Stockholm Syndrome

[Darth Gravis]

Imperial Prison Camp - Unknown Location

The Uprising had failed. The Battle had been breif but costly for all sides involved. The insurgents of Dantooine had picked a fight with the Imperial representatives. It started with simple crack downs and curfews but as civil unrest grew, so did the Empire's response to them. A ten p.m. curfew turned into a nine, the nine turned into eight and the eight into seven. When that did not work, they put more foot soldiers on the streets, took over the local civilian authority offices and imposed martial law. Still, that did not work. Amongst the generally peaceful populace that had been the Dantooine people, a rag tag group of insurgents had begun a gorilla warfare styled military operation against the Representatives. The Empire accused them of being Rebels, the insurgents accused the Empire of mass murder and oppression. Caught in the center of it all had been the generally peaceful civilian population.

They had done nothing wrong except get stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Empire used the analogy of guilt by association. The longer the civilians remained, the guiltier they were of harboring terrorists and in the Empires defense, they were right. How could anyone claim innocence when they refused to leave their homes and let the warring forces just have at each other. Common sense said when a fight was coming, either pick up a blaster or get the hell out of the way. The climax of the fighting occurred when the Empire steamrolled through the city. Buildings shuddered, cracked and collapsed. Imperial stormtroopers and terrorist fell. In the end it had never been a thought of who would win the fight, the Empire had the victory assured in the very beginning. In the end it was a wonder of how the Empire would react to the civilians. Unfortunately, not all escaped. Many were rounded up and locked away in internment camps until the city could be rebuilt and the population re-assimilated into stricter Imperial Rules and Laws.

There was a smaller population however that were deemed viable threats. Either they had advanced combat knowledge, were greatly influential through political or financial means, or they simply looked dangerous. These people were shuttled off the planet, off of Dantooine and sent across the Galaxy and to an unknown location. Their internment in the Prison Camp was unwarranted. They held no rights, got no legal representation and were at the will of the Empire themselves. At any moment, someone could be executed. Many cracked under the pressure, either begging to become Imperials themselves or simply losing their mind. Weak. Of the several thousand originally taken only a few hundred remained and of those few hundred, only one seemed to be unfazed by his current predicament.

Darth Gravis had been taken when his restaurant had been barged in on by Imperials. He had taken it as a backstabbing by Sanya Tagge, the Imperial Representative that Gravis had gotten to know somewhat. She knew what he was, she knew what he could do and the man had assumed that during the riots and clashes, her influence kept the Empire from entering his business. He ensured she got what info she asked for, completely un-Sith like, while he continued to do his own thing with no one really watching. Having Imperial Stormtroopers roughing up his staff, his property and trying to rough him up was an insult. Fortunately for him, he did not draw his lightsaber, which had been locked up in his office at the time. Whether or not Sanya had ratted him out, had ordered his arrest or simply had no clue of what occurred remained a mystery. Did it really matter now? No. She was an Imperial. It was her nature to cast aside people whom were liabilities. Jake should have known better. Daniels took two of the invading stormtroopers down before a stun shot nailed him in the back. When he woke, he was stuffed in a cargo hold, chained to the man next to him and brought here.


The mess was cramped, crowded and with little space. On a bench that sat fifteen, twenty men crammed in. Gravis smashed in the middle of a bench, hunched over his meal. The food was not too bad, a warm bisket, what appeared to be a small serving of pork, rice and corn. It was not the worst thing they could eat and was far better than penalty meals; the grey gruel they force fed the inmates when one decided to get stupid. He was the fastest eater of them all, Gravis that is. The man shoveled his food away, packing it into his mouth before chewing. There were strategic reasons for what the inmates called chipmunk eating. When the Empire decided to interrupt lunch, lunch was then over. If you did not eat when they arrived you were out of luck. It was in the final spoon shovel that jammed the last of his food in, that the alarm went off. The few hundred men knew what to do. Pushing himself to a stand, Daniels ate the last bite of food in his mouth, swallowed and put his arms in the air. Dressed in shabby white robes, his feet wearing nothing but cloth shoes, he looked vastly different from the suit wearing entrepreneur Sith of Dantooine. "They're going to get one of us... oh God... they never come back... never return..." The inmate beside Daniels said, his voice shakey.

Most were like this these days. Months in the skid mark had been wearing them out. Gravis himself had a few months left in him. He could survive so long as he held his tongue and did not do anything too stupid. His turqoise eyes turned, with everyone elses, towards the far door where a squad of Troopers entered and took positions along each wall while another squad came in and gave the inmates a quick glance up and down. The next thing that would happen was what the inmates affectionately call fishing. Someone would come in and pick one of the inmates, pull them out and have them disappear from the galaxy's collective knowledge. That was the hardest part for most men.

Always wondering if they were next.

[Darth Gravis]

"Daniels, Jake." The voice of the Warden boomed through the mess hall. The eyes of every man shifted from the armed men entering and too the one whom the name belonged.

His luck had finally run out. The Sith known as Gravis, the man known as Jake, had been able to live a life that was a mixture of success and failure. He had grown, learned and trained... a lot. He knew how to survive and thus far he had done everything he needed too to ensure such. This hell hole had no broken him, not yet and perhaps that was why the Warden wanted him. The sound of a half dozen boots slapping and smacking against the floor as they neared their target caused the hair on the Siths arms to stand straight up. The men about him moved, not wanting to get involved in any incident that may erupt.

