Paradise in Hell

[Kyryanu Sevon]

She was left in the chair she'd been secured to, not even given the marginal comfort of a cell and the cot she knew was in them.. No; those who'd taken her had not seen fit to allow her the use of a detention cell, and had thus left her almost literally chained to a chair. Her whole body was sore, and coupled with the baby growing within her, she would have cried if she thought it would suit the situation. But it didn't, and so she refrained from that particular little ritual. She fostered anger, rage, and despair all into one, letting it well up inside to push against the dam that her bonds created.

She hadn't been here long, maybe a day. But already it seemed like a week.

Her eyes opened then, casting a hesitant, jade stare at her surroundings - and she saw nothing. The darkness around her was absolute, hiding that which she couldn't see. And it was that that fed her despair. Was the man with the bleeding eyes here? Was he just behind her? Or perhaps he was standing before her, shrouded in the inky blackness?

It was that fear that paralyzed her. She had never seen anyone like him - how he so calmy, coldy, and cruelly dealt with her in this most recent past.

Her breathing fell silent then, and she prayed that somehow this was all some horrible dream, and that Khendon would rouse her from the nightmare.

He didn't.

[Tear]

Into the Darkness I am taken. Like so many others I feel I am going willingly but with each step I am beginning to realize it is pulling me deeper.

The soft rub of fabric could suddenly be heard within the sealed room. The bacta patches had a tendency to itch irritatingly while they did their thing but as Tear’s finger attempted to scratch his eye under the layers of medical bandage he thought of something.

A cool sigh fell from Tears relaxed body as he sat on a steel table in front of Kyryanu who had just, for the brief moment, managed to fall asleep. The white light above them suddenly flickered on, brightly illuminating everything in the sterile white room. In its glimpses Kyryanu could see the room nearly looked like an operating room. With cold steel tables coated in white walls and polished ivory floors. There were noticeable contrasts however from the spatters of blood on her clothing and floor with the additional presence of half someone’s tongue laying next to her feet.

“Wake up Mrs.Sevon…” Tears breath fell warmly over the woman’s shoulders and neck causing her skin to crawl. Again the light flickered giving he the sickly image of Tears face right next to hers. The tears of blood had dried over his cheeks and lips.

“You’re going to tell me about your husband.” Tears voice echoed with an eerie disembodiment in the sterile black room. His location was never static but always speaking from a different position.

[Kyryanu Sevon]

Her eyes were quick to open, but Kyry screwed them shut almost immediately at the sight of her tormentor's face inches from hers. She could feel his breath on her as he spoke, and it made her cringe.

She strained against the clasps holding her to the chair, a futile attempt at best that would only make her more exhausted than she already was.

At the man's last statement, she fell still. Why was he asking her about Khendon? He should have known she wouldn't know anything about her husband's empire or his military strength. As things were, she was already in such a state of mind that her thoughts revolved only around Khendon taking her away from this nightmare.

"My husband... where is he... "

[Tear]

“Killing innocent people.” Tear said quietly from in front of Kyryanu. “Moments ago he launched an attack on two defenseless cities killing thousands…Most with families, loved ones…” Tear leaned in close and let a finger graze over his captives stomach. “Children.”

“Do you know what a Pawn is?” Tears words came in whispers that constantly swirled around her like she was twirling down a dark abyss and before she could answer his voice would answer for her. “You are a pawn Mrs.Sevon. I’m sure sitting here in the darkness you’ve been wondering why your husband, a man with seemingly limitless power has not come for you. Why he left you in the darkness…why he leaves your child in the darkness.”

The next words came from behind her right ear with a sense of realism that would soon be engraved in them. “To further his goals. You must know of his enemies and his need to be able to strike against them. Why else would he let his wife, the wife bearing his child to travel space without escort. Why not in the safety of a battle ship? Why didn’t you have escort ships travelling with you to ensure your safety and the safety of your child?”

The next words were growled as if Tear himself felt hatred for the man that would leave his family so defenseless. “Because he didn’t want you safe! He wanted you to be captured so he could act with vengeance. Placing blame on those he wishes to harm to further his own selfish goals.”

A few meters away a screen blinked into life relaying static across it for a moment before initializing a playback of a recent recording. The recording showed Khendon’s ship, the Viscera, unleashing two missiles onto the surface of a planet. The recording skipped to a skyscraper view of the city before a flash of light enveloped the screen and the resulting blast knocked the camera out. An audio clip kicked in playing back the tortured screams of the people mere moments after the blast hit.

