Whispers in the Fire

[Shinova]

For various reasons, I've decided to stop working on Starfall for the moment. Instead, here's Whispers in the Fire:







—— Whispers in the Fire ——

By, Shinova



Prologue


Kerin Moryn and his fellow soldiers jogged down the docking corridor and came to a halt before the airlock of their target vessel, a friendly destroyer that had fallen into enemy hands and was now disabled. The sergeant in command beckoned toward one of the soldiers, who rushed over and placed a series of tiny explosives on the airlock.

"Everyone, get back!" the sergeant shouted, the whole platoon bracing themselves and turning away from the airlock in response. The charges detonated, blowing apart the outer airlock off its hinges and sending it crashing inward. An instant later the platoon received a hail of gunfire through the smoke-filled corridor.

Kerin dove toward the floor of the docking collar as a platoonmate beside him received a bullet to the throat, sending the man backwards, choking on his blood. Kerin raised his rifle above his head and fired blindly into the ship. A fellow soldier nearby fired a grenade into the now smoke-filled corridor. The resulting explosion showered the docking collar with debris as the troops took cover. When the incoming fire from inside the ship stopped, the sergeant leaped to his feet.

"Alright, people, move!" he shouted. The platoon responded, leaping into the ship, their feet now solidly touching the floor as they entered the ship's artificial gravity, guns trained and ready to fire. Kerin stepped in with the first bunch and spotted an enemy soldier raising his rifle. Kerin pulled the trigger and a burst of fire ended the man's struggle. He joined a fellow corporal in prodding the bodies, then filling them with bullets to make sure while the rest trained their guns down the hallways, searching for any defenders. The platoon was now in one of the arterial corridors that ran almost the entire length of the ship. Of all the arterial corridors in the vessel, this was the only one that could be connected to via airlock. Like the rest of the ship, the corridor was well-lit and clean, excluding the casualties and the marks on the floor and walls.

The sergeant called up the fleet and informed the mission commanders of their entry, then turned to his fellows. "Alright, Squad 1 head forward. The rest, head aftwards for the engine room."

Kerin and the others complied, splitting and heading opposite directions down the hallway like they had always done on these kinds of missions. Kerin himself was with Squad 1, which meant he and the others were tasked with retaking the bridge and any nearby stations. The sergeant followed them as they jogged down the corridor, guns sweeping left and right for signs of any enemies.

A lance corporal, Sari, jogged up to Kerin. "Shouldn't we be getting shot at by now?" she asked.

Kerin only nodded in reply. Sari had been drafted into the army only a year after Kerin and had been his best friend since childhood. Now they were participating in one of the biggest wars in recent history.

Kerin then noticed the odd panels on the walls. Some looked as if they had been ripped out then hastily replaced.

"Wait! It's a trap!" someone exclaimed.

Almost out of reflex, Kerin and Sari dove down as the walls around them seemed to explode. The explosion smothered the two squads with dust and shrapnel, one piece cutting Kerin at the cheek. Gunfire followed, raining down on them from down the corridor ahead. Kerin and the others rolled, putting themselves against the walls. The unfortunate ones who tried to stand were cut down instantly.

Kerin returned fire as did the rest of his fellows, while the wounded tried their best to stay out of the way. He then cocked the underhand grenade launcher attached to his rifle and lobbed a round down the corridor. The resulting explosion was preceded by a grenade being thrown their way as well. Someone tried to kick it away, only to trip on a piece of debris and fall on the grenade himself. The weapon exploded, shattering the man's form. The explosion and the shrapnel was thankfully mostly contained by the man's unintended sacrifice.

Taking the initiative, Kerin and a few others advanced quickly down the corridor, taking advantage of the damage and confusion caused by the grenade, spraying the hallway with gunfire to keep the defenders in retreat. An incoming bullet clipped his helmet, throwing him off balance for a moment. As he recovered, Sari covered him by mowing down a couple of defenders, then getting shot herself in the arm.

"You alright?" Kerin asked her as the two and the platoon ran on.

"It's just a scratch," she replied. The wound was indeed superficial, and Kerin resumed following his comrades.

