Tw: Sexual references, blood, violence, Pong Krell >:O
I think we can all agree the Pong Krell is one of the worst people ever.
"Nothing in the east. Nothing in the west. Nothing in the south."
Anakin sighed and leaned against his desk, hands digging into the table. "And the north?"
Rex grimaced. "Those scouts haven't returned yet. There's been no word from them either."
Anakin let out a heavy breath through his nose, pushing himself off the desk. He ran a hand through his hair, digging his fingers into his scalp. "We're running out of time."
"Sir?" Rex's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "I'm afraid I don't understand."
"We have one more week to find the base before the council sends someone more experienced to deal with this assignment," Anakin said. He began to pace the room, making worried circles.
"General Kenobi?" Rex smiled slightly. "That's not terrible. Perhaps he would be able to assist us."
Anakin shook his head. "General Pong Krell."
Rex furrowed his brow. "Oh."
Anakin hummed. "Exactly. We need to find the base as soon as possible, or he'll take over the assignment. He'd take custody of General Madden, and the 501st for the time being."
"Should I send out more scouts?" Rex questioned, tightening his grip on the helmet pinned to his side.
"There's no time for that. Kara needs to tell us where the base is now, before the week is up." Anakin stopped his frantic circling and faced Rex. "You need to try harder."
Rex nodded and walked to the door, freezing when Anakin's voice reached his ears.
"You do understand what the consequences will be if she doesn't tell us, right?"
Rex briefly glanced over his shoulder. "Yes, sir."
"Hello, pretty boy. Do you need something?" Kara grinned up at him.
"What are you doing?" Rex crossed his arms, staring down at her.
Kara was balancing on her head, cuffed hands limp on the floor. Her legs were propped up against the walls. "Standing on my head, obviously."
"Why?" Rex asked in exasperation. "Why are you standing on your head?"
"What else am I supposed to do?" Kara kicked off from against the wall, using the momentum to get back onto her feet. She then promptly crumpled to the floor, letting out a groan.
"Are you okay?" Rex's arms shot out as if to catch her, even though there was a ray shield in the way.
"I'm great." Kara beamed weakly at him. "Just got dizzy from being upside down for so long."
Rex let his hands fall to his side. "We need to talk."
Kara settled on the bench, getting as comfortable as she could. "I'm listening."
"You need to tell me where the base is, right now. I will not put my brothers' lives at risk any longer. What do you want in return for the information?" Rex's face was void of any hint of the humour that was there just a moment ago.
"Fine, I'll tell you."
Rex blinked in surprise. "Really? What do you want in exchange?"
"My own planet, two thousand jewels, and a pet Rancor," Kara listed. She batted her eyelashes at him. "And a dinner alone with you."
Rex bit the inside of his cheek. "Kara, this is serious."
"And I'm serious about my own planet!" Kara exclaimed. "Where else am I supposed to keep Fangs?"
"Fangs?" Rex echoed, narrowing his eyes.
"The Rancor!" Kara snapped her fingers repeatedly. "Keep up!"
"You're not getting a Rancor!" Rex threw his hands into the air, raising his voice. "Can you be serious for once in your life!"
Kara's expression hardened. "Fine. You want serious, you'll get it."
"Finally," Rex muttered.
"I will escape and find the deadliest plant known. I will force-feed it to you and watch as you choke on your own saliva. I will laugh over your corpse as you beg for me to cure you. I will hold the antidote above your head as you writhe in agony," Kara coldly said. A cruel and malicious sneer spread across her face. "Is that serious enough?"
Rex tapped his foot impatiently. "Tell me where the base is, before bad things happen."
"Are you threatening me?" Kara raised an eyebrow. "Are you threatening to do bad things to me?"
Rex frowned. "I feel like there's a right answer to this."
Kara stepped closer to the red barrier. "There is." She smirked. "Now, say it."
"Say what?" Rex suspiciously asked.
"Say you'll do bad things to me." Kara watched in joy as his cheeks flushed.
"I won't do bad things to you, but someone else will." Rex lifted his gaze to the ceiling in frustration. "Do you not understand? General Skywalker has a very firm rule with how to treat prisoners, but other generals don't!"
"Aww, are you worried about me?" Kara cooed.
Rex pursed his lips. "I'm a good person. I wouldn't want anyone to be tortured."
"So you are worried about me?" Kara excitedly pressed.
