Private This Ancient Autumn World

[Subject 73 Red]

Salamander

Red watched as the massive curtain of shadows parted, and showed Thetis laying on the ground, coughing. Well, at least she was still breathing, and alive. The wraiths continued to move back, and even started taking on humanoid figures and shapes, but that wasn't at the top of Red's mind. Red ran over to Thetis, then crouched down next to her. He pulled out his binders, and attached them to Thetis' wrists, holding her arms behind her back. Once he finished restraining Thetis, Red looked up at the whispering wraiths.

"Thank you, wraiths," Red told them. "For rescuing me and sparing this Sith."

Then, one of the wraiths exclaimed that a ship was approaching. Red looked up with the wraiths, and he saw the ship. He watched as the sleek ship approached their location. It circled around them for a bit, then landed nearby. Red raised on eyebrow as a ramp slid down, and a sharply dressed man walked down the ramp and towards them, holding a blaster at the ready. Red stood up and took off his helmet, holding it under his left arm.

“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.”

Pitt walked over, dragging Daphne across the ground. Despite being small, pit droids were made to be able to carry objectives many times their own size and weight, which made Pitt useful in many situations, thanks to his immense strength. "That's me! I called for help!" He exclaimed.

"You're from Inanna?" Red asked. "Good, I've been wanting to talk to her. I'm Red, and that's Pitt." He told Ayreon, nodding towards Pitt when he introduced the small droid.

"As for what happened... Well... I had a lead here, something to help hunt down Arrius Messala. When I came here, I was ambushed by these two Sith," He said, motioning towards Daphne and Thetis. "I got captured, and they tried to interrogate me, but I did manage to get some information from them. Pitt here called for help, but then he managed to convince the wraiths here to help me escape. I escaped, and now I have both of them captured." He told Ayreon, finishing up his summary.

"Anyway, it's good to finally have some contact with Inanna. I have wanted to talk to her. Where is she? Can you take me to her?" Red asked Ayreon. He had some... questions he wanted to ask Inanna. He knew that Thetis and Daphne were just trying to get into his head, but it worked. He wanted to talk to Inanna, face-to-face, to ask her about all of that.

 

[Salamander]

Subject 73 Red

"Anyway, it's good to finally have some contact with Inanna. I have wanted to talk to her. Where is she? Can you take me to her?"

“I’m afraid that’s not possible.” Ayreon’s face remained expressionless as he delivered the bad news, though his tone was firm and deathly serious. “Ms. Hoole is in a very delicate position right now. But everything is under control. There’s no need for you to interfere. For the time being, you may treat me as her emissary. I can deliver a message from you to her, but you can’t speak to her directly.”

Inanna Hoole was more or less trapped by Onrai , her overbearing, abusive, and controlling master. Ayreon had already hatched a plan to get her out of there, but the plan didn’t involve Red bursting in to save her. It was much more subtle. Hopefully Red would understand and not rush to be the hero.

Ayreon’s attention shifted to the two prisoners. Daphne had almost completely healed by now, her flesh regenerating. She was doing a marvelous job at appearing unaffected by the change in her circumstances, but Ayreon could see her glowing pink eyes darting around, looking for a means of escape.

Thetis, on the other hand, was furious. “You won’t hold us for long!” she screeched as loudly as she could manage. Her throat was sore and her voice was hoarse from nearly being suffocated by the wraiths. “Messala will come for us, and when he does, you won’t make it off this rock alive!”

At some point, the wraiths had silently slinked away, returning to the shadows. This left the group alone outside the abandoned facility, standing near two starfighters each belonging to Thetis and Daphne. Ayreon took in the scene and its setup, then turned to Red once more.

“What do you intend to do now? If you are going to interrogate these two, I may be of service. I am programmed for psychological analyses of numerous species, as well as fully integrated police interrogation protocols.”

“I knew you were a fething machine!” Thetis called out. “She sent her little robot boyfriend along because she doesn’t want you to see what she’s become! Face it, Red—Inanna has fallen to the Dark Side!”

“I do not fully understand this ‘Dark Side’ you speak of, but I can confirm that Inanna has not proclaimed her allegiance to the Sith,” Ayreon replied. “At least, not officially. It would be reasonable not to draw any conclusions about her loyalties or intentions at this juncture.”

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Salamander

Red watched the man as he replied to Red. His face was a blank slate, devoid of emotion, but his voice was full of emotion and seriousness. This man was interesting...

“Ms. Hoole is in a very delicate position right now. But everything is under control. There’s no need for you to interfere. For the time being, you may treat me as her emissary. I can deliver a message from you to her, but you can’t speak to her directly.”