The squad eventually made their way into the bridge. The first one to get there automatically set the charges without orders and blew the secured bridge door apart. The squad filed in, overwhelming the bridge's defenders before the latter could offer any kind of resistance. Those that had survived were quickly subdued and held under gunpoint.

With the action finally at a pause, Kerin breathed a sigh of relief, lowering his rifle.

"Hey, is the sergeant here?" one of the men asked.

"Is he?" another replied.

"Dunno, he was with us."

"Whatever, who's gonna call up Command?"

"I'll do it," someone volunteered, walking over to the communications station.

As the volunteer operated the communication station, Sari sat down against the navigation station.

A PFC sat down next to her and said, "Hey, after all this is over you wanna—"

"No, and before you ask again I outrank you. Go away," Sari replied promptly.

The PFC sighed and got up. He walked away, stopping once to bang a fist against a nearby chair.

"Hey, Bart, settle down," another PFC said.

"Fuck you! I don't need you to tell me what the fuck to do!"

"Screw you! I'm not taking this—"

"Hey, both of you!" a corporal yelled, stopping the fight for the moment. Arguments like these were not uncommon among those of lower rank. The almost ludicrously extensive drafting system, harsh battle conditions, short supplies, and a war with seemingly no end in sight, in which tempers flared easily and a man could go from calm to totally insane within a split-second. Kerin leaned against the wall while the squad waited for further orders from Command. He briefly gazed at the ones who had been previously involved in the argument and mentally shrugged. It was something he had seem dozens of time during his tour of duty.

"Hey, Moryn!" a soldier called to Kerin. "This guy over here hasn't talked or anything," he said, pointing to a captured enemy lieutenant.

"You're asking me what we should do with him?" Kerin said. "Shouldn't we just leave it to Command?"

"I don't know...what do you think?"

Kerin put a hand on the other's shoulder. "Tell you what, I think you should watch to make sure he doesn't do anything. If he does, yell and we'll see about it then, okay?"

"Alright, I'll do that."

The corporal walked away to keep an eye on the captive lieutenant. Kerin read the corporal's nametag.

Gerringer. The man wasn't known for his intelligence, obviously.

Suddenly the squadmate at the communications station called out to the rest, "We've got new orders. We're to—"

The entire bridge suddenly rocked violently, throwing everyone off their feet. The captive lieutenant took the chance to stand up and dart toward the bridge door.

"Hey, he's getting away!"

The PFC known as Bart pulled out a grenade and hurled it down the corridor after the lieutenant. It exploded, blowing the lieutenant's lower body apart and sending the other half bouncing down the corridor.

"Why the flying fuck did you use a grenade?" a squadmate yelled at Bart.

"Don't give me that! I used a grenade, so what!?" Bart retorted.

There were a number of NCOs, corporals mostly, who could do something about the situation. Taking charge when many others with equal rank were present was not as easy as it sounded, especially in this time and age. Hence why a military worked best as a autocratic dictatorship rather than anything resembling a democracy. Not to mention that the operation had been hastily put together and put under the command of the sergeant with no regard to organization below that, which certainly didn't help the situation any bit. It had been like someone slapping on his armor and rushing into battle with an unprepared weapon.

"Fuck you! You just wasted a grenade you stupid fuck!"

Bart raised his rifle and pointed it at the other.

"You want me to fuck you over with this? Huh? Motherfu—"

Bart's head blew apart and the body fell over.

"Holy, Jesus!" someone exclaimed.

Kerin lowered his pistol and turned to the one at the communications station. "What'd they say?" Kerin ordered calmly. He was now apparently in charge.

After a moment of hesitation the other replied, "They want us to—wait..." The man listened to the comm-channel for a while longer before his eyes widened.

"Oh shi—" he began to say when the ship rocked violently again, throwing everyone off their feet. "Squad 2's completely down and this boat's gonna blow! We've got to get out of here!"

"That's it. Everyone, move! Out of here! Go!" Kerin yelled, spurring the others into action as they rushed for the bridge door and headed down in the direction from which they had come, the ship rocking violently a few times along the way, lights starting to flicker erratically. They received word along the way that the docking collar had been blown away during one of the tremors, so the squad headed for the ship's escape pods instead.

