Katarn's Conquests

Episode X:  Melting Iceheart

Isard jumped to lightspeed the moment they were clear of the Maw's gravity well, and Kyle was unable to get much more than a hint of their general position before the stars elongated and the gunboat leaped into hyperspace.  A positive positional fix would have required instruments, and Kyle doubted that Isard would let him take a reading without blowing cover.  Besides, there was probably much he could still learn staying with Isard for the time being.

The trip back was uneventful, and they both slept soundly.  That was little wonder after the exhausting orgy they had had with Admiral Daala back at Maw Installation.  Kyle had vivid dreams of the encounter, seeing Isard writhing against Daala, their naked bodies glistening with sweat.  But eventually Daala's screams of ecstasy slowly shifted into the audio alert from the gunboat's navicomputer.  Kyle blinked his eyes open, seeing Isard already stirring in her seat in front of him.  The twisting energy vortex of hyperspace dimmed around them and the stars drew back into the darkness of space even as the shining sphere of Coruscant suddenly rushed up before them, filling most of the view.

Isard guided them down through her secret approach vector, settling down in the private hangar concealed in the cityscape.  They climbed out of the gunboat and pulled off their flight suits to change, Isard wearing her bright red uniform while Kyle donned his jet-black Ubiqtorate Commander uniform and cap.

They exited the hangar and had been walking in comfortable silence for a few minutes when a stormtrooper, the first they had come across, suddenly blocked their path.

"What is the meaning of this?"  Isard demanded, her ire rising immediately at the trooper's imposition.

"Madame Director Isard."  The trooper's voice was filled with formality even filtered through his helmet speaker.  "Come with me."

"I'll have you used for turbolaser target practice."  Isard hissed, her red eye shining with malice.  "How dare you order me to--"

"By command of the Emperor."  The trooper said evenly.

Suddenly all the bluster and fury drained from Isard as though the trooper had fired a stun blast square into her chest.  Her mismatched eyes darkened with what Kyle could have sworn was abject terror.

"What has happened?"  She asked, her voice suddenly small and quiet.

"You are to come with me."  The trooper ignored her question.

Isard glanced at Kyle, and though he knew she was a cruel, insane woman, he could not help but sympathize with the fear in her eyes.

"Shall I accompany you, Madame Director?"  Kyle asked.

"No."  She said instantly.  "Report to your station, Commander."

"Ma'am."  Kyle nodded smartly and turned on his heel, heading straight for Isard's quarters; they were the only 'station' he had at the moment.  He glanced furtively over his shoulder and saw the trooper lead Isard away.  He pondered for a moment whether to follow them, but the old tugging sensation in the back of his mind warned him against the idea.  He would wait in her quarters.

* * *

It had been midday local time when they had landed on Coruscant, and presently the sun was setting behind the skyline of Imperial City as Kyle sat, gazing out of the bustling air traffic outside Isard's suite.  It had been over six hours since the stormtrooper had accosted them in the corridor.

Without warning, the suite's entrance slid open and Ysanne Isard walked in very slowly, her steps deliberate.  Her face was unreadable, and her normally keen eyes seemed to gaze far away.  Kyle rose and went to her, and in spite of himself he felt genuine concern.

"What happened, Madame Director?"  He asked after a long moment of silence.  There was a strange odor in the air that he couldn't quite place.

"The Death Star."  Isard said, her voice oddly hoarse.  "It's been destroyed."

It took every ounce of Kyle's willpower not to shout in joy, but at least the surprise that lit up his face was to be expected.  "What?  How?"

"Rebel attack."  Isard said, her eyes still unfocused.  "They had detailed schematics.  Found weakness.  Massive intelligence leak."

Kyle forced a neutral expression.  He had been instrumental in acquiring those plans, after all.  But his internalized pride was forgotten as he saw the raw look in Isard's red and blue eyes.

"What happened to you?"  Kyle asked softly.

"The Emperor..."  She shuddered.  "... was displeased."

