Kix - A Star Wars Story

8th

The alert alarm sounded throughout the ship. The corridors shuddered after each impact and the power of the shields was decreasing quickly.

Kix looked at the Kaminoan lying unconscious on the ground. Kaminoans have always panicked him, the same kind of fear a child has of the dark. Kix felt his hands shake, closed his eyes and took a deep breath to try calm himself. But it happened the completely opposite. As soon as he closed his eyes, a well-known, haggard-looking face appeared and the smell of blood permeated his nose. The screaming and crying flooded his mind again. Kix covered his ears with his hands, desperate to stop the screaming.

The sound of the alarm suddenly stopped the screams and the images that were  torturing Kix. He let his back slide down the wall until he sat on the floor, panting and tears running down his face. Kix focused on the alarm and the flashing red lights. - We are under attack,-  he said to himself, trying to keep his voice steady. - I have to get up, arm myself and prepare to defend my brothers. - He opened his eyes and got up slowly. He looked around the room carefully and grabbed one of the DC-15Ss that had been hanging on the wall and made sure it was charged.

He heard movement behind him, but he couldn't turn around fast enough. He received an electric shock at neck. Kix fell to the ground and could see the Kaminoan standing next to him before going  unconscious.

***

The annoying voices of the combat droids woke him up. He felt an electrifying heat around his entire body. He tried to move, but it was useless. He opened his eyes and the light generated by the surrounding lightning shield blinded him for a moment. He felt an electric shock shaking his entire body. He screamed in pain. As soon as the shock stopped, Kix forced himself to keep his eyes open. He was on a separatist ship, there was no doubt of it. There were six security droids in his field of vision. The one to his right was the one controlling the shocks, but Kix knew there was nothing he could do. He didn't even know if the frigate had been destroyed or if there were more prisoners on board besides him.

The droids were talking to each other, but Kix struggled to make out the words. His hearing was failing and his sight was also blurred. "Great, I've been drugged," he thought immediately.

Kix heard the door open and close and the kaminoan who had attacked him earlier was now in front of him. Kix felt his heart race with rage. The Kaminoan was on the separatists' side and Kix was not surprised at all.

- CT-6116, I'm glad to see you're already awake. - The Kaminoan said with his spooky tone of voice and with his horrible eyes on Kix's. The Kaminoan took a step toward him. - Now tell me how and when you discovered the inhibitor chip. - Kix felt a terrible pain in his chest. "I'm dead", he thought. He knew that whatever he said, they would torture him to death. There was no escape, this time he was alone. "But ... I have to get out of here. What I have discovered will save the lives of thousands of my brothers." His silence at the Kaminoan question prompted the droids. Another painful shock shook his body. Kix clenched his teeth and closed his eyes tightly, concentrating on his brothers. Jesse, Rex, Vaughn... he tried to focus on those who were still alive to try to counteract the terrible physical and psychological pain he was feeling. The shock stopped again and Kix was trying to control his breathing. The Kaminoan clasped his hands behind his back. - Who have you told about the inhibitor chips?

- To nobody. - He answered almost in a whisper. "Unfortunately", he thought, trying not to let the thoughts, the screams, and the heartbreaking images haunt him.

- Are you sure? This kind of discovery is not one of those that you can simply  shut up to close friends. - Said the Kaminoan, dragging the words melodically. In the eyes of any galactic creature, the Kaminoans would seem elegant and beautiful creatures, but only the clones, some Mandalorians and Jedi knew how arrogant and unbearable they really were. 

Kix could see out of the corner of his eye the droid on his right touching a few buttons. Kix had instinctively closed his eyes, waiting for a shock, but there was none. "So you've leveled the shock up..." He half-opened his eyes, scared.- I didn't tell anyone to avoid spreading the word and getting caught. - He said sincerely and with fear. His voice trembled. He was having a hard time accepting that situation coldly. - Although it seems that my discretion has not been enough. 

The questions and the shocks continued for days. Kix was exhausted. If he wasn't dead, it was thanks to the Kaminoan, who knew perfectly well when to stop the torturing  before the damage they caused him  was completely irremediable.

Kix had already given up, but refused to tell them anything. He would never betray his brothers.

***

The droid commanding the ship had just received word that Count Dooku was dead. The news made him rethink what to do with the prisoner. The Count had ordered him to take the clone  to Sereno, for a more effective interrogation that the Count himself would carry out, but that was no longer going to happen.

- Our prisoner cannot fall into Republic hands, he has too much dangerous information. - The droid explained to his officers. - Security Officer, have you put the prisoner in the stasis chamber as the count had ordered before his death?

- Affirmative, sir.

- Navigation officer, have the hyperdrive generate random coordinates and put the engines to maximum power.

- But sir... That could destroy us ...- the officer complained.

- That's my plan. If we cannot deliver our cargo, we will sink with it. Proceed with the order, officer.

- Yes sir.

Many decades later, the rumors of a hidden treasure of Count Dooku himself on that planet, reached the ears of the most intrepid pirates in the galaxy and decided to go to claim the treasure and the riches they could find.

But what Captain Sidon Ithano and his crew found, was  not what they were  expectecting...