NationStates Jolt Archive

The Sutfen, a previously unknown race of aliens no larger than a Turcosian mastiff, were isolated in different wings of the Beta Garrison. A top-secret facility in the middle of the desert, south east of Lake Patricia, concealed five stories beneath rolling sand dunes, a military prison that used to house political prisoners, now the headquarters of “Superior Handling” division of the Aumanii army. The alien infiltrators were searched and stripped of anything they had brought with them, the injured one received treatment for his burns from a team of trained xeno-biologists, who really had no clue about the Sutfen and their medical needs. The Section Master that had discovered them in the alleyway in Lake Patricia was shipped down to the Beta Garrison with the rest of his section. They debriefed a special interrogator, bringing with them all of the evidence they had found.

’These pistols, they’re clearly not made for human hands.’ Said the Section Master, Elam Jace as he gestured toward four gyro-jet pistols that were laid out upon a gray metal table. The Interrogator took notes on a palm-sized datapad, looking over the evidence that Jace had gathered back in town. A pile of charred metal and burnt electronics lay next to the weapons. ’If you review the footage provided by the Ridgewood, you’d have seen several items in the hotel room that they allegedly occupied, which were believed to sensor equipment, listening devices and this…’

Jace picked up a meter long tube and looked down the center of it. ’This is the barrel of a rifle, as far as I can guess. We can’t find anything else that would seem to substantiate my claims, but the footage…’ Jace walked over to a flatscreen monitor that had a still frame from the footage obtained from the Shanderans. ’It clearly shows a long object, facing towards the bay window of the room, aimed directly towards the convention center.’ The Interrogator nodded slightly, finishing his notes. ’Assassins, so it would seem. But for whom?’ The Interrogator spoke, to no one in particular. He looked over some information on his datapad, looking over the information that had been collected on all of the delegation that gathered for the galactic summit. It was becoming quite clear to him that some out there who did not wish to see the Galactic Assembly take shape. The Assembly, which hadn’t even been given an official dictate yet, was a dangerous prospect for profiteers, such as the arms industry… Or for that matter, the business of military consultation, as the Galactic Assembly was an organization for peace, one could assume it could be bad for business. The Interrogators number one suspect in this matter was the Red Talons, a nation of anthropomorphic mercenaries. The detainees themselves were of the same ilk, which is what drew the Interrogators attention immediately to them.

’That is all, Section Master Jace. You may return to your duties now.’ said the Interrogator. Jace snapped off a salute and darted towards the door of the small room. The Interrogator sat at the table and looked over the evidence, a miserable little pile of secrets. If this event had taken place in a civilian jurisdiction, surely the aliens would walk. Thankfully for the Interrogator the aliens were just unlucky enough to be within twenty kilometers of the Overlord. The Interrogator decided now was the time to speak with the first of his detainees. He thought to himself, how he should proceed with this, whether to take the most silent of the bunch, which he presumed to be the leader, or the injured one that showed his willingness to speak to the Section Master back at Lake Patricia.

The Interrogator spoke into a small radio receiver attached to the shoulder of his rig. ’Take the quiet one to the grill. I’m going to take a nap for a few hours. Make sure it doesn’t get a chance to rest.’ The Interrogator spoke quietly. He had always been an introvert through out his career. Never suited to the combat branches of the military. Preferring instead to serve in the less demanding field of intelligence gathering, where he had a chance to use his superior organizational skills to the benefit of his nation. A fiercely patriotic, yet unassuming man, the interrogator looked more like a high school Aumanii literature teacher than what he really was, an army intelligence officer.

’Sir.’ chirped a voice from the radio. ’Yes, what is it?’ The Interrogator asked. ’We’ve received word that Special Unit 2 will be joining you tomorrow evening.’ Answered his radio. The Interrogator furrowed his brow, clearly angered by this news. ’This is by no means theirs, you understand me? Special Unit is not allowed to take part in these interrogations until such a time as they are clearly demonstrated to be a threat to national security. They are barred from entering Beta Garrison.’ Answered the Interrogator.

The Interrogator knew that his demand would not be heeded and he knew the nature of the Special Unit. Very few people even knew of existence. The Overlord is never fully briefed on the Unit, though Navarrone was very familiar with it since he used to lead it. Officially, Special Unit 2 did not exist. All of its members, officially, had been killed in various training accidents. Though in reality, they were as real as Auman itself. Special Unit is a gang of thugs and murderers, extraordinarily effective, and just a little bit creepy. In his run-ins with them in previous operations, the Interrogator learned never to trust them, and most of all, to never give them a reason to dislike you.

