Who Do You Work For?

[Darth Ferus]

As war reignited between the Alliance and the First Order and various Sith factions returned to the galaxy many variables had changed. What were once known became unknown, and vice versa. Such a thing was dangerous to anyone who tried to control the shadows. Krest had left a message on the holonet, just as he had told [member="Kaalia Voldaren"] he would, and the meeting would be set. He wanted to check in on her after the war and reassure himself that she was still on his side.

Yet, when the woman would enter the room Krest had called her to, he would not be there. The room was dark and oddly foreboding, as if even the Force knew something was amiss. The second she would step in however would be the second everything went downhill. Darts from the shadows would fly for her, filled with a mixture of force inhibitors and tranquilizers to knock her out cold.

This would only be the beginning of Kaalia's woes however, for when she would awake she would find herself in a small room with no windows strapped to a chair, and alone.

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

[member="Krest"] had called out to Kaalia to meet him, likely to check up on her after the conflict the First Order and the Galactic Alliance had on the Mustafar hex. Perhaps he wanted an update on the status of the Ren personally, especially after the group stepped out of the shadows during that day. The Ren were no longer a secret to the galaxy, and had cemented themselves as a group to be feared.

When the redhead entered the darkened room they agreed to meet in, the Force immediately screamed out to her. Something was terribly wrong, but it was too late. Darts found their way into her skin, their contents knocking her out. She fought against it, struggling to stay awake, but it was to no avail. She slumped to the floor as her vision blackened, cursing as she did. She was left defenceless, and while she was out she was taken to another room.

When she woke up, she shiftily looked around the small, windowless room. She was strapped down, but it didn't stop her from trying to break free. She violently shook around but it didn't get her out, her frustration building. When the woman tried to channel that into power however, she quickly started panicking. Her connection to the Force wasn't there- it was blocked. It was a feeling she had never experienced before, and she was afraid. She forced herself to steel her nerves however, knowing being afraid would only work into the hands of whoever was behind this. "Show yourself. What do you want from me!?" There was nobody in the room, but for some reason she had a feeling that some was able to hear her.

 

[Darth Ferus]

An echo of breathing was the only sound that would answer [member="Kaalia Voldaren"] from the darkness before her. Eventually a cloaked figure wearing a simple black mask would step out, it's featureless black plate staring down at her. A single hand was raised, and a chair from the darkness was called forward so the being could sit. He did so slowly, taking his time to get comfortable with only the speaker distorted breath making noise.

After several moments he would finally speak, his voice distorted by the mask to a much deeper and obviously fake voice. "Kaalia Voldaren. Knight of the Ren. Relations: Ara Ren. Connor Harrison. Secret apprentice of the Sith. Master, unknown." A list of simple facts about the Knight. Nothing serious, yet every word was foreboding. "You've betrayed the Ren by accepting a Sith as a master. I'm here to ask you who this Sith is. Tell me, and this will be over before it has to go anywhere drastic."

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

The premise was... Odd to Kaalia. It was clear there was a good chance things could go horribly wrong, but something irked at her. The mask the figure wore was not the traditional Ren mask, but most importantly this was not Sieger Ren. She had expected that a situation of this caliber would have been handled by the 'Supreme Leader' himself, but he was not the one sitting in front of her. He would not have hidden his face behind a mask. The redhead mulled over the names of people who had the slightest chance of knowing who she was, perhaps they had decided to try to extract the information from her themselves. The list wasn't very expansive, but none of them seemed like the type of person to do something like this. They would've wanted the information for either personal knowledge, or they looked to pass it on to Sieger. They were not going to get anything out of her, however.

"Are you absolutely certain that what you said it true?" Kaalia knew that right now, she had nowhere to go. What she knew too, however, was that if they really were a Knight of Ren there was no way they would kill her. Unless they were looking to invoke the wrath of the Order, of course. For now she would question every word the figure said and be as frustrating as possible. "Your research seems incomplete. How can you claim that I have accepted a Sith as master without even knowing who that Sith would be? They may as well not even exist, and it that case..." She raised an eyebrow at the expressionless mask. "There would be no way for me to be a Sith. Unless you are hiding something from me, you seem to have incomplete information." The woman expected to find out what 'going anywhere drastic' meant very soon, and steadied herself for that. She was in for a long day.

