Private This Ancient Autumn World

[Salamander]

Daphne merely grimaced as Red sliced her cleanly in two. Her upper half was kicked away down the hall, while her lower half collapsed in a heap on the floor.

Both halves began to reform without the other, though it would take at least a minute or two. When finished, there would be two Daphnes—but she doubted Red would let that happen.

“Thetis!” the upper half called out. “Help me!”

The door slid open as Thetis came back out. Seizing her fallen lightsaber with the Force, she turned her attention back to Red.

“I believe we are due for a rematch,” she said, spinning the blade. She waited for him to strike first—defense was her strength when it came to duels.

Subject 73 Red

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Salamander

Red was about to rush forward and try to prevent the two halves of Daphne from becoming two people, but then Daphne called out for Thetis, and Thetis ran out and grabbed her lightsaber. Here we go, this was what Red was hoping for; a rematch with Thetis. But, Red would also need to make sure that the Daphnes didn't regrow. At least, one of the Daphnes, Red wasn't sure if he could bring himself to fully destroying her. He had way too much fun fighting her, someone who could match him in speed and strength and reflex, and couldn't die when Red hit her. He had never gone that all out before. Also, he was smitten by her, so that would also be a factor.

“I believe we are due for a rematch,”

Red grinned. "Hell yeah we are, Thetis. This time, there's no overexcited Mandalorian to save you this time." He said, referring to their first battle, where a Mandalorian blew up the ceiling, and Red had to let Thetis escape in order to save Miri.

Thetis readied for the fight, letting him make the first move. Red gripped his lightsaber tighter. "Let's do this." He said quietly.

Red then opened the combat with a Force push at Thetis to either knock her off balance or to distract her. He rushed at her at high speed. He wanted her alive so he could question her, in fact, Thetis probably wanted him for the same reason, that might be the reason why she tried to let him surrender. Whatever the case, he should be going a bit easier on her, but he was still hyped up from his fight with Daphne that he didn't.

He flipped the lightsaber in his hand, then attacked her right side, their lightsabers clashing against each other. Red then flipped it in his hand again so he could stab it forward, then tilted it so that he could make a quick slash at her chest. He then stabbed upward with his left gauntlet blade, before pulling it back quickly so that Thetis didn't try to cut it off.

He continued his attack with the lightsaber. Then, he used a heavy attack to knock her off balance. He then caught her foot with his leg, grabbed her right arm, and flipped. This well-timed martial arts move allowed him to take her to the ground, and to get behind her and a shot at destroying one of the Daphnes. He threw Thetis off of him and turned to the Daphnes, who were regenerating. He decided to destroy the legs, as they seemed the easiest target. He retracted the blade back into his gauntlet and activated the flamethrower built into them, as heat-related weapons seemed to do quite a bit of damage against her. He grimaced as he burned her legs. "Sorry!" He apologized.

 

[Salamander]

As the flames licked at Daphne’s severed legs, Thetis’ saber abruptly slammed over Red’s gauntlet, slicing through the flamethrower and anything else she could reach before he moved out of the way. Between blocking Red’s attacks, Thetis had been aiming for his gauntlet blades, trying to either destroy them completely with her lightsaber or melt them in the heat so they would be little more than dull hunks of metal, utterly useless to him.

Her cutting off the flames didn’t do much; the fire had been started and would continue to burn Daphne’s legs unless something was done to put it out. She didn’t have time for that.

Thetis was furious. This had already gone on for much longer than expected. She supposed she should have expected Red to have plenty of stamina and endurance, but this was getting ridiculous. Her anger fed her power as she launched into a brutal Ataru, the offensive lightsaber form.

Meanwhile, Daphne’s upper half had moved out of the way, seeking cover while she continued to rapidly regenerate. She had a nearly complete pelvis now, and flesh was quickly forming into what would be her thighs. Thetis didn’t seem to be in much danger—Red was clearly not trying to kill her. As long as Thetis kept fighting, she could buy Daphne time and help to wear the Jedi down.