The Interrogator made another call through his radio ’I’ll be at the grill in a moment. Prepare the others for accelerated conditioning. We need as much out of them as we can get before tomorrow evening.’

The Sutfen has as so far remained silent other than the pained whines of the wounded Sutfen. They had a saying for intelligence ops like this... It was "Screwed". Though, for the life of him... Garibaldi couldn't place where that saying had come from, He determined it probably came from a Human term that the Sutfen Intelligence had just picked up. Why someone would attribute the name of a piece of Hardware to a badly messed up intelligence mission was anyone's guess. He certainly had no idea.

Garibaldi Trussen had been bodily carried into a cold empty room with a pair of chairs and a table in the center. Having been briefed on these intelligence procedures he simply yawned and curled up in a corner where he snuggled comfortably into a fur covered lump. When the door opened, he feigned soft snores as his listened intently. A Sutfen might be small and relatively unthreatening, his sharp ears could barely make out sounds through the walls. If someone was talking out there, he could hear the basic tenor and basses of their voice but he couldn't make out any words of course.

The Glassed 'window' (I'm assuming there is one in the room?) on the other hand relayed sound beautifully. When the door opened he listened intently for any sounds outside, he honestly forgot wether or not it was of airlock construction or not. He was busy being manhandled by a pair of overly rough guards. But any information he could glean would be helpful in some way. He doubted his tiny form could intimidate in any way, had he been a Nesrandi on the other hand... He shoved those thoughts away, they were of no use because he in fact was not Nesrandi. Nor was he Dastrilian or Vorion. He was in fact Sutfen, the creators of the Sutfen Aligned Worlds. The leaders and the intelligence arm of the SAW. He was from a long line of intelligence members. He could do this, he could take care of this, he could weather this storm.

So he continued feigning sleep, hopefully since he was thus far unknown to these beings they would not know the bio-signs of a sleeping Sutfen. Though, it -was- doubtful. Most of the Intelligence crew would probably be asleep, having been aware for two days straight doing intelligence work after setting up their gear. He just waited silently... There was not much else he could do, he wondered wether or not the SSN Subtle was still up there or not. He also wondered if they'd send down a strike team or if they'd drop a crew onto the planet's surface and find the intelligence chip before detonating the chip buried deep within his brain to give him a lobotomy. No, don't think about that either. Those things are never good to think about. He mentally shook those feelings away as he tried to relax.

Trying to relax, heh, just what he needed to do. He was freaking out, all alone in a room guarded by Humans. From what he'd heard, most of these humans were xenophobic. Which of course just meant that they would probably kill him anyway in the most painful and worst way possible. Garibaldi smiled to himself lightly, keeping his eyes closed. At least he knew what was probably going to happen to him, maybe if they tried to shock him too badly to get information they'd cause the chip to explode anyway. Of course they'd have to use something a lot more electrically charged than a tazer. But maybe these humans were particularly vile? Such things were hopeful to think of.

He sighed softly, though, maybe his family would miss him? They would definitely be getting a sealed coffin full of sandbags with a letter to bury it unopened, by the time this was over. He knew this much, however it was his duty to the nation to not give up any information about home or about where they come from.

The Interrogator watched the creature silently from the observation room, concealed by a one way mirror. He held two paper cups in his hand, one filled with coffee and the other filled with water. The creature was curled up in the corner of the room, zap straps binding its hands together and a muzzle over its maw. Music started to play in the interrogation room, a soft, haunting melody composed by one of Vascilia's most darkhearted composers. The Interrogator moved towards the entrance to the room, the door was held open by a Shock Trooper as he stepped in. The Interrogator placed the cups on the table and stood for a moment, just looking at the Sutfen.

'I understand you speak Galactic Standard? That's the impression I've been given by my reports.' The Interrogator watched the Sutfen pretend to sleep. 'Would you like a glass of water?' The Interrogator pushed one of the paper cups to the other side of the table and tooks a seat. The creature feigned sleep some more. The Interrogator understood that this would take some time, so he removed a datapad from his chest rig and reviewed his notes, added some more and generally made himself look busy while occasionally taking a sip of coffee.

'You don't want to become dehydrated, do you? There's nothing in the water, I promise you that.' The Interrogator was legitimately concerned for the well being of the suspect and was telling the truth, of course. He may be a spook, but he was still bound to abide by the charter of sentient rights.