The doors to the room slid open, and Jesse stood in the doorway with a grim expression. "We found the scouts that went north."
"And?" Rex turned away from Kara.
"Something tore them to shreds. There's still a couple of limbs missing," Jesse told him, lips curling in disgust. "We're guessing an animal of some kind found them."
Rex sighed. "I'll inform General Skywalker. Watch her for me."
Jesse nodded and stepped aside, letting Rex pass by.
And that was the last Kara saw of Rex.
For a week, at least.
Then he visited her again, with someone else trailing behind him.
"General Madden, this is General Krell. He will be taking over your interrogations until we find the base." Rex motioned to the tall Besalisk behind him who glowered down at everyone in the room. Rex had his helmet on, which Kara found odd. No one here wore their helmets.
"Greetings," Krell said, a stern look on his face. "I am known for getting results, even though the casualties are... unfortunately high."
Kara lifted her chin. "And I am known for killing those who oppose me. Will you join their numbers?"
Krell bared his teeth. "CT-7567, leave us."
Rex saluted and hesitantly left, glancing over his shoulder. "I'll be outside in case I'm needed, sir."
"That will not be necessary." Krell crossed his arms behind his back. "Leave."
"But sir, it's protocol to-" Rex was cut off when Krell raised his voice.
"Are you disobeying me, CT-7567?" Krell exclaimed, anger prominent in his expression. "Are you disobeying a direct order?"
"No, sir," Rex immediately said and hurried away.
"I have a couple questions for you," Krell sinisterly said and lowered the ray shield. "And you're going to answer them."
"And if I don't?" Kara challenged.
"You will," Krell said simply and stepped into the cell. The shield activated after he was inside, trapping her inside with him. "Where exactly is the Separatist base that is located on this planet?"
"Under your mom's bed." Kara sneered.
Krell's fist came down upon her face, and Kara's head snapped to the side with the force of the blow. She brought her hands up to touch her lip, and they returned with blood smeared on them.
"I'll ask again," Krell darkly said, "where is the base?"
"I already told you. Under your mom's bed." Kara was rewarded for that answer with another strike to the face.
"I'm losing my patience!" Krell snarled, bunching his hands into fists.
"This is you being patient?" Kara gasped in surprise.
"What kinds of defences does the base have?" Krell asked instead of attacking her again.
"Droids."
Krell's face screwed up in anger. "I know that already! That's obvious!"
A boot came down onto Kara's chest and she yelped in pain. When it hit her again, she went flying against the wall and rolled onto the floor.
"How many droids?"
She didn't respond, instead spat blood onto his face.
She got a backhand for that, right across the face.
"Will reinforcements come for you soon?"
Kara nodded. "Yes."
Krell grinned, lips peeling back to show off his pointed teeth. "Excellent. I knew you'd cooperate. How many?"
"One million droids," Kara replied conversationally. "And Count Dooku himself. Oh, and Cad Bane. The Hutt syndicate too."
Krell's smile faded. "Don't toy with me, girl."
"Fine. Ask again." Kara fought back a smilw.
"How many droids guard the base?"
Kara held up a single finger.
A very specific finger.
"If you do that again, I will snap that finger off," Krell threatened.
As tempted as Kara was to do it, just to anger him, she didn't want to lose a finger. "Very well."
"Where is the base?" Krell took a step closer to her.
"Don't you understand? I'll never tell you!" Kara hissed, blood dripping from her face.
Krell's lightsaber turned on right in front of her face, the light shining in the blood. "We'll see about that."
"Kara, are you okay?" Rex softly asked, placing his hand on her shoulder.
"Get away!" Kara shrieked, pressing herself into the corner of the cell. She curled into a small ball. "Get away from me, you monster!"
"Kara?" Rex furrowed his forehead in concern.
"R-Rex?" Kara questioned, shakily reaching out with her hands.
"Yes. What's wrong with you? What did he do?" Rex asked in concern as she shivered violently. "Should I get Kix?"
"I don't need your help!" Kara scrambled away from him. "Just leave me alone! Please!"
"Kara, I think you need medical attention." Rex waved his hand in front of her face, but she didn't even notice it. "Kark, can you see?"
Kara buried her face in her hands. "G-go away."
Rex crouched next to her, holding up two fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"T-three."
Rex grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. "We're going to Kix."
Kara yanked away from him. "I don't need your help! Just leave me alone! I don't need anything you have to give me! You sent him in here!"
