The Punishment for Careing

[Ashe Sieris]

AFI LYRICS
"Prelude 12/21"

This is what I brought you this you can keep,
This is what I brought you may forget me.
I promise to depart just promise one thing,
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.

This is what I brought you this you can keep,
This is what I brought you may forget me.
I promise you my heart just promise to sing,
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.

This is what I thought,
I thought you need me,
This is what I thought so think me naïve,
I promise you a heart you'd promise to keep,
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.


* * *

Ashe quickly gathers her things in preparation of leaving Nar Shadda. Zereth had left the day before, to where, she was unsure. But something else was coming. She could feel the force pushing her away from this place. Warning her to flee before something bad happened. And she knew she needed to listen to it this time. Zereth and her had been attacked only a short time ago on the planet. It was only a matter of time before it might happen again. She hoped what ever it was had chanced Zereth off the planet. But at the same time, she prayed that it hadn't so he would remain safe.

Ashe finaly finished gathering her things and walked out the hotel door. She paused, looking behind her at the empty room. Not 24 hours ago, she had woken to find Zereth sitting only a few paces from where she stood now. A dull pain built up in her chest as tears welled up. She shook her head to try to purge the thoughts from her mind. She couldn't allow him to affect her as he had. She quickly turned and walked out, alowing the door to slide shut behind her.

She had already dropped off the slide key at the desk as she was walking out of the hotel. Her pace quickened as she pulled her hood up to walk through the streets of the city. She used the force to make herself as unnoticable as possible, blending in with the crowds on the street as much as she possibly could.

She turned the corner into the ship yards and walked to the docking bay where a ship awaited her to take her off this planet. As she stepped into the bay, she instantly knew something was wrong...

No one was within the docking bay. Not a single soul. The captain was supose to be awaiting her at the door to the ship, but there was no sign of her. She cautiously took a few steps towards the spaceship and looked around, using the force to enhance her senses. She dropped her bags to the ground and slipped her hand within her cloak to grasp her lightsaber and waited...

[Neo-Genesis]

It was too simple. Mortals were too simple, to locked in their ways, so incapable of adapting to sudden change that it was a miracle they were not extinct. Perhaps the only reason for their continued survival was the fact that all the other great beasts capable of destroying them had died out already. Pity Rancors were not aggressive by nature.

The mortals that operated the dock were easy to corner and eliminate. Their bodies were stashed all over now. Some were hidden in walls, in rafters, and even within cargo units and inside various now empty starships. The bodies were all placed in tight, near-inaccessible places. If they did not fit conventionally, then they were broken until they were capatible. Already the place was beginning to smell of decay.

Peeking over the top of a cargo crate, Neo-Genesis looked at the target, it's optics zooming in on the female's face. She looked worried, and she had every right to, although it was impossible for a mortal to be as perceptive as to know a trap existed. Neo-Genesis had been careful since it's defeat by Lancer. The probe droid assigned to it came, patched it up, and then Genesis was off after a trail that was relatively cold. It finalled found the hotel, but no trace of Lancer was found. Thus, with the primary target lost, the secondary target was switched to primary. After that the trap was placed at the Docking Bay when Genesis intercepted a message to a captain currenly docked at this particular docking bay. It was all too easy. Once the docking crew was neutralized, the time waiting had been spent modifying it's blaster, which only fired lethal rounds and now needed to be modified to fire stun rounds. The weapon itself was inable to fire standard stun rounds and instead would fire rounds that would numb the impacted area, but cause a great amount of pain to the rest of the body.

Zooming in more on her face, it seemed all the more like the female was aware of something was wrong. How could a mortal be so perceptive? It was beyond logic. The trap had failed then, as the female did not board the ship and trip the stun mines planted just within. Inconcievable.

Propelling itself out from behind it's cover, Neo-Genesis jumped into the air and landed on the carge crate that had moments ago hid it from view. Brandishing it's blaster, it leveled it on her largest body section, her torso, and began firing as quickly as the weapon could launch the odd stun rounds, which was rather slow by modern blaster firing rates. Effective all the same.