“Your husband is a monster, and he is using you.” Tear walked quietly over to the steel table he had been sitting on previously and removed a tool from its surface.

“Someone must answer for what he is doing.” As Tear turned around the monitor that had let some light fill the room suddenly died, blanketing the two in darkness once again.

Kyryanu suddenly felt Tears hands fall over her right hand, separating her pinky from the rest of her fingers. Cold, sharp steel began to slowly bite into the skin just above her knuckle. “You will pay for his sins.”

Ever slowly the blade continued to slice inward, through flesh and into bone closing harder until snaps and cracks could be heard until eventually the “slinch” of sharp scissors brushing against each other was heard over the pop of broken bone.

[Kyryanu Sevon]

A choked cry of pain was the only sound she made. More than anything it was the shock of this happening once more that overrode her senses. It was how she had lost her left arm below the elbow all those years ago. Torture wasn't anything new to her, but losing limbs and extremeties would never fail to bring her world crashing down.

Her eyes shut tight, and she dipped her head forward, locks of red hair falling forward into her face. Sweat formed on her forehead, and Kyry sucked in deep breaths, almost hyperventilating as she watched the now disembodied finger drop to the floor and roll to a stop against her boot. Her chest heaved as she looked to the Imperial over the tops of her eyes.

"You lie," she managed to spit out through the pain, "My husband is no monster."

[Tear]

“Can you be so sure? I’m sure you know him more then most of the living in this universe. You must know of his past. A practitioner of the dark arts, a Sith. Do you know what the Sith are Kyryanu?” The sharp scrape of metal sliding against metal was heard through the small room once again as Tear opened the sheers.

The bloodied blades slid over fresh skin, slicing fresh lines of crimson as they drove into place around her next finger. “They’re monsters.” The blades screamed together cleaving through flesh and bone without hesitation.

The points of each blade were suddenly driven straight into the opened knuckle opening and closing as they sliced and chopped away bits of flesh and chips of bone. Tear suddenly stopped his vicious attack and took a step back. The room shuddered with the whimpering breaths of Kyryanu as her body shivered in shock and pain.

“So tell me Mrs. Sevon. How could your husband not be a monster? He trained with those who practice death and destruction.” Tear raised the sheers over his victim’s forehead letting the soft melodic drip of her own blood fall over her face.

“He tossed his wife into hell to advance his own agenda. He sounds like a monster to me…” Tear tossed the dripping sheers onto the cold steel table. Turning he retrieved a long piece of steel with an apparatus attached to its base. The Agents finger thumbed the trigger on the base and the room suddenly began to glow. The two were enveloped in a soft, warm, orange light. The tip of the needle burned hot twitching with the slightest movement of Tears hand.

“Now I know how powerful love can be and that you would gladly walk through hell to help your husband if he needed saving. But would you sacrifice your life and the life of your child for a man who just murdered thousands of innocents?" Tear kneeled, his body moving slow and controlled as he settled himself in front of Kyryanu’s remaining fingers.

His voice drifted over the room with the comfort of a warm blanket. Surrounding her in words she didn’t want to hear but probably couldn’t push from her mind. “How can you be so sure?” The searing tip floated down hovering just centimeters over the back of Kyry’s hand allowing her to feel the intense heat.

“Would you wager the life of your child on it?” The ignited tip drove home underneath the fingernail of Kyry’s middle finger. A tail of smoke snaked through the air dragging with it the smell of charring flesh as various sizzles and pops echoed through the dimly lit room.

[Kyryanu Sevon]

She screamed then, cries of anguish as the needle was driven beneath her fingernail. Her body wrestled with the restraints holding her down, and Kyry threw her head back, droplets of sweat and the blood that the Imperial had dripped on her flying.

Her torso twisted, straining aginst the bindings, but it did no good as his work went on. The smell of her own burning flesh wafted up into her face, and she let another cry of pain fill the room.

She could refuse to acknowledge his words against her husband, but this new searing, maddening pain coupled with the loss of yet another finger drove her almost wild with insanity. The merciless act of torture threatened to send her to the very brink of madness.

It was the thought of her child that brought her back. She could not miscarraige, and this struggling, this stress, and this pain would do just that.

Her screams slowly dies as Kyry faught to regain herself. Ever so slowly changing to whimpered yelps and choked sobs as she did her best to remain calm in the face of this horrid treatment.

[Tear]

Tear stood in silence over the quiet whimpers of his victim. Her last natural fingers were left smoldering and melted over the steel chair she was strapped into. The warm orange light flickered and played with the shadows over Tears bloody face. The warmth of the orange light played over them both letting Kyryanu see glimpses of the cold, emotionless face of the murderer that stood before her.

