[font=Century Gothic][size=medium]Chapter One – Pain Aeternum(Pain Everlasting)
The pain was everlasting.
In just five days of captivity, they have already broken her nose, her hands and neck were badly treated, her ribs probably had a fracture and her head was throbbing like her own heart was misplaced at her head.
The jailer said something in French, but her attention was focused in the events that took her here.
An open hand slap met her left cheek with a furious noise and the throbbing pain increased its pace and power. As her eyes lost the focus once more, her mind drifted away...
[color=#FF9966]Five days before.
The lone Orchid flew nimbly by the Cote D'Or field, dodging the asteroids as they appeared.
Kaze Dagon was smoking her last cigar, while thinking on her current assignment. Things weren’t that bright since she found little about the Core Systems of Gallia. And that was the center piece of the whole job for her. She didn’t delivered half-baked reports for any of her contractors and while time was of the essence, she could feel that she had the time to do whatever she needed to do.
“What to do... What to do.” She mumbled.
Suddenly, the Orchid A.I. voice woke her from her thoughts. “Kaze, I detect a large group of ships, 14 k’s northbound. Extrapolation indicates its GRN.” “Copy that, Tee.” Kaze extinguished the cigar and turned the ship southbound for a long run. “Minimize all redundant systems energy use. Let’s thin out our profile. How many?” “Understood… Calculating… 6 ships. One of them, capital class at least.” The monotone voice replied. “Frack.” Was Kaze’s only reply as she dodged the asteroids flying aimlessly through her HUD. “Attention, unknown craft. Halt at once, it is an order from the Gallic Royal Navy.”
The incoming comm. from the Capital ship sounded in the cockpit. “Tee, open up a channel.” Replied Kaze, now absorbed into putting some distance between her and the Navy. “Channel opened.” The A.I. replied. “Evening, gentlemen. Sorry, but I am afraid I can’t comply.”
Kaze said in a mock tone, to force the GRN hand.
“Sirian. You will comply.” A different voice was heard in the radio. “Hmm. To whom am i talking?” Kaze asked, her interest peeked by the implied threat and obvious poison in that stranger’s voice. Suddenly her HUD showed up another set of contacts.
Getting closer by the second.
“Frack, a pincer movement. Tee, power up weapons and maximize the shields.”
She said, as she adjusted the inertia dampener for the ship response to become faster.
“This is Joseph DeFrance, sirian. And this field will be your grave, for you disregarded the order given to you. All ships! Destroy that abomination!” The radio sound crackled.
Kaze couldn’t believe the irony of things. Probably one of the few that knows Gallia’s true motives and reasons, perfect for her assignment.. And now he’s going to kill her, with extreme prejudice.
“This is Kaze Dagon. Mercenary of Sirius. I will not back down or give in and I will complete my mission.” Kaze replied to the now known voice.
“Tee, i am going to eject your core. Let’s see if he likes the bait and doesn’t kill me outright. Prep the Zero protocol and make him aware of my capture.. Or death.” Kaze started to input the access code for the A.I. core ejection. “Understood Kaze. Shall I prepare the remaining ships for possible extraction?” The monotone voice asked. “Yes. Make them leave Bourbon and wait in dead space for any intel or contact. Farewell, Tee.” Kaze’s head slumped for half a second before finishing the ejection protocol.
“Good lu-“ The monotone voice went quiet. And Kaze could hear the small explosion behind her ship, meaning the destruction of the core.
Her eyes focused in the battle to come and with a resolute visage, threw the Orchid against the incoming ships.
"Enough." He mumbled, after opening the door. The Jailer looked over at him and bowed. "Oui, mon prince."
"Leave us." Joseph stared coldly at the man, who bowed again and made his way out of the room, as the jailer was leaving a servant came into the room shortly after, carrying a plate of a rather fully cooked meal. Something that was considered a delicacy in such a hellhole. Generally given to a prisoner for their last day in the world.
The servant sat the plate down on a nearby table, bowed quickly before Joseph and then left, closing the door behind her. "Five days since you've been captured, and yet..you still haven't broken. Well, mentally anyways." He smirked and walked over to the table that the food was on, and picked up the bread roll, which was buttered on the inside, it was still warm. He looked over at her and continued smirking, taking a bite out of the piece of bread, chewing, and swallowing.
"Maybe some more severe means of interrogation is what you need. Or perhaps we can assume you'd rather die than give up what you know, and such an assumption would, perhaps prolong your life, and let you know what living in hell is before you're actually sent there, Non?"
He took another bite, a few moments went by before he started to speak again. "I'm sure we'll have a way to make you talk. And I think I might just have an idea." He smirked again and started to finish the roll of bread.
Silence fell across the room, as he turned around and picked up the plate of off. At first he turned around and held it out in front of her, then he began to slowly tilt it. "Unless you want to be eating this extremely well prepared meal from the floor, Madame Dagon, I suggest you start with who your employer is."
[font=Century Gothic]Kaze smirked at the small attempt of coercion. And left out a small laugh that made her feel more pain in her ribs. Her face was already bruised but she laughed in what it seemed, an almost maniacal laughter.
