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"What are you doing here!? Why are these people being held captive!? Enough of your games! Start talking!" Akihiro's voice had risen to a fevered pitch. He was losing his cool with how the hostage was avoiding his questions using indirect answers.

A smug look of satisfaction dawned on the fat man's face as he squirmed beneath the ropes that bound him to the office chair. Misaki had been sitting quietly at one of the monitoring desks until now, regarding the two of them indifferently. With a loud sigh she got to her feet and walked across the floor. Her boots crashed loudly against the metal grating until she stopped right beside the prisoner. She circled him, nonchalantly dragging the cold metal barrel of the weapon across his arm.

Akihiro wouldn't necessarily enjoy employing such methods himself, but could respect the silent threat. He couldn't deny it seemed to work really well for this man too since he could see the fear in his expression instantly. It also helped him to set the tone for the interrogation with a classic good cop, bad cop act.

"Your name was Corin, right?" he said trying to remind the guy that he was the only one who might help him out of this. Corin nodded and turned away from Misaki who simply stood behind him holding the pistol down by her thigh. "I can't make any promises, but the odds are good that if you tell us what we want to know... Well, you might just make it out of this alive. Now, if you keep ignoring my questions... I can't guarantee that I'll be able to keep her finger off that trigger."

Aki's gaze drifted to Misaki and following his lead, Corin swiveled slightly in the desk chair to look at her as well. The large man made an expression as though someone were offering him rancid eggs and quickly turned back to face Akihiro.

"Alright," Corin said sounding much more deflated. "This... is a holding house."

Aki could have sworn there was a hint of something in his voice. Was it shame? It seemed unlikely given how vulgar the man had been up to the point when they bound him. Something about being forced to admit what he had been up to down in this underground facility seemed to upset him though.

"A holding house for what?" Akihiro asked considering the answer didn't exactly make any sense. A holding house was usually used in reference with illegal stashes of drugs or even munitions, not people.

"Slaves..." Corin said with annoyance. "For a soldier, you're pretty naive. Have you never heard of human trafficking?"

"I've heard of it sure," Aki answered still feeling dumbfounded by the man's response. "But, why all of these monitors? Why keep them in cells like this? Surely there would be a more humane way to go about this?"

The fat man chuckled sardonically and shook his head. "You think those who would enslave human beings care about being humane? You really are naive."

Misaki nudged the back of his shoulder with the hilt of the gun as if to remind him of his place should he feel the need to get snarky again. Corin's upper lip sneered slightly as he began to speak again. "Nobody wants a slave who will disobey... Or run away... We were working with cutting edge technology to take the will out of them, while leaving all of the necessary bits in tact. Problem is, it didn't always go so well. Sometimes they had a way of going nuts and trying to kill themselves. We needed to monitor them to make sure they didn't break the merchandise."

"Wait a second..." Aki interrupted. "What kind of technology? What were you doing to these people?"

"I don't know all the specifics of how it works. I'm just a grunt. But, it has something to do with nano bots. The way I heard Murphy talking about it, he said they get injected into the bloodstream, pass the brain barrier and then we could set the parameters to whatever was needed. In some cases where a subject was particularly stubborn though, there were issues."

"You make it all sound really routine. Almost like you guys have been doing this for a long time," Aki's words were distant, betraying his currently racing emotions at hearing something so awful.

"This is the third planet we've hit so far. We've taken entire populations. The ones that don't make it through the process get written off as an acceptable loss." The hint of regret that had been present just moments ago had now been replaced with an apathetic tone devoid of feeling. Perhaps that was the only way he could speak about his crimes.

"Third planet!?" Akihiro's shock was apparent not only in his voice, but also his face. "What about the Legion!? How did you manage to beat them!?"

"Our business is incredibly lucrative. Top of the line mechas make for difficult opponents to beat especially when compared to the rusted out tin cans you guys were piloting. I'm actually surprised you managed to take anybody down."

