Private This Ancient Autumn World

[Salamander]

Subject 73 Red

“They always say that to the full-time heroes,” Daphne said, her tone sympathetic. “‘Get a life, slow down, stop being so busy all the time, take a breather.’ They don’t understand the drive, the need to help others.” She stroked his cheek. “You know, you’re sort of cute, even with that wild hair… No wonder you managed to get a spot on a dating show.” Experimentally rubbing her thumb over his lower lip to see if he would try to bite her—always good to make sure of that before you go sucking face with a caged enemy—she leaned forward and kissed him.

It was brief, her lips touching his only for a few moments before she pulled back, still caressing Red’s face. “Tell you what,” she purred. “I’ll make a deal with you. For every true answer you give me, I’ll let you ask a question of your own.” She smiled. “No topic is off-limits. Ask whatever you want, and I’ll answer. The truth for the truth. Does that sound good? Oh, and don't try to lie. I'll know, and then Thetis will have to turn the Embrace on again.”

Thetis stared at her with a furrowed brow, puzzled by the methods the biot was employing. It was difficult to tell if Daphne was merely playing with him, or if her words and actions were sincere. No doubt she was fully aware of the effects her pheromones and the kiss would have on Red. But her remarks about heroism and his looks had nothing to do with the information they were trying to extract, and she was getting rather handsy with him despite the danger. If he managed to attack her... well, he was fully restrained by the Embrace. Thetis rolled her eyes. As long as Daphne didn't try to free him for the sake of touching any other parts of his body, the Sith wouldn't try to stop her.

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Salamander

Daphne replied to Red, and he just shrugged. Well, he did as best of a shrug he could do while hooked up to a machine and hanging from the ceiling. "Meh, it isn't so bad. You don't choose this life style for any of those reasons. When you make this decision, you sacrifice a normal life. But those who choose this life don't care, we don't do it for our own selfish needs and desires." He replied. He didn't really think that she was so understanding of him, but it certainly sounded like she know her stuff.

“You know, you’re sort of cute, even with that wild hair… No wonder you managed to get a spot on a dating show.”

Red was slightly stunned by this sentence. "Uhhh... What?" He said, surprised. Okay, he did not expect that at all. What kind of interrogation was this? This wasn't any kind Red had been through, or any kind he was expecting from Thetis and the Sith.

She rubbed her thumb over his lower lip. He didn't try to bite her, he knew that it would be pointless, as she could regenerate, and she seemed to not be able to feel pain. Then she completely caught Red off guard by kissing him. Red was stunned, his jaw dropped as she pulled away. "I... The... wha-uh... Huh?" He said, completely baffled, flustered and unable to form a complete sentence. What the hell was going on?! Red, now completely flustered, was now caught with his guard completely down.

“I’ll make a deal with you. For every true answer you give me, I’ll let you ask a question of your own.” She smiled. “No topic is off-limits. Ask whatever you want, and I’ll answer. The truth for the truth. Does that sound good? Oh, and don't try to lie. I'll know, and then Thetis will have to turn the Embrace on again.”

Red's brain was still completely befuddled and disorganized, that it took him a considerable effort to pull enough of himself together to concentrate on that thought. "What assurance... do I have... that you'll tell me the truth?" He asked her. He might still be stunned by that kiss, and his thoughts still scattered, but Red still had enough in him to still have common sense and logic.

 

[Salamander]

Subject 73 Red

Daphne turned away, walking over to the table where Thetis had been standing earlier. Reaching under it, she pulled out a large container of water, which she poured out into a surgical basin. "Well, there's not much reason for me to lie to you now. We have you where we want you," she said.

Setting the water keg down again, she picked up a clean towel and dipped it in the water, soaking the cloth. In the meantime, Thetis kept her eyes fastened on Red, watching in case he made any sudden movements or gestures.

Glancing over her shoulder as she wrung excess water out of the towel, Daphne tilted her head, studying him, and her brow furrowed with pity. "Oh Red, don't tell me you thought you could get out of this. We can't just let you go, knowing everything that you do." She crossed the room, standing before him once more, then raised the damp towel, wiping his sweat-streaked face and hair with it. As she dabbed the perspiration from his skin, Daphne spoke in a calm, soft tone.

"When we're finished here, you won't remember any of this. Nimdok, Miri, Inanna, the Lord of Doubt, Thetis and I - it'll all be like a crazy dream. One that you'll forget in waking... and it won't be your problem anymore. You can move on, live your life." She smiled. "Keep on being a hero."

Thetis' gaze darted between Red and Daphne. She looked... uneasy. Either this wasn't part of their original plans, or the idea had never sat right with her. Daphne's arms dropped to her sides, the wet towel still dangling from one hand. "It's your turn, so go ahead. Ask a question. I'll answer."

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Salamander

Daphne turned and walked over to the table where Thetis had been earlier. She then pulled out a large container of water. Daphne spoke to him as she did this strange task. "It's all in perspective, really. Perhaps this is exactly right where I want to be." Red replied. She picked up a towel and soaked it in the water. Red could see Thetis staring at him intently. Red gave her a puzzled look, one that translated to: Who the hell is this chick and what the hell is going?

Daphne wrung out the excess water, and she looked over her shoulder at Red, having a look of pity and tilting her head.

"Oh Red, don't tell me you thought you could get out of this. We can't just let you go, knowing everything that you do."

"Well, I am very good at escaping difficult situations. Then again, I am very good at getting in difficult situations. That's probably why I have a lot of enemies... Meh. If you got something against me, you're going to have to get in line." He told her. Maybe Red and Nimdok had more in common than they might think, they both excelled in getting into situations where they most definitely were not wanted. They were both stubborn that way.

Daphne walked back over to him, and wiped his face with the cool, wet towel. As she did this, she spoke.

"When we're finished here, you won't remember any of this. Nimdok, Miri, Inanna, the Lord of Doubt, Thetis and I - it'll all be like a crazy dream. One that you'll forget in waking... and it won't be your problem anymore. You can move on, live your life. Keep on being a hero."

Red was bewildered by this. "I... What? So... Just like that? I'll just... forget?" Red asked her. "Not my problem... Lady, this became my problem whenever a little girl ran up to a man, recognizing him as her father, then getting pulled away by a common criminal and a Sith. It became my problem whenever I found out that that same Sith had turned that girl into a genetic experiment, just like me. And it most certainly became my problem when I found out that Arrius Messala, is like me! And experiment!" Red replied loudly to her.

This wasn't good. Red was in a tight spot right now. He didn't have many options, and if he wanted to get out of here, he needed to do something, and fast. If only he could shut off the lights... Maybe the wraiths could help him... He just needed the lights off. But he wouldn't be able to do it, it would have to be Pitt. It wouldn't be easy remote activating the droid without his helmet in the same room, but if he was careful... He would need to keep both Thetis and Daphne distracted.

"Alright, Daphne. Fine, you win. We'll do it your way." He said, giving in. To them, it would seem like he was giving up, but really he was just trying to buy enough time for his plan to come to action. Red saw Thetis' gaze quickly darting between Red and Daphne. She seemed... uncertain. Was she... feeling remorse? Regret? Anything other than sociopathic hatred? Whatever the case, she was uneasy, like either this wasn't their plan, or that this wasn't sitting right with her. But it was plain to see, Thetis was feeling doubt. Maybe... Just maybe... He might be able to turn her to his side.

"My question would be... What exactly are you, Daphne? I've wondering about that for a while now." He told her.

 

[Salamander]

Subject 73 Red

Daphne nodded as though she had expected him to ask that question. “I am a biot,” she replied. “Or rather, a copy of one. The original was very advanced, illegal technology created by a scientist known as Nine Lives . Arrius Messala captured it, studied it, and was able to create me from it.”

She of course made no mention of the other two biots who had been turned loose on Inanna and Nimdok. The one who was sent to kill Inanna, Ishtar, had been defeated by Ingrid L'lerim , whereas the one who was supposed to lure Nimdok and Miri to Messala had abruptly ceased all contact, leading them to conclude that she too must have been destroyed. So far things were going poorly, but Daphne still intended to complete her mission, succeeding where the others had failed.