'Have a seat, please. I only want to talk about some things. If you answer my questions, the sooner we can sort this whole business out and the faster you'll be going home. So please, have a seat, drink some water and let's get started, shall we?' The Interrogator placed the datapad on the table, face down and watched the Sutfen solemnly.

'Very well then...' The Interrogator drummed his fingers on the table. 'What is your name?'

The Sutfen laid there for a few minutes longer before finally getting up. Stretching much the way a cat or a dog would soft 'pops' emanated from it's back bone as he padded over to the table. Not getting up onto the seat he sat down and glared at the Interrogator around the muzzle over his mouth, as if to say; 'Are you an idiot or do you just have a low IQ?'

Garibaldi just sat there glaring, he was indeed thirsty, he couldn't speak, His arms were oddly strapped making it hard to -walk- let alone jump into the seat. He began to wonder if infact there was a chance he'd get out of this because these people were just that dumb. But he promptly wiped that idea off the map because he couldn't afford to get cocky or tacky. They couldi nfact be lulling him into a false state of security to attempt to get him to release important information. But at the same time, they could be trying to get him mad...

Breath... Garibaldi took a deep breath as he controlled his rapid thoughts, letting his mind clear he thought about the music while waiting for the human to get rid of the muzzle. It was soft and comforting music, it made him think of home and the deep mournful moan of wind and such things of his homeland.

When the muzzle was finally taken off, he glanced down at his arms. "You realize how incredibly hard it is to talk when your shoulders for your arms are behind your shoulders for your legs and The arm shoulders cannot move? I doubt I could do much more than nibble at your ankles.... Please unstrap my arms?" He sighed softly holding up his arms to the Man in the seat, it looked like his hands were clasped together as if he was begging. But that didn't occur to him at the time, it was uncomfortable, very much so uncomfortable. How would the Human feel if he strapped his arm to his heel and forced him to walk around?

With a deep breath, Garibaldi jumped onto the seat and managed to get comfortable sitting on his haunches on the seat. where he softly lapped from the glass of water before setting it back down... "Trussen Garlibaldi. One One Seven Six Three Five Zero Niner. Sevoy Ichor Alexi." Sevoy Ichor Alexi was the codename for Sutufinai Intelligence Agency.

'Trussen, Garibaldi. One-One-Seven-Six-Three-Five-Zero-Niner. Fine name, Trussen, Garibaldi. One-One-Seven-Six-Three-Five-Zero-Niner.' The Interrogator wrote down the information and quickly understood the nature of this animal. 'You understand that when you're engaged in a mission such as yours, it's best not to surrender name, rank and serial number? You just implicated your nation in an act of war, I hope you know that Mr. Trussen, Garibaldi. One-One-Seven-Six-Three-Five-Zero-Niner. Now, tell me, what is Sevoy Ichor Alexi?'

The Interrogator made more notes in his datapad, seemingly ignoring the pleas of the detainee. The straps and the muzzle were intentional and the handlers fully understood the stress technique that the Interrogator was utilizing. With the Sutfen's arms bound in an uncomfortable way, it was hoped that over time that removing the straps could be used as a means of extracting information.

'What is Sevoy Ichor Alexi? What is your mission? What are you doing here? Who sent you? How did you infiltrate our nation? How did you plan on escaping? Who aided you? Where are you from?' The Interrogator asked the questions in quick succession.

Garibaldi shrugged, "Act of war? Just because I have a number, means I'm going to commit war? Huh, nifty. Tell me, do you have a social security number? A License number? Then, your obviously committing war." The little being shrugged. "What if that was just my favorite number? I like numbers, do you like numbers? Or are they just a constriction idealism for numerical valuing that was created by the fallible sentient mind in the hopes of comprehending the greater world outside and within?"

After calling out his spiel he shrugged, "Sevoy, it's a really good type of food back home. It's a type of crustacean that has ichor for blood. They come from the country of Alexi. It's really quite good. Maybe if I get out of this alive, we could go out and get some?"

"Well, have you seen some of the chicks who were with me? They were -lookers-. Me and my buds were hoping for an all night Orgy. Get me some tail is what I was hoping my mission would be. What was I doing? Getting some -tail- man." He shrugged at the 'who sent you here', "How did I get here? I stepped off a shuttle, it was a nice ride. I planned on escaping? Who said escape man? I planned on just stepping on board a shuttle and flying home. And where am I from? Isn't that obvious? I'm from home man."

