the wall, tired. It wasn't over though, she had a hundred questions that needed answering. Getting to her feet, she ignored the food that had been left for her and walked the perimeter of the cell, hand trailing along the terentatek leather, probing with her mind, trying to reach beyond it, though with little avail. Her eyes settled on a black camera in the cells corner that followed her movements. She stepped into the centre of the room and stared back at it, folding her arms over her chest.

[member="Valik"]

 

[Valik]

Valik smiled as the woman awoke, hastily pushing herself to her feet before glacing around the room. Valik was no mind reader, but he could tell you the woman's thoughts. "Why am I here? Where am I? Why am I in pain?" where all swirling around in that head of hers. Perhaps if she were particularly clever, unlikely as she had more of a 'moral' vibe about her, she'd be thinking "How can I break these walls?" or some other such escape plan. To her credit however she kept such thoughts to herself, not bothering to scream, ask questions, or otherwise bemoan her situation, merely analyzing the facts, discovering her environment. She eventually examined her hand, before letting out a small curse in pain. Valik couldn't tell what she was saying, but it didn't matter. Frustration and anger were good motivators, if he could prod a woman as her to the Darkside she'd likely lash out violently, using the only weapon she had. The only weapon he was here to study.

Although the Force was not always used as such, demonstrated by the brunette's next move, one of healing. Healing wasn't the quickest of processes so Valik had the pleasure of observing her work, while observing the data being broadcasted by her IME, which he had specifically made to monitor midi-chlorians. Using another holomonitor he brought up the data on the activity of midi-chlorians from only a minute prior, conscious but not engaging the Force. With another he brought up the data from thirty minutes ago, where the woman was unconscious. As the woman healed her hands Valik programmed comparison algorithims, also tying the data to timestamps of the footage. Once he finished it seemed the woman had finished her task as well, now walking around the edges of the cell scraping her fingers around the Terenetatek leather, probing for weaknesses. She was a smarter target than Valik's usual test subject. Dangerous, but not unworkable. After her probing was complete she examined the camera in the room, or rather the most obvious camera in the room, and merely stared into it armed folded in protest.

In response Valik did nothing but wait. He had given her food, drink, and she had the Terentatek leather to occupy her time. He did have some hands on testing he wished to conduct, but all of that could wait. Let her sit a couple of days, thinking merely to herself. Probing the outer walls, surviving on a two-course meal, energy draining from her bit by bit. Yes, he'd visit her two, perhaps three days from now. She'd use the Force eventually, whether to test the walls or to sustain her body, and thus more data would be collected soon enough. Plus he'd hopefully have more information on how to approach her psychologically, how best to break her to his will. Valik smiled as he watched the protestant jedi. This was his game now, and he hadn't had a player with this kind of potential in years.

Don't let me down Jedi.

[member="Rosa Gunn"]

 

[Rosa Gunn]

Eyes moved once more around the room, settling on the wine glass. She sighed, bending down she scooped it up in her hands and sniffed it before taking a sip. If her captor had any intention of killing her, they wouldn't do so while she was in a padded cell with poisoned wine. No, there was far much more to this. She paced again, sipping from the glass as she did, running ideas through her head. Rosa wasn't skilled at telekinesis so she didn't even bother trying to use that to get out. In all truth at this point she was more concerned with the who and the why, than the how.

She moved to the wall again and extended her hand, eyes slipping closed as she extended her empathy and tried to read the walls itself. Psychometry was something she excelled at, but the wall offered her nothing. She opened her eyes again, fingers stroked down the leather and her hand dropped to her side as realisation dawned on the materials origin. Being married to the best monster hunter in the galaxy meant she'd seen a fair few sithspawn hides in her time. "Terentatek. Interesting." She mused aloud. "Alright." She took another sip of wine and set the glass to one side kneeling in the centre of the room she placed her hands against the cool duracrete surface.

She immersed herself in the force once more, drawing from the floor she found herself looking at the room from an utterly different perspective, hours flickered by in the blink of an eye until boots passed across her eyes, she slowed the pace of the memory and drew it all in, as she was carried in by a man whose face was concealed, that was until her set her down. Then she caught a glimpse of his face, of sinister eyes that lacked humanity. Her hands snapped up from the concrete and for the first time, true fear ran over her face. In true time, she had been kneeling in the floor for at least an hour, but to Rosa, it was mere minutes.

"Valik."

[member="Valik"]

 

[Valik]

Valik observed as the woman took the glass of wine after taking a sniff, presumably for safety. As she sipped the glass she paced around the cell, saying nothing but gears obviously turning in her mind. She headed over to the wall, grazing her fingers atop the leather when he began to receive data that he Midi-Chlorians were in motion. She was attempting to do something to walls, but he couldn't quite figure what. After a short time, dismayed, the woman dropped her hands, stumped for a moment but she quickly discovered what was covering the walls, saying as much before taking another sip of her wine then placing it on the ground and extending her hands against the floor.

She stayed in that position, motionless, for a little over an hour. He could only assume she was in some sort of trance, or trying to exert herself in the Force in some other way, which was always useful data to obtain. But then he heard her speak. She said his name. Hurriedly he reran the recording to hear her say his name again. She knew him, somehow. This was bad. She knew his name, and if she had psychometery she could track him more easily than most. This was a problem that needed to be dealt with, he needed to find a way to erase her memory. Deciding it was high time to deal with the woman personally he put on a PDA and an oxygen filter, as well as picked up a Gorgon Rifle and some grenades.