In life she had been one of Messala’s servants, a loyal guard and warrior in his retinue. Indeed, the biot’s Combat Form had been modeled after her own body and given her original name, Daphne. But she had been killed in the early days of his career as a Sith, dying in order to protect him, one among the many casualties which would convince the Lord of Doubt that he was better off using droids than mortal men and women. He had brought her spirit back from the Netherworld and imbued her into this new, superior body, which could not feel pain and regenerated most wounds. Though he hadn’t given her a choice, she gladly accepted her new purpose.

“Now it’s my turn,” she said. “You mentioned you were an experiment yourself, and that’s why you’re so involved in this case. Tell me, what exactly do you hope to accomplish? If you unravel the mystery, will you gain what you need to defeat Arrius Messala, stop him from hurting any more children? Or is this really about you, Red? Do you think this investigation will shed light on your own origins? Maybe even help you to justify your existence and that of your brothers and sisters?”

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Salamander

Daphne explained what she was. A biot? More strange bio-tech? Arrius Messala must have really liked what the Yuuzhan Vong did, as he was using a lot of the concepts from their technologies. Then again, who could blame him? It was all very interesting and unique.

"So, you are a droid. But... you must still be part organic. You still think and feel and have emotions." He said. Red didn't know anything about the two other biots, of course. He wondered how many others were made, and where would they be now. He had no idea of what happened to Inanna and Nimdok and Slip.

“Now it’s my turn,” she said. “You mentioned you were an experiment yourself, and that’s why you’re so involved in this case. Tell me, what exactly do you hope to accomplish? If you unravel the mystery, will you gain what you need to defeat Arrius Messala, stop him from hurting any more children? Or is this really about you, Red? Do you think this investigation will shed light on your own origins? Maybe even help you to justify your existence and that of your brothers and sisters?”

Red chuckled at this. He had been expecting something along these lines. This was an interrogation after all. But he chuckled at it because it amused him. Of course she wouldn't know why he was doing what he was doing. As she talked, his left hand shifted by a millimetre, moving closer to his leg. Thanks to his positioning, the movement was invisible to Daphne. He didn't know about Thetis, though. He just had to hope that the movement remained imperceptible to her too.

Red looked at her. "Remember what you said earlier? About how people don't understand the drive to help others? Not even you understand it, Daphne, no one but people like me understand it. I'm not doing this for my own personal gain, oh no. I do it because someone needs help, because if I don't, some people might be in pain. I was asked to help, twice. The first day that I met Arimanes, at the spaceport, when Miri had walked up to him, then got taken away. He called out for help, and I answered that call when almost no one else would. When Thetis escaped, and I learned that she was working for someone intent on causing more harm, I continued to help. Then, when it seemed like the trail went cold, I met someone directly linked to all of this, Inanna. She requested my help, and I accepted. Why? Because of a feeling not even you could understand, Daphne." He told her. "Does that answer your question? I do it because in this galaxy of hurt and pain, someone has to stand up, and to help those who can't out of their pain, and to finally give them peace. But you couldn't understand that selfless devotion and sacrifice, no, you only understand pain, and how to inflict it. Well, I can both cause pain, and relieve the suffering of others by putting their problems onto my shoulders. Cause someone has to." Red finished.

"My turn. This one's for Thetis." He said, turning his gaze to Thetis. No doubt that she was definitely not expecting this. "Rules still apply, Thetis. I ask you a question, and you ask me one. We both answer truthfully." Red told her. "Thetis, why? Why do you follow what Messala says? Why do you follow his bidding? Are you expecting something in return? Money? Power? Love? Strength? Or are you just following out of blind devotion." He asked the Sith.

 

[Salamander]

Subject 73 Red

"So, you are a droid. But... you must still be part organic. You still think and feel and have emotions."

Daphne gave him a small half-smile, but didn’t say anything more on the matter.

Then Red gave his answer, firm in his convictions, and turned his attention to Thetis. The Sith woman had her head tilted to the side, observing the slight movement of his hand, though she looked up at once as soon as he addressed her. Without so much as a blink, she flicked the switch on the Embrace, turning it up to the highest setting yet.

“What are you doing?” Daphne blurted. “He’s answering my questions!”

Having let the Embrace run for at least thirty seconds, Thetis turned it off, the high-intensity, overstimulating pleasure running through Red abruptly ceasing. “Really, Daphne?” she shot back, her tone sniggering. “Is he answering your questions, or is he toying with you? With both of us?” Tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder, she sneered, “I’m sure he’ll still let you kiss him after this. The little Jedi is smitten with you, after all.”

Daphne’s expression contorted in a snarl, but she too looked uncertain now. Tossing aside the wet towel soaked with Red’s sweat and blood, she clasped her hands in front of her and took a step away from him. She was still close enough that her pheromones would affect him, but not as intimate and personal as she had been before.

Thetis observed Red’s no doubt panting breaths with an impassively raised eyebrow. “As for why I follow Messala,” she began, stalling while Red had a chance to recover his cognitive powers and actually answer the question she intended to pose. “He was my first and only master, taking me from the academy when I was just an acolyte. Many of my friends wound up with masters who sought to break them from their first day of training, using torture and taunting to lower their defenses, reach into their minds and bare their innermost thoughts, their buried memories, their deepest desires. They were treated like slaves and violently, forcefully corrupted. But Messala took me into his home and treated me like a daughter, sharing everything he had with me. He never so much as brushed my thoughts without my permission. Even then, he would only ask if it was absolutely necessary, and that after he had already taught me how to defend myself from the probing of others.”

She bared her teeth. “He respected my privacy from the very beginning. The only punishments he doled out to me when I disobeyed or failed him caused physical pain—after all, spare the rod and spoil the child.” Her mouth closed and she glanced down, as though chastened. “I am still the child beside him, but soon I will be a master, his equal.” And though she wasn’t as skilled an alchemist as Messala, she could use what she had learned from him to help her husband. But of course she didn’t mention that out loud. She wouldn’t dare put him in danger, not even to gloat about it to a captured, restrained prisoner.

“Now for my question. Red, did you know that Inanna Hoole is currently training to be a Sith?”

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Salamander

Red watched as Thetis looked at him for a moment, then turned the Embrace back on, the feelings of pleasure even stronger than before. Thetis had no doubt turned up the setting even higher. Red convulsed, twitching and spasming as the waves of pleasure crashed into him, breaking his mind back up and taking down the little defenses he had managed to put up in the short time he had. He gasped and panted, barely able to comprehend what was happening around him.

Then, Thetis turned it off. Red slumped in the embrace, panting and gasping for air. He could barely see Daphne shouting at Thetis, and Thetis responding. He could hear their words, but when they entered his mind they jumbled around, and got all distorted, making it to where he could barely comprehend what they were saying at all, but he still got the gist of it from the little parts he could understand and from their tone of voices. Daphne was mad at Thetis for turning on the machine. He could see it on her face, too. She was now starting to become uncertain, but uncertain of what, Red had no idea.

As both women were distracted with each other, Red managed to pull some of his sense back. His left hand shifted barely, in an imperceptible move, closer to his leg. As they were distracted with each other, they wouldn't notice it. Red saw as Daphne backed up, and he felt the effects of her pheromones diminish. It didn't go away fully, but he could definitely feel the decrease in its effect on him.

Thetis started to answer his question. She explained why she followed Messala so devoutly. So... she was a pampered Sith, was she? That explained a lot, actually. When Thetis looked down, Red made yet another small move with his arm. His arm was now only a millimetre away from his leg. Since Thetis had stripped him of all of his weapons, even his hidden ones, he didn't have much left to escape. But he wasn't trying to pull out something to free himself, oh no; he was trying to activate something in the other room. Something they left behind... Something that could send out a distress beacon, calling for help, and shut down the power to the facility. In the fight, the two women forgot about something important...

They forgot about Pitt.

