“You must use your anger,” Darth Vader said. “It is the only way.”
“Nrrrgh…” Ahsoka moaned from where she lay, body limp against its numerous restraints. Vader gave a slight nod, and a hovering droid gave her another prod with its powerfully charged probe. She writhed and screamed as carefully-calculated dose of electricity set off all her pain receptors simultaneously.
“Use your hatred Ahsoka,” he said, clenching a fist. “I can feel your outrage at this cruelty. Embrace it! Let the power of the dark side flow through you. Let it give you the strength that you need.”
The Togruta’s only answer was to squirm futility, as her droid torturers inflicted a fresh round of pain on her. One gave her another injection, heightening her senses and keeping her brain awake. It had been like this for many days at this point. Constant, unremitting agony every waking hour, punctuated only by the barest minimum of unconsciousness required to avoid serious damage. Vader would not have his true apprentice a crippled wreck, nor would he permit her the luxury of expiring. Direct neural stimulation was incredibly painful without risking lasting injuries. Beyond those to sanity, of course.
“Call on your rage,” he commanded. “Reach out and crush these machines, these architects of your misery. Only hate will break your chains, you must see it. You hold within yourself the power to end your torment, to destroy these droids and tear these restraints to pieces. You need only reach out and take it.”
“I… won’t… be… puppet…” she managed through clenched teeth, in between applications of the shock probes.
“And why stop with the droids?” Vader said. “I am here, reach out, call upon your hatred to strike me down! I murdered your master, I put your friends to the sword, and put your home to the torch! I put you in this wretched cell! You want revenge? Stretch out your hand and take it! Strike me down with all of your hatred!”
Ahsoka said nothing, only scrunching up her eyes against the pitiless machines orbiting her. Vader stared a moment, considering, then turned his back on her once more.
“You are yet too weak,” he scornfully proclaimed. “Perhaps you need more motivation. Increase the intensity of your probes.”
“Yes, Lord Vader,” one of the droids replied in an utterly emotionless tone.
“And see to it that she isn’t permitted a moment of rest for the next three days,” the cyborg continued. “Perhaps I have been too merciful so far.”
“It will be done.”
Vader marched towards the cell’s exit, the door sliding up for him. Behind him he heard the dance continue apace, electricity crackling as it flowed into his apprentice’s flesh. The pain roiling out from her only intensified as she thrashed, washing over him in waves. He marched up the short staircase and through the doorway, not once looking back.
“I hate you!” came a sudden scream from behind him.
“Good,” Vader breathed.
The door sealed shut.
“So,” said the specter of Count Dooku, “how fares your quest?”
“Well enough,” Luna answered him without bothering to look at him. “Vader proved surprisingly quick to take me under his wing. I had only to kill one Inquisitor, one Jedi, and complete a single mission for him before he outright offered me a position as his apprentice.”
“Skywalker was always so predictable,” she could hear the sneer in the old man’s voice.
“So now you use his name? When you did not before?”
“That he would eventually tell you was a given. It was sooner than expected perhaps, but it only speaks to the man’s desperation. In the meantime, your surprise had to be genuine, lest he start asking awkward questions about where you might have learned such a thing.”
“And you simply knew that he had told me? Without my telling you?”
“I’m dead, not deaf,” he answered. “I can hear your dreams.”
“Fascinating,” Luna said drily. “Though I find myself surprised that you are so dismissive of the man who beat me to the punch and gave you what you deserve.”
“The ability to swing a lightsaber in a style to counter an elderly man does not make you intelligent.” Luna could hear the smug easiness fade from his voice, replaced by bitterness. “He was always predictable and easily-manipulated.”
“So says the duped pawn to his successor,” she mocked.
“My fate,” Dooku growled, “is no doubt hanging heavy over Skywalker’s head. There is no question that his maiming has rendered him a great disappointment in the eyes of Sidious. My old master will no doubt be seeking a replacement as soon as one reveals itself. And the mechanical brute, thick as he is, cannot help but be aware of it. He lives on borrowed time.”
“That much we can agree on,” Luna closed her eyes, imagining the moment when her lightsabers would form a scissor at Vader’s throat.
“So it was a simple matter to predict what he would do. He can no longer hope to match Sidious on his own, so he would seek another to aid him. It was a simple matter of placing a creature of your potential and ability in front of him. And he took the bait, just as I knew he would. He carried the seed of his own destruction from Korriban.”
“You speak as if you were some grand schemer, when in truth you are nothing but a dead old fool who got lucky,” the princess said. “If I had not come along you would be left rotting in that Valley for the rest of time, wringing your hands in impotent fury.”
“Does your insolence never cease?”
Luna finally turned to look at her ghostly acquaintance, sneering beneath her mask. The man’s aristocratic features were curled into a sour expression, which only widened her malevolent grin.
“Oh yes, how could I ever be so rude to the man who tried to commit genocide against my nation?” she countered. “You seem to forget that we are bound by a mutual hatred and nothing more, were you alive I would kill you myself.”