And then she fell, Kyle catching her in his arms, and the strange smell was much more pronounced.  He carried her over to the bed and laid her down, noticing for the first time that the uniform she wore now was newer than the one she had been wearing when she had left with the stormtrooper.  Isard's eyes were now closed, and she was in a deep sleep from what Kyle surmised was utter exhaustion.  Between her physical condition and the new uniform, not to mention the odor, Kyle had a pretty good idea of what was wrong.

He went about striping the red uniform from Isard and he felt his jaw clench as her naked torso was exposed.

"Oh, sithspit."  He murmured under his breath.

Isard's torso looked as though it had been used as a power coupling; extensive burns covered her stomach and breasts as well as he back.  That was the smell he should have recognized: burned human flesh.  The pain had to be overwhelming.

And she had walked here by herself.

Kyle moved quickly, striping the rest of her clothes and tearing apart her suite until he found a medical kit.  He applied bacta pads on her burns; with enough time the damage would be reversed; bacta was particularly good at repairing energy burns as Kyle himself was well aware.  She would be fine, and look none the worse.  But the sheer cruelty of what she had been subjected to was staggering.  This had been done to the Emperor's supposed lover.  He was living up to his reputation.

Isard's eyes blinked open and she looked at Kyle and then down at her naked body and the bacta pads pressed against her injuries.

"A concubine, a fighter, and a medic."  She said in a strained, pained voice.  "Black Sun should have charged a far higher price for you, Kyle."

"Quiet."  He said, covering her hand with his.

"Do not give me orders."  Isard retorted, but there was no strength in her words.  "I am Ysanne Isard... I..."

Kyle leaned forward and covered her lips in a gentle kiss, silencing her.  When he pulled back, he saw a hint of a smile in her mismatched eyes.

"Fine.  Take advantage of me now..."  She said, the energy draining from her rapidly.  "But I'll make you pay later."

"I look forward to it."  Kyle returned her faint smile and brushed an errant silver strand of hair form her eyes, running his fingers through her otherwise dark black hair.  He saw her eyes close and then she was deep asleep.  Kyle stood and buried his face in his hands.

What the hell was he doing?

* * *

Kyle spent the next few days supervising Isard's recovery.  More than that, he became her only means of communication with the world outside her quarters.  Kyle met her subordinates at the door and exchanged orders and intel reports that he then took to Isard in her room.  It was Isard herself who insisted on the arrangement, and she was adamant that no one beside Kyle himself was allowed to see her in her weakened condition.

Kyle couldn't help but remember the cold calculated tone Isard had used to order the interrogation droid to kill the stormtrooper that had walked in on them in the midst of sex.  Had she ended the man's life simply because he had seen her in a vulnerable moment?  And if so, was she planning to put Kyle to a similar fate as soon as she was back on her feet?

No.  He did not know how, exactly, but Kyle was certain that she did not intend to harm him.  He had a pretty good sense of danger, almost uncanny, really, and he was willing to let this play out for now.

After all, he was getting access to incredibly sensitive Imperial intelligence.  The Death Star had been destroyed by a single proton torpedo fired from an X-Wing starfighter into a thermal exhaust port.  Grand Moff Tarkin had still been aboard the battlestation when the chain reaction ripped the Death Star apart, just moments before the main weapon was to fire on Yavin IV and wipe out the Rebel Alliance base located there.  The Empire was portraying the whole fiasco as an act of terrorism on the part of the rebels, but Kyle felt a swell of pride knowing that the plans he had stolen had led to this rebel victory.  If only it could have prevented the destruction of Alderaan.

Kyle still had a hard time believing it.  An entire planet obliterated, nearly two billion lives lost in the blink of an eye.  The palace Leia had taken him to, where she, Winter and Kyle had made love in her beautiful bedroom; it was all gone.  Fortunately, Leia had not been on the planet during the attack.  Winter, however, was far too talented an agent to even catch the notice of Imperial Intelligence, so there was no mention of her whatsoever.  Unfortunately, that also made it very possible that she had been killed during the attack.  Kyle put the thought out of his mind, as there was nothing to be done on that front at the moment.

The newest batch of intelligence reports clutched under his arm, Kyle walked into Isard's bedroom to find her under the covers, her eyes closed and breathing steady.  He moved around to sit on the side of the bed slowly as not to wake her.

