Interrogation
"Commander, this is the civilian you requested."
The commander nodded at the soldier, who saluted and promptly vacated the chamber. Between the dark grey, mighty walls of the interrogation room, the captive was a picture of plain. However, the commander did not feel a twinge of guilt, nor would he ever for these alien freaks.
He turned to the other person in this room – a scruffy, lanky man in glasses. Although dressed immaculately in the required uniform of his station, the commander could not help but scowl at the faint evidence left behind by the official's "outdoor ventures". Indeed, the man was a negotiator and a sort of emissary assigned to study the culture and history of their enemies in this war. The commander had never pretended to be fond of such a mission, ordered by higher ups who had never directly faced the aliens. Why learn about their culture when they were here to plant their flags and build anew?
The official slowly blinked in return to his scrutiny.
"A question, official," the commander drawled. It was best to return to the more critical matter at hand. "Why did the captive not turn like the rest?"
The captive in question was a middle-aged male humanoid. While the alien's species have been deemed a primeval class of humans, it always felt dirty to consider them as such. Humans were humans, a species without bestial powers that offered unfair racial superiority. Now the humanoid, while locked to his seat, was dressed as any human would for a day of casual strolling out at a park. What a mockery.
The official glanced to the captive before clearing his throat. "From what I have observed in Rebban, only a small percentage of the population actually turns. That small percentage are akin to the royal army, who will turn when their Queen is in need. They are not... 'normal people' per se, so they do not make up the population." He seemed to pause as if fact-checking his words. "Therefore, I believe this man here would not have the ability to turn. He is just a normal citizen."
The commander sighed. "Please keep it short next time. I have a war to run here." He took the seat next to the official, opposite the captive. "Does that mean he will give us the information we need with some stimulants?"
"S-Stimulants?" The official stuttered in slow understanding. "Ah not necessarily, commander. Wait, actually––"
His voice was interrupted by a barking command.
"Release!"
A whirring sound echoed throughout the chamber. The binders that enclosed the captive's head and throat slid open, revealing a gentle well-worn face, blue eyes and tawny hair.
"Looks damn human you'd start to think he is!" The commander narrowed his eyes.
It was as clear as airglass the commander's disdain for the inhabitants of this planet. Rebban, the world in the midst of being conquered. Populated by an advanced humanoid race but still so rich of minerals, wonders and peace despite eons of existence. It was the prime planet to "plant the flag", as they had the moon and Mars.
The campaign had set out full of vitality and arrogance, believing the aliens to be easily conquerable due to their utopian civilisation. However, the first fleet were mercilessly crushed. The war subsequently dragged on, with humanity's side suffering heavy losses. The commander was overseer to the toughest moments, and it was right for him to be angered and filled with hate.
In front of them, the captive visibly took a deep breath. His body was forcefully straightened as his metal seat flexed. A winged ribbon was pinned to his chest, the only adornment to the male's casual appearance. His face was void of any emotion, eyes lacking any amiability, though he did not seem fearful at all.
The commander pressed a button on his own seat. A blue light flashed and the captive spasmed in his seat. "Good good," the commander remarked once it stopped.
"I will be asking a series of questions. I know you understand our language so I sincerely hope for your own wellbeing you will answer them all truthfully and immediately. We have more of your...brethren on board and I would not hesitate to put them on this seat if you should not cooperate." The commander moved on without pause. "Question number one: What is your Queen?"
The captive scanned the room before his eyes settled on the commander. His lips were void of a single movement.
The button was pressed, and another shock delivered.
"What is your Queen?"
The captive smiled.
In a flash, the commander was right in front of the captive. The official gasped as a fist collided with the alien's nose and the head was thrown to the side, a sharp crack from the neck. The question was repeated when the commander returned to his seat.
There was blood on the captive's teeth when he smiled again. He spat red and finally deigned to reply, tone resigned. "She's human, commander. Is it so hard to believe we are alike to you? That our ruler is?"
Shock!
"She?! She!?" The commander roared. Frustrations from the previous days brimmed his insides. The pressure from High Command, the deaths of those who served loyally under him, the promise he made with his late family before departing Earth. His fingers flew over the buttons of his seat. The grey walls flickered, and a gloomy holovid surfaced. "How can a civilised person call that thing their ruler! It is an abomination! How this world could thrive with such a creature in existence is a fucking miracle!"
When the second fleet bypassed the atmosphere of Rebban, they were greeted with the scenery now looped on the holovid. Dark clouds of ash obscured the ground. Occasionally, fiery embers rained from the sky, creating explosions of light. It was through this light that one of the scouting ships noticed a ripple in the clouds. The ship glided trying to gain a closer look, and the AI framed the size of the mystery. Judging by the ash and fire, they thought it was an active volcano.
Shortly before the holovid ended, a dark, gargantuan mass burst forward. Gleaming red eyes that could only be described as hellish seemed to stare directly at the camera before the feed was disrupted, cutting back to the beginning.
From then on, High Command tried to learn everything they could about the mysterious creature. The official arrived with the third envoy and gleaned from locals that the creature was revered as their ruler, and even worshipped for being a saviour. They call it their "Queen".
The commander slammed his fists on the arms of his seat, making the official jump. "How about a personal question, hmm?" A calm veneer settled on his face as he crossed his legs. "Your brethren are observed to be religious, in one way or another. Can you tell me about your own religion?"
"Of course," answered the captive with a nod.
"Well?"
"My faith is in the order and freedom that our Queen provides."
The official raised a finger, and the captive turned his eyes to him for the first time. "What about those statues around the city?" Silence returned prompted the official to continue. "One of them that struck to me was a male figure carrying a female. Both had white wings and angelic countenance, an 'angel' being a spiritual agent in the religions of our planet. However, the top half of their heads were covered by helmet-like devices. At that time, I wondered if your religion could be an ancient form of Abrahamic faiths, but could you enlighten us more?"