Which, to be fair, was kind of easy. A small, insignificant pit droid is often overlooked and deemed unimportant. Which made Pitt perfect for infiltration. Since his mind was still jumbled, thankfully, Thetis wouldn't be able to sense that Red had a plan cooking. The movements of his arm would look like twitches and spasms, like his body was still flooded with the pheromones and the feelings of pleasure, which was pretty true.

"So, that explains everything, then. You're just a pampered, spoiled brat who hasn't experienced real pain. You think you're all high and mighty because you were treated better than all of the other Sith apprentices, but really you're the weakest of them all." Red told her, looking up at her. "Have you ever considered that Messala pampered you because he wanted to keep you weak? Don't Sith draw feelings from their emotions, from their desires, from their pain? You never experienced any of that, no pain, no fear, no hate." He said, his words oozing with discontent. "I'm a Jedi, and I've had to go through far more than you." Red growled at her. "You've been pampered all your life. You've never known hardship. That's why you're weak, because Messala purposely keeps you weak, so that you can't ever have a chance of trying to overthrow him, so that you will always be under his control." He told her. It was an obvious point, but Thetis' ego was too big to see through the wool that Messala had pulled over her eyes. "You've never felt the kind of pain that rips your insides out. That's something I know all about. Shocking, isn't it?"

“Now for my question. Red, did you know that Inanna Hoole is currently training to be a Sith?”

Red looked at her. He was clearly bewildered. It would be clear that he most definitely did not know about that. He was silent for a bit, thinking on that, his jumbled mind trying to piece it together. Inanna... a Sith? The last time that he had seen her, she did say that she was going to work for the Sith, but in a propaganda office or something like that. And, she did have some animosity towards the Jedi, that much was certain from what she told him, so it did make some sense that she would go full Sith.

But still, she was training to be a Sith? That was... definitely eye-opening, to say the least. But from what he could tell, she was still working to protect Nimdok and Miri and to stop Messala. "I... did not know that. Really?" He pondered. "Despite that, though, do I really care? Not really, no. Sure, she might be a Sith, and there is a millennia old dispute between the Jedi and Sith, but that doesn't matter. We're both working together for a common goal, to stop the Lord of Doubt, and to protect Arimanes and Miri. We might be on different sides of philosophy, but that doesn't mean that we can't work together for a united goal." He replied.

It was true, he didn't care if Inanna was training to be a Sith. Well, maybe a little. But as long as they were working together to reach the same goal, they could coexist, and work together, despite the Jedi-Sith animosity. Plus, Inanna had plenty of reason to join the Sith. Having resentment towards the Jedi, and having quite the difficult life would no doubt give her plenty of reason to go to the Sith. But that was the difference between Red and Inanna. Red had dealt with hardship, fear, pain, strife, anger, and even hatred, but Red found a way to control his emotions and his desires through selfless sacrifice for others and through his abilities to make sure no one else would suffer like how he had suffered. That selfless devotion and personal sacrifice allowed him to figure out how to control his emotions and desires through his methods.

But Inanna had never found her release. From what she told him, what Arimanes and her parents told him, what he deduced from her actions and words and body language, and from reading her personal file, she never figured out her way to control her desires or her emotions. She had needed a constant need for affection, a strong desire to be loved, and she had suffered from that internal strife for such a long time. First with Arimanes, then as a prostitute, then back to Arimanes a second time, and now to... Who knows? That's why she didn't make it with the Jedi, because her desires overpowered her willpower, removing all discipline from her. Whatever the case, going to the Sith, it meant that her desire to be loved and finally broken her, and now she is fully giving into her desires.

"Even if she is a Sith, at least she will be a better Sith than you, Thetis." Red spat.

"My turn. Where. Is. He?" Red asked aggressively, obvious hatred showing in his words. They knew who he was talking about. Arrius Messala. Red had never met the guy, and yet Red absolutely despised him. He was the reason why Nimdok was in danger, he was the one who ordered Thetis to experiment on Miri, turning her into something like Red and Messala, a defiance of nature. But, despite that, Red couldn't help but feel a connection to him. Messala was, after all, an experiment just like Red. They both knew what it was like to be what they were, abominations, things that shouldn't exist, beings that shouldn't be like how they are. They were more alike than Red would like to admit, and he hated that. He didn't, at all, want to be compared to that monster.

"Where is Arrius Messala?" He asked, again, but he wasn't asking any one of them. He was asking both of them. Thetis might be reluctant to tell him, but Daphne... He had no idea if she would or not, so that's why he didn't ask any one of them in particular, to see who would tell him.

 

[Salamander]

Subject 73 Red

Thetis didn’t react much to Red’s tirade against her, though this likely had more to do with the emotion-dulling drug she’d injected herself with earlier. His reaction to the news about Inanna provoked a short laugh from her, and she spent the rest of the time looking at him with a smirk on her face, as if she knew something he didn’t know. Something about Inanna and the type of training she was receiving at the hands of her new Sith Master. Something rotten.

"Even if she is a Sith, at least she will be a better Sith than you, Thetis."

She didn’t believe a word of what he said, of course. He sounded like he was trying to convince himself that they could still work things out in spite of the fact that his partner had literally gone over to the Dark Side. Regardless, his Jedi tolerance was admirable. But her intention had gone through. She had planted a seed of doubt in him.

Daphne, on the other hand, cast a stern glance her way. “Don’t,” she warned, her gaze honing in on Thetis’ hand, which was still resting on the Embrace’s controls. “You’re letting your… history with this man cloud your better judgment. Do not turn the Embrace on again. We’re past this threshold, we should move on.” She gestured to Red, who was still convulsing in the vines’ grasp.

Thetis shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She nodded toward a long-defunct sink. “The case with the medicine is right under there.”

Daphne walked over to the sink and bent down to open the cabinet beneath it. She reached in and pulled out a metallic briefcase, carrying it over to the work table.

"My turn. Where. Is. He?"

Turning her back to the shouting Red so that he could see what was inside, she unlocked the case and glanced over the contents. It contained a syringe and several little glass vials containing a sickly yellow fluid. Each of the vials had been labeled, but not with the medical terms one would expect. Instead someone had marked by hand, with clear, concise penmanship, the names of various emotions. There was Joy, there was Sorrow, there was Fury and Loathing and Lust and Greed. Love was in there somewhere too, distilled and bottled.

Passion’s Embrace was a relatively new drug. Concocted by a bright young Sith alchemist named AMCO , the easy-to-make substance effectively forced the imbiber to experience whatever emotion it had been imbued with. It was uncommon enough that Daphne sorely doubted Red had ever heard of it, much less would recognize it on sight. Perhaps he would even naively assume this was indeed “medicine” as Thetis had referred to it.

Her gaze lingered on one vial with an unusually long and highly specific label: “Suicidal Thoughts Accumulated Over Ten Weeks In the Korriban Sith Academy Dormitories”. Luckily for Red, it wasn’t the one she was looking for; the lengthy title had simply jumped out at her, making her raise an eyebrow. Instead, she located and removed the vial which was labeled “Doubt”. Her master’s domain.

"Where is Arrius Messala?"

Ignoring Red’s persistent, aggressive demands for answers, Daphne filled the syringe with the yellow liquid, replaced the vial in the case, and walked back over to where Red remained trapped in the Embrace. Well, he was about to be trapped in a different kind of Embrace. She shut down her pheromone production, giving him a chance to clear his head while she cleaned and prepped the injection site, a spot of bared skin inside his left elbow, the same arm he had been trying to move without their noticing.

“He travels,” she finally replied to his question. “Not often, but he isn’t always at home. Sometimes he takes his Children with him on trips to other worlds.” Regardless of whether he tried to fight her or not, she plunged the needle into his arm, injecting the entire contents of the syringe into his bloodstream. “Right now, I think he is visiting Yavin with them, to teach them about Luke Skywalker. Even little Sith in training love to hear about the legend of Luke Skywalker.”

She pressed a square of gauze to the puncture wound, tying it around his arm to hold it in place, then stood up, studying his face. The drug should begin to take effect almost immediately. “Are you and Inanna close?” she asked. “Do you know her well enough to be sure that she can withstand the harshness that Sith training entails? Is she as strong as you, or are you afraid it will break her, change her in ways that will do more harm than good?” Three questions, but all dealing with the same thing. The same doubts.