"Commander."  Isard said quietly, her eyes still closed.

"Director."  Kyle shook his head in amusement.  "I have the latest-"

"Put them down."  Isard said, finally opening her red and blue eyes.  She sat up, with no hint of pain.  "I could use a bit of physical therapy this morning."

Isard tossed the sheet aside, revealing her naked body.  Kyle reached down and gently played his fingers over her smooth, flat belly up to her full breasts.  The bacta had done its work well, completely healing the electrical burns that the Emperor had inflicted on her.

"Good as new."  Isard leered up at him, noticing his interest in her skin.

"Why..."  Kyle knew he should not ask the question, but he could not stop himself.  "...why would the Emperor do that to you?"

Isard's expression cooled immediately, and she pulled the sheets back over herself.  She regarded Kyle silently for a moment, her blue eye studying him while her red eye seemed to brim with fury.

"The Emperor is not to be questioned."  She said, her voice hard.  "Understood?"

"No, Madame Director."  Kyle pressed, holding her gaze.  "Not when he has harmed you, Ysanne."

It was the first time he had ever used her first name, and Kyle knew he was treading on thin ice by doing so.  But something seemed to break behind Isard's mismatched eyes and she grabbed Kyle's hand in both of hers.

"I... I deserved it."  She said, her voice shallow.  "I failed him."

"No."  Kyle covered her hands between his, squeezing reassuringly.  "Vader failed him.  Tarkin failed him.  Not you.  The rebel...scum..."  he added hastily, "...took advantage of bad design."

Then it hit him.  The Death Star's one weakness had been a design flaw, and if the Emperor had had Isard tortured for no direct reason, what would he do to the crew of the Maw Installation?  What would the sadistic despot do to young and naive Qwi Xux?

"Admiral Daala." Kyle said, choosing a safer point of inquiry.  "Will she be..."

"I will tell you a secret, Kyle."  Isard looked at him, with a glimmer of a smile.  "The Empire is very big, and even the Emperor himself cannot know where everything is.  Our lovely admiral is safe.  And once we crush the rebels into dust, you and I can visit her whenever we like.  To... thoroughly evaluate her performance.  But until then, never speak of her, do not even think of her.  The Emperor has powers you cannot comprehend."

Kyle had dismissed the propaganda of the Emperor's mystical power long ago, but he took heed of the need for caution.  It was easy enough to believe Palpatine had spies everywhere.  But even so, Daala clearly believed he was some sort of powerful wizard, and yet she had taken Kyle into her confidence.  Was this simple desperation in search of companionship, or did Isard truly care for him?  Kyle was not certain which option was more unnerving.

What was worse; Kyle was not even sure what his own feelings were.  Things had become dangerously muddled with Ysanne Isard.  He had to leave, and he had to do it soon.

* * *

The following week was a blur of ever more intense sex.  Isard was completely recuperated, and she seemed to be intent on burying the memory of her torture with as many orgasms as Kyle could give her.  She grew increasingly rough, slapping him, clawing at him and biting as they twisted and churned together in her bed, their bodies straining together in passionate sex.  Kyle grew more aggressive himself, and their trysts became virtual sparring matches, each one ending in a mutual orgasm more intense than the last.

But as the sex grew more savage, Isard grew warmer and more intimate with Kyle.  She would sleep peacefully in his arms in the afterglow, and they would often follow up sex with leisurely kisses and caresses.  Isard seemed to be expelling her demons with Kyle in bed.  The more violent the sex, the more stable she seemed otherwise.

And it was during one particularly violent session that Kyle had a stroke of inspiration.

He knew the means to escape, now all that remained was the proper moment.

* * *

Kyle came out of the sonic shower to find Isard fastening her brilliant red uniform around her slender body.  She looked at him with her mismatched eyes shining with a happiness that rarely graced her striking features.

"Get dressed, Kyle."  She said with a smile.  "I have something very special to show you."

* * *

She led him deep inside Ubiqtorate headquarters, untold stories beneath the Imperial City's common street level.  Oddly enough, the deeper they descended, the fewer guards were apparent.  The more sensitive the information, the less the Empire could afford to trust its own people to know it.

