|
Post by Norris on Mar 5, 2005 3:47:04 GMT -5
"As you wish." Sludge answers, and gestures to the Corporal. The Corporal cuts her chains loose from the rest of the group and moves her towards Staan.
'Who does that groundhog think he is?' the hare thinks to herself as Rusk puts on his little display.
|
|
|
Post by Kooshmeister on Mar 5, 2005 4:27:09 GMT -5
Cryer swallowed a considerable lump in his throat, suddenly getting a bad feeling about this Captain Staan. If he was anything like Commander Glutgrave, then the female hare was really in trouble. He immediately averted his eyes from her and the other hares, focusing instead of the control room technicians going about their business.
|
|
|
Post by Brian the Flying Penguin on Mar 5, 2005 9:18:51 GMT -5
"Thank you sir."
Staan turns to the corporal.
"Escort the work detail to holding area three. I will interrogate them individually in room C. When you have escorted them there, sign them over my adjunct. My own soldiers will be sufficient to keep order."
For the first time Staan deigns to notice the two mammals with Commander Sludge.
"Would it also be possible for me to request the assistance of one of your... operatives? They may have knowledge of mammalian society that I lack."
|
|
|
Post by Kooshmeister on Mar 5, 2005 9:51:44 GMT -5
"Ooh!" exclaims Rusk, suddenly excited, jumping up and down and raising his hand in the air like a schoolboy trying to ask the teacher a question.
|
|
|
Post by Norris on Mar 6, 2005 4:05:05 GMT -5
As the Corporal walks off with the work section, Sludge thinks for a moment, and then turns to Cryer and Rusk. "You two will follow Staans' orders for the duration of his stay here."
Before Sludge moves off, he simply says to Staan, "With all due respect Captain, you may be a visitor here, but while you are here I don't want you giving my men orders. Understood?"
|
|
|
Post by Brian the Flying Penguin on Mar 6, 2005 6:07:30 GMT -5
"But of course, Wing Commander. I have no intention of disrupting your most valuable work."
The corporal returns the female hare to the group and gets them moving. Staan turns toward Rusk and Cryer. He looks at them for a moment.
"My name is Kaptain Staan. You may address me as 'Kaptain' or 'Sir'. The work we are engaged in is classified, so don't ask unnecessary questions. If you find out more than I tell you I may have to have you killed. We will be interrogating the slave workers of this facility to discover whether any have the engineering skills I require. Your role will be to assist me in determining that fact, since I lack familiarity with mammalian technology. Do you have any questions?"
|
|
|
Post by Kooshmeister on Mar 6, 2005 9:24:31 GMT -5
For the umpteenth time this day, Cryer and Rusk exchange nervous, uncertain glances with one another before turning back to Staan. Nodding, they say in unison, "Yes, sir."
"No, not really," said Cryer finally, in response to Staan's inquiry as to whether they had any questions.
|
|
|
Post by Brian the Flying Penguin on Mar 6, 2005 17:37:41 GMT -5
"Good. We will begin at once. Follow me."
Staan turns and walks towards the interrogation block, his hands clasped behind his back under his coat.
"How long have you been on this base?"
|
|
|
Post by Kooshmeister on Mar 6, 2005 19:45:44 GMT -5
"We just arrived around the same time you did, sir," Cryer responded respectfully. Years as a slave before being freed by the Righteous Indignation taught the brown hare to be respectful to high-ranking toads, regardless of his less-than-favorable opinions of them. "But, Rusk and I have visited the base at least once before when we made the deal with Wing Commander Sludge to assist in the toad re-colonization of my homeworld."
The two mammalian turncoats followed Staan at a respectful distance, Rusk moreso than Cryer, who actually made an effort to keep pace with the toad officer. Rusk lagged deliberately, as, unlike Cryer, he had never known slavery and never before been subordinate to the toads. As a result, he was not used to bowing and scraping to them like his partner.
|
|
|
Post by Brian the Flying Penguin on Mar 7, 2005 14:52:27 GMT -5
"Hmm. Warren. Yes."
Staan appears to think for a moment.
"I feel that the Empire rather over extended itself there. Relying too heavily on experimental super weapons is a dangerous strategy. I am interested in how you see it. As a mammal, I mean. I seldom get a chance to converse with one."
|
|
|
Post by Kooshmeister on Mar 7, 2005 15:02:20 GMT -5
Cryer blinked, amazed that this toad wanted to hear what he thought. "Well, sir," he began, choosing his words carefully, "I'm not entirely certain what you're asking me. If you mean what I think of climate converters, I was among the slaves who installed the first climate converter on Warren all those years ago. I think it's an insidious machine, and yet... a work of genius."
"If however you mean my feelings towards the Toad Empire and the conquering of Warren as a whole, I'd be lieing if I said I didn't feel hatred at first towards the invaders that destroyed my home and made me a slave. But, opinions change over time, and I care about one thing and one thing only: My own survival. When I was given the choice to die or become a loyal servant of the Empire, I chose the latter without hesitation. I have no family or friends on Warren, and no love for my own people as a whole. My feelings about what the Empire is doing to my world are mostly feelings of indifferance."
Of course, Cryer was lieing. At least, partially. But as a spy for the toads, lieing had been part of his daily life aboard the space station, so he was a fairly good liar. What he didn't tell Staan, or Rusk, or Sludge, or anyone else for that matter, were his blooming feelings of regret, epsecially now in the aftermath of the death of Emma Marsupial, and the sorry state of the slaves he was about to assist Staan in doing who-knows-what to.
|
|
|
Post by Brian the Flying Penguin on Mar 7, 2005 15:32:46 GMT -5
Staan nodded.
"A sensible attitude, for a spy. For myself, I have long considered that the Empire is unnecessarily careless in the use of compelled labour. The rate of fatalities in some places is quite unacceptably high. Just as a slave starts learning the ropes they are too malnourished or diseased to work at anything like their potential. I wouldn't mind, but it does rather cut into efficiency. In my own command I intend to be a little more careful."
He turns his head to look at Cryer.
"I tell you this because I want your willing cooperation. That young woman you saw a minute ago? How long do you think she will last, amidst the radioactive slime of the lower levels? I doubt that the task I require labourers for is any worse than what they do here. Indeed, I doubt that it could be. Those who are able to help me will be transferred to a more sanitary environment and be given regular, if uninteresting, meals. The work will be hard, but it is simply not in my interest to kill them."
|
|
|
Post by Norris on Mar 8, 2005 2:41:02 GMT -5
Straight in front of the trio emerges a sudden puff of scarlet smoke, followed by a sinister chuckle. When the smoke clears, all that is revealed is a hunchbacked weasel dressed in a large white laboratory coat. The chuckle puffs out of his pearly-white teeth, and he darts as Staan with two staring green eyes.
"So, I hear somebody is having trouble with the UAC, and I and I alone can assist you toads in the conquest of Warren!" he speaks in a deep, sly voice.
|
|
|
Post by Kooshmeister on Mar 8, 2005 5:26:23 GMT -5
"Radioactive slime?" Cryer parroted back, suddenly looking horrified. But then he reacted to the sudden appearance of the bizarre hunchbacked weasel, jumping back somewhat in surprise. "What the--?!"
|
|
|
Post by Brian the Flying Penguin on Mar 8, 2005 11:00:17 GMT -5
Staan looks at the Weasel, studiously unimpressed.
"My name is Kaptain Staan. You are intruding in a Toad Empire military instillation. But you are in luck."
He reaches down, draws his maser pistol and points it at the Weasel's head.
"We were heading to the cells anyway."
|
|