Chapter 35
Lieutenant Lyndis Soto walked out of the base command building. The meeting had been shorter than she expected, but longer than she would have liked. She felt worn out and exhausted, which was no surprise. She’d been leading Savage Company for almost 40 hours straight, with only marginal help from the Captain and First Sergeant. If that had ever happened to a more normal infantry unit, or in more normal times, there would have likely been a full-blown JAG investigation. But the SRGs did not operate on standard procedures, and Lyndis had known she might end up in positions like this that any normal XO wouldn’t even dream of.
Normally she would have welcomed the challenge, but almost 2 full days was a lot of time. And the list of names the general had read off was like another anchor dragging her down. She understood that the enemy was the one ultimately responsible for killing the soldiers under her command, and ultimately, Captain Williams was being given the responsibility to write letters to next of kin, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she could have done something different to save lives.
Warning!
You have [01:29:57] to complete your level 5 quest or you will die.
Lyndis took a deep breath at the system warning that popped up. She had hoped to get a chance to talk with Captain Miller in a more relaxed setting. Instead, she would have to wait for him to exit the building and explain the situation, then hope for the best.
Fortunately, it didn’t take the Jaws company captain long to exit the building.
“Hey, Lyndis, I’d been hoping I might get a chance to catch up with you. How are things?”
“Honestly, it’s been a long day Jeff. But I’m sure you know all about that. Maybe you’d like to come over to mine for a drink and talk?” Lyndis asked, trying to be as nonchalant as possible given the circumstances.
“Ah. Well, honestly I suppose I wouldn’t mind. Lead on.” Jeff gave her the same boyish grin she’d initially fallen for, making her stomach do a flip. At least the man could take a hint, and be a bit romantic in the process.
Three hours later, Lyndis had showered after the man left. He’d taken the hint that she didn’t exactly want him around while she sorted through her emotions and did her best to get some sleep. Her bed called to her, and she soon dozed off.
It seemed she’d barely closed her eyes when her Pers-e-comm rang. She blinked herself awake, trying to remember where she was and what had happened. She answered the call with traces of sleep still evident in her voice.
“Mmmh… Hello?” she asked
“1st Lieutenant Soto, XO of Savage Company right? This is Major Grimm, Commander of 12th Battalion. I have an intel captain here saying he needs you for something related to an elf prisoner. When can you be at the MP station?”
“I see. I’ll head over ASAP, Sir. Is there anything else I should know?” Lyndis asked.
“That’s all I’ve been told, Lieutenant. I suspect if there is more to know, you’ll be told when you get to the MP station.” the Major replied.
Lyndis disconnected the call and rushed to get dressed. She wondered what could have the commander of the interrogation calling on her. If the elf princess had escaped somehow, they wouldn’t likely ask her to come in, they would have sent out a base-wide alert.
Stolen novel; please report.
Half an hour later, she arrived at the MP HQ station, part of which had been converted to something dedicated to holding the elf captive. Lyndis had been curious about how they would ensure the elf didn’t escape. The solution turned out to be both more and less complicated than anything she’d imagined. Three tanks were positioned with guns aiming directly for one corner of the building. The men manning the tanks seemed fresh and alert, so they obviously had some kind of rotation going. When she entered the building, she realized half of it had been evacuated, and about 200 pounds of C4, TNT, and other highly explosive compounds had been rigged up to blow that whole section of the building down if the door to the prisoners' cell were opened from the inside. She also noticed a whole block of electronics, which she assumed was some kind of complicated backup detonation system.
Once she’d been led into the section of the station housing the elf prisoner, she met with the Intel captain, who was handling the interrogation. “What can I help you with Captain?” She asked.
“The prisoner has been requesting to work with you directly ma’am. We're not really sure why, but she keeps saying that it has something to do with her contract. It seems there’s some kind of system clause preventing her from answering anything beyond simple questions if you aren’t the one asking them.” The Captain replied.
“I see. So I assume you will wire me up and feed me the questions you want answered?” She asked.
“That’d be the idea.” the Intel officer confirmed.
Lyndis had been through a bit of training on interrogation at her previous unit, but she’d never expected to use that training in this way. At least she had some training though, because not everyone did.
After being wired up, and doing a couple of tests, an EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) guy did a bit of quick work, and let her in the explosive-rigged door. As soon as Lyndis laid eyes on the elf she felt her blood pressure rise. From what the Intel captain had said, this elf princess was the enemy commander of the area. Lyndis knew in her head that if it hadn’t been this particular princess, there would have been another leader, but it didn’t help her separate herself from the moment.
“Princess” Lyndis ground out.
“Lieutenant” the elf replied.
The voices on the other end of the earpiece began talking, telling her what to say.
“For the record, what’s your name?” Lyndis requested.
“Princess Morrigan-Feyin Lefay” the elf replied.
“And you are the commander responsible for the attacks on our forces?” Lyndis asked.
“Yes. I am the leader. At least for this area, and only until my mother realizes I am no longer free.”
Lyndis continued the interrogation, establishing a baseline of answers that Lyndis or the interrogation team knew were true. An hour later, she finally got to ask a question she personally wondered the answer to. “Why did you surrender?”
“My mother will end my existence anyway for losing as I did. Why not spit in her face and give you humans some information worth knowing to pay her back instead of going quietly.” the elf replied.
It took Lyndis a moment to process the information. The headphone in her ear remained silent as well. She decided to take some initiative and ask a question or two of her own.
“Who is your mother? Why did you decide to invade Earth? Who are the other commanders?” she asked. She knew she was supposed to wait for answers between questions, but she felt a dying need to know the answers to these questions.
“My mother is known by many names. We invaded Earth because Mother wants to destroy this system. As for the other commanders, well that depends. I know a handful of the other commanders of the Frozen Legion. I have no knowledge of the commanders of the other legions, or which one will arrive at earth first.” Morrigan replied.
The interrogation crew remained silent on the other end of her earphone, so Lyndis led the conversation to topics she was interested in. Before she knew it, hours had passed, and the intel team called a break. Just as she was about to leave, the elf offered information of her own accord.
“If you access your new system store node, be sure to purchase a prisoner of war contract and subservience collar. With these two items, you can free me of my mother’s control, at least for some time, and ensure that I am unable to harm you directly.” she supplied.
Lyndis decided to at least look into the items if she ended up with the time to visit the system store node.