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nonelikemesinceLando's staged betrayal of them had been a success, though even knowing that it was all part of the plan hadn't made the entire experience any less terrifying. None of them had to try too hard to feign shock; the whole thing felt too real, and their shared emotions through the battle-meld only made their reaction more convincing.
As had the knowledge that they were deliberately putting themselves into enemy hands.
They had expected to undergo the breaking; they hadn't anticipated that it would take this long for the Exquisite Death to return to Yuuzhan Vong space. Compounding problems was the injury Ulaha had sustained during their capture; it, along with her delicate Bith physiognomy, made her a favorite target for the ship's commander, Duman Yaght.
Anakin could hear her screaming. They all could; the entire strike team except Ganner was bound with blorash jelly in the hold of the ship, facing the walls, their backs to the voxyn in the center of the chamber so they could only hear and not see what was happening to whichever of them Duman Yaght was torturing at any given moment. Actually, they very rarely knew which of the others had been singled out until the screams and attendant echoes of pain in the Force identified the current victim. Except they were all victims: being witness to someone's distress and unable to save them was its own kind of torture to a Jedi, and the Yuuzhan Vong knew it very well.
His concern was for Tahiri, who'd already been tortured at the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong once, but through the battle-meld and their own unique bond in the Force he could feel her, a bright presence lending her own stubbornness to Ulaha. For the others as well: he didn't care if logic said they'd all volunteered for this mission when every time one of them cried out in pain it felt like an insidious reminder that he'd gotten them all into this.
"Bighead, you must think carefully before you answer," he heard Duman Yaght say through a ringing that might have been in his ears or in someone else's resonating through the battle-meld. "This may be your last chance. Is there a Jeedai base?"
Tell him! The thought, bearing Jaina's Force-sense, seared through the meld and was echoed by several of the others.
"Yes," Ulaha all but wailed, and Anakin sensed relief mixed with concern and disappointment from the others.
"Yes what?"
"Yes, there is a Jedi base!" That was Jaina, angry and desperate. "She admitted it! Now let her rest."
Anakin heard Alema hissing at her, probably some admonition to stay quiet, and felt as much as heard the crack of the amphistaff that knocked her unconscious. He heard Duman Yaght give some kind of order in Yuuzhan Vong, then ask, "You think I do not keep my word?"
"That remains to be seen," answered Jaina's voice.
Force, what was she doing?
"Very well. You are the one in control here. The Bith may rest and heal. And you will determine how long."
Anakin felt his sister's fear and concentrated on sending her all the reassurance and strength he could spare through the meld.
"I hope you don't expect me to thank you," she said; he could absolutely picture the look on her face as she said it, too.
"No need," answered Duman Yaght, and then it was silent except for the muffled sound of footsteps until the commander spoke again, this time from somewhere right behind Anakin. "Choose," he told Jaina.
What -- Anakin glanced to the side and caught sight of Jacen, bound beside him; through the meld he didn't know where Jaina's shock ended and his or Jacen's began. At her refusal, he got a hard kick to the kidneys and so, judging from the strangled groan, did Jacen.
"Choose one, or I will be forced to return Ulaha to the breaking. The warmaster knows of her wound, so no one will think anything of it should she happen to die. You are the master now, Jaina Solo."
Jaina's anger was palpable through the meld, and Anakin could sense Jacen pleading with her to hold back, to choose him, just like Anakin himself was.
"Jaina, you can choose," he told her finally, underscoring the words with the Force to make it clear that he was issuing an order. "You can choose me."
Both his siblings resisted the idea, but in the end Jaina complied -- and was forced to watch the entire time as Duman Yaght had the voxyn toy with Anakin. It was that, in part, along with the resilience Tahiri fed him through the meld, that gave Anakin the stubborn resolve to not make a single sound; he wouldn't be responsible for any more anguish from the others. When the voxyn opened a gash down his back with its retrovirus-laced claws, he locked down his fear. The combat droids attached to the hull of the ship carried vaccines along with their weapons and other supplies, but they had no idea if they would even work.
He could feel his own blood drying all over him like a layer of synthskin and even with the strike team's reinforcement through the meld it was all he could do to stay focused. He'd promised to keep a cool head; he'd need it if he was going to come up with a plan, after all.
And he had one. It depended on Jaina convincing Duman Yaght to let him go, and he had absolute confidence in her to keep trying until she succeeded.
"Return him to his place and bring the Bith," Duman Yaght finally ordered, and consternation from the rest of the team made chaos of the meld until Jacen reinforced Anakin's sense of calm to drown them out. One of the guards began to escort Anakin back to his place, and he let himself go limp and comply.
Until he was close enough to the wall, anyway -- he drew on the meld for a burst of strength and broke away from the guard to sprint toward Ulaha, yelling at the top of his lungs for her to wake up.
"Tell him," he said tersely into her ear, aware that he only had seconds. "The name of the base. Tell him."
It was a risk worth taking; Jaina had challenged his honor, so if he got the information he needed he would have to keep his word and release them. And there were enough of them that they could overwhelm him before he could pass the information on, so --
An amphistaff caught Anakin in the side of the head, and he slumped into unconsciousness.