[member="Krest"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

"Connor Harrison, Jedi, gone Sith, gone Ren spy. His ties to the Sith have already been confirmed, and punished. The meeting you were going to just before we picked you up was confirmed with a Sith. He killed several before fleeing in a known Sith vessel." The masked man continued to sit and watch [member="Kaalia Voldaren"] as he spoke, but without warning his fist came around for her nose. He continued to speak in a clam tone as he would throw another punch. "You seem to be under the illusion that because of your station as Ren you are protected. You're not. Connor wasn't. Ara won't be. Ren turned Sith are punished accordingly. The Sith are monsters, and we don't have rights for monsters. You will be beaten until you reveal the name of the Sith so we can find and eliminate him. Once you do, your death will be swift."

One last punch was launched from the man before he would stand. "I'll let you think about that for now. I must check and see if we've caught up to Ara yet." The figure would leave her then to the darkness of the room. It wasn't difficult to figure out that this was just another form of torture, leaving her alone in the dark, keeping her from being able to connect with the Force. Everything to keep her as isolated as possible.

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

When the first punch hit Kaalia recoiled for a moment, surprised by the sheer force put behind it. She was more prepared for the second strike, but that didn't lessen the pain in the slightest. She would definitely feel it for a while, if she got out of this alive at least. Just pain wouldn't make her budge however, and just words wouldn't do so either. She flashed the stranger a grim smile when he mentioned a swift death even after spilling the beans. "You're a terrible interrogator." The woman coughed up a bit of blood, interrupting what she wanted to say for a moment. "You're supposed to give the captor the slightest bit of hope." She knew being infuriating wasn't the smartest thing to do, but there was this stubborn part of her mind that wanted to spit on the captor's mask for good measure. She felt like she had nothing to lose, the state of mind that would've made the redhead the most dangerous if she wasn't completely strapped down.

The figure made an exit, giving Kaalia some time to mull over his words. Without proof she rarely believed threats, and this was no exception. The remark about seeing if they've caught up to Ara seemed like a scare tactic to her, and she would set it aside for now. Connor Harrison's escapades with the Sith were hardly a secret, even to the Masters among the Ren, yet they still accepted him among their ranks. Ara meanwhile had absolutely no connection to the Sith or any group herself, either. The two didn't even know of her ties with the Sith and were in no way connected with them themselves. This made little sense. Yet, the person knew a good bit of information about the Ren. Granted, they had stepped out of the shadows, but the stranger had dug into her history in particular. She ruled out the option this person was with the Ren, it just didn't add up in her mind. Her main theory at this point was that the 'we' the figure spoke of was a group of sympathizers or extremists, but without proof she would not settle on it.

[member="Krest"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

It would be another hour before the masked man would finally step back into the room and would once again sit across from [member="Kaalia Voldaren"] . The mask would hide what exactly he was doing, but he was studying her, examining. "I am impressed by how calm you are. You assume much don't you? What do you think this is? I'm curious." He leaned back in the chair, folding one leg over the other and resting his hands atop them. "Though I will remind you that we are searching for Ara. And unlike you, we will butcher her. Your relationship with her is a key tool to getting our information as you are the direct link. So tell us his name, and save her from pain." A new sensation would be pumped into the veins of the Knight. Mixed with the same substance that inhibited her Force use a truth serum was being pumped in. Soon enough, she would feel lightheaded as the drugs would take effect.

"So what's on your mind? Who do you think we are?" Back and forth, from subject to subject. All to confuse a mind that would soon be hard to focus.

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

"Death is death. It doesn't matter how it happens." Kaalia ignored the previous question about what she thought this was, but it was interesting that the person asked. She was wondering why they would be interested in knowing that, but she all she could come up with was that it would give them another avenue of pressuring her. She wasn't going to give the captor any information, knowing such a thing could be a slippery slope towards spilling compromizing sensitive intel. "You're not going to get to her. It's a wasted effort." The redhead truly believed those words. Ara could disappear like the best of them, leaving absolutely no trace whatsoever. She had done so on multiple occassions where even the Ren had no idea where she was. She also knew that the moment Ara noticed Kaalia was gone she would know something was up. Kaalia always made sure to be back at the Bastion at the time she told her she'd be back, and if she wouldn't be Ara would always be the first to know. While most people would slot that under being crazy, it would alarm her close friend that something was wrong. "But there's no point in asking why," her voice suddenly got quiet as she started whispering, "it's a secret." Kaalia had to make a gamble on her captor's words. She had called their bluff, but if it wasn't a bluff she would never be able to forgive herself. She figured it wasn't too late yet however, knowing she was the only way of getting the Sith Lord's name and once Ara was truly dead there was no way she was going to speak even a single word anymore.