Subject 73 Red

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Salamander

When Thetis' blade hit his gauntlet, his reflexes kicked in, and he yanked his arm back before she could cut anything else. It was a good move, it rendered his left gauntlet completely useless, but he still had his right one. Damn it! Those things were expensive! And Red seriously doubted that Thetis would pay for the damage. Red went back to work fighting Thetis, his lightsaber clashing against hers.

Thetis then launched on the offensive, moving into the Ataru form, launching a brutal attack. Red could feel her anger as she attacked him. Red defended against her attacks, then he parried one of her attacks and moved into a counter-attack. He slashed his lightsaber at her right side, then spun around and delivered a kick to her midsection, faking her out. He then spun around again and stabbed his lightsaber right at her. Holding his lightsaber with both hands, he was able to have more speed and power behind his attacks. He hit her on the right, then switched to the left, then delivered a powerful overhead strike at her.

As their lightsabers continued to clash against each other, and they continued to fight, Red taunted her. "What's wrong, Thetis? Didn't expect the fight to go this long? Or go this long? Aw, did wittle Thetis think this was going to go like last time? Aw, how cute." He said, taunting her. He was trying to get her even more mad, trying to push her over the edge. Red knew that once she went over the edge, despite having a ton of raw power, that she wouldn't be able to control it, being a Sith, and an average one at that. She would have the power and ferocity, but her anger would blind her, making her only focus on getting Red. Once that happened, it would allow Red to outmaneuver her, and to get the upper hand. What she lacked in speed, strength, combat skills, and Force abilities, Thetis made up for it with her intelligence. Once she went over the edge, however, she would not even focus on reading Red's moves.

"What? Didn't your master tell you everything?" Red continued, grinning. "Or, maybe, he doesn't trust you enough. Yeah, maybe he doesn't trust you all that much. Maybe he's just using you, just like how you used Fenton! He's using you, not telling you everything, and then once you fail he'll leave you to die!" Red said, louder, mentioning Fenton, Thetis' old partner, who she left to die back during their first encounter. "Why do you think he sent Daphne? He obviously doesn't trust you enough to handle this mission yourself! He knows you're weak, so he sent Daphne to make up for your incompetence! He sent Daphne with you, because he knows that Daphne is stronger than you, more trust-worthy, and is most likely to get this mission done! He trusts her more than he trusts you! He only sent you here, so that he could get rid of you!" Red yelled at her, still continuing the fight.

 

[Salamander]

“It’s you who haven’t been told everything,” Thetis replied with cold fury. “You think you have all the pieces of the puzzle, but you don’t even realize that the game has already changed.”

She backed away from him, lightsaber thrumming as she spun it through the air. “Fenton was a liability,” she said coldly. “So I got rid of him. If I become like Fenton, I too will be dispatched.”

Tossing her lightsaber up over his head as a distraction, she dashed forward with a burst of Force-enhanced speed, passing Red, and caught her saber in time to attempt to gash him across the back, Kylo vs. Finn style.

“But I’m not like Fenton, am I?”

Subject 73 Red

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Salamander

“You think you have all the pieces of the puzzle, but you don’t even realize that the game has already changed.”

Red gave a quick laugh. "Oh, don't worry, Thetis, I wouldn't dream that I know all of the details. If I thought I did, I would be trying to kill you, right now, like an ignorant, well, Jedi." Red said. "But I do know one thing, Thetis, that even if things change, all people still have the same base attributes. For your Master, well, he might be an insane sociopath, but he's a clever maniac, I'll give him that."

Thetis backed away from him, still talking. She was talking about Fenton. Then, she threw her lightsaber in the air, then rushed at him. She caught it and moved to slash him across the back. He just barely managed to moved out the way, the combat fatigue setting in. The saber did cut him across the back, but it was very light. Red knew what this meant, he was getting tired.

"If only you were like Fenton, then at least you'd know when to quit. Then again, I guess I have the exact same flaw." Red chuckled.

He knew that if he didn't do something soon, he would eventually run out of stamina, not even Red could go forever. And once Daphne got back up, he would be beaten. So, he decided to make an unexpected move. He gave Thetis a clear shot at him. It was a dangerous move, but a bold one. Red hoped that Thetis would take the shot at him.

