Bounty (Alex Rider/Star Wars Crossover) (BOOK 2)

Chapter Five

On Elysio-6. Alex and Cody were trying to figure out a way to escape, when the durasteel doors slid open to reveal a squad of stormtroopers. "Jedi," the commander ordered, "On your feet. You're coming with us."

Alex stood up compliantly. Just as one of the troopers lowered his blaster to secure Alex's stuncuffs, he struck. He lashed out with his foot, catching the commander in his midsection, knocking him to the ground. Cody saw what was happening and joined it. He tried very hard, but he was weak from his stay in the cramped prison cell and the insufficient nourishment, and was quickly subdued by a jolt from a stun gun. Alex somersaulted over one of the trooper's head, landing squarely behind him and giving him a stiff punch in the face that knocked him down, despite the armor he was wearing to protect him from such an occasion.

The troopers came at him from all directions to pin Alex down. One grabbed his right arm and pulled it behind his back, another doing the same with his left. He was slammed roughly to the ground, almost bouncing with the force of the impact. Alex struggled to get up, but there were too many of them. All of the troopers were trying to hold down a different part of him, and he was running out of strength. The commander, who was just getting gup, pulled the stuncuffs off of his utility belt. The white-clad soldiers turned Alex onto his face and, pulling his hands behind him, bound his wrists in the stuncuffs. They were set on the highest possible setting and would give Alex the jolt of his life if he tried to remove them or struggled against them.

After seeing that he would not stop, one of the troopers got on his comm and requested a medical transport sled equipped with binders. They stayed securely on top of him until the sled arrived. When it arrived, his cuffs were momentarily removed, but were quickly replaced with the binders on the transport. He was secured in every way possible. There were two straps across his chest, one across his mouth so he could not yell out, one across his forehead, holding it down, and each foot was strapped to a corner, with straps across his legs also. His arms were fastened securely at his sides. The only thing he could move was his eyes.  Alex had never felt the sensation of not being able to move at all, but he did not like it one bit. He had no choice but to give up for the moment. He lay quietly, waiting for what would come next. The transport was pushed by one trooper out of the cell. In the corner of his vision, Alex could barely make out his new friend's slumped-over form in the corner of the cell. The doors closed on an unconscious Cody. Now, all Alex could see were walls, ceiling, and stormtroopers. He decided to use this time to meditate, since he could not do much else, even if he wanted to, which he did. He closed his eyes and let everything go: his thoughts, his current pain, his bad feelings about what would come next, and his worries about everyone else he would leave behind. He concentrated on letting his emotions out, and within a few moments, he was calm.

The sled moved down the hallway, many passersby giving him curious looks, or even smug ones, saying, "You will never beat the Empire." They were wrong. Alex knew that evil never won. The medical transport hovered down the hallway and came to an abrupt stop, jolting Alex's every muscle. It had hurt, and Alex was suddenly aware of the fact that he must have been injured in the fight. He glanced as best as he could on his upper left arm, pretty deep from what he could tell.

Alex heard a door open and the sled began to move again, this time into a dark room. He expected to be removed from his uncomfortable position, but he was not. Instead, he could feel the sled being raise up on end. If it were not for the numerous bonds holding him in place, he would have fallen off the sled. He could see now that the room was equipped with medical supplies. The door slid open again. A droid entered, pushing a hovering cart in front of itself. The top of the cart was cluttered with all manner of surgical equipment. Syringes, vibroblades, vials, and other instruments all intended to impress fear into the hears and minds of its subjects were scattered across the top of the cart. Alex had no idea what was going to happen now.

Alex was aware of many things happening around him. It seemed he was being prepped for some kind of procedure, though he had no idea what kind. Medical droids were busying themselves around him. Their metal faces held no expression, but he suspected they knew somewhat of the pain that would soon be inflicted upon their patient.

Alex remembered once, about five years ago, he had been in a similar position. A criminal called Razim had wanted to use him as a test subject to see what kind of emotional damage he could inflict, and how it would affect his subjects. Alex was forced to watch as his best friend in the entire universe had been killed right before his eyes in a terrible explosion. After that, he had never been the same. Alex shook out the painful memories. This would be difficult. He was a Jedi, though He had to survive.

He tried to strengthen the struggle against his bonds, but it proved useless. He sensed a dark presence approaching. Vader.

Just as he suspected, the doors slid open and Alex felt the presence coming near. He felt himself filling with fear. I am not afraid, he told himself. He reprimanded his thoughts. Jedi did not get scared. They were fearless. He concentrated even harder on his bonds. His eyes fell upon the dark figure clad in black.

Darth Vader spoke. "You put up quite a fight, my young apprentice," he remarked through his belabored breathing.

Alex did not reply. He could not. He simply did his best to star daggers at the dark lord, trying to convey a message through his thoughts. It said, I am not your apprentice. No matter if you take my life, or the lives of others. I cannot and will not. He repeated the message over and over in his head, hoping Vader would get it.

Vader cocked his head slightly to one side. "I can feel your insolence, young Jedi," he remarked indifferently. "You will break soon enough. Together we will be unstoppable."

Had Alex heard right? Did a Sith lord just offer him a proposition? Yes. A slim one; pretty much join me or die. But it was a proposition. He tried to drown on Darth Vader's ramblings about the power of the dark side and all that.

The Sith lord had been going on for a while now about how he and Alex would overthrow the emperor, return the galaxy to its original glory and blah, blah, blah. It was not like Alex could even agree with him, seeing as there was a binder across his mouth prohibiting his speech. But then again, Alex would probably just end up saying something sarcastic that would most likely get him in trouble.

Just then, as if it was able to read his thoughts, the bond was removed. Alex inhaled deeply. Vader had released it.

"Will you join me, Jedi?" Darth Vader asked, his deep voice filled the room.

Alex did not answer right away. He was too busy enjoying breathing through his mouth. Finally, he spoke, his voice hoarse and dry. "I will never join you," he swore for the second time that day.

Vader nodded with finality. "So be it," he said, closing the discussion. "Now you will pay the price for your insolence. We have been experimenting with a device that will limit the abilities of Force-users. The experiments have proven quite conclusive, and the device is ready. You will be the first to experience the helplessness the comes with losing your connection to the Force."

Alex was about to respond with a sarcastic comment, when the binder across his mouth was back in place, forbidding his speech.

Turning the medical droids that were standing at the ready, Vader commanded, "Continue with the procedure."