Lights blared in Axel's face. Steel shackles clung to his wrists and hung him by his arms. His head pounded. His vision blurred into focus. He was in a dark room. Ahead of him stood the man with the red skin and four arms. A dark look on his face as he stood back and two green skinned troopers did the work for him. They shone another ray over his eyes. Axel's head screamed in pain.

The man said something in the alien language.

"Where is Striker?" Axel said and the deep croak in his voice made him jump. "You better not have killed him."

It came as more of a whisper than a threat. The man replied in the usual angry tone.

"When are you going to get that I don't know what you're saying?" Axel moaned.

The man looked over his shoulder at another person in the room and nodded his head at someone. At first, he thought it might have been Striker but, when they walked into focus, it turned out to be another person from the alien species. This one had orange skin and two arms. They wore a long white lab coat and a mask and goggles covered their face.

Axel tried to move but the orange-skinned alien hobbled forward holding up a sharp syringe. He cried out in frustration as the alien stuck the needle into his neck. The fluid pumped into his system. His senses went into overdrive. The world became more vibrant. His head felt like a hot air balloon.

The lab assistant stepped away and the red-skinned man took his place. Glee shone in his angry eyes. The man shouted something out again, but this time the alien language had gone, clear English in its place. "You are Axel Ford?"

"You speak my language?" Axel asked.

"Answer me, boy," shouted the red alien. "You are Axel Ford, son of Quentin Ford, the human hero of the Eternal Wars."

"Y-yes," Axel stammered, curiosity taking over his fear. "What do you want from me?"

"We are the Engen'ozus," said the man. "This planet belongs to us now. Your people will soon surrender. There is no need to fight with me.”

"Where is Striker?"

"We ask the questions here."

"Ok, I-I'll tell you what you need to know. Just let my friend go free," Axel said.

The man grabbed him by the ears and squeezed tight, Axel cried out in pain. "Where is Quentin Ford?"

"What?"

"You heard me boy, where is your father?" the man spat, anger in his brow.

Axel shook his head. "I can't answer that."

The man let go of him and stood back, Axel's cheeks rang out in pain. The man turned to the troops and nodded. They left the room and the man stood back and stared him down.

"What do you want with my Dad?" Axel tried but the man remained silent. His wide eyes bore into Axel's soul. A few moments later, Striker was dragged into the room by the two troopers. His hands were cuffed by the same steel shackles. One of the green-skinned troops kicked him to his knees. Striker looked up at him. Yellow puss stuck his eye together. They had swelled into purple lumps. His face twitched into a grimace.

The man placed a hand on Striker's shoulder. "You tell us what we want to know and this one goes free," he said. "You don't and he dies."

"I can't tell you where my father is," Axel pleaded.

Striker screamed out in pain. He keeled over in front of him and suddenly his entire body started to writhe around.

"Stop that!" Axel shouted. "What are you doing to him?"

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"He has been poisoned with rustic fluid," explained the man. "In two minutes time, his body will disintegrate from the inside out. Mluurg has the antidote," he gestured in the direction of the lab assistant. "Answer the question and we will administer it."

"But I can't tell you what I don't know," shouted Axel and his muscles twitched as he tried desperately to break himself free from the chains. "Let him go, please! I'll help you find Dad, I'll tell you everything that I can, just don't do this!"

Tears blurred his vision. Striker screamed in agony. His limbs twisted back and forth. He struggled to remain still. The man shook his head and turned away. "Tell me when the friend is no more," he said and the two green troops nodded in his direction before the doors closed and Axel was left alone.

Axel looked at the troops. "My father is on a mission outside of this galaxy."

The troops didn't reply.

They stood and watched as Striker's body stopped moving. His eyes were closed but his chest was still panting up and down. Alive but still. Then without warning a wave swam through him as his body burst into a thousand tiny particles. Axel screamed out as his best friend’s ashes disintegrated into the air.

Everything fell silent except for the sound of Axel weeping. His body shook with frustration.

The man stepped back into the room. A blank stare on his face. It broke into a smile as he slowly walked over to Axel.

"Loss is a great feeling, isn't it?" he said. "A contrast of feeling honoured to know the person of passing and hopelessness from having lost them...but there is power in that feeling." The man licked his lips. "To know that they now exist only in here," he pointed at his head. "That their story is now in your control. Your memories will keep that boy alive... which is why it's a shame that soon you won't even be here anymore."

Axel spat at him and he broke out into laughter.

"You say your father isn't in this galaxy. What do you know about his mission?" asked the man.

"That's everything I knew," said Axel, his father's folder ringing in his head.

"Your father's research states otherwise," the man said as if reading his mind. "We always suspected there was a spy among us."

"I don't know anything about that," Axel said.

"If you have your father's research," said the man. "Then surely he cannot be far away."

If only that were true.

The red-skinned man scowled. "You think that your intel is what's keeping you alive," he said. "Here's a little secret. There are two types of rustic poison. One ends your life quickly. The other, very slow. Mluurg made sure to give you the right one. Your friend was quite strong, he managed around an hour. I wonder how long you will last?"

Axel smiled. "You think I'm stupid enough to believe that?"

"I think you're stupid enough to think I'm lying," the man said. "Why not prove me wrong?"

Axel didn't know what he could say. The man nodded. "I'll be back with the antidote. What you tell me next will decide whether we use it or not."

He stepped away and the troops followed him with the lab assistant. Once again, Axel was left alone with his thoughts.

Twenty minutes passed. Something tickled in the pit of his stomach. His breathing quickened. An acidic pull rippled through his body. Part of him hoped that the man was bluffing and this was just a psychological mind trick. Then he felt a sharp stab underneath his ribs.

Thirty minutes passed by the time the door slid open again. Axel's light headed feeling had progressed into an excruciating buzz. The red-skinned man along with his troops. Mluurg joined them. A pad held in his hand. Face still covered by the emotionless mask. Breathing heavy.

"I'm surprised you made it this far," said the man. "Care to tell us what we need to know yet?"

Axel sighed. "I know where my father is," he lied. This was the only way he was going to get out of this alive. He wasn't thinking about the future, he was focused only on the present. Right now he needed to escape.

The man grinned. "Well?"

"His ship is a Science Division Discovery Vessel Mark Three," he stammered. "He left this planet three years ago in search of secrets about the Ivarozzans during the Eternal War."

"Lies," said the man. "Along with the poison, I've inserted a fluid which checks your heart rate. One little white lie and we will know."

He stormed out of the room.

One of the troopers took a step back and allowed the other to go ahead. Axel didn't say anything to them as they released him from the bounds and he dropped to his feet. Every muscle in his body screamed out in agony.

He tried to fight back but his body protested. The rustic fluid was too intense. The trooper picked him up and put him on his feet. It pushed him forward and put its gun in Axel's back. Axel, the troops and Mluurg, walked down the hallway.

He walked along obediently. All of the fight in him drained away. He accepted his fate.

They piled into the lift. Axel and both troopers clunked inside. The doors closed and then everything went very quick. Without a word, one of the troopers threw the hilt of their gun straight into the face of the other. Then aimed up and took a shot. It blasted through both of the Engen'ozus.

Axel looked at the attacking trooper in shock as it removed their helmet to reveal the person on the other side. This wasn't some green-skinned alien, this was a woman. A human woman around the same age as his father with long brown hair and a cocksure face. She bent over Mluurg and reached out for a syringe. "You're going to want this antidote."

She injected it into his neck.

"Who are you?"

"The name's Raz. I'm a friend of your fathers," she said. "No time to talk mate, we're getting you out of here."