The woman then felt a subtance being pumped into her system, and she quickly started feeling lightheaded. She closed her eyes trying to retain her focus while the figure started aiming more questions at her. "I..." Her head swayed a bit as she tried to form a sentence. "Don't think I want... To tell you wh- what's on my mind." She realized she could no longer lie, and had to make sure to be careful while choosing her words. that would become progressively harder however as the subtance took effect.

[member="Krest"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

"No one wants to tell anyone anything under these sort of circumstances. But that's how it is. How it's suppose to be. I take my time beating it out of you, you try to hold on as long as possible despite having no hope of getting out. Think about this, long and hard. You will be here indefinitely. You will be tortured and broken every day, healed just so it can be done again, for the rest of your days. When we catch up to Ara, she will have the same fate. Sure, you don't mind. But your friend?" A deep rumble sounded off as the Force began to bend to the will of the masked man. [member="Kaalia Voldaren"] would feel a pressure around her left pinky, and slowly the finger would be bent back onto itself. "Pain will be all you know, traitor. As a Sith though this should be nothing new. Just know that everything we do here to you, we will do to Ara." With a slight tilt of his hand the masked man would continue to bend her finger back, curling it onto itself even as the bones within would break.

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

There were so many things Kaalia wanted to say, but they all came at her so quickly she couldn't let out any of it. They weren't going to find Ara. Keeping her alive for long enough would eventually lead to being found by the real Ren. In her mind they weren't actually Knights of Ren, whoever they were. The room rumbled, causing her to be tossed around a little bit. Her left pinky then felt like it was being grasped tightly, and the woman knew what was going to happen. It got bent all the way back, causing her to let out a harrowing scream and curl up her toes and the rest of her fingers. The pain was incredible, and without the Force to channel it there was nothing she could do. She desperately tried to find back the connection but it was no avail.

Another threat was sent her way, and her foggy mind could only blurt out a single sentence: "Do... Your... Worst." In her mind no matter what happened staying alive was what mattered most. As long as she was alive, there was a chance. She felt she just had to hold out, survive. As long as I'm alive, there's-

A chance they'll actually find Ara. She shook away the thought, not letting it create any doubt. In her mind she knew they weren't Ren, and figured they would've just blindsided her within the Bastion if they were. Still, they somehow figured out where she was going. But what happened to Krest? She was on time, right on time, but he wasn't there. Yet, they were looking for him. Everything stopped making sense and started becoming a question to Kaalia. Would they actually be able to find Ara? It had crept back, but she remained silent. She couldn't break, she couldn't kill her pride. She wouldn't let herself be beaten.

[member="Krest"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

"I appreciate the defiance, means I can enjoy breaking you all that much more, but you already know it, don't you. This is it. This is all you have." The rumble began again as the pinky on her other hand would find itself under the same fate as her other. The expressionless face continued to stare at her, offering the only person who could share in her pain simply not caring. "But remember, this is the fate of your beloved Ara. Can you truly let her face this fate over a name of a Sith?"

Once the pinky was once again folded upon itself the masked man would turn to leave. "I suggest you think on this, long and hard. As soon no matter what you say your fate will be tied to your friends."

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

"Glad you're... en-enjoying your time." Kaalia was still holding on to her stubborn pride, but it was wearing very thin. Doubts were kept being fed into her head and mental fatigue wore her down even further. Her other pinky now suffered the same fate as the other and another scream filled the dark room as her instincts aimed to lurch over, but the fact she was strapped down prevented her from doing so. Her wit's end was rapidly approaching.

Was it truly worth it? The tradeoff seemed so ridiculous to her. The woman cared for Ara, way more than she probably should have. Krest on the other hand had been invaluable in becoming more powerful in the Dark Side and learning what the ways of the Sith entailed, but he wasn't a friend like Ara was. She wondered why she still hung on.

She quickly realized the reason, however. She was still alive. It was everything she had left. But is it worth hanging on? Another doubt had forced its way into her mind and this one was the most destructive. Her connection to the Force was inhibited by whatever the figure did, she was physically and mentally being broken to pieces and there was nothing to live for as long as she was here. That quick was out was becoming more and more tempting as desperation took hold.

This wasn't about Ara anymore. This wasn't about her pride anymore. This sure as hell wasn't about defending the Sith Lord that inadvertedly got her into this mess to begin with. She wondered where he was now, and then started putting more things together with the last bit of mental fortitude she had left. She had entered the room they agreed to meet in on time, but Krest wasn't there. Her captor must've intercepted the message somehow, but never ran into the Sith. If such a thing had happened, then they either had him already or he would've killed all of them. Since they were here, the second wasn't possible. The first made no sense either though, since they wouldn't go this far for information that they would have already. How did they get the message in the first place?