[Ashe Sieris]

Ashe could sense that he had been in there and that something was still waiting for her. The stench had reached her nose and it instantly alerted her to someone's death. The force warned her to not step into the space craft, so she avoided the ramp. She had begun looking around for any signs of the attacker or even the captain if he was still alive at the time. Still, no signs.

Suddenly, there he was. He had jumped out from behind some durosteel crates, his strange blaster in hand. She saw the shots coming at her before they were even fired. She dodged left, then right and then straight up into the air, flipping backwards to land on some crates on the other side of the bay from him, the ship blocking her from seeing him.

Ashe focused on the force, pushing it into her legs. She crouched down and sprang herself onto the top of the ship. She made not a sound as the force guided her feet to the space craft. Silently and quickly, she made her way to the center of the ship's roof. She crouched there, hidden by several mechanical devices. She reached out with the force to sense where this being was. It was difficult, beings it was not actualy a whole human. The mechanical nature of the being, mixed with the very few human parts made searching for him more difficult. But finaly, she found him.

Slowly, she made her way towards the edge of the ship closest to him. There, she waited until she had a clear shot at dropping down behind him. Her feet landed with a very soft thud on the ground behind him. But that wasnt what gave away her position. It was the sound and smell of burning o-zone as she activated her lightsabre, swinging it towards his blaster arm.

[Neo-Genesis]

The target moved out of view, the blaster stopped firing, the heated barrel letting off a wisp of smoke. Optics scanned the zone, following the target's path and laying down a waypoint at the most likely point her arc of movement would have taken her, which was directly on the other side of the starship. Walking slowly, Neo-Genesis began to circle the ship. As it moved, it's free hand came up to it's chest. A metallic finger was run along the wicked welding scar that went from the top of it's chest nearly to the bottom. A scar, the result of Lancer's force powers. It was still running on back-up for some systems, but operation enough to engage in combat. The probe droid had done a wonderful job for the abilities it possesses.

Genesis continued to move, until it's motion tracker alerted it of movement right behind it!. Turning around, the blaster was holstered with it's right hand while the other hand slipped the energy sword hilt from it's docking port. The hilt rose, the green blade flashing to life as complicated forcefield technology was put into place. The blade intercepted the lightsabre, the two connecting and resisting each other.

Genesis held the blade there for a moment and then kicked out it's metal boot at the female's shin while saying: "Surrender."

[Ashe Sieris]

Ashe jumped and flipped over him as his leg had come flying at her shin. She landed on the ground on the other side of him several feet away. She turns quickly and reaches into the force. The shadows around his feet begin to spring up and wrap around his legs, slowing him down and holding him.

"What do you want with me?"

Her voice was calm and collected. Not a single ounce of fear could be heard from it. Her eyes were focused, but there was distraction in them. Something was keeping her mind from focusing on the battle at hand. She crouches down in a defensive stance, waiting.

[Neo-Genesis]

Planting it's foot back on the ground, Neo-Genesis easily turned around to face the target again, it's mechanical reflexes allowing it to access and react far quicker then any human. It brought it's blade up, ready to parry a second attack that never came. Instead it was confronted by entangling shadows, again, and a question. It puzzled it so much. Asking what it's purpose was or why it was doing this. Such frailty was normal for a mortal.

"SUCH IS FATE"

It walked towards the female, dragging it's encombered legs almost as if walking through water. With the sword in it's left hand, it clenched it's right hand into a fist, and instantly the gauntlet began to glow a faint energy-green color from the cracks in the armor plates.

"SURRENDER, OR BE DESTROYED"

[Ashe Sieris]

Ashe couldn't keep ahold of the shadows long. She had already used her shadow abilities too often in recent days. She released his legs and prepared for his attack on her. Her purple lightsabre hummed with energy as she circled around him, trying to get the advantage on him.

"Zereth is no longer here... Why arn't you off chasing after him?"

She suddenly sprang at him, raising her sword and bringing it down on him, using her own body weight to add extra strength into the force of the blow.