Rex's features softened. "Kara, I had no choice. I didn't want to send him in."
Tears mixed with the blood on Kara's face. "Just go away!"
"What happened?" Rex demanded, concern growing in him. She had never acted like this before.
"He'll be back," Kara whispered. "He needs to know where the base is."
"Kix can help!" Rex said. "Let me take you to him!"
Kara squeezed her eyes shut. "Fine."
Rex helped her out of the cell, the shield already down. She leaned against him heavily, taking in shallow breaths. He wrapped an arm around her waist to help her walk, glancing at her in concern every couple seconds.
"What did he do to you?" Rex quietly asked.
Kara bit her lip. "I don't want to talk about it."
Rex felt a twinge of pity in him at that, picking up his pace to the medical bay.
"What is it this time?" Kix sighed as he saw Rex half dragging Kara into the room.
"Pong Krell interrogated her." The title missing from the sentence revealed much respect Rex lacked for the Jedi Master. "I think he blinded her."
Kix pointed to an exam table, which Kara was laid on. He pulled bacta and a light out of a drawer, and shone the light in her eye.
"The pupil isn't dilating." Kix frowned, switching to the other eye. "Kara, what happened?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Kara murmured.
"If I'm going to help you, I need to know." Kix grabbed a wet cloth and dabbed at her face, frown deepening as she cringed away.
"He turned his lightsaber on, very close to my face." Kara sharply inhaled as Kix cleaned a particularly deep wound on her cheek.
"And?" Kix inquired.
"My eyes are very sensitive," Kara reluctantly explained. "They have a hard time adjusting quickly. I can't see in bright places, or in dark places. When it turned on so close to my face, I guess it triggered something."
"How long have you had this?" Kix peered into her eyes.
"Since I can remember." Kara wheezed, pressed a hand to her chest.
"Hopefully it'll improve on its own then. It might just need a rotation to recover from such a sudden change of dilation." Kix pulled out bacta, spraying some into a deep cut on her face. "And how did you get these?"
"He slapped me. He has sharp nails," Kara weakly said. "C-can you check my ribs please?"
"Why?" Kix sharply asked. "You should've said something sooner. That takes priority over face scratches."
"Scold her later," Rex interjected.
Kix quickly scanned her, reading over the results. "You've cracked a rib. What did he do to give you that?"
"Kicked me across the room." Kara took the frozen bag that he offered, holding it against her torso. "And he's a Jedi? Aren't they supposed to be gentle and peaceful?"
"He has a different approach to things than some others do," Rex carefully said. "But he gets results, so they keep sending him out."
"Did you tell him where the base is?" Kix questioned. He poured a couple painkillers into the palm of his hand, slipping them into a bag.
"No." Kara scowled. "I won't give in that easily. Especially to that son of a bantha."
"No escaping for a week at least. It'll take your rib around six weeks to fully heal. And as long as your face wounds stay clean, they'll be fine." Kix handed Rex the bag. "Taking these will help with the pain."
"Thanks, Kix," Rex said, examining the bag for a moment. He helped Kara off the bed, silently cursing Krell's name.
"And come back if anything else happens." Kix gave Rex a knowing look.
"Do you know when he'll visit you next?" Rex questioned.
"He said tomorrow," Kara told him.
Rex rubbed his forehead tiredly. "I'll make sure General Skywalker is there."
"If-if I tell him where the base is, will he leave me alone?" Kara quietly asked.
Kix and Rex exchanged looks.
"It would be illegal, but it's still highly possible that he would kill you," Rex admitted. "As much as I want to find the hidden base, I'd hate for Krell to be the one to get the information. He'd get praise for such a feat."
"Are you telling me to not give up the location?" Kara asked in shock. "You? Captain Rex?"
"Is this treason?" Kix teased.
"Would you rather Krell march us to the base?" Rex asked, shooting Kix a filthy look. "You remember his soldiers' death rates, correct?"
"Good point." Kix turned to Kara. "You've got this. Please don't let us down."
"This is a lot of pressure," Kara remarked.
"You'll get to annoy him!" Rex blurted out. "Think about how frustrating you can be!"
Kara's eyes glinted. "True."
"And were you really going to give up the information anyway?" Kix convincingly said.
"Fine, I won't let that motherkarker win," Kara agreed.
Rex chuckled.
That was the Kara he knew.