However, as things slowly started to click, her mind simply shut off. Before losing conciousness she saw the figure walk off again, and with the last bit of energy she muttered two simple words. "Well... Played..." Her head hung as her vision faded to black, her mind and body unable to keep her awake.

[member="Krest"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

The masked man would eventually return, sitting in his seat to stare at the unconscious [member="Kaalia Voldaren"] for several minutes. Finally, he would reach out, tapping one of her shattered pinkies almost like a lover would to wake the other up. "Hey, I got great news. For me, less than you. But I need you awake for this, so open your eyes traitor." His voice, even though it was distorted, spoke almost kindly.

Behind him a screen would light up, projecting both sound and images from what could be assumed as another torture room. Within, another black cloaked figure stood before another person strapped into a similar chair with a similar IV rig. Just like Kaalia, the IV would run down over her shoulder and into her arm. For the time being, the black figure blocked any way of seeing who it was.

A haunting scream sounded off as her visible pinky shared the same fate as Voldaren's own, one in what would be a familiar voice. Almost tauntingly the cloaked figure before Kaalia leaned over, letting his distorted voice whisper into her ear.

"We found her."

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

"Hng..." Kaalia's head swayed a bit as she slowly woke up, using the time spent by the figure explaining to slowly clear the cobwebs in her head. It seemed they didn't understand the reason she said well played before she passed out, but it would make the moment to explain it even sweeter. She had been given time to think, which was likely the biggest mistake that could have been made. Slowly puzzle pieces had been fitted together and now she had a reasonable suspicion of what was truly going on here. Holes were left and the opportunity was given to find them.

The captor finished talking, and all the redhead could do was show an odd smile. "There's no need to continue. I'm going to end everything right here, right now. Whether that person on the monitor is truly the one you insinuate them to be is irrelevant." The fact she had been unconcious for a while allowed her to clear her mind a little and speak more clearly. It was still meek, but had a tinge of sassiness in it. "It's funny how the name you're looking for is the one I'm dying to speak out. It's not just to end all of this either." She couldn't hold in the chuckle that was building. "The name of the man you're looking for, and the man of the hour... Krest. And if my suspicions are right, that's either your name as well, or perhaps the name of the one running the show behind the scenes." She looked directly at the masked person, her eyes piercing. "I just need a little more time to figure that one out."

The woman's smile was from ear to ear now. Either she was right, or she was going to get humiliated in spectacular fashion right before her death. Still, she felt she needed to do this. She raised her left index finger. "You could not have had any reference to the codewords used in our messages, we agreed on them in person and never documented them anywhere, so decrypting them would be impossible. Unless Krest is the man reading them." Then, her left middle finger. "You aren't a Ren. You don't act like one or have a mask like one, and our so-called 'Supreme Leader' would have handled this on his own. You were hunting down Ara you said, but if you truly were a Ren capturing her would have been a breeze. Just pluck her out of a mission and there you go." Her left ring finger was raised next. "I entered the room of your meeting at the exact time we had agreed on. Yet, Krest wasn't there. Not a single trace of him. Despite that you were still looking for him. So either you already captured him and tortured me for a name you already had, or the meeting wasn't supposed to take place at all. The first one makes too little sense. The second one would mean something else was planned. Maybe a test? I wonder..."

And so everything was out on the table. They both knew she couldn't lie at this point in time, that piece of her mind was the exact reflection of what she was thinking. "There you have it. The name you wanted and my thoughts on what's going on. Now, was I close or just really fething stupid?"

[member="Krest"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

"Right on point." There was a hiss as Krest removed the mask, gently setting it to the side on a table lost to darkness. There was a smile on his lips as he stared at [member="Kaalia Voldaren"] , and offered a shrug. "But, does this mean you go free? Not necessarily. There were many lessons to learn in this, and the primary you failed. This situation you find yourself in will happen one day. Perhaps with the Ren as they show their true colors. Perhaps with the Sith. Or even the Jedi who believe us to be so wrong that this is a fitting punishment." It was then that the Sith would stand, staring down at her with emotionless eyes.

"You may know who I am now, but you will not leave here so long as I have a say in it. This cord here will keep you compliant, and I will show you how much pain one can truly experience before they break." He tapped the cord on her shoulder, the one pumping poison to keep her mind numb and the Force still. But now, no longer disguised, the Sith let loose a torrent of lightning from his flesh hand, aiming to inflict as much pain as he could while keeping her conscious. She had learned the truth, but she had not passed.