Some inmates went willingly. They were ready for death. Their spirits had been broken, they had nothing to live for and excepted the fact that this was indeed the end for them. Others put up a futile fight by decking on Trooper before getting beat down by the butt of an E-11 and dragged out unconscious. Most everyone pitied those who fought simply because they knew the torturous hell they would endure. Unlike those in passive group, the fighters were most probably tortured before death was granted. Though the remaining inmates pitied the fighters, they also envied them. At least they still had their manhood. Gravis was going to be in the latter group. He would not be put down like a passive mutt.

The first of the half dozen came to a stop behind Daniels and nudged him with the butt of his E-11. What occurred next caught everyone off guard. Taking the metal food tray, Daniels spun with lightening reflexes and connected the corner of the metal tray with the side of the troopers helmet. A sickening and loud crack erupted in the room as the helmet itself became damaged. Tossing the pan at the second of the six soldiers, Daniels suddenly raised his hands and with as much energy he could muster, sent out a force push that knocked the remaining four off balance.

They stumbled?

Damn. He had not used the force in so long it would take awhile for his connection to it to restrengthen. Still, that revelation, that little force push did more damage to the Empire than they anticipated. It gave the inmates around Gravis the one thing more powerful than any E-11 or thermal grenade. It gave them hope and just as the glint in the eyes of the men began; that hope was suddenly taken away. The second trooper smashed his gun into Gravis' gut, heeling the Sith over before a second hit brought him to his knees.

Like every man whom tried to fight before him... Gravis was dragged from the mess hall.

[Darth Gravis]

Solitary confinement?

That's what they did to a man whom revealed himself as a force user in the galaxy? They stuck him in solitary confinement? A room with no toilet except a hole in the floor, no sink to wash, no bed, no true lighting except what a small four inch by four inch window in the door allowed and no real means of contact with anyone in the outside galaxy.That was truly confusing. His body still ached from the shots the troopers took on him after he had been removed from the mess hall. His ribs hurt with each inhale, either bruised or broken; he could not tell with limited lighting. His head throbbed but there was one blessing in all of this. It was not crowded. He laid quietly on the floor, his chest hurt least in this position and simply shut his eyes. The Empire now knew their inmate was a force user.

Still, why had they not eradicated him upon exiting the room? Why did they stuff him in a box and walk away? Was there not a standing order to kill any of his kind on sight? So many questions with no way of getting an answer meant the man was stressing over nothing. Sooner or later someone would enter the room and put a blaster shot directly into his torso and that shocking thing was, Gravis would let them. He was tired of it. He was tired of everything. He had nothing to his name anymore. He was tired of trying to hold on. This was his way of escaping.

Placing one hand under the back of his head, Daniels began counting. He'd started upon his arrival into the room, second for second trying to keep track of the time. It truly was a game. How long could Gravis count the seconds into minutes before a thought broke his concentration and thus he had to restart. It kept the mind sharp and focused, or at least that is the lie he told himself. Any lie would have done so long as it took him away from his present predicament. How long until someone came in? How long until his physical life ended and the life in the force began? The afterlife... was it like a heaven or was it darkness and emptiness where the energy of the body simply evaporated into nothingness. What was it?

'Damn.'

He lost his count and now had to begin all over again.

[Sanya Tagge]

The sudden and startling sound of a key grinding in the cell's door broke the silence. The door swung open and two Stormtroopers came into view. Behind them, another four – and cocooned within the group was a figure too short, and well dressed, to be a Stormtrooper. Her heels clicking against the prison floor, Sanya Tagge stepped into the threshold of Jake Daniels' solitary cell. She wore a high-collared white tunic and stiff white boots, all of it spotless and faintly reminiscent of the traditional attire of an Imperial Grand Admiral. She studied him wordlessly, her expression a flawless mask of neutrality – and, abruptly, then turned away.

“Bind him, and bring him to interrogation room one.”

With that she was gone, and the Stormtrooper's advanced with magnacuffs in hand.

“You'll come quietly,” one of the 'troopers said, the edge to his voice promising threats of what would happen if Daniels was stupid enough to resist.

[Darth Gravis]

The light that suddenly filled the room was nearly blinding. From utter darkness to the white light and then the unidentifiable figure taking up the doorframe, it was too much for the mans vision. Taking a hand, Daniels did his best to cover his eyes while still trying to get a peek. This was completely rude. One would have expected to be given a warning before bright lightening was allowed in suddenly. Of course, this was the Empire.

Then he heard her voice. Identifiable and recognizable. It was her. Sanya being here meant just one very important thing. She set him up! His body tensed as the troopers entered, his blood boiled with rage and he now wanted one thing. Her head.

Gravis did as commanded. He went. Bound at the hands and feet, chained together and slowly led to interrogation room one. A table, two chairs, the one way mirror. It was how one expected it to be. Pushed into the chair, the man winced in pain momentarily while the two troopers exited the room. It was here the man could do one of two different things. He could wait for her to enter and as soon as she did he could attempt a force choke. Given the fact his force push had become lackluster, his choke might not be up to par but he could try. The second option was to hear the woman out; see what she had to say. Betrayal was not something the Sith had much appreciated though it was something he should have expected. One decisions to make with two choices.

What did Sanya want now?

[Sanya Tagge]

She left him there, to wait and wonder, for a further twenty minutes. When the door to the interrogation room slid aside, Sanya Tagge regarded Jake Daniels as if she had never seen him before, as if he were a particularly bland piece of artwork that warranted a brief but ultimately shallow study.

“Well? What do you have to say for yourself?”