[FFML] [SM-Fusion][Draft 1] MMSS 6 - Interrogation

[StudioPC]

Taras woke up with the feeling of rotten garlic in his mouth, a sure  
sign of having been in cryo stasis. He tried to sit up, but found  
himself unable to move anything below his neck. He attempted to look  
around, but his head had been strapped in place.

"Morning!" Whistling cheerfully, Artemis moved into Taras' field of  
vision, pushing a tool cart. "How are we today?" Professionally, he  
peeled back Taras' eyelid and shined a bright light into his pupil.

"Gah!" Taras gasped.

"Excellent, excellent," Artemis approved. "The neuroparalyzer is  
working properly. "Can't have you up and being all mean and grumpy,  
now can we?

"What is the meaning of this?" Taras demanded.

"Hm?" Artemis asked, picking up a vibroblade and turning it on,  
filling the room with an earsplitting whine before he turned it off.  
"Oh yes. I'm going to torture you."

"What? The Imperium doesn't allow torture!"

"It's allowed under Section Six."

"There's no such thing as Section Six!"

"Of course there is," Artemis said with a frown. "Otherwise, I  
couldn't be doing this." He picked up a three pronged fork and a two  
pronged one and examined them closely. "You see, not only did you not  
complete your sentence, but then you submitted to unapproved medical  
experimentation and assisted in an attack in a non-military sector,  
one that happens to belong to a friendly faction. The Ministry of Law  
takes a very dim view of people who do that kind of thing, and, as a  
Senior High Mage and one of the Senshi, I'm sort of obligated to carry  
out the Ministry's wishes. And of course, the Imperium is in a state  
of war and civil unrest, so certain pesky laws and statues have been  
suspended. You know how it is." He picked up a water drill, frowned at  
it, then produced a tool and began to make adjustments.

"I'll never talk and if you kill me, you'll never find out about  
Beryl's plans."

Artemis stopped and stared at him. Then he laughed, loud and long.  
"Sorry," he managed when he got himself back under control. "Beryl?  
You think we're interested in Beryl? Oh no, my Lord, this is about  
Aear Minos. We're going to have a very, very, long talk about the why,  
the how, and you're going to scream. A lot." He returned his attention  
to the water drill and continued his adjustments, whistling a jaunty  
tune.

-------------------

"This is Section Six?" Rei asked, incredulous.

"He's not serious, is he?" Usagi asked, biting her lower lip.

They sat in an observation room overlooking the interrogation chamber.  
Ami, Makoto, Usagi, Minako and Ami sat on a long bench while  
Serenity's hologram stood nearby. Her hands were tucked into the  
sleeves of her white robe, and she looked worried.

"I'm not sure, to be honest," Serenity told them. "He's never had to  
actually use that . . . assortment on anyone. But he is the Black  
Senshi, so he might use them if he has to." She sighed.

"Maybe you better start from the beginning," Rei suggested, a  
dangerous tone in her voice.

Serenity nodded. "That might be best." She pursed her lips. "The  
colors of your uniforms reflect certain aspects of your natures.  
Makoto, for example, is green, for strength, dependability, and  
protection. However, the Black Senshi is a little different. They are  
the pragmatic one, the one who must make the difficult decisions and  
think and do the things we would never think of. To borrow a concept  
from your philosopher Niezchte, the Black Senshi gazes into the abyss,  
relying on the rest of us to pull them back should they start to fall  
in."

"Not an easy gig," Makoto observed.

"No, its not. As you can imagine, it takes a special sort of person to  
be the Black Senshi and Artemis, as the saying goes, was a natural."  
She bowed her head. "After the Senshi were all killed putting down the  
Food and Fuel Riots on Venus, new Senshi were needed. At the time, no  
one knew of Beryl's true nature and as Heir Tert -- as the younger  
daughter, I was expected to make something of myself. Artemis and I  
knew each other informally from the Mage Academy, but we didn't become  
friends until we joined the Senshi."

"So where does this Section Six come in?" Rei asked.

"I'm not exactly sure. Artemis claims to have come across it in his  
studies and supposedly it allows for torture, criminal activities, and  
other such things in defense of the Imperium, its allies, and its  
interests."

"And you've never seen this?" Rei asked.

"No. He ducks the issue when it comes up and I've spent hours poring  
over legal documents, trying to find it."

"It's a Casper?" Makoto asked.