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Salamander (Okay sorry for the wait I had to remake this post 4 5 6 1/2 times because the site wouldn't save my draft. So... Sorry if it feels a bit rushed. I want to jump through a bloody window.)

Surprisingly, Daphne came to Red's rescue, telling Thetis that she didn't have to turn the Embrace back on, and the Thetis' history with Red cloud her judgement. He was surprised she even cared at all, forced into servitude for the Sith, and apparently enjoying her job and all. Interesting...

Thetis reluctantly agreed, and she mentioned some sort of case of medicine. Red didn't trust the way the way that Daphne had said medicine. It sounded more like "mind-altering drug", which honestly wouldn't be too surprising because of the way they were interrogating him, using a modified Embrace of Pain to flood him with feelings of pleasure, and what he could only assume were pheromones to get more answers out of him.

Daphne walked back to the cabinet, and pulled out the case, opening it to where he could see it. He would have moved whenever Daphne turned her back, but Thetis was still staring at him intently. Red saw the vials filled with the yellow fluid. Even though he was a fair distance away, he could still read the labels on the vials. The labels read as certain types of emotions. So, he was right, this was meant to alter his mind.

Daphne filled a syringe with the liquid from a vial that he could barely read. He could only read, "Dou-". He assumed that it meant doubt. Definitely fitting for his current situation from these two people who worked for the "Lord of Doubt"... He always thought that that name was a bit pompous and a little egotistical, serious, who calls them self the "Lord of Doubt"? Sounded like a second option, too. Like whatever he wanted before that had already been taken. Then again, his first choice would have probably been even more pompous and dramatic. Arrius Messala was definitely a showman.

Daphne walked back over to him, prepping the inside of his left arm for injection. She shut off her pheromone production, and everything came rushing back to Red as his full mental capacity returned, his mind racing a instantly started compiling all of the information, creating multiple plans and contingencies, his brain firing on all spectrums. To Thetis, she would feel the sudden increase in Red's brain functions, but so much was happening in there she wouldn't even be able to see what he was planning.

Red's left arm brushed against Daphne as she got close to him. Red didn't react, just kept it still. To everyone in the room, it would just seem like a harmless, accidental brush. But it was so much more. It didn't show on Red's face, and he didn't even react on the inside, but something very important just happened. His gauntlet might have been slashed and apparently now useless, but it had just enough charge and function to complete the task. The gauntlet received the input of the slight jostle from the contact being enough to barely to recognize it even as an input, but it was enough.

~~

Pitt activated in the room that they had left him in. He sprang up, and landed on his feet. He ran through what had happened while he had been out, watching it all from Red's visor from his helmet, even whenever he had taken it off, it was still pointed in the general direction of the fight. He could hear the voices from the other room speaking, with Red, Thetis, and the other lady all in there.

Pitt knew what he needed to do. He quietly exited the room, the door still open. He picked up one of Red's blaster pistols still on the ground, and quietly made his way down the hall. His footsteps would either be completely unheard by the people in the room or it would be barely even audible, thanks to his small stature, extremely light weight, and his carefulness.

He made his way out of the facility, then once he exited the facility, he broke into a small scramble down towards the ship. The sun had almost completely set, and it was almost completely dark, still barely lit by the descending ball of gas on the horizon. Pitt made it into the ship, scrambling up the cargo ramp. He ran to the cockpit, and activated the long-range transmitter. He wondered on who he should contact for help. First, he contacted the first person he could think of, Subject 82 Snow .

A blue hologram appeared at the communication table of a young woman around Red's age. "Hey Red, I was just about to contact you, and- Wait, Pitt? Where's Red?" She asked him.

"Funny story about that, Snow. Heh heh heh... Well, you see, we were looking for this ancient, forgotten planet out in the middle of nowhere for work and stuff. When suddenly, BLAM! I get shut down, and two women, I think one was that Thetis lady, and the other was this really pale chick named... Daphne, I think. I don't know. What I do know is that the woman that looked like she had never encountered any spectrum of light," He was talking about Daphne, as he had only saw her in the combat form. "She could... apparently match Red in speed, agility, and strength. It was a crazy fight. And... Red got captured because there were two of them." Pitt told her.

Snow looked confused for a second, then was shocked. "Wait, someone matched Red? She could... keep up with him?! Damn, she must be good. Red was specifically made to be the ultimate fighter, he beat me up plenty of times back in the labs during sparring, and a lot of the other experiments." Snow admitted.

"And I think Red had a crush on her."

Snow burst out laughing out that. "No way! Oh! That's priceless! Of course Red would be attracted to the woman who could equal his own skills. Damn idiot... Either way, this is invaluable intelligence I can use against Red... Oh, I'm going to get him back for embarrassing me in front of all my superiors..." She said, shuddering at the memory.

"So... Where are you?"

"We're at some planet called 'Kiva' or something. I don't know. This was important for, you know, Nimdok and all that stuff. I'm sending you the coordinates." Pitt said.

"Oh, yeah, Red told me and Slip about that. At least, a lot of it. He obviously didn't tell us everything. That guy is always paranoid, and- Whoa! You guys are far! I don't think that we'll be able to get there soon enough. I'm back in SJC space, Slip needs a ride from checking on Nimdok, and I guess I got stuck with the chauffeur job." Snow told him.

Pitt gave a little mechanical sigh. "Of course. Could you just... try to get here as fast as you can? We kind of need all the help we can get right now." Pitt replied.

"Alright, we'll get there as fast as we can. Let me tell Slip first. Hey! Slip!" Snow yelled turning away from Pitt.

"Yeah?" Slip's voice could be heard in the distance.

"Red got captured by Thetis and a pale lady!"

"WHAT?! SO I WAS RIGHT! So there were two other of those robots! I KNEW IT! HONESTLY, I SHOULD GET PAID FOR THIS!" Slip could be heard yelling in the background.

"Alright, that's just Slip's way of saying we're on the way. We might not make it in time, though. Don't count on help anytime soon."

"Roger that, over and out!" Pitt said, and then ended the communications. So... they might not make it quick enough... That wasn't good. Pitt thought about who else he could call. There was Red's friend, Inanna Harth , but Slip didn't know if she could respond in time, or even respond at all. Pitt didn't know that Inanna was training to be a Sith, all he knew was that she was working somewhere within the borders of the Sith Empire, and any communications might be intercepted. She might be busy, too. Still, they didn't have much other choices. This time, however, he didn't send an open comm channel, just one of those encrypted messages Red had showed him how to send.

//Enter Encryption Credentials
//Processing...
//:Key=t
://Begin: Audio Prompt
"Hey, Inanna. I'm, uh- Red's pit droid, PITT. So, ah, funny thing about our mutual friend, he's in trouble. We need help. Is this... Is this a bad time? Yeah, it probably is... Uh, anyway, if you can, could you come over to the coordinates that I'm sending to you, before we all die grizzly deaths? So, yeah, anytime you could come now or in the near future, that would be great.

BEFORE WE"RE ALL BURNING PIECES OF-"

://End Transmission

Right, that should do it. But it might not be enough. Didn't Red say that there were... What were they called? Wraiths or something? Huh, a spooky name. What did they apparently like? Was it... the darkness? Yeah, he was 96% sure that was it.

Alright, fine, 95% sure.

Fine! 80% sure! At least 80% sure was better than completely unsure. Night was falling, which meant that the wraiths would be exiting very soon. He saw a cave entrance nearby, leading underground. Very... dark. And ominous. And not at all spooky. Yep, all normal here.

He stayed in the ship a bit longer, trying to figure out who else he could contact.

~~

Red listened to her speak, talking about the Lord of Doubt. But... wait. Who were these "Children"? Red hadn't heard any mention of them before, anywhere. And then, he felt the syringe plunge into him, feeling the liquid seeping through him. It was quick acting, he could feel the effects of it happening almost instantaneously. "Well, doesn't everybody just love Luke Skywalker? The guy who, as a kid, stopped a decades old regime of extremely powerful Sith and brought peace to the Galaxy? Yeah, obviously." Red joked through clenched teeth. He could feel the doubt starting to drip in. This wasn't like the pheromones, those were more like a tsunami of emotions. This... this felt more like a pipe was leaking, and now the cold liquid was slowly seeping in.