 

[Salamander]

Thetis turned toward Red, who had suddenly stopped attacking. He seemed to be waiting for her to strike. An obvious ploy, one that she saw through even in her anger, but at the same time, it was incredibly tempting to try…

Behind the panting, sweat-covered Red, she spied Daphne at the other end of the hall. The android warrior was on her regenerated feet again, holding her vibroblade at the ready.

Thetis turned back to Red, and made her decision. She lunged at Red from the front, knowing he couldn’t sense Daphne at his back, and sought to distract him. Their lightsabers crashed together in a flash of blinding light, as Daphne plunged her blade into Red’s back along the gash Thetis had made seconds earlier.

Subject 73 Red

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Salamander

Thetis charged him, but didn't attack him where he wanted her too, so he had no choice but to defend it. His lightsaber met hers, and they clashed together. Then, as their lightsabers clashed, Red heard the unmistakable sound of a vibroblade coming to hit him from behind. But Red couldn't move, or else Thetis might slice him. If it was between Thetis and Daphne beating him, he chose Daphne.

He felt the blade stab into his back where Thetis had cut earlier. Red grunted as the blade stabbed into him, but he didn't falter. He still was blocking Thetis' lightsaber. "Well, this was a blast." Red said, breathing heavily. "Alright, since you've tried so hard to beat me, I'll let you win. I give up, you win. I'll give you this round, since you've both done such a good job." He said. He turned off his light saber, and fell down onto one of his knees, exhausted. "Although, if asked, I'm going to say it was Daphne who beat me. She did such a better job." Red said, chuckling lightly.

He was giving up on purpose, despite the fact that he could still fight. This fight was going nowhere, and Red wasn't getting any information out of this. When he is captured, however, he might be able to get some sorely needed information and intel.

 

[Salamander]

Thetis ignored Red’s insults. With the Force, she seized Red’s lightsaber, yanking it away from him and into her free hand. She also began to telekinetically strip away all of Red’s gear. His hidden weapons, gadgets, and even portions of his armor fell off, scattering across the floor of the hallway. Only then did she give the command to Daphne to remove the vibroblade from his back.

Daphne slid the blade out quickly, watching in fascination as blood trickled from the wound.

“You’re tired,” Thetis said, smiling down at the surrendering Red. “You should get some rest.”

No sooner had she spoken, Daphne seized Red and sank her fangs into him. Paralysis would set in rapidly as she fed on his memories—nothing important, mind you. Maybe she consumed his memory of what he ate for breakfast that morning. But the paralysis lingered even after she removed her fangs and let go of him. Red would still be at least partially aware of what was going on around him, but unable to move.

Thetis sighed. “Did you finish setting it up, or will I have to wait to begin?”

“Everything is ready,” Daphne replied, wiping blood off her mouth with her gloved hand. “But we won’t know if it’s working until we try it out.”

“Hm. Can you carry him, or should I?”

“Of course I can carry him.”

“Then do so.” With that, Thetis turned on her heel and started marching down the hall.

Red would then be tossed over Daphne’s shoulder as she carried him along. The two women headed deeper into the facility, entering a chamber which might have once been an office of some kind. But it had been recently repurposed.

The room was now dominated by a bizarre living device which hung down from the ceiling. Perhaps the image of it was familiar to Red, given his Jedi training—the rack-like organic thing would be instantly recognizable to anyone in the know. It was a version of the infamous Yuuzhan Vong torture device known as the Embrace of Pain.

Daphne easily placed the still-paralyzed Red inside it, where he was quickly covered by the creature’s tentacle restraints. Sensors would begin tapping into his nervous system, though they didn’t start torturing Red yet.

Thetis and Daphne waited for Red to start to revive from the paralysis. This took some time—perhaps ten minutes. During that time, they spoke little, but their brief conversation offered some idea of their intentions.

“I bet he’s been trained to resist,” Daphne remarked. “Pain may not have much of an effect on him. Perhaps he thrives on it.”