The survivors rushed group by group into the escape pods. Finally, Kerin and a few others including Sari were the only ones left, rushing toward the closest open escape pod even as the others were launching away. A few of his fellows ran ahead of him into the escape pod. Suddenly the ship rocked again, the most violent tremor yet, sending Kerin and Sari careening to the floor. The ceiling caved, debris and pieces of the ship's structure falling into the corridor.

With the ship's destruction imminent, Kerin quickly knocked a hot piece of metal off of his back and jumped to his feet again and ran the few remaining meters toward the open escape pod. All around him fires were bursting forth from the walls and the ceiling, their heat oppressive and menacing. The ship was ready to blow up any second now.

"Kerin!"

Kerin turned his head to see Sari trapped under a metal beam, struggling to lift the weight herself but unsuccessful. She looked up at him, a pleading expression stricken with fear on her face.

Kerin froze as pieces of flaming debris fell around the corridor and the ship trembled again. He spun around and dove into the escape pod, slamming his hand on the launch button, the door sliding shut behind him. Here could just barely hear Sari desperately screaming his name through the door. He shut his eyes, trying to ignore the voice.

With a thud, the pod launched, propelling itself away from the dying ship. What seemed like an eternity passed as the pod escaped the fiery destruction of the ship. Kerin sighed and opened his eyes, gazing around the pod, his fellow survivors all thinking to themselves or taking the time to smoke a cigarette, trying to forget what had happened just like how cigarette smoke disappeared into the surrounding air. Kerin briefly glanced at the burning ship through the pod's viewport then quickly turned away, gazing at the floor with a slight frown on his face.



Debris fell all around. The fires raged uncontrollably. What was left of the ship's reactor finally blew, consuming the ship in an increasing chain reaction.

"Keeeerriiiiinn!!!"



The ship exploded like a glittering firecracker on slow motion, lighting the space all around with its glow. The pieces spewed forth from the fireball drifted away from the former vessel, while the remains of the ship's superstructure drifted in a lazy spin like a falling leaf on fire.

The pods sped away to safety, recovery vessels standing by to receive them. Aboard, Kerin took one more glance at the glittering remains of the destroyer. He then turned away, closing his eyes.






Chapter 1: The Setting


The TFS White Angel, an Armstrong-class naval destroyer of the Taranis United Federation, captured by marines belonging to the Wolfe Republic. An army platoon from the Sixth Battle Group of the Federation, scrambled into action to retake the destroyer. Mission result: over half of the platoon lost, and the destroyer itself self-destructed through enemy action. In short, failure.

But it didn't matter. One year later, the Taranis Fifth Fleet commenced orbital bombardment of the Wolfe Republic capitol, Wolfe Gamma. Within an hour, the entire planet's surface had been transformed into molten rock, its over 100 billion inhabitants reduced to nothingness.

Unsurprisingly there had been some public outrage over this action, but those voices had been quickly suppressed by the greater voice of exhilaration and relief, sounded by those who felt they had lost too much to the war. They did not complain. Therefore, the bombing of Wolfe Gamma had become an end to the Second Great Civil War. Nothing more.

As for Kerin Moryn, after the failed recapture of the White Angel, he had been transferred into the Navy, where he accommodated himself to his new station and surroundings. Five years later, he was a commander, second-in-command aboard the TFS Elmson, a Vanguard-class destroyer commanded by Captain Tiber. With peace now reigning once more, their missions had been mostly that of hunting down pirates, which they were doing now.

"How long has it been?" Tiber said.

"Thirty-two minutes, sir," a lieutenant commander at the sensors station responded..

"Which means we now have..."

"Three more minutes before the pirate vessel arrives in this area," Moryn answered, his gaze unwavering from the bridge viewport ahead..

"Ah. I see," Tiber remarked, fingering his grey stubble. He was fifty-five years old, a fairly well-seasoned veteran of many different kinds of conflicts, and considered by many to be a very well-learned man.

Tiber turned to Kerin and asked, "Commander, what do you think of the asteroids nearby over there?" He pointed toward the field of rocks just barely visible through the viewport.

"Sir, I think the pirates would like to use it as a cover if necessary," Kerin replied.

