MUSTAFAR:10BBY

X

As soon as Keelan was taken downstairs to where no one could hear him, he knew this was going to hurt.

He'd been punished before, the scars on his back were proof of that, but the sight of the interrogation chair in the middle of the circular room was still enough to make his whole body break out in sweat and his legs go weak.

Strangled attempts to beg left his throat as they strapped him in. Nothing he said made any difference.

There would be a question, accusing gestures, angry faces. Keelan would reply with the truth, he didn't kill Baize. That was all he could say, he didn't know who had done it, he was only holding Baize's gun because he was returning it to him. This was all a misunderstanding.

The pain came anyway.

Hot, burning, white pain in his skin. He didn't know if he preferred whip lashes to this or not. Whips were quick, sure, but this pain was repeated so fast that it might as well have gone on without stopping. There wasn't blood, maybe that was why it was easy for them to continue.

Whips, he thought after the tenth time, I prefer the whips.

By the time the officers realized they were getting nowhere with him, Keelan was a mess of sweat and tears. His throat was raw from the screaming, his muscles were spasming, and his lungs felt like fire. He had gripped the armrests so hard that his hands had gone numb, his knuckles stiff.

He barely realized they had stopped, murmuring amongst themselves then filing out of the room neatly.

Then that cold feeling came, crawling up his back, mingling with his spinal fluid. Keelan hoped it was death, that he could just drift off quietly, that is until that familiar hissing of air met his ears.

The sound that left his lips was akin to an animal being led to slaughter.

Lord Vader crossed his arms over his chest panel, over the chest panel Keelan had been trying so hard to memorize these past days. He could hear his leather squeak. The light glistened off his helmet perfectly.

"I didn't- I did-didn't-" The words came again through chattering teeth, the muscles in his jaw ached. He could barely breathe, his throat felt like it was closing up. Was Lord Vader choking him? He wasn't sure.

The huge man in black stood there for a long moment, his looming presence was like a shadow that threatened to swallow Keelan whole. Then, he turned to the side, his hands folding behind his back.

"Silence."  He boomed, leaving Keelan completely disoriented. "I am aware of your innocence."

Keelan shuddered and shut his eyes trying to get the room to stop spinning. He was confused, relieved, afraid, he didn't know what to say, it left him gasping like a fish.

"I had intended to inform my master of you this morning,"  Vader said as he stared at the wall, that helmet of his covering all emotion, yet Keelan could tell he was curious. "You are aware of this through the Force, despite any training, despite your fear... One would assume you attempted to kill me before it happened by rigging my suit to self-destruct once I dawned it, but this is not so, is it, Mr. Hutt?"

Keelan wheezed.

"Only a fool assumes I am unaware of my surroundings while I rest." Vader paced the small white black and white room silently for a moment, his cloak gently billowing behind him. Once he seemed to have thought long enough, he then turned to point to him. "The one who killed Baize was not you, of that I am certain. It was another, one who intended to assassinate me. One who intends for you to take the fall."

"W-wh-what..." Keelan barely croaked.

"Someone you know. Someone you trusted." Vader continued, Keelan heard his black glove grasp the metal frame of the chair near his head. "A friend."

Keelan didn't understand. He didn't have friends, not really. He'd only been here for a few days, he didn't like socializing. The only people he spoke to were Baize, Tyla, and...

His eyes opened.

"Brandall." Keelan's voice was not dripping with an anger he hadn't ever tasted before. It was bitter like bile and poison. He had never really liked Brandall, but now he was so furious it reduced him to tears again.

"Yes." Vader seemed to purr. "Trust your feelings. Trust your anger."

Keelan didn't know what that meant, he didn't feel strong right now, he honestly felt like shit. They hadn't been close, Brandall and him, but the betrayal he was experiencing was intense. Baize had been the closest he had had to a friend, he had been honest and truthful with him., Baize had been the first to listen when he spoke.

Now Baize was dead and Brandall had had a huge smile on his face after it had been done. "See you tomorrow at the cafeteria," he had said. What a liar.

Keelan decided he hated liars.

There was the hissing sound of the door behind him opening and in came a few guards with none other than Brandall himself. He was still smiling, he must have thought he was so smart, he must have gotten some sort of kick out of seeing Keelan strapped down after nearly an hour of pain.

"My Lord Vader," He began, even his voice sounded fake. Keelan was certain that anything that would come out of his mouth would be more lies. Perhaps he was here to bring forward more evidence against him, he didn't care, and it didn't matter.

Brandall didn't get to say anything else.

Keelan didn't know how his restraints suddenly rolled back, creaking like hot metal. He didn't know how he had risen from the chair so fast. He didn't know how Vader's saber had sprung to his hand through the air.

Sizzling heat.

That powerful buzzing feeling in his hands.

Keelan last remembered his shaking body swinging the weapon and Brandall falling to the floor in half.

"Well done."