I wanna watch you burn

You're gonna get what you deserve

You'll never learn yeah

Your time has come now

It's your turn

I wanna watch you burn

Papa Roach - “Burn”

Admiral Otxoa met Jiyazh Ghuuyaz as his shuttle docked at Buenos Aires. As the Khonhim didn’t bother with the ship boarding formalities embraced by the human-lead Tetrarchy, she awaited his arrival with only a small security detail. “Welcome aboard, Dhyaksh,” she said, as he stepped onto the deck, a small case slung over his shoulder.

“Thank you, Admiral,” he answered, acknowledging her with a nod.

“Your message said there was a matter of some urgency to discuss,” she continued, “though it was a little vague regarding the details.”

“There are some things I do not trust to the airwaves,” he said. “Walk with me, and I will explain.”

“Happy to, as soon as you tell me where we’re going,” she asked, falling in beside him as they strode down the passageway, their detail shadowing them from the rear.

“To see your prisoner,” he explained. “I assume you received the same message from Admiral Matevosian that I have?”

“Regarding the fleet departing Tetrarchy space?” He nodded once again, prompting one of her own. “About bloody time,” she growled. “I understood the necessity for the delay, but that doesn’t mean I liked it.”

“Nor I,” Jiyazh agreed, “but as you say, it was necessary. But that is not the message I wished to discuss.”

“No?” Adelais cocked her head. “Then what?”

“I also received a message from my Deputy, Chikkij Kowzhach.” he said with a mirthless chuckle, “requesting somewhat forcefully that we do not intrude any deeper into the Gzuj system.”

“I thought we’d already agreed to that,” she said after a moment. “Has something changed?”

“Just someone’s trust in your temporary commander,” he sneered. “While the message may have come from Chikkij, I sense Leandra’s touch in the matter. She weaves her webs like a spider, hoping to ensnare me, or at the very least elicit my cooperation.”

“And?” prompted the Admiral.

“And I gave her my word we would not engage the enemy holding Gzuj until the rest of the fleet arrives,” he grumbled. “Her arguments were sound.”

Otxoa said nothing, but he could hear her relief. “But”, he continued, “that does not mean our hands are completely tied.”

“...I’m not going to like this, am I?” she sighed.

Jiyazh came to a halt. “Matevosian believes we sail into a trap.”

“I know,” she mumbled. “He may be right.”

“He may,” the Khonhim commander agreed. “It occurs to me we have a way to test that theory.”

Adelais snorted. “That machine won’t tell you anything.”

A rumbling chuckle welled up from the Dhyaksh’s chest. “I can be very persuasive,” he told her, patting the case he carried as he bared his teeth.

She looked at the case and then back at him. “...now wait a minute…” Otxoa began, before Jiyazh cut her off, resuming their short journey and forcing her to catch up.

“If you do not wish to be a part of this, then leave,” he said. “But if there is a trap waiting for us, then I intend to learn what it is...by any means necessary.” His eyes grew distant. “I have some small experience in this area.”

“Goddamn it Jiyazh, there are rules,” she snarled, only to have him cut her off once again.

“...unless you are prepared to exercise your privilege as my Second and eliminate me, I will do this,” he challenged her. There was a moment where he could see her weighing the ramifications of that choice before she looked away. “Should there be any consequences to this action...let it fall on me,” he said gently. “You cannot tell me you care what happens to this creature.”

“...remind me to explain the phrase ‘Slippery Slope’ sometime,” the Admiral said after a moment. “And I think you’re right...maybe I shouldn’t be a part of this.”

“It is for the best,” he agreed, as they arrived at the holding cells. Adelais made no move to depart, as Jiyazh raised a questioning eyebrow.

“I’m not here,” she told him, “and my report will say the same thing.” She and the security detail moved into Observation, as the Dhyaksh entered the cell.