“Are you and Inanna close?” she asked. “Do you know her well enough to be sure that she can withstand the harshness that Sith training entails? Is she as strong as you, or are you afraid it will break her, change her in ways that will do more harm than good?”

Red looked at her. For this series of questions, he already knew his answer to them, doubt mind-control or no doubt mind-control. "I... I can see where Inanna is coming from. As for close... Well, I can understand where she is coming from, but she can't seem to understand why I do the things that I do." Red told her. "She... it's hard to tell if she'll break. No, I don't think she is as strong in willpower as I am. I'm... I'm afraid. Afraid that it will completely break her. She most likely won't make it through the intensity of Sith training. Her desires and emotions far overpower and outnumber her will and her control. If she gives into it, well... We all know what might happen. She will hunt down Arrius Messala, single-handedly, and either fall even further than before... Or get herself killed." He told them.

"What about you, Daphne? What are you afraid of? And none of this wily-nily material fears, oh no, I mean, deep down, what makes your synthetic blood boil? What makes you nervous, but feel oh so alive? In a body that can't feel anything, only your deepest fears will give you such a feeling that you'll almost feel alive again... Almost."

 

[Salamander]

Subject 73 Red (It’s okay, your post is actually pretty good. To avoid the fickle draft feature, I recommend using Google Docs or some other word processor to write your post, then copy-pasting it. That’s what I do now, since I kept having issues with the site not saving my drafts. )

“What about you, Daphne? What are you afraid of?”

Daphne smiled wanly. “Languishing in a cage. Not one of durasteel bars, but one of my own making. Constructed of apathy and regret, leaving me with neither the ability nor the desire to act.” Something which she imagined Red himself feared as well, though he might not be able to imagine ever reaching such a low point where great deeds seemed too far out of his reach to accomplish.

Red’s meandering, uncertain answer to her question about Inanna proved that the drug was working, although the subject was doubt-inducing enough as it is without Passion’s Embrace making things worse. Daphne didn’t smile or gloat at seeing Red in this troubled state; she celebrated this small victory in silence, then set about taking advantage of the situation as much as she could.

First, she instilled false hope. “The reports we’ve seen of her progress certainly look favorable,” she said. “Her master, the Triumvir of Power Vanessa Vantai, sings her praises to anyone who will listen. She says Inanna is her greatest student. And Lady Vantai has been around for decades—she has had many other apprentices before Inanna came along.”

Her expression grew grim as she swiftly undermined the hope she had planted in him. “But as I’m sure you know, if a Sith Master loves their apprentice, it is usually because they have broken them and remade them in their image. The Sith are narcissistic that way.”

Thetis shot her a glare, but said nothing. She too had heard about Inanna Hoole and her training, and knew that Daphne was making it sound much better than it really was. What Inanna was going through now was precisely what Thetis had feared as a young acolyte—being chosen by a Master who doubled as a gaslighting, passive-aggressive abuser. Of course, Inanna couldn’t have guessed what lie in store for her when she agreed to become Vanessa’s apprentice… and that just made it all the more tragic.

“Her picture was taken recently by a reporter looking into new Sith acolytes. Would you like to see it?” Daphne pulled out a datapad and held it up for Red to see. She knew the powerful effect images could have, far surpassing that of mere words. The photo that appeared on the screen showed an almost unrecognizable Inanna standing beside a cheerful blonde woman—her master—and two other figures, a young man and woman. Daphne pointed to the man. “That is Ellie Mors , child of the Emperor’s right hand man, Darth Prazutis . They say he is being groomed to take over a very important, very special position in the Empire. Beside him is Quinn Varanin , Vesta’s apprentice and one of Inanna’s peers.”

Daphne knew the connection between them and Inanna was paper-thin; they had met once at a theater on Dromund Kaas, and the conversation had primarily been between Vanessa and the two young people. But it would help Daphne’s case to make it seem like the meeting had been of greater significance than it really was. Even if Red suspected the truth, the sight of Inanna would still leave its mark. At the time the photo was taken, the poor woman had already descended into full-fledged alcoholism and depression. Her condition was written all over her haggard, sickly-looking face.

 

[Inanna Harth]

Subject 73 Red

When Pitt’s message reached the Nathema Orbital Station, Inanna Hoole was lying on the floor of a training room, her body covered in wounds that had yet to seal shut. Her opponent was dead, having been dispatched by her lightwhip mere moments earlier. The corpse was still warm. Inanna gasped for breath under the watchful eyes of her master.

Eventually medical droids came to tend to her injuries, and Vanessa entered the training room to congratulate her. Inanna listened mutely to her words. No doubt the Sith woman would tell her that inflicting pain and death was good so long as it won her a victory, and how proud she was of Inanna for coming this far.

Inanna swallowed her protests and used her anger as a shield to hide her thoughts from her master’s constant mental probing. If she had learned anything these past few months, it was how to force herself to not think about where she was and what she was doing. Still, the symbolism of it all wasn’t lost on her—she might be the one holding the whip, but Vanessa was the taskmaster who cracked it over her back.

Meanwhile, the notification of Pitt’s encrypted message caused her personal datapad’s screen to light up briefly, but the device was in her private quarters, nowhere near the training room. The glow of the screen lingered for a few seconds, then faded back to black.

A few hours later, she returned to her quarters, exhausted and aching. Tired as she was, she almost forgot to check her messages, but picked up her datapad just in time.

The fact that Red was still alive, albeit in terrible danger, shook her to the core. After he left Lao-mon, he had seemingly disappeared. Losing contact with him was part of what had driven her to seek out training in the first place. As if she needed more reasons to feel like a fool.

Her anger bubbled up to the surface, directed towards herself. She was quick to anger these days, ever since Vanessa had poisoned her on her first day of training in the name of “curing” her alcoholism. She shook her head, doing her best to stay focused, but it was a struggle. Her thumbs moved quickly across her screen, typing out a message to Ayreon : Red just contacted me. He’s in danger. I need you to go to these coordinates. It’s far from here, but if you take the courier, you may be able to get there in time...

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Salamander

Daphne's response to Red's question was... interesting. So she was afraid of being trapped in her anxieties, within her own mind? So she was afraid of her own inner demons. Red could relate to that, plenty of people could. Being trapped by your own mind, being unable to do anything, no one wanted that. It was still interesting, because she was a sort of droid, Red knew that much, albeit a very advanced one. She had very organic like emotions. Then again, plenty of droids could and did have personalities, like how Pitt was annoying and sarcastic, but that was a trait most pit droids had, but Daphne was on a whole new level of advanced.

“The reports we’ve seen of her progress certainly look favorable,” she said. “Her master, the Triumvir of Power Vanessa Vantai, sings her praises to anyone who will listen. She says Inanna is her greatest student. And Lady Vantai has been around for decades—she has had many other apprentices before Inanna came along.”

Red listened to Daphne's speech. Vanessa Vantai? Red had heard of her before, but had never personally had a run in with her himself. From what he had heard, she was a powerful Sith lord that had been around for quite a while. That wasn't good, it wasn't good at all. An experienced Sith Lord like Vantai could easily break Inanna, no matter what they told him.

“Her picture was taken recently by a reporter looking into new Sith acolytes. Would you like to see it?” Daphne pulled out a datapad and held it up for Red to see. She knew the powerful effect images could have, far surpassing that of mere words. The photo that appeared on the screen showed an almost unrecognizable Inanna standing beside a cheerful blonde woman—her master—and two other figures, a young man and woman. Daphne pointed to the man. “That is Ellie Mors , child of the Emperor’s right hand man, Darth Prazutis . They say he is being groomed to take over a very important, very special position in the Empire. Beside him is Quinn Varanin , Vesta’s apprentice and one of Inanna’s peers.”