[Neo-Genesis]

Genesis did not reply, for the answer to that question would reveal more then it's programming allowed it to. Instead, it went on the defensive, bringing it's sword up and holding it out horizontally to intercept the blade. Genesis used only it's one hand, which shook and nearly buckled beneath the power behind the female's attack, but held firm long enough for it to extend it's glowing right hand. The energy that had been pooling in it's hand suddenly was released as tiny "pores" in the gauntlet opened to allow the energy to be rapidly released, along with another chemical that resulted in a particle explosion. While Genesis could create explosions that would blow through ship hulls, this explosion was minor and had enough potential to became a concussive explosion capable of throwing the target's body backwards rapidly with only minor chance of burns.

The concussion shot towards the target, and at the same time a particle shield spread across Genesis' gauntlet, protecting it from the explosion.

[Ashe Sieris]

Ashe was suprised at the strength of the sword blocking her. She continues to put pressure on the sword to keep his sword from suddenly swinging at her. But that caused her to be open for the attack from her gauntlet... She didn't think it was going to be nearly as strong as it was.

Ashe was thrown off her feet and across the underside of the ship. Her head hit one of the landing mechanisms hard, followed by her back. She dropped to the ground. The world was spinning and she couldn't see anything clearly. Her body would not respond to her commands to it. She could feel herself loosing consciousness quickly as she saw two boots walking towards her. She focuses with the last of her energy and consciouness on the force. She reaches out weakly across the galaxy and forces the last of her will and energy out to try to reach a certain person's consious mind with only two words manageing to cross the great distance between them before loosing consciousness.

'Zereth... help....'

[Neo-Genesis]

She fell limp to the ground. Weapons were put away and Neo-Genesis quickly walked over to the fallen female. Since it possessed no form of sedative, instead it banged her on the head lightly to ensure she was down and out. Satisfied that she would beyond waking, Genesis picked up her body and carried her across the docking bay, where his own ship was located. The probe droid had activated the auto-pilot that brought the ship here.

The ship itself was a large, perfect sphere with engines attached to the back. Custom made, it stood out from other ships of the era and all existence for that matter. The inside cabin was small and contained little, but it was built with a cyborg in mind. There was enough space to stash the comatose woman behind the pilot's seat. While Genesis possessed no form of sedative, the probe droid did. The small black sphere floated over to Ashe and injected her with a long needle that projected from a hole that appeared in it's surface.

With that out of the way, the ship lifted off, giving all the necessary information to the air control towers and was granted permission to leave orbit almost instantly. The ship headed off into the black abyss of space. The warp drive heated, the coordinates were set, and then the ship jumped into hyperspace. The destination: Corellia.

[Zanon O'hara]

"Are you awake, Susan?" The voice filled her dark world as she woke from the sedatives. The voice itself was rather high pitched and spaced out; a voice normally associated with drunkards, druggies, and spice addicts. But his voice lacked the instability and empty gaps normally associated with someone overstimulated by Liquid Silver or dampened down by overdoses of A Vrassa. The words were coherent and strung together perfectly with no unnecessary gaps.

As her eyes adjusted to the dark room, Ashe would come to see that she was in a smal, perfectly square room with gray, corroded metal walls. Overhead faint lights lit the room, revealing that in addition to the walls, the roof and ceiling were also the same gray metal, only what little she could see of the floor was stained a faint red in places. And the reason should could not see the floor well was because she was lying on a metal table that was obviously constructed for the purpose of tying down a humanoid creature on to it. Metal binders held her down in a near spread eagle fashion. The binders themselves were located at her wrists and ankles. There existed three more binders located at her waist, neck, and forehead, but these were left open and allowed her to lift herself up enough to see around the room.

Though, while examining the binders themselves, she would come to realize that she was quite naked.

"Ah, Susan, you are awake at last," the voice came again, and then it's owner came into view as he walked around the table from behind the head of the table, just where she could not see. The man was old, but had a youthful spring to his step and glint in his eye. His hair was gray and wiry, not to mention balding. His face was only slightly wrinkled, although the sides of his eyes sported quite an array of "Laugh lines", or crows feet, depending on who you ask. He wore a plastic surgeons robe, only it was black as opposed to the typical white.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, looking down at her with his large, wild eyes while he stroked the silver goatee that hung from his chin.

