Order 66 | The Bad Batch | Hunter

Chapter Eight- A Familiar Presence

The next time Kiv woke up, she was in a dark room, no longer strapped to anything. She was completely free of any bonds, and she was suspicious of it.

She stood, stumbling on the way up. She was extremely weak. That was why she was free. Kiv wasn't a threat to anyone in her current state.

"My dear," a deeply unsettling, yet strangely familiar, voice sounded through the room. Kiv looked around the room, her breath shallow. A chair directly in front of her spun around slowly. "I've waited a long time to speak to you."

"Who are you?" Kiv asked, her voice hoarse.

The man grinned creepily under his hood. "You already know the answer to that question."

Kiv shook her head, stepping back away from him. "All this time..."

"All. This. Time," he said, removing his hood. It was him. It really was. Chancellor Palpatine was the Sith lord.

Kiv turned away, walking to the window that showed the galaxy around them.

"I'll get to the point," the sith lord growled. Kiv's body was turned around to face him using the force. "You are one of the only remaining Jedi of the Jedi Order. I need a fighter like you... You will become an apprentice to Darth Vader."

Kiv's brows furrowed. "Who is Darth Vader?"

He grinned. "You don't know?" Kiv suddenly became aware of another figure in the room. A dark, yet extremely familiar presence. His breath could be heard steadily throughout the room. Kiv had almost thought it was a fan of some sort, but she could now tell it was this dark clothed sith lord. "Step forward, my apprentice."

The new sith lord stepped into the light, facing Kiv.

"Kiv," was all he said. She faltered, her breath hitching as she stepped back away from him.

"No," she muttered. "It's not you..." It was Anakin. She could feel his presence in the room, now that she had heard his voice, though terribly altered by the machine that was helping him breathe.

"You will become his apprentice," Palpatine ordered. "You will be my first inquisitor."

She couldn't breathe. Kiv stepped back again, and her fear slowly turned into anger. Palpatine took Anakin from her. From her and Obi-Wan. Her family had been destroyed by him.

"Yes... Good..." Palpatine was saying, feeling her anger exuding from across the room. "Embrace your anger."

"You," she growled, turning to Palpatine. "You!" She yelled, running at him. She reached out with the force, breaking a piece of railing off to use as a weapon. Kiv ran forward, swinging the pipe like a bat, but it was pulled from her grip. She was lifted off the ground, Anakin-no, Darth Vader, holding her back. Her vision was red with anger. She could barely focus. Palpatine was laughing at her. She felt Anakin's-Darth Vader's hands on her arms. Her anger was not enough to keep her able to fight. Her weak body came back, the adrenaline and aggression wearing off. She went limp, sobbing in Darth Vader's arms. "No..."

Darth laid her down on the ground. "You will become my apprentice," he ordered.

She didn't hear anything else they said. Kiv laid there, unmoving, sobbing, for god knows how long. Eventually, she felt someone lifting her body up, placing her on a table... or a bed of some sort. She was wheeled around whatever ship she was on, and brought to some room. Her own room it seemed. Something she had not had for a while.

The first day was the worst day. They left her completely alone.

The door was locked, of course, the first thing she tried. Then she explored the room. It was a small, white, room, not unlike her room on coruscant. But it was much less homey. It had a small twin sized bed, and a compartment to hold things in, though she had no possessions with her.

Kiv was able to find these weird rings on the corners of her bed. Oh. They were for in case she gave too much trouble, and they could chain her down. The room became even less homey, reminding Kiv that it was a prison cell.

She didn't see any other people until the next day. They didn't bring her food, clothing, nothing.

The next day, when she finally did see other people, her first interaction was with a clone. He brought in her food and she begged for him to help her, but he left without a word. Then a simple woman entered her room, the click of the lock behind her. The woman flinched at the noise.

"Hello," she said, finding Kiv curled up on her bed. "My name is Fallow. You are?" Kiv didn't respond. "That's okay." The woman held her hands out, stepping to the bed and sitting down lightly. "I'm not here to hurt you."

Kiv looked up at the woman, finding a gentle and kind look in her eyes.

"Fallow?" Kiv asked, sitting up.

"Yes." Fallow smiled. "You are?" Fallow asked again, though she knew who Kiv was. But she was earning her trust. She wanted to give the girl someone she could call a friend.

"Kiv," she finally answered.

"Kiv," Fallow repeated. "Lovely name." She laid out some fabrics that she had brought with her, mostly blacks and grays, though she had a little square of various colors hidden between them. "I'm here to dress you."

They spent the next hour looking through the fabrics and designs and getting Kiv's measurements, though Kiv didn't want to. She only did it because Fallow was so nice, and Kiv enjoyed having someone to talk to.

At one point, Fallow took out the little square of rainbow fabric and asked Kiv to point out her favorite colors.

Kiv pointed to a blue. "This is the color of my lightsaber," she whispered.

Fallow smiled. "Lovely."

But Kiv wished she didn't go along with the woman. Because soon after she was gone and Kiv was left all alone again.

And then he came. A man Kiv would grow to hate, because his presence meant it was "training" time.

He would bring her to a room, guarded by troopers all the while, and strap her to the table. Then Vader would enter, occasionally joined by Emperor Palpatine.

They would then spend however long it took until Kiv passed out, trying to get into her mind. Vader would push in, over and over again, wearing Kiv's mind down completely. But she wouldn't break. No matter how many days it took for the Batch to find her or for her to finally keel over and die, she wouldn't join them.