The light suddenly faded once again swallowing Kyry into a world of icy darkness and for a moment there was nothing…only silence. Like some sort of hunter led on by the smell of fear, Tear was silent. Listening to the solid rapid beats of his prey’s heart. The mere sound of his breathing as he circled around her caused the beats to rise only to steady again with his silence.

“Tell me Kyryanu…do you fear me? Or do you fear for the life of your child?” A sudden clatter of heavy of objects against the steel table ahead of her echoed noisily through the room. Before she could answer several pins were nailed into her elbow and a sharp set of cold teeth dug into the skin around the same area.

The lights in the room gently increased, although flickering with a sense of malfunction every now and then. If the woman looked she would see a sort of clamp attached to her arm with a purpose based around her elbow. The cold teeth were rusted and drew the sight of crimson at each point were they bit in.

Tear sat calmly onto the table in front of her. A small tug at the corner of his lips made him grin as he held up a stopwatch. “A test Kyryanu. This will be a test of love and sacrifice. The grisly looking apparatus attached to your elbow is roughly a bomb. Only instead of exploding it will blow with a force outwards, effectively ripping your elbow apart from its socket…possibly shattering all the bones in your remaining arm.

In Tears free hand he held up a syringe filled with a light blue liquid. “This is a slow acting poison. I will inject it into your hand and it will slowly make its way up your arm and into your heart where it will spread to the rest of your body in a matter of seconds. Yes…all of your body including your child.”

Tear leaned forward and stabbed the needle into Kyryanu’s still charred hand and quickly injected the poison. Leaving the needle in place Tear sat back and started the stopwatch. “You have three options. Option number one: renounce your love of Khendon Sevon and admit he is a monster that has used you and I will save you.

Option number two: Let yourself die but know I will save your child and know it will live full and happy life.

Or…Option number three: Save them both and activate the mechanism on your arm before the,” Tear glanced at the stop watch briefly, “Three minutes and fifteen seconds are up. Effectively destroying your only remaining natural arm but saving your life and the life of your child’s.”

The lights flickered dimly for a moment as Tears eyeless face stared back at her with all the emotion of a corpse. “Tick tock…”

[Kyryanu Sevon]

3 minutes, 15 seconds left...

Kyry gaped at the mechanism on her one remaining natural arm, then her eyes traveled to her other, smooth metal prosthetic. She turned wild eyes to the Imperial then, her breathing coming in short, quick gasps.

There were no words she could even bring to her lips. Of course there was no way she could ever admit to anything less than love for her husband. But the thought of her child being raised by anyone other than herself and Khendon hurt too much to think of. And then, the one dilemma that now gnawed at her and drove her almost to tears. Her one last arm... if she lost it, she would never again be able to feel for herself the lines in her husband's face, the feel of his hand over hers - the thought of having such tactile abilities destroyed tore her in two.

2 minutes, 38 seconds left...

And yet, something was happening within her. Something that had been unnaccounted for by all, even Kyry herself.

Somehow, whether through the Force or otherwise, the child within her was slowly yet steadily reversing the toxin that had been injected into Kyry's body. Whether it was a defensive reaction of conscious thought or an involuntary reaction acting of its' own volition, the child growing inside her was fighting the poison, rendering it harmless at a methodical pace.

2 minutes, 5 seconds left...

[Tear]

2 minutes 5 seconds left…

He saw it. Tear watched as the blackness invaded the woman’s body, traveling through her veins and sprinting through arteries but …he saw it. The blackness was halted, then dissipated by the baby inside.
If Kyryanu could have seen the look of surprise on Tears bandaged face she would probably feel a bit of relief.

1 minute 35 seconds left…

“Interesting,” Was the only word uttered in a tone that reflected Tears curiosity. He would have never expected the child to do such a miraculous thing. Then again Tear hadn’t sensed the child’s force sensitivity until now. A glance upward to a video camera for a moment Tear wondered if the scientists in another room noticed anything. The child was strong and it was a secret to be kept.

“Change of plans Mrs.Sevon. Poisons off, I’m going to have to make this a little more direct. Your options still stand though. I will even add something special, renounce your husband and I…will set you free.” Tear drew his blaster and pointed it at the helpless woman. The stopwatch continued and the lights flickered rapidly for a moment before steadying like they had been for the past five minutes.

“Tick. Tock.”

56 seconds left…

[Kyryanu Sevon]

56 seconds left...