[Ashe Sieris]

"Are you wake, Susan?"

The voice peirced her ears as a muffled voice as the sedatives began to wear off. Her eyes half opened and slowly began to focus on the room around her. Her blue eyes faintly focused on the cieling. She closes her eyes again a moment and grimaces as she tries to sit up, but quickly realising that she is bound down. Her unfocused eyes look around the room as best she can. Not really getting much of anything, she lies her head back down. She relises that she is naked but also that there is Nothing she can do about it at this exact point in time. Her mind is still fogged over, causing her connection to the force to be less then addiquet enough to assist her in any way, shape, or form.

"Ah, Susan, you are awake at last."

Her eyes move when the man steps out from behind her head and focus on him a bit more then they had. Slowly, the man comes more into focus. A strange looking doctor looking person that she had no recollection of ever seeing before in her life. Her other senses quickly began to focus now that she had something she could focus on.

"How are you feeling?"

Her mind cleared away the distorted thoughts as the last of the sedative wore off. Her eyes fully opened and focused on the man. A few choice words escaped her mouth, suggesting him to do some rather inappropriate things with himself. With that, her right hand opened and she focused on the shadows, willing them to come forth and attack the man binding her in this insane prison.

[Zanon O'hara]

"Now, now... That is no way for a lady to talk, Susan," He replied as he continued to walk around the table, only to become suddenly impaired as the shadows seemed to come alive and wrap around his legs. "None of that, Susan," His hand came up with a long off-white cylinder held between his fingers. A finger was pressed casually to the button on one end, and from the other end came a flashing blue laser beam that struck Ashe straight in the end. The properties of the energy sent random electricity through her eye, which alone would cause it to sting, but these same electric currents would travel through her eye and follow the neural pathways to her brain, upon which it would cause it to randomly fire neurons that would result in little more then her limbs to twitch and muscles to spasm, but it also served to disrupt her thought patterns and make it quite difficult to think straight. Which we all know is required when using the force.

"I would not try that again," He commented as he deactivated the laser and returned it to it's place in his lab coat breast pocket. "There are many counter-measures in place should you try anything... how do they say it... funny, I believe? I am connected to a bio-meter and the moment I die the det-packs attached beneath the table will detonate along with the ones located on the outside of these walls, creating a maelstrom of metal shrapnel that will cut you to ribbons. I also have other counter-measures should those fail. So, are you going to be a good little girl?"

[Ashe Sieris]

Ashe's glare turns into a look of shock as the bolt comes at her and hits her. A yell of pain escapes her throat as the electrical currents corse through her body and brain. The shadows instantly wither away, back into their normal places. The electrical currents stop moving through her body, but random twitches would spasm through her limbs. Her yelling had stopped as well. Her eyes stare blankly at the cieling. When she speaks, her voice comes out a bit raged.

"What... do you want with me...?"

[Zanon O'hara]

A smiled crossed his face. It was neither cruel or wicked, it was simply genuine, and very big. He walked over to the head of the table and leaned over, putting his face and all his bright white teeth into her field of vision. "Have you not figure it out yet? I want what you want. I. want. Zereth. Lancer."

[Ashe Sieris]

She narrows her eyes as he leans in close to her, trying to figure out what he means at first. Then he says it...

"I. want. Zereth. Lancer."

Her eyes widen and she suddenly starts struggling with the bindings more then she had before. Her hands tighten into fists, trying to push the force through her limbs to make herself stronger. To no avail. Her struggles get her no where.

"Leave him Alone!"

She tries to summon up the force to throw him backwards against the wall, grabbing the shocker with the force and throwing it against the other wall, smashing it.

[Zanon O'hara]

He could not say he was surprised, but it very exciting all the same as he was thrown back against the wall and his little toy smashed in half. What a waste of technology. Good thing he had a spare in his back pocket. It was just so hard to reach it with the lab coat on so snug.

"Retribution," he hissed and the hidden batteries attached to the button of the table, right beside the det-packs, activated at the mention of the keyword and began sending electric currents through the metal table. Volt after volt ripped through her body, sending his spasming like a idiot over-dosing on hairspray. Eventually the electricity died out, but he body would continue to twitch until the excess electricity bled away.