"I would love the food on a warm plate. Love some of your wine to-." She said as Joseph glared at her and suddenly slapped her.
[color=#FFCCCC]"Do you mock me, Dagon?" Joseph threw the plate to the floor. "I am not to be mocked. I can kill you with a thought and an order. Thread well in your next, and potentially, last words."
Her head felt like it was about to burst. She rolled her eyes and flexed her jaw to ease the pain from the slapping. And with a quick twist of the neck, she snapped her face to meet Joseph's own, in an act of defiance.
"Slap me, starve me, kill me. I do not care, for i am already dead to Sirius. You won't get what you came for, Monsieur DeFrance. But i will."
Kaze spitted some blood to the floor and looked at the food, feeling her stomach churning at the wonderful smell it had.
Joseph looked at the chained woman like he was pondering her demise..
But in reality, her last sentence kept that move in check. "She will get what she came for?" He thought and sighed at the situation.
She was more hard to break than he hoped for. "This one will take a while to break, since she prefers to die than to talk."
For the brief moments that he stared coldly at her, he shook his head slowly.
Five days since her capture, going onto the sixth, and yet she still hasn't said a word. At the current rate it seemed these normal means of torture would kill her if she kept being defiant. That's when a grin or a smirk slowly appeared on his lips. He took a couple of steps towards the door and opened it. Waving someone over. A young boy, who looked merely seven years old calmly stepped into the room, looking over at the woman before finally stopping and standing a couple of inches away from the food that was now all over the floor.
If she glanced over she could see a Royal Guard handing the Prince a pistol. He nodded and the guard bowed before shutting the door and walking away, Joseph turned around, pistol in hand and pulled the hammer back. He aimed it at her.
"I have plenty of other methods of torture. Madame. Ones that are probably unheard of in Sirius. I only outrightly kill someone if they're complete idiots or refuse to even utter one word, though the ones that do survive are.." His smirk turned into a devious smile, "Well lets just let your imagination do the work."
"You'll tell me what I need to know." He said, slowly moving the pistol away from her towards the boy's head. "A simple question, Madame, only requires a simple answer, and I'm not going to waste my other methods, nor my time, in waiting for one answer."
The boy calmly glanced over at the pistol which was now leveled at him, he looked away from it and back to the prisoner, a dark calm settled over the boy as if he was ready to die. His eyes didn't plead for help. "Who are you employed by. Answer this question, and you saved a young mans life. Refuse, and he dies."
[font=Century Gothic]The kid's eyes pierced her through.
She has killed people before. Even innocent bystanders, when the whole Panzerfaust mess in Alaska occurred, some years ago.
But this whole situation was different. She wasn't holding the gun, but she was the trigger.
Her brain and heart pitted against each other and she felt torn in two. "This kid.. He isn't crying. He isn't showing fear. Is he that messed up?" She thought.
She forced herself to hold a tear at bay, but failed. It trekked her cheek down and reached her jaw when she asked to Joseph.
Joseph stepped closer to the kid pressing the pistols barrel against his temple. "He doesn't have a name if he's dead. Madame. Tell me who do you work for. Now."
He knew he struck a chord when he saw the tear roll down her face. "We've both seen death. We're both soldiers, Madame. But how much can you take before you break? How many innocent children's blood will be stained by your hands?" He pressed his finger against the trigger. Still staring directly at her. The child continued to stare calmly in her general direction, drawing in a deep breath.
An eerie silence settled in the room, which was broken within a few seconds by a whisper. "Tell him, what he needs to know." The kid said sharply and calmly. Joseph merely smiled, "It seems we're both in agreement that someones life is in forfeit tonight. I guess it shall be his, non?"
[font=Century Gothic]"A child's blood.. In my hands..." Kaze replied.. Almost in a whisper.
She thought quickly in what she could do, but her mind came up blank.
Her contractor.. or that unusual child, staring at her in the most passive of looks.
Kaze resigned to the reality of things. She was already dead in the hands of this madman.
One willing to sacrifice anything to break her.
That thought brought her back, to the earlier, hectic days of the Taus.
Where one would loose herself. Like she did. But in that loss, she always felt slightly better.
Unafraid. And everything was black or white.
Decisions were easy to achieve. And had to be made in a heartbeat.
She even managed to smirk a little, and decided to let that old feeling perpetuate within.
And even chained to a wall, she looked, with a new found confidence in herself, to the kid and said in a flawless french.
[color=#FFCCCC]"J'espere que tu as fait la paix avec ton createur, mon petit."
She smirked at Joseph and continued. "I am Kaze Nelson Reidman Dagon, former Colonel of the Colonial Republic, now mercenary of Sirius. I have still a lot of death to watch until i get my fill, Prince of Gallia."
Then she slumped her head once more, awaiting for the inevitable.
He glared at her, moving his finger off the trigger.
While she dropped her head back down, he brought the pistol across the side of her face, hard. "I don't need to know who the hell you are, you incompetent fool!" He shouted, outraged. He looked at the boy, "Out. Now."