One adequately equipped he headed over to the door, and opened it for a slight moment, throwing in three Force Breaker grenades. If they landed in the room he'd shut the door, if not? Well, he'd think of something.

[member="Rosa Gunn"]

 

[Rosa Gunn]

The problem with force breaker grenades is that deflecting them with the force caused them to release the ixetal cilona vapours prematurely, so when the door clicked open and Rosa's danger sense went into overdrive that is exactly what she did. Hand flicked up, sailing them back out the way they came. She caught sight of the oxygen mask on [member="Valik"]'s face and basic training kicked in as she used breath control to prevent herself from inhaling the gas. The darkness around him raised hairs on her neck, twisted knots in her stomach, but it allowed her access to one of her darker gifts.

Three black spears formed around her, they hovered vibrating slightly with the tension in the room as anger flashed across Rosa's face. This man had killed people on Arda, built a beast of alchemical flesh. His name was one known among Levantines as he was ear marked as a threat to the peace and freedom they protected. Breath control prevented her from speaking, but the anger in Rosa's face should have been enough. He picked the wrong subject.

A gesture of her hand and the spears shot forward in a vertical line, targeting head chest and legs of her captor.

[member="Valik"]

 

[Valik]

The grenades exploded prematurely, which wasn't a huge deal. Gas would still circulate into the room. She'd still breathe in the gas, or use the Force to stop breathing. Either would garner useful data, and Valik himself had to make neither exertion due to his breath mask. He did however, have to protect himself from the woman's counter attack. Spears of Midnight Black were a compled ability, literally creating and focusing energy with the Force. Even with his Contempt armor he'd be hurting quite a bit from such an attack, not to mention if he took a hit when he was hit unarmored. In pitched combat a complex attack like that many times a complex response was needed, like say Tutaminis, or an amulet. This however was not an instance of pitched combat, but a game between captive and captor. Using what telekinetic might the Sith Lord could summon he slamed the door back to it's closed state, before engaging the lock.

"I'm impressed." He said from beyond the door. "You didn't learn that from an old whiphid with a nephostramy tube did you?" He taunted, before turning and heading back, letting her cool. Soak in some of the gas. He had time. What he needed was data, data Valik would gain from this Jedi one way or another.


[member="Rosa Gunn"]

 

[Rosa Gunn]

As the door slammed shut the spears all slammed into it, vibrating slightly. "Damn it." Rosa muttered letting her breathe control go. It was a bizzare sensation to be cut off from the force and one she had not experienced before. It was like having a hundred voices that you wouldn't normally notice, suddenly silenced, it made her feel very much alone. She didn't know how long the effects would last for. It occurred to her she should have called for help instead of throwing herself at her captor, but now she couldn't to either.

"No," she called after him "I learnt it from a girl who took a former Empress for her wife."

She padded back across the cell and sat with her legs tucked up underneath her, her back resting against the wall. This was going to be a long game and she needed to start thinking more out of the box for her escape.

[member="Valik"]

 

[Valik]

A girl who took a former Empress as her wife? Interesting. Unless the jedi was on a remarkably lower scale than he envisioned he knew the Empress she spoke of, and the wife she knew. Even served under said empress long ago. If she was lying, well, the reference might have been to make a scare but the chances of that? Negligible. Valik didn't fear making an enemy of this woman, but her allies? Perhaps it wasn't for the best. He pondered for a minute before thinking of a plan.

First thing he did was leave his lab for a few hours, long enough to get some readings and provoke some more thought in Gunn, but hopefully not enough to allow her a path of escape. While he was out he changed his appearance with Sith Mask, changed his clothes, went and bought some clothes, a rifle, some grenades, and then headed back to the lab.

Rather than simply walk back in he took a moment to slice through his defenses. Next he came in, examined his lab, picked up a few of the more useful looking trinkets, then blasted the rest of it. He continued a process like this, gunning down his own droids and laboratory till he reached the cell and knocked on the door.


"Hey, is anybody in there?"

[member="Rosa Gunn"]

 

[Rosa Gunn]

There was no way to keep track of time in the cell, minutes felt like hours, hours like days. She'd not come any closer to figuring a way out of this mess, but the force was slowly returning to her when she heard what sounded like blaster fire. Scrambling to her feet she pressed her ear against the door, listening for voices, for something she might recognise. There was nothing, no shouts just the sound of carnage and then footsteps.

She jumped back when someone knocked on the door. Something felt off but she put it down to the breaker gas.

"Yes!" she replied, realizing she'd been silent for perhaps a moment too long. "Yes, I'm in here. Can you get me out?"

[member="Valik"]

 

[Valik]

After a brief moment's hesitation she answered yes and asked for extraction. The wait though, a bit too long? Perhaps she was onto him. He'd have to watch her carefully.

"Stand back." He answered, and began putting some detonite on the linings of the walls. It hurt him that he was going to break his facilities like this, but there were other labs. More materials. He could always build walls later, make more terentatek leather. After all, at Valik's level of expertise one didn't need to hunt or even make a beast, simply make it in the parts you needed. So he armed the detonite then went back a few meters, then a couple more just in case, then pushed the ignition.


BOOOM

Open safe. Like magic. He rushed over to assist in the actual pulling of the door, but if Rosa was in a hurry she might have beaten him to opening it. When he saw her he'd ask a couple simple questions.

"Are you okay? Have you seen a man named Neville Wolan?"

[member="Rosa Gunn"]