They came to a large transparisteel viewing window that looked out over a large room filled with computer stations, with hundreds of people hunched over their monitors, reading and typing furiously.

"This is the heart of my operation."  Isard glowed with pride, gesturing grandly across the room.  "These are the finest intelligence analysts in the Empire.  The sift through the most sensitive raw intel and pluck the vital information from the sea of useless data.  They are the key to the Empire's ultimate victory..."  she gave Kyle a meaningful look,  "...and your vengeance.  It is only a matter of time before we have a definitive location the rebel leadership."

And just like that, Kyle knew the time had come.

"My Mistress,"  Kyle grabbed her hand in his.  "I can never repay what you have done for me."

"You can try."  Isard grinned at him.

"I need you..."  Kyle said, putting a desperate pleading into his voice.  "I need you now!"

A gleam of mischievousness filled Isard's red eye and she glanced toward a maintenance door set into the wall behind them.  She walked to it and it slid open silently to reveal a small closet space containing a few dormant mouse droids.  Kyle followed her inside and the door slid shut behind him, whisper quiet.

Kyle grasped Isard's shoulders and shoved her back up against the wall.  She bared her teeth in a lusty grin, reaching up and wrapping her hands around Kyle's throat, squeezing firmly.  Kyle was used to playing rough with her, so he ignored the pressure on his throat and lunged in to kiss her, forcing his tongue into her mouth and sparring with her own.  Isard moaned against his lips, her fingers slipping from his neck and traveling down his torso and plunging into his trousers, finding his shaft already growing erect.  She started working at his belt, her entire body radiating desire.

Taking advantage of her eagerness, Kyle started pulling Isard's uniform from her, and in a minute they were both naked.  Grabbing up his belt in his hand, Kyle spun Isard around and bent her over, looking at her toned butt for a moment before plunging his erect member to the hilt inside her with one deep thrust.

"That's right!"  Isard encouraged him lustily.  "You're all mine, Kyle!  Unngh!  Oh yes!  All mine!"

Kyle took his belt and draped it over her eyes, but Isard did not flinch or resist.  She laughed, nodding enthusiastically as he tied his belt securely at the back of her head.  He began thrusting steadily, and she reared back at him thrust for thrust.

As their tempo increased, Kyle reached down and grabbed beneath her knees.  With a heave, Kyle lifted Isard off her feet, impaled on his cock, her legs dangling wide apart.  Isard's hands reached around to grab the back of Kyle's head for support, laughing and moaning with pleasure in equal measure as he pumped her onto his manhood with his powerful arms.

Keeping his thrusts as steady as he could, Kyle backed toward the door and it slid open without a sound.  He moved out of the maintenance closet and toward the large transparisteel viewing window.  He set Isard back onto her feet, pressing her naked body up against the transparisteel.  The cold transparent metal made Isard squeal with delight as her full, bare breasts compressed against it, but it was indistinguishable from the interior of the maintenance closet.

Kyle spotted an intercom mic and speaker just to his right and carefully reached over, flipping it to "transmit only", a setting Isard likely used when lecturing her prized analysts without wanting to hear back from them.

Now it was time to go to work.

With a violent lurch of his hips, Kyle started pounding into Isard as hard as he could.  His testicles swung up, slapping against her clit and sending waves of pleasure up through her.  Isard arched her back and screamed with absolute ecstasy, and Kyle knew her voice was amplified into the analyst room when they all jumped in their seats.  They looked up at the viewing window to see their Director, the infamous Ysanne Isard, her naked body pressed against the window and writhing in pleasure as Kyle thrust brutally into her from behind.

"Yes!"  She wailed, her hands clawing at the transparisteel.  All her responsibilities, all the pressure was gone.  All she could feel was Kyle's hard, thick cock filling her again and again, bringing her intimate depths into a boil of pleasure.  "Harder!  Mine!  All mine!  YES!"

Kyle grasped Isard's hips with both hands, knowing he had only a few moments before one of the analysts managed to gather their wits enough to hit an alarm.  He went all out, his legs straining as he threw himself into Isard with all his strength.  It was incredible, and Isard felt marvelous, her hot flesh squeezing tightly around his cock as he thrust on and on, building toward their last climax together.

