Their shielding held. I was shocked, so far only the light actually put up any sort of defence. I decided to go all in. The engines shot me through space as I rapidly approached the enemies, firing Ion blasts the whole time. Their shields didn't last long. A couple of the ships got disabled almost immediately after their shields went down. The rest scattered. Most went after me while the rest went after the freighter. I got near some of the disabled ships and sent a psychic pulse to the ships aiming to knock out the occupants. 

The ships that went after me fired everything they could at me. Most missed while the ones that hit couldn't penetrate my shields. They should be glad that I'm currently using outdated shielding to fit in better. Can't just show up using very advanced, compared to the rest, technology and expect not to be bothered or killed for it. My ship doesn't look all that advanced on the outside. Anyway back to the fight. These ships were trying and failing to surround me and destroy me. 

As this was happening I was firing my Ion blasts at them and hitting half of them. Hitting high speed moving targets is decently difficult even with the help of targeting programs. The freighter was taking little damage while returning little back. Their shields are quickly failing, not being as sturdy as their ship itself.

Over the next minute I had disabled some of the ships, then the ones I did disable were destroyed by the remaining ships. It seemed that they didn't want anyone to know who sent them. Smart. The dead don't speak after all, well most of the time. Quickly thinking I decided to deshield the ships then send out an Ion pulse. I then quickly sent out a psychic pulse to knock them out. Only one was able to fend it off for a second before succumbing.

I then decided to destroy the rest instead of disabling them. I didn't want to take the chance of them destroying the others. I unleashed a barrage of laser fire. Their hulls were melted through and their ships exploded in a mass of energy as their reactors overloaded. I then tractored the other ships to mine and opened them up after creating a shield full of atmosphere and air around them. I then brought the people inside them to stasis pods in my ship, I couldn't let them kill themselves. I then had Aldion scan their systems for any useful data they had. 

I contacted the freighter after securing the prisoner's. "Malryion Freighter Lindus, are you alright?" I asked on the comms. They looked alright, but appearances can be deceiving.

"Aye, we are fine. Just a little hull damage and system damage is all. Nothing that can't be fixed. Give us a couple of hours to fix 'er up an' we can be off." They responded. Looks like I had some free time to interrogate the prisoner's. 

I carried one of the prisoner's, still unconscious, to an empty room. After making sure he couldn't kill himself I tied him up with some Deldian fiber ropes, they are stronger than titanium while maintaining their lightness and flexibility. I then left him there to get a table and chairs. When I came back I found him struggling to break the ropes. I placed the furniture down, picked him up, placed him in a chair, and sat down myself.

"Hello there." I said to the lanky humanoid. He has a greenish skin tone, squinty purple eyes, long black hair, and sharp teeth. He appeared to be a Warrior Fermis, denoted from others of their kind by their sharp fang like teeth and claws. He snarled at me like an animal.

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"Kill me or release me human." He snarled at me, still attempting to break free from his bonds. He is quite stubborn.

"You aren't going to leave my ship. At least not until I have some answers. You see I am quite patient and lenient. If you give me answers I might decide to give you a warrior's death like the ones that I killed. Though only if you give me answers." I said without an expression on my face. 

We stayed staring at each other. Neither of us moving. The atmosphere is tense, neither of us moved. Our eye's didn't stray from each other. Neither of us wanted to break first. To break is to show weakness. To show weakness is to be put at a disadvantage. I wouldn't break first. 

We stayed like this for a while, neither of us breaking eye contact. He broke. They say that the eyes are the gateways to the soul, should that be true then he stared into mine. I would find out a different time that I was correct. 

"Will you speak?" I said as he broke eye contact. My eye's still looked into his. The pressure of my gaze bearing down onto him. My face stayed stoic.

"I cannot. Saying anything will lead to my death. I am bound by a soul contract. We all are. Only the contractor can break it." He said in a low voice, his voice is soft but still masculine. He still did not meet my eye's. His gaze is wandering, not focusing on a single thing. 

"A soul contract? Hmm, that is quite the problem. No matter I can just interrupt contract long enough for you to answer my questions." I said. It would be a problem for anyone else, but I have the previous Alphas with me. My people knew of souls since the first Alpha and have since explored them. The successive Alphas each experimented with ways of manipulating souls. Interrupting a soul contract is child's play for them. 

"How can you do that? That should be impossible!" He looked up in shock. "People far stronger than you have tried and failed to break or interrupt a soul contract." He looked at me with despise for even saying that I could do what others had failed to do.

"Ah well they are they and I am me. You know nothing about me so don't make assumptions about me. Trust me when I say that I can do what I say. After all, you're going to die anyway. So either take the chance and have the possibility of a death in battle or die a cowards way. It doesn't really matter to me, I can just question the others." I said, mocking him at the end. 

He stayed quiet for a couple of minutes until he talked again. "Fine. Tell me when it is done and ask your questions. I will answer what I can. When we are done, and if your words hold true, give me the death you promised." 

"Of course. I shall stay true to my word if you do the same and tell the truth." I then grabbed his head, startlingly his in the process, and looked at his soul. I saw the contract which looked like chains barbed in blades wrapped around the connection between his soul and body. I then sent a part of my soul to hold the chains and disrupt the connection between it and the world outside. "Now we shall begin."

"First, what is your name?" I started off simple to see if he would lie to me. I could tell if he lied to me being so close to his soul.

"My name is Durn of Smendil, son of Hrondis." He didn't lie. 

"Do you have any family?" 

"Yes." The truth again.

"Are any of them alive?"

"No." A lie.

"You are lying. Don't worry I will not go after them, I have no reason to. Lie again and you shall meet a miserable death." This would be much easier if he told the truth, for him and me.

He sighed. "Yes. I have family still alive."

"Who are they?"

"They are my mother, my sister's, and my wife and children." The truth.

"Would you like to see them again?"

"Yes."

"Would you rather have the death you want or to see your family?"

He paused to think about it. "I would like to see my family."

"If I let you go would you go to your family?"

He had a distant look in his eye's. "Yes. If I could I would."

"Now for the real questions. Why did you come to this location?" He hesitated for a second then answered.