The enemy gazed at him as he set the case down on the table before it. For reasons of safety and security, they had locked it into place with restraining bars, which simplified matters. “I have come to ask you questions,” the Khonhim began, as he opened the case.

The machine laughed. “I will tell you nothing. You waste your time and mine.”

“We shall see,” Jiyazh answered, as he removed a device from the case and set it on the table. “Years ago, there was a planet...Ψ17, it was called, belonging to the Ronin.”

The machine said nothing in reply. “We were at war, their people and mine,” he continued, as he removed a slender rod of metal and fitted it to the gadget, pressing a button as it whirred. “We ravaged their world, laid it to waste...and amused ourselves for a time with the population.” The Khonhim pressed the tool against the table and activated it once more, the machine watching as it began to drill into the metal surface. “I am aware your limbs and chassis do not register pain the way mine does...but the sphere that encases your brain?” He reversed the drill and yanked it from the table before placing it against the machine’s head. “That is a very different story.”

“You think to frighten me, insect?” the machine hissed. “You do not.”

“Frighten? Your kind does not experience fear, not like us poor biological types,” Jiyazh answered, “or perhaps, that is what you would wish me to believe.” He activated the drill and began to bore into the machine’s braincase. “But considering how many I watched beg for their lives as we destroyed them...perhaps you do.”

A howl of static came from the machine’s voice box. “Stop this! I demand you cease this at once!” it shouted.

“And why should I do that?” the Dhyaksh asked, as the drill dug deeper into the sphere. “Unless you wish to tell me what I want to know.”

The machine shrieked as the drill bit penetrated the casing and found the sensitive electronics within. “If you destroy me, you learn nothing!” it howled.

“Which leaves me no worse off than I am now,” Jiyazh replied, backing out the drill and taking a moment. “Your race is up to something in the Gzuj system,” he asked the machine. “Tell me what it is, and this ends.”

“...never,” it snarled.

“As you wish,” the Khonhim shrugged, deciding where to place the drill’s bit before activating it once more.

From Observation, Admiral Otxoa winced as another electronic squeal emanated from the enemy machine, her face a mask as she watched the torture continue...though she clasped her hands behind her back and made no move to stop it.

The drill chewed its way into the machine’s brain once again, as it began making random digital noises. “Eventually I will hit something vital,” Jiyazh pointed out, as he removed the tool once more. “What will that feel like, I wonder? Will you cease function all at once? Or will it happen slowly, bit by bit?” He moved in front of the machine, letting it see him. “Either way...I look forward to the discovery.” The drill came to life once more as he advanced...while the enemy machine began to scream.

Admiral Matevosian raised an eyebrow as Jiyazh’s face appeared on the monitor. “It seems we have an even bigger problem than we’d first imagined,” the Khonhim explained. “They are laying a trap for us, though I have not learned the details. However, of greater concern is the Command Center they have constructed, deep within Gzuj itself. From there than can conduct every phase of the battle, risking nothing but drones, while they construct more units to throw against us. If we are to defeat the machines, it is there we must strike.”

“And you came by this information…how?” he asked.

A rather disturbing smile played across his features. “Our prisoner was kind enough to provide the details,” he explained.

“Why the hell should we trust anything that machine has to say?” the Admiral demanded. “How do we know it’s not lying to us, waging some disinformation campaign?”

Jiyazh chuckled. “I would not concern yourself with that,” he answered. “I was most persuasive.”

Matevosian had a sudden feeling there were specifics in that statement he did not wish to pursue. “Our Antimatter rounds should make short work of any underground bunker,” he decided after a moment, “though getting through their defenses won’t be easy.”

“I fear it is worse than you imagine,” the Dhyaksh sighed. “To destroy the bunker, it will require a team to be sent in to do the job by hand...and there will be defenses there to stop them, every step of the way. Mere bombardment will not suffice.”

“Goddammit all to hell,” the Admiral swore, “you’re talking about a suicide mission.”

“Yes,” the grizzled warrior said, “...I am.”