Flood the Fortress

[Squee]

It was his fault, she concluded.

Before him, she rarely left Korriban. Before him, she was left to her books. Before him, she was left in peace. Since he’d arrived, her world had changed. Time she’d had to herself was diminished. She was hardly left alone now. Her need for personal space was largely ignored, most often by him, who had hounded her through the Sith Temple. Since their successful mission on Empress Teta, she simply could not be rid of him. Her willing sacrifice on his behalf and sheer determination to return him to Korriban had not gone unnoticed. Tesa couldn’t help the feeling her loyalty was being exploited by Renata, who had since dispatched them on other assignments. They returned victoriously every time. Each time, their bond grew stronger.

Yes, her world had changed. For the better? This was not the path Tesa had expected to walk. She’d never anticipated his smile to ever be attractive. The wicked glimmer in his green eyes was temptation. The purr of his words made him a siren. The surge of his power and might was intoxication. The bond they’d established was nearly permanent, Tesa knew; a finalized connection forged deep in a crystal cave, where the Force had sung soft whispers in her ear.

Her chains rattled as she touched the side of her head. She winced. Her scalp was likely bruised. As she felt, the crust of blood crumpled beneath her fingers. Her hair was matted around the wound. Dried blood sprinkled her palm as she pulled her fingers through the short, black locks. While escaping the facility on Empress Teta, fire had shortened her hair. Tesa had used it as an excuse to cut her hair shorter, and then shorter still, until it was a chin level bob of thick, wavy hair.

The pirate who escorted her was opening back the cell she shared with Jessoin. An ugly weequay man who, with the addition of his bumpy, leathery skin, was missing the frill on the right side of his face. When he grabbed her arm and yanked her sideways, the wound reopened, and Tesa hissed at the pain. He tossed her into the cell and locked it again. The weequay left them, slamming shut the door leading to the prison room, and shrouding them in dimness.

“Blasted pirates,” she complained to him as she sat down across from him. They’d clocked her over the head when they’d boarded their trap ship, two or three days ago. Tesa had been picking blood from her hair since. Her coat, cheap and brown, had soaked up most of the damage. She was picking up the discarded jacket as she hissed, “It’s your fault.” When she pointed, the chain clinked. “You had to make some stupid remark.” When the man had swung around, likely to hit Jessoin, he’d struck Tesa instead.

Yes, her world had changed. Right now, for the worse. If he’d just never showed up on Korriban, she wouldn’t be sitting across from him in a cramped cell that stank of previous occupants. She wouldn’t be smarting from a punishment that was meant for him. These pirates would not come to fetch her, spit in her face, threaten to cut her or worse. Tesa could be sitting in her chair, reading her books, and eating strawberries right now if it weren’t for him!

“At the very least, they’re the right pirates,” she said. “And they believe they’ve caught Empire personal.” The mission was to infiltrate a pirate lord’s palace, and then destroy it. Renata loved to send them on seek and destroy assignments.

Garak Onsee, the pirate lord, had hatched a spark of stupidity and decided to fight and plunder Empire resources. The Sith military couldn’t tell them where Garak Onsee’s base of operations was, however, which meant Tesa set and baited a trap. A small ship, carrying military personal, heading home from assignment. The pirates had taken the bait, her and Jessoin and a few others, as she had hoped.

“They just keep asking me questions I can’t give an answer for. Bases on Bastion, locations of trade, nobles involved... They also know more than they give off, and so they knew when I lied.” Tesa twisted out a sleeve from the bunched jacket she held to her head. Using the edge, she dabbed at her stinging split lip. Oh, did she ache. Her head, her lip, her arm, her ribs…

“There had best be a nice dinner out of this.”

[Dutch]

Mon Cal was entirely too damp for Jessoin's taste. He had found an affinity to the hot, arid climate of Korriban. So long as he stayed well hydrated, the ample sun and warmth had done wonders for his health compared to Nar Shadaa. His complexion had never been greener, nor his eyes so vibrant. While this world still had the amount of sun he preferred, the constant humidity was sapping. The Imperial Officer's dress blacks he wore didn't help either, the material so much thicker and cheaper than any the Sith would normally prefer. Yet it was necessary for Tesa's plan to infiltrate the fortress they now found themselves in.

Clearly her plan had worked, as they often did. The pirates had found the "Officer", his assistant and other personnel. After one assailant had accidentally struck Tesa, which was meant for the swift zelosian, Jess had to resist the urge to blast the entire boarding party with lightning. Some might have said it was his fault for the woman getting knocked out, but in his mind she should have been quicker to dodge.

