This adaptation to make lightsabers more durable is fascinating and useful and exactly the kind of thing she's staying with the Empire for. She manages to hunt down a couple of other intriguing lightsaber modifications by the same person.
She looks her up.
"Not here, no. But - well, let's wait 'till we're a little more settled."
There's a sitting room up ahead; it'll do nicely.
They go and sit. Karzel has apparently been here before, he knows the way.
Deskyl and Daisy claim a couch; Deskyl toes her shoes off and tucks her legs up beside her.
"We're not sure where to start; what has Ekkreth told you?"
"She said that you had had terrible things done to your mind by your former master, but that you were recovering, that you do beautiful art, that you have trouble with speaking and hearing and I should learn to sign at some point, and that she had explained colors and was going to teach you to make tzai when your ability to form long-term memories was more reliable."
Deskyl nods, and signs to Ekkreth: Did you want to let him settle in first?
All right. So.
"That's not the only terrible thing going on there." (Deskyl sighs, and signs on.) "It's a research facility; one of the apprentices studies torture methods."
"Of course. What kinds of defenses does he have? How many does he usually keep at once?"
There are usually between half a dozen and a dozen experimental subjects. She describes the defenses: his compound is fairly sparsely protected, for a Sith, just a few dozen droids and a small anti-aircraft array; she explains that he mostly gets by on being useful to keep around, and being very careful not to offend anyone. "If he thinks there's a threat, he'll have people there protecting him. But he probably won't, Ekkreth hasn't done anything to give him that impression."
"It's not impossible. But she didn't threaten him when she took Deskyl; she doesn't think he'll be worried enough to call in any favors."
"Well, that's good. Do you know if anyone besides Ocnem was working on the project?"
"He'll have had servants, of course, but the report didn't mention any other Sith. Deskyl still doesn't remember anything about it herself, though, and we're not expecting her to get that back."
It's not the sort of topic that invites enthusiasm.
"Do we even know what he was doing with her?"
"In some detail. Do Jedi use battle meditation - the technique where you meditate to help guide force-insensitive troops?"
"It's a similar technique, but focused on the Force itself, to get large physical effects from it. The second person acts as a buffer; we think Deskyl might've survived because she was already used to using Force senses all the time, and had practice filtering them."
"--Oh dear. Yes, I can see how that would--" he breaks off and shakes his head at the implications.
"Yes." The droid sounds fond, now, just a little. "We've all been very lucky."
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