(Interrogation Observation Room, BSN Thunderfury, Nuevo Edo orbit)
I stepped into the observation room with Raven, the General
and Minister following closely behind. Captain Am’Rica and Major Khan were
waiting for us. The two Edoans had received a bit of a shock when they saw
their first ‘aliens’ up close, but then we had told them that we were a
multispecies organization. By now the two of them were putting up at least a
front of nonchalance, to preserve their dignity. The rest of us played along
with the polite fiction to keep them from losing face. Between the ships of the
fleet and the way the battle had turned out, there were enough shocks for
everyone, really.
“Captain Am’Rica, Major Khan, allow me to introduce General
Akagi and Minister Takahara of Nuevo Edo. They wish to observe the
interrogations. Ladies, Captain Am’Rica is the commander of the Thunderfury, which is a Marine Assault
Craft, designed to plunge into the fire to deliver Marines where they need to
go, and to bring them back out again after. Major Khan is the leader of the
Black Star Marines, and commanded the strike on the enemy dreadnought.” I
looked to the Major, and asked, “What do we have?”
Major Khan nodded, and said, “The fleet docs are still
running tests, but from initial reports It seems that we are not the first
humans to visit Nuevo Edo.”
“Explain.”
“Atmosphere on the enemy ships was within human tolerances,
with no toxic elements. Because we were going in with full Contamination
protocols, we had sensors working full blast analyzing everything for
contaminants. The ‘Demons’ put up a fight, and we couldn’t count on stunners to
work through their armor. After the initial engagements, we discovered that
their armor tech was equivalent to known designs that were several generations
old, so we switched to stunners, but those first firefights confirmed that we
were dealing with biological humans.
I frowned at that. “Major, I’m not doubting you, but humans
don’t normally get that tall, and when they do they’re stringy little bastards
from living on super-low gravity worlds, not brawny like these people. And we
would have heard if any groups had made contact this far out and returned to
Known Space.”
“I can’t answer for why we haven’t heard from them yet, but
Doc says that the people we captured have all had extensive nano-modifications,
probably from conception. They are biologically human, but they’ve been
altered, probably over generations, to be the size we see now. I’ve sent the
information to Raven for further analysis, since she’s our resident expert on
nanotech.”
Raven nodded. “Analysis is ongoing, Commodore.”
I nodded slowly. “Any sign of weaponized nanites?”
“They did have melee weapons designed to inject a target
with nanites, but they were insufficient to get through our armor. We have
contacted the Assassins, and the freighters were indeed troop transports, but
were only partly full, containment cells indicate they were looking to grab
prisoners, as intel suggested. The troops on the freighters were armed with
ranged versions of the injectors. No armor failures, but they only managed to
capture six prisoners from the freighters. Everyone else fought to the last.”
“Unfortunate, but not outside expectations. Total prisoners
from the dreadnought?”
“Thirty-nine. Thirty-four of them female, including the one
we suspect to be the fleet commander. The five males were not in armor or
uniform, and were normal human sized. I haven’t seen anything like it except on
pirate ships, with the genders reversed. Worse, it appears that the males have
all been… conditioned somehow. They obey any order a female gives them, without
question. We even tried it with a male Marine using a female voice over his
speakers, and the men complied instantly.”
General Akagi broke in, “So the reason they stole our men?”
I nodded gravely to her. “Slave raiders, almost certainly.
If their people are like typical pirates, then they ‘use up’ any of the men
they capture before long. To keep their population going, they must see raiding
as being better than any reforms.”
Minister Takahara sighed. “We all believed that the men who
were taken were killed, if not immediately, then before too long, but there
were many who held out hope that they might yet be reunited with loved ones.”
Raven cut in then, with a voice filled with icy fury. “Even
if we found any of your men still alive, Minister, they would no longer be your
men. Commodore, I have finished the preliminary analysis of the weaponized
nanites used by those on the dreadnought and the freighters. They are almost
identical from a technological standpoint to the Hundeherstellar nanites of 120
years ago. The software has been given a complete rewrite however.”
I sighed, and said, “Well, here I was hoping desperately
that we’d left that nonsense behind when we came to a completely different arm
of the galaxy. I assume that one of the changes to the software is that it
targets males instead of females?”
“Indeed, Commodore. I’ll have to do an in depth analysis of
the control software if you wish for a complete description of the reprogrammed
personality traits, but the male/female identifier was right at the beginning
of the code.”
“Any clues as to who these people are?”
“Not enough data for more than a 10% probability match,
sir.”
Well, that was too much to hope for, I guessed. Looking back
to the Edoans, I said, “I do not know if your historical databases cover the
Hundeherstellar Corporation, but they were a… rabidly misogynistic group of men
and their ‘pet’ women who did not agree with little things like ‘equal rights’.
Early in Earth’s colonization history, they were able to buy one of the first
FTL colony ships and set out for the edge of Known Space to set up their
‘perfect’ colony. At some point, they developed nanite technology to the point
where they could literally rewrite a person’s mind, destroying whoever they
used to be and leaving a mindless bimbo slave behind. Your Demons are
apparently a dark mirror of these people.”
Khan got our attention, saying, “We’re ready to begin interrogations.”
With a word, he turned on a screen, which showed a very tall, very muscular
woman. It did not take a great feat of imagination to understand what the
designers of their nanites were going for. These were Amazons. Real, live,
Amazons.
The Amazon was in a green uniform that hugged her muscular
curves very tightly. If one was into the musclebound woman look, then this
would be a treat for the eyes to them. Across the table from her, Sergeant
Delacroix looked positively puny in comparison, even though she was slightly
tall for a woman, and most definitely in as good shape as all the Marines were.
