One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces (Open to Imperials)

[Sudoku]

Several hours had become several days.

The days had started to blend together around the one week mark.

He had remained quietly waiting in a small cell in the basement of god-only-knows-where. At least it was silent here, away from the bustle of the city planet, and had a few creature comforts. Such as the nearly flat mattress and pillow Kyashi rested on. Most people would find this type of place fearful, and he supposed that's what the Imperials were ultimately going for.

The sound of muffled footsteps could be heard coming down the hall. The young man barely batted an eye as the large durasteel door shifted and rolled open. A slight smirk passed his lips as he took in the face of the person who entered.

"It's about bloody time you showed up."

[Karl Valten]

To the public, the towering chrome spire dwarfing the buildings of Block 337A, known as the Exchange District for the immense interstellar stock market building in the block’s center, was just another of thousands of business enterprises dotting the cityscape for endless kilometers. To the Imperial government, it was the headquarters of the ethereal branch of intelligence known as the Inquisitoriate. To the Inquisitoriate itself, the building was just a mask to hide its true size.

Deep beneath the maze of durasteel and ferrocrete, in the deepest, most abandoned parts of the undercity, a sprawling complex of inter-linked structures made up the many square kilometers of the central Inquisitorial installation. One of dozens throughout the Imperium.

The bottom most levels contained a network of holding cells capable of holding thousands of prisoners that the Inquisitoriate wished to keep hidden from both the public and their own overlords within the bureaucracy of the Empire.

It was here that Kyashi was being held, far from any prying eyes.

Inquisitor Karl Valten smirked at the young adept’s naivety; the boy had no clue of the desperate situation he was in. Donned in full CMC-400 power armor, an experimental design reserved for a select view. Valten had to turn sideways just to fit the added bulk through the narrow frame.

Cold hard eyes, one a deep brown, the other a glowing blue eyepiece attached to a slate-gray device that curled around the left side of the Inquisitor’s skull, drilled holes through Kyashi as if he didn’t even exist.

Without any response to the boy’s quip, Valten moved his armored form into the room. With a flick of his arm, a bound stack of papers landed at the adept’s feet. Inside was every piece of information the Inquisitoriate could wish to have about him, every last detail from every stage of the boy’s life, from the streets frequented as a child to the restaurant he had eaten at just a week prior.

[Sudoku]

He raised a brow, sitting up to pick up the file at his feet. He thumbed quickly through it, chuckling.

"I'm glad to see you boys do your homework. Though, I'm a little surprized that you have information on me from back home - I suppose my father or one of his associates provided that?"

Kyashi sighed heavily and fell back into his pillow. He smiled at the armored Imperial who stood at the end of his bed. "So, why am I here? I thought for sure you'd have me executed by now."

[Tear]

"Because despite your apparent uselessness I've found a use for you." Tear emerged from behind the hulking armored body of Karl Valten. A brooding look of contempt for the boy was smeared over the Inquisitor's face.

"I've thought alot about you since our last enounter. Something I'm sure will stroke that magnificant ego of your's like a hit of spice. But try to keep your mouth shut for a moment." He moved like a serpent his fang cupped in his left palm. He struck just as fast sinking his venom into Kyashi's shoulder. His grip mimicked his dislike for the boy as the needle bent back and forth between his flesh, a moment later the snakes fangs slid free.

The needle was filled with million of microscope machines called nanites. Nanites could serve many purposes but for the Inquisitoriate it fell heavy on surveillance. They would track Kyashi's movements, heart and respiratory rate along with audio and sometimes even visual data. Regardless of what Kyashi was going to be a willing participent in his plans or not Tear, had assured some useful information would be retrieved.

Kyashi lip twitched as if to say anything but was quickly struck by a brick that was Tears closed fist.

"I do not like you. Further more I not like the fact I require you alive for however short duration you may serve to us. But dont mistake your beating heart as some sort of victory over the Empire. I will kill you it just wont be today." Tears knuckles bled with blood not his own as his fore arm tensed for another strike but his will held his hate in place.

"You'll be our eyes Kyashi and if you serve us well your usefullness will keep you alive a little bit longer." The Grand Inquisitors back was to him as he spoke. His blue eyes looked to Karl, he would be Kyashi's keeper. Words didn't need to be traded between the two Inquisitors as they both knew what needed to be done. Without another word Tear slipped from the cell and back into the hall's countless length of shadow intersected by barred light.

[Karl Valten]

Hollow clapping broke the silence of Tear’s exit; a solid metallic ringing from Valten’s armored gauntlets. The Inquisitor leaned against the reinforced frame of the cell door, his body effectively blocking the only way of escape. Throughout the whole of the Grand Inquisitor’s brief visit he had not said a thing, nor reacted in any visible way.

Now Karl wore a twisted grin on his face as he applauded Kyashi. Dealing with this one would very interesting indeed.

“Bravo, you have managed to tick off probably the most dangerous man in the Empire...and I’ve never seen him take anything personally.”

Karl straightened up and crossed the small cell. He stooped to pick up the bundle of papers. A sardonic laugh escaped the Inquisitor’s lips as he looked at the prone figure.

“I’m impressed.”

A mechanical whirr issued from Karl’s right gauntlet as a tiny compartment rolled away, revealing a charred nozzle. Valten depressed the firing-stud hidden inside his glove. With a sudden whoosh, a stream of flame raced out, consuming the papers. Karl tossed the flaming documents aside, talking in the lingering smell of burning ozone.