He looked up as the door to his cell suddenly opened, the weequay from before appearing with a battered Tesa. The Sith made sure to note the man's face. For the next time Jessoin saw him, the zelosian would remove the ghastly visage. Green eyes glaring dangerously in the gloom, they never left the pirate until the door closed. His gaze would slide to Tesa as she tended to herself. Quietly he listened to her accuse and grumble, the Sith stifling the grin that threatened to spread.

Jess would shift to sit cross legged, his posture a perfect mirror of any Jedi's as he listened. Once her grumbles were all out for the moment, he intently took note of what she had discovered so far. He admired the way the woman was able to use her own interrogation as a way to get information from the pirates.

“There had best be a nice dinner out of this.”

"I hear Mon Cal's most famous chef opened quite an extravagant underwater location recently... My treat, precious."

Jessoin replied with a coy smile. While Tesa had taken the brunt of the beatings thus far, the zelosian was entirely without a mark on his body. It didn't overly surprise him that they chose Tesa to attempt to squeeze info, little did they know the mistake they had made. Jess would indeed cut throats and fry with lightning, but his Tesa would tear their minds down. He stifled a shudder from the memory of Renata doing that very thing to him in his first months with the Sith. Jessoin would be all to happy to unleash the same fate on these worthless pirates.

"Now, surely you have a plan for us now that we're inside? Something with them feeling more pain than you?" Jessoin asked with both eyebrows raised. "That is unless you've been enjoying the attentions of these strapping gentlemen and want more..."

[Squee]

His treat, he’d said. Tesa answered with an incredulous snort. It was hardly ever. They were both well aware who the wealthiest was in this cramped, dim cell. Likely, if she wanted the best quality and highest standards of the dinner, Tesa would have to handle the bill. And there was absolutely no way they were going to dinner in their state of apparel. Chances were, Tesa would be expending funds to dress them suitably. She knew his tastes, too. It would not be a cheap date.

"Now, surely you have a plan for us now that we're inside? Something with them feeling more pain than you?"

“Mmmmhm…” she hummed indicatively. Tasting her split lip, Tesa noticed it had nearly ceased bleeding.

“That is… unless you’ve been enjoying the attentions of these strapping gentlemen…”

Fearsome indignity and disgust flamed within her, twisting her outward features. Earlier, she and Jessoin had been served a couple of cups with water. Now they lay discarded and empty. Tesa jerked her hand, compelling one of the cups to careen right for his head as she fixed him with a furious amber glower. “You make me sick, sometimes!” She stamped at his shin with a booted foot. “Sick!” she hissed loudly.

Force dammit! Even after these months being with him, weeks bonded to him, Tesa was uncertain as to why he practiced such insistent infuriation. “I can utterly assure you I enjoy no such ministrations!” she snapped. The chains rattled as she threw her blood stained jacket at him as well, hoping that would keep him shut up. Her head throbbed warningly. With an irritated groan, she slumped back against the cell wall, touching her wound gingerly.

“I was hoping to understand guard changes. However, I don’t have the patience to go through another beating. Nor do I want to know what lengths they’ll begin to go to.” The most frustrating part of this assignment was minimal knowledge. Tesa was unfamiliar with the layout of the fortress. There were no names to faces besides Onsee’s.

Sighing heavily, Tesa drew a booted foot over her knee. The heel was exaggerated, giving Tesa some height she didn’t particularly require. Chain links clinking annoyingly, she wiggled a square section off and dug out the lightsaber hilt. “Have you ever heard of a hydra, Jessoin?” She rolled the man’s lightsaber toward him. Her own she rested beside her. “You cut off the creature’s head and two more take its place. I have a feeling Onsee is the first head of a hydra. He has captains, I’m sure. If Onsee is gone, his captains will continue. The fortress is merely too large, the questions they’re asking too huge.”

She looked across to Jessoin, into his glittering emerald eyes. Her foot thudded dully on the cell floor as she rammed the heel back into place. “Their lead interrogator is a sadistic Vahla woman,” she spoke bitterly, “and I think she’s a captain.” Hatred singed her ominous words. “I want her in a chair to remind her sadists make poor masochists.”

The door to the prison ward reopened again, startling Tesa and silencing the other occupants of the ward. There was a faint scratch of metal on concrete as she shoved her lightsaber beneath her thigh. Craning her head slightly, she watched through their primitive cell’s bars as the same marred weequay marched between the cells. He stopped at one a couple down, to retrieve a scrawny, redheaded and freckled lad, an actual Imperial officer who’d accompanied her and Jessoin. The only sounds continued to be the beat of thick-soled shoes, followed by the main door closing.

