Hades' chin lifted above the bar for the 20th time and he dropped to the ground, beads of sweat trickling off his forehead. He shook his arms out, feeling the strain quite clearly, the fatigue induced by his 1 hour power workout. Hades had been fit when he joined the Vast Empire, and he intended to remain that way. After all, sitting in a cockpit – as challenging as it was at times – was not exactly a workout. So, he often visited the
Atrus' gymnasium to keep himself in shape. Hades crouched down on the exercise mat, spreading his hands to about shoulder width apart, while keeping his feet together, before stretching out and beginning to do what was colloquially known as a 'push up'. He was just completing his 49th repetition of the exercise when he was interrupted by a junior crewman – he looked like a trainee.
“S-senior crewman Hades?” The young trainee asked him cautiously. Hades stood, extending to his full height – not exactly a giant, but he wasn't necessarily
small either. And he was in good shape, so in a singlet top he must have looked quite imposing to the trainee.
“Aye, that's me.” Hades replied simply, grabbing his towel from a nearby bench and wiping his face clean of sweat. The trainee nodded nervously.
“Sergeant Riko wants to see you on level 13, section B.” The trainee handed him a datapad that contained a map and the orders.
“Alright.. I'll be down shortly” Hades said, handing the trainee back the datapad. He watched the trainee hurry out with a little amusement at the manner in which the young man had conducted himself. Nervous yet with a sense of purpose. He shook his head before turning, and entering the change rooms.
10 minutes laterHades stepped off the turbolift and onto level 13, looking from left to right. According to the directions, section B should be.. left. Hades turned left, striding powerfully down the polished corridor. He passed several doors before coming to a large sign that stated 'SECTION B' in bold letters. There were two doors, and Hades took the left most of them. He entered the room to find the marine Sergeant Riko standing with what seemed to be a spook.. from what little Hades knew of them. As soon as Hades entered, the spook gave him a curt nod and departed quickly. Hades watched him go warily.. and then turned to the sergeant.
“You wanted to see me, Sergeant?” He asked respectfully. The veteran sergeant nodded, his hand reaching up to stroke his jaw.
“Aye.. you're Senior Crewman Demetrius Aita, correct?” To this Hades gave a small, short nod. “Good. You applied for the interrogation course?”
“Yes Sergeant. Yesterday.” Hades responded, green eyes surveying the room. There was a window he couldn't quite see through on the right hand side of the room – that must be where the right door had led, Hades figured. The Sergeant again nodded.
“Well, you've got your chance. It so happens that we captured a
would be saboteur.” The sergeant told him, his voice dripping with contempt as he said the word 'saboteur'. Hades nodded slowly. “even more conveniently for you, we have no professional interrogators on hand. So, we're giving you the chance to prove yourself.. We want to know if he's independent, a disgruntled citizen, or a sleeper agent planted by the Rebels.. or the Remnant. If he is, we want to know if he's working alone or with a cell, and if so, who they are.”
“Understood. Are there any limitations or such I should be aware of?” Hades asked as the Sergeant shook his head.
“No. Just.. don't kill the man.” The veteran jerked his head out the door. “He's in the next room. I'll be watching.”
Hades nodded and turned on his heel, letting the door slide open. He stepped out and let it slide shut, before entering the adjacent room – the right door, as opposed to the left one. Inside was a table and two chairs. In the farthest chair sat a man wearing a pilot's jumpsuit. Hades noticed the cuffs holding him to the chair and sneered. Not only was this man a saboteur, he was an
impostor who had been masquerading as a pilot of the SC. He stepped inside the room, pulling out the chair and allowing the legs to scrape against the smooth floor, making a painful screech. At this the impostor looked up and saw Hades.
“Are you a spook?” he asked disdainfully. Hades snorted.
“Please. What makes you think you're that important?” he asked, equally contemptuous of the man.
“Well, for starters, the fact that I placed explosives in the starfighter control room should be enough to..” The man trailed off as he realised that Hades had gotten information out of him without so much as prodding him. A grin spread across Hades' face and the man sneered. “Yeah, you know that. So what.”
“Well, that shows me just how weak minded you are, so...” Hades winked, “It doesn't bode well for you”
“And because of that you think I'll talk easily?” The man asked. Hades did not respond for a while, gazing at the man with his piercing green gaze. Right now he was just wearing down the man mentally with word games before he started asking the real questions. The man held Hades' gaze for several moments before blinking, an expression of despair flicking across his face for a split second, before being replaced almost instantly by a visage of contempt. But Hades saw the despair behind the mask.
