CIS Shadow Base, Coronado, Yuma, 0411 Crayter Standard Time
A CIS Agent opened the door of Michael's small cell, glanced at him and ordered him to follow. Michael tried to resist at first, however, now he would not, his resistance was broken. Either by chemicals getting injected into him everyday or the endless interrogation and mania sessions. He merely followed the Agent to the laboratuary section of Shadow Base. After walking for some hundred meters, they stopped and Agent pointed at the modified chair. Michael stared at the chair that was armed to teeth with needles, injectors and shock devices in case of he resisted, plus a tranquilizer. "Sit." Agent spoke for the first time today. Michael, with all of his remaining resolve, tried to resist. However then Agent shocked him with his own shock device. Michael learned that shocks were more painful to him due to his cybernetic-synthetic parts of body. Those parts amplified the electricity and made him have more agony.
The Agent stopped shocking him. Pointed at the chair and spoke once more. "Sit." Michael did not resist and sit at the chair. Immediately, the chair wizzed and buzzed, then a needle went into Michael's right arm violently and an injector gently followed into the needle, injected several chemicals used in the interrogation and later, conditioning. Agent slowly turned to him, pulled a normal chair and sit on it. "Tell me. Mr Richard. What was your intentions behind your decisions? What made you to almost sell our beloved system to a bunch of civvies?" Michael tried to answer. "Tau 44 is a backwater system. We could make a fortress out of Coro-" A hard uppercut suddenly landed on Michael, shaking the chair as well. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Agent angrily shouted and continued. "FORTRESS? WITH A MERE 10 BILLION? WHAT ABOUT BORNEO! WHAT ABOUT HISTORY! WHAT ABOUT TRADITIONS!" Then the Agent slowly calmed down. "I see. You still resist the process somehow. You are much more resilient then we initially thought it seems. Then we shall proceed to Phase 3." Agent dialed in some channels and finally got Enigma on the line. "Enigma, Voidwalker. Requesting permission to proceed Phase 3."
While Voidwalker was trying to get clearance for Phase 3, Agent Bravo stepped on the base with his normal escort. Being an Overseer, Voidwalker message came to his PDA also. Smiling he decided to take a detour towards the interrogation rooms.
The sound of military boots and his and his escort armours made him smile and feel secure, even if he knew he was in an underwater base.
After a few minutes, he stopped in front of Room 11. "Curious" he muttered as he remembered that Room 11 was usually used to turn enemy pilots into double agents. "Maybe is a sign" he said to himself and he placed his hand on the handle and waited for his DNA to be registered and the door opened in a few seconds.
Stepping inside he could hear Voidwalker last words while he hit Richard again. "Greetings Agent, I see that I came right in the middle of your personal training. How is he? Did he respond to the ... treatment?" but looking at the chair and the devices he continued on a soft voice towards Richard "Admiral, you are a war hero are you not? Lost some parts of your body, did you not?" and he pointed to the mechanical part of Michael "This was done in service of the Republic, the Republic which you betrayed later on." and he stopped Richard from responding.
"Agent Voidwalker, your request for Phase 3 is denied. Why you refuse some good old techniques. I see you look confused. Here is an order: Remove his cyborg implants, one bit at a time, but careful not to damage them and please leave the nerve receptors. Do you copy?" but before he received Voidwalker answer he turned around and exit the room, but returned in 15 seconds to say "Also, the removal of the parts will be done without any medication and physical interference is recommend it. Call me when you finish ... the job?"
CIS Shadow Base, Room 11, Coronado, Yuma, 0430 Crayter Standard Time
"Eh, Admiral, you heard the man's orders." Voidwalker said and then gestured towards Richard and Richard stood up to follow Voidwalker. They went to another corner of Room 11 and Voidwalker merely pointed at the medical bed with even more machines and a medical robot. "Lie at the bed and enjoy, Admiral." Admiral, at first hesitated but Voidwalker drew Richard's old pistol and aimed it right next to his brain. "I am sure you remember The Jungle Phoenix. If you do not lie at the bed now, this will be your end, here, traitor. I can cover up the mess myself and you know it. Now, do it." Obviously Richard had no more choices but to lie at the bed. He stripped his clothes and lied at the bed, defenseless. Voidwalker instructed the robot. "Remove all of his implants, only the implants though, do not harm the functionality of his arm or leg, or the eye. Just his implants. No anesthetics or sedatives. Be careful to not damage them. We need those implants intact." As soon as he said those and robot confirmed, the bed took Richard hostage and several drills and needles with hooks carefully drilled into necessary parts of his brain, left arm and right leg to remove implants one by one. Meanwhile Voidwalker watched the operation from a distance, without emotion. From the pain inflicted Richard could not think anything, let alone talk or move around. After lots of blood spilling around, violent procedure making even more injuries to his head, extreme pain he had and feeling dizzy without his implants, his age showing itself, the operation ended in 4 hours. Voidwalker showed himself once again. "Now take a rest here. You will need the rest for following days." Then he called Bravo once again. "Bravo, Voidwalker. The job is complete."