Red looked at the datapad, noticing Inanna. He could tell it was her, but she looked nothing like the Inanna Red had seen a while back. Yes, he knew that she was a shapeshifter and all, but something about this seemed... different. The Sith training was obviously taking a toll on her. Daphne pointed the others out. Red knew who Vesta was already, but he did not know who Quinn Varanin was. He knew what Daphne was trying to do, trying to make it seem like Inanna was already gone. "Well, good for her, isn't it? She's already made friends, and in high places. Who knows? Maybe it's all a plan to get close to the Emperor..." Red replied to Daphne. If Inanna was even just barely on his side, she was trying to get high enough to find Arrius Messala. But still, just seeing how depressed Inanna looked was pretty shocking.

Of course, that's what Daphne wanted, to make him doubt himself. That was their specialty of course, to make people doubt. Neither Daphne nor Thetis asked him a question. This was the perfect opportunity to go on the offensive, though he was expecting to get shut down pretty quickly by Thetis, but he was trying to attack Daphne more anyway.

"Are you doing this of your own free will, or are you being commanded every step of the way?" Red asked her.

~~

Meanwhile, outside the ship, Pitt was starting to get bored. Ugh, why did rescue have to take so long? Since he had sent the message, he had recharged, gone through Red's things, and ran around the ship 3 times. People sure did like taking their sweet time when doing anything.

He looked over at a cave. That place seemed mildly interesting! It would be a good place to find something to do. Anything to do. Of course, he had completely forgotten about the wraiths, his small cpu wasn't made to remember things, which irked Red considerably. Slip ran inside the dark cavern, looking around. His light built into his eye turned on, illuminating the surroundings.

"Uh, hello? Anyone in here?" He asked to no one in particular.

He shrugged to himself and continued into the cavern. Good thing he was a droid, he didn't really care about what was in there, nothing would want to eat him or anything.

Hopefully.

 

[Salamander]

Daphne watched Red’s expressions and body language closely, looking for a reaction to the “evidence” she produced of Inanna’s fall. The signs she picked up on were subtle, but there. She had touched a nerve. Even if Red still didn’t believe Inanna had fallen to the Dark Side, this was enough to alarm him. His words too were uncertain, full of “maybes” and “who knows?”

It was there in the anger and indignation behind his follow-up question, too.

"Are you doing this of your own free will, or are you being commanded every step of the way?"

The biot shrugged, turned off her datapad and tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder. “I was Messala’s agent of my own free will,” she replied. “I still am now that he has brought me back.”

Her programming was perhaps the most subtle of the three biots, because she truly believed that she had decided to resume working for Messala after her resurrection. She already agreed with the preset orders that had been implanted in her head—perhaps she even thought the programming was her very own thoughts. Since she had no reason to fight it, she was also the most stable of the three weird sisters…

But Red’s comment gave her enough pause that she experienced her first jolt. Her body violently seized for a moment, flesh rippling grotesquely as it admonished the questioning thoughts which had briefly crossed her mind. After it passed, she didn’t understand what had happened, nor could she remember what she had been thinking about.

Thetis, however, was quite disturbed by the sight. “What was that all about?” she demanded, getting up from her corner and walking toward Daphne with narrowed eyes.

“I don’t know,” Daphne replied, looking her hand over. Her fingers were once against slender and pale, with manicured nails and smooth skin. Not the misshapen claws she had seen only a second ago. “Must have been a glitch.”

“Don’t strain yourself,” Thetis muttered, glaring at Red as though he were responsible. “If you need to feed again, go for it.”

Daphne hesitated for a moment, checking her energy levels. They seemed normal, but she hadn’t filled them up completely when she last fed from Red… she considered it too dangerous to take that much memory from a single victim. She could seriously damage Red mentally if she had.

Then again, wasn’t that the end goal? They would interrogate Red, extract whatever information they could from him, and then erase his memory of Miri, Nimdok, and Messala altogether? And if that didn’t work, kill him outright? Deep down Daphne knew that if they did spare his life, the effects of the memory loss would be unpredictable and extremely dangerous. Her latent empathy programming, a holdover from the original biot she was based upon, didn’t like the idea of shredding someone’s mind like that.

It brought her to her next question, too. “What are you going to do when you find Arrius Messala?”

~~~​

Inside the cave, the shadow wraiths initially shrank away from the incoming presence of the droid, trying to avoid it. But it just kept coming, heading deeper and deeper into their sanctuary and making an obnoxious amount of racket. Finally, they had no choice but to act.

With a hiss, the wraiths gathered their shadow bodies into a wall around the little droid. The lights attached to the robot’s body would notice the unnatural blackness at once. This darkness closed in on Pitt until it seemed to swallow him whole.

This was followed by angry wails and rasping insults:

“Stupid droid…”

“Noisemaker!...”

“Be quiet...”

“...and stay out!”

Then, sudden brightness. Though he may not have felt it, the wraiths had picked Pitt up and spat him back out into broad daylight outside the cave.

“Wait!” A voice whispered. “The droid… is with the Jedi…”

“Jedi?...” The question was echoed by a dozen shocked voices.

“There has been no Jedi here since…”

“...Luke Skywalker…”

“The rebels…”

“Hoole!”

“Gog!”

“They have spoken Hoole’s name within the lab…” a second voice added.

“Hoole has come back?” a third demanded.

“No. They speak of his descendant.”

“A descendant…”

“...joined the Sith…”

“The Sith! They are here!”

“They hold the Jedi prisoner…”

“...their technology is strange…”

“Two women, one Human, the other…”

“Can we not free the Jedi?...”

“Can we not act?...”

The murmuring among the wraiths reached a fever pitch, to the point where it was impossible to discern what exactly was being said. Their voices abruptly fell silent. A decision had been made, an agreement reached.

Before the no-doubt bewildered Pitt’s photoreceptors, the wraiths crawled out into the light of day. They had long since forgotten what their original bodies looked like, and so took on amalgamous, fluid shapes. One of them, however, seemed more solid than the rest. He—for the humanoid figure that manifested was distinctly masculine, if only due to the absence of feminine traits—took a form with strong, quick arms and legs, dextrous fingers, and a head with blinking, glowing white eyes. He ran ahead of the others, leading the mass of black toward the abandoned facility that had once housed Project Warlock.

Subject 73 Red

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Salamander

Red watched as the scene quickly unfolded before him. Daphne said that she was Messala's operative from her own free will. But then, her body suddenly jolted as if she was having a mini seizure. Her flesh rippled across her body until, just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. Daphne seemed just as confused as Red was. What was that?

Thetis did not seem to like it at all, apparently being deeply disturbed by it, even demanding Daphne what it was about. How interesting. So that wasn't supposed to happen, something had gone off. Something had gone wrong. Even Daphne herself seemed unsure of what had happened. So it had never happened before. Hmm, interesting. Red had done something that had triggered it, he was sure of it. All he needed to do was a little bit more probing...

“Don’t strain yourself,” Thetis muttered, glaring at Red as though he were responsible. “If you need to feed again, go for it.”

Red tried to look as innocent as possible, like he had no idea what had happened. Really, though, he was certain he was responsible for what happened. What he had said must have done something to have affected her so much. Daphne wasn't even trying to feed off of him, not yet at least. Instead she asked him a question.

“What are you going to do when you find Arrius Messala?”

"Oh, you know, we'll hang out, maybe go to a cantina, see an opera, you know, the usual." Red said with the utmost sincerity, to where it did sound like he was telling the truth.

Then, his tone changed drastically. "What do you think I'm going to do? He ordered Thetis to experiment on Miri, who was only a child. He made her into something unnatural. He changed her into one of us, and being like us is one of the worst fates someone can have. He's hunted Arimanes for quite a while now, soon someone is gonna get hurt. I need to make sure that doesn't happen. I've been hired, and I plan on upholding my mission: stopping Messala once and for all." He told her.

"My turn. How are you so certain you matter at all to Messala? To him, you're expendable, and you know it. Did you know that the first person to wrok with Thetis, Elwick Fenton, was cast aside like a rotten fruit? Thetis let him get captured to get away, and even made sure that he wouldn't go blabbing by poisoning him?" He told her.

"Basically, my question is: If it came down to it, if it came down to either Thetis get's captured, or she sacrifices you to escape, which choice would she make? She's down it before easily enough, who's to say she wouldn't do it again? And would Messala even care? Would he care if Thetis sacrificed you to escape?" Red asked her. He was trying to hit home, like how he did with the last question. He wanted to see if he could do it again.

~~

Pitt had been walking through the cavern, when suddenly his audioreceptors started picking whispers and voices. all around him. He was then suddenly engulfed in pitch black, despite his light still being on.

"What's happening? Who's there? What's going on?" He demanded.

Then, suddenly, he was back outside, uncertain on how he got back out here.

"What in all the hell's is happening? Is this what the organics call... A ghost?" He asked no one in particular.

After some time, then, something started coming out of the cavern. Wait, scratch that, somethings. They came out, taking on weird, fluid-like shapes. One of them, however, seemed far more solid than the others, having incredibly muscular arms and legs, fingers, and even a head with eyes. Creepy. That one ran ahead of the others, leading towards... The lab. What was going on?

Pitt ran after the big one, trying to catch up. He managed to keep slightly behind the big guy, barely able to keep pace. "Um, hi. I'm Pitt. What's your name? And why are we running towards the laboratory? And what is following us? It's like a weird mass of black..." Pitt said, completely confused.

Little did he know apparently he had just summoned an army of the undead.

 

[Salamander]

Though Red’s words were addressed to Daphne, it was Thetis who jumped in with a response.

“You’re going to stop a Sith Lord all by yourself? The woman who hired you is training to become a Sith as we speak. Even you admitted that you don’t think she can withstand it. If she dies or falls to the Dark Side—”

"My turn. How are you so certain you matter at all to Messala? To him, you're expendable, and you know it. Did you know that the first person to work with Thetis, Elwick Fenton, was cast aside like a rotten fruit? Thetis let him get captured to get away, and even made sure that he wouldn't go blabbing by poisoning him?"

“Fenton was my mistake,” Thetis snapped, side-eyeing Daphne as she spoke. “Messala had nothing to do with it. I hired him because I had worked with him before, and I thought he could be trusted. I thought he would listen to me, but he didn’t. His death was his own fault. He would have revealed everything if I hadn’t done what needed to be done.”

"Basically, my question is: If it came down to it, if it came down to either Thetis gets captured, or she sacrifices you to escape, which choice would she make? She's done it before easily enough, who's to say she wouldn't do it again? And would Messala even care? Would he care if Thetis sacrificed you to escape?"

“You’ve asked several questions already,” Thetis growled. “I think you need a reminder of who is in charge here, Red.”

Returning to her post at the controls, she flicked the switch on the Embrace—and cranked it to the maximum.

Daphne watched Red writhe for a few moments, her gaze darting uncertainly. She didn’t know what to do. “Thetis—” she started to speak, but her voice was drowned out by Red’s screams. “Thetis!” she tried again, shouting to be heard. “It isn’t going to work! All you’re doing is overstimulating him—he’s becoming too disoriented to talk! You’ll overload him and then—”

The overhead lights began to flicker. “What’s causing that?” Thetis demanded. Leaving the controls—with the switch still turned on and blasting poor Red—she headed for the door. “Daphne, watch him.”

As soon as she was gone, Daphne rushed to the controls and turned them off. To her surprise, the Embrace’s hold on Red slackened, the organic tissues weakened by the level of power that had run through it. He was dropped to the floor with an unceremonious thud.

“Chit!” Daphne swore. She ran over and knelt down beside Red, placing her hands on his back. But her intentions weren’t compassionate. She quickly rolled him over and, before he had a chance to recover from the shock, attempted to bite his neck. The paralysis would keep him from attacking her, and give her the time and energy she needed to transform again. Otherwise, this form, while capable of producing pheromones, was sorely limited as far as combat went.

As she leaned toward him, the lights continued to sputter, then suddenly went out, plunging the room into darkness. The biot’s eyes, mere inches from Red’s face, gave off a slightly pinkish glow.