The boy nodded, looking at the prisoner one more time and left the room. "And you," He shouted looking back at the woman, "You're getting an hour. Non more non less. If you haven't came through with your own senses by then, madame, I will be killing you."
He shook his head and calmly walked out of the room. "Keep her chained, and don't give her any liquids. Maybe she'll die of dehydration." He said to the guard as he walked by. "Oui, Milord." The guard acknowledged while quickly moving to shut the door behind the Prince.
He looked over towards the boy, who was staring at him. "To think," He said out loud, lightly as he put his hands in his pockets, now walking towards the stairs. "That wasn't suppose to of failed."
30 minutes later
It would be another thirty minutes before he made his way back down to the prisoner, or the torture chamber. Though, servants wandering down the hallway near the Prince's study soon found themselves in danger of an assortment of objects being thrown around, some even making it out into the hall-way. One servant entered the room after a chemistry book was flung out into the hallway, knocking over a sculpture of the King, which hit the ground and broke.
"Mon Prince!" The Servant shouted.
Stopping with an object, another book, in his hand, he took a deep breath and slowly turned around. "What?" He shouted, she could feel his anger the moment his eyes laid upon her, and she quickly straightened herself up. "You..you knocked over a sculpture of your father." She hesitated, gesturing out into the hallway. He raised an eyebrow, and gave a light laugh. "Oh? Well...I'll order a new one." He said in a sarcastic tone, that she didn't catch due to his smile. "Do you think that I really care about that right now!" He suddenly shouted throwing the book towards her, she flinched as the book slammed to the ground next to her. "Get out of here or I'll have your damn head on a pike!"
She swallowed hard and took a couple of steps back as another book was flung into her general direction. "Mon Prince! Please!" She begged.
Joseph stopped and looked at her again, taking in a deep breath. "Mirabelle, I don't have the damn time to listen to you whine right now." He said through his teeth as he glared at her, "I understand Milord, but this is important! I just didn't know what to say to get you to stop! Please just listen for a few seconds."
"Then speak." He grabbed another book, this time opening it. "Milord, your father sent a message. He wishes for you to take the Royale DeFrance in the upcoming campaign against the Council." She said quickly, He looked over at her and only smiled. "Very well. Send him a message saying that the Valor will need to be ready before I can take it. He should know these small pathetic details by now. Go."
She bowed, and turned quickly leaving the room. Once she was gone he looked back at the book and dropped it on the table next to him, "Why does it seem that my family is incompetent of doing things themselves?" He sighed lightly and opened the book, pulling the chair out and taking a seat.
[font=Century Gothic]The silence within the cell was a welcoming change for Kaze.
Her thoughts raced inside her head, but nothing coherent came out of it.
Except for the grumbling of her stomach.
She looked at the food in the floor and what remained in the plate and sighed. "That food in my stomach would help."
Trying to divert the gaze from the wasted food, she took finally a good look at where she was 'hosted'.
Clean, efficient. The Gallic way she supposed.
The footsteps of someone walking close by alerted her and she went back to the typical 'broken' look, and let her body slump and be sustained by the chains.
The visor in the door snapped and a pair of inquisitive eyes peered through.
The visor was shut immediately and the sound of footsteps disappeared after few seconds.
With that, Kaze straightened up and continued to look around, this time, thinking in the possible scenarios.
One, she wouldn't open her mouth and be killed.
Two, she would open her mouth and be killed.
Three, she would open her mouth and not be killed. But then she would suicide herself later just because she felt that sharing the intelligence the Prince wanted, was pathetic and a complete failure to her.
Four, she would open her mouth and spout something, a lie or a half truth, that would interest the Prince, and thus.. her life.
[color=#FFCCCC]""Eh. What to tell?" She thought about it for a while and retraced her conversation with the Prince until then.
""I have to turn this game upside down. I'm the one needing intelligence. Not him."
She gritted her teeth and shoved her left hand fully against the wall. With a sickening 'crack', her thumb was out of place and with a visible pained face, she pulled her hand from the shackle once.. And again, until the thumb metacarpus gave out and pop'ed out of place, sending a sharp pain right to her already throbbing head, but finally releasing her left hand.
Quickly she opened the other shackles, and pop'ed her thumb in place, giving out a small yelp of pain.
But the scent of food came to her senses and she lounged herself at the food in the ground, picking a small, still warm potato, a vegetable and a small piece of meat. She looked, while eating, at the remains and composed them so that no one would figure that some was missing.
After feeling the warm food in her stomach, she felt better and drank, grudgingly, some water from the nearby toilet.
With a somewhat filled stomach, she eyed the door and the possibility to flee.
"I am probably within a very secured location, with the Prince around and all. Hm. It would be of no good to try it now... I have to bid my time. And my luck." She sighed, and returned to her shackles, putting them one by one and finally adjusting the left shackle so that she would be capable of sliding her bruised hand now without effort.
She then slumped her body once again.. and waited for the Prince's arrival.