Tesa wasn’t conscious of holding her breath until she released it, relieved. “Let’s find who the other captains are, dispatch them, destroy their ships, sabotage their operation, kill Onsee. If the chance offers to be known, maybe there’s a way to simply sink the fortress. Plan is subject to change as information presents itself. But first… I want that Vahla.”

Without delaying further, she stretched out her hands, pulling her chains tight between her wrists. “Be a dear? And I’ll get yours? Then, please, lead the way… Just follow the screams of a tortured man.”

[Dutch]

Jessoin chuckled and smoothly dodged Tesa's projectile. It clanked lightly on the wall next to his head, the Sith grinning impishly at the woman's outburst. His snicker continued as she hissed her indignant words and launched her bloodied wad of jacket. Again he dodged, though drips of blood splashed from the jacket's impact onto Jessoin's pale skin. His lip curled and green eyes gazed back at Tesa. The Zelosian shifted as he listened to her speak.

He smiled knowingly as his partner applied her plan to sneaking their weapons in with them. Jess had to admit the extra high heels added nicely to her already shapely assets, and the fact that they held deadly weapons only entertained him further. With a tug of the force Jessoin tugged his lightsaber to a waiting hand. The still slightly unfamiliar coolness of his new hilt turned in his palm to point the pincer blades away from himself.

The Sith gazed at the lightsaber, glinting faintly in the dim cell lighting. It had only been a few weeks since its crystal was harvested, and barely a fortnight since Jess had finished crafting it. Half the style of his first, lightweight metals and high end rubber grip not uncommon among Jedi. The trio of swooping blades however, were entirely Sith. A single at the hilt with a pair at the neck of the emitter, this was a weapon more suited to Jessoin than the hobbled together abomination of a weapon during his cabal days.

Jess had been so engrossed with examining his new hilt, that most of Tesa's words had gone in one ear and out the other. He had caught what was needed to be done for the most part, but left the plan up to her. Jessoin was many things, but a tactician he was not. Tesa would point the way, he would clear the way. A tried and true method. He leered at Tesa's offered chains, grinning coyly as the Sith slid smoothly to his feet. His gaze fell to look inside one of the links of his own chains, tilting his head slightly as he chuckled.

In the Force he focused a small bubble shield between the links. Slowly Jessoin's head tilted to the opposite shoulder, letting his pride swell the bubble more and more until the links visibly strained. With a light click they broke apart. He grinned at Tesa and shrugged to display his freed hands. The one gripping his lightsaber turned the hilt to hook the weapon into the officer's issue leather belt. The cuffs at his wrists clinked lightly as he stepped closer to Tesa, long hands moving to assist the woman to her feet.

"I would be remiss not to get something for your freedom..." He would croon as a hand gripped the chains between Tesa's shackles. Slowly the Sith raised her chains higher and higher until her hands arms were held up. Jessoin would pin her chains to the wall behind her, his other hand moved to slide over Tesa's waistline. He would meld his lips with hers gently, careful to not irritate her wound. For barely a moment he held the kiss, letting the one hand slide down to greedily feel her rear as he did. With a smirk he pulled away, lowering her arms before breaking the chains with a flick of his wrist and a burst in the Force.

"Shall we?" Jessoin asked before turning to face the cell door. He laughed once at the sight of the metal bars. May as well be wood. The Sith pushed with an outspread hand, sending the door off its hinges and into the opposite cell loudly. With a flourish his lightsaber was at hand and quickly ingited. With an angry hiss the azure blade snapped to life, casting their cell in a blue gloom. Jess strode forward as the Force channeled into his hands, the two guardsmen just outside the door suddenly blasted with bursts of lightning. Tesa was not joking, at a distance he could hear the keen screams of utter agony. He looked back to her and nodded before beginning to move towards the sound.

[Squee]

Tesa dropped her hands when Jessoin stood, his mouth creased with a knowing grin. Theatrical, as he often was, he raised his own hands. She waited patiently, watching as his small barrier strained one of the links of chain. Reaching maximum stress, it popped apart, the pieces falling with little plinks on the floor. His grin widened, proud as ever. Tesa shrugged, unhurt by his example and silent statement of requiring no aid.

She took his hands when he offered. They were cold and his long fingers chilled her palms as he helped her stand. Pulling the chain tight again before him, Tesa looked at him expectantly. He grasped the chain, smiling ever-presently as he stepped closer.

”I would be remiss not to get something for your freedom.

