Chapter 10 - Interlude

NOX

Darth Nox casually strode into the room, unsure if it was healthy to be so happy that he was about to crush someone's spirit and likely shatter some bones. He wore purple robes with dark purple shoulder ornamentations, as well as a black-and-gold mask with two pitch-black holes for vision. The hood was up, and his lightsaber hung casually at his wait.

Khem Val strode behind him, an ever-present precaution just in case anything somehow managed to pose a threat to the Dark Councilman. The massive Dashade's armor was died black and red, and that grim expression was seemingly the only one he was capable of wearing; Nox hadn't seen anything else in all the time they'd known each other. A massive blade was strapped to his back, and his eyes darted back and forth suspiciously.

The prisoner on the ground was a scrawny Republic wretch, found out in the Taris wilderness near an Imperial outpost. He'd been taken up in chains to the Imperial orbital station, where he had been waiting interrogation for a day or two now. He was finally going to get it… and it was going to be splendid. Nox had been on Taris strictly on other matters, but when he'd heard about this case, he had simply had to do the interrogation himself, unconventional though it may be for a Councilman to do so. It had been far too long.

The soldier's eyes widened as he recognized the mask; he knew what was to come. Even better. Darth Nox was occasionally referred to as the "Breaker," in honor of his ability to break the spirit and get answers out of everyone he questioned, no matter how resilient, or so he'd been told. Such nice things people said about him…

Nox strode directly up to the pathetic thing on the floor and got down on one knee, so that his face was level with the soldier's. "So you have the stones to look me in the face, do you? I'm impressed." He then casually used the Force to fling him into the nearest wall. There was a satisfying crunch as something snapped, and the soldier slumped against the wall, clutching his side. "Wha…" he began, but he felt himself being turned around and his head being slammed once, twice, three times against the wall. His nose was broken. A tooth was missing. Where was it? Oh, there it was.

As the soldier crumpled, Nox walked forward. "There's more where that came from, worm, I assure you," he said in a gravelly baritone, a tinge of amusement in his voice. "Believe me, all of that was just a taste of what is to come if you don't tell me exactly what I want to hear. Now, explain to me: why were you near that outpost?"

The man slowly shook his bloodied head. "I-I assure you, S-Sith, I was only, lo-um, lost. That's the word. The rest of my squad was killed by rakghouls and they busted our long-range communication and navigation equipment. I was just trying to find a Republic base." This brought along a five-second silence, and Nox seemed to believe it. Then he turned around. "Khem," he said.

"[What is it, my master?]"

"Come over here and backhand this pathetic creature for me, would you?"

In a flash, the Dashade was there, delivering unto his face a backhand so fast and powerful Nox was surprised the soldier's neck didn't snap. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), his head simply snapped to the side as he cried out in agony and was thrown a foot or two to the right. "Thank you, Khem."

"[Any time, my master.]"

Nox moved back in front of the man, knelt down, grabbed his head, and wrenched it so the man was looking at him once more. "A poorly constructed lie, Republic scum. Tell me the truth."

"That is the truth, I swear!" At this, the Sith Lord actually hissed in displeasure. He fired off a weak surge of electricity directly into the man's face, causing his entire body to convulse and a weak cry to escape his lips. "It. Is. Not," said Nox, watching him shake. "I find it highly unlikely that a fully-trained squad of soldiers wasn't able to hold off a simple pack of rakghouls with minimal losses. Even if they were able to overwhelm you, they certainly wouldn't leave any survivors. Even if you were fairly far away, those mutated bastards have surprisingly keen noses and can run a whole lot faster than you can, I assure you. And to top it all off, most rakghouls don't have nearly enough brainpower, nor any reason, to destroy every last bit of long-range communications equipment you have. You are a pathetic excuse for a liar and just for that…" Nox whipped out a vibroknife from his belt. "… You just lost a joint."

The knife flashed and suddenly the soldier's right ring finger was a joint short. He stared at its grotesque, bleeding form for a moment before crying out. Or, at least, he tried to do so; Nox's fist in his gut immediately forced all the air from his lung, causing him to gasp. The Darth casually shot a small spark out of his left index finger, hitting the wretch's finger stump and instantly cauterizing the wound. He leaned in until face was mere inches from the soldier's. "Now," he said, "Tell. Me. The. Truth."

The soldier considered weeping, but thought better of it. That wouldn't help any, and besides, it wasn't like he had that strong of a will. He knew he was done for. "I… I stand by what I said. It's the truth… and if you don't like it, you can… can kill me, Sith." He steeled himself for the inevitable beatdown, looking into the Sith's eyes with fiery conviction.