Wild eyes once more went from the device on her arm to the Imperial who now held a blaster aimed dead center at her chest. The poison was off? She blinked, but it did nothing to help clear her senses, and Kyry balled the smooth metal fingers of her prosthetic into a fist. Confusion reigned over her dark world, and she was utterly lost.

She clung to the knowledge that she still had her child; still safe within her, and not stolen from her womb. The thought of such a thing happening sent a chill through her entire body, and she let out another choked sob. Not for fear of her own safety - no, things had gone far beyond that with her hand now mangled and torn apart - but for the safety of the baby girl inside of her.

As the light continued to threaten darkness, she again caught a glimpse of his face; dried blood and bandages over his eyes. A brief memory flashed before her own eyes then, of the Imperial kneeling before her, his eyes bleeding.

"Who are you... "

32 seconds left...

[Tear]

32 seconds left…

“Who are you?”

Tear couldn’t help but smile at the question. Who am I? Good question, Tear didn’t know the answer himself. His persona had been ripped apart and dissected too many times to retain anything of his true self. Although if she truly wanted to know him…she would see the monster that even a murder like Tear would keep caged up inside his mind.

20 seconds left…

“You really want to know?” Tears head canted to the side as his free hand untied the halo of white bandages that covered his eyes. The lights flickered and dimmed. Tear leaned forward as he opened his eyes. His once cold blue eyes were stained red as fresh blood slowly began to pool at the corners of his eyes.

15 seconds left…

“Because I don’t.” His eyes caught hers and as natural tears fell from her swollen eyes, tears of blood fell from his. A searing glow of red patterns began to flow across Tears body. They were in fact tribal tattoos branded onto his body as protective wards to keep a particular person imprisoned in Tears mind. The dark sider reached out and touched Kyry’s forehead.

A sudden flash of horrific images burned through her mind. For that single moment Ta’sath walked barefoot through the shattered fields of glass that was Kyryanu’s mind. He reveled in the intense pain and sorrow he was causing. His chaotic essence screamed in anger for the moment there was no limit to the horrific things he could do inside her very mind.

13 seconds…

In the time it took for the tears of blood to roll down Tears cheek Ta’sath was sucked back into the depths he came from. Kyryanu’s head snapped back nearly breaking her own neck as her mind reassembled and attempted to cope with what had just happened. She would be fine soon enough, the pain and the memories of what had just occurred wouldn’t even last the minute she needed to realize what had happened. She would forget it ever happened.

Tear stood staring down at her as he backed up to the steel table.

“Choose.”

7 seconds…

[Kyryanu Sevon]

7 seconds...

Her chest heaved as she recovered from the assault upon her mind, and she felt utterly drained. Her body sagged in the chair as she slumped forward. What had just happened she couldn't be too sure of, but it had been terrifying to the point of nearly driving her insane with pure madness and drowning her in a lake of fire and gnashing teeth. Kyry closed her eyes, the pain from her right hand throbbing as her lifeblood seeped through the open wounds that had once been slender, fingers.

4 seconds...

She would never denounce Khendon, that much she knew. And if that meant never being able to feel his hand in hers or the lines of his face, or never being able to truly hold her child with gentle hands, then so be it. She spoke not a word, not even a pained murmer or sound.

She didn't even look up, simply leaning as far forward as the restraints would allow as the pain inflicted upon her body took its' massive toll. She was light-headed, the loss of blood slow and steady as it fell from her hand to pool on the armrest and drip to the floor.

1 second...

[Tear]

“Times up.”

The stopwatch ticked one last tick as it reached 0 seconds. Tear sighed almost hesitantly as he holstered the blaster and picked up remote that was lying on the steel table behind him.

“My choice now. You will lose your remaining arm and before you lose consciousness which you most certainly will after the your elbow is ripped apart, I want you to know…I’m taking your child away from you.”

A soft click was heard echoing through the room before it was cut off before the sound of a explosive bang and the metallic screech of gears rotating. If she looked down she would see bits of her flesh spattered over the room and herself. The remains of her forearm was lying a few feet off to her side while spears of bone poked out from the torn nub that was left of her natural arm.

The lights in the room suddenly brightened pouring a holy white light over the both of them. Blinding Tear, the demon in the process. He stumbled back slightly clutching his face turning to face Kyryanu. Her face spattered with her own blood an awe struck expression etched into it as her body went numb with shock.

The doors to the prison suddenly hissed open allowing two men in white lab coats access. An invisible force lifted Kyryanu’s limp body and placed her carefully onto the steel table, which now with the lights on was visible as an operating table.

