Broken Part 1 Take me Home

~\*{ BROKEN }\*~

One-shot

Part 1: “Take me home”

IC: Knight Bathori & Artifex Terrogate

Location: Dromund Kaas/ Victrix/ Prakith

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“Would anyone notice, by Citizen Soldier “

https://youtu.be/5gyANphz\_Kk

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The ashen grey winged Sith left, holding it’s sceptre in one hand and the a bucket with the remains of her arm in the other. The shuttle was reeking of her blood. The tears kept running from her eyes over her blood stained cheeks, the Iktotchi was unable to move, strapped to the chair it had made from the metal doors of the Nebuchadnezzar. Ammit was overcome by pain, death would have been better, being kept alive was the real punishment.

K-0R9 came running from the cockpit, he spoke to her but the broken knight was unable to understand. Paralysed by the shock she saw how he removed the sharp metal straps to free her and grabbed a medkit. Slowly the muffled sounds became more clear “I...take you to..... medbay, M...ster” the droid said as he tried to apply a bacta solution on the wound. “no...” she whispered in pain. The droid looked her “but Master, you need medical care..” “take me home” her voice was weak but determined, the Iktotchi did not want medical care, she just wanted to leave this horrid place. “Master” but before the droid could finish it’s sentence “no... I want to go home.” He nodded and stood up lifting her from the chair and carried her to the cockpit where he placed her in the passenger seat “I will set course to Batorine.” The Broken Knight slowly shook her head “take me to Prakith..” “but there is nothing there” he responded knowing that the tower that used to be her home was now empty and abandoned. Tears kept running over her face, when she closed her eyes she saw it's face again “Prakith” she said with a weakened growl as she looked down at Cruor’s gift, now permanently stained and engraved with her own blood. “yes Master” K-0R9 said softly and sealed off the cockpit.

Moments later the ramp closed, and the sound of the engines could be heard. Ammit's bloodshot eyes gazed around the room and then to her wound, a big gaping hole with a blackened crust. She wanted to scream but even for that she was to weak. She wanted to look away but everywhere she looked she saw it, the demon that she used to admire, the creature that used to be her mentor. A monster, a nightmare that she will never be able to forget.

The Nebuchadnezzar took off and turned away from Kaas city. As the shuttle left orbit the shattered sorceress could feel herself drifting off, she was to weak to remain conscious...

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Terrogate lay awake in his room, the highest point in the centre tower aboard the Hand, it was in the wee hours of the morning and he could hear the wind whistling through the gaps in the stone circular walls. He began to feel the cold with the only fire in the room all but now a smoulder, his bed below him was hard but it was not those things that caused sleep to evade him. It was a feeling, something spoke to him deep inside his subconscious mind, a feeling something wasn’t right, like a warning. It was then, as he lay there, looking up at the leaky ceiling that he heard it. A repeating beep coming from his dresser, looking over towards where the noise originated he sees the soft blue glow of his comlink flashing on and off. The large Catharian warrior gets up, walks over to the comm and smiles at seeing it’s Knight Bathori calling from her ship's signal. Unusual, but he was always happy to hear her voice. “Receive call” he says to the comm, but to his surprise it was not Ammit, it was K-0R9, her droid. Terrogate, standing alone in the darkness, feeling a pit in the bottom of his stomach speaks into the com …...”hello….?”

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While Knight Bathori lay unconscious in the passengers seat behind him, K-0R9 made the call. To the only person that he knew could be trusted, the only one that would care, his master's mate, Terrogate. The Catharian looked surprised when he answered the call “hello?” “Apprentice Terrogate, we need your help... I need your help” the droid said as he prepared to take the shuttle into hyperspace. “We are leaving Dromund Kaas as we speak, Knight Bathori is gravely wounded she ordered me to take her to Prakith” at once the felines face changed, he was in shock and worried. “Prakith?!” he yelled, “we will enter hyperspace now, please come.”

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“GET OUT OF THE WAY!!” he yelled as he ran through the halls of the Victrix. The Catharian pushed his way past the service, maintenance droids and the odd servant unlucky enough to be caught in his way. He moved as fast as his feline feet would carry him, down the many halls on his to the med bay.

K-0R9 had called him with an urgent message. Knight Bathori, gravely wounded and on her way back to Prakith. PRAKITH!?! She’d already moved her family from their and to her newly built house in Batorine. And he had happily decided to stay there along with her when he wasn’t required at Tollere. No, in his mind there was one reason and one reason only why she was returning to the Tower.. she was dying.