"You did not listen, Susan. How can I trust you if you keep trying to kill me? We need to trust each other and trusting that I will not kill you if you do everything I tell you and answer every question I ask. Your no good to Lancer if your dead."

He walked around the table again, this time pausing at her right side, his eyes looking up and down her naked body in a most perverted manner. "Now, tell me. Where has Lancer gone?"

[Ashe Sieris]

Ashe's screams once again fill the room as the electricity corses through her again. She tries to focus the force through her muscles but that only seems to hurt her brain more as the electricity focuses on it. Finally, it stops again. Her body twitches for a few moments longer as she coughs a few times, small splatters of blood coming out of her throat as she does so.

She turns her eyes towards Zannon weakly as he speaks to her. Another spasm jerks her movement. She blinks a few times, trying to collect her thoughts as she remains silent for a moment.

"I... don't know..."

[Zanon O'hara]

"That's too bad, Susan, because that means I will have to keep you here to get the information I want from you," his smiled persisted as he ran his hand along the outside of her thigh, "But I think we shall come to tolerate each other. And, possibly, in time, you will become willing to divulge the information I require from you, which is the whereabouts of Lancer, but since you want to be stubborn, I shall move on to other questions. Such as the locations of other force users. But, alas, I already know the answer to that one. You had a very interesting data-chip on your person with names and locations. I can only assume that they belong to either rebels of force adepts. Regardless, my Mistress shall be pleased and she shall have the bargaining chips she needs to gain influence among the Empire. Already the wheels are in motion, and you, my precious Susan, are the oil that lubricates them..."

He continued to smile, just as he hand continued to touch her.

"Now tell me Susan, how much do you care for Lancer?"

[Ashe Sieris]

Her eyes went back up to the cieling as the man spoke. Her eyes grew cold and emotionless the more his voice touched her ears. Her right hand was clenched into a fist over the rune burnt into the palm. Her breathing was slow and steady. She was trying to ignore his touch on her bare leg, trying to focus on something else. She forced her mind to think of something else, but it kept going back to Zereth. She finaly manages to steady her voice enough to speak normal, but slow.

"Your torturing shall get you no where... I do not have the information you are seeking and Zereth will not come for me..."

[Zanon O'hara]

He chuckled, the sound bounding around the metal room, only to echo back, making it sound as if the room was filled with old men chuckling at her. He rather liked the effects of sounds in this small room, that was why he used it for this purpose rather then as a broom closet. Who needed this much space for a broom anyways? There was enough room in here for two banthas to mate, for crying out loud! How could a single broom, and maybe a mop, need so much space? Silly people.

"Won't come back for you, you say? Ha! You do not know my son at all then. When his mind is set to something there is nothing he cannot or will not do. He likes you, he must, there is no other reason for him to protect you if he did not. He is a selfish monster, Susan, and he cares only for himself, unless his emotions get the better of him. Sadly, he is ruled by his emotions, anger especially. If not for his anger he would not have killed me, his creator, his father," He paused, letting his hand slip around to the inside of her thigh. He did so enjoy this part of his job, "Believe me, Susan, he will come back for you."

[Ashe Sieris]

She cringes as his laughter fills the room. His laughter breaking her concentration for a brief moment. A brief sliver of pain escapes her thoughts and dodges across the link. She quickly gathers her concentration again and closes herself off. She can not alow any sort of connection she may have formed with Zereth to transfer her pain to him. She can't let him know that she is in pain. It would only draw him here. She pushes up mind block after mind block, focusing her energy there and no where else.

"He did not save me... because he cares. He saved me because he needed information I had... Nothing more, Nothing less. He does not care..."

[Zanon O'hara]

"That is where you are wrong, dear Susan. So sure of yourself, that you hold the answers, when in fact I hold all the answers. They are here in my back pocket, figuratively speaking of course. That is how much I have them, and I do not share the answers lightly with others, but I shall divulge a little secret with you. I know Lancer better then you, I should know. It was I who took him as a child, cut him open, removed all his organs and then replaced them as I saw fit. Without me touch he would still be a small, frail child with breathing problems. And I know he will come for you. That is why I brought you here, a double gambit you could say. If you did not know where he was then you can serve as bait to lure him here, so I can kill him. How does that make you feel?"

