The vanguard know about us now, it is just a matter of time before they show up, rig explosives to destroy this place with excessive collateral damage. We will wait until they are ready to attack before triggering them though, and do not leave them on a hair trigger. We should have a spare five minutes to arm them and twenty to get our own forces away. Station watch posts to monitor the surrounding area and see if we can monitor the fleets. Aside from that, this is the primary objective, put all our ordinance into fortifying the place and send some scouts to plot a course to the airfield.
As an afterthought, you tell your troops to rig the entire complex to blow should defending it become untenable.
It seems that your troops have used up all the available explosives you brought with you. You curse, trying to think of what else you could do. You have an idea. You contact the members of your brood in the main control room and tell them to search for a self destruct function in the facilities computer systems.
After a few minutes, they say there is one, however the most it will do is render all defenses as well as all automated and computer systems non-functional. It will not destroy the actual building. Mentally, yet privately, cursing your bad luck, you tell them that it will have to do and that they should rig a remote activation device that can be used if things do go horrible wrong.
*****
Find a seat somewhere and have a LA noire style interrogation with the slinkarr {have guards behind you and others around the prisoner for emergency restraint} and see if we can communicate a "how's your day been?" conversation.
or just chill somewhere to not agro our new wounds/war reminders.
You mentally contact the other brood leaders, Ari, Ankara and Elianna and tell them to meet you at the Slinkar prisoners current quarters. You insist that they aid you in the interrogation. As it happens, your insistence was not needed as they had already finished what they were doing, delegating their tasks to their subordinates.
It takes them about ten minutes to get to you.
"Right, girls" You say. "Time to get stuck in. Let try not to hurt it unless we have too, OK?"
They nod in agreement.
You signal the guards to open the door and follow you in.
The Slinkar is still in its power armour, but it is restrained and immobile. There is a table in front of it and several chairs. You take a seat, making sure to be careful due to your wounds. The guards take up positions behind you whilst the other three brood leaders take up positions behind the Slinkar.
"You must be terribly hot in that armour." You say, putting on a false tone of concern. "Let us help you out of it." You signal the other brood leaders and together you try to pry the armour away from the Slinkar's body. You tear various pieces off of the armour in your first go, however it is still not releasing. In your second go, you get a piece of leg armour off and that's it. During your third go, you manage to unlock the armour, the plates falling away like rain, exposing a rather less solid looking Slinkar than you first thought.
It is tall, standing on 6 powerful scorpion like legs, with two smaller legs at the front that might work as an extra pair of hands. It has a slightly bulbous, sniper like rear, but it is not huge, and most certainly doesn't shoot webbing.
The Slinkar's upper half looks strikingly humanoid. Two long, powerful looking but surprisingly delicate arms with hands clasped together at the end hang down in front of the very human looking torso, hanging roughly where the lower abdomen on a human would be. As you look closer, you realise that this is most certainly a female Slinkar. Well, for one, she has breasts and her torso is decidedly feminine.
As you cast your gaze further up, you see she has shoulder length black hair framing an attractive face. She has a single pair of eyes, a light shade of grey, a normal looking human like nose and a full lipped mouth, the only visible difference been a small set of mandibles on either side of her mouth that occasionally twitched slightly. She tilts her head sideways slightly and smiles, showing sharp looking teeth.
"
Not what you were expecting, human-Morey slave?" She seems to purr, speaking in fluent Morey, with not even a trace of an accent.
"Not exactly...." You say, struggling for words. You glance at Ari, and even she looks surprised at this revelation. '
What is with female soldiers in this universe? It seems like there are so many female fighters.....' You think to yourself, remembering all those years ago when you went to watch Sci Fi movies with your husband and all the soldiers were big, buff males.
You quickly regain your composure and begin the interrogation. Motioning for your sisters to clamp the makeshift restrains onto the prisoner. As the clamps click shut and are secured, you ready your first question.
"As i know you can speak this language, i would like you to answer my questions. Failure to comply will result in....complications.... for you, that is." The Slinkar woman's smile fell at that.
"
You Morey are as barbaric as our leaders say you are." She spits, angry.
"Shut it. First, what is your name, insect?"
She visibly bristles at been called an insect.