Terrogate put his foot down before the turned the corner and slipped and crashed in to the wall hard, he winced at the pain in his shoulder. But he didn’t have time for that. Getting up he rounded the corner and entered the med room. Looking around he quickly took everything he could carry, gauze, full tanks of Bacta fluid, pain relief, salve and antibiotics. He would certainly pay for taking the items later, whether it’s monetary or in flesh but he didn’t care right now. Only one thing was on his mind, getting to Bathori and saving her life. Arms full he headed back out of the med bay and towards the Hanger Bay as fast as he could go.

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The black Lambda-Class shuttle landed on the snow covered plateau next to the old watch tower. K-0R9 shut the engines off and stood up. The entire trip he had heard her cry and scream, fighting against the demon that haunted her thoughts and memories. The security droid turned to the passenger seat where he found her slumped down on the chair, still unconscious, her eyes rapidly moving as she was reliving the horror. “Master... master we have arrived...” he said, trying to wake her, but Ammit didn’t respond. He stepped closer and reached out to her...

"I taught you better than to embarrass me, 'Knight' Bathori...... You always obsessed over seeing the past and future Ammit, perhaps after this you will learn to pay more to the present” it’s voice echoed in her mind, she trembled in fear. “Do you know how irritating it is to see someone I know to be smart, act so. kriffing. dumb?” she could now see it’s face in the darkness, smell it’s breath and feel it’s energy. Suddenly she was overcome by pain. She looked down and saw the ashen grey Sky'tri feasting on her arm. The hand was gone, nothing but a bloody stump on which it was chewing. She opened her mouth, wanting to scream but there was no sound. Then cold hand suddenly touched her shoulder, she heard a muffled robotic voice calling out to her.. “Master.. Please wake up. Master” it was K-0R9 trying to wake her.

Slowly she opened her eyes, she could feel her heart racing in her chest. Her golden eyes stared at the droid as she gasped for air. “we have arrived Master” the droid said. “Good, Take me to quarters” the weakened Knight responded, unable to get up herself. “Please Master, let me take you to a med centre” Korg tried to plea with her, “no what is the point?” she said, thinking about dying “now take me home.” He nodded and knelt down, carefully slipping his left arm under the hollow of her knees and his right to support her back. Easily he lifted the wounded Iktotchi up and walked to the hatch. The icy wind brushed over her blood stained skin as Korg walked down the ramp. The cold made the pain worse, she leaned her head back, looking up at the blue sky and cried as the droid carried her to the tower.

K-0R9 obeyed, he brought her to her private quarters at the top of the tower where gently placed her on the stripped bed. The room was empty, only the basics were there but stripped bare of any proof that someone had lived there. “I will make fire” the droid said as he walked to the fireplace. “Don’t bother” she mumbled and stared at the ceiling, but for the first time Korg didn’t listen and placed logs in the fireplace. Ammit closed her eyes for a brief moment. At once she was back in the Nebuchadnezzar, screaming in pain, restrained in the metal chair it had created for her. She was able to sense its excitement growing as she saw how its tongue darted across its bottom lip, a hungry pleasurable look in its eyes. When the Iktochi opened her eyes again, the fire was already burning. “I want you to destroy the Nebuchadnezzar.” Shocked Korg turned his head “Master?” “Destroy it” she repeated. The shuttle had been a gift from her former master when she graduated, it was the ship she dreamed of, but the horror that had taken place aboard had now stained it for good. She would never be able to set foot in it again. Ammit turned her face away and continued to cry as the droid left the room.

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The T-class cruiser Roar-1 pulled out of hyperspace and screamed into the Prakith atmosphere above Bathori tower. As Terrogate pulled the ship closer to the destination he saw smoke billowing from a large fire on the landing pad next to the Tower, his heart was pounding hard, feeling like it was ready to explode out of his very chest, but he tried to hold it together. He needed to think clearly, if she was still alive she would need him to have a level head if he is to be of any use. Terrogate pressed the ships comm and send a signal through to Batorine. “Greetings Apprentice Terrogate, wha..” “Stop.. Jovian listen to me” The Catharian cut off the Houscarl. “I’m on my way to Prakith tower to collect Mistress Bathori” “But sir? Prakith? Why would Mistress go th..” “Just listen!” Terrogate cut off the clearly surprised and confused Echani again. “I need you to prepare the bathroom and bedroom for Ammit. I need as many towels as you can get, buckets of water and also make sure the fire is on and that pillows and blankets are ready… She's been injured Jovian. I’m not sure how bad, but if she’s on Prakith. It isn’t good. If she is alive, rest assured I will find her and bring her home.” He pushed the comms button once more, killing the link as Roar-1 descended to the snowy planet floor.