"If you mean it seems to be a ghost law, supposedly there but never  
seen, then yes, it would seem so."

Rei frowned, and then began to jot words down on a notepad.

-------------------------------

Taras was getting worried. Not afraid, no. Most definitely not afraid,  
but worried.

"All ready!" Artemis chirped and picked up the water drill. "I  
think . . . I think we'll start with the feet and work our way up." He  
pulled on a pair of goggles and a face mask.

"Wait!" Taras objected.

"You'd rather I start somewhere else?" Artemis asked.

"No! I mean yes! I mean . . . wait!"

"I really need to get started," Artemis pointed out, "I'm terribly  
behind schedule as it is. I should've been starting the amputations an  
hour ago. Please hurry up and make up your mind."

"I just . . . I just want to know why you're not afraid of Beryl. She  
almost destroyed you."

"Ah, but she didn't, therefore, this time she'll fail as well.  
Meanwhile, my grandmother's sister died when you destroyed Aear Minos,  
along with three million other people, priceless relics of history,  
and anything that might have told us about pre-breakdown life. So  
really, you deserve whatever you get." Artemis laughed. "Its not as  
though Beryl has anything to work with anyway. If she did, she would  
have broken out a millennia ago." Artemis turned his attention back to  
Taras' foot. "Little toe first, I think."

"It wasn't her who broke us out," Taras said. "She had nothing to do  
with it!"

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Then who?" He asked sardonically. "One of  
the Keepers, perhaps? Descended from their Citadel?"

"I don't know where she came from. She was a cat-headed girl. Black  
fur, glowing red eyes, under some kind of mind control. I think she's  
a High Mage. Beryl referred to her as Lord General Luna and sent her  
off on a mission as soon as we took the palace."

"How dreadfully uninteresting," Artemis said blandly. Only someone who  
knew him well would realize that his tone of voice was just a little  
too bland, that there was a note in his voice of someone trying their  
damnedest to maintain self-control. As it was, under his mask and  
goggles, Artemis was struggling to regain control of his expression.  
As it was, it was taking all of his willpower to keep his voice from  
betraying everything. "Now, no more interruptions, please. As I said  
before, I am very behind schedule." He gripped Taras' little toe. "I  
suppose we can just move right on to the amputations. Terribly bad  
form, really, but the clock's ticking."

"She wants the Silver Crystal!" Taras shouted. "She knows where it is!"

Artemis set down the drill and lifted his face mask and goggles, "Are  
you trying to distract me?" He asked. "Cat headed girls and now the  
Silver Crystal?" He pursed his lips. "You know, you're acting like you  
don't want to be tortured."

Taras chose his next words carefully. Artemis clearly had cryo-madness  
and he almost pitied whoever was wearing the Senshi armor. They didn't  
know it, but they were already dead. He, however, wasn't dead yet and  
had no intention of dying.  His loyalty to Beryl wasn't so great that  
it was worth his life. "I heard her talking to one of her other  
generals. Serenity sent the crystal off with her Uncle, the one who  
stepped away from the Line of Succession. Lord Rolan was supposed to  
go to his Station and stay there until Serenity came to retrieve the  
crystal."

"And where is that? No, wait. Wait wait wait wait." Artemis pointed at  
Taras dramatically. "You're making this up! Trying to trick me! Oh  
that's very bad form, My Lord," his eyes narrowed. "Very, very, bad  
form . . ." His eyes glazed over.  "I know Beryl, I do, I do. You'd  
not been sent this soon, not at all, not at all, if any use you had to  
her."

Taras reined in his temper. "I volunteered, fool!"

"You volunteered?" Artemis blinked in confusion. "You can do that?" He  
leaned on Taras' chest. "Tell me about it."

Taras could feel a slight tingle in his fingertips. The neuroparalyzer  
must be wearing off. As long as he could keep this madman distracted,  
he could buy time. If the paralyzer wore off, he could break  
free . . . and then break Artemis. "After you locked Beryl and her  
generals into Zear Oden, the stasis fields took hold . . . right up  
until the generator failed. Zear Oeras was practically next door, so  
when she broke out, she came looking for allies. I was more then happy  
to offer my services."

"Beryl does love being serviced," Artemis agreed, nodding sagely. "Do  
go on. I take it Mikales is responsible for your spiffy new bod?"

"That and more," Taras gloated. "Oh, so much more. The man is a genius."