"Ysanne!"  Kyle roared, feeling his loins reaching the critical point.

"YES!  YES!  AAAAHHHH!!!"  Isard cried out, her entire body shaking as her orgasm ripped through her from head to toe.  She could feel Kyle's hot seed gush into her as his cock jerked deep inside her quivering vessel.  She squeezed down on him, pumping his long, throbbing shaft as it filled her sheath with wondrous warmth.  Every last drop, it was all hers.

She felt his hands stroke her back as they rode out the last spasms together, felt his wonderful cock slip from her nether lips.  He turned her around, and then his lips were on hers in a hungry kiss that filled her with nearly as much ecstasy as her orgasm, such was his passion.

"You and I..."  Isard said, her voice a breathless whisper.  "... we could rule the galaxy together."

No response.  Isard reached up and pulled Kyle's belt from her eyes and blinked in confusion.  Kyle was gone.  She saw the maintenance door across the room and she frowned for a moment before realization dawned.  Slowly, almost lazily, she turned around and saw the entire room of analysts looking up at her naked body, their faces all a picture of shock.

There was no outburst of rage, no scream, not even an effort to cover herself.  Isard reached to a control panel next to the intercom and punched in a code.  The doors into the analysis room locked tight, but the analysts themselves were still too shaken to realize what was happening.  Then Isard entered a second code and there was a sudden flurry of movement as the analysts began to fall to the floor, clutching at their throats, their lungs trying to draw in air that was now being pumped out of the room.  Within minutes, the commotion slowed and soon stopped entirely.  Where there had been a room filled with the most talented intelligence analysts in the Empire, there was now nothing but corpses.

Isard strode over the maintenance room and retrieved her uniform and dressed herself.  Checking to make sure not a hair was out of place, she proceeded back to her suite.  As she entered, she activated her comlink and informed Maintenance that there might be a minor problem with the ventilation system in the lower levels and that they should look into it tomorrow.

She went to her bed and lay down, looking up at the ceiling.  She could still smell his scent on her pillows.

Then she started screaming.

* * *

Kyle was on the streets within an hour, having managed to use his Ubiqtorate uniform to intimidate his way past any security he had come across.  The bustling traffic of Coruscant swallowed him up, sweeping him away in a mass of beings from all reaches of the galaxy.

There had never been any alarms, no intruder alerts.  Kyle had not been surprised.  Isard was, above everything else, exceptionally vain.  She could not allow herself to ever be perceived as weak or vulnerable.  She had let Kyle in far more than anyone else, aside from perhaps Admiral Daala, but Isard's relationship with Daala had struck Kyle as more animal attraction than anything approaching love or even friendship.

As Kyle made his way to the nearest space port, he thought for a moment how Isard had changed over the past week, how he had seen what seemed like real affection in her red and blue eyes when she looked at him.  Foolishness, he told himself.  She was a madwoman, willing to kill without remorse and that was exactly what he had been counting on.  Kyle was certain the entire staff of analysts was dead by now, there was no way Isard would permit them to live after witnessing her being ravished by Kyle in plain sight.  He was equally as sure that Isard would not sound any alarms or mobilize pursuit.  That would lead to very compromising questions about why she had let him into such a sensitive area.

Isard would let him get as far from Coruscant as possible until she could be certain his presence with her was completely expunged from any record that could implicate her, but if their paths ever crossed again, Kyle shuddered to think what terrible vengeance she would take on him.  He planned to never see Ysanne Isard ever again.

But for some reason, he felt a sense of loss.  What the hell was he thinking with?  Certainly not his brain.  The sex had been amazing, sure, but that was it.  Whatever connection he felt with Isard was based on a lie and she was still an evil, ruthless woman who was also utterly insane.  But was that actually why the sex had been so good?  What did that say about him?

Kyle didn't have an answer to that one, so he pushed it out of his mind.  He had bigger problems than his taste in women.  The most pressing being how he was going to get out of Imperial City alive.

"Goodbye, Isard."  He murmured under his breath.  "We'll always have the Maw."