“Were I alive you would eat those words.”
“Were you alive Vader would kill you again.”
“Well,” he said after a moment had passed. “As engaging as this conversation is, I didn’t come halfway across the galaxy to bandy insults with you. I came to ask how your quest fares, and offer what aid I could while you remain in this dark place.”
“As I said, well enough. Vader made me his new apprentice. And Maul agreed to join my crusade.”
“Do not be so sure. Remember what I taught you: treachery is the way of the Sith.”
“Yes, yes,” Luna waved a hoof. “But why would care he for me? Even if he somehow learned that I learnt something from you, you are dead and were never anything but Sidious’ pawn to begin with. If he wishes to settle a score with you he would be fool to do it now. Settle accounts between us after Vader and Sidious lie dead.”
“Do not underestimate that man’s drive for revenge,” Dooku warned. “And do not become complacent about your status with Skywalker. It is quite likely he will pit you against another candidate for his apprentice at some point, perhaps more than one. It is entirely possible he will dispatch a rival to assassinate you, simply to determine which is truly worthy.”
“What if we simply killed one another?”
“Then neither of you would be worthy to stand at his side against his master. From what I understand you felt little hesitation in pouring out the blood of your men to achieve your goals. Skywalker is much the same.”
“Not my men," she shook her head. "The Empire’s men. The Empire is my enemy.”
“Whatever the case, it would not be unusual. I would rather surprised if he did not try to match you with another initiate at some point.”
“If that is so, that luckless initiate will die. But more importantly, have you any news for me? Anything of value I can put to use against our mutual enemies? Surely you must have little better to do with your time than go sniffing for opportunity.”
“Well,” Dooku smirked slightly, “I might have come across a morsel or two. But I don’t know if I wish to share them with such an unappreciative apprentice.”
“Sith take everything that they can and are grateful only when it suits them, Count.”
“Ah,” his smile broadened. “You were listening. Perhaps I might have a few things to inform you of after all…”
“Are you certain?” the hologram of Bastila Shan asked.
“Yes,” Twilight nodded from where she sat cross-legged in the grass of Dantooine. “One night could be a fluke, two a coincidence, three something I ate, but four nights of that nightmare in a row? That’s too much to dismiss. It’s too consistent, too realistic to be just a dream.”
“I see. Have you actually seen this prisoner?”
“No,” Twilight shook her head. “It’s always from her perspective, seen through her eyes. She has orange skin and striped headtails, that much I know, but I’ve never seen even a glimpse of her face. It’s dark, and there isn’t anything reflective.”
“A Togruta most likely, based solely that admittedly scant information,” the gatekeeper said. “Do you actually know any of those?”
“I don’t, no.”
“Then we must consider how you could be hearing this over and over. If you had known this individual for years and had formed a powerful Force bond that would be one thing, but by your statements you’ve never even met before. So how would you receive this vision not once, not twice, not even thrice, but on no less than four different nights? It doesn’t make a great deal of sense.” Bastila’s face was hard. “I suspect a trap.”
“You think it’s all a fake? An illusion?”
“On the contrary,” the Jedi Master shook her head. “I suspect the exact opposite. I think it is very real. Somewhere a Jedi is being tormented, her screams sent across the Force… perhaps even magnified by the will of another. And why? To lure any potential remaining Jedi out of hiding. Exploiting our Order’s compassion for one another and for all living beings has long been a favored tactic of the Sith.”
“Then you think she really is out there? And it’s really happening?” Twilight felt her stomach clenching. The idea that someone could be so ruthless…
“Yes, I do.” Bastila confirmed. “You are correct when you say that it cannot be a coincidence that your dreams have been so consistent and vivid. It could be the will of the Force itself, true, but in times where the dark side is ascendant I suspect a more malign agency. As to its reality, there is no illusion quite as effective as the real thing. And from experience it is simply something that a Sith would do.”
“Then I have to do something, right?” Twilight looked at her hands. “I mean, the whole point of this – all of this – was so I could learn how to defend people who needed it. And this woman, whoever she is, definitely needs it. I can’t just look away from that!”
“I… would have preferred more time to teach,” Bastila said slowly, hand on chin. “But on the other hand, the simple reality is I think you’ve already made up your mind, correct?”
“How could I not have?!”
“Right,” she nodded. “To be entirely honest I suspect my creator would have said something similar. That being said, we must be cautious about this. Don’t rush in, remain calm, gather data, and analyze the situation. I can assist you in this.”
“I… I can’t wait around for long, she’s suffering. Horribly,” Twilight warned.
“Jumping immediately into a probable trap will only add your screams to hers,” Bastila countered. “Remember what I taught you: patience. I know that it won’t be easy, but let’s put that mind of yours to work on this problem. Make it a successful mission a little while later rather than a failed one now.”
“I…” Twilight bit her lip a little. “I understand.”
Bastila smiled. “You’re far too clever not to.”