Princess Leia has been captured by Darth
Vader and is being tormented every way
possible to get her to reveal the location
of the hidden rebel base. Also ties in with the story "Evidence Revealed".
As
we all know, all characters, locations and props are
properties of George Lucas. All original
material is my copyright.
TJ Perkins
[email protected]
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THE AFFLICTION
By TJ Perkins
Original Material Copyright 2000
It had only been a few hours since Princess Leia's
blockade runner had been
pursued across the galaxy, damaged and boarded by the most vile dark lord
ever -
Darth Vader. No time had been wasted in rounding up what crew members
hadn't
been killed from the boarding party slaughter. They were lead to interrogation
chambers where, most likely, they would never see another day. Or,
if they were
lucky to survive the interrogation methods, would never be completely sound
in
their minds as long as they lived.
Death would truly be a good thing when being a
Rebel and in the hands of
the Imperials. You couldn't be tortured and forced to tell truths
and secrets
and you wouldn't have to remember the horrible head games the interrogation
serum played on you. With death there was peace, no worries and no
more
responsibilities.
Princess Leia sat back against the cold, steel
walls of her holding cell
aboard a massive space station of staggering proportions, called The Death
Star.
She pondered the name and the purpose of this technological terror.
Ever since
she and Winter stumbled upon the secret base where the pieces of this Death
Star
were being created, she had been determined to stop it before the Imperials
had
a chance to complete the project. But she was too late. When
she told her
father, Bail Organa, about their discovery, he urged her to ignore such
nonsense. When she went before the Senate any ideas about a secret base
were
quickly dismissed. No one would believe her.
But she knew what it was that she and Winter saw
and felt deep in her gut
that something was terribly wrong with how those pieces were being made
in one
place, only to be taken somewhere out in space and put together.
Now that she
was aboard the monstrosity, she could see why the Imperials had to hide
it. The
space station was so big, it could easily be mistaken for a small moon.
She had escaped being captured when she and Winter
tried to damage a few of
the constructed pieces at the secret base. Now she was at their mercy.
Her role
as a secret Rebel leader had cost her this time and Leia wasn't sure how
long
she could contain the information she knew. The Imperial method of
extracting
information was horrible and she had seen the results from many of their
rebel
troops that had been set free after extensive torture. Their minds
were forever
filled with nightmarish delusions, unable to decipher reality and fantasy
-
death would've been better.
Leia even pondered how she could take her own
life so all the secrets she
held deep in her mind would never be told, but her duty and responsibility
to
all those that relied upon her was too great. No, she had to survive,
and
would, at all costs. Leia didn't know how she knew, she just did.
The little
R2 unit carrying the stolen technical readout on this battle station would
find
General Obi Wan Kenobi and somehow he would rescue her. She could
feel it.
But until that time came she would have to be
strong and stick to the
original story when Darth Vader first confronted her about the transmissions
that were beamed aboard her ship. The dark lord was so terrifying
it was all
she could do to stand tall and verbally lash back at him, admitting to
nothing
and trying to appear innocent of any wrong doings. But Darth Vader
was too sure
of himself this time and had plans for her. Now, here she was, locked
up in a
floating battle station with nothing to do but wait.....
Princess Leia's thoughts were interrupted by the
access door suddenly
opening. Darth Vader entered accompanied by two guards. Even
after they
entered her cell, the door remained open and she toyed with the idea of
charging
out into the corridor.
"Now Princess," Vader's deep voice boomed
through his constant breathing
sounds. It commanded attention and Leia couldn't help but to abandon
her idea
and look at him, "Let's discuss the location of your secret rebel base."
A high-pitched humming sound was echoing down
the corridor, then the owner
of the sound entered her cell - an interrogation droid. It's perfectly
rounded,
shinny, black body floated slowly to Vader's side. It was well equipped
with
anything that would be needed to extract information. Leia's eyes
became wide
with fear and her mouth gaped open at the sight of a huge syringe with
an
extremely long needle. Her cell door slammed shut with a deafening
woosh! and
the two guards rushed upon her, grabbing each arm, slamming her against
the wall
and holding her still.
Her heart beat wildly as she was forced to watch
Vader detach the syringe
and approach her with it in his gloved hand. He grabbed her forcefully
under
the jaw and injected the syrum into her neck. The needle was so long
that it
felt as if it would go through to the other side and the liquid burned
as it was
pumped into her skin and quickly worked through her veins. After
the deed was
done, the guards released Leia and stood back to watch as the poison took
effect.
In a matter of seconds, Leia felt dizzy and hot,
breaking out in a sweat
and feeling her heart beat uncontrollably. She had to sit down before
she fell
down. Her back slid along the wall until her bottom landed on the
small bench
she had occupied just moments ago.
"Now, tell me Princess," Vader ordered in
a softer tone, as he walked
closer to Leia, "What is the location of the hidden rebel base?"
"I don't know what you're talking about,"
Leia said, placing a hand to her
head and leaning forward. She honestly felt like she could vomit
at any moment.
"Several transmissions were beamed aboard your
ship. Where are they?"
Leia looked up at his hideous black form and squinted
her eyes, fight it,
you got to fight it, she told herself.
"What information did your retrieve?" Vader
persisted.
"I was on a diplomatic mission..."
"No! You're a rebel spy!"
"...to Alderaan. I was returning to Alderaan...I
don't know..."
Vader took hold of her arms and hoisted her up
so high that her feel
dangled above the floor. He loomed in her face, watching her eyes
focus, then
roll back, then focus again. She was strong minded and strong willed,
not many
showed such resistance to the mind probe. He would have to keep pressuring
her.
"I know you are lying, you cannot resist.
If you tell me now I will ensure
a quick, painless death," Darth Vader hissed in her face.
"The ship!" Leia shouted, "The ship is under
attack!"
"The ship will all right is you tell me the location
of the rebel base."
Leia's mind was suddenly sent into a spinning
macabre of images. Vader's
mask turned into an thick, oily substance, covering her body and trying
to
consume her. She swatted the air as Vader released her. Leia
fell to the
ground, backing into a corner and trying to clear her mind of the visions.
Pressure building in her head made her scream and she kept on screaming
even
when the guards lifted her up and sat Leia on the bench.
Darth Vader clapped a gloved hand over her mouth,
"Open your eyes Princess!
Where is the rebel base?"
Leia's body broke out into a cold sweat, she shivered
uncontrollably, her
eyes rolled to the side and her mouth was so dry she could barely speak.
"I-I
told you...I d-don't know...what y-you're...."
Her sentence ended, unfinished, for Leia then
passed out, falling over on
her side and landing with a thud onto the bench.
Vader was silent, staring at her for a few moments.
He couldn't help
admiring Leia for her mental strength, there was indeed something special
about
her, he just couldn't put his finger on it.
"My Lord?" One of the guards queried, breaking
into Vader's thoughts.
"Leave her for now. I have an alternative
method of extracting the
information we need as soon as we get to the Alderaan system."
With that, the three men and the driod left Leia
sleeping soundly in her
holding cell. She would need her strength, for soon she would be
faced with an
even greater challenge.