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

Kaalia felt satisfaction when [member="Krest"] took off the mask, knowing her wits hadn't failed her. Maybe the game was over, but she didn't expect the test to be. Now that the edge of the unknown was gone however it became much easier to come up with a plan to get out of the situation. It was one step at a time, and the fact the Sith Lord claimed she failed the primary lesson mean little to nothing to her. What she learned from situations such as there were hers, and nobody else's.

The lightning that came from his fingertips was extremely painful, causing her to shake violently within the confinement of the straps that kept her tightly in place. With no way to cycle the agony she forced herself to seek shelter in her own mind, letting it work in overdrive to find a way out. She closed her eyes, removing everything from sight. The straps were what kept her in place, making it impossible to move an inch. What causes things to become loose... Vibration. The Force lighting that struck her turned out to inadvertedly be her way out as her muscles spasmed to repeatedly give small tugs as the restraints. Slowly she felt the bindings come looser, but the redhead stayed put. Trying to escape while Krest was still in the room was a bad idea, even if there were cameras here. She needed space and time to recover as much as she could to somehow make an escape. Patience.

 

[Darth Ferus]

The Sith grumbled as he shocked [member="Kaalia Voldaren"] , and soon enough the torrent of electricity faded. Krest's fingertips were smoldering now, blackened by the lightning. Still no good at this, huh? He frowned at himself for such inexperience with such a signature staple of the Sith. On top of that, with the girl knowing who he was made it that much more annoying to do. This wasn't a game for him, he was here to train her just as promised.

"Think upon this all, and try to at least learn what it was I'm trying to teach, alright? I'm gonna go for a drink or two." He was surprisingly casual given the circumstances, but that was part of the act. Once again he would stand up to leave, this time offering a wave.

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

A groan escaped Kaalia's lips before she could speak. "Have one... On me..." She smiled when he waved, but it didn't hold up for long. Her body was still in agony, and as [member="Krest"] closed the door she let out a "Feth!" That was just silent enough to not be heard outside of the room. "Note to self: Never trust him again. Come. Prepared." This moment however was her opportunity to escape. To her it had been enough, and it was time to make an exit. She would send him a nice message later. The woman's head swayed from left to right to see if she could find any cameras, but due to the darkness of the room she couldn't make out anything. Screw it. I'm doing this, and I'm doing it now.

The redhead tugged violently at the straps that kept her hands tied, and with enough force they came loose. She rubbed her wrists for a moment before pulling out the IV that pumped the liquid that kept her weakened into her out of her arm, then undid the restraints that kept her legs in place. The moment she stepped out of the chair she fell to one knee, feeling the pain and fatigue take its toll on her. She was going to stay disconnected to the Force until the serum was cycled out of her system, and she had no idea how long that was going to take. She stumbled towards the door and creaked it open, peeking out for a moment to see if anyone was near. Satisfied with seeing nobody around, she quietly shut the door and crept through the hallway.

The main objective now was retrieving her lightsabers. Creeping throughout the building she would enter room after room without luck until she found some storage area. Stored away in a container were her weapons, and she quickly clipped them to her belt. Now I just need to get the kark out of here.

 

[Darth Ferus]

Sitting just outside the door was Krest as [member="Kaalia Voldaren"] opened the door, calmly watching her with his hands folded in his lap. There was a smile on his lips as he would bow his head in greeting. No, there wouldn't be a complex for her to have to sneak her way through, nor would her items be far away. He had her lightsabers on a small table just to his left. He would clap then.

"Good, you sorta passed. But you're still not up to snuff, are you. The drug that inhibits you is still in your bloodstream. The smarter thing to have done was break the IV enough so the drug would drip out and not enter your bloodstream, suffer through the torture, and once the Force came back break out at your full strength. Understand?"

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

"Well," a small chuckle escaped Kaalia lips, "I would expect you to pay attention to such things. A pool of liquid on the floor would be very suspicious. The moment you would come back it would've been obvious the IV was tampered with, and I would be back to square one. It was a risk, leaving this early, but the information I had it seemed like the best option. Yet, your point is taken." She had to admit that she could've handled the situation better, not thinking about ways to escape for too long. It was something she would keep in mind.

The redhead didn't expect [member="Krest"] to be too happy about her results, but it was simply the way things were. This was a lesson in self-preservation, and she figured it was better to learn things this way. "I could've waited around beside the door and pray there was enough time to reconnect to the Force and ambush you, but there isn't much that can be changed now." The hints of a smile could be seen on her face. "I blame it on the fact I needed some fresh air."