The interrogation room we were in was cold by design. Imperial aesthetics didn't change much, and they weren't known for hospitality, so the holding cells of the orbiting station's upper command deck were even less so. The walls were steel-gray, embedded with thin lines of security scanners and hidden monitoring devices to make sure there wasn't anyone escaping. It wasn't designed to look at a camera field, as some species could even go invisible. It was designed to measure body heat, the change in the air's composition as beings continued breathing, using data like that to make sure the cells had the correct parameters and nobody sneaked out of them.
To my mild surprise, our captured opponents kept still and didn't try to use the Force to facilitate an escape. The two Sith simply sat side by side, their wrists and ankles bound. They looked tense, yes, but not like people who were afraid for their lives. The taller of the two, the pale human man with green-tinted eyes and black-braided hair, stared at the center of the room as if trying to bore through the durasteel wall with his focus alone. Maybe he was trying to do that... heh. Anyway, the other one, the one with the mask, remained silent, still dressed in tight tactical robes. Of course, the mask came off his head after properly capturing them, revealing the surprisingly young face of a zabrak boy, maybe fourteen or fifteen. Were they master and disciple? Maybe... I couldn't really tell. Both of them refused to move or speak, waiting for the interrogation.
Which was about to begin.
Master Katarn stood near the entrance, arms crossed, his lightsaber clipped to his side, making sure it was visible but inactive. His presence alone was a great pressuring force because he was actually using the Force to make the room feel... suffocating. Vila paced like a restless wolf, occasionally casting sharp glances at the pair, visibly unhappy with their silence and that they refused to even acknowledge her or her Master. She was... kinda cute. Khm. Then, there was HK-O1, who hovered behind me with an exaggerated show of calmness, his photoreceptors bright and occasionally flickering like he was taking internal notes. I didn't know until now that droids could be this expressive.
Anyway... it was time to start the real questioning.
"Can I?" I murmured, exchanging a glance with Ben. "Let me, Master." He simply nodded, stepping to the side, letting me take over his role as interrogator. It was planned like this from the start. His questions were basic, blatant even, with answers that we for sure knew already. It was for me... so I can attune myself to the two and catch their reactions and thoughts via the Force. I was ready, so it was time to strike.
I stepped forward. The Sith—both of them—didn't look at me, of course, but I could feel their attention shift, like a prickling at the edge of my mind. Force users always knew when someone else dipped into the current, and I think they were preparing for me to try and use the Force to pry their lips open. They weren't wrong.
"I don't need you to speak," I said softly. "But I know you're already thinking of a dozen ways to resist us."
Again, neither moved. But I let my hand drift close to the table—no threats, no pressure—and I closed my eyes. My senses expanded outward, gently brushing the surface of their thoughts. I wasn't invading them—not yet. That was for when I had no other option. For now, it was like... sitting in a boat, gently touching the surface of a lake, feeling the ripples passing by me, getting a feeling from them.
The taller one thought in sharp, ordered patterns—military training? Probably... maybe. He was, for sure, focused. Trained to resist interrogation methods used by the old Empire and... the Hutts? Hm... He had seen some serious things; I could feel it. He wasn't afraid of torture nor dying, and he knew that we, as Jedi, would do neither of those. He was confident... But beneath that armor of belief was something more chaotic. As I focused... I could feel frustration. Treachery. Fear... No. Not fear, not anymore. That part had faded. He threw that part out quick.
"You were ready to leave," I said aloud, opening my left eye partially. "You knew the deal would fall through."
That got a twitch. It was barely noticeable. Others would probably miss it, but I felt it at the tip of my fingers. But it was there... and I latched onto it.
"Darian sold you maps, didn't he?" I went on, my voice even, quiet and firm. I was giving them the impression that I wasn't asking because I was looking for an answer; I was doing it to make them realize we knew it already. "Navigation codes, trade routes, maybe even patrol patterns from Iskandor's outer holdings."
Again... A flicker in the Force. A ripple of surprise...? Mhm... Yes. They didn't think I'd know that... Well, I didn't, but thank you for confirming it. Navigation codes were the strongest reaction. Now... where to... is the actual question.
"Your deal was for two parts," I muttered, and sure enough, their feelings answered. Good... Good! "You got the first half." I pushed, invading a little bit deeper, more forcefully, and with their current surprise, they didn't notice it. "Darian wanted his father out, and you were meant to help make that happen. Were you...? You made a deal with him, but you knew he would be just as treacherous as you are, so you played him... You made him believe you needed both parts of his information." Oh... I was very much onto them. Their reaction was now even visible to the others. Got you... Got you good!
"...And yet," Vila added, folding her arms as she leaned on the back wall, "you were already packing your bags. So you only needed one half, and he gave it to you. Hah..." she snorted.
Finally, the younger Sith turned slightly, unable to prevent himself from doing so, trying to look at Vila. That was all I needed.
