As Vader continued to circle, Padme took in more information, and immediately felt sick. Not just at the sight before her, but the smell as well. The room didn't just smell of sweat, blood, and tears, but of burnt flesh, vomit, and urine. Whatever had happened before they had brought her here, Padme was glad she had missed it. She felt a small feeling of guilt from feeling that way, but she couldn't hid her feelings. And as the smell hit her nostrols again, Padme tried to pull her hands away from the clone troopers' grasp to cover her nose… but failed. She fought the urge of being sick, trying to hold it together, but knew she was failing. Just like Vader wanted. Vader wanted this. Vader knew. It was always his plan.
"Senator Amidala," Vader finally said, his voice booming with more roughness than usual, "I believe you may be acquainted with some of these individuals?"
"I am not." She responded quickly, making sure her mental walls were secure. She would give nothing away. She was not weak, and she would prove it.
Vader sighed, a long dramatic sigh, "Pity."
But Padme knew it was anything but pity, just from his sigh she knew what this was, another one of his games. "What is this, Lord Vader?" She growled, looking at the three men that were now starring at her as well.
"Your punishment." Vader growled, and without warning, he ignited his lightsaber and twisted it in his grasp. The man closest to Vader did not even have time to scream as his body was sliced into pieces. Limbs, a body, and a head fell apart, some falling to the ground while others clanked against their restraints. The two remaining men screamed out in horror as their friend fall into pieces around them.
Padme herself was even too filled with horror to react. She was frozen. Helpless to watch.
Vader was the only one unfazed. He did not care. Stepping over a piece of the man he had just killed, he made his way toward the second man that instantly recoiled in horror.
"You think silence is... strength?" Vader mused. The man said nothing; his lips locked together trying to hold their secrets.
"I don't need you to talk to spill your secrets." Vader whispered, his voice as cold as ice, "I'm stronger than that."
Vader raised his gloved hand, forcing the second man's head to snap back, slamming into the strange chair, as a loud scream escaped his lips.
"Now, speak." Vader hissed, his face inches from the second man's, "Or the same fate awaits you."
"You're… You're going to kill me anyways." The man chocked out through pain, "My fate is… is already decided."
"Perhaps." Vader agreed, "But it could have been less painful. Either way, I got what I wanted." For a moment, the man stopped chocking, but not for long. Vader did not drop his hand, instead, he stepped forward to wrap his own hand around the man's neck. As Vader's grip began to tighten and the man began to groan, Padme was snapped out of her frozen prison.
"No!" Padme screamed, as she tried to pull out of the clone troopers' grasps. "Vader, stop, please stop!"
"You have forgotten who I am, Senator." Vader responded as he continued to tighten his grasp, "Time for you to remember."
Seconds later, a loud snap sounded in the room, signaling the breaking of the man's neck as the man fell forward hanging against his restraints like a broken child's toy.
"You coward!" The final man yelled, tears pouring down his face as he pulled against the shackles around his wrists, "You kriffing, Sith scum!"
The room turned dark once again as another swell of anger raced through the Sith Lord and everyone felt it. Vader turned to the final man and stalked towards him like a beast on a rampage. A huge burst of sparks threw through the room as Vader slashed the final man's restraints with his glowing red blade. The final man fell to the floor with a loud thud before he groaned loudly pushing himself up onto his knees on the bloody floor.
Vader circled him, looking much like a wolf circling its prey. The man dared not look up from his spot on the floor, knowing that if he did, his eyes would meet with Death himself. Vader paused directly in front of the man that sat on his knees, cowering in fear on the floor. Silently, the Sith reached his hand out to his side, calling one of the clone trooper's blasters into his grasp. Without a word, he threw the blaster onto the floor before backing away from the now armed man. However, the man made no move towards the weapon, and instead continued to shiver in fear on the floor.
"I'm the coward." Vader laughed darkly, "But yet, you won't even try to defend your life."
The man said nothing, just continued to quiver in fear, his eyes locked on the ground.
"You're pathetic." Vader hissed as he called the blaster back into his palm. "First, you spill your secrets, then you soil yourself, and now, you quiver on the floor refusing to fight for your life." Vader reached down, grabbing the man's hand and putting the blaster into the man's grasp. The man let out small cries, as Vader continued to move his hands over the weapon, until the Sith put the blaster into the correction position that he wanted. Vader pulled away to admire his work. The blaster sat in the man's hands, the man's finger near the trigger, and the tip of the blaster touching the man's head. "Why don't you do us all a favor?" Vader said coldly, taking his hands completely off the blaster before moving away from the man with a small chuckle.
"Don't." Padme cried to the man, but it was already too late. The man had already waded his options, and picked his death over the Sith Lord. The man pulled the trigger, taking his own life. Padme closed her eyes, turning away from the scene, not wanting to see the gruesome death. She only opened them when she heard the man's body fall to the floor, and as it did, she was sure she had heard Vader laugh.
The monster.
Still, Padme was too scared… too shocked to speak. She was horrified. She couldn't believe what had just unfolded before her. It had to be a dream. A terrible nightmare.
As Vader neared her, she backed away, as far as possible, cowering in fear of him just like the other men. She didn't try to stop the tears that started to fall down her face. She couldn't hide her fear. She was too scared. She was too afraid.
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