Bravo was looking through some of the files regarding the recent Gallic advance in New London and he was amazed that they could still push their troops more then CIS anticipated. "Impossible, even with the number of supply ships we destroy in Tau and our attempts to ambush as many Gallic units, they still manage to push ... I wonder...." but his train of thoughts was interrupted by Voidwalker message.
"Ahh, our Admiral. Of course, of course. Now Agent, we will pay a simple gain of *Reward and Punishment*. Your new orders are as follow: For every incorrect answer the Admiral provides, you are to give a shot of electricity directly through his Nerve connections. You are to repeat the shocks every 3 minutes for 30 minutes. Every 10 minutes you are to inject him with various viruses but remember, nothing deadly. Just enough to cause him more pain. Get it? Good. Now if he provides an answer that we desire, after each shock you are to order him to be injected with painkillers, but the best ones we had. In this case, the shocks will be repeated every 15 minutes for 30 minutes, after which the first batch of shocks is repeated without asking a question. " Bravo looked at Voidwalker with his cold, blue eyes "We need to train his mind for anything that may happen in the future. I hope you are aware that CIS wants Admiral reconditioned but just in case the normal procedures fail, this should be our backup. Now, contact me in 48 hours to receive new instructions. Thank you Agent."
Finishing his instructions, Bravo continued to read the list of information given by his Gallic Operatives and also the reports coming out of planet Leeds...
CIS Shadow Base, Room 11, Coronado, Yuma, 0445 Crayter Standard Time
"Ah. Yes. The Good Ol' Way. It shall be done, Bravo." And Voidwalker turned at Michael. "So, Admiral, it is question time! Again!" And Voidwalker made drumroll sounds as if he was going to have much fun. "So. Take the familiar seat again Admiral." Richard, still in relative pain, took the seat. He was rather terrified of how brutal Intel's methods can be. He heard of legends, completely loyal Gallic man suddenly preaching Crayter's might and tenacity, working against the very thing they were born to be... However as he experienced the process himself, he was shaken, despite overcoming worse things before. Getting tortured and losing his body parts for the Republic he once fought for was one thing, getting experimented and interrogated without soul by his own was another. As he took the seat, this time several shock cables emerged from the seat, plus various chemicals. Cables connected into his nerve receptors and gave the first shock. Was not overly painful, however it was still painful enough. To be shocked from nerves themselves, or devices that acted as nerves, which was more painful actually.
"So, Admiral. First Question: What do you think of Crayter?" Richard thought a bit and responded. "I still love Crayter, however, fools in Quorum and CIS elements- AAARGH!" A high voltage passed through all of his nerves. "Wrong answer, Admiral." Voidwalker responded, almost ironically. "Lesson One: Quorum is always right. CIS is the guardians of Crayter and work with best interests of Crayter in their heart. Even if our actions sounds downright idiotic and unsound, they are right choices in the end." Then Voidwalker pressed a button and a needle snapped into Richard's neck, spilling blood as if it did not care about Admiral's pain levels or injuries. After several minutes, Richard muttered to himself. "CIS and Quorum is always right. They work for best interests of Crayter, even if their actions sounds idiotic, they are the right choices in the end." Voidwalker smiled. Not out of joy, rather out of satisfaction.
"Answer me. What do you think of your decisions about selling our home to bunch of civilians?" Richard, under the effect of the first chemical, hesitated to answer, at least it appeared to be so. "I...I...I did the right thing!" he shouted in the end. Then Voidwalker showed interest. "How do you justify your decision?" Richard answered. "I...did it for Crayter, To have a more efficient Military…" No painful shock this time. However another dose of the chemical used. "Lesson Two: Heritage, Integrity, Tradition, Honor. Remember those values, which Crayter founded upon. We owe how we preserved our way of life to our traditions. Our honor. How we are still united? Our integrity and valuing of our heritage. We do not wawer from our way of life, put honor above of everything else, and that is how we find the strength to still fight in this corner of Sirius, how we achieved all things we had..." Voidwalker paused for a second, and then almost pityingly, he stared at the man and calmly followed his speech. "We do not sell our Second Home to some strangers for mere 10 Billion Credits." While he was saying this, anger could be read from his eyes. Richard thought, appeared to be zoned out, staring at emptiness, he muttered to himself. "Honor, Integrity, Heritage, Tradition." Voidwalker smiled again…
"Tell me. How do you feel. How did it feel to betray your people?" No answer came. Richard was still zoned out, conflicting in himself. After some time passed, a shock wave came and returned him to harsh reality he was in. "I...Do not know…" He answered after several minutes. "Good. You are on the right path now." Voidwalker replied. Then ordered around and brought Richard some of the heaviest painkillers Crayter could produce. Then let him dwell in his thoughts and automated the shock machine to give him 2 more batches of shock every 15 minutes.