"You knew Vestara was going to betray him," I smiled. "You knew she already had the information you needed from the get-go. Darian was just a tool—useful for his ambition. You were staying behind to see if you can plant some future backdoors if needed... Darian himself was easy to discard once he turned irrelevant."
"Hmph," The tall Sith finally snorted and began speaking, his voice being low and sardonic. "You seem very sure of yourself for someone who only guesses, Jedi."
"I don't guess," I answered. "I am explaining to you that your resistance is... just a front. Useless. Because we already know it all."
Then, I opened myself further to the Force, letting their emotions ripple into mine, intertwining them and amplifying their doubts and negative emotions. I was making them paranoid, making them doubt themselves, and also making them feel abandoned. By then, my heart thudded in rhythm with the breath of the Force, and from the taller Sith, I felt a flicker of memory surfacing. They were not full images, not a vision... but more akin to a sensation. Remains of a... Focus Kael... It was the remains of a conversation. It was filled with tension. Then, I heard a woman's voice. A name... Vestara. It was her orders.
"She told you she'd leave you behind if things got too hot," I murmured, holding onto the feeling, trying to pull it out of them. Then, a sudden tug on the feeling. They were finally onto me and began pulling back. But... It was too late. "She tipped off the Empire," I finished. "She realized my Master was coming," I added, amazed by the notion, blinking my eyes as to where it came from... but it felt right. Felt true.
The younger one's hand clenched instinctively... It had to be true. Vestara probably has some kind of power or a ritual to discover it. Whatever it was, she initiated the closure of their deal and warned these two, but she probably doesn't know how much time she got before we showed up. That's why it failed...
Got you. Now... to make them speak, I was trying to play on their feelings.
"Vestara never intended to keep you around," I said softly. "The only reason you're not dead is because we showed up first."
Still silence. Was it too much? No... their aura had changed. What was it I was feeling? Hmm... Not rage. Not defense.
Resentment.
"I can feel the anger in you," I continued. "Not at us. At her."
"She used you," Ben suddenly added, stepping up beside me. "And we're the only ones who care enough to stop her before she does worse. So tell us—where was she going?"
"We don't know," the young one growled. He was less experienced, and he showed it by beginning to talk. "She was careful. Is that not what the Sith are known for?"
"No," I corrected him, my focus moving over, "Sith are known for thinking they're the smartest person in the room… until they get outplayed."
[Statement: True.] HK-O1 piped in suddenly, startling everyone, including me, so much so that my concentration almost broke then and there. [Clarification: And while you meatbags were clumsily exchanging barbs, I was accessing the memory core of the ship you were preparing for your escape.]
Everyone turned to him, and it took me a great deal of effort not to get angry. He tilted his head slightly in what might have been smugness—if droids could smirk, maybe even feeling my emotions.
[Statement: It took longer than I would have liked. My Imperial security protocols are... outdated. My processors are dissatisfied with their current... State.]
"And?" Katarn asked. "Get to the point, rustbucket."
[Revelation: I have retrieved the navigational plotting from the past twelve hours. The coordinates were pre-loaded—likely to allow a rapid departure without needing confirmation from the station.]
HK's arm extended, projecting a map of the galaxy in a flickering blue hologram. The outer rim blinked to life—northward from the Galactic Core, past known Republic and Remnant space. Near wild regions, skirting the fringes of habitable or charted systems.
[Statement: Here,] HK said. [An unmarked system in the old Rakatan Cliff of No Return.]
"The what?" Vila asked before I could.
[Clarification: No actual name is accessible in modern archives. What I know is from... Old memories. Damaged ones. The territory is likely uncharted.]
"Perfect place to hide," Vila muttered. "If you didn't want to be found. But what is a Rakatan?"
"Good question..." Master Katarn said, eyeing HK, but nobody got deeper into the topic. "So they are heading out of sight to hide... Or to build something," Katarn added grimly. "And from what we know, it would be an empire of their own."
"Most likely," I looked back at the Sith, speaking. "You don't have to help us find it anymore. Thank you for your cooperation."
The younger one didn't respond to my words... But the taller Sith—his gaze finally broke from the wall. He looked at me, then at the map. I felt the conflict in him. It had... Anger. Humiliation for what I did... And something else… Regret? No. It was... opportunity.
"You need us if you want to get through the Veil."
"The Veil?" Vila blinked her eyes. "What is that?"
"Without us both, you, as Jedi, won't be able to go through it."
"Yeah, sure!" Master Katarn snorted, but... I felt his words.
"No," I said. "He isn't bluffing. He is deadly serious..."
"Heh!" He chuckled darkly. "Go ahead... Try it. And get yourself destroyed... Jedi."
[Threatening Observation: If I must, I will use both ends of the stick to make him talk... Hopeful Query: Master Meatbag, can I beat them already?]
"No." I snorted, not even looking at him.
[Remorseful Acknowledgement: Typical Jedi meatbag response]
"Well then..." Master spoke up, his face stern and contemplating something. He knew something... he just didn't want to say it now. "Let's get prepared... we need to get on the move and do it fast."