A few minor Cycles Later, Ruktan Class Frigate, Docking Bay 4

We arrived easily in the docking bay; I initially believed the landing would be less clean. It seems there may be some sort of artificial gravitational pull keeping ships steady before docking. Perhaps the gravity plate technology has been applied to other areas aboard Demthesian ships. A thought for another time, but these shackles chaff more than I had initially expected. They seem rather a low tech considering the current technology, nevertheless, they are sturdy.

My hands are bound in these shackles placed in front of me in the same manner as Quroken beside me. The ship's ramp descends and the light of the external cascades in. We both step out of the ship with Zerg behind us levelling the laser rifle at our backs. My gaze sets on several Wokan soldiers armed and armoured before us. I just now noticed that most Wokan males look remarkably like each other with minor changes in skin tone. There were six Wokan's in front of us, each wearing some sort of dull grey combat armour.

They all parted slowly as a much larger Wokan almost a head taller than everyone pushed through. He was not armed nor wearing combat armour, but an officer's uniform. The uniform was pure white with decorated lines on his right breast, perhaps some sort of military rank. I noticed a thin outline of a removed patch on his right upper shoulder. Possibly he made some alterations such as removing a piece of cloth or perhaps a sowed insignia.

It seems he has truly cut ties with Demthesian rule. His face was typical for a Wokan, strangely with no degree of injury anywhere visible. So, either he is very skilled in combat or rarely fights. Stepping forward he scans us with a cold and detached expression or at least what I can tell. Wokan's had familiar yet still odd ways of expressing themselves.

His voice rings out still mechanical and cold. I wonder if that is a natural cadence or perhaps a façade, alas time will tell. His imposing figure dwarfed those around him, his four arms behind his back attempting to make his already imposing presence greater. I see arrogance, pride, and some semblance of intelligence, Wokan's expressions are difficult to read but the way they carry themselves is all too familiar.

The data records of my people have shown similar methods. We have attempted to show strength through an imposing presence. Zekton continues to inspect us, whilst giving me and Quroken minor glances before settling upon Zerg. In a bold attempt to keep himself in check, Zerg was holding his own just as Zekton spoke in fluent Shahnese. "Report... Who are these prisoners?" His words never missed a beat in that artificial tone, one might suspect him of being emotionless.

Straightening his posture, attempting to match Zekton's, Zerg replied in as strong a voice as he could muster. "Commander, the Pintonian refused to follow our late captains' orders and the disgusting vuclar over there is one of the planetary natives that ambushed us. I can't understand a word he says but he managed to learn some Shahnese, I decided to bring him to you. I was the only survivor." His acting was indeed impressive, though it did take him quite a few tries to get it right and that Wokan slur was a nice touch. I believe it means lowly insect or something similar. I turned my gaze to Zekton, judging his reaction. If his face ever changed, which it did not. Either he was calm under fire or the deaths of his men meant little to him.

He pondered for a time before answering in that grating voice. "Take them to the interrogation, we will send someone in to assess the ship for damages. You have duties aboard get to it." With a sharp glare, he commands Zerg who salutes in response. He then turns to one of his men and begins barking orders. "Search the ship, keep it docked here until I say so." His gaze levels to a nearly frightened soldier, who salutes haphazardly.

Zekton then nodded before turning to leave, after making two steps one of the left soldiers called out to him, with a wary tone. "Commander, we aren't going to send ships to get revenge?" His voice was soft as if trying to whisper, unintentionally rising. Likely the young Wokan was fuelled by emotional turmoil. He likely had friends aboard the Hellmak.

Commander Zekton appears to stop in his tracks and turns to the soldier who voiced his opinion. The other soldiers shrank away at the mere gaze of Zekton. Finally, he exposed some semblance of emotion, thank your young soldier for unveiling it for me. Zekton lunged forward and backhanded the soldier to the ground. He has quite an impressive strength.

The other soldiers flinched at the abrupt attack but stayed stock still out of fear. I levelled my gaze at the coming events, Zekton began kicking the downed soldier and for the first time, he raised his voice. "How dare you, a filthy low clutch-born dare questions my orders. I should have you lashed for this." With another sharp kick, he turns to another soldier and barks further orders, fury upon his face. "Lock this wretch in the brig now!" Two soldiers immediately sprang to action, lifting the battered soldier to his feet and dragging him off. The other two soldiers approach us, levelling their weapons and forcing us to move.

A few minor Cycles Later, Ruktan Class Frigate, Interrogation Room 1

So, there I was seated on the opposite side of an interrogation desk, and my hands were shackled to the table. The room was completely white with only one exit with a single panel lock mechanism on the right side. This is clearly of a different design than the Wokan vessels, likely this frigate is Demthesian. More evidence of universal convergence, the interrogation rooms are eerily like the ones on my planet, we had less sophisticated locks unless in an advanced facility.

