The quiet calm of the cell swam around Corvus, the middle aged man enjoy the break from the torture and interrogation. His body and mind ached, wracked with pain from Scion’s handiwork. He was surrounded by an energy field, the plasma humming as it shimmered down to the floor. That is, until, it all of a sudden shut off. The quiet hum left abruptly, the sucking sound of absorbed energy seeming to burp into the air to take its place. Then, silence. No alarms rang, no emergency lights kicked on, nothing to indicate power failure of any kind. The Corellian smelled a trap, but he felt like a fool just sitting there.
He got low and skulked towards the wall, his efforts working towards masking any sound he could make. What was going on? The Smuggler knew he had no friends inside the Castle, knew that once he gave the Tarenti what they wanted he was as good as dead, so what was going on? The Human pushed those thoughts away, focusing more on his survival and less on the circumstances of it. He moved towards the door and pressed the button to open it, revealing an empty hallway devoid of any guards. He took a right and followed the hallway, lights flickering every so often. Perhaps it was a power failure after all, thought Corvus to himself. It wouldn’t be long, mere moments from leaving his cell, that the Corellian came to the end of the hallway and upon another door. His brow furrowed as he debated with himself, sweat beading on his forehead. His hand trembled as it rose to hit the button, the door activating and revealing more corridors devoid of any life.
“Phew.” sighed Corvus.
“Phew, indeed.” said a voice from behind him, “Thought Scion was gonna hog all the fun.”
The Corellian didn’t look to see what the voice came from, instead he booked it down the hallway. The voice from behind turned to boisterous laughter as the Smuggler ran further and further away from it, turning a corner and activating another door.
Inside what appeared to be a boiler room, Corvus waited in darkness. His heart pounded, adrenaline coursing through his veins and ridding his body of its aches and pains. But as most good things do, the sensation dissipated as light bathed the room as the doors opened once more.
“Fear is a strange thing.” said the voice, “To those attuned to it, fear can lead you to anything.”
The voice flicked the lights on in the room, and the visage that embraced Corvus’s eyes was horrid. A chalk white figure with no ears, nose, or lips stood before him. The abomination had a beard, braided and soaked with saliva, that seemed to only briefly distract the Smuggler from the rest of his strange body. Brands and tattoos covered his skin, something Corvus got a good look at when the strange figure grabbed him by the throat.
“My name is Samael, I’ll be your executioner tonight.” he said, something akin to smile covering his face.
Corvus swung his knee as hard as he could, impacting the Umbaran’s testicles with great force. The Sith released his grip and let go of Corvus, who immediately ran out of the room and further down the hall. Samael laughed as the pain ebbed and flowed through him, giving him one more reason to want to kill Corvus. The Smuggler ran for minutes before he found an elevator, which he promptly began to hit the up button. His finger smashed against it repeatedly, gaining in ferocity when he saw Samael round the corner. The doors opened, and the Human ran inside.
“Close. Close. Close!” said Corvus as he hit the close door buttons.
Slowly but surely, the doors finally began to close and the elevator ascended Castle Tarentum. Corvus slumped against the wall as he thought of a way out, some possible escape from the hell he found himself in. The elevator chirped and the doors opened, Samael waiting on the other side with a wolfish smile.
“Can lead you to anything.” said Samael, thrusting a punch forward and connecting with
the forehead of Corvus. His brain jostled back and hit his skull, knocking the Human unconscious. The Umbaran looked down at the Smuggler and frowned, dragging him over to one of the submersibles that the Tarenti used to leave the Castle. He took the Smuggler and dipped him in the water, focusing on the darkness inside himself and sending it pulsating through the Human. Electrical arcs of power skittered out of the Human as the Umbaran threw him on the ground.
“Just kill me if you’re gonna do it.” said Corvus.
“Can’t. See, if I kill you, it’s this whole big thing. The higher ups would KILL me if I killed
you. Believe it or not, they still think you’re useful. But me? Not so much.” said Samael, kneeling over the Human and pressing one of his daggers into his throat, “I mean, I COULD kill you. Accidents happen, I could say you gave me this…”
As he finished his sentence, Samael cut a large gash into his face, the blade of his
dagger scratching the crystal eye. As he did it, the Smuggler took his opportunity and swung as hard as he could at the Umbaran. He connected with the side of his head, tossing the man off of him and able to get up. The Sith dropped the dagger, its blade delivering a much deeper gash than intended, blood spewing from the wound. The Umbaran began to laugh once again as he scrambled to find his blade.
The Corellian, however, had found it first. He tackled the Umbaran to the ground and forced the blade on his throat. The Sith smiled and encouraged him, seemingly begged him, but the Human wouldn’t do it. Instead, the Human began punching the Umbaran over and over, landing four strikes before the scarred Sith knocked him off. Corvus landed on his back, twisting awkwardly in the air and arms flailing to and fro. When he landed, his hand hit some control panel and activated two buttons. Doors opened up, seeming to appear from nowhere, and droids marched out from their hiding places. They carried large blaster rifles, the sight of which caused more adrenaline to swarm Corvus.
“Hoo hoo hoo!” cooed Samael, “You invited guests for lil ole me?”
The droids swiveled on their feet and pointed at Corvus, who was rapidly trying to slice into the terminal and reprogram the droids. Samael giggled as he saw the Smuggler panic, the droids raising their guns and taking aim. Corvus didn’t look up at them, just continued his work with the determination of a man who might soon be dead.
“Any last words?” asked Samael as he awaited the firing squad to react.
“Yeah...good bye!” said Corvus.
One of the submersible’s hatch doors opened, the Smuggler rolling and sprinting to get to it. The Umbaran commanded the droids to fire, but they refused to respond. The Sith cackled as he watched the Smuggler work towards escaping, the Human playing right into the Tarenti’s trap. When the Corellian got in the sub, he closed the hatch and left as fast as he could. Water sprayed into the air as he sank into the depths, the sound of Samael’s final cackle repeating in his ears.
Relief washed over the Smuggler, freedom and his survival open for him to enjoy. Corvus couldn’t help, however, that something was wrong. Was that too easy?

Back at Castle Tarentum, the Tarenti assembled in the Throne Room. Samael was standing before them, explaining what had happened. His voice was monotone, calm, and it was apparent he took no pleasure in explaining what happened.
“So, he didn’t suspect anything?” asked the holographic image of Farrin.
“Not to my knowledge. His mind was too busy focusing on escaping, he didn’t seem to realize I was not actually trying to hurt him. He’ll lead us to what we seek. I still think I should have been able to hurt him...at least take an ear.” explained Samael.
“There will be a time for that, Samael.” said Sith Bloodfyre, “For now, retire to your quarters and wait further instructions.”