Moments later, Terrogate exits the loading ramp of his personal cruiser and stepped out into the snow, the fresh powder crunched under his feet. To his right is the burning, blackened shell of the Knight Bathoris Lambda t4 class shuttle The Nebuchadnezzar and straight ahead is Bathori Tower. Terrogates heart was racing as an overarching sense of panic ran through him, he remembered his sister Abbes, and his parents back on Cathar. He was too late to save them then, they had died because he wasn’t there to protect them, because he was weak. But now, now she was family to him, his closest friend, his mate and he would not just leave her to die. He looked around feverishly for signs of life.. anything. Searching about the ground he breathes a sigh of relief, under the light layer of snow his Catharian eyes see the faint indents of tracks, only one large set leading from the ship to the tower.

Quickly he approached the large door and to his surprise the door was already ajar. He pushed the heavy wooden door open and entered the tower, before him stood Korg the purple, gold and black security droid. “Where is she? I’m here to take her home” The Catharian roared at the droid. “Terrogate, Knight Bathori has given me strict instruction that she is to remain here..” Terrogate rushed the droid, his anger and impatience overwhelming him. He thrusted his full 117kg weight into the droid and pushed him backwards, laying him on his back on the stone stairs. The Catharian roared into the metal face of the security droid. “Korg, you will tell me where she is, and you will allow us to leave or I will remove your head and leave your body in the snow.” “Knight Bathori is in her chambers,” said the droid.

Terrogate released him, jumped over the droid and ran at top speed up the stairs, as he ascended the stairwell he heard a low moaning and crying that increased in volume as he got closer to her chamber door. He opened it and entered her room, his eyes widened in horror as he saw her laid out on the stripped bed. Her clothes blood stained, as was her face and skin, her hair matted with blood and sweat, and Instead of her normal complexion her face was a shade of grey and swollen, her lips blue. And her arm… her remaining arm of flesh was missing completely, in its place a black crust of a wound with skin shredded around the shoulder where it was once joined, blood seeped out freely from several visible cracks in the blackened flesh staining the mattress below her. He approached her slowly, he saw her chest rising and falling in shallow breaths, he breaths a small sigh in relief. But the panic was still there in him, she was alive but only just…… “Ammit…” he whispered walking slowly towards her afraid to cause her any further shock..”Ammit.. I’m here.. I’ve come to take you home.”

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Surrounded by darkness, “Useless, Sheila, child, fake, idiot, whore, weak, tramp, fledgling, slut, moron” the voices of the Acherjon screamed at her. Ammit was trapped, sitting on the floor trying to cover her ears. She was aware that it was a dream but was unable to wake herself up. “I'm going to check your brain is in fact, still there” The Sith master's voice whispered in her ears. She could feel its claws grabbing her head, trying to crush her skull.. Then she heard another voice, in the distance, soft and kind “I’m here, I’ve come to take you home” it said while the screaming continued “you will never be home!!! I will haunt you wherever you go... Useless whore!!” the ashen grey demon screamed at her. Again the soft voice broke through the screams “Ammit. Wake up.. Come home with me” it was Terrogate she could sense his sadness.

Slowly she regained consciousness, her breath as shallow and weak. Her eyelids were swollen and stuck together. With difficulty she managed to get them open and saw Terrogate standing next to the bed. “go away” she hissed through her dry cracked lips “leave me.” But the Catharian didn’t go, he looked down at her, she could feel his shock. “I said leave! You filthy beast. Get away from me” she snarled and with the little energy she had left, fuelled by her own suffering, she pushed him away from the bed. He stumbled backwards but the force push was to weak to make him fall.

The Catharian dug his heels in and steadied himself then moved closer again. “go away! I played you like the fool you are! I don’t want you, I never did. You disgust me!!” she snarled, wanting to insult him so that he would leave, but the suffering made it hard for her to speak, she had barely any energy left to fight. For a moment Ammit closed her eyes, the image of the grey Sky'tri master flashed before her eyes. “Noo!!” she screamed deliriously as he opened her eyes wide, her heart pounded in her chest her, breath quickened in fear “noooo!”

She hurt him, she could see that he was affected by her insults but still he didn’t go. The saw it, the bloody red etching on her golden ultrachrome arm. “This arm and the person it belongs to is property of the eternal Sith empire.” He said nothing, he just helplessly looked at her, it was now obvious to him that she had been disciplined with some unholy and grotesque punishment. The Iktochi's bloodshot eyes looked at him “Did you come to gloat?” she hissed as she started to cry again. “just leave me.. Let me die..”

