Republic Reckoning 6.9.87

The Sith torturer shows Quindo a "live feed" of Chris being tortured. Says that it's his fault. He just has to beg them to stop and they will. Quindo won't do it. He refuses to bend. For all he knows, they'll kill her if he gives in. Maybe they already have. Maybe they won't stop, they'll just stop showing him the gruesome footage. He will not bargain with the Sith. As Chris screams, Quindo just gets angrier and angrier. The Sith leaves Quindo alone to stew.

Quindo draws upon the Force. He uses Resonate to destroy the metal ceiling above him, the part that is still inside the Force Negation Field. He knows from a previous encounter that the generator must be at the edge of the field. He can not reach it with the Force. He grabs a large piece of metal from the floor and shapes it into a long metal spike. He wraps the end with his shirt and rams the spike up into the generator. The blue energy field winks out. Using Resonate, Quindo shatters the bars, sending shrapnel through the torture chamber walls.

The Sith comes running out to find Quindo shoving through the bars. It's a tight fit, and he backs back into the cage. He pokes at the Sith with his 6-foot metal spike. The Sith casually activates him lightsaber and cuts the spike shorter. He also cuts the remaining cage bars. Quindo smiles, Empowers the now 4-foot metal pole, raises Lightsaber Combat, and takes one clean swing at the Sith's head. The Sith's snear of triumph turns into a momentary mask of terror before he loses his face and his life. Quindo gets a Dark Side Point.

Chris is in the next room, trying to escape. Quindo finds her, then goes back to get the keys off the dead Sith. She's naked and won't wear the Sith's clothes, but she takes his lightsaber and cuts off his head (just to be sure). Quindo keeps his "Redneck Lightsaber".

Using Sense, we determine that our lightsabers and Arvandus are upstairs. Then the door to the room hisses open on its own. The corridor is empty, most of the doors are locked. There's a turbolift but we don't want to take it. We can't find any stairs. We try to go through the ceiling but it's too thick. The palace is basically carved out of a mountain. Nakail asks us mentally to stop blowing holes in his palace. NAKAIL?

We both raise Force of Will to keep Nakael out of our heads and backtrack to the "medical facility". Quindo treats Chris' injuries as best as he can and find bed linens to fashion into a toga for her. Nakael's voice comes through a speaker, "Come up... we're waiting for you."

Another Sense reveals that Nakail, Arvandus, and our lightsabers are all in the same place. Damn. We figure he's unlikely to simply kill us and we can't find a way out on our own, so we get in the turbolift. It takes us down, then opens on a long corridor with another turbolift on the other side and no other doors. This turbolift takes us all the way up. They come out in a corridor flanked by 50 guards with automatic slugthrowers. Quindo asks for a cigarette. There are twin staircases that curve around to a gallery. We each take a different staircase. Nakael sits at the end of a long table laden with food.

Meanwhile, Igashu has snuck into the palace through a disused escape tunnel that leads to the spaceport. He's still sneaking around in the palace.

[The Scene]

Quindo, topless, wielding a "Redneck Lightsaber" and smoking a cigarette. Chris, heavily bandgaged, dressed in a Toga accessorized with a red lightsaber. Nakael at the end of a 300 foot table lined with food, our lightsabers arranged on a platter in front of him. Arvandus crouched at Nakael's feet like a pet, wearing a loincloth, collar, and leash. There's something wrong with the way the Force interacts with him. Five Sith "monks" in black arranged around the room.

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