The commander raised a brow at the civility pronounced in the official's tone. The long explanation and comparison of historical facts scratched at his patience. However, the official had clearly done his mission well and an emphatic approach could perhaps prompt a longer answer.
"Ah, you've seen that, have you! Oh no no no, that is a commemorative sculpture of our King and Queen!" The captive answered as if shocked that the official did not fully realise the answer beforehand.
Both commander and official were baffled. "The present Queen?"
"Yes." The captive smiled again. "Should there be any suspicion to my answer, gentlemen?"
A pause before the commander drew back to the matter. "I'd like to know how then a ridiculously old woman could transform to a demonic entity capable of devouring metal and fire with the very substance of her being? And precisely how her 'underlings' possess the same ability?"
He had long wondered on this. As a commander in any form of battle, the primary objective was to know your direct opponent. He always had success in this aspect yet this black creature still eluded him after many weeks on the planet. The creature had the ability to stretch or shrink at its convenience. How that was possible? That was because it was not of flesh and blood. It was merely a mass of oily black substance, currently unknown. The substance consumed anything it touched – the strongest acid to have graced anyone's eyes. It perplexed and intrigued him. If they could possess it, nothing would be unconquerable.
There must be a way to acquire it. After all, some of the aliens on this planet were able to turn into humanoid versions of the black creature. They possessed intelligence and could articulate, contrary to initial beliefs that the substance consumed everything.
The captive, however, held his smile and never replied.
Shock! Shock! Shock!
"That's too much, commander!" The official squirmed in his seat as he watched the captive's eyes roll back.
"He's lucky he's not missing any limbs!" growled the commander. "Have you seen the pain my soldiers suffered through? Heard their screams as they were slowly dissolved? Smelt the disgusting char from their shrivelled corpses?"
The official thinned his lips uncomfortably. No, he had not. But the loss of your fellow men could not be so terrible as to cause the pain of other like beings, could it? Especially when humans were the instigator of this war, landing on this planet with the purpose to dominate rather than coexist.
"This is his end of the line. You are free to traipse back to their acridless and idyllic city, where you better fucking hope you'll not be in the way when Alien Bitch falls."
Under the cruel tone of the commander, the official shuddered to think of what would have happened if he had not been here during the entire investigation. Perhaps, the civilian would have been mutilated beyond recognition. Despite the harsh realities the commander tried to instil in him, the official still could not help but empathise with the aliens. He shuffled uneasily to his feet.
"Lock!" The commander barked out.
An unnatural screeching sound echoed throughout the chamber, forcing the people inside to clasp a hand over their ears. The binders on the captive's seat vibrated then stopped.
"AI, lock!" Eyebrows creased; the commander repeated.
Silence cocooned the chamber. The screeching had stopped suddenly.
The commander pressed a series of buttons however there were no response from the ship's artificial intelligence, nor the machinations in the chamber. He turned to the captive in rageful suspicion. "What have you done, you motherfucking freak of nature?"
"What? What is happening?" The official asked in confusion. A chill snaked down his spine.
The commander rushed to unlock the doors. He was able to manually draw apart the sliding panel and slide out through the inch-wide crack. The hallway outside was clear of any soldiers, and even more eerily, of any sound. Located a few feet away, one of the airglass windows showed a view of the planet's sprawling city – the same old view.
"Commander! Commander!"
The shrillness within the official's voice drew him back into the chamber.
He turned back and immediately saw the cause for the bespectacled man's alarm. The normal, innocent captive was no more.
The commander looked accusingly at the official. "And what did you say?!"
A supposed civilian had turned. What then was their enemy's limits? Were there any?
"It was just a theory based on observations!" The official whispered, under tremendous shock. He had edged to the chamber walls, back pressed to the grey surface as if even a thousandth of an inch farther from the black entity would save him from doom.
The 'captive' was still seated. No longer looking human, the alien had manifested into a long black blob with limbs. Its form rippled like touched jelly as it rose from the seat. The binders emitted a pitiful sizzle before dissolving into the blackness.
While standing, it came up to 6 feet in height. The sight of this type of creature was all too familiar to the commander. Rather than cower, he straightened and awaited the creature's first move. But its glowing white eyes did not move to him.
The creature stepped towards the official, who at first shivered at the frightening intensity of its focus. A blanket of strange calm seemed to settle over the chamber and the official tentatively drew away from the wall, curious about the alien's intentions.
"This battle is near its end. This ship will fall as Earth fell, from the greedy hands of barbarians." The creature intoned in the gentle voice of the civilian yet completely without inflection. "Men like you will have no standing in our world, commander. Nor do young, overly ambitious sheep.
"But to you, dear emissary, our Queen has extended an invitation. Come with me, worthy child."
His body desperately fought against the induced calm, but physically the commander could do nothing. In just a moment, the creature and the official had vanished from the chamber. The calm blanket was lifted and all at once he was overwhelmed by chaotic vertigo.
We've been dropped like a ton of bricks.
The thought jumpstarted his mental faculties. He was knocked off his feet before he could do anything else and landed badly on the other side of the chamber. Even as he clicked on his ProtoHelmet as the walls shook and shuddered, the commander was resigned to his fate.
In three seconds, the massive human craft that had pierced the planet as a needle would spear through a grape was wholly disintegrated.
The fourth wave of invaders were ended. Their final fleet as it was.
Down on the ground, the official and the citizens around him stared at the vision in the sky. He silently bade farewell to the last remnants of his planet.
Thus, no subsequent...misconduct would befall Rebban for a long, long time to come.
A/N: Originally written 13/4/2017. Part of Stories from 2 Worlds, or what you could say is my lifelong project.