"Indeed. We should keep that in consideration."

The bridge crew nodded in acknowledgement and went back to monitoring the situation.

The five hundred meter-long destroyer was more than capable of taking down a pirate ship—that is, if things went well and the pirates did not have a powerful trick up their sleeves, which usually wasn't the case. Usually.

A few minutes counted down, and on schedule, the pirate ship appeared with a momentary flash of light, dropping out of subspace and into normal space. It slowed down briefly before accelerating once more.

"Sir, it appears the pirates have noticed us," the sensors officer remarked.

"Indeed. Lay in a pursuit course. Ready our forward light guns for targeting," Tiber ordered.

The crew carried out their captain's orders and the destroyer emerged from the trash field it had been residing within and pursued the pirate vessel. Kerin moved over to his seat and sat down, his gaze fixed on the space ahead outside the viewport.

"Main drives at maximum. Speed reaching three-fourths max and increasing."

"Range: one thousand kilometers and closing. Target well within optimal range."

The crew reported the ship's condition as the destroyer caught up to the pirate ship. Suddenly the pirate ship took an unexpected turn and accelerated toward the asteroid field.

"Predictable, are the actions of those living the road of desperation," Tiber commented. He then ordered, "Continue pursuit."

The destroyer followed the pirate ship into the asteroid field, firing at the smaller ship occasionally with its light guns. Most of the time the energy blasts scored a hit against the target's shields, but occasionally an asteroid in-between would get blasted as well.

The bigger asteroids, those well over a kilometer in diameter, the Elmson would destroy. The smaller ones the destroyer would ignore and just plow through. Those did little to no real damage to the vessel's shields.

Suddenly one of the larger asteroids nearby exploded violently, buffeting the destroyer into a cluster of other asteroids. The decks shook and a few were nearly thrown off their feet.

"Report! What happened?" Tiber exclaimed.

"They've mined the field," Kerin said.

"Sir, the pirates have built explosives into the larger asteroids!" the sensors officer replied after looking at a few of his subordinates' sensor displays.

"Yes, apparently," Tiber said. "Resume pursuit and intensify forward fire—"

"Sir, I recommend we use our heavy guns," Kerin suddenly interjected.

"What? That would—" a crewmember started to say when Kerin silenced him with a raised hand.

"Captain," Kerin continued, "I recommend we use our heavy guns to bomb the asteroid field. The results, combined with the mines inside would at the very least disorient the pirates severely."

The ship shook as a mine exploded in the distance. The fragments drifted into the destroyer's shields, breaking up or disintegrating on contact and causing the ship to tremble even more.

"There's also a good possibility the pirate ship may be destroyed as a result, correct?" Tiber pointed out.

Kerin nodded. "However," he replied, "there's also a good chance the mines could destroy us. I suggest we do this, for the sake of ourselves and the mission."

Tiber nodded. "Very well. Power the heavy guns and commence scatter fire on the asteroid field. Engage blast shields."

Thick armor plates lowered over the major viewports of the ship, shielding them from the outside. The destroyer chased after the pirate vessel, peppering it with its light guns. Occasionally a mine would explode, knocking the destroyer slightly off course. The warship stopped firing for a few seconds. During this period of silence, the pirate crew could've wondered what the destroyer's crew were up to.

The destroyer answered by unleashing its heavy guns upon the asteroid field, each shot often pulverizing tens of asteroids per shot. The pirate vessel accelerated suddenly as if its pilot had suddenly freaked out from the sudden onslaught of destruction all around him and his vessel.

Dozens of mines detonated from the bombardment, the fragments scattering around violently, colliding with other asteroids and—occasionally—crashing into the pirate vessel as well. Some hit the destroyer as well, but the damage wasn't anything much more than what a normal small asteroid could deal.

Tiber ordered the bombardment to cease after a few seconds of firing. The asteroid field was a wreck, so to speak. Thousands of tiny fragments drifted all around, and a short distance ahead was the pirate ship, disabled by the asteroid fragments.

"Congratulations, Commander Moryn. Your suggestion has proven beneficial," Tiber congratulated Kerin.