If this had been someone designing a character at chargen, it would have
obviously been a MAJOR case of overcompensation, but then if these people were
founded by those who somehow were getting away from the Hundeherstellar people,
some overcompensation could be understood.
“My name is Sergeant
Francine Delacroix. What is your name?”
The Amazon snarled, and said, “Who are you people? You’re not those little weaklings from the planet.
Did you come from another Gate to take our spoils?”
“So, you speak
English, this is good. But you appear incapable of answering simple questions.
This is unfortunate. I will try to speak slowly, like talking to a child, until
you prove to me that you have the intelligence to answer questions like an
adult.”
“Insolent whelp! If it
weren’t for these restraints, I would—AUGH!” The Amazon screamed as the
Sergeant calmly pressed a button. She only held it down for a second, but the
effect on the prisoner was emphatic.
Speaking slowly, the Sergeant continued, “That was the equivalent of a taser. As you can see, a brief jolt
causes no permanent damage, but is quite uncomfortable. I do not believe in
torture, but naughty children must be taught boundaries. I will ask questions.
You will answer them, or you will stay silent. If you wish to ask a question,
you must first ask permission, using ‘Please’ and ‘Thank You’. You will not
threaten me, the ship, or anyone else. Fail to obey these simple rules, and you
will be punished. Do you understand?”
“Fuck—YAAAAGH!”
“Do you understand?”
The woman growled. “Yes!
Yes, I understand, so stop with the damn shocks!”
Delacroix smiled. “Excellent.
Now what is your name and rank?”
“Wolf-Commander Dejah
Thoris of the Second Capture Force.”
“Now, that wasn’t so
difficult, was it? What is the name of your ship?”
“Fang of the
Triumphant. Who are you people?”
“Uh-uh-uh. Remember,
Dejah, you must ask permission before you can ask questions. I will give you a
warning this time, since you’ve been so good about answering me, but next time
I will have to shock you. The rules are pretty specific about that.”
“Rrgh! Please can I
ask a question?”
“Why, yes, of course
you may. What do you wish to know?”
“Who are you people?”
“Oh dear, you forgot
to say ‘Thank you’ first. That means we have to give you a small shock.” The
Sergeant reached for the button.
“Wait, wait! Thank you
for letting me ask you a question! Who are you people?”
“Much better. Now, we
are known as the Black Star Company, a multispecies group from closer to
Earth.”
“Earth? You’ve seen
Earth? You lie-aaagh!”
“That was a question
without asking please. Do pay attention, Dejah, or the men watching this
interview will start to think you enjoy pain. Why were you approaching the
planet?”
“To attack them, of
course! We cull their numbers whenever we need new breeder stock, and take the
males so they can fill their natural role in society, fathering the next
generation of warriors.”
“Why do you need
warriors?”
“To destroy the Enemy
when we find them again, of course!”
“And who is the
Enemy?”
“The Evil Ones, who
tried to force the Unnatural Order on everyone. But the First Matriarchs fought
back like wolves, and managed to free those they could. They sought help from
other worlds, but none would listen to them.”
“So what happened
then?”
“The Evil Ones struck
back, and attempted to destroy the She-Wolves. Many fell and were enslaved to
the Evil Ones, but those that escaped fled until they got to a Gate. Knowing
that oblivion was better than any fate the Evil Ones had in store for them,
they cast themselves into the Gate, choosing a destination at random. The Evil
Ones followed, but we left mines at the Gate, and they destroyed themselves. None
others dared follow.”
Raven cut in, whispering as the Amazon captain pridefully
told the story of her people’s escape and founding or whatever. “Commodore, if
this information can be believed, there is a 83.2 percent chance that this
group is descended from a rebel organization that arose on the Hundeherstellar
world almost one hundred and twenty years ago. They were women who fought
against the rulers of the world, but their movement was quickly discovered and
crushed, quite severely. A splinter group was tracked going through the Gehenna
Gate, but they were never heard from again.”
“Do we have the coordinates for their gate?”
“Yes, Commodore. We got a clear read from the probes when
they exited the gate. Location of their system is unknown, of course, but we
have an Eighteenth Known Address.”
Major Khan interrupted. “I have a question. If they were on
that crazy-ass world where all the women are injected with mind-control nanites
when they become adults, how did any women stay free long enough to organize a
resistance?”
Raven shook her head. “Political sabotage. A member of their
ruling body wished to discredit a rival and had a virus uploaded into his
rival’s pets’ nanites while they were sleeping, which changed their
programming. The changes got out of control, however, and those women were able
to ‘free’ other women, rewriting them into freedom fighters.”
I nodded. Age old story, really. No matter the political
system, someone always wanted more, and was willing to tear down others to get
it. And when that happened, sometimes it wound up biting everyone on the ass.
Even if they desperately needed a good ass-kicking, anyways. I looked over to
the two Edoans, and said, “You know, since we have the location of their world,
Nuevo Edo could always hire Black Star to take care of this problem in a more
permanent manner.”
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Be sure to read my published works!
Frozen Soul series (Sci-Fi Supervillain story):
Frozen Soul https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R125QT
Tales of the Void Traveler https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37
Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy GameLit):
Volume 1 - Tutorial https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VPRNDB
Omnibus 1 - Volumes 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0774T354X
Into the Black (Sci-Fi GameLit):
Book I - Game Start https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071LT5WGL
Omnibus I - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077X2KR7Y
City of Champions Online (Superhero GameLit):
Issue I - Origin Stories https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075SHXQS1
Lewd Dungeon (Dungeon Core GameLit):
Book 1 - Welcome to the Apocalypse https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BB34DHF
The Kalipshae Affair (A First Contact Short Story): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0739V6R6T
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