“So, here's the deal.” Hades began. “You've been caught in the attempt of sabotaging a ship of the Vast Imperial Navy. The flagship no less. At absolute best you'll get 30 years in an Imperial prison.. at worst.. well, who knows?”
The man attempted to retain his mask of contempt, which was steadily slipping. Hades, on the other hand, had an amused expression. Almost nonchalant.
Almost. It was just amused enough to put off the other man. Hades shook his head slowly as he saw the man bite his tongue insolently.
“You can't scare me, Imp scum.” The man spat.
Well at least we know he's someone anti-Imperial. Not remnant, that's for sure. Perhaps Rebel? Or independent terrorist-slash-pirate operative? Hades mulled the options over in his head.
“So.. the starfighter control room. Why there? Was it because you only had a pilot's uniform..?” Hades saw a flicker of a smile behind the man's mask of contempt and knew that it wasn't the case. “Or perhaps because you had personal beef with the Starfighter corps?” This time, the man's expression showed signs of a sneer, as if he resented Hades for something. That gave him a sign he was on the right track.
Perhaps a friend killed in combat with the SC? Hades wondered.
“You think killing Pilots will make up for your loss?” Hades blindfired, hoping to strike gold. And he did. The man looked astonished for a brief second before changing back to his contemptuous expression. “You think if someone died your situation would get any better? You've been caught in the act of sabotage, moreover with the intent of killing Vast Imperial personnel, how bad do you think this is gonna be for you, tough guy?” Hades said, his voice rising for effect.
The man's mask flickered again, and his eyes began to dart left and right. Looking for a means of escape was a natural response to stress, even when in the most hopeless of situations. Now Hades saw his searching gaze, the desperation contained in his eyes. Yet he still refused to say anything. Hades shrugged and grinned. “Now if you talk to me, you might just make this better for yourself.” Hades' eyes then saw the mark on the man's left hand.. his ring finger. There was a paler patch of skin, much paler than the skin around it. This told Hades that the man had been wearing a ring – probably a wedding ring – for some time.
“I wonder.. what would your wife think of you if she knew you were killing people?” Hades prodded. The man struggled against his restraints as he tried to leap at Hades. “Well I don't suppose you'll be seeing her again, if you're so stubborn in refusing to talk. I bet she's real attractive, too.” Hades prodded further, his smile growing mocking. “I wonder if
she would be more..
cooperative than you?”
The man stopped in his struggling, slumping back on the chair. “Please.. please.. just leave my family alone.” This kind of mental punishment came easy to Hades. Growing up on the streets of Nar Shadda, he had learnt to be harsh and strike words where they hurt most from a young age.
“A family, eh?” Hades chuckled. “Children too. How many?”
“Just.. leave them out of this.” The man snarled, beginning to get angry again. Hades slammed his fist down on the table with a reverberating
thump.
“I can't help you if you don't help me.” He snapped at the man, who cringed. “Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Easy way is, you tell me now and I don't have to beat it out of you with my bare hands, and find your family afterward to punish them for your transgressions. Make your choice, bud” Hades threatened as he stood, turning to leave. The man coughed and looked up pleadingly.
“They've done nothing to you or the Empire..” He begged Hades
“No, but
you have, and the sins of one affect many.” Hades said coldly, taking a step toward the entrance. The man cracked.
“I... I.. I'll tell you what you want to know” he said, finally. Hades paused and looked back with a cold gaze.
“Is that so?” he said, green eyes once again focusing their piercing gaze on the saboteur, who nodded hurriedly. Hades turned and strode back slowly, sitting back down. “You tell me what I want to know. You'd better tell the truth, because if I find out you're lying – if I even
think you're lying, or if you have withheld something I think I should know, you and your family will be punished. Harshly.”
“Just..ask the questions, please.” The man said shakily. Hades nodded.
“Who do you work for?” Hades said.
“No-one.” The man responded.
“Bullshit.” Hades said simply.
“What?” The man asked.
“Bullshit. You're lying.” He said remorselessly.
“I'm not.. I swear on the life of my wife, my children, I'm telling the truth!” The man said, desperate.
“If I were to believe, how did you get the uniform? How did you get aboard? Where did you get the explosives? Why did you attempt to sabotage a Vast Empire command ship in the first place?” Hades shot rapidly, keeping the man off balance.
“You've seen the graveyard in space, near the shipyards.. I snuck in after the big battle and took a body aboard. It was disgusting. I donned the uniform, concealing explosives that I had purchased on the black market inside my underwear. I stashed aboard a transport bound for the massive ship, and chose to sabotage it.”