"No need, Captain. It was a very simple solution, not complex or creative at all," Kerin replied.

"Come now, Moryn. Credit is due where it is due."

"True, but in the face of other much greater accomplishments, it isn't much."

"Very well, whatever you wish."

Tiber then turned to the crew.

"Prepare to dock with the pirate vessel and commence boarding and capture," Tiber ordered.



Kerin stared at the ceiling of his quarters, which was mildly spacious and furnished. It had been three days since the capture of the pirate vessel. It was known that the pirates had a base somewhere in this area of space, but no one in the navy knew where. That was why for three days the pirates had been under interrogation, subjected to sleep deprivation and drugs, in hopes that the Elmson's crew could extract the location of their base from the captives.

The prisoners should've actually given up by this point, but there had been no reports of success from the brig, where the pirates were being held and interrogated. This probably meant that the pirates either had great conditioning or had various counteragents in their bodies to fight the drugs. Or it simply meant that the pirates had very strong wills.

Later that day, Kerin was off on a stroll through the ship. The Elmson had no pressing duties at the time so its sole mission at the moment was the containment of the prisoners and their interrogation, therefore Kerin and most of the crew were free to do as they wished most of the day when they were off-duty.

Kerin passed through the main hangar where landing and support craft, and the equipment to maintain them were held. There was a group of marines in a cluster, chatting and joking amongst themselves. Kerin paused in the shadow of a landing craft, watching the marines and remembering his own days as a soldier in the Army.

Like all military organizations, there had been a great emphasis on the bonding of brotherhood in the Army. Non-commissioned personnel and commissioned alike were encouraged to form bonds with their fellows, to promote cohesion and unity. During the Second Civil War, however, many had interpreted this emphasis to mean cohesion and unity among your closest peers; namely those of the same rank or platoon. This had undoubtedly caused problems in the army during the war. It also certainly didn't help that a vast majority of personnel in the war, including Kerin, had been unwilling conscripts, rushed into battle with training that was not as thorough as it would've been during peacetime.

Hence some had come to say that an army at peace was deadlier than one at war. Whether this was true or not, the existing problems in the Army were further complicated by the military's general outlook on the Army as being inferior and outdated while the navy was often lauded as the greatest aspect of the military and the future of combat. Of course, no one with proper knowledge in the military would deny the Army's usefulness in things like occupation and surgical strikes. Most people within the Federation did not have such knowledge, however, and were easily convinced of the Navy's supposed superiority. This superiority had been further reinforced by the bombing of Wolfe Gamma, which became the final proof of the Navy's superiority in the hearts and minds of the general public.

The Army's response was one of resentment and distrust toward their naval contemporaries. Therefore it was not uncommon for Army personnel to purposely mistreat their naval quarters or badmouth naval personnel passing by. Sometimes the naval personnel would return the favor, providing poor living conditions for the soldiers or playing pranks on them such as directing one to an airlock and pretending to hit the switch to send the soldier into outer space.

Army commanders frequently complained to their naval equivalents on such matters and the Navy's commanders would fight back with reports of Army personnel sabotaging Navy equipment or instigating fights aboard ships. On and on the exchange went with no end or compromise in sight. Both sides could not ignore the usefulness of the other yet could not bear with the other's presence.

The marines were starting to verbally provoke a few technicians at work nearby, who in turn were returning said favors. As the situation began to escalate and people started to gather in a circle, Kerin walked over to the gathering crowd. The group fell deathly silent as Kerin approached.

"Is there a problem?" Kerin asked, his eyes scanning the men and women before him.

"No sir," a nearby technician responded curtly.

"Nothing here, Commander," the apparent leader of the marines answered, with a slight tone of apathy.

Kerin directed his gaze upon the other's eyes. The other stared back for a few seconds before averting his eyes and looking slightly ashamed...perhaps fearful. Kerin then looked away and gazed at the whole crowd in general.

"Keep in line," he said as he walked away toward the nearest exit. The crowd behind him dispersed and went back to whatever they had been doing, minus the name-calling and insults.

It was true that Kerin carried a sort of reputation amongst the crew and the Navy as a whole as well. It came in handy sometimes.



"Report," Kerin ordered.