"Bravo, Voidwalker. I think we are setting him on the right track now."
Bravo's PDA flashed with the light of a new message. Reading the report, he smiled "The old ways always work. If it worked in Crayter, why not here in Sirius." and with a nudge he tapped in and created a connection to Voidwalker.
"Very good Agent. We should continue this for two days. Remember for each of the correct answers he must receive an award, even if it is something small. Meanwhile, I want you to use Mind-Erasing Chemicals and that Tellarynus substance we processed from the Yuma slugs and try to write 3 personalities in his mind. You will receive a file in a few minutes." and he cut the contact.
Looking through his files he found the folder with his plans for Richard. With a simple tap, he sent it to Voidwalker.
-Richard will receive a hardcore mindset of a CIS operative. He will be classified as Agent Omega and will receive new clearance set. Protocol CIS 199.
-Richard will have his present mindset altered, making him a loyal Fleet soldier. Upon completion of the program, he will be re-inserted in Fleet. Protocol CIS 13.
-Richard will have a third memory set installed. In this scenario, he would break free from our detention centre on Pecos and he will be hunted by our Operatives. Please make sure that a full and logical escape is created. Agent Voidwalker must present the plan, in stages to CIS Oversee for approval. Richard will then be set free to one of our enemies to act as our agent if needed. This identity must be hidden deeply and only to appear in the protocol is activated. In that case, the first two protocols will enter in a dormant stage and will be reactivated if the Protocol Code is sent. Protocol 226
-Richard needs small brain surgery. In the Hippocampus region of the brain, a small nanobot implant must be inserted. The implant will also have a small receiver which will allow for either of these three personalities to emerge when the passcode is inputted. Very low energy signature on the implant is needed, possible Biotechnology required. Contact Doctor Naggar for assistance.
-Passcodes for accessing the protocol would be let at Agent will. The Overseer must be informed about the codes.
CIS Shadow Base, Room 11, Coronado, Yuma, 0445 Crayter Standard Time
Voidwalker got the files and orders. "Damn. That is some serious stuff. Well, we got to do what we got to do." . Then he left Room 2 and went back to Room 11. Went right next to Richard and suddenly injected him with the Tellarynus after stunning him. It was better that way, no need to explain things and he does not know anything. He does not have a possibility to remember…
"So. Let's start." Voidwalker muttered to himself. Looked at the motionless body that was lying at the floor. Then thought. "Biochem and implants. Right. Protocols in the end." He lifted the body and dragged him with himself all the way to the entrance of Shadow Base. Stuffed him into his C-Boat and went for the surface. Headed for New Thesselonica Medical, no one asked him questions. No one bothered him. He went to the entrance and stormed in, with a barely awakened Richard. Inside, he found his CIS contact and they locked a room with medical personnel, all from CIS in disguise. The brain surgery was conducted with those operatives. Voidwalker did not need Naggar, he had his contacts after all. After the implants inserted and safety procedıres completed, they left Richard on his own. Voidwalker looked at Richard before leaving and spoke to him. "Activate Protocol CIS 199, Passcode: Price Is Paid.". Knowing that Richard would not hear him at all, he left the room. With an arrogant smirk in his face...
3 hours later
Richard found himself at a bed that was unlike the room 11. In fact, the room was clean and crisp. He then sit on the bed and looked around. He felt emptiness. Void in his mind. Then suddenly he had an extensive headache. Memories flooding in... Memories that was not his, but Agent Omega's. "What...Happened to me?" "Why i am in a medbay? Anyone?" Just as he finished his mumbling, Voidwalker came in. "Ah. Omega, you are awake." He almost laughed out of sadistical joy but he held himself. "Do you remember what happened?" Voidwalker asked. Richard was confused, then accessed his memories. He could not find anything "I...do not remember." Voidwalker smiled. "I see, Let me recap. Royal Intelligence. We got ambushed by them and you were injured from the head. We applied our newly developed nanite tech and had you evac'd from Cortez. Thank gods we were at Cortez and Cerberus was there to save our rears." Richard had a memory flood just after Voidwalker said that. He 'remembered' a hot plasma bolt in the head and him falling down. Only to be dragged by Bravo, Voidwalker, Asteria and Enigma and rushing into Cerberus. "Ah, yes, I remember, Voidwalker. That GRI Battlecruiser…" Voidwalker smiled once again. "Take rest, friend, you will be operational ready in no time."
And thus, war hero of a time was eradicated alongside the traitor of present. Agent Omega was born in his place. Only to serve Crayter with eternal loyalty. Price of betrayal was paid in the most brutal way one could imagine...