"And why was the Legion here in the first place? It's not like they give a shit about civilian kidnappings," Aki asked still in a state of shock.

"We don't know what they were doing here. We took some hostages to interrogate for that very same information. I'd expect you would know more about it than me. Best we could figure is that they probably had some men stationed out here at some of those military bases and wanted to know why they stopped responding."

Corin squirmed uncomfortably again in the chair causing it to roll around slightly. Misaki stabilized the back of the chair with one hand while she rested the pistol on his shoulder. A look of anxiety crossed his face as he realized what was pressing against him.

"I didn't know the Legion had any outposts here. They didn't mention it to us in the briefing. They said it was something about bandits!" Aki paced back and forth as his thoughts raced.

"Tough luck, son. It's a shame they keep their own people in the dark, but it is what it is." Corin's words were harsh, but true.

Just then, a spark of hope shot through the dread that had ensnared Aki's being. He focused on the words he had heard, but not processed yet.

"You said they took hostages!? Who? Are they still alive?" His face looked wild with emotion as he waited for the fat man's answer.

Corin seemed surprised by Aki's change in tone, but then his eyes rose upwards as he tried to recall the relevant info. "Only one. A pilot. We forced him down before he left orbit. He was detained for questioning at the spaceport I think."

"The pilot!?" Aki nearly shouted as his eyes darted to Misaki's face. She had already locked onto his gaze as well. A pilot meant their might be a way out of this nightmare after all. His entire demeanor stiffened as he reigned his heightened senses into submission. When he spoke next, his words were all business. "How do we get there? What are the coordinates?"

The big guy laughed as if hearing a funny joke. "Hah! What? You think you're gonna walk right in??"

"Yeah, we're going to walk right in. In your mechas," Akihiro's voice was cold and unfeeling and he could see Corin's eye quiver as he leaned in closely. "The coordinates and passphrases needed for entry... Now."

"How are you going to do that!? You realize the kind of security those things have?" his eyes were wide now as he realized he might not actually make it out of this alive.

"I'm well aware, Corin," Aki said with an icy tongue. "But, we both know what the alternative is if you don't comply. We can do it with your help or without. You see Misaki over there has engineering experience and if need be, she can just hack it. Of course it will save a lot of time if you give us the information and start it up for us instead." He stared daggers at him as he finished, hoping he'd buy the bluff.

"No, no, no, no!" the man began to stutter with fear. "I'll comply! I'll get you into the back rooms too! Get you access to the lab as well. J, ju, just don't kill me..," he practically whimpered as he offered up his complicity.

Corin behaved like an absolute coward and Aki couldn't help but feel disgusted with the idea of letting a man like this breathe air for any extended amount of time. "Then tell us what we need to know..."

--

True to his word, Corin had gotten them through security and into the laboratory as well as the cells beyond. Their captive had also divulged passphrases for not just his mecha waiting outside, but also his partners. He hadn't even tried to fight back the entire time they escorted him around the facility. Corin would have been an idiot to even try though considering they were wheeling him around while tied to an office chair.

Akihiro walked the long length of the corridor that linked all of the individual prisons, rolling Corin along before him as Misaki walked off to the side.

"We need to set them free. Nobody should be left to rot in here like this," Misaki said looking at Aki with big eyes.

"What good would that do?" Corin asked with a scoff. "They'd just stand around like zombies. In this stage they might not even eat unless directed to."

"And who's fault is that?" Aki asked with a threatening voice as he slammed the chair to a halt and leaned over the man's shoulder.

"Can we do anything to clear the suggestion properties of the nano bots?" Misaki asked curiously, while still keeping her calm. "The laboratory back there seemed to hold some promising possibilities."

"I wouldn't know the first thing about how to reverse the effects, lady," Corin said with a painfully honest tone. He sounded worried as though his lack of knowledge might end his life.

"As much as I'd like to help them, Misaki..." Akihiro's words trailed off as he considered the harsh reality of their situation. "We don't have time and we don't even know what to do. We might just make it worse."

