Knights of the Old Republic: Fragmented

Manaan: There is No War in Ahto City

Guttural screams vibrated off the side of the metal walls. A Selkath had been chained onto a table—his claws gripped the edge as a gray-dressed Sith soldier stabbed him with a shock stick. A red mask observed the torture as if watching a boring holodrama.

Once the Selkath ceased shaking, Darth Revan waved his hand and the Sith interrogator stepped out of the cramped room. The Dark Lord paced around the Selkath like a firaxan shark eyeing his prey. Eventually, he stopped at the end of the metal slab and tilted his head.

The fish sat up a smidge so that he could spit out saliva. His beady eyes narrowed as he spoke in his watery language. "You can physically torture me for months. Years. I'll say nothing. I refuse. The secrets of kolto are ours to—"

The Selkath's body slammed onto the cold slab, pressed down with powerful energy. Revan held out a dark hand and the fish twitched as the pressure in the Force increased. A cold sensation washed over the room.

The Dark Lord's distorted voice echoed. "If this was about kolto, I would have grabbed some other idiot. But you know something far more valuable. The ruins you found in your research. Where are they?"

"How...how did you...? My research is..." The Selkath hissed as the pain ramped up. "Only...Selkath...only Selkath are allowed knowledge of what is below the sea. When the courts find out you have kidnapped me, then— "

The darkness mounted and the Selkath let out a whimper.

Revan approached and his red mask bore down on the alien like a shadow. "Knowledge is easy to acquire after using the proper pressure points. If physical torture will not convince you, mental torture will. And what do you know? I happen to be a master at both."

Tendrils of pain seeped into the Selkath's limbs as his internal organs were pricked and prodded using the dark side. Revan reveled in it.

"Though mental torture is a far more effective tool. The mind is a fragile organ, after all. As a doctor, you would know that, wouldn't you?"

"Just...stop..."

Bones cracked. More guttural screams.

"So then why am I breaking your bones if I could just break your mind? Well, I don't care if you talk. Not really. I can get everything I want without you blubbering a word." The Force squeezed the Selkath's neck. "This is for wasting my time. And I happen to like my time. Very much."

"Please..."

The Selkath was released and his muffled gags cut through the silence. Without giving him a momentary respite, Revan lifted his hand once more, this time over the doctor's head.

Flashes of white. Memories. He was there. Inside his mind. It took effort. Power. Pain. It was worth the pain. The Selkath swam within a vast ocean, its warmth wrapped around him like a tight blanket. The memories blurred and Revan tried to focus on what he wanted. But too much poking and prodding and the fish's mind would be destroyed. If that happened, all of this would have been for nothing. It would be safer to find something else. Something sentimental.

Revan peered past the fish's mental block. Further into the past. He flicked through his mind like a datapad then stopped once he felt the warm sensation of happiness.

The doctor was on the surface city the Selkath created for off-worlders—Ahto City. He shuffled towards a welcoming silver door. It swished open revealing another Selkath. His wife. Before he could show any sort of affection, a child jumped into the doctor's arms, laughing, screaming with joy.

"Daddy, you're home! Tell me, tell me! Where did you go? What did you see? Did you see another firaxan? Did you?"

The doctor chuckled. "Actually, I..."