Oh, of course, Tesa thought and rolled her eyes. It was unsurprising he would manipulate her current entrapment to his pleasure. However, her usual inclination to berate him was absent and he raised her arms unchallenged. Her hands twisted so her fingers brushed and then steadily wrapped around his wrist.

Pressing close as his hand played around her waist, the slight smile touching her lips was unbidden. Tesa embraced his kiss willingly, eyes sliding closed. The pleasure of the moment engulfed her. The cool, skilled contact of his lips. The possession of his grip. The slight earthy musk of his skin. When Jessoin stepped back, she sighed lightly, releasing the pressure of longing encased within her.

Noticing his smirk, Tesa’s lips twitched again into a small smile. “I’ve noticed, you know,” she stated. “You rub my rear like a lucky charm. Before any mission.”

He broke her chains and Tesa fully grabbed his hand, stopping him from turning. Wetting her thumb, she drew it over Jessoin’s cheek, erasing the small spatter of blood from his acute features. It wasn’t blood itself that bothered her, but the fact it was her own. She would not have her blood decorating his face like a mishap with war paint. Satisfied, she released captivity of his arm.

“We shall.” The squeal of wrenched hinges and subsequent bang of the cell door made her cringe. Drawing a deep breath, Tesa burrowed the Force within to inhibit her pain receptors. Within moments, the throbbing nestled in her skull ceased. In time for her to step outside the cell as Jessoin moved on.

Peering down at the two guardsmen, Tesa grimaced, ruling out it wasn’t worth being shocked to find cuff keys. The heavy clamps still on her wrists were uncomfortable; the broken, swinging chains an annoyance.

Tesa followed Jessoin more slowly, her eyes wandering the occupants of other cells. “Jessoin!” she called before he could exit the cell block. “Hold on.” The Force surged as she raised her hand and clenched it, crushing the cell door with a metallic groan. Now deformed, the metal door easily bowed to Tesa’s direction, swinging open on squeaky hinges.

The cell contained three Imperials; two brunette women and a mustached man with beard overgrowth. They’d been captive for as long as she and Jessoin. Their eyes were wide as saucers, though Mustache acted to stand. Tesa patted the air and telekinetically pushed him firmly back onto the seat of his pants.

“What’s your shoe size?” she asked one of the women, after briefly studying her feet.

“What?”

Tesa sighed heavily with impatience and scowled. “Your shoe size. I asked it.”

Although confused, she answered, “9M standard.”

“Give me your shoes,” Tesa said, in a tone demanding obedience. Immediately, the woman jumped to Tesa’s odd command. Her order seen to, Tesa sat and hastily unzipped her own, tossing them to the woman who was busily unlacing.

Mustache interjected. “Why do you need her shoes?”

Tesa replied succinctly, feeling irritated. “That’s none of your concern.”

Crimson swept up the man’s face from beneath his collar. His eyes alighted on the insignia on her right breast. “I outrank you and I demand an expl – Sweet galaxies, no!”

Mustache was less inclined to speak with the point of an amethyst lightsaber pointing at his throat. Having no time or the patience for these games, she’d called her new weapon to hand and ignited it. “Spare me your useless prattle,” Tesa snarled. His fear was potent and she welcomed every ounce. “I have heard more than enough stupidity for my lifetime already. Do not add to it.”

Bun-hair’s eyes met her gaze, her face washed with a pale purple color. “Are you a Jedi, ma’am?”

“No.” The boots were shoved Tesa’s way. Fixing the man with a warning amber glower, the lightsaber extinguished. Quickly, she shoved on the new boots. The heels were normal and practical. The platform boots she’d previously worn had served their purpose: smuggling the lightsabers.

Standing, Tesa started from the cell, but stopped when she was asked, “Is this a rescue, my Lady?” While the title was inaccurate, it was greatly appreciated.

“No,” she was going to leave it at that, but paused again. “However, if you don’t want to drown, you may want to leave. Wait. If you’re not behind us, you’ll be recaptured or killed. If you see bodies, you’ll be safe. If you hear screaming, you’re too close. If you hear water, you’re too late.

“And do not aid us. It’s a bother and a hindrance. My partner is less merciful than I am, and will be more inclined to kill you himself,” Tesa concluded casually. They gushed horror and bewilderment, and Tesa drank up every second as she turned toward Jessoin once more.

“I needed different boots,” she informed him, as if remarking the weather. “Let’s get to the torture room. I want the Vahla.” The cell block door lay ahead, locked with a passkey. With brief concentration, Tesa flicked her hand and the locked mechanism gave way. The door shwooshed open. A sharp cry of pain echoed from down the hall. “She keeps at least four guards.”