“That only comes with spiritual purification through profound suffering,” Thetis replied. “Jedi zen taken to its most extreme, where they begin to eat their pain rather than letting it eat them. I doubt he’s been through enough to amount to that yet.”

“Didn’t he threaten to torture Mr. Fenton?”

Thetis nodded in grim confirmation. “Said he was trained in it, but he could have been bluffing. Fenton didn’t last long enough to give him the opportunity.” She glanced up at Red, who should have been coming out of the numbing paralysis. “How about it, Red? Do you recognize all this?” She gestured to the Embrace. “Or if not, can you guess what it’s for?”

Subject 73 Red

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Salamander

Red felt as Thetis disarmed him completely with the Force. She started combing him with the Force for hidden weapons and his other gear. Multiple hidden knives, grenades, and at least three hidden blaster pistols. He even had a syringe filled with a sedative, just in case. He wondered where he had hidden that vibroblade he strapped to himself earlier. Then, it fell out of a hidden armor slot. So that's where he put it. Honestly, he had so many weapons he was starting to lose track.

“You’re tired,” Thetis said, smiling down at the surrendering Red. “You should get some rest.”

"Wha-" Red started, but then was cut off as Daphne sank what he presumed were fangs into him. He gasped, but was cut off as he felt the paralysis cut in. He couldn't move, but he still knew what was happening. The memory that Daphne consumed was earlier, when Red was on the ship with Pitt, shouting at him that if he didn't stop messing with the engines, he would stuff him down the refresher.

Daphne carried Red into a room, with a weird machine hanging down from the ceiling. Red instantly recognized it. The Embrace of Pain. He knew this machine, he was familiar with it. In the labs, later in his training, Red was trained to resist interrogation and pain. The CEO of the company, Dr. Veinstein , decided to see just how much pain and stress the experiments could endure after having intensive training. Red had been through a different variation of this machine, but he knew the basic way it worked.

Daphne put him into the machine, and it wrapped around him. Red knew that it would be tapping into his nervous system. Red listened to them talk. Daphne seemed to have high expectations of him, seemingly believing that Red might be able to resist it, while Thetis had lower expectations, thinking that he was bluffing when he said he would torture Fenton, and that Red wouldn't be able to withstand it. How badly Red wanted to prove her wrong.

“How about it, Red? Do you recognize all this?”

"The Embrace of Pain." Red told her, the first words that exited his mouth when the paralysis wore off. "Yuuzhan Vong torture device. I've been hooked up to a variant of these before. And, Thetis, you of all people should have higher expectations. You know I could take a lot more pain than you could."

 

[Salamander]

Thetis merely shrugged her shoulders. “We’ll see how you handle it. Although I must warn you, this version of the Embrace has been modified quite a bit.” She turned to Daphne. “Go ahead. I’ll stay here and watch him.”

Nodding, Daphne exited the room. Roughly three minutes later, she returned, but with a completely new appearance. Her features and body had changed; she looked a few years younger, her hair was long and blonde, her eyes were green, and she wore a short dress that showed considerably more skin than her armor had. It was still unmistakably the android woman, for her lack of a presence in the Force was the same, but to outward appearances she might as well have been a totally different person.

Turning as she re-entered the room, Thetis gave her a brief appraisal, then nodded in approval. “Good. Although I suppose he would have preferred the other one… oh well.” She glanced up at Red, smirked, then moved off to the side, doing something at the work table in the corner.

Daphne approached Red, who was still hoisted up in the Embrace. “Your name is Red, right?” she asked. Even her voice had changed, sounding gentler and more pleasing to the ear. “We’re not going to hurt you, but we need you to answer a few questions. Let’s try and make this easy. That way, everyone can go home early. How does that sound?”

At the table in the corner, Thetis filled a syringe with fluid, squirted some out of the needle, then injected it into her own arm. She applied pressure to the puncture wound while Daphne continued to talk.

“Red, why did you come here? This place is empty. The whole planet is lifeless. What were you looking for?”

