The energy washes over me in waves of agony. I scream; an automatic reflex, my body doing what little it can to negate the pain. It doesn't help.
The blast plays out, its energies spent. My nerves scream in silent agony, sending red hot needles through my brain.
I twitch.
Through it all, Porsek stands there, watching with almost clinical detachment.
He waits for the energies to dissipate entirely, then raises the bizarre weapon for another shot. Once more blue lightning leaps from it - and once more I am in agony.
I struggle mentally, attempting to contain the pain, divert it, blot it out. I have to stay conscious - I might miss an opportunity to escape. I must remain aware. But blissful oblivion beckons me.
I see the easy path before me. The path of least resistance, collapse into unconciousness.
I take it. My rest does not last. Bare moments later I'm struck by another blast, and it shocks me into consciousness.
Porsek appears ready to hit me with another burst, then appears to change his mind. "No, this isn't right."
I'm in no condition to argue. He grabs me by the shirt and lifts me into the air. If I weren't busy trying to fight off the pain I might have wondered where he got the strength.
Porsek waits for my eyes to focus. He stares into them.
"As fun as that was, it wasn't really what I'm after. I lost someone very dear to me, and that's an entirely different sort of pain to the sort you just went through. I've changed my mind. I'm not going to torture you. At least - not physically."
He releases his grip on me, and I collapse the ground, immediately curling into a ball. I'm beaten, defeated. My nerves are still afire.
"Get the galcomm online," he orders his commlink, "I've got a message to send."
He addresses me. "You still love that Dorset woman?"
Unbidden, the word leaps from my lips. "Yes."
"Good," he says. "She's about to die."
I rise from the ground and hurl myself at him, with a scream of primal rage. One of Porsek's stormtrooper bodyguards clubs me to the ground with the butt of his rifle. I land in an undignified heap.
I get up again. The stormtrooper readies his rifle, but this time I'm expecting it. I grab it as it comes down, and pull on it. The stormtrooper is overextended, and he has a choice to make in that split second. Let go of the rifle, or get my foot in his gut. He opts to keep the rifle. Using his own body for leverage, I deliver a solid kick to his midsection. I hear something crack and his fingers involuntarily release the rifle.
Porsek, seeing his prisoner is still capable of causing damage, does the smart thing and runs. The other stormtrooper raises his rifle to fire.
I aim my stolen blaster at him and smile. His helmet betrays no emotion as he pulls the trigger.
The barrel of the rifle bucks, and a packet of superheated plasma roars from it. The blaster bolt speeds towards me, but curves away, striking a wall instead.
My turn. I fire a stunbolt at the stormtrooper, and he slumps to the ground, unconscious. I put a bolt into the first trooper for good measure and leave the cell.
The lights cut out, then go red. A siren wails. The base is on alert.
I can't imagine why.