At that moment, Korg entered the room.. “Apprentice Terrogate..” “Korg” the Catharian cut him off.. “go to my ship and retrieve the Medkit in the storage bay and a container of bacta and bring it to me at once.” He turned once again to the Knight as the droid left the room. “Filthy beast leave me!” She growled at him. “Ammit” he spoke louder now.. “Ammit, with all due respect you may be a Knight, but that is one order I will not follow.” Angry the Iktochi growled, frustrated that Terrogate didn’t leave her alone. “leave me!!” she cried out, “please let me die!!” but the Catharian didn’t listen to her wailing. Instead he stepped closer and looked at her wound, the arm and shoulder blade we’re gone. Only the broken collar bone stuck out of the blackened crust, sharp and with dark brown blood stains. The crust was cracked from moving in her sleep, bright red blood trickled down on the matrass. The Catharian placed his hand on her sweaty forehead “Ammit, we need to get you out of here.. I’ll not let you die here alone in this Tower” he said calmly as he looked down at her. Ammit looked at him her eyes didn’t have her usual twinkle, they were hollow and angry. She was seething and now we would be able sense her anger, her fear and hatred through the force as she desperately wanted him to leave. Too weak to hurt him she used his gentle touch as a bridge to drain him from his power.

The Catharian could feel his life force syphoned away, weakening him. Bit when he removed his hand he noticed that the small patch of blood soaked forehead under his hand had now turned back to its almost normal colour. She was draining him but it was in no way enough, instead she was rushing faster to her doom. “Stop this Ammit” Terrogate yelled out at her, desperately trying to get through to her, ”I won't let you die! not like this! Not today..!” At once she stops and glares at him through her swollen eyelids, revealing her bloodshot eyes, he could see the pure madness now surging in her mind behind them, seeing her like this shook him to his core, realising she wasn’t trying to heal herself, and he took a small step back separating the two Sith. “I told you” she said while using her own blood to form a thin red ice pike “to leave me alone!!!!'' She screamed and using telekinesis she shot the twenty centimetre long pike at Terrogate's chest, hoping to hurt the man she loved. Hoping he would leave and let her die. Terrogate immediately twisted to the side and avoided the bloody ice spike that hurtled towards him; instead he dodged it and it shattered into a million pieces against the stone wall behind him. Exhausted Ammit dropped her head once again to the bed and closed her eyes, screaming a bloody, desperate howl.

With the medkit in one hand, and a container of Bacta in the other K-0R9 re-entered the room “Korg come here!” Terrogate said as he moved towards the droid taking the medkit and sidestepped to swap places with him on the end of the bed. Terrogate removed a syringe and a yellow vial from the medkit. “Korg, I need you to hold down her arm as I inject her with this sedative.” The droid looked at him unmoving. “Don't you dare touch me!!! I said leave me!!!” Ammit spat to her security droid and long-time companion. “But… Apprentice Terrogate…. I.. I cannot disobey my master.. “Korg, listen to me.. It’s either you hold her down so I can give her this to stop her killing herself and me in the process, or she WILL die. Do you understand me?.” “Don’t you dare!… don’t you..Korg.. just leave me please.…let me die..! I order you!” Ammit said, tears streaming down her face as she commands her droid against Terrogate’s request. Korg stayed still for a moment, as if an internal battle was occurring in his own programming. His robotic eyes blinking on and off as he was fighting with himself. He turned his head to Ammit, then back to Terrogate holding the medkit, and back again to his master then finally he speaks, “I am sorry master.. but I must do what is needed. I cannot obey you this time.” And with that he moved to the side of the bed that had her ultrachrome arm as Terrogate moved to the other side where her missing arm was.

Terrogate nodded and began to draw the liquid from the vial and into the syringe. Korg then put one hand on Ammits chest to hold her down, as he reached down she thrusts her razor sharp nails up and penetrates his metal arm where a bicep would appear on a normal humanoid digging in to the droid in a last spiteful act. K-0R9 then grabbed her ultrachrome wrist with his other hand restraining her from being able to move. Terrogate moved in, leaning down and injected her in the neck with the syringe administering the strong sedative. “sshshhhhhhhhhh…shhhh relax Ammit.., I’m here to take you home.., were going home, you’re going to be ok..” as the fight slowly left her body and chemically induced sleep took her, Terrogate kissed her sweaty blood splattered head and removed the syringe from her neck. As Ammit faded out of consciousness she felt a large arm reach behind her back and a hand gently lift her head and she hears Terrogate’s voice.. “Come on Korg, grab the bacta, we have to hurry….”

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{To be continued....}

Art: The Will by: Santiago Carsuo