Garibaldi smile cheekily. His tail wagged softly back and fourth.

The Interrogator wasn't amused by Garibaldi's banter. 'Well, if you stepped off of a shuttle then clearly you passed through customs? Where is your passport, Mr. Garibaldi? Because all we found in what was left of your room were the remains of advanced scanning equipment.' The Interrogator thought about what was left of an alleged railgun and whether or not he should bring it up. 'We also have proof that you were in possession of at least one weapon. We have DNA evidence linking you to it, Mr. Garibaldi. So far we have more than enough evidence to throw you in jail for illegally entering the nation and possession of an unregistered firearm. If you co-operate, you will only face deportation. Now, tell me. What are you really doing here in Auman? The Samson Ziggurat was closed and emptied of non-diplomatic personnel for the duration of the conference. You were trespassing and caught red handed in the commission of that crime. We found the firearms that you had ditched. A member of your party is receiving medical treatment for wounds consistent with what you had been exposed to by our military. We also have the remains of what we believe to be a rifle. Who did you intend to kill?'

OOC: Sorreh it took so long.

IC:

Garibaldi shrugged, "My passport could've been burnt in the freakishly massive fire." He flicked his tail lightly as he looked at the interrogator quietly as he watched, "Weapon? Psh, everyone else had one. I just fired we might as well be safe. We're not exactly the most imposing bunch of tourists. Whose to say some Xenophobic humans might or might not choose to prey on beings smaller than themselves?" He blinked borely, his ears going back out as his eyes narrowed, "I hear there are many Xenophobic gun-toting beings about..."

"Though, I must ask... Mr. Interrogator... Would you kill me? Or any of my comrades? Would you kill them?" His tail flicked soflty, "Would you hurt them?" He continued sitting there, not really making any moves. "Besides, who says a group of alien tourists can't be Diplomats. I'm pretty sure you Aumans have not had official contact with us..." He gave a soft smile.

'Unfortunately for you, "everyone else was doing it" is not a sufficient legal defense.' The Interrogator ignored the Sutfen's questions and checked his watch. Time was running out, when Special Unit arrives this alien will wish it had co-operated with the Interrogator. 'Let's just go through your list of offenses, shall we? You're in Auman with no records of your entering with Customs. You're illegally here, that's a five year prison sentence. You were in possession of unregistered firearms, another five years in prison. Also, since you were arrested within a military jurisdiction, the surveillance footage that we have gathered on your alleged activities is more than enough to pin you and your colleagues with conspiracy to commit murder. When you were arrested, we had learned that six attache's to the TRIAD government were killed in the fire with another six receiving serious injuries. So that's six counts of murder, six counts of assault with a deadly weapon and three counts of assault resulting in serious bodily injury. So, yes, to answer your question, you will be executed if you are found guilty. You will all die. However, we can avoid this trouble if you simply tell me the truth. It's within my power to commut your sentence to life imprisonment... And believe me, if I can't get you to talk they will relieve me of this duty and bring someone here that will. They will use a method of interrogation that will let them know your entire life story and then they will kill you and they will kill everyone you have ever known.' The Interrogator picked up a pair of empty cups and prepared to leave the room.

'It's my suggestion to you that fess up and do the honorable thing here.' The Interrogator made his final remark before leaving to get more coffee.

Garibaldi raised a brow, "Well, y'know the missile that hit the building caused the fire. Not us. Please remember that. So technically it would be... the firers of the missiles that killed those beings." He shrugged, which was rather difficult with the straps around his arms. "However. If you really -must- know... It was a routine surveillance operation that was to determine the ideals, military strength, overall universal power, and various other things such as culture... Of all those assembled. However, we were worried that the surveillance equipment wouldn't be enough to get the information we required. So we set up the possibility for having to send a 'delegate' to the conference so that he could get the information, but that in turn left security problems. We didn't trust... Xenophobic humans to protect our delegate. So we set up an overwatch position. However the weapon was unloaded and powered down. We'd expected that it would be masked by all the metal around us..." He didn't mention the massive power output from all the computers in the room...

The Interrogator cracked a smile as he walked down the hall to the coffee room. He filled his cup with coffee, put more water in the other one for the Sutfen and tucked a newspaper under his arm. He returned to the room and placed the cups on the table and unfurled the newspaper. On the front page there was an article displaying the Samson Ziggurat, in flames. 'In Auman, when someone is killed in the commission of a felony, it is entirely the fault of the perpetrator. Now, I'm also willing to release you from these charges and deport you. To do that, though, we would need the location of your homeland.'