One of the officers in charge of the prisoners replied, "Nothing yet, sir. They've been under sleep-deprivation and drugs for at least fifty hours. Still nothing."

"Take them off the drugs and let them sleep," Kerin said unexpectedly, causing the officer to fluster for a moment.

"I—what, sir?"

"I said let them rest. They'll need the energy."

"Ah...for what, sir? Why are we stopping?"

"We're not," Kerin said, gazing through a one-way window at one prisoner tied to a chair.
The man's face was pale and his head dipped occasionally, but he was still nowhere near giving up his secrets.

"As I said," Kerin continued, "we're not stopping the interrogations. Far from it."




Four days later, one prisoner, a middle-aged man, apparently one of the pirate sub-leaders, was brought to an enclosed interrogation room. The guards brought him to a long table that was slightly angled. They placed him upon the table, feet at the lower end, and tied him in place. He looked about himself warily—he didn't recall Federation military ever using this kind of thing to tie their prisoners to. Something was up.

The guards left, leaving the prisoner alone in the room. Half an hour passed before the door opened again. A group of white-robed personnel brought a wheeled table into the room. The top of it was covered by a white sheet. The table was brought over beside the prisoner, then the white-robed men and women left the room, leaving the prisoner alone again.

Shortly afterwards, a single man, in a commander's uniform, entered the room and closed the door behind him.

"So you must be my new interrogator? Moryn, is it?" the prisoner said, reading Kerin's nametag just above his rank insignia.

Kerin picked up a nearby paper and skimmed through its contents.

The prisoner was Hugh Wallace. Age 35, married to Anabelle Shorn Wallace with one son, Nathaniel David Wallace. Had been a member of the pirate group, the Blazing Eagles, for approximately eight years. Current status: imprisoned, tied to an angled table.

Kerin put the paper aside and lifted the white sheet covering the table. Wallace's eyes widened when the man saw the wide array of knives, scalpels, and other such surgical implements arranged neatly on the table. There was even a drill at one corner, with different sized drills laying next to it.

Wallace turned to Kerin and said, "I thought Federation people were humane and above torture."

Kerin picked up a serrated knife, inspecting it. He replied, "Humaneness only goes so far to set things right. In fact, in most cases it hinders progress rather than helping it."

Kerin put down the knife and began untying Wallace's shirt.

Wallace exclaimed, "You touch me once with that thing and I'll—"

"You'll nothing, because you can't," Kerin said, silencing the other.

Wallace, resigned to the fact that hoping for divine intervention was wishful thinking, prepared himself for whatever might happen to him.

Kerin, once Wallace's shirt was open, pick up a serrated knife in one hand and a pair of sharp tweezers in the other. He looked at Wallace straight in the eye and asked, "Where is the pirate base?"

He then set to work.



Two crewmembers of the pirate vessel were being led under guard down a hallway. A woman and a small boy who was apparently her son.

"Mommy," the boy whispered, clutching his mother's dress.

"Sshh, it's alright," the woman hushed.

"Don't stop now. Keep moving," one of the guards called out.

The group finally approached an unmarked door. The guards stopped their charge. One of them walked up to the door and pressed the button to open the door. It swished open and the other guard shoved the woman and the boy into the room. The door slammed shut behind them. The woman crawled to her feet and saw another door in front of her, an old-fashioned hinged door. She brought her son close to herself and hesitantly reached out with a hand. She turned the doorknob and pushed open the door.

The woman and the boy immediately screamed, clutching their faces in horror. A man in a medical examination gown stood with a bloodied scalpel in one hand. In the other was a display pad showing a general outline of the human anatomy. The man was staring at it with furrowed brows. And beside him, stretched out on a table, was the boy's father, Hugh Wallace, his chest laid open and bits and pieces of the innards arranged neatly around their owner. The man's legs were also caked in blood, sliced open with pieces of ligaments and tendons laid outside the body.

"Hugh!" the woman screamed, rushing forward.

"Come any closer and I take this knife and started going through your husband without discrimination," Kerin warned the woman, who stopped in mid-run and collapsed to her knees, tears running down her face.

"Stop! Please!" the woman begged Kerin.