Subject 73 Red

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Salamander

Red watched as Daphne exited the room, then three minutes later, another woman walked in. But then, Thetis spoke to her as if she was still Daphne. Wait a second... Was that... Daphne? She could shape shift? It was definitely still her, he still couldn't sense her in the Force, but she looked like a completely different person. Even her clothes were different, but Red knew that shape shifters could even emulate clothing.

“Good. Although I suppose he would have preferred the other one… oh well.” She glanced up at Red, smirked

"Why do you think that?" Red asked Thetis, more out of curiosity than anything. It was still Daphne, the woman that could match him in combat, but perhaps it was true... Alright, fine, it was slightly true, the Daphne that he first met was the one that had smitten him. But Red knew that it was still Daphne under there.

“Your name is Red, right?”

Red nodded. "Yeah, it is. You're name's Daphne, right?" He asked her. Even her voice was different.

“We’re not going to hurt you, but we need you to answer a few questions. Let’s try and make this easy. That way, everyone can go home early. How does that sound?”

Red gave a small chuckle. "You guys aren't going to hurt me? What about that big fight we had like 15 minutes ago? What about the part where you stabbed me in the back? What about the part where Thetis sliced me in the back? What about the part where you hooked me up to a torture device?" Red asked her.

“Red, why did you come here? This place is empty. The whole planet is lifeless. What were you looking for?”

"Easy, I'm looking for retirement properties. It's a long time until I decide to retire, but everyone get's old, even though I can live far longer than the average person, it will still happen. So, I started looking around to see where I could invest. This planet seemed nice enough. Barren, empty, peace and quiet and separated from the rest of the galaxy, and there's plenty of people to talk to, like the wraiths, they seem pretty friendly." Red told her, sounding entirely sincere. Of course, it was a lie, and he was messing around with her, but it was still fun. Plus, he couldn't let Thetis or her master know what he was doing.

 

[Salamander]

Subject 73 Red

While Red was still talking about retirement, Daphne quietly triggered her pheromone production. Odorless, colorless, and generally non-detectable, the military-grade chemicals were nonetheless incredibly potent. They had been developed for the purposes of brainwashing and interrogating people, flooding their bodies with enough pleasure hormones to make them extremely open to suggestion. Even if Red was left unaffected by a regular Zeltron’s pheromones, these were far stronger and more refined—and therefore more difficult to resist.

“Don’t be silly,” Daphne said, taking a step closer to Red to increase his exposure to the pheromones. “You didn’t come here for that. So what was it, hm? What were you really looking for?”

Thetis had turned around to face them. Thanks to the injection she had given herself, she was completely immune to the pheromones—although it did have the side effect of dampening her emotions, making her more callous than ever. She observed the scene in cold, detached silence—though if Red was being affected by the pheromones, he would soon forget she was even there, his attention completely on Daphne.

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Salamander

Then, as Red was talking, he started feeling funny. He felt... good. He felt relaxed. He started to relax. It all felt so good. It was a very pleasing feeling. He didn't care that he should be worried about why he felt this way, he was always so tense, every now and then he just need to relax.

“You didn’t come here for that. So what was it, hm? What were you really looking for?”

Red looked up at her as she stepped closer to him and asked him her questions. He was so relaxed, he felt as if he could confide in her. "Well, I'm really here for-" Red stopped himself. He blinked. What was this? What was she doing? What was she doing to him?

"What are you doing?" Red asked her, trying to fight back against the pheromones. "What did you do to me?" He asked again. The pheromones managed to grab the upper hand for a second. "What am I saying? I-" Then Red managed to grab control back. "Stop that! I- No!" He yelled, struggling against the pheromones, in a wrestling match over his own mind.

He started tensing up, then struggled in the Embrace, moving around as he tried to stop the pheromones from getting a hold. "I- No, stop! But- No! Stop it! I- I can't- Agh! N- No! Ah!" Red yelled out in distress, his words turned into nonsense, unable to form the words he wanted to say as the pheromones battle over his mind.