"
I am what you would call a Colonel in the glorious Val-Tar! My name is Kaleetra Volenton. You shall address me as Colonel, not....insect" She spits the last word as if it deeply insults her.
"Kaleetra..."
"
COLONEL. Address me by my rank, you Morey bitch." She growls.
"Listen, bug. You re my prisoner. I shall address you however the hell i want. What i address you by is not important anyway. I want to know everything there is to know about what the Slinkar's situation is on this planet. What were your orders? How many Slinkar are here?"
Kaleetra does not say anything for a while. She just stares, obviously furious at you, for almost half an hour before she finally responds.
"
HA! As if i would tell you anything. I would rather die honourably than beg for my life or betray my people!"
You smile evilly. "Wrong Answer".
*****
BTW Khan that very last sentece says something like "You stop outside its door, thinking about what yo say." an the OCD in me is cringing can you fix that please?
Also really we don't understand the language of these slinakarr so why bother?
US: How's your day been?
Slinkarr: BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
honestly it could be calling us a monstorus B**** an laugh at us. No keep it within view of assigned guards {healthy or not exhausted ones} and make sure he doesn't try some great escape B.S with a hidden grenade {search him again and make sure he's naked. don't want him to stuff it between his cheeks like prison architect prisoners do } or a wooden spoon to dig his way out. NEVER TRUST HIM!!
Whether were good to him or not we'll always be the enemy possibly invaders of his species planets/domains.
ask the slinkar why it defected, ask it for any useful info. if it does not spill everything or you detect lies, see if you have any bladed implements, and use one if you have it for torturing the scum
"Ari, do we have any bladed weapons, even if it is just a combat knife?"
Ari searches her person. "I'm sure i had one here.....AH!" She says, holding a knife up. Flipping it around so that she is holding it by the handle, she walks over and hands you it.
You get up, slowly and deliberately, partly to try and intimidate the Slinkar but also to mind you wounds, and you walk around the table until you are next to Kaleetra.
"I would recommend you take this chance to talk, before things start getting messy." you say, trying to put as much intimidation into your voice as possible. Unfortunately, the Slinkar just laughs.
"
As i said, Human-Morey Slave, you will have to kill me, as i will never give up my people."
You growl in anger.
You slash at one of the Slinkars small front legs. Your knife does not penetrate the natural chitinous armour she has. You strike again, this time separating the plate from the Slinkar's body. Kaleetra winces in pain. Your slowly rub the side of the blade along the now exposed flesh.
"Last chance, bug."
She smiles, although she seems slightly less confident than she did a few seconds ago. "
A-As i said. You will have to kill me."
Shaking your head, a little disappointed at Kaleetra's blind faith in her kind, you draw the knives blade slowly along the exposed flesh. Kaleetra bites her lip. '
So she isn't good with pain? This should be quick then.'
You then at random intervals start stabbing a bit deeper when cutting. You notice that Kaleetra is straining at her restraints.
"You can make this stop. All you need to do is tell me the answers i want...." You say smoothly.
The Slinkar just glares at you.
"So be it."
You continue your interrogation for several hours. Throughout, you are questioning where this desire to hurt this Slinkar is coming from. You know from Ari and Ala-Shar how brutal the Slinkar can be, but you cant help but think you are treating the Slinkar in front of you inhumanely, as if someone or something is making you do this.
There is also a nagging feeling in the back of your mind that things may not be as black and white as the Morey made out with the Slinkar and that the situation might just be similar to that of the Morey-Vanguard incident.
Eventually, the Slinkar breaks. You haven't done any lasting damage on her though, a consequence of your efforts to fight this brutal compulsion you are under.
"
I-I-I'll speak!" She stammers. "
Our forces...on this planet are stretched thin! We have been suffering....crushing defeats at the hands of.....the Vanguard troops despite outnumbering them twenty to one." She winces as her restrains rub against a particularly deep cut. "
Our commander ordered a full withdraw....."
"You lie." Ari says, coldly. "Slinkar never run. They are mindless bugs who fight and win or die trying. During my previous campaign against them, they never retreated, not once."