Garibaldi chuckled softly, looking at the Interrogator. "Oh? really?" He thought for a second, "Beta Arugala, human standard. It's two blue stars and a white star. There is an M-Class planet, three planets out from the White star. We have good stealth systems, you won't see many life signs." He shrugged, "Can we go now?"

He mentally laughed softly, Planet C-3 in Beta Arugala was glassed by the Navy fifty years ago. It's also a quarter of the way around the galaxy counter clock-wise from Sutfen Space. The distances involved, meant that... really... There was really, no chance they'd be able to find any Sutfen colonies, which were -a few hundred- lightyears away. They'd managed to reach the planet via a now collapsed wormhole.

'Okay then, we'll just arrange for one of our ships to take you there.' The Interrogator said. He could tell the thing was lying to him and he had no intention of releasing them. 'No, but seriously. Where is your homeworld?' The Interrogator became deadly serious and placed his coffee dangerously close to the edge of the table. 'Four creatures that get their cheques cut by the federal government in my nation with anti-tank weapons and espionage equipment. They then create an international incident, killing six foreign guests and for what? We will destroy you, Trussen, Garibaldi. One-One-Seven-Six-Three-Five-Zero-Niner. It's only a matter of time.'

The Interrogator knocked the coffee onto the ground. 'How careless of me, I'll be back in a moment.' The Interrogator left the room and composed himself. He was becoming angry with the antics of the Sutfen. He started to think it was time for him to get a reassignment. He grabbed a vacuum cleaner and returned to the room. He plugged it into an outlet on the wall. 'I couldn't find a mop, so I guess this wet-dry vacuum will have to do.'

The Interrogator flicked the cleaner on and started to viciously clean the spill, rolling it closer and closer towards the prisoner. He assumed that since his dog hated it when he did this at home, it would achieve the same effect on the Sutfen. He banged the vacuum against the legs of Garibaldi's chair repeatedly. Before hauling up the piece of machinery and bringing it down on Garibaldi's face like a baseball bat. The Sutfen was knocked to the floor, the Interrogator brought a steel toed boot into Garibaldi's sternum.

'The men that will be relieving me tomorrow... What I just did to you? It's nothing to them, it's fucking child's play. You tell me what we need to know now and we will do things within the bounds of the law. If you make us wait until my colleagues arrive, all bets are off. You fucking talk to me now, you little piece of shit!' The Interrogator, while harsh, was legitimately concerned about the safety of Garibaldi and his party. Not to mention the Sutfen Allied Worlds, which would suffer severe retribution at the hands of the Unit. If Garibaldi told him the truth, no harm would come to the Sutfen beyond a diplomatic tongue lashing and a demand for financial compensation. It was Garibaldi's choice.

The Sutfen, respectably, was a lot smaller. When he was bashed up, he yelped in pain and was easily thrown to the floor. He rolled on the ground hacking and 'hurf'ing from the pain. He grit his teeth as best as he could. One of his ribs had broken slightly, even in good health Sutfen weren't particularly resilient. The Sutfen's mind was racing despite the pain, he could -not- tell someone like this, like these humans, the location of the homeworld. Had they not just stated 'we will destroy you'? Had they not just stated that they were willing to do whatever they wanted because they were 'the big dogs'? If they were willing to do that, they were willing to go back on their promises and just off all of them and destroy S.A.W. anyway.

But, he could not put the lives of so many on the line. His men would speak, he knew that. He had to give them the truth, but he couldn't hand his nation over.

His mind continued to race until; "Th-There's a p-planet... Local n-name is Djinn. Class M, b-but debris in orbit and a turbulent exosphere.... makes it look like a g-gas giant. I-It has rings, part o-of the reason it has a f-freaky atmosphere. Th-there should be a station in orbit of the third m-moon. It's a s-sector Capital." He groaned loudly coughing again.

(I am very sorry it took so long, school and the fact I couldn't bring myself to post... It just got in the way. You forgive?)

The Interrogator didn't believe it, but at least it was a start. He glanced over at the camera and assumed his men were on it. Unfortunately, the galaxy was a large place and even if such a planet existed in Auman's exploration logs the chances of it being the same one were slim at best. The Interrogator took a pen from a pocket on his chest rig along with a notepad.

'And you would be able to tell me the exact co-ordinates of this world, sir?'