~~~​

The wraiths stormed the abandoned lab, forcing their way into every area they could. One of the first places they attacked was the generator room, ripping and tearing at the wiring and filling the facility with their preferred habitat—shadows.

Thetis came out of the makeshift torture chamber, her lightsaber hilt in hand, just as the lights went out. Hissing under her breath, she relied on the Force to show her the way.

Something wrapped around her ankle, cold and dry to the touch, and she was yanked off her feet. She fell on her back with a grunt of pain, then activated her lightsaber, slashing at whatever it was that held her.

A wraith’s tendril slapped her wrist hard enough to knock the lightsaber out of her hand. The blade continued to burn, but now it was held in the shadow’s grasp. Gasping in shock, she reached for the weapon with the Force, yanking it away—but something struck her, throwing her across the hallway.

She skidded across the floor, her lightsaber falling beside her. The wraiths kept coming, a horrific mass of disembodied spirit-mass. Even sensed through the Force, she had no idea what they were or how to even describe how they felt. All that mattered, though, was that they were coming after her.

Fumbling at her belt, she produced what looked like a tiny holdout blaster and aimed it at the black maelstrom. The weapon discharged a blast of ion energy that impacted with the center of the shadowy mass… and tore through it like paper. The wraiths howled, their progress halted.

Thetis scrambled to her feet and picked up her lightsaber, backing away. So these were the Kivan wraiths… she was glad she had bothered to read up about this planet and knew these creatures were somewhat vulnerable to ion. Key word: somewhat.

Already they were reforming again. She turned and ran down the hall, knowing it would take her on a roundabout back to the entrance. She’d blast through whatever waited for her there, get out and get to the ship…

Raising her comlink to her mouth, she contacted Daphne. “We’re under attack,” she said. “Kivan wraiths are here. Change of plans, Daphne. We’ve gotten all we can out of Red, now finish the job and get out of there before they reach you!”

Subject 73 Red

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Salamander

Red turned to Thetis as she replied to his responses. Even though he was directing his responses to Daphne, Thetis had decided to quickly jump in and respond, trying to cut him off. Interesting, so Red had managed to get under Thetis' skin. He had finally gotten to her. Red had never seen Thetis so jumpy, so he could definitely tell that he had gotten to her.

“You’ve asked several questions already,” Thetis growled. “I think you need a reminder of who is in charge here, Red.”

"Oh? Do I now? I think you just have a narcissitic personality, Thetis. What's wrong? Did that little question hit a little too close to home?" Red asked, taunting her, trying to aggravate her.

He did seem to have gotten under her skin, especially whenever she went back over to the controls for the Embrace, and Red could see what was coming next.

He felt the Embrace turn back on, but this time it was stronger than ever. He felt the pleasure flood his system. It was definitely stronger this time. Despite having built up defenses, it did little good against the power of this wave. It crashed over his mental barricades and walls, scrambling his mind once again under all of the pleasure. He tired to fight it, and push it back, but the strength of it was so overbearing that fighting back against it was like trying to stop a hurricane. He struggled in the Embrace, moving and convulsing under the strength of the pleasure. He yelled out, still trying to fight back against the Embrace.

He could hear Daphne yelling at Thetis, but what they were saying alluded Red, as the pleasure from the Embrace was jumbling up his senses, and made them sound all muffled. His vision blurred, so now he could barely even see anything.

Then, suddenly, it stopped, and Red slumped, breathing heavily. His vision was starting to clear up, and he could finally hear what was going on. He started piecing together his mind, so that they couldn't get the better of him while he was all jumbled up.

But then the Embrace let him go, and he fell to the floor with a loud THUD. He watched as Daphne ran over to him, and flipped him over before Red had a chance to react. She then went for his neck, trying to do that thing she did earlier, when she paralyzed him. As she was inches from him, the lights went out. He could see her eyes, even in the dark. They glowed with a strange pinkish hue.

Red had built up just enough strength to react to Daphne trying to bite him, and the lights going out gave him the millisecond he needed to react accordingly. He used his forehead to headbutt her in the face, then used both his hands to grab her by the head and flip her over onto her back, with her on top of Red, wit her back to his chest. He wrapped his left arm around her neck and put his right hand to the side of her head, pinning her down.