[Ashe Sieris]

'Removed organs? Replacements? Zereth is a...'

"Cyborg?"

The last word she actually did speak, the rest had been her own thoughts in her head. Her eyes look at the man as he speaks of killing Zereth. Her eyes go wide and she begins struggling again.

"No... No you cant kill him! Leave him alone! Your the monster, not him. Just leave him alone!..."

[Zanon O'hara]

"No, not a cyborg, Susan. I put the organs all back in, but not before augmenting them. Lancer is... inhuman, to say the least. In more ways then one. I gave him a new life, which is beyond the dreams of the son of a Nagai whore. No. Lancer owes his life to me, but he has shown me with nothing be disrespect, and for that I shall kill him, just as he killed me. There is no future for him. He has lived long enough without redemption. And you, dearest Ashe, shall become my pawn in this affair. Even if you reject the thought now, in time, you will come to enjoy it."

He grinned, this time quite cruelly, as he climbed up on the table, standing on his hands and knees over her, looking her in the face. "You will not enjoy this..." He trailed off, smiling madly now. "Dim," He said, and the lights dimmed to twilight...

[Zanon O'hara]

The next day...

"Time to wake up, Susan," Zanon said as he stepped down the stairs that seperate the lower section of the laboratory room, a lowered 'pit' in the center, and the rest of the room, which was on ground level and circled the lower section. The room itself was circular and made completely of stainless steel, and clear stainless steel at that. Compared to the interrogation room, this was a major step up. Strange devices littered the many tables that laid around the room. There were so many flashing lights that if you turned off the main lights you'd be able to give a Bakuran a seizure.

Ashe was still chained to the same table. Tt was simply a change of location, that is all. She was still filled with the same feelings of nakedness, cold, and fear, but now a feeling of sever violation went along with them. When Zanon reached the table he clapped his hands twice, and the small floating, spherical black medical droid administered the antidote to the drug Zanon had given the girl to put her asleep for several hours while they moved her. It was quite potent and sometimes those put to sleep with it never woke up. It was a risk Zanon loved to take.

"Rise and shine, beloved," he said as he gently caressed her cheek. "We have a lot of work to do today. Doesn't that excite you? I dare say so it should." He chuckled and move away in his rapid short stepping fashion, which carried him to a table on which laid was looked like a rather bulky blaster in poor condition. He groaned a bit as he hefted the device and then siddled back over to Ashe, pressing the device against her forearm just below the elbow. "This might hurt," But it likely would not. She might still be too asleep for her nerves to wake up enough to feel the full extent of the pain as he pulled the trigger, shooting a small, cylinder tracking device into her arm. The device traveled down an inch and then went horizontal for a few moments before coming to a rest inside the flesh of her arm. "Just so I can keep track of you, my dear."

[Ashe Sieris]

Horrific dreams had filled her restless sleep. It had been obvious from the moment that the sedative had been injected into her that her sleep would not be fit. Through the hours, she had been twitching and wreathing, as if in pain or torment. At random times, she would yell out words in an unknown language. The torent of images flashing through her mind in the hours she was out would have made even the dreaded Sith Lords of Old cringe in horror. But through it all, the locks she had places within her mind withheld. Her nightmares had remained her own, not to be spread to those even faintly connected to her by the force...

Her eyes were still closed when his hand had touched her cheek. But it was obvious that she was, infact, waking. Slight groans now escaped her as her eyes began to move behind their lids. She finaly opened her eyes as he injected her with the tracer. Her right eye twitched slightly as he did so. Something in her eyes had changed. The briliant blue that they had been before she had been captured had faded. Her eyes looked dead... emotionless. Those dead eyes slowly dodged around the room, half open. They do not seem to look at anything but still looking at something. Her dreams seemed to plague her waking hours. As the drugs were wearing off, halucinations were still haunting her. Only three words were spoken by her dry and cracked lips, her voice cracked as she said them.