Red nodded. He did understand; if she was in a precarious position, then both Red and Inanna couldn't afford for Red to rush to her help. Despite what Thetis had said, Red still trusted Inanna. She was resilient, and quite resourceful. Red trusted that she would be able to escape. "I understand. Just... just let her know that I'm still alive, and that I'm still searching for Messala, and let her know that eventually, I will come to speak to her, face to face." He said. He did want to have Inanna explain everything, but in time, Red could wait.

Then, Thetis started shouting and screaming at them, something about how they would escape and Messala would come, blah blah blah, standard Sith stuff. Red turned and looked down at her. Not so long ago, their positions had been switched, with Red trapped and Thetis had looked as smug as ever. But now the tables had turned, funny how things could change so quickly.

"I'm sorry, but... Why should I care about this? How is this information going to change any decision I make?" He asked her. "And how are you so sure about that? If you were so important, why would he send you when Daphne would have been enough to stop me? What if I want Messala to come to me?" Red asked the shouting Sith.

Then, Red turned back to Ayreon as he spoke to Red.

“What do you intend to do now? If you are going to interrogate these two, I may be of service. I am programmed for psychological analyses of numerous species, as well as fully integrated police interrogation protocols.”

"Yes, I'm going to interrogate them. I want to find ou-" Red said, but then was cut-off but Thetis shouting once again.

“I knew you were a fething machine!” Thetis called out. “She sent her little robot boyfriend along because she doesn’t want you to see what she’s become! Face it, Red—Inanna has fallen to the Dark Side!”

Red had suspected that the man was a droid, but he hadn't been sure until now. Honestly... it was pretty cool. Red had seen synthetics before, they were very advanced. Interesting...

"Did you not hear him just say that Inanna is preoccupied with something?" He asked Thetis. "If it comes down to it, between you and the droid here, I'm gonna trust Ayreon more than you, Thetis."

Then, Ayreon spoke, in what Red could only assume was meant to be reassuring. It was hard to tell with droids.

“I do not fully understand this ‘Dark Side’ you speak of, but I can confirm that Inanna has not proclaimed her allegiance to the Sith, at least, not officially. It would be reasonable not to draw any conclusions about her loyalties or intentions at this juncture.”

Red turned to Thetis again. "See? Even the droid says so, and I trust him, more than I trust you, Thetis." Then, he turned back to Ayreon. "Yes, I will interrogate them. I'm skilled in interrogation, but help is always welcome."

Then, suddenly, they would be able to hear another ship approaching. Red looked up at it. The ship came down, and landed near them. The doors opened, and out walked two people with bizarrely colored hair. Red smiled as he saw Subject 648 Slipknot and Subject 82 Snow walk over to them.

Pitt waved at them. "You guys finally came!"

Snow chuckled. "Of course we came, Pitt! Anything for you, my tiny friend." Then, they stopped in front of the group. Snow looked at Red. "And you... why do you always get yourself into these situations? Also, you look terrible."

Red sighed. "Good to see you too, Snow." Then he turned to Slip. "You went to Nimdok, right? Did anything happen?"

"Well... um..." Slip started. "No... nothing bad happened. But it was interesting. Nimdok's wife returned, but in a shapeshifting robotic body, with her soul trapped within it, shackled by Messala's programming. I freed her from the programming, and now she's working on our side." He explained.

Red blinked. Slip had done all that? Red was impressed by Slip's skills, they were definitely improving. "Good work, Slip." Red told him, and Slip beamed at him. "Shape-shifting robotic body... Like Daphne here?" Red motioned at Daphne.

Slip examined her, and nodded. "Yes, exactly like this," He nodded. "I might be able to reprogram this one, but if she's loyal to Messala... I don't know what could happen, I could be booted out of her systems entirely, or her even when freed she will still serve Messala, it's still her choice." Slip explained.

Red nodded, "We still need to try, even if she decides to follow Messala, we can still get information out of her."

He turned to Ayreon. "Mind giving us a hand getting them inside the labs? It will be easier to interrogate them in there." He told the droid.

Now it was their turn to be interrogated.

 

[Salamander]

Subject 73 Red

Ayreon nodded at Red’s words. “I’ll be sure to pass on your message,” he said.

The addition of two other individuals, a teenage boy with green hair and a young woman with hair as white as Inanna’s, rounded out the party. They now outnumbered Messala’s forces by six to two. Ayreon eyed Daphne, memories of his altercation with another of her kind on Zeltros surfacing, then turned to Thetis instead.

“Don’t touch me,” she hissed as he pulled her to her feet. “I can walk on my own.”

Ayreon confiscated her lightsaber and ion blaster, as well as any other gear she had on her person, before he led her into the facility, letting the others take care of Daphne. With the power having gone out, the labs were incredibly dark. Though his photoreceptors adjusted to the low lighting, he flicked on a flashlight anyway for the benefit of his handcuffed charge. He assumed the cuffs she was wearing nullified her ability to use the Force, or else she would have freed herself while they were still outside and her weapons were within reach.