“All evidence of your existence has been erased, you have never been born, and you are now property of the Inquisitoriate.”

[Sudoku]

Kyashi spat blood onto the floor of his cell. A smirk appeared as he watched Tear leave the room, before turning his attention to Karl and the flaming documents.

"Yippee." He once again stretched out on the bed, one hand gingerly reaching up to his face which was quickly swelling. "I think he's mad because I made fun of his lame Force-skills. You'd think someone who's that high in rank would know how to do more than Force push..."

[Danni Reyok]

“And you would think that a great force adept, like yourself, wouldn’t be such easy prey for a simple-minded droid.” Her words came with an icy edge even through her monotone filter of her Nightmare armour. She sneered at the bloody teenager from under her helmet as she stepped into the cell, if you could call it that. The walls were pure durasteel, no windows or bars just solid walls. Other than the bed Kyashi occupied and a few lights there was nothing.

As much as Danni loved to insult and discriminate the Inquisition captives, she had come down here for another reason. She turned to Karl and raised one of her plated hands, in which she held a filed document. The information within didn’t interest her in the least but the Inquisitor on the other hand.

Danni graciously handed over her burden to the Inquisitor and reluctantly briefed him on the information within. “Sir, this is a record, retrieved from the Eidolon model, of Mr. Hatake’s arrest…” She nodded her head in Kyashi’s direction. “…and it appears that there was witness to this arrest. A woman by the name of Anna Darel, who insists on drinking her life away over her deceased family. We do not know her whereabouts as of now.”

[Sudoku]

"Since when have I proclaimed myself the next Force-wielding Messiah? I wish you people would stop trying to offend my ego with insults and taunts of how amazingly pathetic I am."

He kept his voice even-toned, and his features neutral as he spoke to the heavily armored...woman? Even he wasn't sure.

"And if I'm so defenseless, why are you all wearing armor? Surely you great and wise Imperials could fend off a little ole Adept like me, especially since, you know, your droid with the 10 tons of heavy weaponary caught me so easily."

He sat up a bit in the bed, brushing a few strands of hair out of his eyes. "I'm not stupid. I knew I couldn't do much against a droid like that, so why risk my neck? And as for that little bitch in the alley... I should have done away with her before I got her home."

[Karl Valten]

Valten took hold of the document from the newest of the Nightmares, a strong-willed and somewhat roguish former assassin and crack pilot. A quick look-over told him everything he needed to know.

“Thank you Corporal, but a drunkard hardly matters to us. Even if a few believe her there isn’t anything they can do.”

Valten handed the file back. He turned to Kyashi with a smirk.

“Good, I like someone who uses their brains.”

Kneeling beside the cot, Karl spoke in a low diplomatic tone.

“Let’s make us a deal. You have years of experience on the street that many of my people don’t have and an ability few of us have…” The Inquisitor tapped two fingers against his temple. “The ability to sense other adepts.”

“You have a clean slate, no one can find out who you are, you have perfect anonymity. We give you credits, weapons if needed, and free reign in the city. In return, you bring us force users.”

Valten stood up and made for the door.

“Anybody finds out about us, and the nanites the Grand Inquisitor injected you with will chew you apart from the inside out…….of course you could always stay here”

[Sudoku]

The boy perked up as soon as "free reign in the city" was mentioned...but otherwise his face remained blank as he listened to the rest of the "deal".

He stood up from the bed, and shrugged. "Nah, I think I'll be leaving. If you just want me to find other adepts...you've got yourself a deal."

[Karl Valten]

Hook. Line. And Sinker.

Karl was laughing inside, his skill reading and manipulating people was surpassed only by his field abilities. Kyashi was an experiment to see if force adepts could be coerced into serving the empire, a willing agent was so much more efficient than a mind-scrubbed drone.

“Corporal, please take Mr. Hatake to the small arms locker and let him pick a weapon.” Karl threw a glance over his shoulder as he exited with the two in tow. “You’ll have to scrounge up your own ammunition, security reasons.”

The Inquisitor lingered back as Corporal Reyok guided Kyashi down a separate path.

“One final thing, we found a confirmed adept, one by the name of Leiko Hatake. Someone else got to her before we could, a certain Khendon Sevon, an extremely powerful dark jedi. Be careful about approaching that one, the situation involving him is a bit…complicated.”

The rivalry between the Inquisitoriate and Office of the Executor was well known, but not until recently had there been any violence between the two groups. Both were now hunting for adepts, for use as pawns and to deny the other from reaching them.

[Danni Reyok]

OCC: sorry for the wait.

Danni stepped passed Karl as she led the newest pawn of the Inquisitoriate down an identical darkened hall. She half-heartedly listened to the last of the Inquisitor’s words and failed to stifle a chuckle at the mention of Khendon Sevon; she had heard rumors about the mishaps between the Executor and the Inquisitoriate. But the complication’s within the government wasn’t her concern at the moment.

She continued to lead Kyashi through a maze of pathways until they both reached one of the many lifts in the building. She motioned for the teenager to enter first as the doors slid away. Danni stepped onto the lift after the boy in silence. She turned to the console on lift wall and let her hand sweep over the computer. The lift came to life with a slight jerk upwards.

The lift moved slowly, to slow for Danni’s taste. Kyashi’s presence made her uncomfortable, she didn’t trust him. She lightly tapped the handles of her sheathed Ryyk blades that rest at her thighs as she gazed at the glowing light of the lifts floor.