Right up until the door to her cell slid shut, she had thought Tyr had a plan. Instead, the son of a nerfherder just marched along complacently. Clearly he was the brainless slug she always figured he was.
She'd get out of here on her own, no matter what she had to do. Anya vowed to herself that she'd never give in to these slime sucking Jedi. She'd show them. They'd rue the day they turned their backs on her and abandoned her to a life of slavery in that whore house. No amount of pandering and pleasant talk of peace and harmony would bring about forgiveness for that.
She looked around the meager room for anything she could use as a weapon, but the bed was molded from duraplast and sealed to the floor somehow. The chair and desk, also duraplast, were just sturdy enough to accommodate her sitting on them. They were too big and bulky to swing with her hands. If only she had learned to lift things with the Force better, she could send them sailing at whomever came through the door.
It was the only shortcoming that she would admit to herself, but even that wasn't a big deal. She had heard it was common for Force users to excel at some things while having difficulty in others. Moving objects just happened to be hers. What she truly excelled at was illusions. Somehow, she had to make that work for her.
In the mean time, there was little else in the room. The dresser was firmly attached to the wall and the drawers didn't come out. Nothing in the small lavatory was removable either. For the moment, she'd have to wait. But she'd never give in, and never give up fighting. Every attempt at escape that arose, she'd take.
Upon a bit closer inspection, she found a change of clothes. She spat on them and threw them in the corner. "Shu ma nyaow Jedi garb," she thought aloud. She stripped off her clothes and washed them in the sink, then laid them out to dry. After a long sani-steam, she flopped onto the bed to wait for her clothes to dry.
It seemed like forever since she'd been able to stretch out on a real bed. The soft blanket felt good against her bare skin. She closed her eyes, and in an instant, slept the sleep of the dead.
----------
The Jedi Knights known informally as Val and Nal stood in the Enclave Council Chamber. Masters Eliatra Sabre-Rivalen and Orion Rivalen had recently been the presiding Jedi Masters here at the Enclave, but they had been caught in an unfortunate training accident on the plains of Gwahoon on the other side of Khoonda. They had been trampled in a gizka stampede. The whole episode was now infamously known among the Jedi Order as the Galloping Gizka Incident of 3937. Shortly afterwards they had succumbed to the injuries sustained, hence the reason they were not present now.
Two other Masters bore that responsibility now: Master Taisun and an older human man, Master Tanner Solumi. They were the ones tasked by the Jedi Council on Coruscant to oversee the pursuit of the villains of the recent massacre on the Jedi homeworld and it was under their authority that permission was given to use the secret detention facilities on Dantooine as long as they also oversaw the training of the younglings located there.
Nal and Val were currently being debriefed on their mission so far. All the proper reports had been filed as dictated by regulations, but often Knights were required to give the particulars in person to whomever had sent them on their particular mission. Sometimes they were not, but this wasn't one of those times.
Nal Talla started off the debriefing, relating the events which had taken place initially while Caecillius Kostek had still been on the mission. The Miraluka Jedi had been a childhood friend to both Nal and Nylan and had agreed to help Nal track down the Sith who had carried out the attack on Nylan and the Galactic Senate Building on Coruscant. During the investigation, he had been called away on a more secret errand and Val had taken his place.
From there, Val and Nal both took turns telling the story and filling in the blanks when the other forgot a detail, and after the course of an hour, their report was finally finished. Taisun and Solumi had sat quietly, letting the two Knights tell their tale. Now it was their turn to ask questions.
"It is quite disturbing, young Talla, that you came so close to falling to the Dark Side," Solumi said. "Val, you have been working closely with her. In your opinion, is there a risk of her falling if she continues on this mission?"
"I do not believe so, Master," Val replied. "Between the meditation techniques I have been teaching her, and the counseling sessions she and I have had, I think we are making great strides in preventing a recurrence."
"Good," Solumi said. "I have known you since you were first sent to us, and I trust your judgement in this matter very much."
Nal wished she felt as much confidence as the other two Jedi seemed to feel. The whole time, Taisun had just stared at her with his feline eyes and they seemed to see right through her. She shoved her personal concerns deeper down inside, and concentrated on the present.
Taisun spoke up, and for a moment, Nal was worried he was going to call her out, but instead he said, "To get back to the other matter, has anyone questioned the prisoners yet? They might be willing to give up the location of their comrades without much hassle. Sometimes a few days in detention is all that's necessary to get a prisoner to talk."
"We have not yet spoken to them, Mastah Taisun," Nal replied, fielding this question. "We thought it best to leave the questioning to you. I would add however, dat I do not tink dese Sith are going to give up dere cohorts so easily as dat... at least not dat girl."
"I am in agreement with my partner's assesment," Val said. "We can talk to her, but I think the man is your best bet for information. Personally, I think your special circumstances might be our best bet, Master Solumi."
"Indeed it might be," Tanner said. "At the same time, it might only serve to push him farther from the Light once he's told."
The four Jedi stood in silence for a few moments, thinking. Finally the big Cathar Master spoke. He informed Nal and Val they were to question the Tachi woman, but to keep Nal in the viewing room to watch, just to be safe.
"Master Solumi and I will question Tyr. We'll wait however, to reveal anything to him." Taisun said. He looked over at Tanner to make sure the approval was there.
Tanner nodded solemnly.
No comments:
Post a Comment