 

[Salamander]

Subject 73 Red

As Red began to struggle and yell, Thetis turned on the Embrace. It was not pain that Red would feel. Instead, his nervous system would be flooded by feelings of physical pleasure, supporting the relaxing effects of the pheromones.

She let the device run for about a minute, then turned it off. Daphne spoke again. “Red, you can trust me. I’m your friend. I want to help you. All you have to do is tell me why you came here. Are you looking for something? I’m sure I can find it for you.”

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Salamander

Red felt as Thetis turned on the Embrace. Red was expecting pain, but then he was flooded with feelings of pleasure, further weakening his resolve. He struggled to fight against it, but he knew that he was losing more and more control. This wasn't good, he could put up with excruciating pain, but immense pleasure? Red rarely ever felt these feelings, so he didn't have any resistance built up to them. In all honesty, he would have preferred pain to this, this was so much more worse than being tortured.

After a minute, the machine was turned, allowing Red to recollect his thoughts together, still being bombarded by the pheromones. His brain was a dizzying wasteland, full of confusing thoughts running around, half-thoughts forming in his head, and complete and utter discordance.

“Red, you can trust me. I’m your friend. I want to help you. All you have to do is tell me why you came here. Are you looking for something? I’m sure I can find it for you.”

Red looked up at her, still trying to resist. "I... I'm here for..." He said, unsure of what he was doing. He was running out of chances to resist. "I'm here to see what all the... strange things here were. I was made in a lab- just like this one! I wanted to see what it was like... I haven't been to my home world in so long... Nostalgia, you know." Red slurred out. Thetis wouldn't even be able to sense if he was lying or not. His thoughts and emotions were so jumbled that they were everywhere. He just used what the half-formed thoughts in his head were trying to say.

 

[Salamander]

Subject 73 Red

"There's no shame in that," Daphne purred. "But this planet isn't on most maps. Someone must have told you about it. How did you find out about Kiva, and this lab?"

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Salamander

"I have... many resources. It was only a matter of time before I... found it on an old map." Red managed to tell her, still trying to not give in and tell her the truth. The part about him having many resources was true, even Thetis would believe it, as he had contacts and acquaintances everywhere. It was, in all fairness, the most likely story he could come up with.

 

[Salamander]

Daphne glanced at Thetis, who nodded her head. The Embrace turned on again, at a slightly higher setting, blasting Red's nervous system. Thetis didn't turn it off until she could hear Red gasping for breath.

Taking a step closer to Red, Daphne reached out and pushed his brightly colored hair out of his face. No doubt he was covered in sweat by now from the exertion of combat and resisting their unorthodox interrogation techniques. When she touched his face, her hand was cool and soft.

"You have a friend named Inanna Hoole. Tell me about her. How did you two meet?"

Subject 73 Red

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Salamander

Red felt the machine turn back on, but this time it was worse, like it was set to a higher setting. He gasped and struggled as he tried to fight the sensations bombarding his mind, clouding it and sending his thoughts scattered everywhere. Red would have so preferred the pain he was expecting than this intoxicating feeling.

Then, Daphne walked up to Red, placing her hand on his face, pushing his hair out of his face. Red looked up at her, maintaining eye contact. Her hand was surprisingly soft, even for a... Whatever kind of droid she was. She definitely wasn't an HRD. She was too... lifelike. Even with the best HRDs, they still had tells and signs that gave them away. But Daphne... she showed none of them. In fact, if it wasn't for her complete absence in the Force, Red would have thought that she was a living person.

"You have a friend named Inanna Hoole. Tell me about her. How did you two meet?"

Red was still struggling to resist whenever she asked him this question. He nearly let it slip, too. He had to find a compromise. Perhaps he could be selective about his answers, if he concentrated hard enough.

"Inanna... Yeah, I know her. She's my friend, coworker, accomplice, whatever you want to call it. I met her on a dating show. I didn't even join it, but apparently I was signed up for it. Judging by the hysterical reactions of both my droid, Pitt, and my friend, Slip, I think they formed a coalition to sign me up and 'get me a life'. Whatever that means." Red told her.