The Sith's… eyes.

Nox had taken off his mask.

The soldier made a pathetic attempt to scramble back as he gazed into those soulless red eyes, a vibrant crimson the color of blood. Nox's skin was deathly pale, with his putrid veins popping up all over, especially around his eyes. His skin was dry and cracked as the Sith Lord gave him the most devious grin he'd ever had the absolute displeasure of witnessing. The aura of darkness radiating from Nox seemed to grow even stronger than before, something that the soldier would've thought impossible. As he gazed into those eyes, he felt his will to live being sapped away, the hopelessness of the situation overtaking him. Why fight? Why resist? Surely it was easier to just submit. After all, it wasn't as if the Republic stood any chance with this… this thing on the other side.

Nox's grin stretched further, exposing surprisingly white teeth. "You can feel it, can't you?" he asked, leaning in. Stars, even his breath reeked of death and destruction. "The hopelessness, the despair? Of course you do. Of all the people I've used this trick on, only one was able to resist, and I had no real confidence that it would work on him anyway. That bastard… anyway, I think it's quite obvious that not only do you have secrets you're desperately trying to hide from me, but you don't have enough willpower to resist more than a few seconds."

'The eyes,' the soldier thought. 'It's the eyes that make me feel like this. I just have to look away…' He made a move to do so, but he was quickly immobilized. With a thought, Nox flung the man against another wall, producing another crunch. He held him there, spread-eagle, completely unable to move. The Councilman sauntered over oh-so casually, and leaned in once more. The soldier had no choice but to look into those terrible eyes, to feel all hope being sapped away, to feel all his will to resist flee him. "Now," Nox said, leaning in so that their faces were almost touching, "You. Will. Submit!"

His eyes flashed purple, and the hopelessness suddenly increased tenfold. The soldier made one last attempt to do something, anything, to break the Sith's hold, but it was no use. "Strike force," he whispered. He gasped as Nox punched him in the stomach. "What was that, worm?" he asked.

"Strike force!" the man screamed, somehow finding the strength to do so. "There's a large strike force… stationed a few miles west… from where you found me. I was scouting ahead, to… to see what kind of defenses the Imps had. They're not supposed to attack until I come back with information, and since it hasn't been that long since you captured me, there's a chance that they're still there, waiting for a report. You could… you could find them, flush them out, slaughter them mercilessly like you Imps always do."

Nox smiled once again. "There. That wasn't so hard." He released his hold on the man, and he fell to the ground, now weeping openly. "Now, now, no need to cry," he said, chuckling lightly. "You only betrayed your comrades and earned them almost-certain annihilation. Keep that up and you just might make it as an Imperial. "Or…" His grin widened. "I could just leave you here to rot, force you to live with the fact that your allies, your friends, are totally doomed. Yes, that seems like fun." He turned to leave, putting his mask back on. "Oh, and a final parting gift…"

There was a light smacking sound as the man's finger hit him square in the face, poking the eye and dropping in his lap. "Enjoy," Nox said, striding out of the room, Khem following close behind.

"Well, that was fun, wouldn't you say, Khem?" Nox asked as they strode down the hallway, towards his ship.

"[I will admit it was enjoyable, my master.]"

"I thought you might think so."

"[I have one question, though, my master, if you are willing to hear it.]"

This gave the Sith Lord pause. "Yes, Khem? What is the question?"

"[Who was the man your powers did not work on?]"

At this, Darth Nox smiled under his mask. "Ah, yes, that man. I believe Nikos was with me when I first met and fought him over some boring issue or another; of course you wouldn't remember. He actually managed to beat me quite handily. I believe I introduced you to him at dinner once; Darth Vatrus was his name," He paused. "Hmmm, we haven't spoken in quite some time. I wonder how he's doing…"

AN: So that was fun. It was actually done a while ago; I just delayed posting it for some reason. I forget why. Anyway, I hope you enjoy; thanks again to Laryn Chillbreeze for her... well, she actually said it was amazing without editing, so, uh, thanks for your support! Moving on; do you guys think he should interact with Vatrus and Satele? That would be fun to write, I think. Let me know if he should and to what extent!

And, before you ask, yes, I know how the story's going to end. It's just exactly what's going to happen getting there that I have a problem figuring out. Any tips would be appreciated, I assure you.

Anyway, I have a debate paper to write. Blech. See you!