Eagle X, Mission 15: The Singapore Incident

Part 14: Liam

Raven ducked under the troopers wide swing and front flipped over the next. Bringing his knee into the helmet of a third trooper, he let his weight bear them both to the ground. His knife-hand strike hit the trooper on the side of the neck, rendering her unconscious. Spider dispatched two troopers as they moved to subdue the big blue felarnian.

"I said I had that one," Spider said as he searched the troopers for anything useful.

"I wanted this one." Raven hoisted the unconscious woman to her feet and walked her into the maintenance room through the next door. "I have questions."

"She's a grunt. You're wasting your time." Spider checked his noise suppressor. As long as he continued using 12 yield rounds or smaller he'd run out of ammo before the attachment failed.

"Yeah, well she's also a female. The commanders are all females. Females talk to each other."

"You're being sexist, I think."

"Odds are I'm right, though."

"Men talk to each other too."

"Not felarnian men."

"She's too short to be felarnian," Spider pointed out. "Wake her quickly. We're on a clock."

Raven violently shook the trooper and snatched the helmet off of her head. The woman's eyes fluttered open and she gasped for air. She had a colonial look about her with a large bruise where Raven's knee met her face. She struggled to be free of his grip, but his slow growl took a lot of the fight out of her. Her head darted around the maintenance room. Raven grabbed her chin and forced her to look him in the eyes. His claws bit into her flesh.

"Look at me. Answer my questions or I'll cut you down right here."

"You'll kill me whether I talk or not." She kicked Raven in the groin, dropping to a knee and breaking his grip in the process.

She took a step toward the door and Spider stepped into the room. His pistol was aimed at her center mass, his face serious. She froze and raised her hands.

"Now he's gonna be pissed," Spider warned.

She looked down in time to flinch as Raven's fist drove into her gut. The trooper doubled over beside him. He rose to his considerable height and grabbed a handful of her hair. Wrenching her into a standing position, he pulled until she was forced to dance on the tips of her toes. Spider shook his head and moved back to his position by the door. He watched both the interrogation and the hallway.

"Try that again and I'll make you wish I killed you."

"What do you want to know?" she replied through clenched teeth.

"How did you find us?" Raven asked

"These were the rendezvous coordinates. You came to us."

"Bullshit!" He raised his hand, bringing her off of her feet. She screamed and grabbed his wrist rather than have her hair ripped out.

"If we're going to be screaming, then there's no reason to hide. They're going to find us," Spider said. He was never a fan of using torture for information, but circumstances had already taken them off mission. If Raven's methods worked, Spider was willing to briefly look the other way. "Put her down."

"How'd Belladonna know we'd be on that ship?" Raven snarled as he put her back on the ground.

"Know you'd be on the ship? Who are you?"

Raven glanced towards Spider, both men sharing a surprised expression. Spider had assumed his team was being tracked in some way, though he couldn't figure out how. They were very careful to steer clear of The EC authorities and Belladonna's people. The idea that those hunting them would chase them into uncharted space was unsettling. Realizing fate continued to throw him in her path was even more frightening.