Then, suddenly, the door opened, and in ran Pitt. His light searched the room, then found Red struggling to pin Daphne down.

"Pitt! Shoot her!" Red yelled at Pitt, still struggling to keep Daphne in place.

"Oh, right!" Pitt said, remembering that he had brought along a blaster pistol. He ran up to them and aimed it at Daphne's face. Pitt pulled the trigger multiple times, and the pistol fired accordingly. Multiple blaster shots burned through Daphne's face. Red released her and let her body fall to the ground next to him.

Red sat up, knowing that she would start healing soon, and flipped Daphne face down into the floor.

"Pitt, binders." He said. Pitt handed him two pairs of binders, and Red placed them onto Daphne's wrists and ankles restraining her movements. He just hoped that Daphne wouldn't be able to shapeshift out of that position.

Red turned to Pitt. "Where the hell have you been? And what happened to the lights?" Red asked Pitt.

"Oh, you know, calling for help, summoning an army of the dead-"

"Run that last one by me again?"

"Yeah I recruited those wraith thingies into helping free you."

Red blinked at this. "I... Good work Pitt. You're finally pulling your weight for once."

Pitt seemed happy at this, but before he could say anything, Daphne's commlink beeped. Red picked it up, and turned it on. It was Thetis, telling Daphne that the wraiths were attacking, and that she should just finish Red off and get out of there.

"I'm sorry, Thetis. But Daphne is currently... unavailable to talk right now. She's busy at the moment. Though I can see that you've met my wraith friends. They are not happy. Try to run Thetis, just try, we're coming for you." Red said into the commlink before shutting it off.

Red stood up, then bended down to pick Daphne up. He put her over his left shoulder, still bound tight. Red turned to Pitt, then asked, "Who did you call for help?"

"Snow and Slip, and Inanna." Pitt replied.

Red nodded. "Alright, we can meet them at a rendezvous point, right now we should go find Thetis." Red said.

Pitt lead the way, as he had the light, and Red followed after him out into the hallway. Traveling down the corridor, Red used the Force to collect all of his gear that Thetis removed from him. He caught his lightsaber with his right hand and put it onto his utility belt, and put his helmet on whenever it flew over to him. Pitt grabbed all of the smaller stuff, like the knives, grenades. and the other pistol. Pitt grabbed Red's blaster rifle off of the floor and handed it to him, with Red slinging it over onto his back. Pitt also put the rest of the stuff onto Red's utility belt, with Red now fully ready for combat, if not still beat up from the fight earlier. Despite that, he could still fight.

And he really wanted to stop Thetis here and now.

 

[Salamander]

Subject 73 Red

Thetis hardly reacted to the sound of Red’s voice coming through the commlink. Well, that certainly took care of the problem of waiting for Daphne. She had no reason to stay here any longer.

After making her way out of the facility, Thetis made a beeline for her ship, a small, sleek starfighter. The wraiths followed close behind, but their advance was slowed by her continually shooting at them with the ion blaster.

She couldn’t fight the entire swarm, however, and was soon caught up in the cloud of black fog. Darkness surrounded her. She fired the blaster again, only for it to be knocked out of her hand by a black tendril. Furious, she struck out with the Force, trying to telekinetically hurl the wraiths away, but for each one she pushed aside, more would take its place. She was trapped.

“Sith!” the wraiths hissed. “Intruder! You ordered our destruction!”

“I did nothing of the sort,” Thetis retorted. “That happened over eight hundred years ago. Everyone involved in the destruction of Kiva is long dead. Why are you even still here? You should’ve already become one with the Force!”

“We are not truly dead…”

“We are called wraiths, but we are not spirits…”

“Gog’s weapon did not destroy us…”

“... it remade us in shadow and flame!”

A black tendril coiled around her neck. Thetis fought against it with the Force, but it was plain by her wide eyes that she was truly terrified.

“I came here to stop the intruder,” she argued. “We knew the Jedi would come here looking for information from the labs. We’re here to help you!”

“Lies!” The cry was echoed by several voices. “You came to plunder the ruins. The Jedi came to stop you.”

Several more tendrils shot out, binding Thetis’ limbs. She was flung face-down on the ground and pinned there. Her screams grew muffled as more of the wraiths covered her, smothering her.

Her last thoughts were of her master. She had failed him once more. Perhaps death in this way was preferable to escaping and having to face Arrius Messala again, confessing her mistakes...

Back in the facility, Daphne was hanging limp over Red’s shoulder, slowly healing from the barrage of blaster fire to her face. There was no way she could stand up to Red while in this Civilian Form, and until she had a chance to feed, she couldn’t shapeshift back into her more suitable Combat Form. So she was waiting for a better opportunity to present itself…

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Salamander

Red continued to walk down the dark hallways of the lab, with Pitt following close behind, his light illuminating the corridors. Pitt was pretty happy with himself, as he had actually done something really cool. Plus, Red had never summoned an army of the dead to fight, but now Pitt had, so now Pitt had bragging rights over Red, as he had finally done something Red hadn't done before.

"Pitt, make sure Daphne here doesn't try anything. If she tries to bite me, shoot her." Red told Pitt.

Pitt nodded. "Yep! I'm on it. You hear that? You try anything, I'll shoot you! I'll shoot you a lot!" He said, then made a visual representation by making a shooting motion with his metal hand.

They continued to walk down the hallways. Then, they exited the lab. Night had fallen, with the sunlight completely gone. That explained why the wraiths were so active. Further down, Red could see the swirling, black mass of the wraiths. And in it... he could feel Thetis' force signature within it. And he could feel it... slowly fading, her life force fading from view.

"Chit!" Red swore. He dropped Daphne to the ground and took off towards the swirling black mass, limping as he ran, thanks to his injuries.

"Watch Daphne, Pitt!" Red yelled to Pitt, throwing him his blaster pistol. Pitt caught it and pointed it at Daphne menacingly.

He ran down towards the swirling black mass. He hadn't come all this way just to let Thetis go, even if she was about to die. He needed her to find Messala, as she was so closely connected to him, and that she could provide some serious information in finding Messala. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed Thetis, as she could be a big key to finding him. Plus, two hostages were better than one.

He stopped in front of the black mass of the wraiths, wondering how he would do this. Looking at what the wraiths were doing right now, the last thing he wanted to do was anger or provoke them, as they might turn on Red.

"Wraiths!" Red yelled. "Wraiths, I need that Sith! I need her alive, wraiths! She can help me find her Master, the one that sent her! I need this Sith alive!"

Honestly, Red couldn't do much. He didn't have any ion weaponry, so he couldn't use that against them. He could try using the Force, but that might provoke them and anger them. All he could do was negotiate and bargain with them.

 

[Ayreon]

Subject 73 Red

The Jedi’s words spread through the ranks of the wraiths, who slowly and reluctantly released their hold on Thetis. To Red, it would look like the dark swirling mass parted like a curtain, revealing the blonde woman lying on the ground. She raised her head and coughed, her face flushed from not getting enough air.

Around her, the wraiths continued to retract, taking on separate humanoid shapes once more. They stood around, whispering amongst themselves with dry, brittle voices. Abruptly, one of them exclaimed, “Another ship!”

They turned their ashen faces up towards the sky. A ship had indeed entered the planet’s atmosphere, a small and sleek courier. It circled around their location, clearly seeing the lifeforms down below, and landed near the other vessels parked outside the facility.

A ramp slid out through open doors. Out stepped the figure of a man with dark hair and brown eyes. He wore a dark blue suit and tie. The holster of a gun was visible at his hip; in his hand he already held a blaster at the ready.

He approached the group cautiously, eyeing the wraiths in particular. “Which one of you called Inanna Hoole for help?” he called out. “She couldn’t be here herself, so she sent me in her place. My name is Ayreon. I'd appreciate it if someone could fill me in on what the problem is.”

OOC: Yeah yeah, it should've taken much longer for Ayreon to get to Kiva from Nathema, but I'm invoking Rule of Cool here.