"Really?" Artemis' expression became almost wolfish. "That's an odd  
sentiment coming from you, My Lord."

"What do you mean?"

"I did a research paper on you when I was a novice. When Mikales was  
convicted, you argued for his execution and yet, here you are singing  
his praises. It's very confusing."

It was too much and Taras exploded. "You cryo-mad idiot! What are you  
implying?"

"Why did you destroy Aear Minos, my lord?"

"Because I could," Taras sneered.

"And so you did. But that's not why you did it." Artemis touched his  
finger to Tara's lips. "Shhhhh, just wait. Wait wait wait. You'll like  
this. On Imperial Date Three three two three in the year seven three  
nine of the Imperial Calendar, you led a research team into some of  
the Black Sectors of Aear Minos that had just had power and life  
support restored. In defiance of operational protocol, you went to  
explore a room alone, sending your team further on. In the room,  
behind a false wall, you found the cryo capsule of one Herak Mikales,  
who had been there since the Breakdown. King-Emperor Naron gave him a  
place on your research team and you worked together for quite some  
time. But, as it turned out, he tended to regard ethics guidelines as  
mild suggestions and experimented on, mutated, and killed nearly a  
hundred people before, again, you caught him by walking through the  
wrong door."

"The right door," Taras corrected, "I see that now."

"Oh, but that's not even the best part, My Lord," Artemis said,  
grinning. "Ten years after Mikales was imprisoned, you destroyed Aear  
Minos. Coincidentally, there had also been an announcement that they  
had recovered more data from Aear Minos' mainframe. Data that appeared  
to be legal papers. Data that might have told why Mikales had been in  
a hidden cryo capsule in the first place. Data he didn't want to come  
to light, and here he had a nice puppet already prepared just in case  
of something like that happening."

"I AM NO PUPPET!" Taras roared, straining at his bonds.

"Really?" Artemis asked. "Because I just played your strings like a  
harp." Taras stared at him, open mouthed. "And to answer your earlier  
question, Lord Taras, that's how I got all those people imprisoned."  
With that, he jammed an injector into Taras's neck. "Put him back in  
Cryo-Stasis," he ordered the cot and it rolled off towards the stasis  
room.

Emotion bubbled up inside him and caught in his throat as Artemis  
calmly removed the gown, apron, and gloves, carefully folding them up  
one by one and putting them back onto the tool cart.

Luna. Alive. Under Mind Control. An Army of Prisoners. Geas,  
brainwashing, Beryl after the the Silver Crystal. Lord Rolan. Danger.  
If Beryl gets the crystal, we're all dead.

"Back to storage with you," he ordered and the tool cart rolled away.  
Turning, he headed for the doors.

Luna. Alive. Under Mind Control. Luna.

He exited the elevator, crossed the hall, and summoned the lift.

Luna. Alive.

They would need a shuttle. Luna was alive. Can't risk an  
interplanetary teleport. Too easy to detect. Rolan's station wouldn't  
be on earth. Luna was alive. Too vulnerable and too close to Serenity.  
Luna was alive.

The lift doors opened and he entered.

Where would Rolan's station be? Luna. Alive. Mercury or Venus. Mars,  
probably. Luna. Alive. Jupiter was an outside shot. Antigravs might  
fail and plunge into Jupiter's asmotsphere. Mind control. Beryl had  
Luna under mind control. Kill her. Free Luna. No, had to be one of the  
other planets. Luna, had to get to Luna.

"Hi, Artemis," Usagi chirped as he emerged onto the observation level.  
Artemis did not reply, heading straight for a storage chamber.

Get the crystal, free Luna, get the crystal, free Luna. Crystal. Luna.  
Crystal. Luna. Luna. Luna. Luna.

"Artemis? Minako asked and then jumped as he entered the storage  
chamber and slammed it shut. Moments later, the doors to the chamber  
shook as the sounds of complicated destruction began.

"Now that's some major anger," Makoto observed. "That's a dude with a  
serious mad going on."

"What has him so wound up?" Rei demanded. "Want to explain what that  
was about?"

"No," Serenity replied. Rei clenched her teeth, anger blazing in her  
eyes and Serenity held out her hand to placate the brunette. Early on,  
Rei had made it clear that she would not tolerate Serenity and Artemis  
keeping any secrets from her and the others. "I say no because I  
cannot say anything else. Yes, I do know why Artemis is so upset, but  
it is not my place to say so. It is a personal matter and Artemis will  
discuss it when and if he chooses. Please understand."