Few moments passed in the swirl of time that no longer held meaning to the woman that struggled with her consciousness in fear of her child being taken away. The voices of the doctors echoed like a mixture of some odd alien dialect.

It looked almost like a mirage her vision swirled and faded picking up the odd word, “stabilize her damn it. She’s lost too much blood, my god what have you done to her.”

“We don’t need her only the child.”

“Wait she’s stabilized.”

“I have her.”

Kyryanu could feel them taking her only child…then darkness, warm, comfortable, darkness took Kyryanu Sevon.

[Kyryanu Sevon]

She had been unable to cry out in protest before the blast ripped the lower half of her remaining arm from the rest of her body, and the shock had been more than enough to stay her tongue.

They were taking her child. They were taking Khendon's child. They were taking the baby. Her baby. Khendon's baby. They were taking her. Even if she was only six months along in her pregnancy, she was losing the child. To lose Curzon, her first husband, had been heartwrenching. But to lose the life growing within her - this was devestating. A life that she and Khendon had created was being stolen, and she felt something die inside of her.

She had faught as much as her weakening body had allowed, but it wasn't enough to ward off those intent on removing the baby. If she had been able to cry out, to plead with them to stop, she would have.

And as she fell into the inky dark of her subconscious, memories that had once been wonderful and heartwarming were now torturous reminders of the events leading up to this moment.

Memories of the first dinner they had shared together over Bespin; memories of the time the had spent in eachother's compny on Delteon. The days spent lazily in bed or playing against eachother on some random flight sim on the Holostation 2. And then, the day she found out she was pregnant. Scared at first, the feeling had soon passed to excitement as she made the journey to Omerose to tell Khendon.

And the look etched on his face when she had told him was something that she would never be able to forget.

But now... now they were all painful reminders of what was now being taken from her.

And deep withing the darkness of her subconsious, Kyryanu Sevon screamed in complete and utter mental anguish for the loss of her child.

[Tear]

Tear stood a statue in a room of evil. He had destroyed many things in his life and in his profession. It was his job to destroy, murder, and butcher beings without prejudice. If he was told to do a task he did it no matter the cost of innocent lives. Actually innocent lives were usually good collateral in most instances.

But this woman, this, mother. She probably lost more in the last twenty-four hours then she had her entire life. Tear had done this and the sad thing was, he felt no remorse or guilt for doing so. In fact he would do it all over again to hear her screams of pain. To revel in the look on her face when he would instill a fear that not many beings feel in their life times. It was his job and he loved it.

“Place her in a stasis chamber I want her preserved the way she looks right now.” Covered in blood, her arm ripped to pieces her stomach freshly sewn back together. Kyryanu Sevon was a shattered woman.

“And what of the child, sir?” A scientist bathed in a white lab coat stood nearly frothing at the mouth with the thought of instituting his experiments on the force sensitive baby.

“Take finger prints and a blood sample then place it also in a stasis chamber.” Tear eyed the scientist suspiciously for a moment as he read the conflict of interest in the scientist’s eyes. “I’ll drop by to check on the child’s status in a little while.”

“Yes sir.” The man scampered off to do his chores, leaving Tear walking alone in a corridor of polished durasteel.

A set of doors hissed open admitting Tear to the bridge of what was an old and very abandoned military station. Various personal all either Intelligence or Inquisitoriate of Tears choosing milled about performing tasks. What better place to perform evil acts then by a station that gave birth to the very tools of evil. The forgotten station was the birthplace of several grand weapons that filled the universe with terror in the days of the old Empire. Today its nothing but an empty shell forgotten by the new factions.

But forgotten is exactly what Tear was looking for. Forgotten by both factions even by the woman who had sent him on this mission. The very make up of space around him forbade any investigating ships and those that did manage to get by the black holes Tear had the possible navigation routes mined. Eight skipray blast boats also patrolled space between the barriers and the station just incase a ship managed to sneak through which was highly unlikely his ships would pick it up.

It was Tears tree fort in a sense. Tucked away from the notice of any section in the Sovereignty. Esalis, The inquisitoriate and Imperial Intelligence didn’t know the Agent had situated himself there. Conducting various side projects and research over the last few months from the moment the stations systems were rebuilt and brought online.

Tear sat down into the plush leather of his command chair situated nearly center in the room. A dazed look melted over his features as he let fatigue finally settle in from the past few days actions. The swirling mist of the nebula they floated through nearly blocked the blanket of tiny diamonds that were stars.