“But why. What's your motive?” Hades prodded.
“My brother was a pilot. He was killed, by one of your damned Interceptors. For all I know his body's still floating out there!” The man jabbed a finger toward the direction of the outer hull. Hades stroked his chin slowly.
“I'll need the name of your black market contact, the name of your brother and his occupational details, not to mention your ship's registration number.” Hades stated.
“My black market contact met me on Belgaroth, a small cantina named Chor's. He introduced himself as Bellion Re. I got his name from my brother before he died, via comm. He told me the guy was a well known smuggler throughout the black market and could get me anything I needed for a good price.” The man answered, level headedly “And my brother was Jan Madine, a pilot for the Rebellion. His position was Gold Leader. That's all I know, and that he died here.”
“Bellion, Re. Rebellion. Very funny” Hades muttered under his breath. “How much did you pay for the explosives?”
“1900 credits. You can check my account. I withdrew it a week ago.” he said. Hades could not detect any dishonesty, but that didn't mean it wasn't there...
“And your name is..?” Hades asked.
“Jorus Madine.” The man – Jorus – replied slowly. Hades narrowed his eyes. He'd have to get this checked out. Looking over the man's uniform, he saw it read the name 'Gilad Veers' and had the insignia of a Chief Warrant Officer.
Interesting Hades thought. He abruptly stood, turning briskly on his heel and exiting into the corridor.
Hades brought out his comm and keyed it on. “Command, this is Senior Crewman Demetrius Aita – Callsign Hades. I need a background check done on a Belgaroth citizen – one Jorus Madine. Also need the details of a Vast Empire pilot. Chief Warrant Officer Gilad Veers.” Hades spoke rapidly into the comm. “Oh, and search for a black market smuggler named 'Bellion Re.'”
“Bellion Re. Very funny.” The man on the other end of the comm replied. Hades grimaced. “Jorus Madine checks out. Father of two, married. Has an account with the bank.. withdrew a little less than 2000 credits about a week ago. A brother is listed as well – Jan Madine. He was on a VE watchlist.”
“A watchlist? Suspected Rebel?” Hades queried.
“Hole in one. As for Gilad Veers.. highly respected pilot, died in the battle of Belgaroth. Body never recovered.” Command continued.
“I think I know what happened to his body..” Hades muttered, while command continued.
“And finally, there was one match for a Bellion Re in our system. He's a wanted fugitive, suspected of supplying rebels with explosive ordnance. Fairly well known on Belgaroth, but impossible to track.” Hades held the comm near his mouth for a moment, thinking over the facts. Finally, he responded.
“Roger that command. Much appreciated. Oh, one last thing -” Hades paused.
“Go ahead, Crewman.”
“Can you check the footage of the last transport to come in.. I think it was 7 hours ago, via bay 3. Is there a pilot coming off it?” Hades asked.
“Wait one, Hades.” The comm clicked off, as command obviously searched their footage. Hades nodded at a security officer that passed him while he waited, pacing the metallic floors impatiently. Finally the voice came back.
“That is an affirmative. No pilots were supposed to be on that flight. Should we send out a search warning?”
“Negative. He's been caught.”
“Confirmed, Hades. Command out.” Hades cut his comm after that, and walked into the first room, where the Sergeant was waiting.
“His story checks out, Sergeant.” Hades told the marine, who nodded.
“You did good, Crewman. Well done.” He told Hades, “We'll take the investigation from here. I'll give you a call to let you know what happens.”
Hades nodded. “Thank you Sergeant.” The Sergeant nodded back at him, and dismissed him. Hades exited to the corridor and exhaled. One disgruntled citizen turned saboteur cracked, using only mental techniques... Hades figured that wasn't too bad of a job. He permitted a small smile to cross his handsome features.
I could get the hang of this Hades mused. Strangely enough, he felt no sympathy for the would-be saboteur. The man had gone against the Vast Empire. His own fault.
- OOC:
- Word Count: 2,686.
AAR: Hades is called up for the interrogation course, a real situation with a saboteur who was caught red handed. No other interrogators are on hand, so Hades is permitted a shot. He does better than expected, and breaks the man by focusing on his family. He figures out that the man has a Rebel brother who died at the hands of the Starfighter Corps, and procured explosives from a black market contact known as Bellion Re – an obvious play on words. The man's story checks out, and Hades gets out with a job – hopefully – well done!