"
I...do not lie. Our formations have been crippled, our support annihilated......Our bases turned to dust. Only a small fraction of the Slinkar.....who came to this system are left. You villainous Morey haven't born the brunt of the Vanguard assault.....They are bombarding the Inner Worlds. Soon all Slinkar forces in this system will have withdrawn....or perished. There are some, members of the Val-Tar, who went missing recently. They all had personal vendettas against the Vanguard....." She pauses, trying to adjust herself into a better position. "
As for your other questions, my orders.....were to hold this base until an engineering unit arrived.....to try and get those weapons operational......Little good it did against the Vanguard though....."
She gulps and with pleading eyes asks you to unbind her. Your compassion wins out over your surprising brutal side and you do so. She collapses to the floor, a heap of bloody flesh. You kneel next to her, she pulls away. "
And finally, you asked how many Slinkar are left on this planet. I do not know the exact number, but it is no more than thirty to forty thousand...." And with that last sentence, she collapses, unconscious.
*****
What do you do now?
Try to wake her to ask more questions? Kill her? Tend to her wounds? Something else?
Status:1. Demeanor/Status: Wounded. Calm.
2. Mental Condition: Mentally fit and stable.
3. Physical Condition: Chest wounds healed. Extensive Scarring. Plasma lower stomach wound (healing) , Hyper Laser knee wound (healing).
4. Clear thoughts and currently inactive mental factions.
Inventory:1. Mark 3 Vat-Born Engineer Armoured Powered Exoskeleton Suit (Wearing) (Damaged x2)
2. Mark 3 Engineer Armoured Powered Exoskeleton Helmet (Wearing) (Cracked and damaged) (Disabled standard Comms system)
3. Advanced White Cooled Skin Tight Full Body Under-suit (Wearing) (Damaged)
4. Mk5 Mass-Driver pistol (sidearm) (Holstered)
5. Arishok Plasma pulse rifle (In Hands)
6. Dikari Plasma shotgun (Holstered on Back)
7. Warrisk Mass-Driver Battle Rifle (Holstered on Back)
8. Combat Engineering Equipment and explosives. (In Backpack)
Available Equipment:
1. Mark 3 Vat-Born Engineer Armoured Powered Exoskeleton Suit (Damaged x2)
2. Mark 3 Engineer Armoured Powered Exoskeleton Helmet (Cracked and damaged) (Disabled standard Comms system)
3. Basic White Skin Tight full Body Under-suit x 4
4. Advanced White Cooled Skin Tight Full Body Under-suit x 2 (One of which is Damaged)
5. Mk5 Mass-Driver pistol (sidearm)
6. Arishok Plasma pulse rifle
7. Dikari Plasma shotgun
8. Warrisk Mass-Driver Battle Rifle
9. Combat Engineering Equipment and explosives.
10. Stun/Concussion rifle
11. Casual clothes x10 (White skin tight suit, Gloves, Boots)
12. Ceremonial robes
13. Royal Guard Armoured Powered Exoskeleton suit
Implants and Augmentations:1. 2x Loyalty probe in the Striatum part of the brain.
2. Multi-range optics (Thermal, magnetic, IR, UV, multi-stage magnification etc) implant on eyes.
3. Command and Control (C&C) nano-module implanted in head.
4. Communications array nano-module implanted in head.
5. Fortified 7th Generation reverse engineered biological nano-machines in blood stream, bones, muscles, tendons and organs.
6. Nano-memory modules in the Cerebrum, holding all relevant non-personal data.
Brood Composition:1. Forward Command and communications: 9 Vat-born.
2. Field Combat Medic: 48 Vat Born (10 at secondary position)
3. Long Range Specialists (Snipers): 50 Vat-Born
4. Heavy assault: 240 Vat-Born
5. Light Assault: 235 Vat-Born
6. Infiltrators: 45
7. Heavy Support: 113 (12 as Secondary Position)
8. Combat Engineers: 112
9. Scouts: 100
Ari's Contingent:1. 10 Scouts
2. 6 Infiltrators
3. 4 Forward Command & Comms
4. 16 Field Medics
5. 11 Combat Engineers
6. 22 Long Rage Specialists (Snipers)
7. 21 Heavy Support
8. 20 Light assault
9. 55 Heavy Assault (including Ari herself)
Allies Forces:Ankara's Brood: 50% Casualties. Steady moral. Exhausted.