'leave. him. alone.'

[Zanon O'hara]

Oh, and I will, my dear. I shall leave him alone, once he is in the grave. How fitting is it not, that I be the one who gave him new life and also the one who shall take it away? Ironic or poetic, your choice. Now let us get down to business... Oh, wait. We got 'down to business' yesterday. Hmm... Then we shall have to get up to business today. How does that sound? Hmm? I thought you would like it. Now, let us begin," He turned to the droid that was floating just over his shoulder. "Activate the bio-scanner. Let's see just what we're dealing with."

Moments later, Zanon as seating in front of one of the numerous console computers that sat around the room viewing the results of the bio-scan. He could tell a lot from this scan, such as she exercised regularly, broke her ankle as a child, and had severe burn damage to her lower torso. Such interesting information. It was like non-edible candy to his eyes.

"Well, well. It appears that you are whole, Susan. No drastic internal injury to your organs by what I can tell. Your bones are good, despite a few bruises on your ribs, and you are a perfect candidate for breeding. Pity you chose to fiddle with the force instead. You could have been prime stock for some king on some distant planet. No worries. I'm about to give you something far better to do with your life, something you may have never had before: purpose."

His smile returned as he plucked a rather large syringe up off a medical tray and began walking back towards her. Despite all the advances in medical technology, he still liked using syringes. There was just something scary about them.

"And last words before I put you under?"

[Ashe Sieris]

"Even if he does come... You will be the one to die..."

Her head suddenly turns to him, her eyes filling with anger. She spits blood and siliva in his face.

[Alexia Sturkov]

The child has spirit, but that was all she could say for her. She was not one to compliment others, so she was not about to begin to. She were here to watch, hidden away behind the one way glass of the observation room. Invisible to the girl and to Zanon himself, who did not even know this observation room existed. She had given him delicate instructions, possibly more delicate then a blunt instrument like him could understand, and she did not want him to frell this up like he had done with just about everything else. For every one of the infamous Zanon O'hara's successes there must be a dismal failure to go hand in hand. Hopefully this would be the success and not the failure. If he did fail then she had her highly trained Force Hunters to kill Zanon for his failure. Or, perhaps, for greater joy she could have her cult sacrifice him to the darkside. Yes, that sounded more acceptable. That way his death would not a total loss and would serve to please the ancient gods of darkness and shadow. She would need all the favor she could muster in the days to come.

[Zanon O'hara]

Using a gloved hand, he wiped the spittle from his face, and then used the same hand to slap her across the face. "Respect, Susan, respect. You respect me and I respect you, that is how it works. You do what I say, and I do not kill you. We had an agreement, so hold it up or I'll kill Lancer without letting you see him one last time. Now, nighty-night," And with that he savagely stuck the needle into her arm and injected the large amount of sleep drug into her system. This was all the more potent then the last batch because it would keep her under permanently unless given the antidote, where the other batch would have worn off eventually.

Once the monitors said she was officially asleep and out of it, Zanon set the syringe aside and began pulling several trays containing many tools over to sit near the table. First was first, he thought as he picked up a strange circlet-shaped device that he wrapped around her forehead. The device had several long tubes in seemingly random locations in it. These tubes would allow for a needle to be slipped through them and into Ashe's head to connect to areas of the brain that were necessary for brainwashing. The needles were employed, slid through flesh and bone until they touched critical areas of then brains, and at which they were connected by wiring to a large device that sat behind the table. It was time to get to work.

It was very delicate work, navigating the mind. He had to locate the things that made her an individual, that made her independent and free-thinking. He had to suppress those areas and expand on those that would cause her to follow orders, make her incredibly loyal, and able to commit any act without considering the morals of the action. He was, basically, turning her into a mental slave.

That consumed most of his time, but when he was not playing with her brain, he was augmenting her body. He employed muscle accelerators to increase the density of her muscles and increase her strength levels as well as manipulating her body to produce less fatigue toxins, allowing her greater heights of stamina. This augmentations were similar to the ones he put into Zereth's body, only in smaller form with lesser results. He did not have enough time to turn her into a superbeing that was on par with Lancer. That would take years.