"But it's so awful. To just leave them helpless. I wish we could do something," she kept her emotions in check, but it was obvious that it was getting to her. The pain was inherent in her eyes as she gazed upon the many doors that lined the hallway.

"Who knows though... We might be able to do something on our way out of here. Maybe we can find a way to halt their operations0 and cause them a major setback." Aki offered her a soft smile as he patted her back reassuringly.

"We still need to let them out," Misaki said with remorse. "Fat man! Open the doors!"

"The controls are over there," he said pointing at a guard station halfway down the hall. "Do you have to be such a bitch about it!?"

Aki halted the chair again and pulled the ropes tightly around the man's chest. "She wouldn't have to be so coarse with you, Corin... If you hadn't helped these monsters to kidnap and enslave all of these people! I think you can cope with getting called fat for your deeds."

Corin grumbled under his breath as Akihiro made it over to the guard station. He gestured at his keyring and Aki loosened the man's arm so that he could find the right one. He entered a code on the nearby pad and with a beep the doors opened and they were allowed inside. There were two emergency release levers, one for each side of the hall. Misaki pulled them eagerly and a loud clanking creak could be heard as every single door opened at the same time.

Aki left Corin in the small guard room and walked back out into the hall. He yelled out with a booming voice that echoed off the walls.

"Everyone! Come out! Come to my voice," he looked around to see if the prisoners would listen. Misaki stood beside him as people began to hesitantly leave their rooms. Some seemed dazed while others were much more coherent with an air of distrust as they looked around for threats.

Akihiro felt a pit in his stomach as he saw a few children leaving the cramped cells. Slowly, but surely, some hundred people all gathered around him in a crowd. They didn't utter a word, but simply stood there waiting to hear what Aki would say.

"I know this has been difficult for you all and I can't imagine what you've gone through to this point. You are free for now though. If you can take care of each other and make it so some place safe, you might stay free. How many of you can still think for yourselves?" It was a lot to ask from these people who might not even be able to reason properly, but the alternative was leaving them in a cell to slowly starve. Aki didn't even consider that a real option.

About fifteen hands rose up from the group of people and Aki gestured for them to come forward. With a serious tone, he advised them.

"Look, you guys are gonna have to be in charge until help arrives. We'll show you where the food stores are. Then I want you to take these people and get out of here. Hide until friendlies show up."

"Where do we go?" One man with curly brown hair asked anxiously.

Another man with wispy hair stepped in and answered with a surprising confidence. "I know a place about twenty miles from here. We should be able to get there within a couple days, maybe less if people can keep up."

"Good. Head there then and stay off the roads on the way if you can. I will do what I can do make these assholes pay before I leave.. At the very least that will help keep them off your tail until you can get somewhere safe." Akihiro noticed a few people in the small huddle were looking past him into the guard station.

"What will you do with him?" an older woman with wavy graying hair asked as she pointed to Corin who was still behind the glass.

"I hadn't decided," Aki answered truthfully. "Do you have something in mind?"

Corin was already protesting from behind him. He had overheard the conversation and had somehow believed that despite his crimes, he'd be making it out of this situation without consequence. "You can't do this to me, man! We had a deal! Don't let them have me!!" His words were panicked and shrill as many more prisoners from the crowd began to look his way as a pack of hungry dogs might eye a bone.

"He has tormented us. Talking to us as though we were less than human. I think many of us would like to see him taught a lesson," a handsome man with salt and pepper hair answered him in a dire tone.

"As long as you leave us a finger to start up his mecha with, he's all yours," Aki said feeling a little sick to his stomach, but understanding full well the vile acts that had transpired here below the earth.

The old man nodded to him with satisfaction as a universal understanding seemed to sweep between all of the men and women standing around them.

Akihiro pulled Misaki towards him and started walking away from the guard station. The sea of people around them parted to let them pass as they went the opposite direction towards Corin. He wrapped his arm around her back to keep her from looking as Corin began to scream.