He took her into the playroom, the largest area he could find. She sat down on one of the sofas. “Good luck getting anything out of Daphne,” she muttered, her tone bitter. “She can’t feel pain or pleasure, so any interrogation techniques you use to try and loosen me up won't work on her. Deprogramming her won't do much either, since she was already fanatically loyal to Messala…”

The fact that she seemed to be advising him on how to proceed with the interrogation was strange. “What about you?” Ayreon asked. “Are you loyal to Messala?”

She didn’t answer. Ayreon inclined his head curiously, then took a seat across from her. She might choose to remain silent for the duration of the interview, or she might start to crack. There was no way of knowing.

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Salamander

Red watched as Ayreon pulled Thetis to her feet, and disarmed her weapons from her, leaving her defenseless, and escorted her into the labs. Snow turned to Red. "Hey Red, who's your new friend?" She asked.

"That's Ayreon, he's Inanna's droid, from what I can tell." Red replied.

"That's one advanced droid, then." She said.

Then, Red turned to Daphne, laying on the ground, next to Pitt. "Come on Pitt, let's take her inside." He said.

Pitt nodded, and started dragging Daphne across the ground, following after Ayreon. Red was letting Pitt drag her because she wouldn't be able to bite him and use her vampire powers on him, as he was made of metal. Red, Snow, and Slip followed after them, bringing up the rear as they entered the labs. Ayreon led the way, with a flashlight on.

Soon, they reached the playroom, and they entered. Pitt dragged Daphne into the room, and propped her up against the wall. Red, Slip, and Snow entered in after them.

“Good luck getting anything out of Daphne,” she muttered, her tone bitter. “She can’t feel pain or pleasure, so any interrogation techniques you use to try and loosen me up won't work on her. Deprogramming her won't do much either, since she was already fanatically loyal to Messala…”

Red turned to Thetis. He was about to reply, when Ayreon spoke up, asking if Thetis was loyal to Messala. Strangely enough, Thetis didn't reply. Interesting... Ayreon took a seat across from Thetis and looked at her.

"Alright, I say we start with Thetis first," Red said. He walked over next to Thetis, looking at her. Then, he turned to Slip. "You too, Slip."

Slip blinked. "M-Me? Why?" He asked nervously.

"You know why, Slip. You were made for this." Red replied.

Slip walked over nervously, standing nearby Thetis. Then, Red clasped his armored hands together. "Right, let's get started." He said. Red looked at Thetis.

"Let's start with something simple. Where is Arrius Messala? Where is his base of operations?" He asked, getting to the point. He had to start somewhere, and this was the best place to start from. He wasn't expecting much, in fact he wasn't even expecting her to answer at all, but he wanted to see how she wanted this to go.

 

[Salamander]

Subject 73 Red

As Red began the interrogation in earnest, Ayreon quietly observed the proceedings from his chair. He had a direct view of Thetis and could watch for the tiniest gestures and microexpressions to drift across her face.

"Let's start with something simple. Where is Arrius Messala? Where is his base of operations?"

“I don’t know where he is now,” Thetis replied. “Like I said, he travels. And he has more than one base of operations.”

She didn’t appear to be lying, but her answer was deliberately vague. Ayreon glanced at Red and Slip, then asked, “Can you name just one of his bases?”

Thetis glared at him, then at the others. Fear flickered across her features, tightening the muscles in her jaw, making her lip twitch and her nostrils flare. She knew that help was unlikely to come. Like the accused who pleads guilty in hopes of blunting the severity of their sentence, Ayreon watched as she accepted her fate and reached a decision.

“Tintagel, his castle. It’s on Cophrigin V. That’s where he’s been raising his Children.”

Ayreon’s droid brain instantly accessed the Holonet. He intended to look for mentions of Tintagel, Messala, or a castle-like structure on the remote planet. But the first result which popped up was alarming.

“Cophrigin V is about to be invaded by the Bryn’adul,” he announced. “The population has been evacuated.”

Thetis’ eyes darted, trying to hide her shock at the news. It threw a wrench into her interrogators’ plans as well. Messala wasn’t stupid enough to remain on a world about to be conquered by the genocidal Bryn and their vat-cloned armies. Even if by some miracle they managed to beat the invaders to the planet, Messala and his cohorts would already be long gone, along with any incriminating evidence.

“I don’t know about any other bases,” Thetis said quickly. “He didn’t tell me where he would go. Only that if I lost contact with him, he would find me, not the other way around.”

Ayreon raised an eyebrow. It sounded like Messala kept his henchmen at more than arms’ length. Smart guy. But not exactly a recipe for continued loyalty.