Almost as though against her will, Rei nodded.

Through the door came the sound of a voice raised in rage as it spewed  
curses and obscenities. Serenity winced as the doors shook again and  
the noise increased in volume. "However," the queen continued, "the  
more immediate problem is what to do with the information I can talk  
about. Beryl has sent an agent after my Uncle Rolan. Since Beryl would  
not hesitate to use the crystal, we can assume that the agent has not  
yet obtained the crystal and is either still in transit, or searching  
as we speak."

There was another crash, the sound of something exploding and the room  
shook.

"Is the Unc any good at hiding?" Makoto asked.

Now Serenity frowned. "I don't know. Grandfather insisted all his  
children be High Mages, but Rolan was always more of a scientist. It  
was one of the reasons he abdicated. However, he was also a very  
good .  . ." she trailed off and frowned. "The closest translation  
would be 'Misdirection" it was a popular card game in the Imperium,  
the equivalent of poker. Success  depends entirely on your ability to  
bluff and deceive your opponents." She began to pace. "This facility  
is one of several scattered across the Inner system. I sent Rolan to  
the one on Mars, but he may or may not have decided to stay there.  
However, it is the only starting point we have. Even if Rolan didn't  
stay there, he would have left a clue for me or Artemis to find."

"How could he know you'd send Artemis?" Minako asked.

"And what's this crystal, anyway?" Rei added.

 From the chamber, something exploded and Artemis' voice could be  
heard again as he shouted blasphemies, although, and Serenity was  
forever grateful for it, the words were muffled.

"There is no one else I would send. It was well known that I trust  
Artemis above all else, a fact my husband never truly understood. But  
he wasn't a Senshi. Of course, they never understood either." She  
sighed. "The crystal is a magical artifact my Grandfather obtained  
when he married the Martian Princess to bind the Imperium and the  
Kingdom of Mars together. It is extremely powerful and believed to be  
sentient, though no reliable method of communication has ever been  
found. Grandfather had it placed on the royal family's scepter, as a  
symbol of the throne. If Beryl obtains the scepter, she will be  
unstoppable."

"We'll take care of it, Boss Lady," Makoto said, "rest easy."

At that moment, the noise stopped, and Artemis exited, looking  
cheerful. "Much better," he exclaimed, and brushed some soot from his  
sleeve.

"Excellent timing, Artemis," Serenity approved. "Senshi, you are to  
leave immediately for Mars. We cannot use the teleporter without being  
detected by Beryl, so you will need to use the shuttle. Artemis,  
return Ami's wand to her."

"But--"

"Even Beryl would not grant her agent the title of Lord General unless  
the agent was worthy of it," Serenity snapped, cutting him off. "We  
need all six of you for this and there is no time to obtain and brief  
Usagi's friend Naru. I realize the dangers, but Ami's rage is a force  
by itself and without the Zords, it should be safe enough."

Ami blushed bright red but Makoto merely clapped her on the shoulder.  
"Dude, that's an ultimate compliment. You're two Senshi in one. That's  
awesome!"

"As you command, My Queen," Artemis replied.

"One other thing," Serenity said, and the look her face plainly said  
that she was saying it only because she had to. "This Lord General  
Luna that Taras mentioned is under mind control. As such, an effort  
must be made to free her. However, if she cannot be freed or captured,  
Artemis, you must kill her."

"But--"

"Artemis, you know I would not order such a thing lightly. But the  
crystal must be kept out of Beryl's hands at any cost."

"But--"

"At any cost," Serenity repeated, her voice like iron. "At any cost,  
Artemis."

"Hey!" Makoto snapped her fingers. "If we're going to Mars, we're  
gonna need some epic lunch!" She put her arms around Rei and Usagi and  
began to push them out. "Bento, some stew, sandwiches! Dude! We could  
make sandwiches!" Automatically, Minako and Ami followed. The door  
hissed closed behind them.

"You're right, of course, my Queen," Artemis said before Serenity  
could open her mouth. "At any cost."

Serenity nodded and then met his eyes. "Artemis, Rei is very smart and  
and she doesn't trust us. Everything we say is viewed with some degree  
of suspicion. She will ask questions, I suggest answering them."

Artemis considered this. "Perhaps I will."