Kerin ignored the crying woman and gazed for a few seconds longer at the display pad. He then turned his gaze toward the woman and asked, "Do you by any chance know where the hamstrings end? I tried looking but I really couldn't see much."

"You bastard! Let him go!" the woman pleaded.

"Let Daddy go!" the boy shouted as well. The woman, having forgotten her son was with her, took his face and buried it in her blouse to hide the father from the boy's view.

"Mr. Wallace is still alive and functioning as of now," Kerin said calmly. "Where is the pirate base?"

"What do you want!?" the woman screamed at Kerin.

"Where is the pirate base?" Kerin repeated.

"You bastard! Let him go!"

Kerin turned toward Mr. Wallace. He picked up a wicked-looking tool that was a cross between a wrench and a scissor. He aimed at the back of the man's ankles and cut.

Wallace screamed in pain, his voice hoarse from over an hour of screaming, his mind barely conscious. Kerin reached into the wound with his other hand and began pulling at anything his fingers could grasp on to.

"Stop...please, stop! Somebody please help..." the woman cried silently, helpless and on her knees. She could not help, for Kerin would then kill her husband. She couldn't give away the information, because then more of her comrades would fall under the Federation's forces. And fall prey to monsters like the one...operating on her husband.

"Stop hurting Daddy!" the boy yelled, breaking free of his mother's hold and running toward Kerin.

"No! Nathan, stop!" the mother exclaimed as the boy reached the table.

Kerin turned to the approaching boy and grabbed him with a hand in one swift motion. He turned the boy around so that the mother could see her son clearly, then reached over and picked up the drill.

Kerin activated the drill and aimed it toward one of the boy's eyes while holding the head still with the other hand. The buzzing sound grew louder as the drill sped up. Kerin moved the drill closer and closer toward the boy's eye as the boy tried vainly break free. In the background the woman could be heard screaming and begging.

As the drill came within a few centimeters of the boy's eyeball, the woman finally screamed, "Stop! I'll tell you! I'll tell you where they are, just don't hurt my son!"

Kerin switched off the drill and turned to the woman.

"The base's in the Eltanis system, within the second asteroid belt."

The information received, Kerin put drill back on the table along with his other instruments. He replaced the sheet, hiding the tools underneath, and stripped off his surgical gloves then carefully took off his gown.

The boy had run back to his mother and the two were crying together, trying to comfort one another. Kerin turned to the two and said, "Just so you know, I had conducted this same procedure on two other subjects before your husband. Both with families, of course."

The woman looked at Kerin, aghast at what she had just heard. "You mean..."

"The main purpose was to cross-reference each person's testimony to make sure the first and the second weren't lying. Fortunately for both of us, the information checks out." Kerin walked toward the door, then stopped. Without turning around, he said, "Family...one of the weakest points of humanity. Strike at one member and the rest crumble faster than the defense of Cydris 4. Fortunately for me, there were many families aboard your vessel. Numerous weak points. Anyhow, now that this is finished..."

"You're a monster...a goddamn monster!" the woman screamed angrily at Kerin.

Kerin thought for a moment, then replied, "I've lost count how many times I've been called that. It's probably useless for me to explain myself, but I'm simply carrying out my duty toward humanity—one that not many are willing to uphold. Good day."

Kerin left the room as medical personnel filed into take Mr. Wallace to an emergency room. The guards outside in the hallway glanced nervously at Kerin as he walked past.

Once away, Kerin took out his communications remote and keyed the frequency for the bridge.

"Bridge here."

"This is Commander Moryn. Inform Captain Tiber that we have the location of the pirate base."

[Peregrin Toker]

That is simply one of the most emotionally impacting torture scenes I've read yet. Granted - the story, setting etc. isn't that original, but it's rather well-written.

However, it seems a little unclear what the story is about. (although that's merely because I only have read the 1st chapter - early on, most stories are actually quite ambiguous)

[Shroom Man 777]

I loved it! Yeah, the setting and story isn't most original, but it's very well written. I loved the torture scene. I love this thing, keep it up man. This thing owns!

[Mitth`raw`nuruodo]

Very emotionally impacting tourture scene.

There were a few typos and the like, but no big deal.