I waited for some time before I had a visitor, it was a Wokan, I think. Given the creature had six arms instead of the normal four. I concluded it was a female of the species. Zerg had told me of Wokan females, apparently, the third pair of arms was for nursing their clutch children as they tended to breed quite the litter.

The Wokan female stepped forward with a datapad in her upper arm and sat down on the opposite seat. She was drinking some sort of steaming drink; the aroma was interesting and very bitter. I glared at the brown liquid with interest, before settling on her. She took a sip from the drink and then began to speak in Shahnese. "I take it you have some grasp on Shahnese... Alien?" She asked with quite a professional tone, I respected that. She did not seem to hold much in the way of animosity, seems like she is just doing her job.

I decided to reply in a less-than-stellar version of Shahnese, despite the fact I was currently fluent. "Yes, I can speak this language, I have learned well." I tried to speak in a kind of broken accent to shift suspicion. It seemed to work as she lowered her guard a tad. likely thinking I am some surface-level native; she is not wrong, mostly.

Her gaze narrows upon me before she lowers it to read whatever is on her datapad. She lingers there for some time before rising to question me. "Planet of origin, species name and reason for hostile action against the Wokan Liberation Army." Her words intrigue me, liberation army is an interesting term to use. I would prefer to see them as either pirates or an upstart militia, but if the term makes them feel better, power to them.

I stroke my chin for a moment, pondering her question before answering in my broken Shahnese. "Question for a question, I ask, you answer, you ask I answer?" I tried to make that as simple as possible, but clear enough to make my point across. I then began to exude a wary expression or at least as best I could. The Wokan seemed to pick up on such things as apparently, my species bear a resemblance to Demthesian's, as they are bipedal as well.

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She lifts her chin to look down at me, with her three insectoid eyes. Giving a strange smile before nodding. Honestly, I did not expect her to agree to such a thing, but then again, she does have the capability to lie or not answer. It also offers her a means to get information out of me.

I level my gaze at her and ask my first question. "What is this liberation army?" It was a simple question. I knew what the army was, Zerg had mentioned them as what these Wokan's called themselves, to find logic in their actions. But I was curious about her perspective on the supposed liberation army, she had been dragged into.

Her gaze narrows at me as if she did not expect such a question, she then pondered for a moment before answering. "The Liberation Army represents freedom from tyranny and the chance to make our own choices outside of Demthesian rule." With a sure attitude, she puffs out her chest with pride. Clearly, she believed in her righteous cause, which seems contradictory, she is shifted to being under another tyrant's rule from what I have seen with Commander Zekton. She snapped back to reality and then asked her own question. "Why did you attack and kill our people?" She asked in what could be described as calm anguish, I had seen this expression on Kuma. Seems to be the default method most Wokan use to convey anger. This could be a result of their society existing as a militaristic slave race under the tyrannical rule of the Demthesian's.

The question was an odd one, is she not already aware of the practices of her people, especially since they have turned against their rulers? Curious I decided to answer in the most honest way I can. "It was a necessary measure to defend myself against those who wish to imprison and enslave me." I believe that is an apt response to give. I answered in a much better manner of speech as there was no reason to continue the charade as the time was near.

Her expression wavers for a moment, she seems to be nervous or perhaps shocked. Not sure precisely but perhaps my words may have shaken her if only a little. She straightens her posture and grips her drink intensely, before speaking up in a clear, yet high tone of voice. "We Wokan's would never do that, we know the horrors of slavery!" Her voice contained genuine honesty and belief in the noble intentions of her people, yet a spark of doubt could be sensed from her.

I tilted my head to the left slightly before replying in answer to her statement. "Is that what they told you, if that were true, then why are you orbiting this planet in the first place, when you could simply leave?" My words seem to jostle her further out of her prideful reverence of her noble people. She was about to retort when suddenly the lights illuminating the room suddenly go out, leaving pitch-black darkness.

She remains flustered and confused as clearly, the Wokan cannot see in the dark, her gaze goes to me. Likely because she can see the luminescent glow of my silver eyes, which allows me to see perfectly in the dark. I then speak up in a cold tone. "This was an illuminating chat, but alas I must be going now." The words seem to confuse her further as she grows more nervous. She starts fidgeting dropping her datapad with a loud clunk, as I speak once more. "Mithorka onwada." The term is the closest one I could find in the Shahnese language to an apology. Since the language appears to not have any words for sorry, the translation roughly is "your suffering is unfortunate".