[OOC:*alphabet soup dance*NFI/NFB/OOC-okay, TBC, Star by Star by Troy "WTF Is Wrong With You" Denning.
Content warning: This post contains violence, prolonged torture, and mention of blood.]
As had the knowledge that they were deliberately putting themselves into enemy hands.
They had expected to undergo the breaking; they hadn't anticipated that it would take this long for the Exquisite Death to return to Yuuzhan Vong space. Compounding problems was the injury Ulaha had sustained during their capture; it, along with her delicate Bith physiognomy, made her a favorite target for the ship's commander, Duman Yaght.
Anakin could hear her screaming. They all could; the entire strike team except Ganner was bound with blorash jelly in the hold of the ship, facing the walls, their backs to the voxyn in the center of the chamber so they could only hear and not see what was happening to whichever of them Duman Yaght was torturing at any given moment. Actually, they very rarely knew which of the others had been singled out until the screams and attendant echoes of pain in the Force identified the current victim. Except they were all victims: being witness to someone's distress and unable to save them was its own kind of torture to a Jedi, and the Yuuzhan Vong knew it very well.
His concern was for Tahiri, who'd already been tortured at the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong once, but through the battle-meld and their own unique bond in the Force he could feel her, a bright presence lending her own stubbornness to Ulaha. For the others as well: he didn't care if logic said they'd all volunteered for this mission when every time one of them cried out in pain it felt like an insidious reminder that he'd gotten them all into this.
"Bighead, you must think carefully before you answer," he heard Duman Yaght say through a ringing that might have been in his ears or in someone else's resonating through the battle-meld. "This may be your last chance. Is there a Jeedai base?"
Tell him! The thought, bearing Jaina's Force-sense, seared through the meld and was echoed by several of the others.
"Yes," Ulaha all but wailed, and Anakin sensed relief mixed with concern and disappointment from the others.
"Yes what?"
"Yes, there is a Jedi base!" That was Jaina, angry and desperate. "She admitted it! Now let her rest."
Anakin heard Alema hissing at her, probably some admonition to stay quiet, and felt as much as heard the crack of the amphistaff that knocked her unconscious. He heard Duman Yaght give some kind of order in Yuuzhan Vong, then ask, "You think I do not keep my word?"
"That remains to be seen," answered Jaina's voice.
Force, what was she doing?
"Very well. You are the one in control here. The Bith may rest and heal. And you will determine how long."
Anakin felt his sister's fear and concentrated on sending her all the reassurance and strength he could spare through the meld.
"I hope you don't expect me to thank you," she said; he could absolutely picture the look on her face as she said it, too.
"No need," answered Duman Yaght, and then it was silent except for the muffled sound of footsteps until the commander spoke again, this time from somewhere right behind Anakin. "Choose," he told Jaina.
What -- Anakin glanced to the side and caught sight of Jacen, bound beside him; through the meld he didn't know where Jaina's shock ended and his or Jacen's began. At her refusal, he got a hard kick to the kidneys and so, judging from the strangled groan, did Jacen.
"Choose one, or I will be forced to return Ulaha to the breaking. The warmaster knows of her wound, so no one will think anything of it should she happen to die. You are the master now, Jaina Solo."
Jaina's anger was palpable through the meld, and Anakin could sense Jacen pleading with her to hold back, to choose him, just like Anakin himself was.
"Jaina, you can choose," he told her finally, underscoring the words with the Force to make it clear that he was issuing an order. "You can choose me."
Both his siblings resisted the idea, but in the end Jaina complied -- and was forced to watch the entire time as Duman Yaght had the voxyn toy with Anakin. It was that, in part, along with the resilience Tahiri fed him through the meld, that gave Anakin the stubborn resolve to not make a single sound; he wouldn't be responsible for any more anguish from the others. When the voxyn opened a gash down his back with its retrovirus-laced claws, he locked down his fear. The combat droids attached to the hull of the ship carried vaccines along with their weapons and other supplies, but they had no idea if they would even work.
He could feel his own blood drying all over him like a layer of synthskin and even with the strike team's reinforcement through the meld it was all he could do to stay focused. He'd promised to keep a cool head; he'd need it if he was going to come up with a plan, after all.
And he had one. It depended on Jaina convincing Duman Yaght to let him go, and he had absolute confidence in her to keep trying until she succeeded.
"Return him to his place and bring the Bith," Duman Yaght finally ordered, and consternation from the rest of the team made chaos of the meld until Jacen reinforced Anakin's sense of calm to drown them out. One of the guards began to escort Anakin back to his place, and he let himself go limp and comply.
Until he was close enough to the wall, anyway -- he drew on the meld for a burst of strength and broke away from the guard to sprint toward Ulaha, yelling at the top of his lungs for her to wake up.
"Tell him," he said tersely into her ear, aware that he only had seconds. "The name of the base. Tell him."
It was a risk worth taking; Jaina had challenged his honor, so if he got the information he needed he would have to keep his word and release them. And there were enough of them that they could overwhelm him before he could pass the information on, so --
An amphistaff caught Anakin in the side of the head, and he slumped into unconsciousness.
[OOC:
Content warning: This post contains violence, prolonged torture, and mention of blood.]