There was a point where her body began rejecting the augmentations. He managed to make the augmentations stick, but then internal organs began to fail. It became evident that this woman had a strange genetic disease unknown to him. No texts he possessed could explain it, so he began fiddling around, trying to figure out what was going wrong. Success came when he accidentally shut down parts of her immune system. Instantly the internal organs began to come back online. Deactivating the rest of the immune system fixed the problem complete. The room was sterile already, but not it was more important to keep disease out. With her immune system offline, he would not be able to employ her in the way he had hoped, but already he imagine a special suit that would destroy that obstacle and allow her to leave the sterilization field.

But finally, a week later, he woke her. All the table restraints were in action now, completely preventing her from moving. The circlet was still upon her head, manipulation her mind. Now it was time to see if he had done it right, to see if the implanted loyalties and memories would serve to make her his little slave. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, sometimes it killed them, sometimes it made them go comatose. Never, but never, did it never accomplish anything.

[Ashe Sieris]

Pain is all she felt. But even that was a dulled feeling for her. There was no pause this time when he injected her with the serum to awaken her. Her eyes just opened. Dull, grey iris's adjusted the pupil quickly to the lighting of the room. The slightest tints of purple could be see within the grey, but no other color. Even her pupils had greyed over. But it did not affect her sight in the least. The force continued to flow through her and through the force, she saw everything she needed to.

Her eyes remained stairing straight ahead of her, seemingly at nothing. Occassionaly, when there was movement within her parefreal vission, her eyes would twitch in the direction that the movement was and then return to stareing at the same spot.

For a long time, she did not move other then the twitching of her eyes as her mind reconnected to the nerves and muscles that it had not moved in well over a week. Even when she regained all mobile functions, she did not struggle with the restraints. Her only movement remained in her eyes and the occassional gripping of her hands into fists. She waited, quietly, for instruction.

[Zanon O'hara]

"Tell me, Susan," He said, sliding his hands across the soft flesh of her arm, "Whom do you serve?" It was a simple question, but if she answered correctly it meant that all the brain manipulation he'd put her brain through for the last week was a success. This was the most vital thing to test. He could test the muscle augmentations later, plus she would need healing time before being able to even use the added strength he'd given her, in addition to her having to get used to her increased body weight. It was all coming together, like one big jigsaw puzzle. All he was missing was the little bit of sky at the top.

[Ashe Sieris]

Ashe's eyes flickered towards the scientist as he spoke but quickly returned to their normal position. A quick spasm ran through her muscles as they began adjusting to the augments he placed within them. Something was telling her to fight this. To fight what had happened and what is happening to her. But it seem... illogical to fight it. Why fight what she is? Her mouth spoke for her, weather she wanted to say what was coming out or not.

"Zanon O'hara, scientist and doctor of humanoid and subrace genetics."

[Zanon O'hara]

Oh, it was so beautiful. It nearly brought tears to his eyes, only it didn't. The whole 'scientist and doctor of humanoid and subrace genetics' part was just gravy on the biscuit. The real prize was having it all turn out correctly. He had his pawn now, the one he would use against Lancer, to either make him or break him, whichever become more damaging. First, his new pet would fight the sith, and then, depending on the outcome if the battle, he would kill her in front of him to drive him even lower, and at that point his rage would blind him. Oh, it would increase his strength ten-fold, but it would blind him and allow Neo-Genesis and his other droid creations to swoop in for the kill. Oh, it was such a grand plan. Once this was all done and through, he could see selling this plot off to some holovid company. It would make a great holodrama.

"Now rest, my creation. Rest, so that your body may stabilize. Sleep..."

The nutri-line inserted into her blood stream at her wrist would keep her body alive and healthy while she rested, as it had in the last week. All she needed was rest, otherwise strain to her body may cause internal bleeding and muscle tears as the body attempts to deal with the augmented muscle mass before that muscle is ready. She needed to remain still, which is why he still had her clamped down. She was not going anywhere regardless.

"Rest..."