I break the shackles easily as they were made of brittle material. The sound alerts her as I leap across the table and wrap my right arm around her neck. I press my left arm against the back of her neck. She flails for a time trying to gasp for air as I grip her mouth closed with only an audible whimper. Quickly she descends into an unconscious state.

With her body slumped on her chair I let go and gently lay her slanted. I move over too quickly maneuverer her chair near the door panel. Before I am about to open the door I turn back to the desk. Stepping forward I grasp the cup in my right hand and take a small sniff of the aroma, before taking a sip. The beverage's flavour was incredibly bitter, yet a strange sharp focus came flooding across my mind. The sensation was rather exhilarating. I placed the beverage back onto the table before walking to the door and adjusting my position to be concealed on the right side.

I linger for a moment as the indistinct sounds of Wokan guards can be heard near the door. With a swift motion, I place the young lady's hand on the panel unlocking the door. Then with a brutal kick, I send the door flying open, hitting the two guards outside with a sharp crash. I peek outside the door to inspect the state of my guards and discovered them sprawled out on the floor. Both of them scrambled back to their feet.

Not wanting them to recover too soon I race out the door and lunge at the left side guard. I quickly grapple the laser rifle out of his hand and bash him with it. He stops moving but is very much still alive. I quickly turn to the second guard and he freezes in place for just a fraction of a moment before recovering his weapon. I level the rifle towards him, signalling him to cease and desist luckily, he does so.

Moving forward I render him also to the land of dreams with another knock to the head with the underside of the rifle. I look around the silent corridor and notice the emergency lights flashing to illuminate the dark corridor. Turning to the right I make my way to the destination before stopping. I turn back to the interrogation room and quickly walk out with the delicious beverage in hand. Taking a refreshing sip before I leisurely walk to my destination.

I arrive at the destination only to witness Quroken freed from his interrogation room and two guards sprawled out on the floor. I approach him and give a satisfied nod before giving him further orders. "Excellent work Quroken, you have taken well to the extra combat training. Now proceed to the next objective as I will proceed to mine." Quroken had truly stepped up these past cycles, not only are his pilot skills excellent he took to combat training with enthusiasm and natural talent. He would make an excellent soldier and pilot. Quroken salutes in the manner of the Samsiran, arms crossed to his chest.

He then takes off in the opposite direction as I make my way to my own objective. From memory of Zerg's explanation of the ship's facilities, the objective should be left, a right and a left again. After some time and nearly half of the delicious beverage drank, I reach a corridor. Peering around the side I notice two Wokan guards in front of a metal door. The flashlights on their rifles illuminate a portion of the corridor as they scan for enemies.

With the enemies in sight, I level my rifle aiming at the non-vital organs such as their legs. I open fire with three quick shots, the first piercing the right-side guard in the knee causing him to tumble to the ground. The second shot misses the second guard who tries to dodge leaping forward into my third shot that hits his thigh.

With my enemies incapacitated I move briskly with my rifle in one hand and my beverage in the other. Aiming the rifle at their fallen figures I gesture for them to lay down their arms, which they do. I turn to the metal doors side panel and gesture one of them to open the door by levelling my rifle in a threatening manner and neither seems to budge.

I place the barrel of my rifle on one of their heads, making my point clear. His associate fearing for his fellow guard immediately complies and opens the door. Inside the room is a startled Wokan who immediately puts all four of his hands in the air, a smart move on his part. Stepping back a few steps I speak in a commanding tone to the Wokan inside the room. "Would you please help these fine gentlemen into the security room?" My words come out in fluent Shahnese, somewhat startling the Wokan who pauses for a moment before complying.

He aids in dragging the two guards into the room and moves them to the side as I directed. I assess the room and take stock of the environment. To the left is a large cabinet indented into the wall. On the right side is a large control panel with many screens of video feeds for the entire ship, depicting various decks. From Zerg's words, this is an auxiliary security station, usually manned by one or two Demthesian soldiers mostly to monitor the Wokan militants.

Now of course it's controlled by the Wokan themselves, very under-guarded as it seems, likely they spread the Wokan crew thin after the revolt. The three now situated near the far corner, I close the door behind me with a swift kick and place my beverage on the side control desk. Aiming my rifle upon the three Wokan, I glance over to the sidewall opposite the control desk and spot a familiar glyph.

It was Demthesian for first aid and usually contained some basic medical equipment, apparently standard in all major manned rooms. Gesturing my chin to the medical cabinet, the security officer quickly figures out what I require of him. Warily he moves to grab the supplies. He digs through carefully as I cast my gaze on the two injured Wokan's, they gaze back at me with fear and rage in their eyes at least I think they do.